Chapter 143: What Are You Trying to Do?

Medvedev’s friendly face was no different at this moment.

“What can I do for you?”

“Oh, I was told by Putin to come here and host the guests since he can’t attend to them properly. He asked me to step in for him.”

It seemed Medvedev was sent here under Putin’s orders.

“Why are you out on the terrace, though? You could be inside, enjoying the food and talking with the other guests. Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Why don’t you go mingle?”

“I was resting outside because I had a nasty headache,” he replied.

“You might feel a little better if you get used to them. Would you join me? It’s not every day you get invited to a party like this. It’d be a waste to let it go by.”

I willingly stood up and followed him.

Sucking up to him didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Let’s go.”

As we stepped inside, all eyes turned to me.

Medvedev generously picked up a wine glass and handed it to me.

I’d usually prefer vodka, but since there’s only wine here, this is boring,” he said.

After lightly toasting with Medvedev, I started talking to him, but the gazes on us made my cheeks feel hot.

Sounds of different languages reached my ears, and I felt my headache worsening.

“That explains the headache. Instead of straining to understand everything, it’s probably better to let it go. However, your Russian is impressive. I’d believe you if you said it’s your native tongue.”

“I worked hard to learn it. Thank you for the compliment,” I replied.

Medvedev smiled at my Russian, clearly pleased.

“What are you talking about that is so amusing?”

“This is Kim Mu-hyeok. Please say hello. e is the Minister of Industry, Sergei Solomatin.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Kim Mu-hyeok.”

“Oh! So you’re the businessman who invested in Russia last year. I am honored to meet you. I am Sergei Solomatin.”

Solomatin extended his hand with a friendly smile, reaching out to me first.

“Russia is an attractive place for investment,” I replied.

“Thank you. Other businessmen didn’t think so. Please spread the word that it is worth it to invest in Russia.”

“I will do my best as much as I can.”

After that, various Russian politicians and officials came up to Medvedev to greet him while stealing glances at me.

Politics is a living thing.

Everyone knew that Medvedev, who used to assist Putin in governing St. Petersburg, would soon rise into the center of power.

Thanks to Medvedev staying by my side, I had the chance to greet the various guests from Russia and other European countries.

Then Medvedev, noticing someone, said,

“Please stay here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared in a hurry, leaving me alone to look around.

As soon as Medvedev was gone, the interested gazes on me vanished like ghosts.

I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

“You’re bored, aren’t you, Manager Ma?”

“No,” he replied.

Having spoken in Russian and English for so long, I found myself wanting to speak Korean.

Manager Ma lowered his voice and whispered in Korean.

“That Medvedev guy looks quite influential in Russia.”

“He’s probably Putin’s renchman. Other countries aren’t privy to his agenda yet.”

He’s probably weighing his options right now.

“Kim Mu-hyeok?”

At that moment, someone approached and spoke to me in Chinese.

“Isn’t your name Kim Mu-hyeok?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Just as I heard, your Chinese is excellent.`”

I quickly recognized the face of the man before me. He was one of China’s deputy prime ministers, Wen Jiabao.

“Who are you?”

I feigned ignorance.

“I am Wen Jiabao, deputy prime minister of China.”

“Ah, I am Kim Mu-hyeok. It’s nice to meet ou.”

“I’m glad to meet you too. I have only been hearing about you until now.”

How does this guy know me?

While I was thinking about it, Wen Jiabao leaned in slightly and muttered something my ears could only pick up.

“Mei Hong…”

…

Wen Jiabao continued smiling benignly.

“How annoying. What do you want?”

“The way you’re treating me makes me think you regard China too lightly.” Wen Jiabao’s face fell a little, obviously unhappy with my refusal to play along with him. He wouldn’t have been as fussy if I was just an ordinary businessman.

“So you’re the Chinese power broker behind Mei Hong…”

“Don’t be too sure of yourself. I don’t want to know anything about you. I could get additional information from anyone else in China.”

… This bastard’s just messing around with me.

