Wherever you go, go with all your heart

Confucius

Chapter XXI. The last order

It sounded like a joke and yet the look on the President’s face was dead serious. He could feel Leeteuk tensing up next to him and Mirae snapping her head in his direction but the only thing he could do was to simply stand at attention and wait to be given permission to talk. The Supreme Commander of the Military was the President. The Supreme Power that ruled over NIS was also the President. National Commission aside, Parliament and Government, the President had the power to relive anyone of any duty, at any given time, even in the last second of his term. That was a reality Kyuhyun knew and one that he could never ignore but it didn’t mean it didn’t make him confused and that it didn’t bothered him to be laid off from the mission. If the reason was that the President found that he had with his daughter, then it made a whole lot of sense but he wished he’d knew that was the reason.

“Dad...” Mirae spoke instead, taking a step closer to her father, being confused and scared all at the same time.

“Mirae...’ the President turned to look at her daughter. “The decision has been made.”

“But why?” she insisted, reaching for his father’s arm.

“I think you both know why.”                     

It was only then that everyone had a clean confirmation of what was going on. Mirae had anticipated that as some point they would have to discuss about the matter but she had not expected her father to simply dismiss Kyuhyun without asking what had happened, how or if there was anything serious about it. It made her feel bad because she knew that Kyuhyun cared about his job and would most likely prefer to have a clean record of each mission and getting dismissed because of his ual encounter with her was definitely a stain on that record. She was partially to blame so she felt part of the guilt.

“Sir...” Kyuhyun took a deep breath, planning to keep posture for as long as it was needed until a punishment was decided and he was told to leave the Blue House.

“It has been brought to my attention that you, Agent Cho, and my daughter are more than friendly. If you recall our conversation on this matter, I had already figured that part by myself.” The President spoke again, leaning his bottom against the side of the desk. “Do you remember that?”

“Yes, sir.” Kyuhyun spoke, still keeping his posture.

“I told you I wish my daughter would meet someone that is reliable, loves and keeps her safe.” The President repeated the words he had said before, right before he had agreed to a plan that ended up with them missing for almost an entire day.

“Yes, sir.” Kyuhyun nodded, recalling that conversation.

He was literally ed up because then the President had assumed that there was only friendly interest shown on his behalf and Kyuhyun had not corrected that. Of course, if he had done that, he would have been relieved of his duty earlier on and nothing at all would have happened between him and Mirae. A tricky situation in which he wasn’t sure what would have been the right time even if he somehow figured out how to time jump. None of the options he had at his disposal were options he was willing to take.

“I will get straight to the point. Agent Park....” The President turned to look at Leeteuk.

“Yes, Mr. President.” Leeteuk nodded his head, now even more intimidated than before since he was the one he was being talked to.

“Are you aware of any romantic relationship or of any kind besides professional between Agent Cho and my daughter?”

Kyuhyun mentally cursed, closing his eyes and pursing his lips together, now knowing for sure that he had been officially screwed. There was absolutely no way for Leeteuk to lie for him, not when his job was at stake and absolutely any lie could have made him go from director to unemployed. He was not going to ruin his career for an agent and just watch everything just get flushed down the drain. Lowering his head only a tad, Kyuhyun was mentally preparing for his job to be terminated, to be thrown out of the Blue House and then banned for life from all governmental work of any kind.

“I am sorry, Mr. President. No relationship of this kind has been reported to me.” Leeteuk answered.

The reply had made both Kyuhyun and Mirae stare back towards Leeteuk, taken aback by the answer. Kyuhyun actually felt amazed of how skilled his boss was with his words, always managing to use the proper words to talk to people. In a way, that had been exactly what made Leeteuk advance so quickly in his career and be on the good side of almost everyone. Technically, Leeteuk was not lying. He had not received any report that mentioned such information. Kyuhyun was especially sure that all the members of the team had not said anything that could even count as a spoken report. They were just that smart. At the same time, it wasn’t exactly the truth because everyone knew that something was going on between the two of them.

“Really?” the President was surprised as well, not having expected that answer.

“I can promise you, Mr. President. There has been no official report of any relationship besides a professional between Agent Cho and Ms. Mirae.” Leeteuk spoke with confidence.

