When I stepped into the study, Grandfather was sitting at his desk with his eyes closed.
The sunlight coming in from behind cast shadows on his wrinkled face. It was a warm, yet sohow fleeting image.
“Grandfather.”
He slowly opened his eyes.
“Muhyuk.”
“Were you sleeping?”
“I must’ve dozed off.”
He looked at with a gentle smile.
“How’s everything going?”
“Taesan Financial got official approval yesterday. I won’t bring sha to your na.”
“Hahaha.”
He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he had been quietly worrying about it.
“Thank you.”
“No, sir. I couldn’t have done it without your support.”
“No... Lately I’ve co to realize. Even without , you would’ve made it eventually. I just helped shorten the ti it took. More importantly, I heard you offered Myeonghun the chairman position.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
There was a faint look in his eyes.
Lost in old mories, Grandfather fell silent for a while.
“...Myeonghun went through a lot because of . Even if I die, make sure you take care of him. Understand?”
“Of course. Chief Ha has helped so much too.”
Seemingly pleased with my response, he nodded and muttered,
“Taesan Financial... It has a good ring to it...”
Then he waved his hand.
“That’s enough. Go now. I should rest.”
“Alright.”
He looked tired, so I stepped out of the study.
Chief Ha, who had been standing just outside the door, bowed to .
“Taesan Financial has received approval. The chairman seat has been left vacant.”
“...Thank you.”
“Thank you for staying by Grandfather’s side.”
“I’m with him because I want to be.”
“Still.”
Just seeing Chief Ha always brought a natural smile to my face.
“Has Grandfather been eating well?”
We hadn’t had our usual breakfasts together lately.
Grandfather had been eating alone in the study most days now.
“Yes. His appetite has decreased, but he’s still eating regularly. Though he does have trouble digesting.”
A shadow crossed Chief Ha’s expression.
“Please continue taking good care of him.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I passed by Chief Ha, I heard soft music coming from the study.
Recently, Cheon Jiyoung had started performing under the stage na “Elle.”
Maybe there was a reason she’d beco so confident. From the very beginning—even during her first appearance on a major music broadcast—she didn’t seem nervous at all.
She was still the sa bold, cheerful Cheon Jiyoung I knew.
Lately, Grandfather had been listening to her album in the study every day. It seed to be how he soothed his regrets.
She’d been visiting Pyeongchang-dong less often now that she was busier, but she still ca about once a week.
‘I should ask her to visit again soon.’
* * *
Putin’s appointnt as Pri Minister had caught not only the United States but every country off guard.
Lacking sufficient intel on Putin, the U.S. and Western Europe sent many key figures to Russia for his inauguration party.
The South Korean governnt also dispatched the Foreign Minister with a personal letter from President Kim Hakgwon.
“Welco, Boss.”
“Igor. It’s been a while. Hasn’t it been inconvenient staying in Russia all this ti?”
“It’s been fine.”
Even after all these months, Igor’s thick Russian accent hadn’t changed one bit.
One notable change was how much easier it was to enter the country now.
“Power really is a nice thing, isn’t it?”
“Well, you’ve been invited by Pri Minister Putin himself. ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Of course you’ll be treated well.”
Right after naming Putin Pri Minister, Yeltsin returned to the hospital.
Now holding real power, Putin threw a massive party to announce his appointnt to the Western world.
The Moscow hotel was likely overflowing with diplomatic delegations from all over.
“We’ve arrived, Boss.”
There was one more change.
It was this mansion on the outskirts of Moscow, purchased through Igor.
Since remodeling wasn’t yet complete, I decided to stay in the guesthouse for this visit.
As I stepped out of the car and looked around, I couldn’t help but exclaim quietly.
“You like it?”
“Yes. How did you manage to find a mansion with land this large?”
“Berezovsky helped a lot. It used to belong to an oligarch who sided against Yeltsin.”
In politics, it’s never the politicians who pay the price—it's always their followers who bleed.
Primakov, one of Yeltsin’s rivals, would likely return to politics in ti. But the businessn who supported him had already been purged and lost everything.
“It’ll be quite sothing once renovations are finished.”
“You won’t be disappointed, Boss.”
Igor said it with such confidence that I really began to look forward to the final result.
Even the guesthouse I was staying in now was far better than a suite at the Moscow Hotel.
“Eva would go nuts if she saw this.”
Exhausted from the long flight, I fell asleep almost imdiately.
The next day, in the sa location where the party for foreign investors had once been held, Putin’s inauguration celebration took place.
With dignitaries from all over, the party hall was buzzing with noise.
Feeling a headache coming on, I picked up a glass of wine and stepped out onto the terrace with Chief Ma for so air.
“It’s chaotic, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
As I looked up at the Moscow night sky, soone stepped out onto the terrace.
“Charlie?”
I turned my head a second too late.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Rubin.”
She was a small, elderly woman with pure white hair.
And I recognized her imdiately.
“Secretary Albright.”
It was Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State in Arican history.
