Empire of the Ring

As they sat down after ordering drinks, Fatima opened and closed her mouth trying to say something. She finally asked a question.

“Oppa, weren’t they scary muggers?”

“Yeah. They were just back-alley thugs. It’s better for us not to call the police, they’ll bother us and it’ll ruin our trip.”

Fatima shook her head as if it was not the answer she wanted.

“No, I mean. Did you see what you did? You knocked out three guys in a moment. They were even bigger than you. How can a person be so fast and strong?”

Fatima was in shock and could not believe what just happened. When the three guys threatened them, she thought that they were in grave danger but Youngho took care of those guys as if they were children.

“I learned martial arts in Korean army. It’s not a surprising thing. Insoo and Jongil are faster than me.”

“Oppa. You are hiding something, right? It just doesn’t seem normal. I mean, all of you”

Youngho was guilty for lying. She was quick-witted.

Fatima had seen Youngho working out with Szechenyi but she thought that it was just to maintain good health. However, she just saw actions only seen in movies with her own eyes. She was curious to know more about Youngho.

“I don’t have anything to hide. It’s just martial arts that I learned from army. Are you scared of me?”

“No, I’m just excited that I have a strong oppa.”

Fatima looked at him in excitement as never before. Szecheyni, not caring about his sister’s interest, asked an irrelevant question.

“Hyung, can I keep this knife? It looks expensive.”

“Yeah, it’s a gift for entering Paris!”

Szechenyi giggling in excitement became quiet after Fatima slapped his back.

“Oppa, do you have anything that you’re not telling me?”

‘Man, she’s persistent,’ he thought.

“No, I have nothing to hide to you! Don’t be ridiculous. Just think about what you’re going to eat!”

Youngho knew that he was in trouble since Fatima would be asking questions throughout the whole trip. Quick-witted Fatima had been wondering about his business trips to foreign lands and the frequent scary-looking visitors at the farm.

“I feel drained. I don’t want to eat now.”

Fatima was a little upset because Youngho was acting suspicious. Zeynep, who was now relaxed, fell asleep leaning against Youngho. Youngho was upset that because of the stupid muggers, the first they was ruined.

“Oppa, this is my favorite part!”

When Youngho cut out apples to eat and was about to throw away the excess and bad parts, Zeynep shouted. When she lived in the slum in Istanbul, her mom, who worked at a restaurant at the time, brought the waste parts of apple. Remembering the time, Zeynep ate the waste parts as if they were delicious. Youngho could imagine how poor she had been in the slum. Zeynep kept saying ‘It’s so yummy!’ eating the bad parts of apples.

The Fatima siblings did not spend money to buy things at all unless Youngho bought something for them. He had been giving them allowances in their individual bank accounts in Baku but they never touched the money.

To Fatima, Youngho gave her money to use as living cost for the family but she saved most of them and did not buy anything unless they were necessary. Since they had lived in poverty so long, the concept of consumption had not settled in their minds. They only bought things they liked during trips. Fatima wore clothes from the storage of Youngho’s direct store in Baku. They were not low quality clothes but she was never obsessed with the things that girls of her age would like.

Because of the incident of the first night in Paris, Fatima was certain that Youngho was hiding something from her. To avert her eyes, he wanted to buy gifts for her. He brought the siblings to an outdoor shopping center where stores of famous brands were located but the siblings did not seem to be interested. It would have made Youngho happy to buy something for them on if they liked, but they did not care.

Instead, the siblings were happy to walk on the streets with he. Fatima held Youngho’s arm and kept touching his body, saying that his body was firm like a rock. It was stressing him since when he wanted to avoid her touch either because he was warm or because he was embarrassed, she became sulky. Alongside Fatima, Zeynep tried to lift Youngho’s shirt to see his stomach. As if it was funny to see his different facial expressions, she kept on touching him. The siblings were having a blast annoying him but it was awful to Youngho. Because there no one they knew around, the siblings acted even more boldly.

