Empire of the Ring

"Are you sure you're not mistaken? I'm only the face of the company but you're giving me this much stake?"

"Boss made sure I gave you this much. You know when exploring oil fields, accidents that make casualties and sometimes even deaths frequently happen. Then the company's representative is the one who'd be most bothered by it going to different places to sort things out, it's not just the face of the company. You'd get busy."

"Still, this seems too much. I'm getting 3% of the company's stake? I'll invest some of my money then."

"Boss will kill me if I take your money just because you feel bad, you know how he is. Just take it, alright?"

The reason for their argument was because Yaniv appropriated Youngho's share of the company as three percent. Youngho had taken the share of the warehouse retailer shop in Georgia which was five percent, because he was the one who took care of all the process of establishing the company and since he did not expect to make much from it.

However, oil business was different. Depending on the amount of oil deposits, three percent could be a tremendous amount of money. Youngho had not invested anything in this, so Yaniv was solely responsible for any failures or damages done to the company. Since it did not seem to fair, he was declining Yaniv's offer.

"Lee. The representative's job could entail legal responsibilities for the company's problems, it comes with some risk for you too. Even though you did not invest in it, it is conventional that we give you your share. We didn't give this to you because we like you, so don't worry!"

"Do you think this is something I can just take?"

"I'm just doing what the boss says, okay? Whatever you do with that, it's yours noe."

Since Sergey did not budge, Youngho had to take the share certificate.

"Okay. I'll take it now but if the company doesn't do well, I'll invest my money too. I'm telling you as a stockholder now."

"Hahaha…"

"…"

"Alright, it's not mine to worry now then. Since we're done talking about work, why don't we start drinking? Where's Jongil?"

"He went out to hunt deer for you. You'll be able to taste elk deer's meat tonight."

Sergey's mouth watered thinking about the deer meat.

Zeynep, who just opened the library door to find something inside, was surprised to find Sergey there.

"Whoa! When did you get here?"

"Oh, the sweet little lady has finally showed up! I'll be staying here for the night, do you have any room left for me?"

"Not without paying."

"I knew you'd say that, and that's why I brought gift. It's from grandpa Yaniv, he told me to make sure you got this."

Zeynep did not express her excitement but her eyes were looking around Sergey to see what he had. Finding a little gift in wrapper packaging, her eyes sparkled.

***

Jongil must have returned with a deer since it was noisy outside. He took Insoo and Szechenyi with him and had a big talk that he would get a giant elk this time. Youngho could hear Fatima's admiration through the open windows. Curious, Zeynep kicked the door out and left the room totteringly with the gifts in her arms.

Gerhardt also showed up with a saw after hearing that Jongil had hunted an elk. He was going to cut off its head and stuff it to put in on the wall above fireplace.

"Jongil oppa, I'm going to eat it raw. Make it well, okay?"

"Alright. Raw meat is best when the meat is fresh. I'll try my best for you, Zeynep!"

Youngho was not fond of raw meat but the fresh deer meat had made even young Zeynep a fan of raw meat.

"Brother, would you like to try too?"

Sergey opened his eyes widely in surprise. His eyes seemed to ask, 'how could a person eat raw meat?'

"You'll be addicted to it once you tried it."

It was getting dark but the charcoal fire was brightening the surroundings.

The thigh parts of the meat which was marinated in wine beforehand were put on a grill above the charcoal fire. Since the farm family had grown in numbers, it seemed like they could eat up the whole elk in one seating. Including the night security guards, there were 22 people.

Sergey who tasted little pieces of raw meat, started eating big bites. He was already into the sweet taste of the fresh raw meat. As they ate quite a lot and the night was getting deeper, the party was on its full swing. Zeynep showed off her dancing skills to a K-pop song. Looking at the company enjoying the barbecue party, Youngho was getting drunk with the atmosphere rather than alcohol.

***

The bidding place for offshore oil fields was crowded with hordes of people. Because of the large crowd which was uncontrollable, only two people of each company were allowed to enter the building. For each oil field out of twenty in the bidding, there were at least five companies to twenty companies at max making bid. However, only Youngho made a bid for the district seven field. Staffs of major oil corporations looked at him in question and passed by him shrugging, since he was making a bid for a failed district. However, he was maintaining a poker face, smiling inside.

'I'll show the whole world why soon."

Naturally, Youngho's company was the winner of the bid for the exploration certificate of district seven, it was one tenth of other districts' prices. This meant that his company could use the rest of the money for exploration expense. Since the oil field that Yaniv currently found oil deposits was district six, which was right next to district seven, it would be convenient for them to move equipment and share workers.