“Nice to et you.”
“It’s an honor.”
She had begun her term with Clinton’s second administration and served by his side until the end.
“I was curious to et you. To see what kind of person Rubin defends so adamantly.”
“Hahaha.”
Her words had bite.
Albright had often stood opposed to Rubin—especially when pressuring President Kim Hakgwon or shaking up Japan’s economy.
Behind that smile was the sharp cunning of a seasoned politician.
“I’ve never once hard Arican interests. I like Arica.”
“Do you, now?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you. But I didn’t expect you to be close enough to get invited to Putin’s inauguration.”
“I purchased Gazprom bonds last year. That’s why the Russian governnt extended an invitation. It’s an honor, really.”
Feigning ignorance when she clearly already knew.
“But...”
“Secretary!”
Before she could say more, the U.S. ambassador stepped out onto the terrace.
After a glance at , he spoke to her.
“It’s ti for your eting with the Pri Minister.”
“Already? Then let’s go.”
Albright turned to with a smile.
“I hope we can et in Arica soday.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
We shook hands.
“Next ti, let’s sit and talk. My neck hurts.”
She walked off the terrace with a quip.
Honestly, I’d rather deal with soone holding a gun. Facing a snake like her was exhausting.
Especially when that person held real power.
As I tried to enjoy the night view again, I suddenly heard Korean.
“Mr. Kim Muhyuk.”
Suppressing my irritation, I turned my head to see the Korean ambassador to Russia and the Foreign Minister standing there.
We had briefly exchanged glances earlier, but I had no desire to acknowledge them.
“We were surprised to see you here, Mr. Kim.”
“I happened to receive an invitation.”
“This isn’t the kind of event one just happens to be invited to. Look at that party hall. It’s practically a mini United Nations.”
He wasn’t wrong—everyone inside held high positions in their respective countries.
But it wasn’t that I didn’t understand. I just didn’t care.
“If you have business, please get to the point. I ca out here for so air—my head hurts.”
“Mr. Kim, that’s no way to speak to the Minister...”
The ambassador raised his voice.
The Minister held up a hand to stop him.
“What did you talk about with Secretary Albright?”
“We exchanged a few greetings.”
“For a greeting, it seed like quite a long conversation.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Are you interrogating now? And why would I need to tell you anything?”
“You little—!”
The ambassador scowled and stepped forward.
This ti, the Minister didn’t stop him.
“How dare you speak to the Minister that way!”
“Did I do sothing wrong?”
“She is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. She’s here on behalf of the President. Show so respect!”
What a load of bullshit.
“I don’t see how I was disrespectful. I clearly said I had a headache and ca out to rest. But instead of showing concern, I was imdiately interrogated. Is that what you call etiquette?”
“What?!”
“That’s enough.”
“Minister, this bastard needs to be taught so manners!”
“Bastard?”
The polite smile I’d been wearing disappeared from my face.
The air around us turned cold in an instant.
Sensing sothing was off, Chief Ma took a step closer to .
“You might want to reconsider saying sothing you’ll regret, Ambassador.”
“...Mr. Kim, I apologize. Ambassador Pyo must be in a bad mood after being slighted here. Please understand.”
“Minister, what are you saying...”
The Minister tried to smooth things over.
The ambassador clearly didn’t understand why she was doing that.
“How amusing. What does his bad mood have to do with any of this? Would he speak that way to anyone else in the party hall?”
“What did you just say?”
“Ambassador Pyo!”
The Minister raised her voice.
Why bring soone who can’t even read the room?
“Apologize.”
“What?”
“Apologize to Mr. Kim. Now.”
“But Minister...”
“Never mind. I don’t think he’s even worth an apology. Minister, I’ll see you in Seoul. Please leave.”
I was starting to feel like I was dood to keep having run-ins with the Kim Hakgwon administration.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kim.”
The Minister dragged the ambassador away.
They had probably wanted to probe a little, but their timing couldn’t have been worse.
I handed my glass to Chief Ma and sat down.
“Look into Ambassador Pyo. Ask Igor. He’ll get the Russian side of his history in no ti.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll close my eyes for a bit. Wake if soone cos.”
It was the chronic disease of Korean bureaucrats.
They'd let foreign VIPs walk all over them without a word, but treated their own people with arrogance.
After sitting in the cold breeze for a while, my headache began to ease.
So ti later, Chief Ma called to .
“Boss.”
I slowly opened my eyes.
“Soone’s here to see you.”
As Chief Ma stepped aside, a man approached from the terrace entrance.
“Nice to et you.”
I stood to greet him.
“Hello.”
“My na is Dmitry Anatolyevich dvedev. Feel free to just call dvedev.”
“Pleasure to et you. I’m Kim Muhyuk.”
Dmitry dvedev—Putin’s friend and political ally. In the West, they called him Putin’s puppet.
But for now, he was still just a lecturer at Saint Petersburg University.
“I’m a friend of Putin.”
At the mont, he held no title—just Putin’s friend.
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