Chapter 145: < Protect – Episode 144 – Holly Corp. [2] >

In America, most stock companies were more public than being like individual proprietorships. Putting a successful company that had plenty of investments into the stock market was a way of stopping the founder from deciding the fates of the company and its employees on their own. And that was because it wasn’t just theirs, but everyone.

Whether a company belonged to one person or an entire family depended on how the profits were recognized and accepted, and the founder ignoring the business philosophy and discussing the distribution of profits was closer to communism than democracy. The reason why Scott Warren founded Holly Corporation was to protect the weak artists who were being flung around by those with power.

Freedom was an impressive thing.

Freedom was a good thing.

However, in greedy Hollywood where all responsibility was put to individuals, things got very dangerous. Not even the labor union could protect everyone. Contrarily, the ones who couldn’t enter the union were pressured and discriminated against.

Scott always felt proud of being American and loved the justice that America stood for. He thought that justice came from looking out for those with less power. He strongly believed that Americans needed to resist unfair things and fight for justice.

He used all of his money to hold an American tour to comfort those who were hurt by the New York terrorist attack and the Davis scandal, and some ridiculed him but no one called him foolish. Because those who looked up to stars also looked up to the producer, Scott Warren.

A person who was working for someone he or she could trust would give that person a great sense of satisfaction. And in the entertainment world where betrayal was rampant, being able to trust someone was a wonderful thing. That was because Hollywood was a place where a person couldn’t even trust his or her family. Celebrities who got famous off of one movie or song had to be more careful of their own family than their manager and friends.

Holly Corporation’s board of directors took Scott Warren’s resignation very seriously. He had already dealt with his shares, and he was ready to part with Holly Corporation as soon as the tour ended. They knew what disappointed the Midas of the entertainment industry. In contrast to the founder’s dream of taking the dreams of poor artists and making them bloom, Holly Corporation only cared about the shareholders’ profits the bigger the company got.

The businessmen from the outside only planned strategies to increase the sales and butt heads on every single thing with Scott. As someone who approached art with a warm heart, he didn’t stand a chance against the graphs and numbers disguised as rationality and logic.

‘If it was going to turn out like this, I should have just left it as a private company!’

The point of listing the company was to share the profits in a fair manner, but there were always those who went against it and used the system in a negative manner.

‘I should’ve done a better job!’

Vice-president of Holly Corporation, Hanna Erikson blamed it on the board of directors. 99% of the reason why Holly Corporation was where it was today was because of Scott Warren’s reputation. Without it, the biggest stars were going to leave the agency or transfer over to Scott’s new company.

If that happened, everything would be over.

Once the North American tour ended, all would go downhill from there for Holly Corporation. In order to convince Scott to change his mind, Hanna followed him all the way to Washington D.C. He was wondering why he went East instead of West, but she understood as soon as she saw one person.

“Soo Ho?”

The tall Asian man couldn’t help but stand out in the studio.

“Hanna?”

“Did you come here with Scott?”

“He’s meeting with someone right now.”

However, Ahn Soo Ho didn’t know who. Hanna wasn’t as famous as Scott, but she was still famous. All aspiring celebrities in America knew about Holly Corporation. The participants in the American Idol preliminaries showed interest in Hanna, and some of them figured out Ahn Soo Ho’s identity.

“Bruce Lee!”

“Oh!”

The Asian man who often appeared on Lila’s Instagram caused quite the scandal. Foreigners had a hard time pronouncing Korean names. In Korea, Ahn Soo Ho was famous for his shooting, while in America, he was more famous for his street fight in Shanghai. For that reason, he started to become known as Bruce Lee among teens and adults in their 20s.

In contrast to Korea, where people swarmed over as if he was a superstar, Americans just stared at him as if he was a monkey in a zoo. They looked at their phones, scanned Ahn Soo Ho, and then giggled to themselves. Hanna disregarded them and shook hands with Ahn Soo Ho.

“Things must be hard for you these days.”

“I feel like I would die.”

“Why don’t you just change jobs?”

Hanna shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Unlike Scott, there’s a clause in my contract preventing me from working for competitors.”

Since she was a board member, that clause certainly existed. Scott was an exception since he was the founder.

“Your heart has already left. It’s not like they can keep you then.”

“I should probably pretend anyway.”

“If Holly Corporation goes down, just leave.”

“Even if it goes down, I can’t transfer for two years. And if Scott really leaves, the board of directors will probably file a civil lawsuit.”

“This is so messy.”

“That’s how business is.”

America was full of lawsuits, so this was a likely scenario. If they filed a lawsuit, the lawyers would probably take care of it. That was why they got paid so much. In cases like this, it certainly seemed like America had the best legal system in the world.

“Soo Ho! Where did you… Huh? Hanna?”

When Scott spotted Hanna after running over to see Ahn Soo Ho, he knitted his brows.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can’t you at least pretend to be happy to see me? I’m not here because I want to be.”

“What are you saying?”

Rather than answering, she handed him documents.

“Hm.”

“This is the best proposal the board of directors can give you.”

“It’s not like they can give me 70 billion dollars.”

“Ha! Are you really going to invest 70 billion?”

