Sooho

Why did Ahn Soo Ho hate human trafficking so much? It wasn’t like he was kidnapped or assaulted as a kid. But then again, that was impossible for him. However, when he watched the great, great magician, Anna-Anne’s life, he experienced just how horrible life as a slave really was.

There were things much worse than murder in this world.

It was better to just kill someone than to torture them by making them a slave which was somewhere between life and death. That was why Ahn Soo Ho killed his enemies in the quickest way possible. Did that sound weird? He did have one rule of giving everyone a chance to save themselves.

But there were certainly exceptions.

If they messed with Ahn Soo Ho’s family, friends, or colleagues, they got no chance. He had already let Andre Sluski live once before. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know. All that mattered was that Ahn Soo Ho believed it.

“Prague.”

“He’s closer than I expected.”

Kosino tilted her head to Ahn Soo Ho. As soon as the boss visited Europe, Sluski stopped luring around Hector Garcia and hid his whereabouts. He knew that if he ran into Ahn Soo Ho, he would get into big trouble.

“How long will it take?”

“Well, he is a legend himself… Give me two days.”

“One day.”

“Ugh. Okay.”

Kosino agreed.

Hector Garcia refused his help and remained at the detention center. He didn’t know what history he had with Rothschild, but he didn’t want to meddle that much. Since the old man didn’t have dementia, he was capable of taking care of himself.

Once Ahn Soo Ho returned to his hotel, he was met with an unexpected situation. Michelle, Alice, and Jang Seol Hyun were laughing and chatting away.

“Soo Ho. You’re home early.”

“Yeah.”

Jang Seol Hyun struggled to get up and took his coat. He normally would have scolded her for getting up, but he couldn’t do that in front of guests.

‘Prude.’

However, she liked that he knew when to just accept his role as the king.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why do you ask? Are we not allowed to be here?”

“You should have gotten my permission first.”

“We’re not here to see you. Carol invited us.”

‘That granny?’ Caroline wasn’t there, but Ahn Soo Ho imagined her smiling in a wicked manner. She was the granny version of Hector Garcia. If Caroline heard this, she would have gotten mad, but she was actually well-suited for Hector. They both had a way of having dramatic emotional ups and downs.

“Where’s Carol?”

“She went to get some wine.”

‘Drinking already?’ That was something Caroline Burn would do. Ahn Soo Ho sat down on the sofa while Jang Seol Hyun poured him a drink. He was impressed by the service, but he didn’t make it show.

“What were you talking about?”

“About Hollywood.”

“Come to think of it… I heard you’re filming a movie, Michelle.”

Not long ago, Scott Warren had talked about Michelle and Alice. He said he wanted to recruit both of them into Hosoo Entertainment America or Europe.

Michelle clicked her tongue.

“It’s fascinating that the company is still running with such a disinterested owner.”

“Huh? Did I say something wrong?”

“It’s not a movie, but a drama. A collaboration between America and China.”

“Is that even possible?”

He heard rumors that Hollywood was getting a lot of funding from China. People talked about this as if it was a joke, but the old men of the American film industry hated funding from people of color and oil money.

Sony was lucky.

Hollywood was still just as racist, and no matter how popular an African American actor was, there was a limit to their success. The reason why Michael Jackson’s life came to a tragic end was ultimately because of racism.

This time, Alice sighed.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“I told you. Soo Ho doesn’t know much about the film industry. He’s not interested either.”

“Wait, how does it make sense that he doesn’t know anything about the entertainment business with his reputation?”

“He just has other people doing the work. If it’s not a big deal, it’s not reported to him. Besides, Soo Ho’s lazy.”

“It must be great being him.”

Michelle and Jang Seol Hyun had met before. They had met on a private yacht in Monaco. They must have gotten close because they started dissing Ahn Soo Ho together. They were serving him not long ago, but their stance had changed.

“Do you remember Alexander Johnny Chung?”

“Oh, Hong Kong.”

Alexander Johnny Chung was a big producer in the Hong Kong film industry.

“So you remember Hong Kong. Well, do you remember the joint investment project you started there?”

“I remember.”

He remembered.

