Chapter 74
Chapter 74: < Protect – Episode 73 – Show Me the Money [6] >
Ahn Soo Ho just hated the States, not all Americans. If the majority of Americans worked toward justice and righteous beliefs, he would have cheered them on rather than make fun of them. The States was the worst criminal country, but on the other hand, they always made their best effort for the next generation.
“Hwang Min Wook, sixty-six years old, and a former criminal.”
The source origin of Seo Joo Kyung’s sex tape came out.
Just like she predicted, it was JT Entertainment’s president, Hwang Min Wook, and many CEOs of the entertainment world that had criminal records. He didn’t become a criminal because he was evil, but because once a person operated an entertainment company, being sued becomes a regular thing for them to encounter. However, being charged for 10 times was a bit much.
“Apparently, a bad rumor has been going around for a while now.”
“Is he related to a mob?”
“Not a Korean gang but a yakuza.”
The report that Cranky and Kosino worked hard for, had some shocking information.
“Instablue.”
It might sound a lot like Instagram, but it was completely different. In this dark site, when a person inputs the information of attractive individuals that clients dreamt of, it would come up with a suitable partner. It might sound like a decent service at first, but as the clients became more creative with their fantasies, the rate of violence also went up.
“It seems like a simple supply chain with a separate broker.”
“So he’s just a servant.”
“Yes. There are quite a few other people who are in the same position as Hwang Min Wook.”
It was possible that Hwang Min Wook was just a scapegoat used by the broker. However, whether he acted on his own will or not didn’t matter.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re planning to dispatch the monitoring team and use wiretaps and secret cameras.”
“Do you think it was the broker’s orders?”
“No, Sir. Hwang Min Wook acted on his own.”
If the broker attacked Hosoo Entertainment while knowing that, then they either had a lot of guts or they had no idea who he was. Kosino excluded the possibility of the broker’s involvement. There was no one stupid enough in the dark sites to not knew of the broker, Wizard.
“Then there’s no need for us to step up.”
The brokers who didn’t want to antagonize Ahn Soo Ho were likely willing to bring Hwang Min Wook’s head as an apology.
“We can just wrap it up on our own, but using a special inspector team could yield better results.”
“For example?”
“Chief Superintendent Yoon Chul’s advancement and Kim Soo Jung’s newsroom.”
Ahn Soo Ho nodded in satisfaction.
The one who made the request to the senior secretary was Yoon Chul. It was hard to stand out because there were so many of them, but just participating in a special inspection was helpful in their career. If they make arresting the powerful people possible, their promotion was in the bag.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
As soon as Kosino disappeared, Logan came in.
“How’s Director Seo?”
“She’s doing well. She’s a strong woman.”
“I’m sure she is. She’s not the type to be phased by this.”
Average people were unable to endure such an exposed scandal. Even the employees found out that it was Seo Joo Kyung in the tape. And they didn’t try to stop her past from being exposed to the netizens. It wasn’t possible to stop. If they were going to find out sooner or later, sooner was better.
They would have been suspected of trying to shift the attention with the sex tape for political reasons. Seo Joo Kyung earned sympathy, and Hosoo Entertainment gained a positive image. That was because they didn’t kick out an employee for being involved in a sex tape scandal.
“You must go, CEO Ahn.”
As soon as the secretary said that, Ahn Soo Ho looked at his watch and then got up. He agreed to give a lecture for his little sister today. It was just a lecture for a bunch of high school seniors, but as soon as Ahn Soo Ho’s name was included in the special inspection team, things went nuts.
Since there was an entertainment CEO among well-known people from all walks of life, it was no wonder it was fascinating. Just like at the BRICS Summit not long ago, there was something about the CEO of Hosoo Entertainment that the public didn’t know about. The chairman of Daesan Group was an impressive figure as well, but the American president and the Chinese premier were at a whole different level.
The Blue House received as much worry and criticism as they received commandment regarding the reveal of their national inspection system. They couldn’t avoid the criticism of pushing an unreasonable policy just for popularity. But they received enough support to counteract that. —Those who ridicule our people will not be forgiven!— was a slogan that could give the inspector team strength or keep them in check.
If a person looked carefully, the inspector team were elites of the legal circle.
Flash, flash- Flash, flash-
As soon as Ahn Soo Ho got out of his car, camera flashes went off. Logan and his underlings were so big that none of the microphones could reach him. As soon as he entered the school, the reporters went away. The chairman of the board and principal guided Ahn Soo Ho.
“It’s nice to meet you, CEO Ahn.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Please take good care of So Hye.”
“Haha! Of course. I see who So Hye took after to be so upright and smart.”
That was a useless remark, but he just laughed along.
The assembly hall was already crowded. Since he was the CEO of an entertainment company, he brought some of his celebrities to perform. The chairman of the board normally would have said it disrupted the school environment, but when the photos started getting uploaded to the internet, he turned the other cheek.
Ahn Soo Ho headed toward the waiting room to wait for the performance to end. The employees who waited to do his makeup seemed nervous. Why were they nervous? Was he that scary? Ahn Soo Ho tilted his head and then Logan whispered in his ear.
“Try to smile a little, Soo Ho.”
“What? Oh.”
As soon as he looked in the mirror, he screamed.
“Oh my god!”
The face in the mirror had a vicious expression.
‘Am…am I nervous?’
That was a line he often heard in dramas. He thought about it and realized this was the first time he was speaking in front of strangers since grade school. This was different from the foundation ceremony. As soon as the employees finished his makeup and ran off, Ahn Soo Ho breathed in and out.