Damn, Leeteuk had been so confident that even Kyuhyun would have believed him had he not known the actual truth of what was going on. The relaxed posture, the confident expression on his face, the neutral voice and the way he maintained eye contact, absolutely everything about him had been so convincing that it almost felt like anything else but that was a lie.

“I see.” The President chuckled, amazed to see and hear what Leeteuk was saying. “Then, agent Cho...” he turned his attention towards the younger one.

“Yes, sir.” Kyuhyun cleared his voice.

“I will ask this only once. Do you have romantic feelings for my daughter?”

“Dad....” Mirae interrupted, feeling extremely awkward.

She was noticing how the mood had changed inside the room and how tensed everyone seemed to be and it was bothering her. They were talking about things that had to do with her and yet it felt like they were completely ignoring her and she hated that. It was also as if she was receiving an indirect confession and she disliked that as well. If Kyuhyun was going to speak out loud about his feelings, then she preferred he did it in a more private environment and while facing her and while being relaxed and possibly holding her inside of his arms, ready to kiss her.

“Mirae...” her father warned, trying to tell her it just wasn’t the time for her to meddle.

“Yes, sir.” Kyuhyun answered, having given up on lying.

It was true. He had developed some feelings towards her and while he couldn’t be 100% sure it was love, the feelings were of romantic kind and he did want to give it a try. He wasn’t sure what it was going to lead to in the future and he wasn’t sure if it was anything that could last but he at least deserved a shot at it. he had been punched in the elbow and was now receiving glares from both people that were by his side but he had to do that, he wanted to do that.

“What are you doing?” Mirae gritted her teeth, biting into her lower lip as she hit him again, showing that she was angry.

“Mr. President, I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate. I also have no objections to my dismissal and feel honored to have served yourself, your family and within the Blue House.”

He took pride in what he said because he meant absolutely every single word of it.  His honor and the training he had received had molded him to accept any order given to him, any order that honored him and his country. He also had no objections because he figured that if he were to be dismissed as an agent, at some point he would be able to approach her like just any other guy. Yes, if that ended up on his record it would have made things harder at work but it was worth it.  It didn’t look like him denying  would prevent his dismissal, even more so since he was still injured despite having regained most of his mobility.

“I understand.” The President nodded his head, accepting everything Kyuhyun had said.

Mirae kept trying to gather his attention, punching him in the elbow, pinching on the shoulder, glaring at him, muttering quietly at him. On the other side, Leeteuk was replaying in his head several methods of torture that he had seen on TV and during training and during missions replacing the target with Kyuhyun. The mental image had been strong enough to have the elderly glare extremely hard towards the younger one, his eyebrows basically tilting at 45 degrees as a frown appeared on his face. Even if Kyuhyun was looking straight ahead towards the President, he was pretty sure his boss was going to be releasing smoke out of his nostrils and Mirae was just about ready to bite him if she needed to.

“I believe this settles matters. You are to be relieved of your duties effective immediately.” The President repeated.

“Yes, sir.” Kyuhyun accepted. “I shall evacuate the room immediately.” He added.

Leeteuk was doing a really good job at not ending up shouting and hitting Kyuhyun with all he had. He was almost blessed for all the training he had received which made him immune to idiots that were out to piss him off but he still couldn’t help but close his eyes and glare. He could see Mirae trying to ask for help of any kind, but there was not much he could do now. He couldn’t do anything now. If the idiot agent had kept quiet and denied everything, he could have continued at the Blue House and then light the flame once his job was over. Getting the romance and the record as clean as before but no, Kyuhyun had to be a gentleman honorable moron. Leeteuk made sure to tell him that, no sound escaping through his lips.

“There is no need for that.” The President finally spoke as he moved behind his desk and sat down to look at them.

“Excuse me, Mr. President?” Leeteuk quickly looked back towards him.

“If I understand right, agency protocols forbid any association between agents and target during the job.” The President looked towards Leeteuk. “And Agent Cho does need medical treatment, correct?”

“Can someone please mind me?!” Mirae finally raised her voice. “I’m right here you know!!” she now glared at everyone, including her father.

“Agent Cho....” the father shook his head, starting to chuckle a bit. “As the President I order you to be taken off the mission and take the proper needed medical rest.” He spoke.

