Empire of the Ring

The building was full of the stimulating smell of boiling Kongnamul Guk, a Korean bean sprout soup.

Zeynep who got up earlier than Youngho nagged that she was starving.

“My belly had sunken to my back waiting for you to get up.”

Jongil must have taught the Korean saying to Zeynep. He seemed to be still sleeping hungover from last night’s drinking.

After putting the ring on, Youngho was never hungover until the next day but the ring could not save his memory lost from drinking too much. The color of the rock on the ring was still greenish, not clear yet, so it must not have been exerting its full power on Youngho’s body.

When people were almost finished eating breakfast, Jongil appeared looking messy. He ate two bowls of Kongnamul Guk in a moment as if he had been starving for days. Jongil was still staying in the living quarters of the management building instead of his house until his wedding. Now that he was full he just remembered how he looked like. With his hair undone, he was still in his pajamas. Embarrassed, he went up the stairs hastily to freshen up.

***

Hearing Koreans talking, people’s attentions were on Jongil’s wedding guests who just arrived at the arrival lounge of Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport. Yunsuh’s family, Jongil’s family, and Insoo’s family were all at the airport. About thirty Asian people were gathered in their formal suits and dresses as if they were going to an international conference.

Youngho smirked looking at their attires because they were already dressed up in formal suits and dresses as if it was the wedding day. Maybe the reason for their formal attire was that many of them traveled to a foreign country for the first time since they were not well off. The scene reminded of a historical picture he had seen of Korean students and laborers at Kimpo Airport in South Korea in 60s. Although they were laborers who were going to Germany as miners, they had dressed up in their only suits for their first visit overseas.

Youngho picked them up with a rental bus and took them to Kempinski Hotel near a beach in Baku. They would be spending the day touring around and taking rest and would be staying at Youngho’s farm after tomorrow’s wedding. Since they traveled long for the wedding, it was his treat for them.

The wedding was huge since mafias from Volgograd and many of Baku’s officials joined in the celebration. Cho Chulhwan and Um Sangtaek in Yerevan also joined them. Unfortunately, their wives could not come with them due to their Armenian nationality. Even Jongil’s so-called acquaintances in Baku, whom Youngho was not familiar with came as guests. It seemed that Jongil, with his sociable personality, made some more official friends. They were a good resource of information all around Baku.

Since Insoo did not have a wedding ceremony, Jongil and Insoo agreed that they would have a wedding at the same day. Insoo’s wedding was scheduled after Jongil’s wedding ceremony. Youngho was busy helping out the wedding all day.

Azerbaijan’s traditional wedding reception went on for weeks but Karajan shortened the long process since she was marrying a foreigner. However, that shortened, informal wedding still took five days to complete. It seemed that Azerbaijani wedding traditions could strip away all the wealth of the newlyweds.

On the day of the wedding ceremony, the reception went on until 3 AM. They had a total of 300 guests including Yaniv’s people, Baku’s official and their families, clothing retailers and business partners, friends from Yerevan, and the farm families. The next day, close relatives were invited to the groom’s house and had a reception. After that, the bride and groom would go to the bride’s family’s house and had to stay there for two days. It was an exhausting schedule for the bride and groom.

When Jongil and Karajan were going through the tiring process of wedding traditions, Youngho had fun guiding Yunsuh’s family around Baku’s historical places and enjoying the time with them on the farm.

Youngho who was playing with his young, adorable nephew who was almost 2 years old now, Sangchun’s father brought up his concern for Youngho’s future.

“Youngho, now that you are all settled, shouldn’t you get married? How long will you stay alone like this?”

“Well, yes, father but I think now is the time for me to focus more on my businesses. Maybe in a few years I’ll be able to get married.”

“Alright. Since you already have someone who you want to get married, you don’t need to hurry but it’s better to have a baby when you’re younger.”

“…”

“Well, you need to wait until your fiancé graduates from college though. Is this why you rejected my offer to introduce you a girl?”

“No, father, I…”

“You’ve got to be careful though. If she gets pregnant when she’s still in school, she’ll complain for the rest of her life.”

“…”

Youngho was being misunderstood badly by the father but Sangchun next to him interrupted their conversation making it even worse for Youngho.

“Father just leave him alone! Youngho’ll take care of himself. Who knows? He might come to Seoul with a baby in his arms on next New Year’s.”

