Chapter 200: < Protect – Episode 199 – Stateless Person [2] >

“Haha.”

“How can you laugh right now, Soo Ho?”

“Are you crying?”

“Stop teasing me. Agh!”

Jang Seol Hyun screamed when Ahn Soo Ho suddenly pulled her close. In order to conceal her big belly, she wore a loose s.h.i.+rt. Since she was on edge, to begin with, the chaos caused by Ahn Soo Ho renouncing his citizens.h.i.+p made her even more sensitive.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize…”

“But I am sorry.”

“Then do something about it.”

“I know telling you not to worry won’t help, but things will be okay soon. You trust me, right?”

After calming down Jang Seol Hyun, he sat across from Daniel Navarros in his study. He had grown a beard that made him look like a refined middle-aged man, but it didn’t seem like he grew it on purpose.

“Don’t you have time to shave, Danny?”

“Whose fault do you think that is?”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not your fiancée, so you’ll need to do more than apologize, Soo Ho.”

“Okay. I’ll consider it when we negotiate your salary.”

“Good.”

That was the end of their jokes. Daniel put down a thick pile of doc.u.ments on the table.

“Is this the business proposal?”

“The loss resulting from renouncing your citizens.h.i.+p and next year’s financial statement.”

“Is it serious?”

“The credibility status of a stateless refugee is bound to change drastically. But… I don’t think it’ll affect you very much.”

There probably wasn’t a single financial inst.i.tution that would treat Ahn Soo Ho like a refugee just because he was stateless. He was the definition of credibility, and the heads of the black market all considered Ahn Soo Ho and insurance.

“Are you just going to leave Hosoo Group alone?”

“You’re saying the same thing as Logan, Danny. Why?”

“The nationality of the head of a corporation is a sensitive matter.”

“Are you worried about backlash from the Korean government?”

“The scariest sin in Korea is disgrace.”

“You’re not wrong.”

In Korea, political retaliation was common, and every time the administration changed, that kind of process was expected. Was that why they were so obsessed over presidential elections?

“How much time is left in the president’s term?”

“Less than 2 years.”

“Hm.”

Lee Joong Hyun’s political experiment failed. However, the chaos that he caused after getting elected through the support of the upper cla.s.s actually unified the people. It was good luck. If Ahn Soo Ho hadn’t returned to get involved in Daesan Group’s problems and brought down Korea National a.s.sociation and Comradery a.s.sociation, Lee Joong Hyung would have been recorded as one of the most incapable and pathetic presidents in history.

‘I don’t know if he’s brave, or if he has too much guts for his own good.’

Ahn Soo Ho’s judgment of Lee Joong Hyun changed from time to time.

At one point, he seemed like a revolutionist and not long after; he seemed like an opportunist. Was he a hero that was waiting for the right time? Or was he just an idiot being controlled by the trends? That question would probably be answered when looking back at it in the future.

“There will be intra-party battles soon.”

“The battle of wits will become very fierce.”

In Korea, the president’s influence was the most powerful at the beginning of his or her 5-year term. And Lee Joong Hyun benefited greatly from Ahn Soo Ho. In the midst of half of the national a.s.sembly being switched out due to multiple scandals, the a.s.sembly was unable to stop the Blue House. For Lee Joong Hyun who was running full speed ahead for a reform, that was a blessing.

“I don’t know if we can expect the name president to be as flexible as Mr. Lee.”

“That was unexpected.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you hated Lee Joong Hyun after the taxing ordeal .”When Daniel had to calculate last year’s astronomical taxes, he went through a lot of stress. The complicated process included detailed calculations of many numbers.

He didn’t hire dozens of accountants for nothing.

“Speaking of which, it won’t be a joke this year either.”

There was some hope that it would be easier this year, but Ahn Soo Ho braced himself. In the midst of the owner renouncing his citizens.h.i.+p, they also had to worry about taxes. Some of the real estate and funds under Ahn Soo Ho’s name had to be switched over to Mrs. Park Ok Nam and Lee So Hye. It was a type of gift.

“Am I able to get married without citizens.h.i.+p?”

“I don’t know about the legality of it, but it’ll probably be possible if you confirm your ident.i.ty with the UN. And it’s not like you’re going to be stateless tomorrow.”

“That’s true.”

A black woman dressed in a suit with her hair tied back knocked and then came in.

“Amia.”

Unlike Ahn Soo Ho, who called her name and greeted her with a smile, Daniel looked repulsed. Amia then threw her lawyer bag in a corner and jumped onto the couch.

“Ugh! So annoying.”

“What is it this time?”

“McCallister keeps asking why I’m acting s.e.x-deprived these days. So I asked how many times he gets hard in a year.”

“Haha.”

Human rights lawyer, Amia Mau, was a capable lawyer from Rwanda. She was also famous for using her fists before her words because of her hot temper. For that reason, Amia was well-known as the iron fist lawyer.

‘But that doesn’t mean she’s not good at her job…’

If she wasn’t talented, Meditech wouldn’t have hired her to pay her such a high wage. She was fired for her temper, but that was the company’s problem. Amia threw her jacket aside and unb.u.t.toned her s.h.i.+rt.

