Ngl, this is one of my favorite tropes. I hope you will like it, too ♡

ENTJ (male) x INFP (female)

He didn't know how he was able to type down drunk texts with such eloquence and raw emotion.

Sure, there were a few mistypes – thankfully, autocorrect was there to save the day – but it's the mere fact that he had the desire to make his feelings known to someone he still cares deeply for.

This all happened after a week of finding out the new mission TSB made him prepare for.

The Summum Bonum. He has been with the organization for more than a decade and boasts a great track record. There was never a mission that he failed in. Agent Balliol knew how to finish the job fast.

Diligent and driven, he knew that he was supposed to lead in solitude if he were to continue this kind of life.

But sometimes…circumstances do not act the way they should.

During one of his paid vacation leaves, he fell deep and hard for one person who is so different yet understanding of him.

Misha. The neighbor next door. The one who would greet him in the morning from outside her small and quaint house where she would usually tend to the garden and her beloved seven-year-old tortoise, Cage.

He had no reason to talk to her or even care for her, but she would be unapologetically herself – going out of her way to make sure that he was okay or that he had something to eat.

One day, she gave him a two-month-old tortoise and Agent Balliol, or simply, Agim didn’t know how to take care of it. “I noticed that you live by yourself; I know the feeling. So I thought that a tortoise would be a good companion. D-Don’t worry! This is considered a low-maintenance pet, but I will be here to help you and get the stuff you’ll need to make sure that the tortoise would be comfortable.”

Agim was baffled and amused by the unusual gift. It’s not every day one receives a tortoise out of the blue. But if it were not for the tortoise and the time he and Misha would spend together at his house, the two would have not become friends which would eventually lead to a relationship.

His hands that would mercilessly shoot enemies down would be the same hands that would hold the person he grew to love so dearly.

Agim eventually would call the tortoise Waffle because of the shell and because he wanted to choose a cute name that Misha would love to say. The latter reason was never made known to Misha. Agim kept the secret to himself.

He loved her and he knew Misha felt the same way, but she was someone he could not be with in the long run. No, it would be cruel and selfish for him to keep her to himself. The nature of his life was never meant to be shared with another person.

He knew that when TSB would be calling him back, he would have to relocate again and cut off all ties he made in this place. He would have to take on a new identity and start anew. Before, it was always exciting for him to begin a quote-unquote new life in another place.

But this was different.

He wanted his new life to be with Misha. He wanted to begin living with her and of course their tortoises, Cage and Waffle.

Yet not everything one wants is always given.

TSB is strict and adheres to the contracts they present to their various agents. There are procedures to be done and agreements to fulfill before one could send in their resignation.

And so one night, he broke up with her. She was crying and he continued to hug her. It hurt him to the core that he couldn’t tell her what really was going on, that he was an agent who had to start a new mission, and that he had to relocate to keep her safe. He bit his tongue and fought back tears. Misha is the one hurting now, he thought. You shouldn’t be hurting. This is the life you decided to live. Stick to that decision and you’ll forget her in no time.

Though, that was never the truth. Even if Agim moved out, even if he took another mission and finished it well, even if he took on a new identity to wipe out the remnants of his old life, he never was able to forget her.

He couldn’t eat or sleep. It was so unlike him. He is known to have himself together, but he reached his limit. He’s still human after all.

He decided to resign early; desist his life as an agent at TSB. He knows he won’t be able to see Misha again but at least his new sloven ways won’t place his colleagues in jeopardy.

TSB wasn’t pleased when Agim handed in his resignation since his contract does not end in five years. Whenever this happens, TSB offers one last mission to the agent but…it would be a difficult one. Some even consider it to be a final mission. It’s either you die trying to complete the mission or not.

Agim found it unfair…but rules are rules for TSB. It’s either he lives and finally leaves TSB or he dies.

And despite his stoic and stern demeanor, he sheds a few tears when he goes back to his new apartment after accepting the final mission. Warm tears run down his face and he just wants some kind of normalcy in his life.

He just wants Misha.

This whole week was an endless downward spiral. Knowing that he wasn't going to make it alive after the mission, he allowed himself to drown in vast amounts of alcohol and would smoke at least five packs of cigarettes. He took no regard for his health and just ate whatever he want whenever. He had a hard time sleeping one night and decided to run for hours on the treadmill in his apartment until he passed out.

He was never self-destructive, nor did he ever show any of these capabilities and characteristics. It just so happened. Again, circumstances led him to this.

It’s now the night before he would have to leave for the mission, perhaps his final one alive. And he chooses to wallow in his self-pity and guilt with alcohol.

Thus, the drunk texts. In his dirty and unkempt apartment, he trudges sluggishly to the living room. Empty packets of cigarettes, take-out boxes, and some dirty clothes are littered across the floor and on the lone sofa. The lamp that keeps Waffle warm in his enclosure is the only source of light in the room. Under a lump of dirty clothes on the sofa, he finds his phone. Even if Misha’s number is not saved on it, he still memorizes it by heart.