As Youngho gave a deadly stare, Sangchun avoided his stare and went away to the kitchen, giggling.

***

The first day she arrived at the farm, Yunsuh could not close her mouth in amazement. Saying she had never seen a farm this big, she asked Youngho how it happened to him. He just quickly lied that he was only managing Azerbaijani government’s property. She was overwhelmed by the size of the farm since she had imagined it to be a small orchard. Following around Youngho who gave a look around the farm, she made a remark.

“Oppa, I think you are better off in foreign countries. Look at you, even your facial color looks healthier. Living overseas, you made a beautiful girlfriend like Fatima and manage this huge farm. What happened to you? You never wanted a girl no matter how hard I tried in Korea.”

Back in Korea, Youngho did not have a room for girls because he was overloaded with worries, he was the one who had to provide for the family since his parents passed. Youngho was thankful that he now had a secured and relaxed life and mind.

Jongil, who had returned from the reception in the bride’s house, hugged Youngho in appreciation. Although he did not say anything, a hug was enough for Youngho to know what he wanted to say. It better explained his gratitude than many words. He always liked Jongil’s sincerity.

“Live well with Karajan. Don’t turn your eyes to other women. If you do, I’ll kill you.”

“Man, why are you saying that on this beautiful day? I won’t.”

“Don’t you think I know you? So, take care of her well. If you don’t, I’ll tell all about your past to Karajan.”

“What? Phew, I’ve got to move away, you’re too scary.”

Making jokes with each other, they were resolving their burst of emotions. They always had debts of mind to each other. Jongil and Youngho trusted each other since they always had each other’s back. They knew what the other wanted by only looking at each other’s eyes. Since Jongil paid to build his house on the farm without Karajan’s money, he did have a lot in his savings. Already guessing his situation, Youngho paid for all the travel expenses of Jongil’s guests. Although Jongil did not feel comfortable, he just made an excuse that it was bonus for Jongil’s job well done in the clothing stores. He was also thankful for Jongil since he did not have to live on the farm but decided to do so in order to protect the farm family.

***

For older generations in Korea, it was not an easy decision to travel abroad. Since it was their first time in Europe, Sangchun’s parents decided to take this opportunity and travel around Azerbaijan. Youngho was glad for the chance to help and serve his family longer. He had been sorry that he could not help his family and spend more time with them because he now lived far away from his hometown.

Zeynep and Yunsuh’s son got along pretty well. Yunsuh’s son was now slightly more older than 20 months. He still was not at the phase where he could talk but he was very lively and active. As if it was fun to hear Zeynep speak in Turkish and English, he went to Zeynep’s room every time he opened his eyes from sleep.

The siblings’ winter break had begun, so there was no one to make fuss in the morning. The family had late brunch and talked about what happened in Jongil’s wedding in front of the fireplace having coffee. Because of Park Jongil’s long wedding ceremony, Jongil’s who had his wedding after Jongil had to have an extremely brief ceremony since they only reserved the venue for short hours. From then on, Jongil had been getting an earful of complaints from Insoo. Being sorry for Insoo’s wedding, Jongil tried to convince Insoo to go to Paris for theit honeymoon on his treat.

Jongil and Insoo’s families had already gone back to Korea for their jobs and only Yunsuh’s family stayed for traveling around the area.

Sangchun’s father frequently went to the wine factory and enjoyed tasting Zeynep Farm’s wines. He was almost drunk the whole time he was at the farm and he was jealous of Insoo’s father who lived on Youngho’s farm and helped out with farming work.

Sangchun’s father, who moved to Seoul leaving his orchard behind, was degenerately to an old babysitter for his grandchild. He suddenly announced in front of all, that he would return to his orchard in Hongcheon. As soon as he saw the size of Youngho’s farm, his promise that he would inherit his small orchard to Youngho when he dies was gone.

Because the relatives and friends who came to the wedding treated Fatima as the mistress owner of the farm, Youngho did not know how to react to them. In fact, mistress of the farm suited her since she served all of the guests of the farm so well with her hospitality and graceful appearance. Not only Yunsuh and Sangchun treated as their future sister-in-law but also Sangchun’s dad called her ‘sae-saek-shi’ which meant ‘a new bride’ in Korean. It seemed that she now understand what he meant since she searched the word in Korean dictionary when she got home. Despite of their misunderstanding, Fatima was not offended at all. Instead, she flushed and smiled to them.