Empire of the Ring

When Yaniv found out that Youngho’s company was staying Moscow, he complained about not telling him and flew to Moscow to see him as soon as possible.

The cozy atmosphere of Ritz-Carlton Hotel near Red Square was changed into a warlike atmosphere by the bulky men who showed up out of nowhere. Because Youngho begged him not to make a scene, he reduced his guards to a third. However, there were still a lot of mafias from the hotel entrance along the hallways of guest rooms, scaring the guests.

Because Youngho could not stand the eyes of the hotel employees and guests, the company had to move their lodging to Ararat Hotel. Yaniv reserved a whole floor for himself and his men, so it was much convenient. However, Yaniv was now flustered around Zeynep, since she kept grumbling about changing the hotel. He tried hard to earn Zeynep’s attention but she did not even look at him, which made it embarrassing just to watch them. When Youngho asked why she did not like Yaniv so much, she replied that it was because of his bulky body. Youngho told that to Yaniv and he said he would lose weight for her.

Yaniv, who did not have children himself, fell in love with Zeynep’s cuteness. He had been giving her gifts but Zeynep did not seem to like him. Many people would feel nervous around him, but Zeynep was different. With her small face, she spoke freely to him without a hitch.

Zeynep had nothing to be afraid of when Youngho was around since she thought that he was an almighty troubleshooter for her. She did not like it when Yaniv showed up and ruined the family time. It seemed that the harder Yaniv tried, the more unfavorable he became.

Zeynep’s weakness were dolls. It was not that Yaniv did not give her dolls as gifts but this time, she was impressed when he gave her a Russian traditional wooden doll—the oval-shaped Matryoshka doll.

Every time the lid was opened, there was another doll nesting inside. The dolls would get smaller and smaller until the last one was revealed, which was the size of a pinky nail. As soon as she received the dolls from Yaniv, she looked at him differently. Her standard of a good person was a person who liked dolls. Zeynep now sometimes held Yaniv’s hand, calling him a grandpa.

What really melted Zeynep’s heart was watching the ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet performance at the Russian National Ballet Theater. Zeynep had been nagging Yaniv for days to see the performance, so he took everyone to the theater. Even after watching the performance, Zeynep could not take her eyes off the state. She stood and applauded for a while at her VIP seat.

Of course, the performance was charming to any kid, but to Zeynep, it had opened another world. She still felt uncomfortable around Yaniv, but because of him, she could experienced this luxury during the trip in Moscow. At the end of the trip, she was unwilling to leave, complaining that the trip was too short.

***

It was day five in Moscow when Youngho heard about the Chechen rebels’ arrest. Armed with a great deal of weapons, about 200 rebels fought against the Russian soldiers over the oil pipelines running through Chechnya. Although the Russian army succeeded in protecting the pipelines, they suffered immense damage as well.

Some of the oil pipes were bombed and some oil was lost, but it was not a big problem to Russia since they were prepared for the damages.

During lunch, Yaniv received a thank-you call from President Putin. After talking for a while in private, Yaniv returned to the table. When he patted Youngho’s back with a big smile on his face, Youngho learned that the emergency situation had been taken care of now.

Apparently, Putin was half in doubt when he heard Yaniv’s information, but as soon as he received a warning call from the US CIA, he realized the seriousness of the situation. He immediately sent more armed forces near the Chechen pipeline. The Russian army established a defense position near the pipeline before the rebels arrived so they could prevent the rebels’ bombing attack in advance.

From this incident, Yaniv’s position in Russia was even more enhanced, and it strengthened Yaniv’s trust for Youngho even more. In addition, Yaniv earned Zeynep’s favor this time. Overjoyed by his achievements, he drank at the lunch table and got fully drunk in the middle of the day. He ended up losing the favor he worked hard for from the sibling from this.

The next day, Youngho prepared to go to the European Chapter in Frankfurt after sending off Jongil and the others back to Baku. He was having his last meal in Moscow with Yaniv, who suddenly suggested a huge proposal.

“Lee, why not be a part of my oil drilling business?”

Youngho did not answer immediately, taking a moment to think of a way to politely decline his offer.

‘Why does he want my involvement in the already successful business?”

“…”

“I think if we make you the face of the business, it would look better in the business world. You might not know this, but I get discriminated against many times because of where I come from.”

“Mr. Yaniv, I don’t know a single thing about the oil business. I’m not the right guy for your business. What if I ruin—”

“You can just be the face of our business. If you’re involved, President Aliyev won’t ask for money anymore, and not to mention the fact that the Azerbaijani politicians won’t bother me because of you. I just think it’s such a waste to use my money on them. I’d rather give the money to you.”

Since Yaniv’s company was trying to do all businesses in legal ways now, he was struggling to compete against other companies to preoccupy great oil fields in Azerbaijan. Of course, a little bribing was necessary. However, if Youngho, who was a respected foreign investor in Azerbaijan, would be his business partner, he would be able to establish a great foundation for his oil business.