The trip to Paris was fun and productive except the incident of the first day. In a museum, Youngho found a similar pattern to the one on the mystical ring and shoes on a Serbian ancient relic, and he could hear from a guide that the museum had a literature of ancient Serbia in their library. He paid to get the copy of the literature and the pattern of the Serbian relic.

Now he needed a linguist who could interpret the literature and the pattern but it was not a problem. If he asked the two friends in Goethe University in Frankfurt, they would introduce someone right for the job.

It was the last day of the trip.

Since it was Szecheyni’s 17th birthday, Youngho and the siblings had a little party in their lodge. Szecheyni was now near 180 centimeters tall and he now had broad shoulders, he became a handsome young man. Although he still looked young in Youngho and Fatima’s eyes, he was fully grown that no one would believe that he was a teenager anymore.

Szecheyni opened all of the gifts and smiled.

“Hyung, you gave me money. Does this mean I can buy anything I want?”

“Yep. I couldn’t figure out what you’d like. You can buy whatever you want with that money.”

“Oppa, what if he buys anything weird?” Fatima interrupted.

“Szechenyi is an adult now, Fatima. He won’t be satisfied with what others buy for him. He’ll take care of himself.”

“You’re right hyung. She still thinks I’m a child.”

Szechenyi was appreciative of his sister’s care but he did not want her attention anymore now that he was grown up. Seeing Szechenyi happy with the money he gave, Youngho smiled.

Youngho sent a copy of the literature and a pattern of the Serbian relic from the museum to Arsen in Frankfurt through mail. It was such an achievement that he found a similar pattern of the mystical ring and leather shoes. It was all possible because Zeynep who liked to busily move around everywhere. Because of her curiosity, he could find an ancient relic that had a pattern like the mystical items’ at Europe museum in Southeastern Paris.

Finally, Fatima was admitted to the Department of Business Administration of Baku University. She was specially admitted as a foreigner. Sevan, the chief manager of Main Police Department. Youngho worried about the college boys bothering Fatima but it was something she had to deal with for the rest of her life.

Since the siblings’ break was over, every morning was hectic in the farm. Fatima was also busy because she had to give them a ride to school every morning. Because of Zeynep, who always had a lot to pack, Szechenyi were always late for school along with his sister. Although every morning was loud and busy, Youngho thought it was better than silence. Now he was living for the future of siblings rather than for his own future.

At the end of this month, the cultivation season would begin. Also, because the grapes that had been aging in oak tanks since last year would be produced as wine, the farm was busy, that Youngho had to help Gerhardt and Insoo. Wines needed Youngho’s direction because all of them would be exported to Volgograd to Yaniv. If a label was crooked, the value of Zeynep Farm would be damaged, so he checked every bottle as they were produced. The wine aged in oak tanks was bottled in a high quality, classy looking bottle since they were more expensive than wine produced in stainless steel tanks. Not only it had deeper scent of oak but also it had a better taste.

Youngho expected this year’s cultivated grape extracts to be 360,000 gallons. Since he needed more tanks, he ordered 100 more oak tanks. Now he would be making more profits because of 60,000 gallons of wine aged in oak tanks. It was not a dream to make 10 million dollars a year since it looked achievable.

In a few years, every wine produced in Zeynep Farm would be aged in oak tanks and only the ones that had been aging for three years would be distributed as premium wine. Youngho was happy to think about Zeynep Farm’s luxurious, premium wine produced by the dry climate, high daily temperature range, large amount of sunshine, and the seedlings of high sweetness level.

Thinking about the bright future, Youngho was swelled. He put down his calculator and left the office to walk around his vineyard. Although they were for wine, they were sweet as they were. Youngho picked a handful and ate them. The sour and sweet taste was calling for more. As he was enjoying the taste of grapes, the phone in his pocket started vibrating.

An unusual number appeared on the screen of the phone. Even though he was not familiar with the number, he knew where it was from. The country code was telling him it was from South Ossetia. It must be Katya the local field agent. After lighting a cigarette and putting it in his mouth, he answered the phone relaxingly.