The Blue House

Mine

When the big body of his Lincoln Navigator arrives to pick him up at the lobby of Ye Jin's apartment, Bin opens the door with a bit of mixed emotion.

He was beyond happy to see her angelic face, despite the swollen eyes and clear sadness, and it took all of him to stay polite and step away from her.

What he really wanted to do were to erase the sad expression on her face, to take her in his arms and to kiss her senseless. Forgetting all of the pain they inflicted on each other these past two weeks.

Fine— more him giving her pain than vice versa.

But God, leaving her last week— it broke him. He didn't do everything he could on the week they were apart just to give up on her. On them.

His timing was off, that was what he regretted the most. He wanted to say something — everything — and he couldn't. Even the love confession— she didn't believe anything he said.

That was why he left the USB containing the interview video. He was not sure if she had watched it. Not yet, from the looks of it. He didn't want to think she had watched it and still didn't believe him, or didn't say anything about it.

It would crush him.

Because that interview— it was all him. He went on with his plan even when his team decided against it. They argued it was too close to the debate. They deemed it would cost him thousand of supporters because it would show them that his head wasn't fully on the election.

"Nobody wants a halfhearted candidate!" Seok Gu yelled at him when he told him and Woo Sung about his plan.

"Who says anything about halfhearted?! And really, thousands of supporter won't even matter if I lose my biggest supporter!" Bin yelled back. "Besides, you were the one who told me that my personal life was my campaign!"

"Gents, Gents, stop this. Seok Gu-ssi, can you leave us for a moment?" Woo Sung stepped in to stop the heated conversation.

"Please let him see the logic, will you, Woo Sung-ssi? This is too close to the end."

Woo Sung nodded placating his campaign strategist who was really bright but sometimes too dense. "Let me talk to him."

Seok Gu rolled his eyes and reluctantly left the presidential candidate's office. Upon hearing the door closed, Woo Sung sighed as he walked closer to Bin's desk.

"Tell me what's this really about, so I can pitch the idea to him better. Without any yelling."

"I don't want to yell, but he irked me." Bin grumbled.

"You are on short fuse this week. Problem with the lady? Or is it because of the summon from Mr. President?"

Bin glanced at his most trusted friend. "How do you know?"

"I've told you, nothing goes without my knowledge."

"I will really kill Jung Hoon this time."

Woo Sung chuckled and shook his head. "So, which one? The lady? Or the summon?"

The handsome candidate sighed. It was the former, yet, also the latter. His thought flew back to the talk with the president and the first lady.

No, with Ye Jin's parents.

When Jung Hoon said he had a call from Cheong Wa Dae two days after Bin's visits to his parents, he thought it was from Ye Jin. Turned out it was a private dinner invitation from the president.

He wasn't too naive to think that the president wanted to talk politics. He had a hunch what was this really about, he even expected it after his disastrous last date with Ye Jin. Would Ye Jin be there, too?