Empire of the Ring

Yun-suh made a tableful of dishes.

“Please sit and eat. I bet you can’t have meals on time when you work with my brother. You should fill your stomach whenever you can.”

“What are you talking about, Yun-suh?”

“You only care about work. You’ve got to take it easy sometimes.”

It had been a while since Youngho had gotten an earful from Yun-suh. He was glad that the old days were over.

“Hey, I can rest whenever I want. Ask these fellas how relaxing our trip was.”

“Is he telling the truth?”

The follower couple kept on busily moving their spoons without answering her.

“Oh, just leave them alone. Can’t you see they’re trying to eat?”

After hearing Youngho, Suh Min-seok tried to make an excuse.

“Oh, we were just gulping down these foods because they are so great.”

“Aww, I’m flattered to hear that. Would you like to have some sweet rice drink? It’s directly from Korea.”

Yun-suh liked to watch people eat until they finished the food that she made. Suh Min-seok’s compliment made him her target now. He was now in trouble since she kept on giving him more food even though he was already full.

Yun-suh’s homey welcome warmed Youngho’s heart.

She did not change even for a bit, and that was an indicator that she was doing great in Frankfurt. Sometimes she sent Youngho home-made dishes, and it made Youngho teary when he saw them. It was not easy to get ingredients to make Korean dishes while raising two boys in a foreign country. It was also not easy to wrap those dishes in multiple layers carefully and ship them to Youngho since some of them had a very strong smell.

Without Yun-suh’s support, neither Szechenyi nor Zeynep could have lived in a foreign city— Frankfurt—on their own. Youngho felt bad that he had called her family out of Korea, and now he was not living close by her anymore. He was only thankful that he was earning enough money to travel to Frankfurt anytime he wanted, and that he had to come to Frankfurt every month for CIA’s meeting.

“Hey, Sang-chun, these guys were trained at a global corporation. I brought them here to show how they write and organize documents. I bet you can use some help.”

“Okay, let’s see how S Corporation’s work manuals are. I know you two don’t have long work experience, but I can use your help.”

“Mr. CEO’s been talking highly of us but we are only new recruits here. We still have a long way to go until we become competent at work.”

“Well, I looked at your manuals, and the document system was great. It looked like it was written according to ISO standards. I’ll be glad to learn that.”

Following ISO standards could improve the overall work process and manage document records at the same time. Since it would improve the company’s credibility, Zeynep Wine needed this system.

“You can figure out a system so Zeynep Wine could get ISO certified. You could use more people if you need to.”

“Okay, we’ll try.”

The two answered him positively. It was going to be a difficult job for the two of them but Youngho was sure that this could be a great opportunity for them to grow.

***

Youngho and the followers just landed at the airport in Volgograd after stopping at Moscow to look around his hotel after leaving Frankfurt.

“Mr. CEO. Isn’t it going to be a bother when we’re around?”

Suh Min-seok was nervous as the group was going to meet Yaniv—the mafia boss.

“No, he’ll love to see you two. Kim In-hwa, I know you enjoy wine. You’d be able to eat some caviar with vodka tonight. You’ll want to come back if you know how that tastes like.”

“We just don’t think that this meeting is where we’re supposed to be.”

Suh Min-seok’s face looked like a cow that was being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

“Oh, don’t worry. A mob boss couldn’t have been the boss from the day he was born. He’s worked his way up from the bottom just like us. There’s no need to be scared of him.”

The followers had been trying hard to get out of the meeting.

They freaked out since all they knew about a mafia boss was quite dreadful, but Youngho went ahead and introduced them to Sergey first.

“Brother. These are my new employees. You’ll see them often in Volgograd from now on.”

“Okay, I’m pleased to meet you. It’s an honor to be able to work with good-looking young people.”

The two were dumbfounded to see such a gentleman when all they had been thinking about was a muscular big guy. He actually seemed quite nice.

“This is Sergey. He’s like my brother. Since he has a doctorate degree in business administration, you’ll have a lot to learn from him.”

Youngho was not sure if they heard him since they only nodded blankly without a word.

He brought them to Volgograd because he wanted them to experience how business meetings and negotiations were done, but he did not have to meet the representatives of an American corporation since no negotiation was needed. They would be investing in the petrochemical industry of Kazakhstan, and that was more than welcome. He originally planned to send them straight to Baku from Frankfurt but now, he was here with them in Volgograd.