“DAD!” Mirae shouted this time, clenching her fists together, a serious headache taking over.

This situation was ridiculous. Did she have no saying in all of this? Just like that, Kyuhyun was going to be removed from her life and the Blue House? Even after saving her life twice, saving her face at the university and offering to be her dance partner even though he obviously at it, without even asking her about it? It was ridiculous. In the 21st century, it was ridiculous that parents could make decisions like that without minding her.

“As Mirae’s father...” the President almost rolled his eyes at them. “Please remain at the Blue House until my term is over.” He smiled as he looked towards Kyuhyun and made eye contact. 

“Excuse me?” Kyuhyun blinked rapidly, feeling as if he had just been slapped.  Or hit by a train.

The President began laughing as he noticed the expression on the faces of the three people that were standing in front of his desk. If he were to be honest, he had heard about the kiss Kyuhyun and his daughter had shared from this man that was called Heechul. Manse had mentioned how much he loved Kyuhyun and loved playing with him and while he was an old men, he was not blind to see the tension between the two. Still, he could not allow an active agent to date his daughter but he couldn’t exactly just give them his blessings. He was the President after all.

“Mr. President....” Leeteuk almost fell to the side as he processed the information. “So basically he is dismissed on medical reasons?” he tilted his head to the side, the frown still very big on his face, his eyebrows still in a 45 degrees angle.

“Yes. Of course, you may remain at the Blue House as an official guest if you want to. Manse would be delighted to play with you.” The President spoke, now covering his mouth since he was about to burst into laughter.

“Wait...” Mirae moved to the side, pulling the chair aside so that she could sit down. “Someone walk me through this.”

The two standing men were frozen on the spot, still blinking extremely confused, still trying to figure out if someone was pulling their leg, if there was a hidden camera going on or if they were having a really weird dream. Kyuhyun felt so exhausted he just grabbed the seat of the chair and allowed his body to relax against it.

“I feel this has turned into a private conversation, Mr. President.” Leeteuk spoke, taking a step back, preparing to leave the room. “May I excuse myself now?” he pointed towards the door.

The president laughed and then nodded his head, chuckle after chuckle escaping his lips. Kyuhyun begged for help with his eyes, in disbelief that his own boss was just ditching him and rushing towards the door so that he could leave. Mirae was already too tired about anything, just sitting down on the chair, her entire body relaxed and leaning against the seat, body ready to just slip down at any given moment.  She didn’t understand anything and she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to.

“Sir, please allow me make a summary. I am on medical leave effective immediately; I can stay at the Blue House as a special guest and....” Kyuhyun his lips and brushed his fingers through his hair and across his face to make sure he was not sweating.

“Does that mean we can date?” Mirae asked instead.

She was starting to understand what was happening, thinking everything was making sense. If her father had some weird way of agreeing to them dating after having finding that out somehow, then it was only logical that Kyuhyun couldn’t continue being her bodyguard. If this was what was happening, then it only made sense to just get to the point, find out the right answers and then going back to doing what they could do. Like kissing and hugging and playing with Manse and other stuff. So when she asked her father, she had slightly tilted her head to the side and innocently blinked her eyes towards her father, a small smile appearing on her face.

“I only know you kissed, thanks to the grey haired agent.” The President spoke now with a more serious expression on his face. “You two better consider this seriously if you do plan to date.” His expression turned even graver, almost glaring towards Kyuhyun.

“Great.” Mirae spoke out,  clapping her hands against her legs before finally standing up.

“Great?” Kyuhyun looked at her, still feeling that this had to be a dream of some sort.

“Yeah. We’ll go now.” she took Kyuhyun’s hand in hers and began pulling him towards the door.

“Wait... I....” he looked at her. “Mr. President...” then he looked towards the elderly. “I....”

“Kyuhyun.” Mirae stopped him and grabbed him by the arms, slightly feeling bad since he was still hurt.

“Huh?” he asked back, not sure at whom to look at.

“My Father, the Mightly Ruler of everything in South Korea has said you are to rest for the remaining period of the Presidential term.” She spoke while making eye contact with him.

“Actually...” her father wanted to talk but was stopped by his daughter.

“And he is also saying you can date me if you want so zip it.” she warned Kyuhyun, moving to take his hands in hers as well. “Now out before he changes his mind.”

