Chapter 96: < Protect – Episode 95 – The World’s Top 4 Beauty Pageants [1] >
Alleyas Frovesa sounded like some luxury fashion brand, but they were actually no different from a chicken or snack food restaurant. What Olivia said sounded convincing, but there was one weak point. It was definitely possible that they would try to make it look like Ahn Soo Ho committed suicide. But there had to be a precondition.
‘The large fortune paid by the client must be guaranteed by a bank or a money lender.’
The world of punks living off killing was smaller than expected. In contrast to the third-rate a.s.sa.s.sins who swung a bat or a knife as long as they were given a few bucks, the professional a.s.sa.s.sins never left a trace. The way they made their a.s.sa.s.sinations look like something else was different from third-rate a.s.sa.s.sins who left traces all over the place.
The top cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sins didn’t use guns very often.
Did that mean they were bad at shooting? Not at all. They were almost as good as Olympic gold medalists. The a.s.sa.s.sins of Alleyas could be divided into two categories. The group that planned ahead of time due to their disabled bodies and those who abandon the thought of surviving and just go in on their own. The ones who wanted to avoid scandals preferred the first option and those who wanted an act of clear revenge preferred the latter.
Alleyas was somewhere between the mercenaries and a.s.sa.s.sins, so they were not welcomed by either. And it was easy to trace those with physical flaws. Since people labeled disabled people as weak, they rarely perceived them as an a.s.sa.s.sin. However, if one looked for a specific person in that group, they were very easy to spot.
“I doubt you actually worry for me. What is it that you want?”
Ahn Soo Ho stared at Olivia. She smiled as she drank her mango juice.
“Arrange a meeting for me and Eric Rupi.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say it’s something personal.”
Eric Rupi’s high-cla.s.s escort service was active all over Europe. He probably tried his best to be careful, but the state security was not to be underestimated.
“Are you trying to plant an agent on a call girl?”
“Well, men don’t keep their distance with prost.i.tutes.”
France had an open-minded view on love which meant they were also open to adultery. Calling prost.i.tutes uneducated was all in the past. Beyond just satisfying people’s s.e.xual urges, the comfort and mental care they provided wasn’t something an uneducated woman could do.
There was so much interest surrounding this that “s.e.x therapy” became a word. And since the leaders of society were seduced by so many, they didn’t differentiate genders and ages. People with money, power, and popularity stood out anywhere they went.
“If you don’t use a high-cla.s.s agent properly, you’ll be the first one to get hurt.”
“I’m aware of that.”
It didn’t sound like an order from above.
“If you want to win over Eric, it won’t be easy without immunity from prosecution.”
“I don’t have that much authority yet. But I can perturb Roberto’s investigation.”
“Have you been targeting me all along? How entertaining.”
Roberto Aquillan was a tenacious character.
“There must be at least one flaw. If you want, I’ll get rid of him for you.”
“No.”
Ahn Soo Ho sternly shook his head.
Who would that benefit? Roberto Aquillan wasn’t just chasing after him. He was busy 24 hours a day digging for politicians and businessmen with dirty pasts. There could be more people wanting to kill him than Ahn Soo Ho. Seeing how he was still alive, it wasn’t wise to try to go at him.
‘A balance has been established.’
He had a good sense of politics as much as investigations.
“I’ll arrange a meeting for you and Eric soon.”
“Thank you.”
Olivia didn’t forget to make one more request before leaving her seat.
“Don’t cause any trouble in our country.”
“That makes me want to do it even more.”
“I’m not kidding. The commissioner might be stopping them for now, but the leaders of the government have a lot of regrets. So please stay quiet from now on.”
For those in intelligence and diplomacy, Ahn Soo Ho was like trusty insurance, bur for other politicians and government workers, he was like a natural disaster. Even after Olivia left him, he just sat there watching people come and go. The dry season had ended, but it still felt hot for a Korean.
Most Koreans didn’t know how blessed they were to have all four seasons of the year. They probably wished it was warm all year long, but they wouldn’t like that. Ahn Soo Ho got up from his seat as soon as the sun rose to the middle of the sky. Those who had traveled abroad before, knew that most places didn’t take credit cards unless they were famous tourist destinations.
Not many places took credit cards everywhere like Korea. Even in j.a.pan, they used cash more than cards. The trends have been slowly changing, but even 10 years ago, it would have been a struggle to travel with just cards. Even in Europe, it had to be a famous mall or restaurant to accept cards. In street cafes and restaurants, it was possible to get slapped if a person would pull out their card when paying.
Did that mean it was good to use credit cards? That depended on each country’s situation. Contrary to popular belief, self-owned businesses didn’t reject cards just because of tax evasion issues. It was hard to find another country like Korea that stressed the use of credit cards, but if a person did the same in the States, that individual was bound to get cursed at.
The cause of Korea’s excessive use of credit cards was due to the benefits given by credit card companies as well as high fees from franchises and trying to compensate them with events. The foreign credit card companies tried to leach off of both the customers and franchisers. The mindset was that both credit cards and companies should be paid the fair price.
‘In reality, the customer is not the king.’
If a person tried to use Korean habits of using Korean businesses in a foreign country, that person was bound to be sent to their afterlife. Ahn Soo Ho put on his sungla.s.ses.
‘All that’s left for me to do is wait.’