Although he only visited Hong Kong because of North Korea’s missile provocation, he ended up establishing a grand strategy for all of Asia. They originally planned on holding back on foreign strategies, but following the New York terrorist attack, they needed to make stronger investments.

Even now, Hosoo Entertainment America and Europe were expanding exponentially. Both Scott Warren and Barbara Huxley were the types to keep their promises. It was hard to say that Hosoo Entertainment Europe and America were within the group. Since their capital was from their country, all that they had in common was the name.

Ahn Soo Ho tilted his head.

“But how do you know about this?”

“Ha!”

The three women were shocked.

“We’re signed under Hosoo Entertainment.”

“You are?”

Ahn Soo Ho looked confused. ‘Huh? Do I need to report this? Or should I just let them go?’ He felt bothered that he found out something he didn’t have to know.

Michelle was speechless and blank.

“You really have no interest in us. Do you even consider us your friends?”

“Where I come from, they say no news is good news.”

“Stop it with your play on words.”

If they were under his agency, that also meant their guards, North Mist was hired by his company. The leader of Angola was in United Industries’ executive committee, and they had a strong group called Aragon Company. The circle’s influence over the world’s politics, economy, and the military were powerful beyond imagination.

‘It must be very serious.’

Just like Allen Smith said, the circle’s destruction left a huge void. The greedy forces around them started to take action. Same went for the Berlin terrorist attack a few days back. When it was revealed that it wasn’t Muslim terrorists, but the Christians that hated Muslims that started the attack, Germany went into shock.

The Christians were after the Muslims.

‘That was also expected.’

The Neo-Nazis that followed Otto Krupp carefully overcame obstacles to reach their ultimate objective. If the pain and provocation continued for a long period of time, basic human rights were bound to vanish.

It was a lie when people said that French women were easygoing. Brazilian women were just as shameless. But the scariest was his pregnant wife.

“What is it that you want, young ladies?”

“Motor show.”

‘Motor show?’

“I want to go to the Frankfurt Motor Show.”

It was wrong to assume that only men liked cars. There were many women who also liked speed, cornering and intense drifts. And Miss Brazil—Alice’s idol—was the genius driver, Ayrton Senna.

It was true.

Alice Lima, who was more calm and thoughtful than Michelle, was a speed lover. And the advertisement she accepted after winning Miss Universe was for NASCAR. Women who were knowledgeable about racing were more favorable than those who shotguns in the eyes of most men.

The reason why Alice was able to beat Miss. Venezuela and became Miss Universe was because she was thoughtful and cautious while also being direct and rough when needed.

Ahn Soo Ho spoke in a negative manner.

“Why would they hold such a big event when there was a terrorist attack a few days ago?”

“They said they’re going to do it.”

Alice refuted immediately.

“You could just ask the agency. Why are you coming to me?”

“Because they don’t give out VVIP tickets to just anyone.”

“Not even Miss Universe?”

“Not a chance.”

As soon as Ahn Soo Ho looked back, Logan nodded.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Okay, that’s done. What about you?”

When Ahn Soo Ho looked at Michelle, she got up without answering. That was because Caroline was coming in with the wine. The wine must have been expensive because the three women ran toward her and left Ahn Soo Ho behind.

“Wow! The legendary white wine, 1976 vintage!”

“Germany is known for white wine!”

“What are you talking about? France is better!”

“No way! It’s Italy!”

“Espana is good, too!”

“What about Portugal?”

While the women fought over wine, Ahn Soo Ho took a bottle from the cart.

“Hm.”

After going all around the world and meeting famous people, he tasted all sorts of famous alcohol. There was one wine that was Ahn Soo Ho’s absolute favorite.

“Chateau Montelena.”

Wine was now American-made.

That night, Caroline, Michelle, and Alice got drunk off of wine while Ahn Soo Ho kept his eye on Jang Seol Hyun. After all, just a glass turned into another and another.

Kosino managed to find the objective in just 5 hours instead of a day. Ahn Soo Ho left the drunk women behind and left the hotel. This time, he didn’t use a car or a plane. He teleported to Prague and was met with an unfriendly face.

“Alexa.”

Her face was bright red.

“How could you leave me out, Soo Ho? You couldn’t help it with UNICEF, but Sluski should be mine!”

