Soho

Chapter 56: < Protect – Episode 55 – Kim Na Hee [3] >

After Ahn Soo Ho officially announced his retirement, he received calls from all over the place. There were those who felt bad for him, as well as those who were displeased or annoyed. He knew it was this kind of neighborhood, and the responses weren’t surprising either.

There was an even weirder response.

“We’re retiring too.”

“Why?”

Logan announced his retirement. No, not just him. It was also his underlings, Alexa, as well as Kosino. It was strange for Kosino, who was obsessed with money, to follow the faithful Alexa into retirement.

“Kosino, you too? I thought you were going to stab me in the back and run away.”

“Come on. He loves Soo Ho.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t you know?

Logan asked as if he was surprised that he didn’t know.

“Oh, it’s true.”

“Why do you like me?”

“Isn’t this what Koreans say? Bad affection is affection too?”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

Zumba Kosino, who was half Filipino and half Japanese, was so hurt in the past that he didn’t trust other people. In some aspects, he was overly suspicious. In any case, since Ahn Soo Ho backed out, a battle in the information and mercenary world was inevitable. The war for the throne had begun.

‘It’s none of my business.’

He didn’t want to get involved with them, he didn’t care if they beat or killed each other. From the outside, Ahn Soo Ho’s life didn’t change. After he came back from his morning run, he took his sleepy little sister to school.

‘It’s hard to be a student.’

Ahn Soo Ho had a fascinating technique to pass the exam without much effort, but the Korean entrance exam was very difficult. After that, he read English newspapers while drinking coffee. Mrs. Park was pretty busy these days. She went to cooking classes and enjoyed her later years. When there was any kind of leisure, the first thing most people looked for were their buried dreams. It was possible that his mother’s dream was to learn, like it was for most parents.

He got ready for work at around 11 and then arrived at work at lunch time. At first, he was pestered by Oh Joo Kyung’s nagging, but in recent days, he got a good grasp of his position. Being the chief secretary and the executive director was quite absurd, but she was certain that she wanted to become the president, so every day was enjoyable and rewarding.

He had lunch in the cafeteria.

Even though Ahn Soo Ho was the CEO and president, he wasn’t the authoritative type. With just four days before the pep rally, the employees had very favourable feelings toward the owner. That was why he planned it.

“Any problems?”

“No, Sir! Thank you!”

The boy groups and girl groups had the courage to approach him first, but the solo celebrities like actors and singers had to be approached by Ahn Soo Ho.

“Are there any problems?”

“No, Sir.”

Actors and singers had a tendency to look down upon idols. What they didn’t’ know was that outside of Korea, idols were somewhat more famous than they were. Unless they were like Jang Seol Hyun, they were all the same.

Before lunch time ended, he met Daniel on the roof and listened to his difficulties. Daniel cursed in Korean about his dissatisfaction with Korean public officials and accounting firms, and whoever taught him did a good job. After reuniting with his family, he applied to be naturalized to Korea. Did he had no interest in going back to the States? That was unknown. But there was one more thing he didn’t know.

“You too?”

“I’ve grown to like South Korea.”

Logan and his underlings applied to be naturalized too.

Since they made the decision, it was up to them on what they would do. The problem was that they bought land near Cheongdam-dong with premiums which made the housing prices skyrocket. They could be misunderstood for speculation in real estate. There were tons of people who wanted to harass him with things that were legal.

Once a star was well established, they didn’t go to the agency building very much. That was because they were more comfortable where they didn’t have to mind others. But recently, 99% of the Hosoo Entertainment celebrities stamped their attendance cards every day. It was crazy for Ahn Soo Ho to order things that wouldn’t profit his company, but it wasn’t normal as well that Oh Joo Kyung and Daniel were obeying and carrying it out without second thought.

Hosoo Entertainment Town Program

There were rumors that 10 trillion won was being assigned to building a complex around Star Tower just for Hosoo Entertainment, but it hadn’t actually been officially announced. 10 trillion won was more than what national projects cost to carry out.

“Ms. Oh has quite the temper as well.”

“Why? Did she turn you down?”

“Is dating within the company prohibited?”

“No.”

As it sounds, Alexa wasn’t a male but a female. The faithful mercenary was a woman. A woman getting turned down by a woman?

“Isn’t it obvious? That means she’s lesbian.”

“That’s sexual discrimination, Soo Ho.”

“I don’t know how much has changed, but the Korean society that I know is very conservative. Don’t feel hurt just because it’s about your star.”

The problem was that Alexa, who had a good reputation unlike Kosino, was getting treated unfairly because of her unique taste.

“Did you look into it?”

“There’s no connection between the South Korean president and China. But...”

“But?”

“It seems as though China, South Korea, Russia, and even Japan have come to some sort of agreement with North Korea.”

As soon as the reason why the Korean Minister of Defense advised going to Pyeongyang came to mind, he was reminded of someone’s face.

‘Cha Jong Oh.’

The presence of the Joseon Democratic People’s Republic was nonsense in the 21st century. From North Korea’s point of view, they were just relieved that they weren’t close to them physically. If they were, they would have turned out like Cuba. Despite the help of China and Russia, their economic system went to shit, and they were using fear as their last resort.

The reason why North Korea was still alive was all because of their assassination squads and drug businesses. Especially for heroine and meth, North Korea was in the top 3 of all of Southeast Asia. They were the drug kingdom.

