Empire of the Ring

Chapter 42: Park Jongil’s Decision (3)

Jongil was Youngho’s friend whom he could trust, and he was also a great bodyguard. After a long period of thinking, he decided to ask for Jongil’s opinion.

“Jongil, I talked to Edward. What do you think about being a field agent of CIA?”

Jongil looked surprised to hear his friend’s question.

Youngho continued, “It’s up to you, but I’m against dragging you into this.”

Park Jongil’s face kept changing in excitement.

“Hey, no need to be too serious. If you can do it, I can do it too, right? I have to be with you anyway, so it doesn’t make a big difference. Besides, it’s better to be an agent than a militia drill instructor.”

“It’s not a cool job. You might have to risk your life.”

“Youngho, the militia instructor job would last only about three years from now, and we might get exposed any time. But if I become a CIA agent, won’t they guarantee my status and identity here? I’ll make money and I’ll be able to help you too.”

Jongil seemed happy that he could keep seeing Karajan since he would stay in Baku. Even though Jongil agreed on becoming an agent, Youngho was still worried that Jongil might get sent away to dangerous places because of his skills. He was almost a human weapon. However, it still was a great comfort to Youngho, now that his friend would join him in Baku as an agent.

After his break was over, Jongil went back to Stepanakert to resign from the militia and pick up his belongings. He was now officially the Vice President of the Chunho Merchant Baku branch. Because he would be travelling often with Youngho to places such as Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia, he needed a reasonable title. A vice president was a good cover for him.

After a few days, upon receiving a US passport in his hands, Jongil was fiinally realizing what he had gotten into.

“Youngho, are you sure that I can go to any US embassies with this passport and be treated with respect?”

“Yeah. You can even submit an expense report to receive reimbursement.”

“Ha! This is great. So, my Korean passport would be used for businesses only from now on?”

Jongil studied the passport under a lamp. He was now in the dangerous world of spies.

“I told Fatima that you’ll be staying with us and she brought some basic things you need into your bedroom. Thank her when you see her.”

“Fatima is so thoughtful. Well, her eyes are just correct. She’s taking care of a generous man who bought her kebab. She can’t compare me with someone who bought a bunch of items with indecent desires.”

Youngho shook his head. ‘How could he be so shameless?’ he thought.

“Man, you’ve got to learn Azerbaijani first if you want to live here. With your smart brain, I bet you’ll be fluent in six months. You can ask Karajan to be your tutor. You can pay her or pay it with your body.”

“What? Pay with my body? What are you thinking? We are not that intimate yet.”

“Phew... you childish idiot! Are you going to send Karajan alone to the store in Sumqayit? She’ll freak out if she sees another mafia. You need to follow her around since you are now a vice president.”

“Wow.”

“Don’t ‘wow’ me, get to work now! Oh, and don’t forget to renew your international license!”

Youngho, as a CEO of the Baku branch, was already acting like a boss to Jongil.

Youngho thought of revealing the secrets of the ring and the leather shoes to Jongil soon. Since Jongil would be around doing missions together with him sometimes, it seemed reasonable to tell him ahead in case he had to use them in front of him.

Jongil felt excited these days.

Not only did he not have to share air with sweaty men, but he also spent his days with a beautiful lady named Karajan. He was living his best days since he moved from Korea. He felt like he got promoted. It was a great decision to become an agent. He even stayed with Karajan until late because she tutored him in Azerbaijani. He felt like he was walking on clouds.

Jongil felt like he became a real businessman as he got along with government officials whom Youngho introduced. He tried hard to act like a real businessman by studying business English and learning Azerbaijani. He had never studied like this before, even back when he was a student.

It was Friday and they decided to have a barbecue party at the farm. They had the deer meat left from last time. Now that Jongil had the title of Chunho Merchant’s Vice President, Karajan’s parents trusted Jongil more. They gladly allowed her to stay at the farm for the night.

As Jongil drove into the farm, the sweet smell of meat stimulated his appetite. The siblings welcomed him happily. It was not so much different here from Korea; people were still attracted to humorous people.

“We’re late today. We had a lot of customers around the closing time.”

Jongil bragged now that he was earning money.

“Okay, we’re almost ready, except we need to bring the alcohol from the basement storage.”

At the moment, Karajan picked up a piece of not-fully-cooked meat and put it in her mouth.

“Karajan, that’s not even cooked.”

Youngho was still not used to rarely cooked meat with its blood still showing.

“This is cooked too much. I don’t like cooking meat too long; they become tough and hard to chew.”

The meat was fresh in Baku, since they were always freshly slaughtered. Koreans sometimes would have raw meat salad, so it was understandable.

Karajan’s speed of eating was incredible. Unlike Koreans, they mainly consumed meat, but she was almost vacuuming meat.

“Boss, deer meats are good for your diet. Fatima, you eat it now too. The meat that boss cooks is just inedible,” Karajan complained openly.

“Karajan, stop eating all of the meat. Aren’t you on a diet?”

“No, I’ll be all right. I go bowling with Mr. Park. It’s a great exercise.”

“Hey! Why are you worrying about Karajan gaining weight? Take your eyes off her and just take care of Fatima!”

Thankfully, Jongil said that in Korean. If Fatima had heard that, she would have freaked out. Jongil, who got slapped in his back by Youngho, screamed, and Karajan glared at Youngho as she patted his back.