Chapter 106: < Protect – Episode 105 – Adult Fight [2] >

Top stars were busy.

The public often misunderstood that because stars show up on the television screen all the time, they must be having a lot of fun. Top actresses like Jang Seol Hyun were actually very busy. Being an actress was very difficult for Korean women in their 20s, and it was unacceptable for them to date no matter what their image was.

Most just dated secretly, but if their advertisers found out, they were pretty much done for. That was the reason why the sponsors were more unyielding than the entertainment industry. The middle-aged ladies of Korea were no different from Eric Rufi. Rather than call girls, they were more often called office girls.

It wasn’t that Jang Seol Hyun didn’t receive any sponsors.h.i.+ps.

She was never a part of any scandals, and since there weren’t even any rumors about her either, which might have actually worked against her. She was a very high mountain that young men were determined to conquer. Being able to say that they dated Jang Seol Hyun was like an amazing accomplishment.

“Very nice! Very nice! I like that chic expression!”

The photographer was busy complimenting her. They were busy taking photos in Gangnam for a famous fas.h.i.+on magazine.

“Let’s take a 10-minute break, Seol Hyun. Good work.”

“Thank you.”

Jang Seol Hyun bowed to the staff then went to the waiting room. It was actually an open-concept waiting room, so she could see the studio from the inside. Since they had many shoots going on, they couldn’t give the closed waiting room to everyone. If she was a sensitive actress, she would have thrown a tantrum, but Jang Seol Hyun once had a shoot in an African desert, so she didn’t really care.

The next one up was Jung Ah Young and she greeted Jang Seol Hyun warmly.

“Good work, Seol Hyun.”

“You’re next, right, Ah Young?”

“Yeah. But it looks like the writer is in a good mood today. I wonder if something good happened.”

“Apparently, his girlfriend is having her preview show today.”

“Oh, he’s dating a theatre actress, right?”

“Yes.”

After the European vacation program that aired on JTV, her value went up drastically, so she became in demand. Despite being pretty, she was known for being a little rough around the edges, so she used to get criticized for not being a versatile actress, but she was able to show off her various charms this time. The program normally would have ended with just a few lines in the tabloids, but Ahn Soo Ho, Lila, and Jang Seol Hyun’s appearance made the show legendary.

They got a viewer rating of 35.8 percent which was hard to beat for a cable TV show. Jung Ah Young and Jang Seol Hyun weren’t very close at first, but they recently became very close. It was a friends.h.i.+p with an objective, but that was very common in the entertainment industry.

“Hey, that guy’s totally looking at you.”

In the middle of talking about the theme of the shoot, they started whispering about the guy that kept roaming about. Jung Ah Young took turns looking at the male model and Jang Seol Hyun.

“I’m not interested.”

“Yeah, why would you be? You’re dating the great Soo Ho.”

“He is pretty great.”

“Oh my gos.h.!.+ I can’t believe you admitted it.”

In contrast to Jung Ah Young who was known to be rough around the edges, Jang Seol Hyun was known as the boring girl who was too proper. As soon as the two women started laughing, one of the men who was roaming about approached them.

“h.e.l.lo, Seol Hyun. You know who I am, don’t you, Ah Young?”

“Long time no see, CEO Kim.”

“Haha. You do remember me.”

He was delighted that Jang Seol Hyun accepted his greeting. She was initially the star of Asia who was very popular, but she was now so high up that no one could dare to look at her in the eye. Kim Kyu Sang’s Dell Pictures was a pretty successful film producing company in Chungmuro.

“I heard you’re working on another project. Is it going well?”

“The preparations are always perfect.”

“I hope it turns out well.”

If it was just a few months ago, Jang Seol Hyun wouldn’t have been spoken to with formalities by Kim Kyu Sang. But she was now also the future wife of the CEO of Hosoo Entertainment Group. Ahn Soo Ho was worth trillions of won. There wasn’t a single Korean company who could survive if they made him mad.

