Chapter 105: < Protect – Episode 104 – Adult Fight [1] >
“Whenever you open your mouth, it turns into a controversy.”
“It’s hard being popular.”
“It looks like you’re enjoying it.”
He had to unleash the innermost thoughts that he held back because of his little sister’s ordeal a few days later. For someone with an impatient personality like Do Kyung Ho, the life of a famous person was more tiring than enjoyable. As a result, he no longer felt jealous of Ahn Soo Ho.
The lecture that he held at Lee So Hye’s school became a controversy. He used slang from beginning to end and he supposedly corrupted the p.u.b.erty-stricken kids with stories about rich celebrities. Ahn Soo Ho didn’t try to explain himself. He just said one thing.
‘So what?’
This phrase spread outside of his little sister’s school to students all over the country. That, along with Ahn Soo Ho’s easygoing image spread like wildfire. As soon as other schools expressed their intimidating stances on the matter, the head of the Ministry of Education jumped in.
“I can’t believe you’re talking about founding a specialized school instead of shutting your mouth… This is like robbery in broad daylight.”
“This is how you make a deal.”
Most would have succ.u.mbed to the pressure or request of the government, but Ahn Soo Ho just challenged him with the “So what?” att.i.tude. This was why a person’s image was important. He was innovative, rebellious, and capable, but he also had an image that was threatening to another person’s existence.
Ahn Soo Ho planned 10 to 20 years ahead.
If the establishments didn’t want to be friendly to him, he had no choice but to change them or establish one himself. Since he already had one foot in the entertainment world, it wasn’t a bad idea to try out this industry as well. An agency’s power certainly depended on how many popular celebrities they had, but if they wanted real influence, they had to focus on the person that created those stars.
The broadcasting system was very capitalist.
“It’s about time that the flies start swarming in. Any news?”
He sat in a common restaurant with Do Kyung Ho who had become the head of maintenance at Hosoo Entertainment Group and chatted away. Oh Joo Kyung graduated from a prestigious university and worked at Daesan Group, so it was understandable, but people thought of Do Kyung Ho as someone who got in through connections since he used to be in a gang.
Despite being retired, as soon as Do Kyung Ho started succeeding, more and more people tried to get a slice of the pie by loitering around him. Do Kyung Ho didn’t have any interest in helping them, but a bunch of trashy losers didn’t think that far.
“Don’t worry. I changed their way of thinking, so they won’t do anything stupid.”
“No, I’m not worried about them… I’m worried about you, Kyung Ho.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Did you hear anything from your in-laws?”
“Oh.”
Do Kyung Ho scratched his cheek as if he remembered something.
As soon as Ahn Soo Ho became well-known in Korean society, everyone connected to him became the focus of attention. There were many who viewed Do Kyung Ho negatively, but he was still happy since he was able to find his wife’s family.
“We’re going to get remarried.”
“Oh, that’s good! They say all women dream of wearing a beautiful wedding dress once in their lives. Your first wedding wasn’t so great.”
“We had no choice back then.”
Since he suddenly got her pregnant and both sides of the family opposed their marriage, they had no choice but to elope.
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“I can handle it.”
“Yeah right!”
Ahn Soo Ho took out his phone.
“Do you know a good wedding planner? Oh, it’s for a friend of mine, not me. Yeah, book an appointment for me. Thanks.”
As soon as he put down his phone, Do Kyung Ho leaned in.
“Who was that?”
“You wouldn’t know even if I told you. I booked an appointment, so talk to them when they visit. This isn’t a one-man job. Does Hye Jung know?”
“No, I haven’t told her yet.”
“You dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Go and call… No, just go home. I’ll book you a nice restaurant so you can propose to her again. Do you have a ring?”
“A ring?”
“Sigh. Poor Hye Jung.”
Ahn Soo Ho sighed deeply.
This b.a.s.t.a.r.d was really bad at dating. Ahn Soo Ho chose not to date anyone before Jang Seol Hyun, it wasn’t that he was bad at it. The thing that couldn’t be left out in a proposal was a diamond ring. The diamond industry was dirty and corrupted, but women liked it. Ahn Soo Ho made Do Kyung Ho leave so that he could look into the size of his wife’s ring.
He looked at his watch.
It was 2:44 PM. It was a bit too early to go home, but he was the CEO there. He left a message telling the secretary not to look for him and then left. Ahn Soo Ho was famous now so most Korean people recognized him, but he used his magic so that he could roam about freely.
He sat on the 2nd floor of a café in Gangnam and looked out onto the busy streets. Since Ahn Soo Ho had traveled all over the world, he could figure out a country’s vibe just by looking at the people’s expressions. Korea was a very dynamic country even in his eyes. This generation was sensitive to external changes, so they were like chameleons always adapting to new conditions.
The upside to that was that the rapid industrialization led to a rich abundance of materialism, but the mindset was frozen in the Joseon era. The high suicide rate, polarization, a big difference between the rich and the poor, and the low academic achievement were just a few negative aspects of the society.
‘There are limits to making changes here and there.’
Korea’s economic boost relied on the sacrifice of another. That really didn’t make any sense. They tried to make it sound better than it was, but the truth was, some had to be sacrificed for the good of the rest.
“What will happen to Korea? Will it be better tomorrow than it is today?”
The person who responded to Ahn Soo Ho’s mumbling was the white man across from him.
“Korea has economic power. It has China and j.a.pan on each side.”
“That means it can’t get up on its own.”
