Empire of the Ring

Philip dropped by the hotel where Youngho stayed, he had talked with some Georgian officials about opening Yaniv’s shop.

“Lee, I don’t know what you did in South Ossetia but the officials here are dying to see you.”

It seemed that Youngho’s existence was finally known to the Georgian government. Because Philip was known to be one of the leadership of a petrochemical company in here as a disguise, he could freely go in and out of government’s buildings. When he found out that the officials already knew about Youngho, who does not come to Georgia often, he was surprised and amazed because he had been living in Georgia trying to earn the government’s trust. He was curious to know.

“I supplied necessary items to the isolated Georgians in South Ossetia, and I sold my name too at the same time, haha.”

“…”

“I think Katya is still selling my name as the owner of the retailer business in South Ossetia.”

“Oh, Katya! She is a rare beauty. How did you become so close to her?”

Since Philip tried hard to earn her affection, he was curious about how Youngho was able to lower her guard.

“She’s been lonely alone there, so I helped her family move there from Russia. She’d be extremely motivated to work by now. Hahaha…”

“She had a family? Well, I’ve never heard about that.”

‘You only looked at her body. I wouldn’t have told you too if I were her, you poor man. You need to learn how to be professional. She rather made a move to me.’

Thought Youngho but he was the one to get out of there fast not being able to resist her temptation anymore.

“Okay, then can we visit the officials now? I’d rather meet them now when they’re still interested in me.”

Youngho was introduced to the Chief and executive director of Georgia’s Department of Foreign Investment. They were very excited to meet him in person, which Youngho had not expected at all. It turned out that they had heard about his good deeds in South Ossetia. He supplied daily necessities to isolated Georgian towns despite South Ossetians’ cold eyes.

Youngho was treated like a royal messenger to the Georgian officers. In Caucasus regions, the sense of kinship among people was special. People treated someone who had helped their own people very special. They had a deep appreciation for any helpers because they had gone through many countless oppressions as minorities since the beginning of the history. They naturally welcomed Youngho’s business in Tbilisi.

The next day, an official came to Youngho’s hotel with documents needed to claim a business in Georgia. Youngho signed on the documents and now all the necessary process for the retailer shop was completed easily. Sergey who showed up late was surprised by seeing the progress.

“Lee, you already finished the job for me. I thought it would take longer.”

“You know me. I just used my charm over people.”

“Anyway, you did a good job. I thought it’d be more difficult to open a business here.”

“Well, I got a permission to build our storage unit in the national property located in the outskirt of the town, and we can find the right spot for the warehouse shop downtown.”

“Boss has a lot of expectations for this too. He said since the land price is cheap here, we should buy all the available spots.”

Youngho had a thing for owning lands and it seemed that Yaniv was the same too.

“According to a source, big manufacturers based in Paris will make a foray in Tbilisi but if we buy out all the available lands in advance, they can’t come, right?”

“Hmmm. I’ve never heard about that but if they do make it in here, we should be able to compete with them fairly. How come a mafia like you is scared of competing? You became a true businessman now.”

“How are you going to compete with big corporation manufacturers?”

“It’s not a big thing but we should buy Georgians’ hearts ahead of them. When they give their heart, they tend to stay loyal unless a terrible thing happens.”

Although loyalty was valued in any relationships in Korea, Georgians’ loyalty was on another level. Now that Youngho impressed them by saving isolated Georgians in South Ossetia, success would be an easy thing to achieve.

***

“Oppa, I like this car so much. Can we take it?”

Charmed by a hummer, Zeynep was stroking its interiors. After hearing that Youngho’s company would travel to Armenia, Sergey brought a hummer all of sudden. It was a five-seater car but it had enough room to seat four people in the back. There was a foldable seat attached to the cargo space, so even seven people could fit in the car. Taking the cargo space alone, Zeynep got excited. Because of her, all the suitcases had to be tied to the roof of the car.

It was a strong and sturdy car that could run as usual in a snowfield and would not be crushed even if it rolled on a hill. Also, because its tires were big as other trucks’, it could cross a small river and climb over small obstacles. Judging by Sergey’s character, Youngho knew that he had given it to him as a gift for a safe trip, rather than letting him borrow the car.

Traveling around regions of Caucasus, Youngho had complaints about poor road conditions and bad quality rental cars but Sergey’s gift had relieved his heart. From Armenia’s border, Youngho’s company traveled eight hours to get to the famous Lake Sevan. The road condition was so poor on the way due to snow and lack of road construction. He saw many broken cars neglected on the way. Youngho and Jongil took turns to drive on the highlands covered with snow.

