4 Chapter 4

Seoul, Korea

Noodle House

From across the street, Jae sat in the nearly empty restaurant, his attention on his niece and son as they got out of the transport van and sent it away. He watched as Dae-Ho did a sweep of the area for paparazzi and instructed the Inspector on how to coordinate the visit and signing.

He was proud of his son for the steps he always took to protect his cousin, but it wasn’t enough anymore.

When those lingering around the parking lot saw Myo Mi-Sun, they swarmed and the autograph requests started. Mobile phones flashed, and pushing and shoving from those wanting to be first nearly caused his niece to fall into the street.

Jae started to get to his feet when a young man hurried over and caught her. He was walking down the sidewalk, not part of the firefighters or their guests, and was surprisingly fast. The knot that had formed in Jae’s stomach when Rain started to fall lessened when someone was there to catch her. Jae sat back down when the young man smiled with a slight nod of the head then continued down the sidewalk seemingly without realizing who it was he just caught.

“Tourist,” Jae surmised before taking a sip of tea.

“Or a potential security threat,” a woman said then joined him. “Hello, Chairman Hu,” she greeted with a smile, sitting across from him.

Jae gave her a look.

The woman appeared young and had an exotic look to her. She was taller than most of the women represented by his management company, and was undeniably European. She was beautiful in a unique way, but she had confidence that you normally didn’t find in women in the business of security.

“Who are you?” Jae asked.

“Lula Yasuhiro,” she offered. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

The young man that had caught his niece joined them then handed something to Lula before he took a seat at the next table. He kept his attention out the front of the restaurant and to what was happening across the street; he didn’t like the lack of security and risk they were putting the potential client in.

Lula held up the mobile phone. “I believe this belongs to your niece,” she said, handing it to the man sitting across from her.

Jae looked at the phone then to the woman and man. “You have my attention,” he said, taking Rain’s mobile phone.

“Good. That is my brother Lucien,” Lula said, motioning to the young man that caught Rain when she started to fall, relieving her of her mobile phone in the process.

Lucien offered a slight nod of the head, his attention never deviating from what was happening across the street.

“And the one you did not notice behind you is my brother Kita,” she said, motioning behind him.

Jae looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened; he hadn’t noticed there was a tall man standing behind him this entire time. “Who are you people?” he demanded, fear flooding him.

“Friends, at least we would like to be. I intercepted your security request when it crossed my desk at Interpol,” Lula explained, now that she had Chairman Hu’s attention. “You are seeking a bodyguard for your top tiered talent, who happens to be your niece and like a daughter to you. A simple bodyguard will not do for Myo Mi-Sun. What you need is a security team,” she said, pulling a folder from her bag and offered it to him.

Jae took it. “What is this?”

“Considered it our application for the assignment,” Lula explained. “We arrived in Seoul three days ago, and in that time we did some recon, as they call it in Hollywood. It took less than three days to find the vulnerabilities in your current security, and there is a lengthy list of things that need immediate attention in or professional opinion. In addition, we obtained confirmation on your suspicions when we stole the report from the private investigators you hired. Their security was even laxer than yours.”

Lucien smirked; that was his job.

Jae looked through the folder.

Inside was a detailed report with surveillance photos of Rain, Dae-Ho, and Jae at home, some of them in public, at the office, even from the private meeting Jae had with his investigators. Blueprints of Chairman Hu’s home were marked up with each entry point and unsecure access location that could easily be breached. Layouts of the building that NuStarr Talent Management was located in were notated with security concerns, and pictures were provided of those that they had already been in contact with.

“What is this?” Jae asked, motioning towards the list of employees from NuStarr Talent Management.

Lula offered an apologetic smile. “A threat assessment, Chairman Hu. Sadly, the most trustworthy employee you have is the janitor. Each mentioned employee provided information on Myo Mi-Sun or something we could exploit in order to find ourselves in front of you now. How do you think we knew you would be here at this exact moment? How do you think we knew which private investigators you used? As they say, Chairman Hu, your house is not safe.”

His attention was on the most concerning name on the list, in his opinion.

“Secretary Po provided false information,” Lula assured him, aware of what stole his attention at the top of the list. “However, never trust anyone that will take a bride even if they do not deliver on what was promised. The janitor, however, called security to have the threat removed. I think a raise in order for Janitor Sung.”

Jae would deal with that when he returned to the office, and a cleansing of his ‘house’ as she called it was in order. He flipped to the next page and quickly read through the detailed information.

“The law firm below your floor is full of a non-trustworthy lot,” Lula continued. “For barristers that take an oath to uphold the law, they can easily be bought. For less than ten-million won they provided a copy of each of Myo Mi-Sun’s contracts.”

Jae softly growled under his breath in irritation, flipping to the next page; he’d have to pay the woman back.

“Do not fret the ten-million won, Chairman Hu,” Lula said, well aware he was entertaining such. “Lucien’s sleight-of-hand is criminal. As quickly as it was in their pocket, he was relieving them of it without them knowing it.”

That didn’t make him feel any better, and the knot that had formed in his stomach warned it wasn’t going to better anytime soon.