Chapter 8 – Heart
“Мы сможем выйти вместе? (Can we go out together?)”
Putin was bewildered by the unexpected question.
So, without even realizing it, he answered.
“Я могу выйти. (I can go out.)”
“Тогда пойдемте и выпьем. (Then let’s go out and drink.)”
“What?”
“Давай выйдем и выпьем. (Let’s go out and drink.)”
Putin recalled the memory from the previous night.
Unconsciously, his body shivered.
He liked drinking and had confidence in winning any drinking match.
And he did win.
But it didn’t feel like he won.
Because Seon-su kept drinking until Putin collapsed.
“Опять выпьем? (Drinking again?)”
“Да. (Yes.)”
Putin couldn’t refuse because of his male pride.
“Хорошо. Сегодня я выиграю. (Fine. Today, I’ll win.)”
Putin stood up abruptly.
It was a statement stemming from the thought that he’d lost to Seon-su.
“Следуй за мной. (Follow me.)”
Seon-su also stood up.
Senior Jeong-seok, who had been quiet all this time, spoke to Seon-su with a pale expression.
“Seon-su! You’re going to drink again?”
“Yes.”
Seon-su answered nonchalantly and followed Putin out.
Jeong-seok looked as if he was about to cry, but he had no choice but to follow them.
***
“Seon-su, are you really okay?”
Of course, I’m not okay.
I drank for two days straight.
The second day, I drank from morning until night.
“I feel like dying.”
“That’s why I told you not to suggest drinking again….”
“At that time, it was necessary.”
Jeong-seok shook his head.
He recalled the time when Seon-su and Putin drank on the second day.
They drank as if they were competing to see who could finish their glass the fastest.
In the end, Putin raised both his hands in surrender.
“And after all that, we haven’t heard from him in three days?”
It had been three days since they returned to the hotel after drinking with Putin.
The men who had taken them from the hotel brought them back.
They stood guard in front of their hotel room.
But they didn’t prevent them from going in or out.
Knock, knock.
Someone was pounding on the hotel door roughly.
Senior Jeong-seok went to open it.
The one knocking was Putin.
“Gasp.”
Jeong-seok felt as if Putin’s pale face had become even whiter.
“Ты внутри моего друга? (Is my friend inside?)”
“Да. (Yes.)”
Putin walked in without hesitation. Then, upon spotting Seon-su, he smiled brightly and approached.
“Мой друг. (My friend.)”
Putin hugged Seon-su like he was greeting an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Then he stepped back and patted Seon-su’s shoulder.
“Это здорово. (Great.)”
To Putin, Seon-su seemed perfectly fine.
He himself had suffered from a hangover for two days.
During that time, he thought more about Seon-su.
Seon-su’s masculinity, courage, and even his intelligence in making Putin feel good while trying to get what he wanted.
“Есть место, куда пойти вместе. (There’s somewhere I want to go together.)”
“Где? (Where?)”
“Просто следуй за мной. (Just follow me.)”
Seon-su quickly put on his clothes.
Senior Jeong-seok also grabbed his clothes.
But Jeong-seok was stopped at the entrance. The men blocked his way.
Putin said to Seon-su.
“Только мы с другом. (Just you and me, as friends.)”
Jeong-seok looked at Seon-su and said.
“Seon-su?”
“Senior, wait here.”
Jeong-seok was worried about Seon-su going alone.
But there was no way to push past those sturdy men and follow him.
***
This time, it wasn’t a kidnapping.
They drove together with Putin.
It was a somewhat quiet place.
They stopped in front of a building.
Putin got out of the car first and waited for Seon-su to follow before entering the building.
“Приходит друг и садится. (Come, friend, and have a seat.)”
Putin sat down on the living room sofa first.
Seon-su sat down across from him.
Then Putin spoke.
“Дарит мне то, что хочет друг. Что даст мне друг вместо этого? (I’ll give you what you want, friend. What will you give me in return?)”
Looks like I’m heading in the right direction.
I haven’t even said what I wanted, yet Putin is already offering something first.
Just because the situation seems favourable, I shouldn’t jump at the opportunity rashly.
Putin is never an opponent to be underestimated.
What should I say?
In truth, I thought about it a lot.
To be precise, I pondered over Putin.
The information I had about him from the dream:
I knew he would become the President of Russia and that he was a former KGB agent.
Living day by day in survival mode, I didn’t have the luxury to be concerned about much else.
Especially not a foreign country’s president.
But that didn’t mean I completely ignored the news.
I’d occasionally glance at a news ticker while walking down the street.
He would hear such things while dining at a restaurant.
And after much contemplation, he came up with a single word.
“Олигархи. (Oligarchs.)”
Putin’s face hardened.
It seemed he had hit the core issue.
“Как это сделать? (How to do that?)”
He had watched something similar to a documentary.
Right now, not much is known, but in the 2010s, much more information would be revealed.
Oligarchs is a term that refers to the emerging tycoons who came about after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Putin was establishing close relationships with them and receiving their support.
“Просто. (Simply.)”
Putin didn’t believe the word “simply.”
“Не шути. (Don’t joke around.)”
“Простите, если это звучало как шутка. (Sorry if it sounded like a joke.)”
This was sincere.
“Я знаю, что они не думают хорошо. Но и то, что сейчас ситуация неизбежна. (I know you don’t think highly of them. But the current situation is unavoidable.)”
Putin’s expression changed.
He looked surprised.
