Chapter 53: < Protect – Episode 52 – Comradery Association [3] >

Ahn Soo Ho suddenly felt annoyed. It was called a favor, but it was pretty much a command. He talked as if he was saying the answer was already there.

“No.”

Whenever he felt annoyed, he swore or said no without meaning to. Saying no was so impactful compared to other phrases or no in other languages. Jung Il Young knitted his brows as if he heard it wrong.

“Did you just turn me down, Mr. Ahn? We can charge you for murder. You need to repay us.”

“Haha!”

Ahn Soo Ho laughed and clapped to Jung Il Young’s threat.

“That’s right. That’s how you should come off. Why act like you’re a gentleman?”

“What?”

His intimidating way of talking made him frown as if he was shocked. Ahn Soo Ho pushed the tablet PC that was on the table.

“Jung Il Young, born in 1961 in Chungnam, second born, information like this can be found on the internet so I’ll pass. Oh! You have a lot of accounts under your family and relatives’ names. If you combine them all, it’s probably over five billion. You’ve also engaged in a lot of prostitution.”

Jung Il Young’s eyes shooked like candlelight.

“Wow! You’re doing it all over the place! Japan, China, Thailand, the Philippines, the Netherlands, oh! Since the tulip country is legal, we’ll pass that one. But it’s illegal in the States.”

“How?”

“Because the brokers who provided you with this pleasure left a record. You didn’t actually trust them, did you?”

Ahn Soo played a sex tape of Jung Il Young panting on the tablet PC.

“Nothing’s free in this world.”

People often thought what they received through lobbyists were free, but nothing came for free. Whether a person was in the national association or the comradery association, no one would provide free services for no reason. In this dog-eat-dog world, the only person that could be trusted was one’s self.

“You’re close with the current president, you’re partially in the comradery association, and you have some shares with the national association…”

His whereabouts told him that he wasn’t pro-Japanese or pro-American, but more like pro-Chinese.

‘Would you look at that?’

As soon as Alexa and the Kosino team went through Jung Il Young’s information, many illegal things arose. If Korea National Association was pro-Japanese and Comradery Association was pro-American, the force behind the governmental department was surprisingly close to China.

‘Does Lee Joong Hyun hate Korean National Association and Comradery Association because he’s pro-Chinese? Or did he hold hands with China in order to free himself from their influence?’

He didn’t have much interest in the Korean president’s tendencies.

“Mr. Jung.”

“Mm.”

Jung Il Young made a heavy sound in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s calling.

“Let’s pretend not to know each other. If we get involved with each other, you’ll be at a loss, so let’s just go our separate ways.”

If the Minister of National Defense had come with an entourage, Ahn Soo Ho might have been in for trouble, but luckily, there were only two people in the office.

Jung Il Young knew the president, the national association, and the comradery association, which made him a neutral zone. A negotiator? A representative? He didn’t know what it took for him to approach him, but he didn’t have the least bit of interest in swaying him with nationality.

Ahn Soo Ho, who gave Jung Il Young the middle finger as he left, received a briefing from Logan.

“Alexa found that the comradery association, the national association, and the president had a secret meeting where they made the negotiation.”

“I knew it. But why are they getting me involved?”

“Because they think you might be useful.”

“I can’t believe they’re still being greedy after all the deaths…are they crazy?”

The punishment of violating the unwritten rule of mercenaries could have been left for a subordinate to take care of. So taking care of it himself was like a warning message to the powerful people of Korea.

There was no order when it came to death.

“What about Pinkerton?”

“The private detectives disappeared in Moscow. The board of directors dispatched Grey Head, and they pointed at Zero as the culprit.”

“Something doesn’t sound right.”

J-Law was an apparent assassin, but he had never been on the wanted list. That was because he had a rule of not killing them if they weren’t evil. Justice-Law shortened to J-Law. He was an assassin, but he wasn’t an unlikable man.

“What should I do? Should I dig further?”

“No.”

J-Law wasn’t unlikable, but that didn’t mean he wanted to watch out for him.

“Look into Lee Joong Hyun’s connection with China. Oh, leave it to Kosino. He’s just fooling around, isn’t he?”

“Haha.”

“He needs to have a gun to his head to get some work done. If he gets caught fooling around, throw him out the window.”

