Empire of the Ring

Youngho received a call from Eriksson.

“Mr. Lee. I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Youngho was the one who used to this kind of phrase often, but it was weird to hear it from Eriksson’s mouth.

“You can say both news at the same time.”

“Hahaha…”

“I don’t want to hear any bad news. I’ve got a handful already.”

“Well. Let me say it this way then. I have good news and not so good news.”

Eriksson seemed to be happy since he was quite talkative today. He usually did not make many jokes.

“Let me guess. The good news must be that the rough diamonds were sold at a good price at the auction, and the bad news must be that the buyer wants to know where they are from.”

“Good guess. No wonder you are a veteran agent. It was a mistake to tell the buyer that the rough diamonds belonged to the Serbian Kingdom’s legacy.”

“A mistake? Don’t worry about it. I could care less as long as we get a good price for them. Eventually, they will find out about the Arirang Autonomous State anyway.”

It was a rare chance for buyers to get such a big number of rough diamonds at once. Especially with their rough edges, they did not look like they were collected from mines. People must be curious where they were from and if there were an open field with rough diamonds, they would want to go get them for themselves.

“I know there are no more rough diamonds from the Archduke’s family. If anybody tries to approach you, just let me know. The Information Agency will not tolerate anybody who violates our policy and tries to harass our valuable client. We’ll put them in our blacklist and will not have any deals with them in the future.”

“Can you tell me who it is by any chance? I also am a very curious person.”

“I just told you, Mr. Lee. We value any of our clients and keep their confidential information to ourselves. I just mentioned that client because I wanted to warn you in advance. I hope you understand that I can’t say his name.”

“It’s just that I like a greedy person. If I can directly contact that person, I don’t have to give you a commission. I would rather have that person come to me. You know what? I am going to search for more diamonds at the old Serbian Kingdom’s site to see if I can get some more.”

Youngho subtly let Eriksson know that he might find some more rough diamonds. Eriksson surely caught what Youngho meant.

“Hahaha. You wouldn’t really stab me in my back, would you? I will cut some of my commission. Nine million dollars will be deposited in your account after the auction commission. Would you continue your business with us?”

“I will call you as soon as I find some rough diamonds.”

“That’s what I want to hear. It would be win-win for both of us.”

Youngho wondered how a five million dollars worth of diamonds could be sold over nine million dollars.

“Is there a chance that your other client wanted to contact me because he paid too much for diamonds? He must be looking for me because he wants to get some money back.”

“I admire someone with humor like you. You’ve got to teach me how to be humorous.”

Eriksson always made Youngho think since a lot of words from him were like riddles. He stopped trying to figure out what Eriksson meant since it was about to give him a headache. Instead, Youngho decided to end the conversation.

“Well, I was just being silly. Thank you for your effort to make the deal. I will treat you at a nice restaurant next time we meet.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Youngho’s heart was beating so fast knowing that rough diamonds in the size of a kid’s pinky fingernail earned him nine million dollars which were close to the annual income from the Koryoin village’s steel mine. It would be more efficient for him to focus on finding rough diamonds rather than using his time on other businesses.

***

After finding out that the rough diamonds could make some money for him, Youngho donated three million dollars to the Koryoin communities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Then, the Old Kim Sung-chan donated two hundred thousand. Knowing that he would be okay in the autonomous state without the money, he used all of his savings to help other Koryoins. Sung-chan inspired many residents to donate some money. In the end, the accumulated amount of donation reached around five million dollars. Youngho’s donation itself would have been enough, but he openly asked for everyone to donate so they could be a part of a good cause.

Even the follower couple, Suh Min-seok and Kim In-hwa, made some donation as well.

“You guys didn’t have to do it. You don’t make that much.”

“I’ve got a place to live and all the meals are free here. Not to mention, we’ve got a bunch of daily supplies in the state’s warehouse. We have nothing to worry about.”

“Those supplies are not for your daily use. They are for emergency purposes in the state.”

“We know. We only use things that are close to being expired. Smart, don’t you think?”

Suh Min-seok’s remark was impressive. It seemed the follower couple had found a smart way to save their own money.

“Well, you guys will be billionaires one day.”