“Whatever. I don’t care about you and I’m not interested at all. I would like you to leave me alone while I enjoy the party, so please go.”

“Hmm… I don’t think you’ll be doing business in China anytime soon. Peregrine is Boss Kim’s company, right?”

“Are you threatening me?” I said calmly. “Do whatever you want. I will be withdrawing from Hong Kong anyway. I don’t care if I don’t have any presence in Hong Kong.”

I wanted to slap the grinning face off him.

“What are you two talking about?”

At that moment, Medvedev squeezed between Wen Jiabao and me.

“Oh, Professor Medvedev. It’s been a while. It’s been years since we last met in St. Petersburg, hasn’t it?”

“It’s been almost half a year, I think. But what were you and Mr. Kim talking about? Do you know each other?”

“Haha. It’s just that we had a brief encounter.”

“Hmm…”

Medvedev glanced at my stiffly expressionless face, then smiled at Wen Jiabao.

He then added, directing his gaze to me, “Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Kim is here as Prime Minister Putin’s friend.”

The smile on Wen Jiabao’s face vanished.

Medvedev added ominously, “Be civil to our guest.”

For a moment, the meaning behind those words hung in the air.

Wen Jiabao resumed his friendly smile and waved his hand dismissively.

“Haha. I didn’t realize. My apologies.”

“That’s fine. I’d like you to leave me alone now.”

“Maybe we can be in touch again sometime.’

Without so much as a reply from me, Wen Jiabao left. It wasn’t until he had moved away that Medvedev turned to me.

“What’s the problem?”

“First time meeting him.”

“You didn’t seem all too pleased.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, though, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

It was a little surprising that Medvedev would go out of his way for me.

“The Prime Minister should be out soon. He’s late because his meeting is taking longer than expected.”

The prime minister’s inauguration party had turned into a tragedy. Because of some personal meetings Putin had with several world leaders, I had yet to even show my face in the party hall.

It was embarrassing not being able to get to the party in time.

“I understand.”

“I guess there’ll be a separate meeting after this party. He seems to have something to tell you and something he wants from you. You should find out the details when you meet him.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know the details, but it seems like he has some kind of request he can’t make in public.”

“Understood.”

Suddenly, huge doors opened on one side of the party hall, and Putin stepped in.

He strode across the hall, confidently making his way toward the podium in the center of the party area.

“I apologize. I wasn’t able to arrive on time at my inauguration party,” he said as he took the microphone.

Putin started off with an apology.

“My name is Putin, and I am now responsible for Russia’s Cabinet. You must have questions regarding me, and some of you might even know detailed information, but I was the director of the FSB until recently. You already know how notorious the KGB is, don’t you? But as some might say, the KGB is not a demon that spreads evil.”

Russian officials and politicians in the audience chuckled at his joke, but the foreign guests remained impassive.

“The economic crisis in Russia will soon end, and the esteemed guests here are requested to discuss investments in Russia in their home countries. A true friend is someone who helps in times of need.”

He certainly looked nothing like the Putin I met last year.

Slowly, his aura of confidence and dominance began to reveal itself to me, just like the czar of Russia he was.

When he was done, he stepped down from the podium and moved around the hall, nodding at his guests.

With so many people here, most of them could only exchange a few words with him, but I could see the politeness of Russian hospitality at work.

“Thank you for coming. I hope your arrival was comfortable,” he said, looking especially friendly.

“Thanks to your invitation, I am enjoying this wonderful evening,” I replied.

“I’m glad to hear that. I would like to meet you later. Enjoy the party a little longer before we meet.”

“Understood, Prime Minister.”

The eyes of those present in the hall widened slightly at how friendly Putin was toward me. He had a relaxed smile on his face that nobody could tell was genuine or forced, and they kept switching their gazes back and forth between Putin and me.

I couldn’t tell either if he was putting on an act or if it was real, but it wouldn’t change anything between us. He just smiled a relaxed smile at me but whether it was out of friendly intentions or hidden motives, I had no way of knowing.