She put her legs on the table and showed off her figure, but Daniel just looked on with disgust. That was because she was a transgender.

Amia Mau wasn’t her real name.

Her new name was given to her by Hector Garcia. If a man had the heart of a woman, was that a man or a woman? The matter of whether the body or the mind was more important was up to that person.

“What about work?”

“Jimmy is on it.”

“Jimmy? The fighter Jimmy?”

“Yeah.”

“Our chairman must really be up for a fight.”

The attorney that Bae Sang Chul, also known as Bridal Mask, hired for murder and conspiracy caused quite the stir. It was incomparable to Smith & Heard which had over 2000 lawyers all over the world, but Dread co. was also a huge law firm.

“Who’s the Korean representative?”

“Kim & Jang?”

“A huge law firm like that is taking on a terrorist case?”

“Yeah. It seems like there was some kind of big confirmation.”

Bae Sang Chul put on the bridal mask and turned himself in. However, that didn’t mean there was now proof that he was involved in all of the murder cases of Bridal Mask. The prosecution and police were capable of their jobs, but it still wasn’t easy for them to prove all of the charges made against Bae Sang Chul.

“Since he was wearing a mask, it’s not easy confirming the crimes no matter how many witnesses there were. Of course, depending on how Jim got the attorney position, how the prosecution treats him changes drastically.”

“What do you think will happen now?”

“You should know better than me, Soo Ho.”

Amia stared at Ahn Soo Ho. She was a human rights lawyer. She had done a lot of work for the people of Africa who went through a lot of pain. She did get on Meditech’s bad side and faced a lot of restrictions, but if she was scared of such a thing, she wouldn’t have testified to accuse General Juma. However, Amia had one weakness.

She was a man once.

No matter how confident she was as a woman, that didn’t erase her ident.i.ty as a transgender. And Ahn Soo Ho was the only s.h.i.+eld protecting Amia’s secret. If he didn’t exist, she would have gotten tried at people’s court.

Accusing and expressing hatred toward other people was as easy as breathing. Regardless of the freedom and equality that was stressed, h.o.m.os.e.xuals and transgenders always faced hatred. There were many other politicians, businessmen, journalists, celebrities, and lawyers with the same kind of secret as Amia.

It was possible for a scandal like that to sabotage one’s career faster than any kind of corruption. For those striving for the top, being abnormal was dangerous.

“They’ll attack the surroundings first.”

“Probably. Since he’s still a suspect, they’ll probably start with the media and then move on to the family, relatives, friends, and colleagues.”

Since Bae Sang Chul was labeled as a terrorist by the Korean government, anyone who knew him wouldn’t be free from a trial. What was a relief was that he returned to Korea all by himself.

“What’s a relief is that they can’t summon an American.”

Most of Bae Sang Chul’s family and friends were in the States. He probably had some friends in Korea as well, but most of his relatives were in America.

The next day, Ahn Soo Ho went to work for the first time in a while.

It was hard work getting through all the reporters and crowds in the lobby of Star Tower.

Clap, clap-

Ahn Soo Ho was confused by the clapping sounds, but he just waved with a smile. He was used to being a celebrity by now.

“Thank you!”

“I respect you!”

“I love you!”

It seemed as though they were forcefully welcoming him. He accepted the flowers that Oh Joo Kyung handed him.

“Congratulations on your safe return, CEO Ahn.”

She was smiling, but she wasn’t actually smiling. Logan normally would have taken the lift with him, but he disappeared somewhere this time.

‘Traitor!’

It wasn’t the person renouncing their citizens.h.i.+p who was the traitor. The person that abandoned their colleague to save themselves was the real traitor. Ahn Soo Ho didn’t look back until he got to his office. That was because he felt like he would have seen something scary if he had.

“Krik!”

He got s.h.i.+vers from the sound of teeth grinding.

“Haha.”

“Don’t think about overlooking it with laughter, CEO Ahn.”

“Why are you being so serious? It’s not like anything happened.”

Oh Joo Kyung sighed deeply. She respected Ahn Soo Ho. And that wasn’t because she was modest. He did get into a lot of trouble, but he always managed to yield the best results.

“Are you really thinking of renouncing your citizens.h.i.+p?”

“I’ve never gone back on my word.”

Oh Joo Kyung looked even more worried, and Ahn Soo Ho just smirked.

“Why do you cling onto this small country so much?”

Ahn Soo Ho knew just how skilled she was as a businesswoman. But she also had her weaknesses and limits.

“Most multinational corporations don’t care about nationality. They swallow what’s sweet and spit out what’s bitter.”

The corporations were called Korean or American, but the big ones no longer cared about national restrictions. They already had influence that transcended their own nations.

“Haven’t I told you? I don’t like to waste, but there’s no need to be stingy either. Oh, that’s what you are.”

“CEO Ahn!”

Oh Joo Kyung surprised herself after screaming at Ahn Soo Ho.

“So don’t get so hung up on being Korean.”

Nations and ethnic groups were all an illusion.

“If the government, national a.s.sembly, or anyone else acted like a.s.sholes, just move the headquarters to a different country.”

< Protect – Episode 199 – Stateless Person [2] > The end.