“On its own? There’s no country that can succeed on its own, Soo Ho. Not even the Yankees can survive on their own. That’s why they get involved in everything they can. They send the Marines with the excuse that it’s for the gain of the entire world.”
Vitali Andropov maintained his position as the amba.s.sador of Russia.
“How’s Moscow?”
“I didn’t realize this when I was in Korea, but my homeland is really cold.”
“Are you going to keep hanging around me?”
“I know this sounds funny, but Korea is the safest country right now.”
The safest country in the world was right beside North Korea? Anyone else would have laughed at this, but some who understood would have nodded.
“Well, congratulations.”
“I appreciate it.”
Vitali Andropov took over Moscow and became the newest most powerful man in Russia. The quiet coup d’etat ended successfully. The media’s demand that every leading figure of Moscow got switched out was like a win for the people of Russia.
“Are you going to keep your position as amba.s.sador?”
“For the time being.”
“It’s not advisable to leave Moscow when you just seized power.”
“As I said, Korea is the safest place to be.”
That meant an a.s.sa.s.sination request had already been made.
“I’m not going to help you no matter what happens.”
“I don’t expect you to. Just don’t kick me out.”
“What are you two talking about?”
Another white person jumped into Ahn Soo Ho and Vitali’s conversation. But she was a woman. The red-headed woman used to work at the Ministry of National Defence but was now an American amba.s.sador in Korea by the name of Pamela Woods. Her last meeting with Ahn Soo Ho was in Hawaii, and she partic.i.p.ated in bringing down the Pentagon in exchange for him solving the issue in Brazil, which led to her being hated by the Secretary of Defence.
“Did you get kicked out of the Pentagon?”
“Tell him I got a better job, Soo Ho.”
“Is this your first time meeting Vitali? Say h.e.l.lo.”
Pamela and Vitali smiled and shook hands, but the States and Russia were on very bad terms. But of course, their relationship had nothing to do with the relationship of their countries. When an amba.s.sador moved, their guards would get closer, leading to a glare war between the guards of Russia and the States.
“Tsk, tsk.”
“How embarra.s.sing.”
When Ahn Soo Ho clicked his tongue, Vitali frowned and Pamela scratched her cheek out of embarra.s.sment.
“We should relocate because of you two.”
They relocated to a fancy restaurant. In the middle of eating side dishes on the table, Ahn Soo Ho stopped as if he remembered something.
“What happened with Jina Davis who committed suicide?”
“The public understood that she must have been in a difficult situation while also criticizing her for her irresponsible behavior. The current government is getting criticized, most of that criticism was because of Jina Davis.”
“I’m sure. Many people died to save her life… The military must have opposed big time.”
“The Davis administration is judged to have the least influence on the military. This is fatal when it comes to solving international problems.”
“By the way, why did you accept the amba.s.sador position?”
“People like me have to acc.u.mulate experience when everyone else is sparing themselves. And working in South Korea looks especially good because of North Korea. If I do a good job here, I could have a chance at becoming a member of the upper house.”
“How clever.”
Ahn Soo Ho noticed Pamela had great ambitions from the first time they met. She was like the female version of Vitali.
“I’m sure neither of you came here to just say h.e.l.lo. Get to the point already.”
Pamela and Vitali looked at each other. It looked like they were telling each other to talk first. When no one talked, Ahn Soo Ho made another proposal.
“Since Pamela is new, Vitali, you go first.”
Ahn Soo Ho was probably the only person who could treat Pamela like a newbie. Vitali laughed and opened his mouth.
“A new situation has arisen in J-Law and Issac’s war.”
“A new situation?”
“A third-party power that doesn’t listen to J-Law or Issac has appeared. They’re claiming to be the ones who’ll restore tradition and order. The ones who left Allayas joined them, too.”
“That sounds predictable… Aren’t they the anti-wizards or whatever they’re called?”
“Probably.”
Not everyone in the world liked Ahn Soo Ho. He walked the path of blood and as a result of his violence, countless organizations and human relations were totaled. Anti-wizards were those who were going against Ahn Soo Ho, and a portion of the criminal planning group, General Ashford wasn’t just an anti-wizard, he totally despised Ahn Soo Ho.
“Pamela, are you here to talk about my antis, too?”
“Out of the internal doc.u.ments that were revealed during the Sao Paolo scandal and the Senate hearing, most of them were related to the CIA. I don’t think the anti-wizards are just people who hate you. I think they’re planning on an organizational level.”
Ahn Soo Ho clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Pamela, Pamela. Don’t you know me yet? I can kill all of those anti-wizards singlehandedly.”
No one could escape his grasp without leaving the earth.
The reason why he didn’t kill them was because they weren’t a threat. The anti-wizards were like mosquitos. The mosquitos that fly around a person’s house were usually killed, but there was no need to go outside in order to kill those who were outside or in other people’s houses.
“I don’t care if they hate me. That’s their right. But if they come to me and flap their traps, I’ll have to beat them to a pulp.”
Ahn Soo Ho had no intention of treating those who came to him to curse him as civilized people. The one who added to it in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s laughter wasn’t Pamela, but Vitali.
“You’re not the target of the anti-wizards, Soo Ho. If you were their target, we wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
Ahn Soo Ho stopped laughing.
“Their target is your fiancé.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”
Vitali didn’t want to joke and then die. Ahn Soo Ho remembered his manners with Pamela.
“I apologize, Pamela.”
He then changed his gaze to a scary one and looked at them both.
“So what’s their plan?”
< Protect – Episode 104 – Adult Fight [1] > The end.