Chapter 101: < Protect – Episode 100 – Hosoo Entertainment Channel [2] >

“You’re all fired! All of you!”

The vice-president of Holly Corporation verbally fired Lila and the guards as soon as she woke up from pa.s.sing out. For guards, the results were everything. Nothing else mattered whether or not they succeeded or failed. The one who calmed Hannah down was Holly Corporation’s president, Scott Warren.

“Stop it, Hannah.”

“When did you get here, Scott?”

“Just now. How’s Lila?”

“She’s fine. No major injuries.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

There were many stars who had mentalities weaker than gla.s.s. Lila wasn’t that weak of a girl, but one could not really know until something horrible happened. She would never forget the incident of getting pulled into a kidnapper’s car, so the media would understand if she decided to retire right then and there.

‘The tour’s probably not happening anymore.’

Unless Lila decided she wanted to do it, it was best to give up on the North American tour. It was too bad for the sponsors who already advertised, but the star needed to be prioritized first before the cancellation fees. Most importantly, this wasn’t something that could be resolved by stressing the contract. That was because, in contrast to the kidnappers, there were many fans who wished her the best.

A good example was Ahn Soo Ho.

‘I wouldn’t say I’m a fan though.’

Not even customs or the immigration officers dared to challenge him. For foreigners visiting the States for the first time, they were bound to experience a very unpleasant process. This wasn’t Jang Seol Hyun’s first time in the States, but for many of her staff, it was.

That was where Ahn Soo Ho came in. A disturbance normally leads to getting dragged away by security at pretty much all airports, but he was so influential that he even had those in charge came and apologized to him. This was hard to see in the States where everything operated on systems.

“Thank you for looking after Lila, Soo Ho.”

“Don’t you implement preventative measures for stalkers?”

“We do, but Lila doesn’t like that.”

“It’s not commendable to push the responsibility on someone else. Are you just being careless because you’re busy focusing on your divorce?”

“I can’t really comment on that. Sorry.”

All Scott could do was smile bitterly to Ahn Soo Ho’s attack. He knew that no matter what he said, it would be treated as mere excuses.

“There will be a press conference in front of the hospital in an hour.”

“If you’re asking me to join you, I’ll decline.”

“Aw!”

He was being hopeful.

“I guess you haven’t seen the YouTube video yet. You’ll have to prepare for the press conference soon.”

“It’s not like I’m a top pop star like Lila. Why should I be at the press conference?”

“Are you sure about that? We’ll just see about that.”

Ahn Soo Ho just scoffed as if it was no big deal, but Korea was already in chaos. There were all sorts of rumors about how he didn’t drop out of Naval Academy but was rather picked to be an agent of a secret force. The others gathered in Lila’s VIP room and watched Scott’s press conference through the TV. Lila woke up and embraced Ahn Soo Ho naturally.

But she was worried about what Jang Seol Hyun would think. However, Ahn Soo Ho nor Seol Hyun really cared. Lila was relieved that they were okay with hugging a poor girl who was a part of a big accident. And everyone else focused on Scott’s press conference.

“Luckily, Lila wasn’t badly hurt, and the kidnappers had no intentions of hurting her, so they’ll receive favorable treatment from the investigators. This incident was unfortunate for all of us. So we’ll do our best to make sure nothing more unfortunate happens after this.”

He gave power to the police while not badmouthing the kidnappers. The French intelligence agency had an awkward relations.h.i.+p with the police in Monaco, but this was under Monaco’s jurisdiction. As one of the best places for rich people to live, Monaco wanted to wrap this up so that it wouldn’t taint their reputation.

“Lila still needs more rest. Sure, they didn’t actually go as far as kidnapping her, but this was still no minor incident. Also, Mr. Ahn and Lila are just good friends, which means they’re not dating. If the media continue to make up stories about it, Holly Corporation will take legal action.”

Lila puffed up her cheeks and Hannah clapped with joy.

Hannah wasn’t racist, but she didn’t like the idea of her getting involved in a scandal with an Asian man. She knew Ahn Soo Ho had great influence. But since Lila’s sales point was the teenagers and young adults in their 20s, she had no choice but to consider the racism aspect of it all. That was because bullying based on race was more severe at younger age groups.

As soon as he started taking questions, everyone raised their hands. However, he already had a list of what kind of questions would come from whom. The reporters asked their questions, and Scott answered them normally. What made the peaceful press conference into chaos were the Chinese reporters who waved their Chinese flag around.

“If China and Korea went into battle, who do you think would win?”

“What?”

“If j.a.pan and Korea went into battle, who do you think would win?”

“So what?”

“If China and j.a.pan went into battle…”

“f.u.c.king crazy!”

