Chapter 98: < Protect – Episode 97 – The World’s Top 4 Beauty Pageants [3] >

“What a horrible editing job. Ugh.”

“Do you call that an excuse?”

Ahn Soo Ho got hit by Jang Seol Hyun. It was definitely an exception for a variety show to broadcast every other day as if it was a drama. After leaving the first episode with a cliff hanger, the second episode exploded in viewer ratings the next day. With 21.3%, one could say they set a historical record of all TV channels.

There was suddenly a lot of talk about what Hosoo Entertainment Group, as well as their various businesses, were all about. What was certain was that they were capable enough of having Daesan Group as a partner. Some experts criticized them saying they had nothing to do with the improvements of the job market, but Hosoo Entertainment’s worth and brand power rose in just a few months.

The one leading was the young CEO, Ahn Soo Ho.

The fact that he was young was refres.h.i.+ng, and refres.h.i.+ng things led to pa.s.sion. However, Ahn Soo Ho hated people getting paid so little for pa.s.sion. In contrast to the intelligence industry that stressed patriotism, the mercenary world functioned on abilities and results alone.

‘You get paid as much as you work.’

That was the precondition of their contracts.

“Stop hitting me. It hurts.”

“Good.”

The second episode cut off when Jang Seol Hyun appeared. It wasn’t surprising that all the viewers raced to the show’s bulletin board right afterward. The board was filled with people asking if the third episode would be aired at the same time the next day and why they had to cut it off at such an important part.

Ahn Soo Ho only found out about the Mich.e.l.le article a few days later. He had no interest in her and as a result, he didn’t know if she was Miss France or Miss Universe. The producers including Producer Yoon Seok Joong also just thought of her as a beautiful foreign woman. They had no idea she was from the world beauty industry.

“If she’s Miss Universe, wouldn’t she be most active in the States?”

“I don’t think so. They go to Africa a lot for AIDS and whatnot.”

“Will she be just an average person again after one year?”

“They will have a lot of work as models or hosts in their home country afterward. But our country prefers Victoria’s Secret over Miss Universe.”

“Underwear model?”

“Yeah. Men are crazy about that stuff. Soo Ho’s probably the same.”

“I see.”

He heard Jang Seol Hyun and Lila babbling away on their own.

“Stop teaching her weird things.”

“What do you mean? Seol Hyun is two years older than me, you know.”

Ahn Soo Ho exclaimed at Lila’s surprised reaction. He thought about it and realized Jang Seol Hyun really was two years older.

“But you look older.”

That comment made Lila tilt her head. It looked like he was teasing her, but what he said was a compliment. In contrast to Korea, Americans preferred to look more mature than younger.

“Are you making fun of me or complimenting me?”

“It’s a compliment.”

“Really, Seol Hyun?”

“Yeah.”

She asked Seol Hyun as if she didn’t believe him. However, instead of telling the truth, Jang Seol Hyun just winked at her.

“This is suspicious. You sneaky wench!”

“Hahaha! Stop it!”

She tried to tackle her, but Jang Seol Hyun was stronger than she looked. It wasn’t all that bad to see two beautiful women fighting. They spent the next few days touring France, shopping, walking along the beach, eating at restaurants, and going to the spa.

The vice-president of Holly Corporation even came and tried to convince Lila, but it failed. She had an American tour coming up in three months, but she just went around having fun instead of training. In that sense, Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t cut out for the American entertainment world.

‘Those who don’t listen should get hit regardless of gender.’

Every time he thought this way, he realized he was still Korean. Oh Joo Kyung and Daniel didn’t go back to Korea. They were busy resolving the mess Ahn Soo Ho caused in Italy and France, and in contrast to Daniel, every minute of her experience there was new to her.

She realized that Ahn Soo Ho’s status was even higher abroad. Most people in power wanted to be close to him. When she was working on Kim Na Hee’s brand, she received countless business cards. Many proposed to use models and actors from Hosoo Entertainment for advertis.e.m.e.nts, and if she just used his name, she was able to get in with Prada and Armani.

When Daniel saw her plop onto the couch in exhaustion, he pulled out two bottles of beer from the fridge.

“Are you tired, Joo Kyung?”

“Oh, thank you, Danny.”

Oh Joo Kyung accepted the beer and thanked him. Since they spent so much time together, they grew close. But Daniel was a married man with a loving wife, so they weren’t on romantic terms. And if his first marriage hadn’t failed, he would have had a daughter her age.

“What kind of person is CEO Ahn? I still seem to have no clue.”

“Of course not. He had been living a different life before this. You’ll just have to find out little by little. Be patient.”

“Since CEO Ahn hired you himself, aren’t you close to him?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve only heard his name before we started working together.”

He wouldn’t have met Ahn Soo Ho if Empire Konzern hadn’t gone down in flames. As soon as Daniel thought of that unpleasant memory, he laughed bitterly. His life was already over ever since he got involved with the CIA. If he hadn’t met Ahn Soo Ho, he would have been a corpse by now.

