The October Coup (1)
Putin did not go straight into the restaurant where Yoon-gi was eating. To begin with, he knew nothing about the coup itself. All he knew was that the KGB was involved. Beyond that, he didn't know which groups were participating, who was behind it, and most crucially, he had no idea when it would happen. In such a situation, what would be the point of making contact with Yoon-gi?
'Among the people I can influence by feigning a coincidence, he is the only one...'
Judging by the situation with the KGB agents trailing him, Putin was certain that they would continue to act as his shadows. 'If I try to run away in this situation, I’ll likely be killed. If I’m not killed, I’ll be a fugitive for the rest of my life. The KGB’s coup has a high chance of success.'
Putin viewed Gorbachev’s government in a positive light. It was impossible for him to be genuinely cooperative with the coup. Therefore, he racked his brain desperately to gather information. 'I don't know much else, but I have to find out the D-Day.'
On D-Day, Gorbachev would certainly die. That meant if he could save Gorbachev on that day, he could somehow stop the coup. 'And I must survive, too.' To do that, someone had to know that he had provided the information about the coup. Because the moment the coup failed, he would be punished as a participant. And that punishment? At best, the Gulag; most likely, a firing squad.
Putin didn't want to see his life ruined by a coup he didn't even want to participate in. So, he prepared for the coup diligently. Only then could he live in the "present."
"Good, Vladimir. I like it very much. I thought your loyalty might have waned after being away from the organization for a while, but it seems I was mistaken."
The Director’s praise. However, the surveillance on Putin did not loosen. If he tried to leave the KGB building even slightly, two agents would always follow him. Since the liaison knew important information about the coup, even one person defecting would deal an irreparable blow to their plans.
Of course, the coup wouldn't fail. Even if the liaison reported to the higher-ups, "A coup is planned!", there was no evidence. The higher-ups might be cautious, but that alone wouldn't lead to the punishment of those preparing the coup. And then? The liaison would almost certainly die in an "accident" or a mysterious death. The KGB would never leave a whistleblower alone.
'Whew, my head hurts.' For Putin, who felt his blood drying up as each day passed, good news finally arrived.
"The D-Day has been set for October 26th."
Surprisingly, it was October 26th, the same day P was eliminated in South Korea. But there was a reason for this.
"Is there a reason it's October 26th?"
To Putin, who asked with genuine curiosity, the Director nodded and answered readily. Because Putin had shown himself to be working hard, the Director’s guard had loosened slightly.
"Lenin's revolution was completed at 2:00 AM on October 26th. We chose October 26th for the sake of the justification of solidifying Lenin's communism."
However, there was something the Director was desperately ignoring. The Russian October Revolution had involved the participation of the entire populace. But this coup was merely a seizure of power "by the establishment, for the establishment." It was clear that even if they succeeded, power would never be transferred to the people.
"Ah, I see. Wait, does that mean it's November 8th by the Gregorian calendar?"
Since Russia in 1917 used the "Julian calendar" rather than the Gregorian calendar, the revolution had actually taken place on November 8th.
"No, this is the era of the Gregorian calendar, isn't it? So, it is correct to do it on October 26th."
"I understand. Then, when should I deliver the date?"
"Instructions will come soon."
"Understood."
In reality, there wasn't much time left. Since it was October 11th, the coup would happen in just fifteen days. 'Come to think of it, the establishment of private enterprises is currently being announced.' Gorbachev had distributed a telegram throughout the Soviet Union stating that civilians could establish companies. The implementation of that bill was January 1st, 1987. Since it essentially meant walking the path of capitalism, it made rational sense to stage a coup before that time came.
'Now, all that's left is to pass on the coup date...'
Transmission via the KGB's internal telephone lines was impossible. He was always with other agents while sending messages, and there was surveillance behind him, so he couldn't act rashly. If he sent useless information or contacted an unauthorized place, he would be 100 percent suspected. He couldn't use external communication networks either. Whenever he went out, he was always shadowed.
But Putin had already laid the groundwork. Eating out. Putin always had lunch at an outside restaurant, and although he was suspected at first, the suspicion had relatively loosened because he simply ate his meals. Furthermore, Putin didn't eat alone. If someone was dining alone, he would casually strike up a conversation and join them, a habit he kept throughout his preparations for the coup.
'Damn it, is he not here today...' Putin scanned the restaurants and confirmed that Yoon-gi was not there. But he couldn't skip a meal. So, hiding his anxious heart, he joined others for a meal as usual.
The next day, and the day after that, Putin ate outside. It was a truly blood-drying week. 'Damn it, should I really bet everything on something with such low odds?'
In truth, the plan Putin was currently hatching had astronomically low odds. If the coup succeeded? Putin would live a safe life in a new Soviet government centered on the KGB. If the coup failed? Putin would be a member of the rebels and face a firing squad. But Putin wanted to induce the failure of the coup while living a safe life himself. The only way to convey the coup situation in the current circumstances, and the only person who might notice and stop it, was Yoon-gi. But he couldn't see Yoon-gi anywhere.
'Damn it, should I just close my eyes and live with it?' Just as Putin was feeling helpless, thinking he had wasted another day, a light finally shone.