“Did Kosi call you?”

“Is that important?”

She was getting revenge for disturbing her on vacation.

“What about the kids?”

“I asked Lena to take over.”

Ahn Soo Ho nodded.

Alexa had a dark past. The reason why she hated men and insisted on being a lesbian was because of a traumatic event from when she was young. There was no way of getting her to get some therapy either. And being forceful wasn’t going to work on her either.

When he met Alexa 10 years earlier, she had the eyes of someone with no hope. Half of her body was already dead, and her body was ready to stop breathing.

Europe’s largest human trafficking organization, Mercedes.

No one knew why they were named after a car. Some said that the head—Yusef—was obsessed with Mercedes cars, but no one knew for certain. There were even stories about how it meant ‘gift’ in Latin. After all, for Yusef, who was kicked out of Russia after the Cold War, selling and buying people was like a gift.

“You stay out of this.”

“No way!”

Ahn Soo Ho didn’t want Alexa to be reminded of the past. If her scars were not fully healed yet, she would be faced with horrible pain.

“Think about the kids, Alexa. I mean, Sonya.”

Ahn Soo Ho picked her up and made her into a warrior. He was sometimes sad that she didn’t live a normal life, but for her, it was hard to imagine what normal was. It was courageous enough that she continued to live on after what she had been through.

Alexa had been using her income to help kidnapped victims. At first, she operated a safe house for the women and children that were freed from Mercedes, and after a decade later, she even helped those who suffered domestic violence, rape, and much more.

That was also why Caroline liked Alexa.

“Things operate just fine without me now.”

“Yeah. You spent so much money on it… You must be poor now. Are you homeless?”

“No! Come on!”

She puffed up her cheeks in response. She wasn’t young since she was 30 years old, but in front of him, she acted like a little girl. If any other team member saw Alexa being cute, they would have been shocked.

‘That ice queen?’

She rarely even smiled at other people.

“Pushover.”

“That’s not true!”

“So true.”

“No!”

Alexa calmed herself down and put on a coy face.

“You shouldn’t treat me like this.”

“Why not?”

“I already got the coordinates from Kosi.”

He could have just hacked into the CCTVs in Prague through his super computer, but he didn’t want to tease her so much that she would get angry. So he went along with what Alexa wanted. Czech was one of the countries that made her heart ache the most.

“Okay, fine. Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

She threw her fists in the air out of success. Ahn Soo Ho immediately made arrangements for a car and went for a sturdy SUV. Alexa got into the car and input the address into the navigator.

“Zizkov. Is that where we’re headed?”

Czech was a region somewhere between East and West Europe. But there were good things about being in an iffy location. During the second World War, the Nazis and allied forces went past Prague, and the entire city was currently registered with UNESCO.

During World War II, the Nazis killed countless gypsies. It wasn’t just the Nazis that hated gypsies. Everyone in Europe did. Even the Jews hated them. And for gypsies that were also Jews, they were treated as the lowest of the low.

Germany was so two-faced that while they apologized to the country and citizens for what they did, they never apologized to the gypsies. Perhaps they didn’t see the need to bow down to those that they could look down on.

Czech worked its connections well in the 20th century. They had their foot in East Europe, but they weren’t overly communized, and following the Cold War, their tourism industry boomed. For some reason, Asians had a fantasy about Czech. The Asians on the other side of the world knew their history better than they did.

“It’s a licensed prostitution house.”

Alexa got out of the car with a mixed facial expression.

One of Czech’s main industries was prostitution for tourists. The sex industry was not to be underestimated. Prostitution was mainly based on cash transactions. It had existed for the last 2000 years, and it was going to exist for 2000 more.

In contrast to Korea, Europe was careful about laying roadblocks or pavement. They were all about archaism and whatnot. It looked good in photos, but when it rained, the odor was foul.

Not all old things were good.

“It’s rotting.”

“It’s a little better inside.”

People were capable of getting used to the worst smells. Just like how Koreans enjoyed soybean paste soup without realizing its odor, the Japanese didn’t know nattos stank. So perhaps what Ahn Soo Ho thought was foul was not so bad to the natives of Czech.

“Where are you from?”

