Empire of the Ring

Chapter 302: An Interesting Encounter at an Airport (4)

Youngho’s young guests who enjoyed their weekend with the recruits of the security service company said that they would be staying at a hotel in Baku downtown.

“Our kids love to have guests around and we have many spare rooms. Do you have to stay at a hotel using your own money?”

“We don’t want to bother you too much, Mr. CEO.”

Their attitudes had become even more submissive towards Youngho.

They must have found out more about Youngho from the security company’s employees and decided that he was much bigger than they thought, but Youngho was not going to let them go. Apart from everything, Jelyan and Leon just loved them.

Jong-il and Insoo also had kids and there were other kids at the farm, but they all seemed to be uncomfortable around Jelyan and Leon. Thus, the mansion was always so quiet. Cho Sang-chun’s father and mother played with the kids, but they got easily tired by them. Leon was a tiny devil when he was awake.

“I thought I told you before that I don’t easily let go of people who came under my wing.”

The two were flustered. They did not know how to respond with what Youngho just said.

“If you wanted to learn work from me, you should stay nearby. Or is it because I’m a bother between you two?”

“Oh, we don’t see each other that way. We’re just coworkers.”

“Same here. I’d rather live alone forever.”

People said that a strong no was actually a strong yes.

Since they disagreed with Youngho so strongly, it made them look more suspicious.

“If you insist on leaving our house, you’ll have to forget about learning from me. I don’t really go to the office in downtown. It’s going to be hard to even see my face. How are you going to learn work from me then?”

“We get that, sir. If you use us as your secretaries, we’ll be glad to work for you.”

“I can’t treat employees of a global company like that. You can just follow me around and do some sightseeing.”

For now, they would be just following around Youngho, but he planned to give them some work after they got used to their surroundings.

Fatima was glad to hear that the new guests did not leave.

“Oh, I’m so glad you decided to stay here. If you’re going to be here for a while, you would need to have comfortable clothes. Miss Kim, why don’t you go shopping with me?”

Fatima had been dying to go shopping, and buying Kim In-hwa some clothes were a good excuse.

“I’ll go ahead and escort the Archduchess.”

‘What? The Archduchess? Those guys at the security company must’ve blabbered about that too.’

“Miss Kim. Feel free to treat me as a friend inside the house but just be careful whenever the elderly are around us outside.”

That was unlikely to happen. The descendants of the knights would not like a stranger standing close to Fatima.

Fatima innocently continued.

“Let’s go out now. Your clothes look so uncomfortable. You don’t have to wear suits here.”

As Fatima said that she would be going out, Serbian guards quickly showed up at the porch with a vehicle. They served Fatima and Leon so carefully and politely.

Kim In-hwa who was standing next to her was treated as if she was invisible. When Fatima talked to them, they nodded and opened the door for Kim In-hwa.

Suh Min-seok watched everything that was happening outside. He suddenly looked nervous.

“Mr. Suh Min-seok, you can take a break or ride the bike to look around the farm.”

Youngho thought that he needed some time alone.

“Mr. CEO, you are not going to work?”

“Everywhere on the farm is my office.”

“I’m going to go contact the headquarters at my room.”

It seemed like he got so confused that he had forgotten about the time difference with Seoul.

“You know—there’s a five-hour difference between here and Seoul. People are probably still asleep there.”

Youngho remembered the time when he bickered with Cho Sang-Chun because of the time difference. Eight years ago was a more exciting time for him.

Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa were new faces here, but they would soon become comfortable living here just like Youngho did.

***

“Mr. CEO, my supervisor and the director from headquarters want to visit Baku. Would you like to meet them?”

“Is there any reason why I should meet them?”

“His title is a director, but he is actually the vice president of S Corporation. If you make his acquaintance, you’d not regret it.”

“Why would such a high person from your company want to visit me? I’m only a wine producer. I have nothing to do with him. Also, I don’t plan to sell my wine to Korea. That won’t be so helpful for him. Please tell him to not bother in coming here.”

Youngho did not know what Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa told to the headquarters, but he knew that the company would want to contact him soon.

“Okay, if you say so. I’ll tell them exactly what you said.”

“Mr. Suh Min-seok, did you by any chance mention to them about my wife?”

“I could not find anything about the Serbian Kingdom, so I inquired about it at the headquarters, and I got to mention about you—the prince consort of the Archduchess. If that was a mistake, please forgive me.”

Youngho could see what was behind all this.

Suh Min-seok must have informed S Corporation that Youngho had an autonomous state in Kazakhstan, and he was the prince consort of the Archduchess who lived in a farm in Baku that was as big as Seoul.

They must be thinking that Youngho was a man of indeterminable wealth.

Fatima and Kim In-hwa who left around noon came back after four o’clock.

