Soho

Chapter 114: < Protect – Episode 113 – Code Name Wizard [1] >

Jang Il Ho’s success led to many copycats.

There were bloggers like Jang Il Ho who went to places that Ahn Soo Ho went to. There were many tourist destinations that wanted Ahn Soo Ho to visit as well. All they did was put Ahn Soo Ho’s name on something unrelated to him. Koreans would surely watch it once they saw his name though.

When an article said Ahn Soo Ho was visiting New York, travel bloggers, professional bloggers, as well as average travelers who were in New York had put Ahn Soo Ho’s name on their content. They just did it for fun, but they would have hit it big if they really did run into Ahn Soo Ho on the streets of New York and got a picture with him.

When Koreans went to the States, they either went to LA or New York. There were definitely Koreans who visited other cities. However, LA and New York were the places that Koreans often visit first if it was their first time visiting the states. How many Koreans visit America every year? With business and student trips aside, there were hundreds of thousands of Koreans who visited the states every year. Most people didn’t believe that number, but it was true.

Twin college students, So Jung and So Mi worked part-time for a year in order to save up for a trip to America. Their mom didn’t allow them because they were two young girls, but their father backed them up. They spent quite a long time at customs, but they finally arrived at the Big Apple with loads of excitement.

After experiencing it themselves, they realized Seoul was more comfortable than New York. They were bothered the most by the washroom culture, and the tipping culture made their heads hurt. The streets were noisy, and they got ripped off just as much as tourists did in Korea. New York turned out to be below their expectations, so they felt disappointed. What seemed like a cool place turned into something that was just so-so.

They didn’t feel that much inspiration from Times Square, which their superiors recommended. They preferred the Lotte World. They were at least satisfied with the decent pictures they took. After all, traveling was all about eating and taking pictures. When the two sisters arrived at a café for a short break, they were very surprised.

“Oh my gosh!”

They were confused at first.

“That’s Ahn Soo Ho, isn’t it?”

“Wait... Yeah, he is.”

After they searched up the internet, they confirmed that it really was Ahn Soo Ho.

“But who’s with him?”

“I don’t know. Are they famous?”

The other person definitely looked like an Arab, but they weren’t sure about the rest. It wasn’t just the two sisters who recognized Ahn Soo Ho. They only realized just now how many Koreans there were in the States once they arrived themselves.

‘Chinese or Korean. If not, Japanese?’

They actually wanted to come during the Fashion Week. However, they would have had to skip classes if they did because it wasn’t their vacation yet. It still wasn’t their vacation now, but they still managed to go on a trip since it was a holiday in Korea. Once they became college students, they were strangely more busy during their vacations than their school semesters.

“Let’s take a picture.”

They turned their backs on him and pretended to take a selfie while also including Ahn Soo Ho in the background. The responses came flooding in as soon as they uploaded it on Twitter and Facebook.

We spotted CEO Ahn Soo Ho in Times Square! #JungSisters #AhnSooHoNewYork #TimesSquare

No way! How did you find him! It’s like Find Wally!

Why is there an Arab? Didn’t he go to New York for an advertising festival?

Ha! That’s Prince Hashim!

Prince? Does he have oil money?

That’s Hashim Nagir or whatever his name is! He’s that Saudi prince who’s famous for partying! I heard he has a yacht worth 100 million dollars!

Both his wives are more beautiful than the Miss Universe!

Is he richer than Mansour?

They were probably the same in terms of wealth. I heard he ranked lower than Mansour, but he has more money!

As soon as the spotlight went back on Ahn Soo Ho, photos that were previously hidden spread all over the internet. Ahn Soo Ho getting off his private jet at JFK International Airport. Ahn Soo Ho admiring art at a New York museum, and Ahn Soo Ho talking to someone on his private jet.

The focus of the photos was Ahn Soo Ho, but what the comments talked about was the people he was photographed with. Netizens not only found out who the Saudi prince was, but they also dug up the identity of the other man who had a swollen face.

That’s Peter Jenkins! Right? #FightClub #LilaBadComments #FightIncident

Oh! The Rosaola family!

Family? Are they some kind of a drug cult?

No! They’re like the Jackson 5!

Isn’t Lila’s mom Miss Argentina? Don’t you know? Peter Jenkin’s is Lila’s uncle!

