Arya got up late in the morning.
Seeing the time, she was a bit confused.
Jin should have woken her up already, she should have already completed her cycling and run.

Where is he? Still recovering from a hangover?

Arya rubbed her temple mindlessly and suddenly the memories of last night rushed back to her.
The beach, Eas, Chamiyu, the watch, hyacinth, and the kisses.

Arya suddenly felt a tug in her heart.
She slowly touched her chest.
There was a strange feeling going on in here and it was, to be honest, quite painful.

Not letting the feelings overpower her, Arya got up and came out of the room.
She carefully peeked inside Jin's room having no intention to wake him up if he still was asleep.

Her heart raced so suddenly sensing Jin's room was empty, the bed was done so neatly and perfectly that it was hard to believe that somebody slept there last night.

Arya unconsciously touched her lips- immersed in deep thoughts.
Does Jin remember?
What will happen if he remembered?

Where should she go and hide her face for the outrageous thing she has done?
Will he hate her?

Arya glared at herself. It was a miracle that he doesn't hate her already and still stayed by her side.

Arya looked around the house, Jin was nowhere to be found.

Arya came out of the house.
The house was a bit uphill so it had quite a view of almost the whole beach.
After looking at the beach for some time she realized, something was missing...

The flying boat was missing.

Confused and struggling with her inner self, Arya came back inside to see Chamiyu arranging breakfast on the table.
Arya got back to her room, finished her morning chores, and came back to sit at the kitchen table.

"Bunita?" Chamiyu's voice made her come back to reality.

"Hmm?"

"Did something happen?" Chamiyu was curious.

The simple question of concern.

But that startled Arya like he never imagined and he reached the decision that something indeed, happened.

"You are looking tensed," he added to ease Arya.

Arya was quiet which was again, another big change.

Without any words, Arya started to eat.

The first two bites were normal, but her brows slowly formed a crease in between and her expression changed with the third bite.

She stuffed more food in her mouth and frowned, "Chamiyu? You cooked today?"

"Yes, why?" Chamiyu asked eagerly,
"doesn't taste good?"

"It's good." Arya hesitated, "but it's not your usual cooking, what extra thing you did with the food today?"

"What? This is my usual cooking!" Chamiyu frowned.

"Nope." Arya shook her head left to right.

"Ahh...right." Chamiyu suddenly understood the misunderstanding, "It's because you didn't have my cooking more than two times."

"You have been cooking literally every day, man!" Arya scoffed.

"No, I didn't!" protested Chamiyu.
"It's Master Kim who cooked for you every day!"

Arya spilled the water she was drinking and caught for a few long seconds trying to digest the information, "Huh?"

"Yes. Master Kim cooked here every day, waking up very early ensuring you eat well."

Arya was wiping up the water and the scribble on the tabletop from last night suddenly broke a smile on her face, "then where the hell is your Master Kim?"

"Master?" Chamiyu frowned, "he left today, at the dawn before you woke up."

Jin entered the headquarter and walked straight into Namjoon's office ignoring all the whispers and murmur around him and sat in front of his desk without saying anything.

"Seokjin hyung," Taehyung cheered excitedly, "I have good news!"

"Not now, Tae," Jin said calmly.

Taehyung looked at Namjoon who nodded a little and said, "Come back later."

Taehyung nodded and went away slowly, confusedly thinking about what just happened, Jin surely was a cold person, but he never saw him this cold, ever.

After Taehyung left, Namjoon looked at Jin for a few moments and picked up the intercom.

After someone picked up the phone on the opposite side, he said, "He is here." His voice was so calm and casual as if he was waiting on Jin to come to him.

He listened to the words the opposite person said carefully and breathed out, "Right."
He put down the intercom and looked at Jin.

"Spill." Jin's voice was cold.

"Ask away." Namjoon closed the files in front of him and sat straight, "just ask whatever you want to know."

Jin's jaws clenched for a visible minute before he asked, "who is she?"

"Araya Akaishi," Namjoon replied straight away without hesitation.

"Truth, Namjoon." Jin's voice turned cold.

"It is truth, hyung." Namjoon replied calmly, "she is indeed Araya Akaishi."

"It's not funny," Jin warned.

"It's a complicated story, Hyung." Namjoon slowly nodded, "I can explain if you want to hear out."

"I am here, am I not?"

"Yeah." Namjoon nodded.
"But tell me one thing, how did you find out?"

Jin remained silent.

"Hyung?"

"She doesn't know ninjutsu though we both were trained together. She can't remember her times in NIS in between. That time is just a blank. And her attack strategy, same old I knew from the academy." Jin replied.

"So these prove she is Araya akaishi, don't they?"

Jin remained silent for a few seconds and when he opened his mouth, his voice was laced with fury, "don't you fucking confuse me, Namjoon, who the hell is she? "

Namjoon looked at Jin with almost panic in his eyes. Was Jin cursing now? Impossible!

"Believe me, Hyung. She is Araya Akaishi. But someone died indeed seven years ago. That is not wrong. Only thing is, who died as your partner back then, wasn't Arya sunbaenim." Namjoon tried to maintain a straight face.

Jin looked at him without any blink, eyes commanding him to explain his words.

"When Arya sunbaenim left the airforce, you remember she went to her mother in England?"

Jin didn't answer.

"And she came back three years later and joined NIS. The only thing here is, she came back as Araya Akaishi, but she wasn't her."

Jin didn't seem too surprised.

"She ever told you about her sister?"

"Mnn."

"Did she tell you, she was her identical twin?"

Jin remained silent.
She didn't.