Youngho was not afraid of relating to mafias anymore since he was now an established investor and businessman. In fact, it was not a bad proposal at all. Looking at Youngho who was thinking about the business in his mind, Yaniv already sensed that Youngho would give him a positive answer.

“All right. Mr. Yaniv, if it’s difficult for you to be at the front of your business, I’ll be the one at front.”

“That’s right! I knew you’d take it.”

Yaniv gestured toward Sergey who was standing next to him.

“Sergey, you said Youngho will decline my proposal, right? I won, now give me the money.”

Sergey unwillingly handed Yaniv a hundred dollars. It seemed that they had a bet over Youngho’s decision. It was not a surprising scene, but Youngho could feel the bond between the two. It warmed Youngho’s heart.

“Lee, you need to decline at least once. How did you take it so easily?”

In the amicable atmosphere, they ended their meeting.

Sergey said that he would send Youngho more information about the business soon.

***

At Frankfurt’s international airport, Michael, the Chief of the European Chapter, came out to greet Youngho, which never happened before. It was his way of complimenting Youngho’s achievements this time.

“Lee, that was an amazing job. You know, I can raise my voice to the headquarters now because of you. I’m afraid that they’re going to call me to the headquarters soon. I still have lots of things to do here.”

Michael, chatty as never before, drove his car.

“Michael, I can drive. I don’t think I can handle the other agents’ glare when I enter the Chapter on a car you’re driving.”

“Who’d dare glare at you? They’re just jealous because they are not as good as you are.”

Michael’s active favoritism was almost suffocating to Youngho. Youngho thought that he was just lucky. If Basayev had not called him in advance, there was no way for Youngho to find out about the potential terrorism attack. Jongil was also a great help too, since he gave Youngho the clue for the Chechen pipeline bombing attack.

When they entered the European Chapter, some agents welcomed Youngho and patted his back. They had never paid any attention to Youngho before. Instead, they looked at him in doubt since an Asian guy that they did not know of was specially assigned as a field agent. However, Youngho had proven his worth through multiple events: He had rescued an abducted agent, and this time, he made the European Chapter proud by preventing the bombing attack on the oil pipeline.

They seemed surprised to see Michael preciously escorting Youngho to his room by putting an arm around his shoulder. Michael was known to be picky.

Since he formerly worked in the military, he was strict and intimidating sometimes. However, witnessing his kindness to Youngho, it was truly shocking.

“Lee, I received a direct call from our president. President Putin must have thanked him after everything’s wrapped up. Although he’s a president of a hostile country, he thanked our president for our help. You know, Putin is known to be a man with strong pride.”

“I see. Will you just treat me with this coffee?”

“Of course not! My wife asked to bring you for dinner. How about that?”

For Michael, it was a very rare thing to invite people to his house since he only invited very important people or close people to his home.

“It’s an honor that your wife invited me. Thank you. Well, I almost thought you’d just treat me with some beer and call it enough.”

“I get it, I get it. I’ll reward your team a special performance commission. I hope this can encourage your teammates.”

“Thank you so much. Phew, I’ve got to achieve more things to earn more commission.”

“Lee, just to let you know, your life is most important. Our job can be very dangerous sometimes. Just take care of yourself.”

Michael reminded Youngho about the risks of their job. In fact, there had been many times that they could not even find the bodies of deceased agents. Since they both knew about the risks they had, they just nodded to each other.

***

Sergey arrived at Baku to participate in the auction for the new offshore oil drilling license. The Azerbaijani government offered the oil drilling license of new fields for an open tender. For a few days, Youngho and Sergey busily worked on establishing a new company and filing for the application for bidding. Thankfully, with the help of Baku’s officials, they could complete all the process before the bidding application due date.

Hearing that Youngho was going to be involved in the oil industry, the officials in Baku processed every document hastily since they respected him as an influential foreign investor in the country.

At the end of February of 2014, Baku was crowded with the staffs of major oil corporations. The cut-off standard for bidding were companies that had a capital fund of more than ten million dollars.

Since there were too many businessmen who came to participate in the bidding, almost all of the hotel rooms in Baku were full. The local business owners in Baku welcomed the change in the city because the businessmen actively exchanged information through meeting people in local cafés and restaurants, helping out the local economy.

On the other hand, Youngho and Sergey were waiting in a relaxed manner, drinking wine on Zeynep Farm.

Since the land that Youngho would be bidding on was the one that people failed in exploring a few years ago, no one was interested in the field. However, it was only less than five kilometers away from the oil field Yaniv recently found. Recently, Yaniv’s exploration crew found that oil was deposited in that area, which people failed to find in the past.

The Azerbaijani government had not been developing the oil field yet, so foreign major oil corporations had no idea about the recent oil field discovery.

That was why Youngho and Sergey were confident that they could acquire the exploration license with bidding only a minimal amount. Youngho might only be the face of the company, but he was learning more about the oil industry through this experience.