Okinawa island, China.

Arya was lying down in a fetal position on the bathroom floor, trembling so violently that Jin had to hold her down while pouring warm water on her body.

"Should I call a doctor?" a man was standing beside the door, keeping his gaze away.

"No need." Jin was indifferent, "hand me some blanket please."

"On it." The person went away in search of extra blankets.

Arya struggled to keep herself together but managed to grasp one of Jin's hands and held it for dear life,
"Jin...Jin..."

Jin didn't say anything back, rather he picked her up a little so that her head stays above the flowing water.
Arya grabbed on Jin's lapel with trembling hands which merely had strength left in it.

"Feeling better?"

"I am ok. Don't worry." Arya could manage the words out from her numb lips which were pale blue now with the cold.

With the contrast to her icy cold skin, Jin's fingers behind her neck were almost burning.

"Keep it there," Arya mumbled when Jin tried to move his hands away, "It's so warm."

"Stop talking."

Arya grinned sensing his wariness,
"You have changed, Jin."

After a moment of silence, his voice came from above, "how so?"

"You were always so cold to me. You despised me. I sickened you every time." She again beamed mischievously, "to be honest, I can't even get used to the way you are now."

"How am I now?"

"Warm." She closed her eyes and held onto his lapel a little more, "and a bit...tolerant?"

Jin didn't answer.

They got out of North Korea in rush.
Jin already had his workers' permit from an export company from china. He came back with the truck that went to North Korea.
After the incident, the red alert was already spread over Pyongyang, cordoning the whole city, no ins and out whatsoever.

Luckily they both came out of Pyongyang before that.

The problem was Arya's departure. She had no way to return from North Korea. The security was increased tenfold in the borders and important places.
The petrol boats increased in the rivers.

So they did something a bit risky.
Jin's informer provided him with scuba gears and once again, Arya was in a wet suit and aqualungs.
But this time, she dived inside a milk tanker which was supposed to be driven by Jin's company.

The car was thoroughly checked, but except for peeking and searching with a torch in the inside of the tanker through the hatches, the security didn't budge to assume that a person could be there under the milk.

A journey of hours under the freezing temperature of the milk of the tanker made Arya where she was now. A pile of cold frozen mess on the bathroom floor covered in a wetsuit and was being repeatedly drenched with warm water in an interval.

Jin did ask for diving gear suitable for ice diving, but the informer couldn't manage it in already hard government scrutinization over the black market.

Arya got up in the afternoon the next day. She slept like a dead person the whole day.

The day was warm and she could hear the waves of the sea. It was a cottage beside a cliff, hanging above the waves on Okinawa island.

Arya freshened up lazily and roamed around the house a little. It was the place the individual they contacted brought them. She didn't remember many things from last night apart from being pulled up from the tanker and shoved inside a speed boat.

Probably she blacked out on the way. She discovered herself leaning on Jin's lap and being held by him carefully.

The next thing was the agonizing warming procedure.

She got out of the cottage. The area was quiet with no civilization around. The cottage was a small Chinese-style rest house with front and back yards covered with dense greenery all around. The low walls around were covered in vines with colorful flowers.

"AA3?" a male voice called her from behind.

Arya looked back.

She remembered it was the person from last night, "Yes?"

"My wife made breakfast for you..." He smiled formally, "My apologies, it's already afternoon, so we should just call it a meal then!"

"Thank you." Arya nodded a little,
"But first, can you tell me where is Jin?"

"He is on the cliff over there." The man pointed in a direction.

Arya turned around to leave but remembering something she again turned back to face the man, "do you know me?"

"Shouldn't I?" the man frowned a little.

"I mean, how do you know me?"

"I don't that much. I was just given some basic information about you. It's the first time I am seeing you. I even don't know your real name."

"Oh. Ok." Arya nodded disappointedly, "I'll be back."

When she reached the cliff over the water, she saw Jin sitting on a rock.

Seeing from the back, she realized he was meditating.

The waves were crashing underneath the rocks of the hanging cliff spraying gushes of water droplets from all three sides, darkening the ashy shades of the rocks by slightly moistening them.

His posture was so calm and serene that she thought this scene could be a perfect frame for an example of heavenly inner peace.

Arya made a little sound before stepping on the rocks to go near him.
Jin's head turned a little to the side to see the intruder.

Arya went and sat on a rock beside him and smiled, "I was looking for you."

Jin didn't answer, rather his hand reached her and touched her forehead.

"I am ok, don't worry." Arya smiled removing his hand from her forehead, "When we can go to Korea?"

"Tomorrow," Jin answered shortly.

"Now that we have some steady time, can I ask you something, Jin?"

Jin nodded a little.

"Tell me about me." Arya sighed a little, "please don't shut me out like every time. I need to know."

Jin nodded faintly.

Arya was looking at him keenly so she didn't miss his subtle approval.

"Tell me, who am I? What is my past?" she stopped and added, "how close we were, or do you know me that well like I think you do?"

Jin sighed slightly and turned to face Arya.

"Araya Akaishi, that's your name."

"Japanese?" Arya instantly frowned.

"Yes. Your grandfather was a war prisoner in the Korean peninsula after the second world war and decided to stay here instead of going back to Japan."

"Ok." Arya was still frowning, "Go on."

"Your family decided to defect from North Korea after the Korean war and settled here in the south.
You stayed with your father while your mother took away your sister and moved to England after their divorce when you were little.
You decided to be on your own after your father's death and joined the airforce."

"And I met you there?"

Jin nodded, "we were coursemates, yes."

"And how did we end up here?"

"You decided to resign from the post when we were captains and went to stay with your mother and sister and study there."

"Resign? Why would I resign?" Arya was again in a frown.

Jin didn't answer her, "you came back again to join NIS after a few years when I already was in NIS. We were trained together and we were partners in some missions together."

"What happened after that?"

"I don't know," Jin replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?"
Arya snapped, "It's not fair!"

Jin didn't answer.

"What you don't know Jin?"

"I only knew you are not around anymore. And I didn't get to see you again."

"What did I do at that time?" Arya asked.

Jin looked at her indifferently.

"Oh, ok. You don't know. But Jin..." Arya grinned.

Jin looked at her.

"If you didn't get to see me anymore, Did you ever look for me?"

Jin was silent again.

"Tell me, tell me. I won't judge you." Her grin turned wider.

"No."

"really?" Arya fake gasped, "I am heartbroken! So cold, Jin!
So you saw me in Libya after how many years now?" her grin didn't disappear from her lips.
"Two, Three?"

"Seven."

"Not cool, Jin." Arya instantly scolded him a little, "You didn't see your friend and partner for seven years and yet you didn't even try to find her? Don't you have curiosity about how she is doing? You are a heartless person as they say."

Jin again was silent.

"What? No words again?" Arya grinned, "I bet you were very relieved getting rid of me these years."

No words from the opposite side.

"At least you could pretend that you missed me or lie that you weren't relieved like I am saying, that's more like 'Gentlemanly', you know?" with a bright and wide smile, Arya still hadn't enough of his ignorant silence or just decided to ignore his mute statue.

"I missed you." words came with a little sigh.

"Times up." Arya chuckled, "You can't convince me now after I point it out for you. Still so socially constipated, Jin."

She didn't even budge to see his expression after saying unfiltered nasty words about him in front of his face.

"Language." His voice didn't have that strictness this time.

Arya just grinned before getting up from the rock.
"Let's get back inside. I take it as my sole responsibility to prevent you from turning into a monk. Stop meditating the whole time. Get up."