“As I said before, our company is capable of a lot more than you think. For pus.h.i.+ng ahead foreign companies, CEO Ahn is more influential than the president of any country. One thing to note is that he doesn’t like an unnecessary expansion. He loathes stealing someone else’s bowl of food.”

“Hasn’t he stolen a lot already?”

“Haha. I can’t argue.”

Hosoo Entertainment came about through taking over other companies.

“Believe in yourself, Joo Kyung. Think about your age.”

They say that age was just a number, but executives in their 20s were young in the States. It was hard to become an executive in their 20s unless their venture hit it big in Silicon Valley. In the business world, even Mark Zuckerburg was treated like a baby. It was a world filled with old men.

“When it comes to territoriality, Europe and the States are worse than Korea.”

“But don’t they have more female executives?”

“That’s also because they have countless companies. That’s not something we can compare. All you can do is show good results so that people can’t criticize.”

“That’s hard, Danny.”

“You’re not understanding me, Joo Kyung.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m saying you’re in a very advantageous position right now. You have an upper hand compared to the two Mr. Kims and Mr. s.h.i.+m. They’re just entertainment veterans. They’re not actual executives. The scale of our company is different from that of an old entertainment agency.”

Kim Yoo Seon, Kim Woo Jung, and s.h.i.+m Il Kwon were restricted to the Asian entertainment world.

“The connections you made with Daesan is very important.”

The Korean society that Daniel saw valued connections just as much as they valued hard work. It wasn’t just for the Korean culture. It also applied to other Asian countries as well. Korea, China, and j.a.pan all worked very hard, that was for sure.

She had to get up from drinking her beer once she got the message that Ahn Soo Ho wanted her. Ahn Soo Ho, who was looking down at the ocean by the banister, waved his hand as soon as he saw Oh Joo Kyung.

“Sit down.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Are you in a rush or something? Here, order something.”

After ordering drinks from the server, they talked about personal matters. She answered all the questions Ahn Soo Ho asked. He asked about her family as well as her friends. The most sensitive topic was about her s.e.xual relations and relations.h.i.+ps. Since he asked knowing it was rude, she couldn’t just ignore it. She had a feeling it was important today.

“What kind of presents do women in their mid-20s like?”

Of course. Oh Joo Kyung sighed as soon as he mentioned the term mid-20s.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Seol Hyun yourself? She knows what she wants better than anyone.”

“But that would be too senseless. I read that women like men who just know…”

“Where did you read that?”

“Women’s Journal.”

“Ha.”

She sighed once more.

Women’s Journal was one of the countless women’s magazines in Korea. There were many reputable magazines with licenses as well, but women’s magazines were mostly found in salons, banks, and public offices. People who read magazines on the internet were becoming lesser, but the status of women’s magazines remained unchanged.

“You should just ask Lila.”

“She’s an American though. She has a different taste.”

It was a trivial question, but since he asked, she couldn’t help but ponder. Oh Joo Kyung asked him a question after her pondering.

“Does Seol Hyun like luxury goods?”

“No, she just wears the stuff she’s sponsored for. But I’ve never seen her buy any herself.”

“Then what about a vacation?”

“She likes them, but she hates to walk. She especially hates trekking and extreme sports.”

“What are her hobbies?”

“Hobbies? She just stays at home.”

“Ha.”

She couldn’t do anything but scoff.

“Just go on a vacation. I think that’d be best.”

“That’s not fun. What about some kind of event?”

After some thought, Oh Joo Kyung suddenly clapped her hands. Men didn’t like to watch men, but women enjoyed watching women. One of the few business models solely targeted towards women was the fas.h.i.+on and beauty industries.

“What if you hold a fas.h.i.+on show and a beauty pageant?”

“A fas.h.i.+on show and beauty pageant?”

“Yes.”

Ahn Soo Ho crossed his arms. The most useless event in the world was world beauty pageants. It might be different from a business perspective, but they always used their beauty to talk about world peace and whatnot. What did beauty have to with world peace? If he ever opened a beauty pageant, it wouldn’t involve any of that c.r.a.p.

All about face, body, and visuals!

‘But no criminals…’

It was okay if they were just bad girls in the past.

“They call it a world beauty pageant, but the truth is, the panel is dominated by Caucasian people. It’s time for that to end.”

Ahn Soo Ho agreed.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. Because if you want to surpa.s.s Disney, we’ll have to get rid of the current standards of the west.”

As she kept talking, she became surer of herself as well.

“Okay. But make sure they don’t talk about any c.r.a.p like world peace or saving the environment. A beauty pageant should just pick the prettiest person.”

“But standards of beauty differ depending on the person.”

“No, no.”

Ahn Soo Ho cut off Oh Joo Kyung.

“The judging will be based on internet votes alone.”

“Pardon? Wouldn’t that turn people off from partic.i.p.ating?”

He smirked.

“Who doesn’t want 10 million dollars in prize money?”

10 million US dollars was capable of making them run over even if they were picking Miss North Pole.

“This will be fun.”

This began with him thinking of a present for his girlfriend, but he was now enjoying it himself.

< Protect – Episode 97 – The World’s Top 4 Beauty Pageants [3] > The end.