Hanna ignored Scott and looked over at Ahn Soo Ho.

“Do you think it’s a lie?”

“The board of directors thinks you’re just bluffing to get the best negotiation.”

“It’s not a lie or a bluff.”

“Seeing Soo Ho… makes me believe that. Ha! I’m doomed.”

Hanna grabbed her hair with both hands in frustration. 70 billion dollars was enough to buy 10 Holly Corporations. Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t on the first page of the Wall Street Journal for nothing. She put on a serious face and looked at Ahn Soo Ho.

“Will you pay the cancellation fees if we transfer?”

“How much is it?”

“It’s four times our salary… so around 8 million dollars.”

“You only get paid 2 million dollars a month?”

“We’re not the celebrities.”

Ahn Soo Ho was shocked. Even though Hanna Erikson was strict, she was known as a business consultant and a talented agent. So it didn’t make any sense that she only got paid 2 million dollars a month.

He looked back at Scott.

“How much do you get paid?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never properly received a salary during my time at the company.”

“That’s because you held too many parties. All those expenses were probably taken from the company’s dividends, too.”

Hanna butt in with more information.

“No wonder the board of directors hates you.”

“But I didn’t embezzle any money, I swear!”

A sense of economy didn’t matter, but fantasies often caused negative influences in business. Seeing how Scott Warren got divorced four times, he was more about emotion than rationality. And if he was left alone, he was bound to make the whole company go down.

‘What? The Midas of Hollywood? Wasn’t he just lucky? I don’t think the board of directors should be insulted.’

He thought about just going for it. Since the money was coming out of Barbara’s pockets, it had nothing to do with him, but he still didn’t want to be resented later on. Ahn Soo Ho looked at Hanna.

“How much is the cancellation fee again? 8 million?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Vice-President Erikson.”

Ahn Soo Ho offered her a handshake and Hanna responded with a smile.

“Hey! What is this? You never asked me for my opinion!”

This was why you had to know someone for a long time before making a decision. Was he an American version of Kim Woo Jung? He might have been good at recognizing stars, but he sucked at business.

“Arrange a meeting with the board of directors of Holly Corporation.”

“Why?”

“So we can take more people.”

It wasn’t bad for a company to look for the best profits possible. Hanna expressed her worry.

“Then something like what happened today might happen again.”

“What if Barbara Huxley was a member of the board of directors?”

“Chairwoman Huxley?”

“Yeah.”

If Barbara was in charge of the board of directors, she could control and suppress the cliques. Hanna nodded in response.

“Sounds good.”

“Use your judgment to form a transition team. Oh, I’ll make some calls regarding the transfer, so call this number.”

Ahn Soo Ho gestured Logan to run over and hand her a business card.

“Lauren Smith? From Smith & Heard?”

“Yeah. She’s a good lawyer.”

Smith & Heard was a top American firm with offices all over the world, and Lauren Smith was the representing lawyer there. If Barbara Huxley was the Jeanne d’Arc of the financial world, Lauren Smith was that of the legal world. However, Barbara Huxley—who was British—probably wouldn’t have liked a French hero sharing her title.

“I wish you luck.”

Ahn Soo Ho tapped Hanna on her shoulders, gave Scott a thumbs up, and then disappeared. She was about to turn around when she flinched.

‘I came here to convince him.’

But she was the one who got convinced. She felt like she was tricked, but she didn’t mind it. Hanna was just as frustrated as everyone else about how Holly Corporation losing its way.

‘This isn’t bad.’

Her heavy footsteps turned light, and she started humming out of her nose.

******

“I can’t believe you convinced that witch so easily… I’m impressed, Soo Ho.”

Scott patted his chest after parting with Hanna. He thought there was going to be a noisy discussion, but things worked out for his side so easily and even shut up the board of directors.

“You always know what your celebrities and the public want, but you have no idea what your subordinates and colleagues want.”

“I actually don’t. As soon as different interests get involved, my sentiments change.”

“So you understand the public that you don’t even know in person, yet you have no idea how your colleagues feel?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t have divorced four times.”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked in response.

“You should just live alone.”

“No! Everyone should love before they die! That’s the purpose of life!”

“What a romanticist.”

His Italian roots must have made him crazy for love. Scott slowly got to the point.

“I want to introduce you to someone.”

“Who?”

“Don’t get mad, okay?”

Ahn Soo Ho tilted his head in response.

His friend was definitely too care-free at times, but he was responsible when it came to business. Ahn Soo Ho was guided to the control tower attached to the studio. This place was originally a theme park, so there was a building that looked down on the entire area.

“Wow! IT’s nice to meet you, Mr. Ahn!”

The hairy man was talking to someone and then ran over to Scott as soon as he saw him before hugging Ahn Soo Ho. He asked Scott for an explanation with his eyes.

“Peter Elliot Mcqueen.”

Ahn Soo Ho had heard of his name before.

‘A film director?’

Why was he introducing him to a film director? Peter spoke up first.

“I saw the Shanghai street fighter footage on YouTube, Mr. Ahn! You’re really an oriental kungfu fighter! What do you think about making a masterpiece with me?”

‘Huh?’

< Protect – Episode 144 – Holly Corp. [2] > The end.

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