Empire of the Ring

Chapter 53: A Dangerous Gamble (4)

Youngho started receiving more directions directly from the CIA headquarters than from Edward. The reason could be either that Youngho was treated at the same level as Edward or Edward was slowly being excluded from the missions. This might be because of the fact that Edward was an Armenian.

There was another change that Youngho noticed, the CIA’s financial support of the militia must have decreased since the militia had not been ordering from him for a while. Even though the militants were not sent in real battles yet, they usually went through supplies quickly from trainings and practices. The amount of CIA’s yearly budget was astronomical, so there must be something going on in the CIA against Armenia. Youngho just did not know what it was yet.

Youngho visited Nagorno-Karabakh. The official reason for his visit was to visit his two friends left in the militia. Jongil could not join him since the Sumqayit’s store was busy due to increasing sales. Also, Jongil’s Azerbaijani improved dramatically that many officials and business partners requested him as a spokesperson of Chunho Merchant. Meanwhile, Cha Insoo was busy too with the works of the farm.

In the past, Youngho had to fly to Tbilisi from Baku, and drove from there to Yerevan. However, the flights had been arranged so he could fly from Tbilisi to Yerevan easily.

Although from Yerevan, he still needed to ride a dreadful minibus for six hours on mountainous hills in order to get to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was a wild, scary, and exhausting drive going on cliffs and rough hilly roads.

Meeting after several months, Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek greeted Youngho wildly. Since two of the friends were taken by Youngho, they had been lonely.

“Hey, you must’ve gone through many troubles coming here. Are you here to get rid of us here too?”

Cho Chulhwan asked in doubt, he looked at Youngho like a grim reaper. His relationship with his Armenian girlfriend must have been entering a serious phase.

“As if you’d go if I ask. I heard you’re doing well with your girlfriend.”

“How’d you know? Insoo has a big mouth for a big guy.”

“I’m an American agent, I can find out anything about you.”

Youngho made jokes to ease the tension before bringing up the sensitive topic. He took out the Turkish liquor, raki. The two dudes were excited and started to call someone.

After an hour, the two each bought a beautiful lady and some snacks.

“Say hello to your future sisters-in-law!”

“Beautiful sisters-in-law? Man, you guys never cease to amaze me.”

“Yeah, you need to catch us up, dude.”

They started to chat and drink as if they had done this often.

Fortunately, the girls were able to communicate little bit in English. Youngho hurried and spoke to the girls with a matter in his mind, even though he had not discussed this to his friends in advance. There was not much time left. In order to decide the next move, he had to speak with them.

“Forgive me for asking this now but have you ever thought about leaving here to live in Yerevan?”

“…”

“My friends will quit the drill instructor job soon. Since I can’t let them come to work in Baku because of you, I’m going to open a clothing store in Yerevan so that they can work in there. Please help me.”

At Youngho’s request, the girls started talking restlessly as if they had a lot to say.

The two 23-year-old girls, Esther and Rebecca, had been friends for long. They said that they had desired to go out of the small state, Nagorno-Karabakh, but they did not have any connections outside. They were also insecure about living in the disputed territory. Even though they were scared to move from their hometown, they were willing to have an adventure for a better life. Youngho thought it would not be an easy conversation, but as a matter of fact, the girls were very cooperative to him. They were excited that they would be married to foreigners, so that they would be able to move away from their hometown.

Youngho’s two friends did not know what was going on between them since they did not speak English. After they sent the girls home, Youngho explained everything about the possible situations and war in the area. Knowing that Youngho took care of the girls first to save them, the two friends were touched by his caring heart.

“I never thought you’d care about us this much.”

His eyes tearing up, Cho Chulhwan’s face turned red. He sipped on his drink.

“Shut up, man. You guys will never leave here without your girlfriends, and I can also rest after seeing your girlfriends’ families were in a safe place. I know you can protect yourselves but what about your girlfriends and their families? Also, what will you do for a living when you quit your job? If I open a store in Yerevan, you’ll be able to take care of yourselves. I got your back, okay?”

