Empire of the Ring

Most transportations in South Ossetia were cut off during the winter because of the extensive amount of snow. The only way to get to South Ossetia was either to go through a rugged mountain road from Georgia or to use the Roki Tunnel in Russia.

Therefore, visitors and foreign investing companies did not dare to travel to Tskhinvali. It was inevitable that there were not a lot of guests at Arirang Hotel. The winter was always a slow season for businesses that served tourists and visitors.

Katya explained that the hotel was all booked until the end of the fall.

Youngho thought it would be inefficient to expand the hotel at this moment because many of the suites would stay vacant for a while.

So Youngho was trying to convince Katya to focus on maintaining the hotel's current state instead of expanding it.

"Katya. Why don't we focus on the maintenance of the building for now?"

"Boss, I am telling you. We did not have any empty room until the end of the fall. Allow me to build a guest house with my money."

Katya had an urge to build a condominium behind the main hotel building for long-term guests. She stressed that she saved up to 500,000 dollars for the expansion.

"500 grand wouldn't even build a condominium with 10 guest rooms. All the materials need to be bought from Russia. It would be expensive."

"Long-term guests pay more attention to the quality of hotel dish rather than the room. The hotel would be too luxurious when you think about Tskhinvali economy. We shouldn't spend money on high-quality guest rooms."

"Katya. What are you trying to do with all the money you made?"

"I am going to make you rich!"

"Do you even know how much money I have in my bank account? I don't really need more money from here. I am totally fine with what you are making here."

"But… This is the only way I can repay you. You've done so much for us…"

It would have not been possible to run a successful hotel without Katya's help. She already repaid Youngho more than she owed. Even though Youngho understood Katya's sincere heart, it did not seem that Youngho would feel right for maintaining this vague relationship. Youngho wanted to come clean about their relationship.

"I do understand your heart. But how long are you going to repay me without living your own life? What you have done for me in this hotel is already more than your debt."

"…"

"This is such a burden for me to see you always trying to repay me. I want to let you go if you seek your own happiness."

"I am happy working for you. There is nothing I want. What's the point of seeking happiness now? I am just happy that Rena and my mom are happy and healthy. I am fully satisfied with my life."

"Okay then. Consider the Tskhinvali hotel as Katya and Rena's home. Send me 50 percent of the profit from the Arirang Hotel. The rest is for Katya and Rena. This is a reward for running the hotel successfully."

Youngho wanted to give all profit to them, but it might hurt Katya's pride. The margin would be only about 300,000 dollars.

"No! That's too much."

"We are partners. You deserve that much. If you feel bad about this, please give some discount if the people from our state stay here for vacation."

Katya did not argue anymore. However, Youngho already knew that she would save up more and brag about how she expanded the hotel and made more profit. But Youngho decided not to say anything about it.

"I will still visit once in every two months to see Rena. I still need to do my dad duty."

Katya smiled at Youngho when she heard that Youngho would still play the role of Rena's father.

"Thank you, Boss."

"No. Don't thank me. I am the one who needs to thank you, Katya."

The next day, Katya looked happier than ever. She seemed to be relaxed as well. Youngho was happy for her.

***

Katya led the group to the beautiful nature of Tskhinvali. In the beginning, people kept distant from Katya because she looked sophisticated. But when they found out Katya's friendly personality, they got close to her. Katya also defended Youngho about their relationship, and Youngho was thankful for her. It was much better than staying around rumors.

Rena was the most excited one. She brought all her friends to the hotel and introduced her dad. The Arirang Hotel was a good playground for the kids. There was nothing for kids to do because of the aftermath of war. Katya made a small playground behind the hotel, and the kids could not stay away from it. The country with a GDP of 200 to 300 dollars could not afford a lot of things for children's entertainment.

All the worries Youngho had disappeared as he watched Rena play in the cold weather.

"Mr.Lee. This place is better than the Alps I would say."

"This is in the middle of a great mountain with its height over 1,500 kilometers. There would be more beautiful places when we start coming down from North Ossetia. But I wouldn't recommend traveling the path because it is a very rugged path."

"Well, Miss Evna has been bragging about it already."

Katya's full name was Jekaterina Tatiana Georgievna, and many called her Katya or Evna.

"When we didn't have the light airplanes, we've always driven through that path. I don't even want to think about it."

"Is it that rough?"

"They paved for military pathways. But think about driving up and down through mountains of an altitude of 3,000 meters. It is such a nightmare, but the scenery is unmatchable."

