Empire of the Ring

26-year-old Suh Min-seok and 24-year-old Kim In-hwa of S Corporation were the young people that Youngho met at the airport in Tbilisi.

“So, you two were recruited around the same time? You two are so friendly with each other, like old friends.”

“We’ve been helping each other a lot since we came to the company. To be honest, she’s actually being rude to me even though I’m her oppa.”

“Oh, Mr. Suh Min-seok, I’m going to remember that forever.”

Kim In-hwa glared at him, but he did not mind that at all. It seemed like they had been doing this quite often.

Youngho enjoyed watching the two energetic young people. They felt like bouncy balls to him.

Not understanding young South Korean people’s unreserved words and actions to each other, Kim Il-kwon only chewed on his food without a word.

Youngho invited them to dinner and they impressed him for showing up in formal suits. They also had great table manners. Having such manners despite being new recruits, they must have been trained strictly by the company or they must be from well-off families.

They did not seem to hesitate, and they also acted without constraint that they made Youngho thought about himself.

‘Did I act like them eight years ago?’

It had been eight years already since Youngho came to the Caucasus. Time flew so quickly.

“Mr. Lee. I heard that you do business with secretary Kim. We’re wondering if your business is related to what we’re selling.”

“Oh! Are you going to start selling your products to me from now on?”

“No. We were just curious. You saved us today and treated us with a high-quality hotel restaurant dinner. We wanted to know if there was anything we could do to repay you.”

Being employed at S Corporation—which was a global company—had made them proud.

“I only helped you because you reminded me of my past. I received a lot of help from other Koreans in the past. If you meet a Korean who’s in need of help in a foreign land in the future, please go ahead and help him.”

What Youngho said was contradicting to what he had really experienced. He actually never received any help from other Koreans in here. He only lied to make them feel better.

The next day, Youngho met someone from Maritime Affairs and Port Office and signed a contract to use the open-air storage yard.

As of the moment, the yard was full of scrap metals and any vessel would have to wait a month until it could store its cargo there. A month’s time was all Arirang Shipping needed to empty its cargo from the Turkish port.

The Poti Sea Port that Youngho just contracted with was located close to the Sea of Azov which could be reached after coming out of the Volga-Don Canal. This route could shorten the distance for about 1,600 kilometers compared to using the Istanbul route which was longer and costed more than the Volga-Don Canal. This could benefit H Corporation and other bulk freighter owners that worked for Arirang Shipping.

Most of all, Youngho liked the fact that whatever happened in the Black Sea would not matter to the vessels since they would be moving alongside the coastlines.

He did not need to worry every time something bad happens in the Black Sea showed up on the TV news.

There was no way that he would blow out the Chechen oil pipeline whenever Russia would do something bad. Although he possessed supernatural abilities, there were always risks for doing such dangerous work.

Youngho was tired of feeling nervous every time he had to do something dangerous. A single bullet could take away his life. It would be a lie to say that he was not worrying about a thing.

If he was really concerned about his family, he should stop doing something reckless. He was lucky that he survived so many different missions that he was sent to.

Now that he knew the mineral sales and distribution line would be secured for the Arirang Autonomous State, he regretted having made such reckless decision.

Youngho was already in his mid-30s and it seemed like a good time to be more cautious for himself. He wished that his decision to stay safe would last long.

***

“Please forgive our rude behaviors yesterday. We did not know that you’re a chairman.”

“Why are you acting all formal suddenly?”

“We contacted the headquarters of S Corporation, and the information team informed us that you are working on a huge project with H Corporation in Kazakhstan. We were told to treat you in a respectful manner.”

‘Have I become so famous now? S Corporation must have known about my existence as well.’

The corporation must know about him.

H Corporation and S Corporation were the top two companies and competitors in Korea. S Corporation must know what H Corporation was up to. They did not compete with each other directly since their products were in different categories, but they were both global companies that tried to dominate the Korean economy.

“I’m only an agent for H Corporation. I’m just a businessman in his 30s, and I don’t feel comfortable being called a chairman.”

“Then, we’ll call you a CEO. Anyway, we were told to visit Kazakhstan alongside you. So, we’ll have to follow you around for even longer.”

They looked stern.

“Why do I need to take you there?”

“We’re not allowed to go back. The company ordered us to follow you around until we learn everything we need to learn from you, or we would have to resign.”

‘They’re ordered to study my work?’

It seemed like their superior had done some brain work.

It made Youngho smile.

“Your company’s president must be a gang member.”

“We wish to work under someone that is as great as you are.”

“You know, I never let go of the people who came from under my wings. Will you guys be fine with that?”

“…”

At Batumi’s airport, autumn rain was falling.

Batumi was the wettest place among all the cities near the Black Sea.

The annual precipitation in Batumi was about 2,500 millimeters and most of the rain poured down in fall. Compared to Kazakhstan, Batumi was immensely blessed.

A limousine for special guests was waiting at the airport.

It was a vehicle that Youngho bought for VIP guests of Arirang Hotel.

It must be either Cho Chul-hwan or Um Sang-taek’s joke since they were already informed by Kim Il-kwon that Youngho would be visiting. As they heard that Youngho was bringing two young people, they wanted to see how they would react.

“What are you doing? Get on.”

They were reluctant to get on the car. It was quite contrastive from their proud attitude from the first day. They had never been on this expensive limousine.

The hotel was only ten minutes away from the airport, but it almost took them half an hour to get there because of the heavy rain and the heavy traffic. As the car drove uphill, they could see the modern-style hotel. Seeing that the hotel was named Arirang Hotel in English, the two suddenly got busy searching on their phones.