“Why are you nervous, Soo Ho? You’ve smirked at many more enemies than that.”
“That’s because I was going to kill them. But if these high schoolers diss my lecture, I can’t just kill them.”
“Oh, I guess that’s true.”
Logan nodded in understanding.
“CEO Ahn, the performance will end soon.”
“Okay.”
In response to the secretary’s message, he forced his butt off the chair. The lecture was originally just for the seniors, but it soon became all grades including their parents. What was funny was that Hosoo Entertainment’s promotional department saw this as an opportunity and decided to live stream it on the internet.
The stage was heated.
The celebrities didn’t go back to the company and sat down to watch him with glistening eyes. He could also see the cameras for the internet broadcast. Everything in this world was open after all. This was the 2nd part of Ahn Soo Ho’s life that he must live.
In other words, this was his hot debut.
‘This reminds me of that time.’
The day he debuted as a lobbyist in America.
Clap, clap, clap- Whistle-
When Ahn Soo Ho appeared on stage, he could hear clapping and whistling.
He smiled and waited for it to quiet down.
“It’s nice to meet you, everyone. I probably don’t have to tell you who I am. Many things happened in the last few days. If you’re interested in current events, you’ve probably heard of the national inspection system.”
People started talking a lot about Ahn Soo Ho becoming the special inspector general.
“To be honest, it’s something you can do without needing to get cursed at. I’ve never expected gifts either. All I have to do is feed myself like I always have. But the reason why I accepted the president’s appointment is because I still believe justice is alive on Korean land.”
It was a shameful thing to say, but it sounded that way because he tried to sound charming.
“The topic of today’s lecture is justice. What is justice? That’s a hard question at your age, isn’t it? But it’s hard for me too. No, it’s hard for everyone.”
When he clicked the remote, a picture of Spiderman went up on the screen.
“Spiderman is a famous movie. There’s a famous line in it. Can you guess what it is?”
“With great power comes great responsibility!”
When someone shouted the answer out loud, people laughed. Ahn Soo Ho clapped his hands.
“That’s right. With great power comes great responsibility. But does it only apply to great power? Not at all. It also applies to people with minor power. Then what do you think is your responsibility?”
“Studying!”
“That’s right. Studying is your biggest responsibility. But just because you’re not good at studying doesn’t mean your future is over. What is a student? Someone who learns. Studying isn’t only from books. Our teachers probably won’t like this, but there’s a lot to learn outside as well. And I’m not just saying that because I manage an entertainment agency.”
When he clicked the remote again, the Enter Academy information came up on the screen. They founded an academy for composing, dance, vocals, and broadcasting in the buildings Shinhwa Entertainment and FNB Entertainment used to use. It could be called a private academy, but students didn’t have to pay a single won.
Hosoo Entertainment Academy was free.
But they had to pass through an evaluation from the field’s experts. They were different from other trainees because even if they trained with the academy, they weren’t forced to sign with Hosoo Entertainment. They could sign with anyone they wanted. When they first announced this, no one believed it. However, when this actually happened, people were shocked.
‘How do you make any money?’
No matter how much money they had, operating an academy would cost tens of billions of won. No matter how much money Hosoo Entertainment had, they were going under. However, as soon as people heard Ahn Soo Ho had dozens of trillions of won, people stopped being suspicious.
“People of this field, reporters, and even employees ask me this. They ask why I put myself at such a loss. Then I say this. If it were you, would you think spending a few hundred won is a waste?”
“Oh.”
The audience cheered and jeered to his badass comment.
“I’m sure some would think it’s a waste. But most people don’t worry about a few hundred won. The loss that others talk about is nothing but a few hundred won to me.”
They would have normally thought he was arrogant, but they looked at him with glistening eyes.
“My speech at my foundation ceremony became big news once. I said I’d show you what true wealth is. After that, a lot happened. I merged companies, bought buildings, and even went out on a tour. We indulged in luxurious things, but we didn’t spend that much money. This goes to show how stingy the entertainment industry is.”
It seemed vibrant and fancy, but the Korean entertainment world was falling behind. They weren’t falling behind in terms of their stars but in terms of job creation and maintenance capability.
“You might ask how this has anything to do with justice, but justice is simple while complicated at the same time. What students are trying to learn is how to act according to responsibility and justice. The ones who teach you to do that are just people as well. Celebrities working hard to sing and dance are impressive, too. All who their best to do their job while following their conscience are just.”
Ahn Soo Ho’s charm magic worked on the ones watching it on live stream as well.
“Then what’s justice for the rich? This is simple, too. To earn and spend their money in a good way. People might call that flaunting money, but I’ve never spent my money in the wrong way.”
Wow! He found that embarrassing to say, too. There were probably those who thought,—Huh? That’s not what justice is— but it wasn’t the right time or place to attempt a tackle.
“As someone who hopes that justice still exists on this land, I’d like to give you one advice.”
In order to use the special information that Alexa and Kosino gathered on broadcast, he needed an alibi.
“There are probably many who knows about a corrupt matter but pretend to not know about them. Don’t be shy. Because that’s normal. But if you don’t make it right now, it’ll be too late. Be courageous and come out right now! Everyone, we can make a better future for ourselves! We can make this world better for our children!”
No matter how much he pleaded, almost no one was expected to come out. So he used a cheat that only he could use.
“Whether you come out anonymously or by name and give us important information…”
‘This is how you flaunt money.’
“I’ll give you 1 billion won!”
< Protect – Episode 73 – Show Me the Money [6] > The end.