'Oh...!' In the restaurant where he had met Yoon-gi before, he saw Yoon-gi eating.
Creak! Putin naturally opened the restaurant door and walked in. Surprisingly, Yoon-gi recognized Putin first.
"Hello. It's been a while."
The other KGB agents also knew who Yoon-gi was. A hero who saved the Soviet Union from economic collapse, a businessman praised in the Soviet Union. Therefore, Putin quickly explained the previous encounter to them.
"Ah, back when I was eating before..."
It was a real event, a plausible explanation, and given Yoon-gi's fame, the agents nodded.
"Indeed, it has been a while. Have you been well?"
Seeing Putin take a seat elsewhere after the greeting, Yoon-gi said, "This is our second meeting, why don't you sit with me and have a meal? I'll treat you."
Putin looked back at the agents following him. The agents nodded. Instead, they went and sat in a spot where they could see Yoon-gi's face clearly. Their reasoning was that rather than watching Putin for suspicious signs, it would be better to observe Yoon-gi, a civilian, to judge if Putin was acting strangely. In fact, whenever Putin ate with others, the agents always positioned themselves where they could see the other person's face.
"These days, Slavs-men are very popular."
As Putin started the conversation, Yoon-gi smiled and nodded. "I've researched a lot on how to be loved by the Soviet people. To do that, I've been eating Soviet food diligently."
"Certainly, to understand the taste of a country, one must know the taste of that country. Have you been eating Soviet food ever since then?"
Yoon-gi nodded. "Yes. But sometimes I get sick of it, so I eat carrot kimchi from Kazakhstan."
In Kazakhstan, "Koryo-saram" (ethnic Koreans) lived. Koryo-saram who truly considered Korea their other homeland. In the bitter cold of Russia, they made kimchi with carrots to eat. It was a bit different from standard Korean kimchi, but it was enough to soothe their nostalgia. Of course, Putin didn't know about carrot kimchi.
"Carrot kimchi?"
"Ah, what carrot kimchi is..."
At Yoon-gi's explanation, Putin nodded. "Hmm, I've never been to that region, so this is my first time hearing of it. As expected, food and culture are quite intertwined."
It was a mundane yet cheerful conversation. Yoon-gi and Putin finished their pleasant meal, and the agents, without any suspicion, left the restaurant with Putin first.
Once Putin was completely out of sight, even from the windows, Yoon-gi finally began to think with a puzzled expression.
A knock echoed through the office.
"Who is it?"
"Chairman, it's Bill."
"Ah, come in."
At Yoon-gi's permission, Bill entered the office. Bill, the Black man who had explained the black market when he first came to the Soviet Union and made the Alaska joke. Bill, who had been a U.S. soldier and had some fun in Mexico, had appeared in Yoon-gi's office.
"I heard you were looking for me."
At Bill's words, Yoon-gi smiled and nodded. "I have a question, and if I'm going to call someone, I wanted to call Bill. It's fun, isn't it?"
At Yoon-gi's friendliness, Bill grinned, showing his teeth. "I'm always welcome. Come to think of it, you seemed to have a lot on your mind at the restaurant earlier. Is there something bothering you?"
It was a direct question. Yoon-gi also opened up about his worries without hesitation. "It's because of what happened when I was eating at the restaurant earlier."
"Is it because of the two people who followed him?"
"That, too."
The two people following Putin clearly exuded a different aura than ordinary people. That was why Bill had grasped that they were highly trained individuals.
"If it's also that... is there something else?"
"Did you not see it, Bill? Putin's eyes?"
"Pardon?"
Yoon-gi began to blink his eyes at Bill. Very irregularly, at that.
"Something... is very irregular, isn't it? No, it feels like I've seen it somewhere..."
For a moment, Yoon-gi wore an expression that suggested he had caught a clue. "You saw it?"
"...It passed by too quickly, so I can't be sure."
"I'll show you again."
Yoon-gi began to blink his eyes again.
"I'm truly sorry, but that alone is too fast. Something I can watch repeatedly..."
"Ah, then there's a way."
Yoon-gi cut off Bill's words and called someone on the internal phone. Thus, the recording was prepared. Yoon-gi began to blink his eyes at the video camera, and this blinking began to be recorded on the video camera without filter.
"Watch this repeatedly."
Bill, who received the video camera, began to watch the footage repeatedly. How much time had passed?
"It really was Morse code."
"As expected..."
Back when Yoon-gi lived a life of manual labor, he had heard a story. It was a story about someone who survived by sending Morse code through their eyes. A little while ago at the restaurant, when Putin was desperately blinking in a way that was both regular and irregular, he had memorized it just in case. If Putin hadn't been from the KGB, he wouldn't have memorized it. But he had memorized it thinking Putin wouldn't do such a thing for no reason, and it had been a huge help. However, he didn't know how to decode Morse code, which was why he had called Bill.
"Yes. Looking at it, it seems like blinking is a dot and keeping them closed is a dash. Just a moment."
Bill, a former U.S. soldier, knew Morse code, and based on this, he began to express the recorded part on paper in Morse code. Converting the eye blinks into Morse code, and converting the Morse code into the alphabet once more, a readable word finally emerged.
"Coup...?"