Misha, he types, the screen blurry through his eyes. A part of him hopes that this is still the number she uses.

How have you been?

It’s been months. 7 to be exact.

I’ve made you cry more, haven’t I? I’m sorry. For everything. You don’t have to forgive me. I just want you to know that I’m sorry.

I just wish I could see you again. There are so many things I want to tell you, but sadly, time is not on my side. I tried moving on from you. I thought I could do it. But it’s difficult. It’s painful. Are you feeling the same pain, too? I apologize if I’m realizing this just now. I want to give you a big hug to take away all the pain. Maybe if I see you again, allow me to hug you and then you can leave and go back to your life.

Damn it. I’m drunk. I’m not sappy like this. You know that.

I’m going to get punished for sending you my new address. But I’m at the point of no return. I don’t care about things anymore. Just you. I don’t know if you’ll ever visit me. At least get Waffle from my place and take care of him. Then place my apartment on sale.

I know I’m asking for a lot. But for one last time. Please try to understand me.

He doesn’t know how many texts he sent her. He absentmindedly tosses his phone away, not caring if it broke due to the impact or not. Agim has said what he wanted to say and that’s that.

—---------

It’s a miracle that Agim’s alive.

A whole month has passed but it feels like a lifetime. In a nick of time, his life was spared. In a nick of time, the planned explosion set by his colleagues to eliminate the rest of the enemies only damaged his right arm which had to be amputated. Even the right side of his face has burn marks that will stay imprinted on him forever.

He’s thankful, though, to still be alive.

Fate was kind to him that day.

And now he stands before the door of the apartment he last stayed in. In his drunken state a month ago, he remembers sending a text to Misha to sell his apartment. He’s not too sure if she did that or if she even received the text. Might as well see for himself.

With nothing on him, just a fresh set of clothes provided by TSB as part of a parting gift, he saunters toward the door and stops right before the keypad. Slowly, he presses the number combination on the keypad and to his shock, the door opens.

Sadness then takes over when it sinks in that maybe Misha never received the texts or that she never bothered to do anything for him anymore.

On the bright side, at least he still has a place to stay.

He pushes the door open and is in shock again to see that it’s…clean.

“Weird,” he murmured to himself. “I never cleaned the place before I left. It was a huge dump.”

His secret agent instincts kick in and he takes wary steps inside the apartment and carefully closes the door behind him. Not a single piece of garbage is on the floor. The empty alcohol bottles he downed a month ago stand at the windowsills, water is filled halfway in them and colorful flowers are arranged in each bottle. He enters the living room to see a pile of his clothes sitting on the sofa, all of them ironed and folded neatly. The room had no speck of dust and no remnant of cigarette smoke in the air.

The biggest surprise is Waffle, whom Agim thought would be dead by now. But, no. Agim sees him vigorously munching on a fresh set of cabbage leaves in his enclosure.

“How in the–” Agim stops when the sound of the main door opening catches his attention and he dashes toward it, ready to attack the intruder.

Yet his feet become rooted in place and the only arm he has, his only hand that has formed into a fist, goes rigid.

His whole body actually freezes in disbelief.

Even the person at the door stops. The woman stares at him with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Suddenly, the groceries she is carrying fall to the floor and she bursts into tears, running to wrap her arms around him. “Agim, my Agim, you’re alive,” she cries into the embrace.

“Misha…” he whispers. Still frozen, he could only face down to see the top of her head pressed against his chest. He could feel her tight hold around him and her tears soaking a specific part of his shirt.

His heart beats painfully hard against his chest. This feels too surreal. It’s been his desire to hug her again and now here she is. Hugging him.

He should be hugging her too.

Agim forces himself to move despite the shock still evident in his body. His lone arm moves to wrap it around her waist and he dips his head down, cradling his cheek against the top of her head. He could smell that familiar scent of hers and a wave of nostalgia and good memories floods through his mind.

It begins to make him cry too.

“M-Misha,” he sobs softly. He could find the strength to only utter her name.

They sink to the floor, still holding each other tightly and crying in their embrace – scared to let go; scared of the fact that they might not see each other again.

—---------

“I’m sorry if I could only do scrambled eggs and rice. We both know that you’re the better cook.”

After collecting themselves, Misha instantly brought Agim to the kitchen and made him wait at the table as she whipped up a fast meal that he could eat.

Agim quietly watched her cook. He still thinks that it’s a dream to see her in his kitchen. Maybe he really died and this is his heaven. Or he might be on the brink of slipping into a coma and his head is hallucinating one blissful scenario before he is completely braindead.

The sound of a plate making contact with the table wakes him from his reverie.

This definitely is not a dream. And he definitely is not dead.

