Chapter 5

Seoul, Korea

Noodle House

Jae continued to look at the woman sitting across from him; there was an air of confidence and strength about her that he had hoped his niece would one day have.

Perhaps this was a way to grow that within her? To have a mentor, of sorts, she could learn from.

“I am impressed,” Jae said. “And surprised.”

“Yes, I know. What you did not take into consideration is that it is much too dangerous to put Myo Mi-Sun’s care and safety in the hands of a follow Korean,” Lula continued. “Someone that knows of her, has followed her career, can be bought or have ulterior motives, and be easily distracted. That is why you need an outside the country and industry team to handle this need.”

“You are not Korean?” he absently asked, already aware of the answer.

“French-Japanese,” she said. “We had never even heard of your Myo Mi-Sun prior to the request hitting the wire.”

Jae nodded; that wasn’t something he had thought about. “The level of detail, what you seemingly effortlessly uncovered, the unique way you are applying for the job I have to commend you on. This surpasses anything the investigators put together or I thought to do.”

“Yes, I know,” Lula again agreed. “You are a very successful talent manager, Chairman Hu. NuStarr Talent Management represents a wide variety of talents in the industry, some names with worldwide recognition. You have done the seemingly impossible with very little, especially for a common laborer with no formal education, and have risked much in order to protect it. Admirable, but foolish that you waited this long to inquire about protection for those you have risked everything for.”

Jae closed the report and set it on the table. “Insulting a potential employer is foolish,” he warned, but it was a hollow complaint.

Lula batted her lashes. “And it would be foolish to point out that there is no room in our business for feelings, Chairman Hu, just as there no place for feelings in your business. It is not a bodyguard you require, Chairman Hu, it is a security team. We can provide that. Kita Yasuhiro would be personal protection with emphasis on guarding the main target of the perceived threat; he is the bodyguard, the Guardian. His resume is most impressive and would pass even the harshest Korean government scrutiny. Lucien is logistics and transportation; the Driver.”

Lucien nodded once that he heard them.

“His uncanny ability to blend into a crowd regardless of which country he is in is as impressive as it is scary,” Lula explained. “You have a hired transport company that provides drivers, but not a consistent one which is a security risk. Lucien can drive anything with wheels and can find a means of escape anywhere and with very little effort.”

“I’m scared to ask what you are,” Jae said.

A smile filled her face. “I am the Femme Fatale when needed, but you may call me Oversight” Lula said as if it were obvious. “You do not need an extensive network of security agents that are at your disposal for the right price, Chairman Hu. But you need more than a hired guard to open her door and take her jacket for her. If what you fear is true, and she is being targeted, it will take more than one person to do that.”

That, Jae had actually feared.

It was too much for just Dae-Ho and Jae, and regardless of how paranoid Rain was, she was too exposed. Never would she turn a fan away, and most likely this threat was a fan. Everything he had protected her from for all these years would mean nothing if the threat to her was right in front of them the entire time.

Jae couldn’t lose his niece; she was everything that was perfect and beautiful about her mother with none of her demons.

“Chairman Hu?” Lula pressed when he continued to sit there, looking at her.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I’m scared for her.”

“With good reason,” she agreed. “This type of suspect, it is not an easy one to find. It could take months, years even, before each viable threat is weeded out and exposed. The client has a huge network and an impressively large and dedicated fan base, all which pose a problem. After the first attempt on her life, you should have sought out assistance.”

He gave her a look. “The first attempt? When she was a child?” he asked, confused.

“Five years ago on the set of Four Princes For Love there was an incident, was there not?” Lula asked, knowingly. “Reports stated it was a faulty lighting rig, but the report from the insurance company stated unsourced and suspect tool marks that most likely contributed to the failure. Your niece was missed by what, less than a meter?”

Jae’s eyes were wide; that report he wasn’t aware of.

They said it was just an accident, that the welds on the lighting rig failed, and it landed onset dangerously close to his niece and the male lead she was doing a scene with at the time. She was cut by the shattering glass from the light, nothing that required more than a few butterfly closures and some ointment. But her co-star wasn’t as lucky; he requires thirty-stitches and lost mobility in one arm, resulting in his early retirement.

“That is just one of many questionable accidents onsite that had befallen your niece-” her words abruptly cut off when Lucien got to his feet.

Jae looked from Lula to across the street.

Lula motioned with her chin for Lucien to take care of it.

Lucien grabbed the banana milk carton print mobile phone off the table then hurried from the restaurant.

Kita shook his head in disappointment then turned on his heels and headed towards the kitchen.

“And this is why you need us,” Lula said.

Jae got to his feet and went over to the windows lining the front of the restaurant to see what the apparent threat was and his eyes widened. “Oh no,” he gasped.