Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 5: reject

November 19, 1939

Commander Denniston and Daniel listened closely as I presented my design for the machine I wanted to build. I was nervous, wanting so bad for him to respond with a 'yes' to my proposal as he looked over my sketches.

He looked up at me from my papers, taking off his reading glasses and taking another puff of his cigarette as he said, "This is all cute on paper, but how do you know it will actually work?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Sir, you never know if something will work until you try."

He leaned back in his chair, "Then how much will this machine of yours cost?"

I gulped, "A hundred thousand pounds."

He widened his eyes at me, "A hundred thousand pounds?"

I nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Oh, sure. I have a hundred thousand pounds just lying around that I can give to you."

I widened my eyes, "Really?"

He scoffed, squashing his cigarette in the ash tray, "No. Jesus Christ, boy. Don't you understand the situation we're in?..." He slowly stood up, placing his palms on his desk as he yelled at me, "We're fighting in a war!"

I flinched at his sudden loud voice, making me take a step away from his desk as he said, "And why isn't Hugh the one presenting this to me?! He's your team leader for crying out loud!"

I gulped again, looking down at my feet as I quietly replied, "Th-They don't approve of my—"

"Then why the hell are you here?!..." He yelled, cutting me off before walking around his desk. He moved closer to me, causing me to take a step back as he lowered his voice, "Next time you come here and waste my time with matters like this, it better be with the consent of your entire team or from Churchill himself. Understood?"

I quickly nodded, keeping my eyes away from him so I didn't have to be under his glare. It was quiet for a few seconds before he said, "I think you know they way out of my office."

. . . . . . . . . . . 

I was sitting on a bench on an abandoned trail next to my house in the base. I found it one day when I was walking around, just casually strolling along and trying to get used to my new home. I come here to escape, to find peace, to find tranquility, and right now, I need some. How can he not think my design is worth it? He clearly doesn't know what the rest of my colleagues have been doing day in and day out, accomplishing nothing and getting nowhere.

I shook my head and took a deep breath before eating another bite of my sandwich, still trying to enjoy my break for lunch. I already knew what I was going to do about the situation; write directly to Churchill, obviously. I mean, he did say that would be the only way to get through to him—

"Soobin?" I heard, making me snap out of my thoughts and turn my head.

Daniel was trotting closer to me, his hat in his hand as his hair started to fall over his eyes. He had the same navy-blue suit on from earlier, quickly bringing a hand up to comb away his locks that were blinding his vision. There was a light sweat on his brow and the buttons to his suit jacket were undone, the only time I've ever seen him in a mildly relaxed state. His eyes were unreadable, not like how they usually are, "I've been looking all over for you."

My eyes went a bit wide, not expecting him to be here at all, "W-Why? How'd you know I was here?"

"I come here sometimes when I need to get away from everyone. It's right next to your house, so I thought I'd at least check. And might as well enjoy the sunny days before winter comes..." He said before he gestured to the space next to me on the bench. I nodded, telling him he could sit. He gave me his soft smile as he sat down next to me, my heart skipping a beat when our legs brushed up against each other, "And I wanted to apologize."