This time, Hannah knitted her brows and Lila clapped her hands with joy. The highlight of the press conference was “f.u.c.king crazy!” What was said before that didn’t even matter. Even though it was just “f.u.c.king crazy” it was likely to become a viral parody. Why did the Chinese media ask such a random and rude question? It resulted from a difference in point of view. While the States and Europe focused on Lila’s kidnapping, Asia focused on Ahn Soo Ho’s shooting skills.

The topic that suddenly came up was Korea’s service system.

‘With nuclear weapons left out, Korea had the strongest military force after the States! If North and South Korea merge back together, China, Russia, and j.a.pan will be in trouble! Since Korea is the country with the most martial arts, you can’t be relieved just because they don’t have guns!’

Nonsense like that was rampant.

In j.a.pan, they held a broadcast where people competed to see how accurate they could shoot, and in China, they simply had a military parade. Korea just stayed quiet to prevent any stimulation, while Korean netizens took that time to make parodies of Ahn Soo Ho shooting and spread it all over the internet.

Ahn Soo Ho’s shooting against Rambo and Commando.

Ahn Soo Ho fighting against Ali and Tyson.

Ahn Soo Ho fighting against nuclear weapons.

Ahn Soo Ho fighting in s.p.a.ce.

Before it was taken down for profanity, there were even ones of Ahn Soo Ho fighting Allah and Buddha. They were all made for fun. But when it came to parodies, comedy programs couldn’t be excluded. Hosoo Entertainment could have easily felt uncomfortable about their CEO being in comedy skits, but they actually used their own celebrities to make parodies of their own. Employees making fun of their own CEO. That was unheard of in other companies.

“Hey! Don’t you think this is too much?”

“Why? I think it’s cute.”

Ahn Soo Ho, who got into his private jet headed back to Korea, was confused by Jang Seol Hyun’s strange request. A battle slayer, and charismatic team leader, a dark middleman, or a codename wizard were the names he were called. So the pink bear costume didn’t seem right especially with the society watching.

“Ted! That’s so cute!”

“Right?”

The other woman getting in on dressing up Ahn Soo Ho was none other than Lila. Why was she taking a plane headed to Korea? The answer was simple. She canceled the North American tour. Lila used the incident to get Scott to give in, and since he was already stressed with the divorce, he ended up surrendering.

‘That’s probably not the whole story.’

It didn’t seem like she got on the plane just so she could have fun. He saw darkness hidden within Lila’s eyes. It was fear that she didn’t realize herself. The Korean media was bound to say all sorts of things about her visit to Korea.

“We’re going to wear one too, so don’t worry, Soo Ho.”

“This wouldn’t look so bad on you guys. But I’m too big for this.”

“What do you mean? Bears are supposed to be big!”

He almost threw a punch at Lila’s mouth. They had their own costumes prepared, but it was unpleasant to see a big dark man wearing a pink bear outfit. That would definitely be captured for the internet, and it would hara.s.s him for as long as he lived.

Hosoo Entertainment established the Hosoo Entertainment channel. The channel began with various live channels of the agency’s celebrities. The response was favorable. Especially for Jang Seol Hyun’s channel, constant calls came in every time a preview was aired. If it was like this just in Korea alone, a worldwide beauty pageant with an online voting system would have made the internet server explode.

The comment section was already on the verge of explosion.

Wow! Is he really wearing that? He looks like the Buddhist saint!

Look at his expression. Looks like we’ll get the best shot of him today!

They say having a pretty wife makes a man put his best foot forward. This is why they say men depend on their women!

Does that innocent face turn s.e.xy at night?

Don’t say that!

The private jet arrived at Incheon International Airport.

They normally didn’t have to go through customs, but this time, they came out with their carts through all the flashes and yelling. It was super blinding, so the women were impressive for not frowning without any sungla.s.ses on. On the contrary, they were waving and smiling.

Oh Joo Kyung lined everyone up like a pro after all the press conferences she held. They were in power anyway. She was still getting used to using such power that was given to her. Jang Seol Hyun knew very well how to deal with the Korean media. As soon as the mic came to Ahn Soo Ho, an annoying question was asked.

“Do you have any interest in competing in the Olympics for shooting?”

“I’ll be 40 soon. I have no interest in taking food away from children.”

“Haha. Then please tell us how you feel about returning to Korea after such a long time.”

“Don’t you see this costume?”

“Haha.”

Ahn Soo Ho lifted both arms so they could see. The bear paws left a very strong impression.

“There are rumors saying you’re a secret agent. What do you think about that?”

“Should I show you my discharge papers? I worked my a.s.s off for months for this paper. Are you looking down on the reserve forces?”

The reason why Korean men were standing by Ahn Soo Ho had to do with the fact that he was an active duty soldier. They went through the same military life he did. At this point, Oh Joo Kyung could have wrapped things up, but she was busy whispering something. In order to stop the questions from coming in, Ahn Soo Ho used a cheat method.

He gave the mic to Lila.

“I love you, Korea!”

< Protect – Episode 100 – Hosoo Entertainment Channel [2] > The end.