In contrast to other heirs, Ahn Soo Ho was straightforward and open-minded. Just by seeing how he made Hosoo Entertainment Group succeed, it was obvious how direct he was. To him, no superior in the same industry was that important. Most importantly, he also had the support of the great Daesan Group, so it was no wonder everyone minded him.

The fact that Kim Dae San’s son, Kim Dae Chan had Ahn Soo Ho’s back was nothing to pa.s.s over lightly. Daesan Group treated Hosoo Entertainment as if they were equal partners. Jang Seol Hyun realized that his objective wasn’t her. It didn’t make sense that he was trying to recruit her for a movie that was going to start filming in just a month.

“It looks like he wants to talk to you, not me.”

“Me?”

“Haha, you’re right. I’m here to talk to Ah Young.”

It was fascinating that the CEO came instead of the casting director, but if it was Jang Seol Hyun, that shouldn’t have been surprising. However, Kim Kyu Sang wasn’t there for her. Jung Ah Young, who thought he was there for Jang Seol Hyun, opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Please work with us, Ah Young.”

“Oh.”

Jung Ah Young was obviously taken aback in response to CEO Kim who suddenly asked to work with her without even showing her a script. If he was just a CEO of an average production company, she would have just scoffed, but Kim Kyu Sang had a good eye for scripts. There were many actors who became successful after working with him.

Jang Seol Hyun leaned in with curiosity as well.

“Did you bring the script, CEO Kim?”

“Haha, of course, I do. Here you go.”

Kim Kyu Sang confidently handed her the script, but break time was already over.

“Get ready, Ah Young.”

“Okay.”

Jung Ah Young put the script down and got up from her seat. As Kim Kyu Sang watched her walk away, she asked Jang Seol Hyun a question.

“Is Hosoo Entertainment going to take Ah Young in?”

“Why? Isn’t Fila Entertainment good, too? Is there a problem?”

“It’s not that… Tsk. Don’t tell anyone you heard it from me, Seol Hyun.”

Kim Kyu Sang looked around and then whispered in her ears.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Hw.a.n.g Min Wook’s list.”

“Of course. Many of my colleagues were hurt by it.”

Unlike many others, Jang Seol Hyun knew some of the truth. Within the secrets that Ahn Soo Ho told her was the truth behind the candlelight vigil, Hw.a.n.g Min Wook’s list, and the paparazzi incident. Hw.a.n.g Min Wook’s list was a big case that was buried in a way because only the people in their teens and 20s who were interested in the entertainment industry talked about it.

“There are rumors claiming that there’s a second and third Hw.a.n.g Min Wook’s list.”

“At Fila Entertainment?”

Kim Kyu Sang just shrugged his shoulders.

“Since you’ve worked in this industry for quite a while, you should know how vicious this world is. Once they succeed, they’ll start to become busy looking at other top stars nearby, and there are many who are willing to use short cuts.”

Since Jang Seol Hyun started as a child actress, she had more experience than most. Despite Kim Kyu Sang being in his 40s and Jang Seol Hyun being in her 20s, they had similar levels of experience.

“I know this sounds bad, but the film industry is one of the places where s.e.xual favors are the most rampant.”

“I’ve heard a lot about it as well.”

Kim Kyu Sang was being careful about how he was going to open up such a sensitive topic to Jang Seol Hyun since she was a woman, but she wasn’t bothered by it one bit. When he realized that she wasn’t bothered, he looked around once more and then whispered in her ears.

“The CEO of Fila Entertainment got his hands on a sponsors.h.i.+p and there are rumors saying it’s for Jung Ah Young.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a rumor… but I think it can be trusted.”

“Then why did you say you wanted to work with her… Oh.”

Jang Seol Hyun exclaimed and nodded her head. Her former manager, Kim Woo Jung once said this. “Noise is also marking!” Whether the issue was good or bad, it was good to be involved. It was mostly luck, but in any case, Jung Ah Young received the spotlight in a short period of time and became well recognized.

“A scandal will take place in about 6 months.”

“During the filming?”

“That’s right.”

