Hyun Ji Seok's last day as the President of South Korea left a scar on everyone's heart. Especially his only son, Hyun Bin.
It was a bad experience. But it shaped him. It drove him. It gave him purpose.
Cheong Wa Dae. The Blue House. It's his goal.
...
"Jagiya, any suggestion on how to pack my watch collection?" Bin walks out of the walk-in closet, looking around to spot his wife at the foot of their bed; her attention is solely on the television screen.
In which her favorite news anchor is currently delivering the night news. He rolls his eyes and snorts loudly, and even that doesn't make Ye Jin budge. She's nodding along with Mr. Baek as if he brings the most interesting news and he suddenly has this urge to turn the television off.
"Jagi—" he stops midway as his picture is shown on the screen. He frowns, thinking back to his day, and notes that nothing more than the usual happen; the daily briefing, the brief encounter with Ambassador David, the State Council meeting, the afternoon press conference. Nothing extraordinarily interesting happened today.
So, what is this all about?
Bin moves to the bed quietly, sitting down at the edge and watching the news intently.
"Nearing the end of his term, approval rating of President Hyun Bin stays high at nearly 65%. This number is particularly satisfying for the incumbent president after the worst dip at his approval rating in the past five years earlier this month. A strong push at the new tax incentives policy helps him gain back the 10% he lost after forcing his reunification plan at the heels of the North's missile attack. For the remainder of his term, President Hyun plans to keep communication open with North Korea and willing to hear their proposal to amend the considerably peaceful relationship between the two countries."
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Oh, his approval rating.
He never takes the number too seriously, but his secretaries use the metric to measure his success in leading this country. To hear that people is still rooting for him despite the recent debacle— Mr. Baek is right; it is particularly satisfying. Especially knowing his days in the office is numbered.
Four years, nine months, and twenty five days has gone by a little faster than he previously thought. People around him see him as a leader who always has answer to every question thrown at him. He takes pride in it despite the numerous occasions he felt out of his depth; that one particular air strike he had to order to save his Ambassador who was taken into hostage in his third year still haunts him to this day because he lost two of his soldiers that day.
"Sometimes, casualties are inevitable, Mr. President. That didn't mean you took a wrong decision." That was what General Dae Sik told him back then. Didn't make it any easier.
Each and every time he brought out the fact that he failed to protect the soldiers, though— Ji Cheol, Woo Sung, or Seok Gu would show him the footage of his citizens thanking him for the more affordable health insurance, and a group of people noting the fresher air they breathed, or a women's organization saying gratitude for the added protection from the new bill his administration put into effect.