The lake used to be as big as Jeju Island in Korea but now it had lost 40% of its volume since the water had been decreasing. However, the size of the body was still huge. Zeynep nagged that she was starving since they only ate a sandwich on the way.

They went to a famous restaurant crowded with travelers and ordered lobsters and trouts which were freshly caught from Lake Sevan. Although they were well-known specialty foods in Lake Sevan, to Youngho and Jongil, they only looked like snacks for drinks. Looking at the night view of the lake, Youngho cracked lobsters and fed Zeynep. He was looking at Karajan and Fatima’s face and quick-witted Fatima already raised her hand to order cognac to the server. They started drinking hard after convincing the family to stay in a cabin near the lake for the night.

Karajan and Fatima seemed to notice that something was weird with Youngho and Jongil since they had been drinking hard lately but they did not ask. An experience of shooting people with a gun would not be forgotten for long. To them, drinking was a temporary relief to forget what they had done. Enjoying the atmosphere helped too.

There was an old guitar next to the counter, so Youngho picked up by the owner’s permission. He tuned the guitar, and with his accompaniment, Jongil started to sing with his sweet voice. Listening to Jongil’s song was a great way to forget problems. The two used to go to karaoke rooms since high school. Youngho joined Jongil and sang together. When they stopped, people around them asked for another song and it went on and on. Later, the owner brought more drinks on the house. Fatima, who had been worried about Youngho’s weird behaviors lately, was relieved to see him enjoying the time.

Youngho could not sing well like Jongil but he could play guitar. Swept away by the atmosphere, he played songs requested by other travelers. As the night was getting deeper, he felt even peaceful. He drank like crazy on purpose, as if he wanted to forget about everything.

***

Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek in Yerevan greeted Youngho’s company looking as if they were about to cry. To surprise them, Youngho visited their retailer shop without calling them ahead. As they hugged each other, their wives Esther and Rebecca, who were helping customers, looked surprised as their eyes were widened to see them.

Youngho noticed that something had changed in their body. As he looked at Chulhwan in question, he smiled. The two wives had been pregnant. Youngho complained saying that why they had not called him about the news but he did not forget to congratulate his friends’ wives, now mothers-to-be.

The store was quite busy. Looking at the clothes shipped from Korea, Youngho could see that Yunsuh had been carefully picking them to help their business. Their wives looked much brighter than when they lived in Nagorno-Karabakh as they were better off and safe.

The guys went outside and smoked cigarettes since they could not help out with the store.

“Hey, why didn’t you call me ahead? I could’ve prepared a nice meal at my house.”

“Don’t say that. Looking at your wives’ bellies, I’m glad I didn’t call you two. I don’t want to give them more work. We were on a trip together and just wanted to stop by to see you.”

The two friends felt bad for not being able to treat them. It was such a surprise for them to see their friends who lived far away. Instead of going to their houses, Youngho suggested gathering in a restaurant of the hotel they were staying tonight and bring all of their wives families too. Tufenkian Historic Hotel was a famous hotel in Yerevan and known with its luxurious atmosphere and facility. Since Youngho, a well-known businessman in Baku, came to Yerevan, he wanted to treat his friends and in-laws and save his friends’ faces since they did not have any of their own family members nearby.

At the hotel restaurant, 20 of Youngho’s company ate together. The restaurant divided the lobby with a partition so that they could have a private area. Although the restaurant was crowded with other travelers came to eat in the evening time, they did not mind and chatted loudly since they were too excited. Except for Insoo in Baku, everyone was gathered.

Youngho thought that the two friends would drink hard but they did not drink much.

“What on earth… Did you guys quit drinking?”

Jongil asked.

“Dude, we’re drinking. Don’t nag. I was not going to tell this because it’s too embarrassing but we have a Catholic doctrine test tomorrow. If I fail, it’ll be my third time.”

Armenia was Roman Catholic and Georgian was the Greek Orthodox Church. It seemed that the two friends’ wives had convinced them to convert to Catholic. Youngho thought that at least it was great that they could still drink.

“Man, if you had been studying, you’ll pass anyway. Just drink!”

Said Park Jongil and Youngho also added.

“If you don’t drink, you’re not my friends anymore.”

“What? What have been doing in Georgia? You’re trying to drink like you’re obsessed.”

Youngho and Jongil felt a prick at their conscience.

“Let’s drink now. We’ll die drinking!”

At Jongil’s remark, Zeynep’s eyes widend.

“Jongil oppa, I can understand Korean well now. You can die alone but leave Youngho oppa!”

Zeynep’s remark made everyone laugh hard.

‘Will there be a time when Zeynep could understand Korean slangs?’ thought Youngho.