A man stepped in his way. He had a gun on his belt. But it was not surprising. Czech exported just as many weapons as the great Russia.

“Where’s Michlaf?”

The man flinched at Alexa’s fluent Czech language.

“Where did you…”

“Don’t be like that. Don’t you want business?”

The way Ahn Soo Ho and Alexa were dressed didn’t suit the shabby alleyway. He rolled his eyes and then stepped aside.

“It’s the third room.”

“Do better, okay?”

Alexa patted the man’s back and passed him. Ahn Soo Ho whispered to her,

“Where did you learn it?”

“Didn’t I tell you? My mom was from Slovakia”

Both Czech and Slovakia spoke a similar language. Actually, most countries in Europe were capable of understanding each other.

“Snicker! Huh?”

A man was laughing at the TV, but once he saw Ahn Soo Ho, he sprung up.

“Gasp!”

He fell over backward and crawled over to the wall. He was in fear. Ahn Soo Ho just stared on while Alexa took a chair and sat in front of him.

“Michlaf.”

“Ye… yes?”

“Don’t you recognize me?”

“Pa… pardon? Oh, huh?”

Michelaf was avoiding Ahn Soo Ho’s gaze when he gasped at Alexa’s gaze.

“Yo… you’re…”

“Do you recognize me now?”

“Sonya?”

“I use a different name now. Alexa… Call me Alexa.”

“Ok… okay. Agh!”

As soon as Michlaf finished, he grabbed his leg and screamed. A silenced gun was emitting smoke.

“Don’t be a baby. That won’t kill you.”

Unless a person got shot in the head or heart, that person was not likely to die right away. Michlaf blocked his own mouth instead of screaming.

‘If we fight, we’re all dead!’

If his underlings came and started a gunfight, they were all going to be annihilated.

“Where are the Russians?”

“De… Dejvice.”

“Oh.”

That was a hot place for diplomats.

“Should I have just gone to the Russian embassy right off the bat?”

“No, searching this place is standard procedure. Good job.”

“I’m not satisfied.”

“What are you going to do?”

Alexa looked down at Michlaf in response to Ahn Soo Ho’s question and pulled the trigger multiple times.

“Now you’re dead; you son of a bitch.”

This time, the bullets went through his brain and heart. He died before he got a chance to scream.

“Stop.”

Ahn Soo Ho talked Alexa out of it. She had already shot 12 bullets. 12 bullets on one man? He felt the rage of Alexa as she was reminded of her past.

“Calm down.”

“I thought I’d be okay… but this is pissing me off!”

She believed she walked out of it on her own, but the wounds would never heal. Ahn Soo Ho took the gun out of her hand. Alexa easily let go of the gun.

Her eyes shook.

This wasn’t the first time she killed, but thinking about the past made her uneasy. The preparation she made while planning her revenge didn’t help her one bit.

Alexa couldn’t breathe.

She suddenly started shaking, and Ahn Soo Ho embraced her.

“It’s okay. I’m right here. No one can hurt you. I won’t let them.”

When he first met Alexa, she was half dead. She needed 6 months to get out of her small room, and it took over another 6 months for her to open her mouth. And after a year, she was able to engage in normal conversation.

It took 3 years for Alexa to come out into the real world. And for those 3 years, she followed Ahn Soo Ho around like a little chick. She couldn’t eat, sleep, or even bathe without Ahn Soo Ho.

He patted her and said to her what used to calm her down in the past.

“Everything will be okay, Sonya. We’ll kill them. We’ll kill all of them. So don’t be afraid.”

Those words calmed her down. And at that moment, one of Michlaf’s underlings opened the door.

Bang-

The bullet went through his head.

“What was that? You didn’t use the silencer! We’ve been caught!”

Alexa pushed Ahn Soo Ho off and got up. She felt thankful, sorry, and embarrassed. She was cute when she was a teenager, but now she was just gross. But she still had some of that little girl in her.

Ahn Soo Ho smirked and handed Alexa a magical gun from his secret pocket. The outside became noisy in response to the gunshot.

Ahn Soo Ho held two guns in both hands and looked back at her.

“Let’s get it.”

‘Shall we have some fun?’

< Protect – Episode 214 – Russian Roulette [1] > The end.