Kyuhyun was being dragged out of the room, his body still looking towards the seated President. Half of his brain was telling him that it was not a good idea to just leave the office without saying proper words. As an agent, just leaving the room like that was pretty big offense. Even as a simple man that apparently could date the President’s daughter. It was rude for anyone that wanted to date the daughter of a father to just ditch the father and not even say goodbye. Maybe his career as an agent was now safe from other mishap but he might have just committed boyfriend suicide. If that was a thing. For simply leaving like that, without bowing, without thinking, without promising he will take care of Mirae, he was going to be roasted every single time he was going to meet  her father.

Left alone at the desk, the President just shook his head and then chuckled to himself. In the mess, it was nice to have a ray of sunshine. His best friends turned out to be a jackass that kissed the butts of rich companies and cared more about his election as the next President than for his friends. His wife had turned out to be a snitch, feeding the Prime Minister with private documents and schedule information and even financial details simply because she wanted her bank accounts to be full once the presidential term ended. Looking back, the President finally understood why his kids had never liked the step mother of theirs. Maybe not Mirae, but Manse was a child and it was said that children had good instincts an apparently he had been right about not liking the lady.  He was too old for these things. Too old to deal with the political plots and conspiracies, to deal with a wife that was scheming behind his back, too old to deal with betrayal but surely not old enough to enjoy knowing his daughter was starting a life of her own. In all of this, knowing Mane had found himself a new friend and Mirae actually got attached to a guy was like that breath of fresh air everyone so badly needed.

While the President was trying to relax in some way, turning around to look outside the windows of his office, becoming more at peace while trying to not let everything that had happened consume him, Kyuhyun was still confused as . He was being dragged towards the apartment area and since he had no idea what just happened, he figured it was best if, at least for now, he did what Mirae wanted him to. It was so strange though. Leeteuk had glared at him and then made a run for it, Mirae had kicked him a few times and yet now she was triumphantly guiding the way. The President that has seemed to be ready to end his career had invited him to stay over and Kyuhyun was not sure if he was supposed to be happy or go and howl at the moon or something.

“Alright then.” She finally stopped. “Guess that settles everything.” She grinned as she turned to look at him.

“Did I just imagine what happened or did it happen?’ Kyuhyun looked around, suspicious of everything and anything.

“Come on, it could not have been that much of a shock.” She grinned towards him, partially amused by how he looked and talked.

“Your father went from dismissing me to inviting me to stay over and then told me to be serious about our relationship.” Kyuhyun pointed out, still blinking far too much.

“I also went from hoping the plan fails, to guns being fired everywhere, to having a gun pointed at my head and then taken to safety and see my step mother being taken into custody.” Mirae shrugged, still grinning.

“And yet you find nothing weird about what just happened?” now Kyuhyun smiled a bit, finding himself quite amazed by how relaxed and happy she looked. And beautiful. She looked really beautiful.

“All I care about is that you can stay at the Blue House and that we can date if we want.” She smirked now.

She was kind of amused. Yes, she was still half pissed that they had carried a conversation about her with her in the room while ignoring her entirely but since the end result was one that made her extremely happy, it didn’t matter anymore.  Now all she needed to know was if Kyuhyun did want to date her or not so that she could officially consider if she wanted to date him or not.

“I was so freaked out... I thought I was over.” Kyuhyun turned soft and allowed his bod to fall against her, wrapping his arms around hers.

“I thought you were too.” She admitted, allowing Kyuhyun to just lean against her, like a sloth hugging some tree or something. “I was even ready to have a fight with my dad, you know.”

He had to have been freaking out really bad. For a person that valued his career and the honor and the principles that came with it, just the fact that he had gotten personally involved with her had made him worried. To actually have to face her dad and admit to having some sort of a relationship had to take a whole lot of balls and that kind of made Kyuhyun look much cooler than before. He had been charming when he protected her, pulling out his gun at however tried to hurt her. Seeing him fight and defend her had made him look awesome and then telling her father that indeed there were feelings had almost turned him into the perfect male hero character of any drama, movie or story out there.

“Because you love me or because you felt left out?” Kyuhyun questioned, planning to put all of his body weight agains