The problem was that due to their opium war experience with China, they were very strict about cases related to drugs. The suppliers were sentenced to death no matter what. Foreigners were no exception. And when it came to drug problems China wouldn’t help North Korea. Therefore, North Korea competed against Russia’s Red Mafia and created a drug cartel called Red Mask, and the CEO of that organization was Cha Jong Oh.

“Did Red Mask betray their own country?”

“They’ve always seemed suspicious.”

Since he tasted the fault of democracy once before, it wasn’t easy for him to go back to his past of poverty.

“How did Korea get involved?”

“As soon as China blocked North Korea’s route, they were left with Tumen River and...”

“Gaeseong Industrial Complex.”

“That’s right.”

“Did you bribe the employee from the Minister of Unification?”

“I don’t know his exact whereabouts. Should I look into it?”

“No, leave it.”

It wasn’t advisable to dig into something and expect to not get involved with it. Ahn Soo Ho let out a bitter laugh, and then he thought in the way he had always thought before retiring, which startled him. This was why habits were scary. After drinking the tea and coffee that his secretary got for him, it was four o’clock in no time. If he leaves now, he could pick up his little sister.

‘What should we eat for dinner tonight?’

Living with a mom and sister who liked cooking made him interested in cooking too. As soon as Ahn Soo Ho left the office, the secretaries stood up from their seats. He waved his hand and greeted them.

“I’m leaving now. Please don’t follow me out, and go home as soon as you can as well.”

It was impossible to go home early in the entertainment business, but if one hated that, one just had to become the president.

“Lu-lu.”

What a fun day it was.

“You’re going home.”

“Why? Do you feel discouraged?”

The subordinate’s discouraged voice made the CIA Asia Director, Lydia smirking. In recent days, they spent their time leisurely according to when Ahn Soo Ho came and left work.

“Why are you focusing so much manpower and money on a man who announced his retirement?”

“Because he’s worth it.”

“I agree that Mr. Guardian is impressive...but he decided on the bankruptcy for himself. He can no longer have influence over the information and mercenary world.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Lydia showed a strange face to what her subordinate said. Someone once asked a similar question.

‘It’s me.’

Lydia was the main character of the last question. Ten years ago, her predecessor said this.— “If you should keep your enemies closer than friends, where should the monsters be?”—Lydia needed a few years to understand that.

She looked at her subordinate.

“How long has it been since you entered this company?”

“Six years.”

“Six years? That’s a long time. Back in my day, you were a veteran after six years. But these days, there are tons of you.”

The information world was quiet for a pretty long time. The reason was because of a mediator named Ahn Soo Ho. If someone was proven to be a spy, they usually would go missing or die. But the countries that weren’t fond of Ahn Soo Ho’s involvement habitually just ended it with an agreement.

“Have you heard of Kadeshi Morken?”

“Are you talking about the assassin family?”

“Yeah. They were once a strong organization with more than 5000 assassins. We couldn’t mess with them either.”

There were a few groups that not even the States could mess with.

“We weren’t really interested when a middleman showed up in this world out of nowhere. That’s because countless of them appear and then disappear right after. But he was different. He tended to act alone. That’s a ridiculous thing to do though.”

For high-risk operations, it was unlikely for even the aces to come back alive.

“But he managed to complete over twenty special operations all on his own.”

“Is that Mr. Guardian?”

“At the time, it wasn’t a tacky name like ‘Guardian Angel’. He was more like the death angel. And when he ran into Kadeshi Morken, we were sad that another promising rookie was going to disappear.”

5000 vs. 1 wasn’t a proportion that was in his favor.

“However, he didn’t run or hide. A fight broke out at sundown and ended before sunrise. What do you think happened?”

The subordinate gulped as if this was his first time hearing about this.

“He was the only one that survived. On top of that, he sent Kadeshi’s head via DHL to Langley...which remains a legend.”

She still couldn’t forget the white face of the CIA agent that she saw when she opened the box. She even tried to kidnap Ahn Soo Ho to get her on her side.

“How can one person kill 5000 people overnight? No one helped him, that’s for sure.”

The subordinate didn’t say anything, and Lydia smiled as if she expected that.

“The Magician. That’s when we started calling him The Magician.”

His code name was Wizard. Anyone under his influence had to find sanctuary. But looking back on it, there weren’t many people who didn’t want the peace that came after.

“People realized it. ‘Oh, a monster shouldn’t be left alone.’ That’s when we realized that the best thing to do was to leave him where we could see him. We were the ones who gave him his reputation as a middleman. It turned out that way after we repeatedly started disputes and asked for his help. You’re probably wondering why.”

It was a simple reason.

“Because everyone wanted to be close to him.”

It didn’t matter if his strength was called a superpower or magic. The important thing was to become close with this man who was either a superhuman or a wizard. So that no one would monopolize on Ahn Soo Ho’s skills.

“We did him a favor by boosting his reputation. In the end, he didn’t end up hiding in the dark, just as we intended.”

“Is that what’s important?”

“Yeah. Not hiding. That’s what’s important.”

Just knowing his location was good enough.

“If he tries to hide, no one will be able to find him.”

When he knocked down the information system of the American government and went into hiding, the States took a hit that was unrecoverable.

“If the final moment comes...”

Only one thing could protect the pride that remained.

“A hack missile will be used to kill him.”

< Protect – Episode 55 – Kim Na Hee [3] > The end.