Fatima looked satisfied as she had fulfilled her goal and Kim In-hwa looked tired. Since they even bought Suh Min-seok’s clothes and underwear, it seemed like they would not be leaving the house any time soon.

Fatima also bought Leon and Jelyan’s stuff.

Jelyan, who took a nap after school, came downstairs and made a fuss to put on her new clothes.

Fatima used to pick her clothes from a direct clothing store but now that Youngho had sold his stores, she had been eager to buy clothes. She usually liked to save money, but she would binge-shop whenever she went to a mall. It seemed like her resentment from being poor in the past had a role in her behavior now. However, Youngho was thankful that Fatima could have an outlet for her stress and resentment even in this way. Anyone would have one or two deep sorrow or resentment. Fatima was terribly poor when she was young and knowing her past, Youngho could understand where she was coming from.

“You got nothing for me?”

“Oh, right. I bought you some tennis shoes. Try them on. I also bought gifts for mother and father.”

She bought all sorts of things for everyone.

There were no expensive brands among the things that she bought. Although there was no one who would blame her for buying luxury things, she never bought such things. She probably had bought things for Karajan, Jong-il’s wife, and Kim Sung-hee, Cha Insoo’s wife.

“Mr. Suh Min-seok, why don’t you go ahead and try these on? You should show appreciation for the people who brought you those.”

“I will. Thank you, Archduchess. It’s an honor.”

“You’re welcome. It’s all from my husband’s money. You can thank my husband.”

She smiled brightly to Suh Min-seok. Youngho thought her smile was so pretty.

Suh Min-seok blushed and hastily went to the stairs, but he staggered as he went up.

He was excited that the Archduchess had bought him clothes.

It was something to brag about for a long time.

***

Two days later, S Corporation’s director Im Min-shik flew to Baku.

Youngho had rejected his visit beforehand, but he still came despite that. Since they must have come to ask Youngho for help, it was just another work for him. However, he could not send them away.

“Mr. Lee. I’m so grateful for your kindness towards our employees.”

Im Min-shik, a small and thin man in his 50s, seemed to be a man of dignity.

“Well, I think they were terrific workers. They are willing to go through troubles to achieve their goal. Those two really freshened up my mind.”

“No. I should apologize for giving them such a reckless instruction to follow you around. I’m sorry on behalf of my company.”

The two actually were not to be blamed for bothering Youngho. They simply did what they were told to do. It was not actually a bother for Youngho though. He genuinely enjoyed their company, and he also wanted to show off to them what he had achieved.

“I see. Well, you’ve come a long way to get here. Why don’t you take a rest at my hotel tonight? Since you came as my guest, I’ll treat you as my guest.”

“A guest? No, I’m here to see if I can be your business partner. We’ve been interested in the regions around the Caspian Sea.”

“You’ve already sent an advance party. Those two fellas seem to be talented and well-educated people.”

“…”

“Since you’ve given them an assignment, why don’t you wait for now to see how they turn out to be? I was thinking about giving them some work rather than doing business with your company.”

The director was surprised to hear Youngho complimenting his new employees. Youngho wanted to flatter them in front of their boss so that they would not get disadvantaged.

Youngho called the two new employees of S Corporation—the followers of Youngho. He liked them very much, so he was going to accompany them for several more days.

Since they were youngbloods, Youngho thought that they might give him some inspiration for his businesses. If they were helpful, he was willing to give them a reward too.

“I’m so glad that you liked our employees. However, they just started working for our company. They don’t have a lot of experience in the field, so I’m planning to leave an administrative director with them.”

“Are you planning to open a sales branch here in Baku?”

“You’re right. We’ve come to know that you have many connections in the business world in the countries of the Caspian coast. If you’re not working for a specific company yet, I was wondering if you could also be our partner.”

He carefully stated words, but it meant that he had already finished investigating about Youngho. He meant that since Youngho was partnered with H Corporation, he might as well be partnered with S Corporation.

“I know some officials and politicians that I became friends with since I’ve been doing my business here for a long time already, but I’m only a wine merchant. I don’t know what your company had found about me, but many of your information could be false or exaggerated.”

“You’re just being modest. If that’s true, how would you explain what my employees had seen here?”

“Well, I’d be glad to help Korean companies to make it here if I can, but I already know that S Corporation had many connections with many Central Asian countries in regards to resources. It doesn’t seem like you need my help.”

“We’ve been mobilizing Koryoins and even some politicians, but we’re still having a hard time to make a foray in this region.”

Many Korean companies failed to make it in foreign countries because they were too hasty to make profits in a short period of time. They seemed to forget about the differences in cultures, traditions, and people’s way of thinking.

To someone like Youngho, who had established his position in foreign countries as a local businessman, helping Korean companies could be a mistake because the companies often broke investment agreements with the local government or other local businesses. It would harm the reputation that he had been building for years.

“Are you officially offering a business partnership?”