They knew what Youngho meant well but not wanting to be embarrassed to talk sensitive, they made jokes.

“Man, your store had better do well cause I’m worth more than you think.”

“My stores always do well. You’d have to share your profit because you’ll be making a lot of money.”

Youngho felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders after talking his honest heart out with his friends. They drank together all night.

After two days, Esther and Rebecca, who had received permission from their parents for moving, visited Yerevan with Youngho. They looked around the city to find a spot for the new clothing store. The girls picked a good place in downtown area where there was a lot of transient population. It was a restaurant owned by an old couple who was retiring. They decided to buy the place.

Yerevan where 1.2 million people, a third of Armenia’s entire population, resided had prices that were a third of Baku’s. It included rent and employ payment. The two girls signed a contract as co-owners of the clothing store. Youngho explained how his clothing stores worked to the girls. The rest of the process would be taken care of by the girls after he was gone. After getting an apartment for them to live and signing a contract with an interior company, Youngho left for Baku.

Youngho was smiling the whole time on the way back to Baku.

Because of Yerevan’s low prices, helping the Yerevan’s store was not a big deal for Youngho. He was satisfied since he had taken care of his friends’ well-being. When he returned, Insoo and Jongil patted Youngho’s shoulder thanking him for what he had done for their friends.

On the last day of August, Youngho had just said goodbye to Jongil and Karajan at the Baku airport. They left to Yerevan to guide the process of opening of the new store for a business trip. Youngho could not forget Jongil’s excited face from the night before because he was going on a trip with Karajan for a whole week. Youngho smiled.

Youngho received a shocking phone call from Edward who said a short goodbye to him. Even though Youngho knew that the CIA was a secretive organization, he still could not accept the fact that he had to let Edward go like this. Youngho insisted to meet Edward before he leave but Edward said his plane to Panama in South America would be arriving soon. ‘Relegation’ was the word that popped up in Youngho’s mind. Trusting Youngho’s humane personality, Edward asked him to help Armenia. Edward was forcefully removed from the European chapter because of his relation to Armenia which could be an obstacle to CIA’s decisions upon the state.

He was a thankful person towards Youngho. Edward used a public phone in case he was being watched and he did not say much anymore. Youngho who had been silent for a moment in sadness opened his mouth.

“Ed. If you face any problems in life that you can’t handle, please call me. I will come for you and help as a friend. You know how me and my friends are, right?”

Edward had not been a field agent and did not have impressive physical skills. Youngho thought he could use his and his friends’ special skills someday. It probably was better for Edward to be removed from the war scene since he was an Armenian, the CIA must have done this to protect him.

The European chapter had not assigned the head of Southeastern branch, Edward’s former position, yet. Youngho had no one to get directions from now on, except the headquarters. When he asked Michael, who was the executive director of the European chapter for further directions. He said that the European chapter was taking over the missions in Russia and Azerbaijan on their won, so Youngho could move separately on his own as a Baku branch.

Youngho and Jongil was now an independent branch without any supervisor looking over them. Since Youngho had been connecting with Russian mafia and Azerbaijani president, the headquarters had judged that he could move as a single organization. From now on, Youngho needed to join the branch heads’ meeting in Frankfurt once a month.

Youngho thought he would receive more information about the Caucasus regions in the heads’ meetings, so he could act quickly upon situations. If a war breaks out, his priority would be saving his friends from Nagorno-Karabakh. Even though it was their wish to stay there, he ardently hoped for his friends to leave there as soon as possible before a war. It was Youngho who brought them here in the first place. What if something dreary happened to his friends? He would regret it with a broken heart for the rest of his life, and he was determined to take them out of Nagorno-Karabakh and if he had to he would act against CIA’s command and directions. Now, Youngho’s dangerous gamble had begun.