Since he promised to pay both Italy and France 500 million euros each, they were bound to contact him soon. No matter how much funding the intelligence agencies had, it was not enough. Some could have been suspicious of Ahn Soo Ho, but he didn’t have any particular intention. It was basically a donation out of pity.
When he got back to his hotel, he was greeted by Oh Joo Kyung who should have been in Seoul. It wasn’t just her but Daniel, too, who didn’t want to leave Korea.
“What brings you two to Monaco?”
Oh Joo Kyung grabbed her forehead and Daniel laughed bitterly and handed him his tablet PC.
“Huh? Ha!”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the internet news.
AS Monaco! Will Hosoo Entertainment take over?
Ahnsour! He’s challenging Mansour!
Ahn Soo Ho! Secret meeting with the vice-chairman of FIFA!
He could take over AC Milan!
He must help Korea’s soccer league first!
The articles in front of him made it sound like he was going to take over a sports team. The comments were arguing about how he should have bought the England team instead of that baseball was better than soccer.
“Did JTV release these?”
“Yes. It looks like it came from there.”
Since they never signed a confidential agreement, there was no legal violation, but seeing how the articles came up within 24 hours, they must have had bigger mouths than Han Kyung Il.
“They have big mouths.”
“Did you trust the broadcasting punks?”
“No.”
“Then you must have really thought about taking over a sports club.”
Instead of answering Oh Joo Kyung’s question, he looked back at Daniel.
“How’s the situation?”
“Good.”
“Can I take over both the broadcasting company and soccer club at the same time?”
“Of course.”
They didn’t mention the exact numbers, but they both got the idea. They understood each other very well. The reason why they came to Monaco was to give an overall briefing on Hosoo Entertainment Group. He wasn’t gone for long, but a lot had happened. As soon as Daniel’s funding plan briefing ended, Oh Joo Kyung presented a chart.
“After getting an a.s.sessment from a professional group and consulting the board of directors, I put JTV as first on the list to take over.”
“What a coincidence.”
Yoon Seok Joong and Ahn Hye Kyung were producers and writers of JTV. Then what kind of broadcasting company was JTV? Korea had a lot of television channels compared to the overall population. What most people didn’t know was that SBS wasn’t a national broadcaster. The only national broadcasters were KBS and MBC. Then how did SBS became known as a national broadcaster? They used local commercial broadcasting and transmission contracts to broadcast.
“The major shareholders of broadcasting companies are unable to possess more than 30 percent of the shares.”
“30 percent? That’s weird, Director Oh. From what I’ve heard, it’s 40 percent.”
“Really? Then I’ll check this one more time. Anyway, it’s impossible to possess 100 percent due to current regulations.”
In response to Daniel’s tackle, Oh Joo Kyung said she’d look into it again and then continued. A bunch of graphs and charts popped up on the projection screen.
“With terrestrial stations and channels working with major corporations excluded, most broadcasting stations are at a deficit. It’s fascinating that they haven’t gone bankrupt.”
“Why is that?”
“There are support funds, but they’re mostly in debt…the debt ratio is substantial. Even JTV has eaten away at their capital.”
Since many jobs were at these broadcasting companies, just one shutting down would lead to many unemployment.
“As I’ve said before, I want it to be completely mine.”
Hosoo Entertainment was solely Ahn Soo Ho’s. That wasn’t because he didn’t want to share profits but because he didn’t want anyone b.u.t.ting into his business.
He was like a dictator.
“That’s impossible unless you can change the law, CEO Ahn.”
“There must be a way.”
“You could have a company make lump partic.i.p.ation in the stocks.”
It was possible for a big company like Daesan Group to make lump partic.i.p.ation and yield voting rights. It was a shortcut, but it wasn’t illegal. Most broadcasting companies operated that way.
“If Daesan Group did that, there would be no problem with management rights.”
“That means I don’t have full control of who I pick as the directors.”
“If another major shareholder partic.i.p.ates…yes, it could be a pain.”
Ahn Soo Ho tapped the armrest of his chair.
“We could use the broadcasting market to make a deal with the government. For example, we could offer an employment buyout if we can take over all the broadcasting stations who are at a deficit, offer to improve working conditions, or make a wide-scale investment. How about that?”
“Wouldn’t the media oppose?”
“Who would hate getting a higher salary? It doesn’t matter even if they don’t like it.”
Ever since cable TV was established, the unwritten rule of not merging with newspapers and broadcasting ended. Broadcasting was the 4th power. At times, they were number one. It was a mountain that heirs had to conquer, and Ahn Soo Ho planned to walk on the flower trail that they had already paved.
“If you attempt to make a change with cable…you’ll have to make a lot of investments to quiet things down after the takeover.”
Movie, drama, music, and variety broadcasting were easy. But with news channels, their method of training professionals was different. In response to Oh Joo Kyung’s worried way of speaking, Ahn Soo Ho looked back at Daniel.
“What’s live ammunition we can use right away?”
“The company’s retention money…”
“No, we have that thing!”
He cut off Daniel. Oh Joo Kyung tilted her head at the sudden mention of “that thing”.
“Oh, that thing? Hm, we can spend 1 trillion right now, and maybe even 3 trillion in a month.”
“Really?”
From the hidden funds that they stole from China and j.a.pan, it was okay to use the cash right away. It still required a plan, but that was for Daniel to handle.
Ahn Soo Ho stroked his chin and then smiled.
“Do it.”
< Protect – Episode 95—The World’s Top 4 Beauty Pageants [1] > The end.