If a sponsors.h.i.+p or s.e.xual favor scandal broke loose again, the politicians would have been like, “I told you so!” and would point the arrows at the entertainment industry. The director who would work with Jung Ah Young would hate it, but the production company would be promoted without paying a cent, so they didn’t care. It didn’t matter if the actress got hurt or if the director would suffer as long as they were on point with their filming schedule and captured high-quality shots.

“If I tell this to Ah Young, wouldn’t that be a loss for you?”

“Come on, neither of us is newbies here. Ah Young has no choice but to row through whatever comes her way.”

Kim Kyu Sang answered with confidence on his face. He couldn’t tell Jang Seol Hyun what to do, but he thought he could still control Jung Ah Young.

“Did you hear that?”

“Huh?”

As soon as Jang Seol Hyun asked, Kim Kyu Sang, looked behind him and then froze up at who he saw. Behind him was Ahn Soo Ho looking at him as if he was pathetic. Kim Kyu Sang was so intimidated by Ahn Soo Ho’s demeaning stare that he had no choice but to run away. As soon as he ran off, Ahn Soo Ho gave Jang Seol Hyun a kiss on the cheek.

“Why were you talking to a sc.u.mbag like that? You should’ve just ignored him.”

“I was with Ah Young just now.”

“Oh, really?”

To Ahn Soo Ho, Miss France and Jung Ah Young were just one of many women. Ahn Soo Ho’s sudden visit made the studio rowdy. But Jung Ah Young and the photographer continued to work like professionals.

“Do you still have work left to do?”

“I still have an interview to do with the editor-in-chief after the shoot.”

“With the editor in chief?”

“Did you forget? I’m Jang Seol Hyun.”

She looked dazzling in her makeup and outfit.

“But what brings you here, Mister? I thought you had dinner plans.”

Jang Seol Hyun was happy to see him, but she acted prim. She was a little mad that he put off their date because of some prior engagement. She also didn’t like how calm they were when they were still in their honeymoon phase.

‘I feel like I’m the only one crazy about him.’

Jang Seol Hyun wondered if she should play hard to get from what she heard from her close friends. But as soon as she saw Ahn Soo Ho’s face, all the resentment flowed out of her.

“I came because I missed you.”

“Hehe.”

Jang Seol Hyun turned back into a girl in love. At that very moment, the phone in Ahn Soo Ho’s pocket started to ring. Ahn Soo Ho then left Jang Seol Hyun which had made her sad because he didn’t even give her a hug, she then went to the corner of the studio.

“What is it?”

“I found it.”

He heard Kosino’s voice on the line.

“Where was it?”

“It was hidden in a stock firm’s server. It seems like they were planning to go through a stock tabloid using a.n.a.lysts.”

Ahn Soo Ho took the advice of the American and Russian amba.s.sadors and traced down the rumor regarding Jang Seol Hyun through Alexa and Kosino.

“It’s a mutual fund of oil money. It’s a foreign investment firm located in Korea. It’s possible that this is retaliation for the Indonesian incident.”

“I shouldn’t have let my guard down just because I retired.”

But then again, Ahn Soo Ho turned one of the harbors of Indonesia into ashes. People would have been startled if they heard that. He then looked at Jang Seol Hyun. Did they think she was Ahn Soo Ho’s weakness?

‘Maybe…’

Jang Seol Hyun began her interview with the editor-in-chief and continued to wave back throughout the whole thing. There were only three people in this world whom Ahn Soo Ho would lose to. His mother, Mrs. Park, his little sister, Lee So Hye, and Jang Seol Hyun.

But Jang Seol Hyun was convinced that she loved Ahn Soo Ho more.

Ahn Soo Ho waved back at Jang Seol Hyun.

If this was just an anti-wizard, he would have just laughed and forgotten about it. But now that his objective had changed, it didn’t matter if he was retired. Someone had to pay for this. Not even a European royalty could dodge Ahn Soo Ho’s rage.

“Work on it.”

“Until when?”

Ahn Soo Ho spoke in a cold voice that didn’t match his smiling face.

“Until it’s over.”

< Protect – Episode 105 – Adult Fight [2] > The end.