Pregnancy secrecy policy

Pregnancy secrecy policy governs the concealment of Kazumi's pregnancy from Vixon. Yohan instructs the company's workers not to disclose that Kazumi is pregnant, while Kazumi continues working in an oversized wardrobe designed to hide her changing body. The policy protects a secret within the workplace, but it also reveals how completely Yohan's authority reaches into staffing, appearance, information, and personal relationships.

Definition and Operation

The policy is not presented as a formal written regulation; it operates through Yohan's direct instruction to the workers. They comply, and Vixon remains unaware of Kazumi's pregnancy even as Kazumi's abdomen becomes visibly large when she stops wearing oversized clothing. The contrast between the visible body and the controlled flow of information gives the rule its central tension: the pregnancy can be seen, yet knowledge of it is institutionally withheld.

The concealment is connected to Kazumi's continued presence in the office. Rather than allowing ordinary workplace conversation to expose the pregnancy, Yohan manages what employees may say and preserves the secret around Vixon. The policy therefore functions through both speech and observation. Kazumi's clothing initially helps maintain the appearance of secrecy, while the workers' silence prevents Vixon from converting what might be visible into confirmed knowledge.

Authority, Protection, and Workplace Control

Yohan's authority over the policy is part of a broader pattern in which private responsibility is administered through organizational power. He is Kazumi's employer and later declares that he will take responsibility for her, telling her that she should live in his home for the time being. He also treats the pregnancy as a matter requiring practical protection, especially after Kazumi is injured and begins bleeding. A doctor advises that she rest, limits her movement, and provides medicine for her injury and vitamins for the baby; Yohan responds by deciding that Vixon should be fired.

These actions place care and coercion beside one another. The secrecy policy shields Kazumi from Vixon's knowledge, but it does not give Kazumi independent control over how the information is handled. Yohan determines who may know, where Kazumi may work, and how Vixon's position should change. The same hierarchy that can mobilize protection can also make personal decisions appear as ordinary management.

Relation to Vixon and Escalating Conflict

The rule is especially significant because Vixon is the person deliberately excluded from the information network. While the other workers obey Yohan, Vixon continues without knowing that Kazumi is pregnant. The concealment thus separates Vixon from the reality unfolding around her and allows Yohan and Kazumi to manage their interactions under conditions of unequal knowledge.

The policy exists within an increasingly hostile relationship rather than a stable administrative environment. Yohan confronts Xan for insulting Kazumi and accuses Xan of pretending to be kind only to deceive and eventually discard her. He later considers moving Vixon to a vacant room on the eighth floor, above the sixth-floor office shared by Yohan and Kazumi. These decisions show that the pregnancy secret is accompanied by spatial and disciplinary management: knowledge is restricted, offices are reconsidered, and personnel are repositioned as the conflict intensifies.

Consequences and Breakdown

The secrecy does not resolve the danger surrounding Kazumi. After she is found bleeding in the office, Yohan tells a doctor that he suspects Vixon attacked her and is advised to dismiss Vixon. The workers then contact the police, and Vixon is imprisoned for two years. Yohan feels some relief once Vixon is detained, although he and Kazumi still need to remain cautious.

The policy's protective purpose therefore develops into a mechanism of exclusion and confrontation. It keeps Vixon ignorant, but it cannot prevent violence, police intervention, or the collapse of Vixon's place in the company. Later, Vixon enters Yohan's mansion with a gun and demands to know where he is, threatening to shoot the household staff. The police report that Vixon tried to kill Kazumi, confirming that the conflict has moved beyond secrecy and workplace discipline into criminal violence.

Narrative Significance

Pregnancy secrecy policy links bodily visibility, employer authority, and the fragile boundary between professional and intimate life. Kazumi's pregnancy is simultaneously a medical condition, a family responsibility, a workplace fact, and a concealed source of danger. Yohan's instruction creates a temporary information regime in which workers know more than Vixon but are forbidden to speak, making silence an active organizational practice rather than an absence of knowledge.

The rule also exposes the limits of protection founded on control. Yohan can conceal the pregnancy, alter office arrangements, assume financial and domestic responsibility, and seek institutional punishment for Vixon, yet the secret cannot make the underlying relationships safe. Its eventual significance lies in that contradiction: the policy preserves Kazumi's privacy and supports Yohan's protective role, while simultaneously deepening the power imbalance and helping organize the conditions under which suspicion, punishment, and violence escalate.