The word spread fast about a new middle-sized company of Azerbaijan that bought the certificate for district seven. The representatives of other companies made jokes on the company's decision and even betted for how long it would take for the company would go bankrupt. However, they were puzzled to hear the name of the company, Zeynep Oilfield Service Corporation. Conventionally, oil companies that dealt with oil field exploration and drilling used man's name since the work is considered rough, but Zeynep was a typical woman's name.

Since Yaniv had suggested the name, Youngho had nothing to say in this. He had some reasons for this. First, he wanted to impress Zeynep, of course. Second, he believed that successful companies had used women's names as their titles. Lastly, he especially insisted that they have to use a girl's name since they were exploring the field near a shore. It was the same analogy that people used woman's name for a ship.

***

Playing a key role for preventing Chechnya's pipeline terror attack, Michael sent the commission of 500,000 dollars. When Youngho called him because it seemed to be an overwhelming amount, Michael said that Russia had sent 1 million dollars to the CIA as a token of appreciation. The money was just the beginning, Russia and the US had exchanged political deals too. He told Youngho that he could receive the commission freely.

These days, Youngho was living on a pile of money that amounted to the extent that he could not handle anymore. It was nothing for him, but to his friends it would be even useful. Although they were living well like other middle class people in Baku, they still had families to take care of, including their in-laws.

"Hey, what is this amount in my account? 200,000 dollars? I think you made a mistake, I'll reimburse it to you. Dude, you're just distracted these days."

Thinking that Youngho made a mistake, Jongil tried to give back the money.

"No. Why don't you give some amount to your wife's parents? We received 500,000 dollars for the Chechnya incident. I thought you could use more money since I'm good with my farm."

"Dude, I don't feel comfortable. You're the boss, don't you need to get paid more than us?"

"Man, since when did you care about the rules? We're friends, and I heard Karajan's managing all the money now. This is your emergency money, alright? You can help your in-laws in secret if you want."

The two friends who received a huge amount of money did not know what to say. They were thankful for Youngho but felt bad at the same time. Since both of their families were not well off, they felt responsible to help others. Baku's clothing stores and the wine factory were the dream and hope to all.

Jongil's parents-in-law already liked the fact that their son-in-law worked at Zeynep Farm but if he gave them some money for living, they would treat him even better. Also, his wife Karajan would give him more respect. Youngho thought that if he had parents-in-law, he would have given them money as well. As for Insoo, he was paying for his brothers-in laws' college, he surely could use some money. The money was Youngho's thoughtful plan for them to support their in-laws well for their own sakes.

***

Listening to classical music, Youngho was editing the development plan of the Southern part of the farm. Thinking about finally working on the fencing around the new areas, changing the routes on the farm was rather excited than being tired. When he was focused on looking at the map, Fatima entered the library with a sweet-scented tea.

"Oppa, I brought some Citrus tea that Yunsuh sent. This is so good."

"Why don't you give it to your little siblings?"

"They are already addicted to this, they drink this all the time."

Sitting on the couch across Youngho, Fatima looked at the blueprint and added,

"Oppa. What do you think of building a little log cabin near the Southern river?"

"…"

"Lately Zeynep had been playing around the river often but she complained that there was no place to rest."

Although it was a narrow river, there were lots of trouts since it had a large volume of water running. Especially because the river did not freeze during the winter, kids played there often making bonfires and fishing for trouts. However, bonfire was not adequate in winter due to Baku's strong wind. Although making bonfire was fun, it made a mess. The kids were covered in ashes when they came back from the river. He was also thinking that he needed to build something around the river, so he gladly agreed to Fatima's idea. Since there was not a lot going on in the farm, the three guys rolled up their sleeves to get to work.

"Man, don't pull that side, this part is getting shorter. Nope, not there, hold this side!"

The three friends were aligning a side to make a wall of log cabin, they had already bought all the materials needed but there were no improvements since they began their work. It was their first time building a log cabin. Since they did not have any skills for building, they were abusing their power to finish quickly. Insoo, who opened the floor plan again, gave them an 'x' sign with his hands. It looked like that they had stuck wrong materials together.

"Hey, let's just cover this with some plastic and call the technicians. I can't do this, I can run on the mountains but I can't do this."

Jongil gave in at last, Youngho was also exhausted. He sat on a log and lit hit cigarette to smoke.

They had planned on building the cabin in a month and enthusiastically bought all sorts of brand new equipment, but they were finally quitting in just a week of trying. It was a terrible idea to start the construction in the middle of the harsh winter, because their hands were numb in coldness, they could not even grab tools freely.

Zeynep, who was excited that her oppas were building a cabin for her, had been bringing homemade snacks for them and giving kisses to them. However, since they were at the verge of quitting, they did not know what to tell her.