Then why is he known as the fighting king?

Because he chased down all the bastards that wrote bad comments about Lila and beat them up! I think he even went to jail for it!

He didn’t go to jail! He was released!

What an interesting little bastard! Wow! But look at him! The ones that got beat up must have peed their pants!

Peter Jenkins’ dark past became exposed all over Korea. However, the Korean netizens mostly just cared about the beautiful Korean woman that was photographed talking to Ahn Soo Ho on the plane.

I know who that is! That’s my former high school classmate, Han Chae Kyung! #Class31 #DaesanFamily #RosetteGroup

Aren’t you fed up by your classmates?

That really is Han Chae Kyung! I heard she was studying abroad in Italy! When did she come back to Korea?

Who’s Han Chae Kyung?

Don’t you know Rosette Brand New Group? The little sister of the Daesan Group’s chairman is the CEO. Kim Na Hee.

Okay, but who’s Han Chae Kyung?

She’s the heir of that company.

But her last name is Han, not Kim.

No one knows the details behind it! No one!

So Jung and So Mi looked at all the comments flooding in until the phone froze up. That wasn’t the only thing that confused them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A blackout swept New York. Times Square lost all of its bright neon lights. Everyone froze as soon as darkness took over. Flashlights lit up from here and there. There was a lot of mumbling, but no screaming. That was until a car crash happened.

Screech! Bang!

Many people fell over as soon as a car crashed into the sidewalk after it blew its tire and ran into a fire hydrant. That was just the beginning though. The music all over the city was replaced by sounds of gunshots. It only took a few seconds for New York to become a battlefield.

“Agh!”

Desperate screams filled the night sky.

“Now.”

Ahn Soo Ho wasn’t surprised by the blackout that occurred simultaneously with what Hashim said. The ones causing a fuss were the security guards.

“Let’s move! We’ll escort you out!”

“No, that’s okay. Just stay where you are.”

Hashim and Peter calmed their guards down. Ahn Soo Ho put down his cup and asked.

“What’s next?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hashim shrugged his shoulders when more gunshots were fired.

“No matter how well the Yankees do with this gun control policy of theirs, the fact that guns are all over the place makes things very dangerous.”

“The American police are skilled. Even if the streets turn into a battlefield, it won’t last more than a day.”

“Hundreds of people will die within that time.”

“Indiscriminate attacks will only feed the States’ rage.”

They didn’t know how well they were trained or how many soldiers were dispatched, but the FBI and the special forces weren’t going to last long. If they wanted to reenact the collapse of the twin tower which caused 3000 people to die, they needed a clear objective.

‘Or?’

They could get rid of countless famous people.

The impact of 100 famous people dying compared to 3000 civilians dying was different. He didn’t understand why they passed up the opportunity of doing this in New York’s Fashion Week.

‘That’s not true.’

Ahn Soo Ho just realized that they didn’t pass up on the opportunity.

“Who rescheduled the advertising festival to be earlier?”

“Svenson.”

“Mossad?”

For quite some time, there were rumors going around saying Israel was responsible for 9/11. It was suspected that Israel was trying to make themselves stronger using the States.

“Soo Ho.”

James Black approached and handed him a big phone.

“What is it?”

“Michael was attacked.”

“What?”

Who got attacked? What did that mean? Ahn Soo Ho immediately got up.

“He’s gone, Boss. Michael... is dead.”

Life was unpredictable indeed.

As soon as the city went dark, their true colors came out. There was no freedom or democracy if there was no governmental authority. Since the States knew that all too well, they couldn’t afford to lose the people’s trust in the police. There were many police officers who were under qualified. But the City Hall, State Government, and the Federal Government couldn’t withdraw their support behind the investigative authority.

‘If governmental authority loses their confidence, everything else will collapse.’

If the people no longer trusted the police, a civil war would break out. The one rule of the States’ leaders was for national security to put the people’s freedom first. They couldn’t give up on even one American, but depending on the situation, there was the possibility of withdrawal.

Many people were busy looking for a place to hide when the gunshots could already be heard from everywhere. The people who lived nearby rushed into their houses, and the tourists rushed to their hotels and motels. The residence that Kim Na Hee had bought was located in the Upper East Side, and it was considered quite safe.