They were surprised that the hotel’s name was Arirang. S Corporation must not have informed the two about his hotel, or maybe the people there had no idea who Youngho really was.

“Excuse me, Mr. CEO. I searched Arirang Hotel on the Internet and it seemed like the hotel is also in Moscow, Frankfurt, Baku, and South Ossetia. The owner must be Korean.”

“There’s one in Atyrau in Kazakhstan. I guess it’s not being promoted well on the Internet yet.”

“…”

“Commissioner Kim must have been busy lately. We’ve done so much work for Atyrau’s Arirang Hotel.”

Youngho had never searched Arirang Hotel on the Internet. He only asked because he was curious. He was not sure how the two newbies took his words, but they looked dumbfounded.

Cho Chul-hwan—the general manager—and other employees came to receive Youngho’s group at the hotel lobby.

“Hey! Why did you send the limo? What would we use if an important VIP came?”

“Look at the sky. It looks like there’s a hole in the sky. Should I have let you take a cab?”

“Do you have some fresh fish? I have some guests with me. I want to treat them.”

“Are those your guests?”

“Hey, Mr. Suh Min-seok and Miss. Kim In-hwa, come and say hi to my friend. He’s the president of Arirang Hotel in Batumi.”

The two busily greeted him without knowing what was going on.

They were intimidated by Chul-hwan’s look since he was big and bulky.

“Dude, you need to lose some pounds. What is the hotel’s fitness center for?”

“I have no time to work out these days. You are the one who makes your employees overwork. Where is my vacation?”

Despite the Black Sea situation, Batumi’s summer business was doing great. Although the sea was uproarious, the sky route and land route were fine. Since there had been frequent affairs at the Black Sea, many well-off people did not mind enjoying their summer vacation.

“There are people who come to the hotel to enjoy their vacation. This is a great place for you to enjoy. Where else would you go? Huh? Or you could come to the autonomous state and sweat the summer away while you instruct the Countryside Force soldiers.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. I’ll put Sang-taek in charge of the hotel, and I’ll come to the autonomous state with you so I could do some exercises and lose some weight.”

The two followers of Youngho listened to their conversation carefully as if they did not want to miss a single word.

***

Baku’s airport was crowded with travelers.

The Hotel didn’t have that many travelers in the summer because it was too hot, but it was popular among European travelers during the fall season.

Youngho’s followers were even astounded to see that Youngho and Il-kwon left through the VIP lounge. They were surprised because they thought that only presidents or high officials could use such a lounge.

It was already common for important guests from a global corporation to stay at a VIP lounge, but they didn’t know that. It only took five minutes for them to pass the security check and finish the entry procedure. Waiting for the luggage of Youngho’s followers took most of their time since their luggage came out from the cargo section of the airplane. Youngho’s followers were still in shock as they drank their coffee at the VIP lounge.

Since Youngho felt lazy to explain everything, he just let them think whatever they were thinking.

“Well, you guys are still my guests. I should take you to my home.”

“Oh, that’s fine. We don’t want to bother you and your family. We’ll find a place to stay in downtown. If you let us know where your office is located, we’ll come and meet you again in the morning.”

“I guess you’re asking me to work on a Saturday as well.”

The two who got carried away by what had happened today seemed to have lost track of time. Youngho had planned to spend time with his family tomorrow, but his plan was ruined because of the new guests.

“Wow! It feels like we went back in time on a time machine. Look! There’s a remaining part of an old castle!”

The two newbies continued uttering an exclamation forgetting who was standing beside them.

On the way back to the farm, Youngho took a detour to show them around the old town of Baku. He wanted to show them that Baku was a city with history.

“Okay, I think we’ve seen enough. It’s already late. You can rest at the farm tonight and take a tour around downtown with our staff.”

“Wouldn’t your staff have to take a break tomorrow?”

Since new recruits of the security service company were staying at the farm, Youngho thought that they could get along well.

“Some of the staff will probably go to downtown tomorrow.”

As they drove to the rural side leaving behind the city area, the two newbies’ faces turned dark. It was quite amusing to watch their faces change.

***

“Papa!”

Jelyan and Leon greeted Youngho as they hugged him.

They were also followers of Youngho.

“You’re early. I thought you were going to look around downtown. So, these are the ones you talked about?”

The guests were frozen to see a beautiful foreigner, Fatima, speaking in fluent Korean.

“Guys, this is my wife and they’re my kids. The bigger one is Jelyan and the little one is Leon.”

As Youngho finished talking, kids ran toward the new guests.

Since Jelyan could not speak both English and Korean fluently, she speedily talked to them in French, and Leon blabbered English words to them. The two guests did not know how to react to the kids.

“Jelyan. You need to speak in English to this unni and oppa.”

“But it’s hard to say what I want to say.”

Kim In-hwa was talking to the kids as she brought herself down to the children’s level, but Suh Min-seok looked like he would take a while before he could speak to Youngho’s family.

He was stunned to see Fatima.

It was probably because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. He was having a hard time matching Youngho and her together.

“Okay, Mr. Suh Min-seok, you can use that room and Miss. Kim In-hwa, you can use the room at the end of the hall.”

Youngho unpacked his belongings and took a shower before coming downstairs.

Youngho’s followers followed him down to the first floor.

“Should I warm chopped noodle soup for them? Mother made it today because you’re coming.”

The one she referred to as ‘Mother’ was Yun-suh’s mother-in-law and Sang-chun’s mother who was now permanently staying at Zeynep Farm with Youngho’s family.

“Alright. Please make it spicy.”

Fatima who turned around to head to the kitchen looked especially beautiful today.

Youngho had to take his eyes off Fatima because Leon pulled his pants asking to play with him.