Logan tried to laugh it off, but it was difficult. There were mercenaries like Alexa who carried out their duties well, but there were also countless slackers like Kosino. As soon as Logan left, Oh Joo Kyung came in.

“You can leave now.”

“Huh? Where?”

She sighed in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s question.

“I’ve been telling you for a few days now. The Dream Concert.”

“Sorry. But do I have to go?”

“If you don’t, you’ll become an outcast.”

He didn’t think it mattered since the one with the most money had the power, but he had to go along with Oh Joo Kyung so that she wouldn’t lose face. Since the Dream Concert was a large concert attended by many agencies, many things were done to make their own stars stand out, and since this was Hosoo Entertainment’s first attendance, they had to mind how they were viewed. With Ahn Soo Ho’s strong remarks, they weren’t the axis of evil, but they were common enemies.

“Ugh! It’s so crowded!”

The outside of the Olympic stadium where the Dream Concert was being held was crowded since the day before, and on the day of the concert, there were crazy hoards of people. It was no longer fascinating to see the security guards getting into tussles with the fans.

“What about our safety guards?”

“We signed a contract with Youngjin Security Consulting.”

“Are they good?”

“Scale-wise, they’re the third best in the country.”

As soon as Ahn Soo Ho inserted an in-ear walkie-talkie, he heard noisy conversations.

– Did they all get surgery from the same hospital?

– They were a bunch of Gangnam beauties.

– She looked like Jung Shik’s girlfriend. Was she…

– I’ll kill you, you bastard.

– Be careful, you punk. There are many chicks that leave for a Gucci bag.

– Min Kyung isn’t like that.

In response to the noisy conversation, the employee from Youngjin Security Consulting knitted his brows and apologized to Ahn Soo Ho.

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

“Let them be. I’m sure they’ll do their jobs.”

He didn’t want to be on uncomfortable terms from the beginning.

“Where are the facility guards from?”

“Most of them are from International Guard, and the police have been dispatched as well.”

“International Guard?”

“It’s a security guard company formed by retired police officers that has great connections. It’s considered a large company.”

As soon as he went inside, he saw many people moving busily. What he was sure of was that they weren’t fans.

‘They say one well-trained star keeps the entire company fed…’

At this rate, one couldn’t look down on the celebrity’s employees either.

“Get back to work.”

“Pardon? What about you?”

“I told you. I’ll show my face around, but it’s your job to manage the company. I’ll get there in time. Don’t worry.”

“Yes, Sir.”

She made it seemed like she just went along with the suggestion, but Ahn Soo Ho knew Oh Joo Kyung was happy. Women were prudes regardless of their age. It was best for men to just pretend like they didn’t know anything. He shooed away all the employees, put on a VIP pass and went off to explore on his own. After going through a complicated path, he reached the stage.

The back of the stage was surprisingly quiet. There were many singers and dancers getting ready to perform, and there was a familiar face among them. What was her name? He didn’t know. He realized that the only stars he knew at Hosoo Entertainment were Jang Seol Hyun and Do Min Ho. Even if he didn’t care, it was pathetic.

“What brings you, oh. I’m sorry.”

The safety guards stationed all over the Olympic stadium approached Ahn Soo Ho and then backed off once they saw his VIP pass. The gold VIP pass was the highest rank among the VIP passes. One of the managers with a Hosoo Entertainment ID card met eyes with him, tilted his head, and then flinched.

He whispered something to someone beside him who seemed like his superior. He flew over.

“CEO Ahn! Did you come here alone? Why didn’t you call us?”

“That’s okay.”

He didn’t remember the name or face of the person who ran over.

“Everyone! Say hello!”

That was the beginning. What followed were a bunch of idol-like introductions.

‘Wh…what is this? Are they all going through puberty? My hands and feet smell! Get lost, you smelly bastards!’

That was what he wanted to say, but he put his image first. Ahn Soo Ho saw the well-dressed girls and smiled. That was right. Beauty was the truth.

“Wow!”

Seeing how the cheering started, they must have started their entrances.

“Wow!”

