As requested by the President himself, Changmin was then standing in front of his office the next morning, waiting to be allowed in. He didn’t manage to get any sleep during his flight, and he had to rush to HQ right after the plane landed. He was thoroughly exhausted, even if he had been trained to endure such circumstances.

“The President will see you now,” the secretary told him. He plainly nodded and marched inside, closing the door behind him. He bowed slightly and met eyes with the man whom had once put his full trust in him, yet all the trust has now diminished greatly.

“Mr Shim, take a seat,” the President told him. Changmin did as told, and kept silent. “Here are your transfer documents. If you could please drop your signature down there, we can move on to our next agenda.”

His eyes reacted before his lips could move. He looked up between the President and the stack of papers with wide, puzzled eyes. His mind was working at great speed in order to digest what has just been said. “T-transfer?”

“Of course, young man. You’re a very talented person. We wouldn’t want to waste that just because you failed in one of your assignments. A little bit more training could easily fix that.”

“Excuse me?”

The President looked at him sceptically. “Why? Do you not like what we offered?” he pointed at the documents that were still untouched on the table. “I’ve been very generous for your sake.”

“You call sending me to Alaska as being very generous?” Changmin’s tone of voice started to heighten.

“Our main training base is located there and you’d be a great addition to its commanding team. We’ve elected you as the new Chief Head Officer, who will report directly to me. You’ll bear great responsibility and will be rewarded greater than your effort. I can’t see anything more generous than that.”

“I will never agree to this,” Changmin told the President bitterly.

“Unfortunately, this has no room for negotiation, young man.”

Both of them looked at each other in a few moments of silence. Changmin was having a great internal battle with himself, while the President was very confident that Changmin would sign the documents in the end. It’s just a matter of time.

“If I have no choice, then I demand a deferral,” Changmin said.

“And for what reason?”

“YeonHee.” The name came out instinctively out of Changmin’s mouth.

The President looked taken aback by Changmin’s request. “How dare you, Mr Shim. I’ve clearly told you that she is no more your responsibility. You have failed once and that’s all that I can allow you. You are never to see my daughter again."

“But Sir, I caused this. I want to be the one to fix it. I’ll leave once we find her,” Changmin made a promise eagerly.

“There is no such things as a ‘we’ when it comes to you. Everything has been arranged. Your place now lies somewhere else. Forget about your duty towards my daughter and focus on your new assigned tasks.”

“But I have to fix what I did wrong! I’ll go to Alaska! I’m willing to go anywhere you want me to, but only after we find her. Please,” he pleaded.

“You’re well aware of how I run things around here. Once the decision is made, it’s final. Sign those documents and let’s get on with it. I have more things to discuss with you specifically in regards to your proposed training methods.”

“Mr Lee, please. She’s waiting for me,” Changmin started to beg,

The President clearly didn’t like how Changmin was behaving. Changmin had never been a difficult person to deal with. He understands, and he was obedient. But ever since his official assignment started a few months ago, he completely changed. There must be something else that was affecting Changmin’s line of judgement. He looked into Changmin’s eyes and stared for some moment before the realisation hit him.

“Don’t tell me— Shim Changmin, are you in love with my daughter?” the President asked straight forwardly, making Changmin choke on his own saliva.

“I’m sorry?” he spoke between slight coughs.

“Are you in love with my daughter?” he repeated his question, his eyes never blinked as he stared into Changmin’s.

As much as Changmin wanted to say yes, he couldn’t. It would only bring their relationship into something even more complicated, especially when YeonHee’s current whereabouts are still unknown. It was best for them to keep it a secret as long as they could, at least, until YeonHee comes back and agrees to go public about their relationship. There will be great consequences, but he’d rather face it with YeonHee at his side.

“It doesn’t matter. I will go to Alaska,” Changmin volunteered suddenly, reached for a pen and signed the documents. Though, regret immediately consumed him the minute he put the pen down. He will never se