Misha takes the seat beside him and purses her lips. Even if she tries to be discreet, Agim could see her eyes raking through his wounds and the clear space where his right arm is supposed to be. Yet she doesn’t say a word.

“You must be hungry, Agim,” she says at length. “Eat some of what I prepared and maybe we can get take-out from your favorite restaurant for later.”

Internally, Agim vomited over the idea of the take-out he had the week before the mission. He had unlimited amounts of it and it makes him sick even just thinking about it.

Though Misha doesn’t know that and he doesn’t want her to go away. Not now. He wants her to stay with him just a little longer.

“I’d rather have your cooking,” he tells her softly.

Misha chuckles. The same chuckle that Agim would sometimes dream about. “Then you have to prepare yourself for a simple pasta dish for dinner.”

“I don’t care.” He picks up the fork lying on the plate and begins to place a balanced amount of rice and scrambled egg on it. “I just want you here with me longer,” he admits.

Misha’s smile slowly disappears and a small frown forms on her face after hearing his words and seeing how he eats slowly.

Agim knows that she could tell something is wrong with him.

“...Who hurt you, Agim?”

The fork he was about to place in his mouth stops halfway in the air. He places it back on the plate and turns to face Misha whose eyes have gone all misty again. She intakes a shaky breath and tries to breathe out levelly, “Why did you return to me hurt, Agim?”

Her questions made him genuinely curious. She was the one who cleaned his place up, took care of Waffle, and even cook him a meal. All he did was drunk text her. “I initiated our break up almost a year ago. How can you still treat me as someone you care about?”

Misha slams her fist against the table, making a sound and causing the plate of food to shake a bit. “Of course, I still care for you because I love you.” Her words were filled with so much emotion. “The moment I received your texts, I knew something was terribly wrong. I immediately came here and was so scared to not see you here. You told me to sell this place and I couldn’t do it. I knew that if I sold it, it meant that I was allowing myself to think that you were gone.” She then reaches over to hold his hand. Misha blinks and a fresh set of warm tears roll down her face. “Every day for the past month, I waited to see if you would return. I wanted to make sure you would come home to someone waiting for you.” Slowly, her hand moves up to gently cradle the right side of his face that is covering his burn marks. In an instant, Agim melts in her touch and his eyes drift close to savor her touch. “You said you wanted to hug me. I came here every day to make sure that it would happen.”

“...I’m sorry,” he breathes out. He was wrong all along. “I’m sorry,” he repeats. He has underestimated how strong his Misha is.

“So tell me, Agim. Who hurt you?”

Agim explained everything to her in the living room. It was more comfortable there and they could hold each other closely on the sofa. He told Misha the nature of his work – the pros and cons of it. He did not divulge specific information about his missions, just the gist of them. He told her how he ended up being her neighbor, why he chose to introduce himself to her using his real name, and how it became harder for him to continue his life as an agent and the life he wanted to have with her.

Misha listened keenly and nodded in assent at times. When it came to him explaining his last mission, she snaked an arm around his and leaned on him as she caressed his arm.

They stay in shared silence after Agim recounted his secret life to her. He didn’t expect this kind of scenario after finishing his last mission with TSB. He thought he would go straight to choosing another place to reside and live there alone until his final day.

But he’s here with Misha. And finally telling her the whole truth.

“You’re so strong…but were you scared?” She suddenly asks.

“Hm?”

She looks up at him. “I bet you were very scared doing all these things alone.”

“I had colleagues who helped.”

She shakes her head. “Still scary.”

“...Yes. I was very scared,” he confesses, “I couldn’t show it to them. I had to lead, Misha. I couldn’t make them know that I was terrified too.”

“Living a terrified life is scarier than dying.”

“And why is that?”

She peers into his eyes as she replies, “Living in terror means living through more agony. Agim, how long have you been in agony?”

“...I don’t know,” he answers truthfully. Her words make him reflect on the exact moment he got burned which ultimately led to irreparable damage to his face and losing his right arm. The pain was not as bad as he thought it would be. At first, he thought it was because he experienced other physical wounds before, yet now he thinks it’s because he has lived through much sharper pain – internal agony.

Misha shifts in her place to draw herself closer to his face. She cradles his face in between both hands and leans forward, closing the gap between them as she delicately kisses his forehead. “I am lucky to be in love with such a beautiful and courageous man.”

Agim breaks off into a small smile. “You must think I look horrendous.”

Misha immediately shakes her head. “Not at all.” She plants her lips on the corner of his mouth. “Our lives are going to be different from this day on. What are your plans now?” Her gaze meets his. “Can you love me again?” She asks in a whisper.

Never breaking their gaze, Agim whispers back, “I never stopped loving you, Misha.”

“Then let’s start a new life together, Agim. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, definitely one of my favorite couples here. I'm a sucker for the kind of relationship they have and please don't tell me that I'm the only one 😭 Sorry, I've been sappy for the past few days. I couldn't help it 😭