There wasn’t a separate VIP seat close to the stage. Since this wasn’t a classical concert, if people got carried away, the safety guards couldn’t stop them. If a bunch of civilians came in big numbers, they were also strong. That was why riots were scary. There were around 400 VIP seats. If it wasn’t on a separate level, it would have been embarrassing to call VIP seats.

Besides the company people, reporters, and family, he saw celebrities and personal guards. With such a big concert that gathered so many agencies, it was a relief if there was no deficit. One could call it a pride contest. The order and stage effects changed depending on a celebrities popularity, so this was where the ranks were decided.

The key person that Hosoo Entertainment sent was an idol from the old Shinhwa Entertainment. That didn’t mean FNB didn’t measure up, but their lineup of great singers was at a whole different level. There were countless entertainment officials who criticized Ahn Soo Ho’s idea that money could get everything while also being jealous.

“It’s nice to meet you, CEO Ahn. I’m Seo Joo Kyung from JT.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ahn Soo Ho.”

Oh Joo Kyung, who was working on making connections in the VIP lounge, introduced Ahn Soo Ho to Seo Joo Kyung as soon as he appeared. Was it because she had the same name? Oh Joo Kyung put other agency CEO’s aside and put Seo Joo Kyung in front of him.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“They’re probably false rumors.”

“Oh my! Most of what I heard turned out to be true.”

People assumed people in the entertainment business lived exciting lives full of parties, but the reality was that they worked irregular hours and unbelievable workloads. In particular, the singers had to go from event to event, and actors had to travel long distances, so they spent most of their time in the car.

The reason why Hosoo Entertainment Group was still talked about by entertainment officials was because of their groundbreaking transportation system. They bought buildings in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Jeonju, Wonju, and Gangneung with helicopter landing pads. There were remodeled accommodations attached to the office so that they could go to events and shoots from there. The helicopter would transfer them to these buildings and then cars were used to get them to their final destinations.

And the result? It was very convenient.

The problem was that the tail was wagging the dog. In order to make the helicopters operate, they needed to establish an airline company, and the prices and maintenance fees of the employees, inspections, and parts needed were astronomical.

“I heard you have multiple private jets.”

“Yes…It turned out that way.”

“That’s impressive.”

Hosoo Entertainment didn’t only have helicopters, but they also had Boing planes and business jets. It might seem like they made an enormous investment, but they actually got it from the CIA and the Pentagon. Scale-wise, the airline company was so big that it made the entertainment business seemed like a hobby.

“Hosoo Entertainment will only go up from here. I’m jealous.”

Hearing Seo Joo Kyung’s flattery made him felt like his nose was getting higher. He didn’t know if it was instinctive or intentional, but she used the skills of a maneater. When Ahn Soo Ho looked to Oh Joo Kyung, their eyes met. Seeing how she nodded, Seo Joo Kyung must have made a proposal.

‘If Oh Joo Kyung is pushing for it, I’m sure there’s a reason.’

Ahn Soo Ho didn’t like to test the waters.

“Do you need money?”

“You’re just as broad-minded as I’ve heard.”

“I don’t like to waste any energy. Please get to the point.”

He spoke in a rude way, but in the entertainment world, Ahn Soo Ho was perceived as a 3rd generation heir. To put it nicely, he was a scary young master, but if one would put it badly, he was a rich pushover.

‘This doesn’t feel so bad.’

In a dark world full of blood and death, he was put at a distance as a monster who didn’t die. No one dared to approach him, let alone treat him like a crazy person. Unlike Hollywood, the Korean entertainment world didn’t fall for his scary reputation. The only thing that worked here was money. He used a lot already, but they only wanted more.

“I want to enter Hosoo Entertainment with my artists.”

“Aren’t you a director?”

“That’s right. I’m the figurehead, but I’m only a director.”

Seo Joo Kyung laughed bitterly. No matter the industry, it wasn’t easy for a woman to become an executive or a committee member.

“How much do you need?”

“Are you really going to give it to me?”

She was surprised. In order to take out celebrities currently under a contract, cancellation charges had to be paid. When Seo Joo Kyung and Oh Joo Kyung looked at him with surprise, Ahn Soo Ho smiled awkwardly.

“That’s not even that much money.”

The transfer window of Korea would be destroyed!

< Protect – Episode 52 – Comradery Association [3] > The end.

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