That meant the guess was right.
No matter what you do, money is essential.
To get that, even if it’s distasteful, one has no choice but to be swayed by the oligarchs.
This was said based on these thoughts and judgments.
“Как вы это узнали? (How do you know that?)”
He couldn’t exactly say that he knew it because he saw the future in a dream.
The most straightforward answer that would please Putin’s heart.
“Потому что друг. (Because I’m a friend.)”
Putin’s expression changed again.
It was a look of deep contemplation.
And then he smiled.
A sign that he liked what was said.
“Да. Потому что мы друзья. (Yes. Because we’re friends!)”
Putin liked the answer “Friend” very much.
If Seon-su had given any other response, it wouldn’t have been the same.
In the end, he burst out in laughter.
And he asked again.
“Поэтому мне интересно, что подарит друг. (So, I’m curious what my friend will offer me.)”
Putin had clearly asked what Seon-su would give him in exchange for what he wanted.
But now, he didn’t ask what Seon-su wanted.
That meant Putin was willing to give what Seon-su wanted.
In that case, Seon-su should state precisely what Putin desired.
“Мне очень любопытно. (I’m really curious.)”
What Putin liked and what Seon-su could actually give were different.
Putin anticipated that if Seon-su mentioned oligarchs, he would offer an enormous sum of money.
Of course, he knew that Seon-su couldn’t provide such a large amount immediately.
“Императорское кресло. (The Emperor’s seat.)”
Putin’s eyes widened.
No wonder.
Putin was dreaming of becoming the President of Russia.
But he must think of it as an unattainable dream.
At this point, Putin was merely the Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg.
There were many powerful politicians standing in his way.
“……”
Putin couldn’t speak.
An emperor is someone at the pinnacle of everything.
Putin harboured dreams of being at the top of Russia.
And Seon-su had pinpointed that exactly.
“Я могу посоветовать другу стать императором. (I can advise my friend to become the emperor.)”
Putin couldn’t believe it.
Someone from a small, distant country in the East had figured out his dream and even offered him advice.
His curiosity was piqued.
“Как? (How?)”
“If I were you, I would leverage democratic forces and opposition politicians to increase my influence.”
Putin was even more astonished.
In fact, it was exactly this issue that he was wrestling with.
It was difficult to decide which side to align with.
If he followed Seon-su’s suggestion, it meant standing against the faction he was currently part of.
If things went wrong, he could lose everything and be branded a traitor, not to mention shattering his dreams.
Putin’s eyes sparkled.
He was curious about the opinion of an outsider—someone like Seon-su, a third-party observer.
So, he asked.
“А как же Россия, по мнению друга, сейчас? Скажи мне, что ты думаешь. (What do you think of Russia right now, friend? Tell me your thoughts.)”
“Хаос. И возможность. (Chaos. And opportunity.)”
Putin nodded.
It was clear to anyone that the current situation was chaotic.
Putin listened attentively, waiting for Seon-su’s next words.
* * *
He spoke at length, recalling as much as he could from what he saw in the dream.
Putin listened with even greater concentration.
In a way, it was only natural.
All Seon-su did was say what Putin would need to do in the future.
Speaking as if he was reading Putin’s mind, there was no way Putin wouldn’t like it.
“Как вам? (How is it?)”
It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best he could do.
Putin clapped his hands and exclaimed.
“Отлично. (Excellent.)”
It seemed some of the things he had been struggling with had been resolved to some extent.
“Немного недостаточно. Но это возможно. (It’s a little lacking. But it’s possible.)”
There were a few things Seon-su misunderstood.
But in the grand scheme of things, they were insignificant and wouldn’t affect anything.
Putin could handle those himself.
More than that, it felt as if all the worries that had troubled him had been solved in an instant.
Especially if he followed Seon-su’s words, then becoming the Emperor of Russia—
No, becoming President seemed entirely within reach.
Maintain relationships with the emerging tycoons, like the oligarchs, as well as the existing power holders, while garnering public support externally.
Take control of energy companies like Gazprom.
Use the energy companies you’ve seized to reduce energy costs for the Russian people.
Ultimately, he would have no choice but to let Seon-su establish a contract with Gazprom.
It’s compensation for the method he shared, and because Seon-su is a friend who wouldn’t betray him.
There was also one thing Putin wanted to confirm.
“Тогда друг поможет мне? (Then, will my friend help me?)”
“Конечно. Но разве мне не нужно что-то получить? (Of course. But don’t I need to get something in return?)”
He didn’t beat around the bush.
Putin liked this honesty even more.
“Конечно, нужно. Только тогда ты сможешь мне помочь. (Of course. Only then can you help me.)”
Putin leaned in closer to Seon-su.
“Хорошо. Итак, можем ли мы получить скидку? (Alright. So, can we get a rebate?)”
Putin asked Seon-su directly.
He thought it was fine to be this straightforward with Seon-su.
“Конечно. (Of course.)”
It would become Putin’s secret fund.
It would be different from the money he received and used from the oligarchs.
“Половина прибыли. (Half the profits.)”
Putin was taken aback.
He didn’t expect Seon-su to offer half.
“Правда? (Really?)”
Seon-su genuinely intended to give half of the profits.
“Другие – 20%. (Others, 20%.)”
“Другое? (Others?)”
Putin was curious about what “others” Seon-su was referring to.
“Да. (Yes.)”
It was something that could generate more profit than gas.
In a way, it was why he became closer to Putin.
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