“We won’t be as rich as you are, but you are certainly our goal.”

“Oh please. I would love you guys to be rich and get out of my umbrella.”

“We will never leave you.”

“Why not?”

“We’ve got to stick to the rich people like you so we can continuously take advantage of you.”

“I’ve never seen such penny pinchers like you guys.”

“We don’t care what you think. You can’t kick us out. We are a part of your body. Rough diamonds!”

Youngho genuinely enjoyed talking to the follower couple. A conversation with these youngsters was somehow refreshing and energizing his life.

***

“Hahaha… Did they make some donation too? That’s really nice of them.”

“Also they’ve only used supplies that were close to being expired. I joked and told them to live on their own, but they said they would stick with me and suck my blood forever.”

“Well, you’ve got a good eye for picking people. I honestly thought you brought a bunch of hobos at the beginning.”

“Of course. I’ve never failed to pick the right person except for you.”

“Is that so? After how I devoted my entire life to save your butt?”

“Right. Everyone knows you’ve been with me because you were afraid of Yun-suh. She’d track you down if you do us wrong, you know. Also, you need to repay her for what you did to her college friend.”

“Are you crazy? Is this 60’s or something? Nothing happened between us.”

“Whatever. Everyone knows there was something deeper than just a fling between you two.”

“Do you have any evidence? I won’t take this unless she brings my child or something.”

“I knew it, you b*st*rd!”

When Kim In-hwa heard people laughing in the office, she came to check and asked if they wanted some refreshment.

“We’ve already had some tea. By the way, are you guys planning on getting married soon?”

“I am looking for another man.”

Both Youngho and Jong-il froze at In-hwa’s response. The couple must be going through an issue at the moment.

“Oh… Sorry to hear that. But you know what they say. Lovers’ spats never last.”

“Oh. Believe me. It will last.”

It sounded like she was pretty upset with Min-seok.

“What did he do? Did he cheat on you or something?”

“No, Sir.”

Youngho did not like meddling, but he was worried that this might affect their work.

After a short conversation with In-hwa, Youngho found out that Min-seok sent his application to Karajan for a marriage consultation and Kim In-hwa found out about it later.

The security guards—who were still single—in the state were sending their profiles and applications, and Min-seok seemed to have gotten carried away with the atmosphere. Min-seok’s excuse after he got caught was even a worse move than his actual mistake. According to him, he only wanted to know how appealing he would be to other women.

In-hwa got extremely upset and dumped him at once.

“He didn’t cheat on me. But how can I trust a man like this?”

It was quite stupid of him to do that and be caught by his fiancé. Youngho did not want to defend him.

While talking to Youngho, Kim In-hwa cried with a bitter heart.

Youngho was ready to find out what Min-seok was really thinking and to rebuke him.

“I’ll find out what he was actually trying to do. Calm down and wait. But you know you are at a workplace, right?”

“I do, sir. Sorry about that.”

“No. It’s not a big deal. I will give him a serious interrogation.”

“Don’t hit him too hard though. You know that he’s weak, and he’s going to get knocked down with only a few blows.”

“Hahaha… Where did he go by the way?”

“He went to the administration office.”

When he found Min-seok, Youngho could not be too harsh oh him because he looked like he was already ready to cry. But Youngho really wanted to know why he did what he did.

“Why did you do that? You know women are very sensitive before a wedding. Also, you know you are causing a bit of trouble in our work environment.”

“I was really curious. I envied all the security guards. You know all the security guards are manly, proud, and strong. Look at me. I am a weakling compared to them….”

“Min-seok. You are a smart man. We are not living in an ancient era. Strength and physical abilities are not what all men need to be successful in life. You studied hard instead, so you’re smarter than them.”

“But look at you. You are smart, rich, and strong. I just wanted to know how I would be evaluated. I had no other intention.”

“You are the right hand of the number one boss in the world. Who else in your age is living like you? Find me a friend of yours who’s as successful as you, please show me if there’s any.”

Youngho wanted to encourage Min-seok a little bit.

It was a bit stressful to encourage him, but he really appreciated his service as a secretary. He had been a great help to the autonomous state as well. Not to mention, Youngho enjoyed the follower couple’s company a lot.