"It seems like a great visiting place as long as the peace is maintained. The hotel's location is pretty good too."

"You seem to like this place a lot, Dr. Kim. Would you like if I had a villa there? We bought large land behind the hotel."

"Really? Why don't you build something else on there?"

"This is a country with a population of only 90,000 people. We wouldn't have enough people to come to visit. We are full of empty suites at the moment. Expansion is probably a long shot."

"Well, Mr. Lee, to me it sounds like it'd be a great place for a resort. Rich Russians would definitely come to live in the luxury resort. Don't you think?"

Youngho had not thought about having other businesses except for his hotel. Building luxurious villas and selling them to rich people was a new idea. He had totally forgotten about the beautiful nature in this third world country.

"What do you think, Katya?"

"Although almost every single visitor and guest complimented the scenery, I don't think they would want to buy a villa near here. Transportation is still very inconvenient."

"Rich Russians can still use their light airplanes just like us."

"We don't know if the military here would allow them. They accept you since you're helpful. But for visitors? I'm not sure if they'll open the door for them."

Katya had a good point. However, the country would have a great benefit from visitors, especially if the number of visitors increased. The military service was more made for its name, rather than for security.

"Let's build a few villas and see what happens. If it doesn't work, we will use them for special guests."

"I will find out other ways if the government does not allow it."

Katya seemed to be excited because she finally had permission to what she wanted to do. It did not seem like a hard job to find a way because she knew a lot of government staffs from her previous job.

"I will send you a million dollar. Let's start by building a few villas."

"I've got money…"

"That's the money for Rena's future."

Katya was touched by Youngho's consideration. Her eyes were teared up, but Youngho left the room right away pretending that he did not see anything since he did not want to be misunderstood by others anymore.

***

The incident happened in the morning of the group's departure day.

Rena threw a tantrum saying she would follow Youngho. No explanation would work for a child of age eleven. Katya tried to calm her down for Youngho, but Rena would not stop. Since he felt bad to leave the child like this, he decided to take her home during the winter break. Jelyan would be happy to have a friend, and Leon would probably like her too.

It would be difficult to explain it to Fatima, but she had to know about this anyway.

Rena was extremely happy to go on another trip for this was her second trip ever since her trip to a hospital in Georgia for an appendectomy. Knowing that her father was flying the airplane, she felt like she owned the world.

Rena talked nonstop sitting right behind Youngho. Since the way she talked in Russian was so cute that all the passengers including Kim Dong-sung instantly fell in love with her. He and his wife wanted to adopt her.

Though it was a short trip, the medical team and their families were happy to see South Ossetia's gorgeous natural sceneries because they had only seen the unlimited great plain of the autonomous state when they were in Kazakhstan. Kim Dong-sung pushed Youngho to develop a regular trip plan for every quarter.

"Mr.Lee. If you don't bring us back there every quarter, we are going on a strike. Okay? No kidding."

"Currently, Kim Il-kwon goes there twice a month. You can go anytime with him. If you visit Rena regularly, she'd love it."

"You are right! I will make sure that Rena is healthy all the time. Rena, can you call me Papa too?"

Rena heard her name, but she could not understand what they were saying. When Youngho translated for her, she brought out puppy eyes and said Youngho would be the one and only Papa. What she said made Youngho smile. She was not his daughter by blood, but she was still a daughter. It was likely that she probably already knew that Youngho was not her real father, but she still pretended, she knew no better. Still, he was happy to be an only person trusted by a child.

After 4 hours of flight, they landed at the state's airfield. Rena stayed up through the entire flight and made people laugh. Kim Dong-sung and his wife were determined that they would learn Russian right away because of her. They even announced that they were still considering adopting Rena since their children were all grown up and left them a long time ago. They did not want to bother their children by asking them to come to visit, but they felt so lonely.

"Doctor. Why don't you adopt an animal?"

"I like animals but they don't talk. I'd rather raise a child. You probably do not know this, but when your child causes problems, sometimes that makes you feel like you're alive."

Youngho was worried for a second that Dr. Kim might be thinking of Rena like a pet, but it was not the case.

"There are numbers of war orphans around the Caucasus region. What do you think?"

"Can Asians adopt western orphans too?"

"It doesn't matter as long as the parents are ready to raise children."

"Then, I am up for it. I will pour all my heart to raise a child."

While Youngho was worried about how to introduce Rena to Fatima, others were excited about child adoption.