Chapter 04: Hopefully

Agent Sakura returned to the apartment she shares with her father after working well into the late hours of the night.

She went straight to their kitchen and checked what his father cooked for dinner. Entering the kitchen, she went to make some coffee first before reading the note attached to the covered food on the table.

"My lovely daughter,

Please don't forget to eat your dinner and don't drink too much coffee.

Love,

Your Father"

She smiled at that while setting aside her coffee and went to get utensils before starting to eat the dinner her farther has prepared for her.

After dinner and a quick shower, she prepared everything she'll be using tomorrow before hitting the bed finally. While waiting for sleep to visit her, she can't help but think of Steve and what just happened a few hours ago.

She remembers the first time she saw his records. At first she admits that she did lean more on Steve as a candidate because she wanted to learn to what degree can the serum truly change a human's composition and whether it can be used in other ways besides creating super soldiers.

Because she wanted to make sure that the candidates are worth the power to be handed to them in the future, though it was a grueling job, she persevered to do a thorough background check which included monitoring the candidates for a period of time. She is more concerned about their emotional and mental state and how they tackle their problems than their physical attributes. And it is here that Steve thrived the most.

Yumhee smiled at the memory of Steve trying his best to help an elderly couple with their groceries and his struggle to fight a group of bullies that were stoning a stray dog in an alleyway. She really believes that the man can't stay out of trouble for a whole day. This actually made her annoyed at the beginning but as the days went by, she can't help but admire his tenacity to do good even beyond his physical capabilities.

She can't really pinpoint when exactly she started to feel different towards Steve. When she realized the change, she has already fallen for him quite a bit. She did want to actually talk to him for a while now but was afraid that if she did before the list of candidates were finalized, she will be a lot more bias towards him and be nitpicking the others. And she was still on the fence in whether she wanted to be in a relationship especially given her job and what it entails, not including the possibility of Steve being the final choice for the Rebirth Program.

She still doesn't know if her decision to start a relationship with Steve is right given the circumstances surrounding them both. Logically speaking, maybe not. But she just can't help herself especially when the timid man took the initiative to ask her.

While thinking of Steve and the many possible outcomes of starting a relationship with him, Yumhee drifted to sleep eventually.

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The past few days, Yumhee and Steve have been exchanging letters. With Yumhee being busy with her work and preparing for the start of the Rebirth Program, she doesn't have enough time to travel and meet with Steve personally. At the moment, all she can do is to write a letter before she sleep at night and ask someone to pass the letter to Steve at the morning.

Steve on the other hand, is still estatic even without them spending time and going on dates like other couples do. He understands that Yumhee is a very hard working individual. The fact that she still makes the effort of writing to him almost on a daily basis even when she has a lot on her plate right now, warms his heart.

They both agree that they can't wait for the Rebirth Program candidate selection to start for them to be able to meet again.

A DAY BEFORE THE TRAINING STARTS

Yumhee, sitting on the couch, is deep in thought while waiting for Dr. Erskine.

She has been thinking of a way to explain and break the news of her and Steve being in a relationship with her father.

When the door opened and her father walked in, she immediately greeted him and made small talks like always.

During the conversation, Dr. Erskine looked at her daughter seriously and decided to just ask directly. "What is it dear? I mean I love these small talks and all between us but we both know that you have something else to say. Something important I reckon."

Yumhee smiled stiffly at that but decided to just bite the bullet and give it straight to her father. "I'm with Steve Rogers. You know, the candidate you met that tried so many times to be enlisted." And ended her statement with an awkward smile.

Well, like she had thought, her father didn't disapproved of their relationship but adviced her to be prepared for any outcome especially if Steve was chosen to be the first candidate to receive the serum.

Dr. Erskine is justifiably worried about the possibility of the experiment being a failure. No one can guarantee a hundred percent that everything will go as planned. With experiments like these, the risks are always high.

And now learning that her daughter is in a relationship with a possible candidate, he really hopes that if ever the opportunity was given to Steve, everything will be a success.

He doesn't want Yumhee to suffer another tragedy in her life. With the experiment, the worst outcome is death. And honestly speaking, he's terrified that Yumhee wouldn't be able to overcome yet another death of someone very important to her.

He remembers the years of Yumhee struggling to come to terms with her whole family, excluding herself, dying during their supposedly happy family vacation. She was just a teenager back then, barely an adult.

But just like her daughter, he can't stop himself from hoping that Yumhee can have a normal family after the war and live peacefully and happily the rest of her life. Because that's what she deserves.