“I will see you later.”

In an unexpected display of friendliness, he shook my hand and lightly patted my shoulder, a far cry from the stiff attitude I had experienced in our last meeting.

Putin then left the party hall, clearly having unfinished business to attend to.

“The Prime Minister seems very pleased with you, President Kim,” Medvedev said with a touch of envy in his voice.

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s odd because he’s not the kind of person who smiles like that. Given that he’s from the KGB, he should be good at hiding his emotions.”

The party hall was filled with the buzzing sound of conversations in many different languages now that Putin had left.

“Mr. Kim Mu-hyeok,” someone called ou.

The Foreign Minister approached me.

Medvedev looked at me with a puzzled expression, not knowing who was speaking.

“This is the Foreign Minister of Korea,” he explained. “You should greet him.”

I couldn’t just ignore the foreign minister so I introduced him instead.

“Ah, I’m sorry for not introducing you. I’m Medvedev, a university professor. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Hyung-il Kim, South Korea’s foreign minister. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m sure South Korea will overcome this economic crisis quickly now that someone like you is at the helm. I envy you.”

Minister Hyung-il Kim seized the opportunity to establish a rapport with Medvedev, chatting with him for some time before casually broaching his main topic.

“Professor Medvedev.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I want to have a private meeting with the Prime Minister. Can you let him know?”

“Well…”

Medvedev and Minister Kim suddenly turned to me, their gazes fixated on me.

‘This is annoying,’ I thought.

I had no choice but to answer them, “… It appears that the Prime Minister is too busy for a meeting right now. However, if you could let him know that I would be grateful if he could spare me a bit of his time, I would appreciate it.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

While Medvedev stepped away to report to Putin, I was left alone with Minister Kim, who had lost sight of his ambassador to Russia.

“Thanks for relaying my message to him,” he said.

“Did you have trouble scheduling a meeting with him?”

“I haven’t had the opportunity to schedule an audience with the Prime Minister. We were hoping to meet him while we were here, but our requests were sidelined since so many countries are visiting him.”

This was the reality of South Korea.

Even if its government regarded South Korea as one of the world’s economic powers, it remained a small country in the Far East compared to superpowers like Russia and America.

It was making me feel miserable.

“Don’t expect too much.”

“I think you were about to deliver a letter from the President to the Prime Minister, right? Just a little time for the meeting will be enough.”

“A letter?”

“Yes. A letter from the President of South Korea.”

“So you brought a letter from the President, yet you were unable to schedule a meeting with him?”

“There seems to be some kind of miscommunication between our diplomatic departments. I saw the North Korean delegation enter the hall to meet Putin not long ago…” More than likely, there was some sort of problem between the Russian and South Korean foreign ministries.

“Let’s just wait and see.”

An awkward silence followed.

“I think someone will be here shortly. You might not get a lot of time, but you will have a chance to meet with him.”

Medvedev returned, and Kim Hyung-il’s expression brightened.

“Thank you, Professor Medvedev.”

“You should be thanking Mr. Kim. The Prime Minister’s already scheduled a meeting for you. He made the time for you because he thought your request was important.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kim. I will be sure to relay the message to our President when I get back to Korea.”

“I’m glad to have been of help. I hope you have a pleasant time here.”

As I watched Minister Hyung-il Kim’s back walk away, I suppressed my displeasure.

More and more people were starting to leave the party hall, which had been so noisy.

“You can leave now, Mr. Kim.”

Not long after, under Medvedev’s guidance, I arrived at the room where Putin was.

As he got up from his seat and approached me, Putin smiled warmly.

“Mr. Kim, welcome!”

“Thank you, Prime Minister.”

“Let’s sit down first. Medvedev, don’t let anyone through.”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

Medvedev closed the door behind him, leaving the two of us alone.

“Did you enjoy the party?”

“I had a great time. Thank you for inviting me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to keep you for too long. I’ll get right to the point.”

The conversation topics so far were beyond my expectations.