On top of that, there were American guards as well as Korean entourage there, so safety wasn’t a concern. Han Chae Kyung brought a lot of people in contrast to Ahn Soo Ho who only brought three. Michael, Ricky, and Samuel were the ones with the most experience in the States out of Logan and his underlings.

The surrounding area was filled with chaos when Ahn Soo Ho got there. There were fires emitting smoke, and loud sirens ringing. Seeing how there was an emergency vehicle destroyed on the streets, there must have been a riot. He saw a pair of feet below a white fabric when he went up to the yard.

“I apologize.”

“What happened?”

Since Michael was already dead, the next one in charge was Ricky. His face was hardened.

“It was a boy who was about 10 years old. The boy pulled the trigger when Michael turned around.”

“What about the boy?”

“He ran away.”

“And you let that happen?”

“He disappeared... Ugh!”

Ricky screamed and rolled on the ground. Ahn Soo Ho looked back at Samuel.

“What about the CCTV?”

“We got it.”

“Report it to the police.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, report it to the police.”

“But... Yes, Sir.”

Samuel was about to protest, but he immediately changed his mind when he saw Ahn Soo Ho’s gaze.

‘What is this? A coincidence? Fate? Or a joke by God?’

Michael managed to get out of the battlefield full of gunshots, but he ended up dying to a gunshot in the end. He was overwhelmed with an unexplainable feeling caused by Michael’s bad luck. He laughed, felt sad, and felt angry at the same time. If he had died on the battlefield instead, he would have at least received praise. However, he ended up getting shot in the back in the rich neighborhood of New York.

He died in a way that was not fitting of a veteran.

“Someone explain this to me. Who let the boy inside anyway?”

“Let me explain.”

They couldn’t see a single thing when the blackout swept the city and gunshots started to go off. Then a mob showed up. They broke all the cars and lit the houses on fire.

“Michael was being kind to the little boy.”

“Doing things you usually don’t do get you killed. If this was Iraq, he would have just shot him. That’s what he should have done this time, too.”

“Boss! That’s!”

“Didn’t I say this already? You’re all just average people! If you get shot by a gun, you’ll be nothing but dead trash!”

So he always stressed to them that they had to keep their guard up when he wasn’t around. On top of that, this country didn’t restrict guns. After scolding Ricky and Samuel, Ahn Soo Ho parted with Michael’s body underneath the white cloth then left. He was met with Hashim and Peter when he got out. Both of them also had very stiff faces.

“Michael Lee Devon.”

A punk who was supposed to be raising cows in the countryside ended up dying in a house of the Upper East Side.

“If you hadn’t called me here, he wouldn’t have died.”

As Ahn Soo Ho kept talking, their faces turned paler.

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll do anything to you since I already made a promise.”

“Th... thank you, Soo Ho!”

He gave them one more chance, but he wasn’t going to give them another.

“Isn’t it funny? He retired and there was supposed to be no reason for him to face a bullet ever again... If there really is a God, he must be an asshole.”

How did Ahn Soo Ho have the courage to diss God in front of a Muslim and a Catholic? Ahn Soo Ho was willing to believe in Jesus if Michael came back to life, but that didn’t mean a miracle was going to happen.

In the end, the ones who had to take responsibility were the ones who were still alive.

“If there wasn’t a blackout, Michael wouldn’t have died. And if people hadn’t started a riot because of the blackout, he would still be alive. In the end... if that boy didn’t have a gun... No, if that boy didn’t exist, that would have been nice.”

He didn’t know how to explain this to Logan and his underlings. He couldn’t tell them that his kindness was repaid with a bullet. This was a death in vain. It was a story that wasn’t even good enough to be a comedy or a tragedy.

He saw James approaching him.

“Did you deliver the message?”

“He went nuts. He said he can’t accept it.”

Ahn Soo Ho went through James to tell Director Adam Laroche of the FBI that he was going to get involved.

“Tell him to try to stop me if he can.”

Ahn Soo Ho was going to consider anyone who got in his way as his enemy whether they were the FBI or the New York police.

“I’m going to find the one who caused the blackout, the one that started the riot, the little boy, and the person who sold the little boy the gun, once and for all.”

Ahn Soo Ho would knock down the rebuilt twin tower if that was what it took to find them all.

< Protect – Episode 113 – Code Name Wizard [1] > The end.