Although they were acting cowardly now, they would get used to meeting different business partners—even mafias—and gain confidence in no time.

On the way to Yaniv’s mansion, Youngho told them the story of how he came to know Yaniv. Of course, he did not tell them the full story. He only told them that he met him while he was doing a business of importing Korean goods.

“Whoa, you could even become friends with mafias when you do business.”

“It’s easy to deal with organizations of which their only purpose is money, but what you have to keep in mind is that you’ll have to have a hidden power that could threaten them. Or else, they’ll try to rip you off.”

“Wow, so did you also have something to threaten this mafia?”

“No, I had nothing back then. I only made it seem like I have power.”

“…”

“You know when you don’t have a lot, you don’t have a lot to lose. It was reckless of me to try and deal with mafias back, but I had nothing to fear.”

Youngho smirked as he thought about his past with Yaniv.

It was just mere luck that Yaniv decided to become Youngho’s business partner. Youngho was only able to keep peace with him since he was trying to start an oil exploration business in Azerbaijan, and he wanted to keep a low profile. If Yaniv decided to get back at Youngho, he might not be able to live today.

***

Yaniv’s welcome was always the same.

He would give Youngho vodka as soon as he sat down. Since Kim In-hwa was a woman, he did not give her a drink, but no one else was free from his way of welcoming people.

He was in a good mood since Youngho told him about the American corporation’s investment in Volgograd as soon as he met Yaniv. Yaniv took it that Youngho was hired as the corporation’s agent since it was impossible to start a business without the mafia’s help, and Youngho was the connection to mafias.

“Well, I guess I can’t ask for my share from the American corporation since you’re in it.”

“Oh, no worries about that. I’ve decided to step back as soon as I connect you to the representatives of the corporation.”

“What about you?”

Knowing that Youngho would not go through such trouble for no gain, Yaniv asked.

“My goal lies in somewhere else. Only after I successfully brokered the American corporation into Russia, I’ll be able to have a reason to broker them into Kazakhstan.”

“The Kazakh president must be grilling you to attract more foreign investments after giving you that small autonomous state. What did I tell you? I said you could farm anywhere in Russia.”

Yaniv clicked his tongue as if he pitied Youngho.

Youngho was glad that Yaniv was taking his words without any doubt. It would be best if he was seen as trying his best to attract foreign investments under the Kazakh government’s pressure. He would probably tell this to Putin, the president of Russia since they were quite close.

The US CIA strongly believed that Youngho would not get suspected by Russia. It was because he had been working with Yaniv for a long time as a foreign businessman. He had many businesses that he partnered with Yaniv that his relationship with him was quite complicated.

“Should I look for some great farming site for you?”

“Oh, Mr. Yaniv. That’ll be fine. Instead, why don’t you get some land from Kazakhstan for brother Sergey? I’ll farm for him.”

“I’ve heard about it, but I refused to do it. Why would you want to use your money in a deserted area?”

It was new to Youngho that Sergey’s request was rejected by Yaniv.

“Not all of Kazakhstan’s territory is a desert. Forty percent of it has rich soil.”

Kazakhstan’s border area near Russia was fertile and had great amounts of precipitation. Its price was cheap as well.

“What if the government takes away the land after you worked hard on it?”

“Kazakhstan has a president who’s been serving for a prolonged period already, but it’s still a democratic country. Your ownership of properties will be guaranteed no matter what.”

Kazakhstan was very different from Russia which supported socialism, but Yaniv’s standards were always Russia.

Only then, Yaniv began asking questions about farming in Kazakhstan.

As they shared multiple shots of drink, the follower couple’s faces looked much more relaxed now. After learning that Youngho and Yaniv’s relationship was quite firm, they began turning their eyes toward great selections of food on the table.

When the vehicle that escorted them first entered Yaniv’s mansion, they looked frightened to see guards that were armed with guns. However, seeing that everyone in the mansion was giving them a warm welcome, and how Yaniv treated Youngho, they were relieved. Although they did not understand their conversation in Russian, the atmosphere was pretty promising.

As Suh Min-seok was getting drunk, he boldly offered a drink to Sergey. It seemed that Sergey was the smallest person among the whole group of mafias, but he had greatly underestimated him if he knew how much Sergey could drink.

It was difficult to tell how much Russians could drink only by their appearance.

Later, Suh Min-seok who had gotten fully drunk and made fool of himself was a great entertainment of the night to everyone at the meeting. It seemed that the follower couple had made quite an impression to the mafias.