Namjoon sighed a little, "Hyung, the person we thought as Arya sunbae was her sister. Your partner who died seven years ago was her sister who stole her identity for some time. You and her sister were trained together. Not Arya sunbae. So there is no way she knows Ninjutsu."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jin's voice was still cold.

"What was there to say, hyung?" Namjoon's voice turned heated, "that the family was an epitome of betrayal from the very beginning? That after moving to South Korea from the North during the partition, they never pledged their loyalty to the South? That the whole freaking family was assigned by the North to spy on us?
That the sister tricked Arya sunbaenim into cybercrime and get her trapped in a dark web cartel while she took the opportunity to impersonate her and infiltrate into NIS?"

Jin was silent again.

"After The sister died, the case was dismissed," Namjoon said calmly,
"until one of our agents located actual Arya akaishi four years ago who was almost a hostage in a very strong group ruling the dark web."

"Then you guys brought her back, and the first thing you did was deploy her in North Korea, As her sister?"

"The Northerners never knew the sister died. It was easy to infiltrate her as her sister. That's how she got too close to the higher level that easily. It's like giving the Northerner a taste of their own medicine."

"She suffered three years in the cartel, and the first thing you did was throw her into another shark's pit?"

"You have any idea how you and your partner got caught in the hands of MSS?" Namjoon asked trying to stay calm.

Jin was silent.

"Your partner double-crossed us, hyung. She disclosed almost every information related to our agents working throughout China. And being the good friend of China, Northerners just disclosed the whole list to MSS.
Within one day, our twenty-seven operators got caught, seven died, rests ran for their lives. You two got caught. But see, as North Korea got the information, they didn't spare a glance to her, they were done with her and let her die in the hand of MSS, just denying their relationship with her at all."

"And I didn't know anything about it." Jin's voice laced with underlying rage in them.

"You weren't supposed to know, hyung." Namjoon's voice sounded impatient.

"Why?"

"It wouldn't have done any good if you knew." Namjoon was getting angry too.

"Why?" Jin's voice lowered an octave.

"Cause you just didn't need to know! Your partner died, that's it. What she did was state priority, not yours to concern! Even we get to know it after three years of her death!" Namjoon's voice expressed annoyance with a hint of anger.

"Why?" Jin got up and leaned towards Namjoon, eyes expressing intimidation and pent-up fury, the wrath of betrayal from the person close to him.

"Cause you loved that bloody traitor!" namjoon also got up and almost growled in his face.

Jin remained silent, so did Namjoon.
After almost a minute of staring at each other's eyes, Jin's hand brought an ID card from his pocket, and not breaking the eye contact, he slammed the card on the table, "I'll send the resignation letter tomorrow."

Before Namjoon could say anything back, Jin went out of the office.

Sighing a little, Namjoon felt his knees go weak. He thumped down in his chair and leaned back.

When Namjoon went to Jin's house, he found Jin sitting in front of the stone table. His posture was upright and still, his eyes were on Sae on the table, but he wasn't seeing particularly anything at all.

Namjoon felt bad.

He always felt bad for his hyung who has been carrying the weight of the world on his own from the very first day he met him.

He went straight towards him and sat in front of him.

Sae flew away and Jin's eyelids fluttered a little.

"Hyung."

Jin didn't answer.

"I am sorry, hyung."

Jin remained silent.

Namjoon put the ID card in front of him, "I am sorry you had to hear it like this. But hyung, Was it our fault that her sister was a North Korean spy who impersonated her in her place? Did any of us wanted a situation like this?"

Jin remained silent with his eyes still on the table.

"We didn't want you to know about her deeds cause- we didn't want you to get hurt. You loved her, cheif just wanted to respect that. He didn't want you to have to deal with the feelings of betrayal after you had to go through her death. Please understand."

"That's it?" Jin asked calmly.

"And when we found out that Arya sunbae was still alive, they didn't want you to know and just sent her to North Korea in secret."

"Why?"

"Cause she already destroyed your whole career and reputation hyung. No matter how many people believed it or not, it still stood that she made some sensitive harassment complaints against you. Ok, not by her, but her sister.
So the authority didn't want you to get involved in her matter anymore. It would be best if you didn't know about her being alive, at all."

"Why after all these years, then?"

"Yes, about that." Namjoon cleared his voice, "See, the whole thing was done by NIS. Not our branch. So I or the cheif didn't have our hands on this matter. But when it came to state security more than anything, they just shoved the situation for us to control. And the first thing the cheif has done after having this case under him was sending you to resolve the case though he knew well that you wouldn't be able to kill her. You see, the case was too easy for you to handle- any operator could have done that. But he specifically chose you to go. Consider it's his way of mending the situation."

"Situation?" Jin almost scoffed.

"I...we...we couldn't see you like that anymore, hyung. So it was our only way to make things straight. You deserved the truth more than anything."

Jin was again, silent.

Namjoon hesitantly got up and sat beside Jin.
He softly touched Jin's shoulder,
"Hyung, we are sorry. Though it wasn't our doing or our intention to hide anything, what is done is done. We can't get the time back. But Arya sunbaenim, she is not the one who framed you, nor was she the person who betrayed our country. She only suffered the whole time for other people's decisions over her life. Cherish her, hyung. Time is not over yet."

Jin sighed a little and looked at Namjoon.

"I know you left the airforce for the lies, but we didn't lie, hyung. We just wanted to straighten up the errors others made before us. Please don't leave."

Jin didn't say anything.

Namjoon got up and patted Jin's shoulder a few times, "decision is yours, hyung. If you still want to leave, I'll wait until tomorrow for the resignation letter, and sorry to say, in that case, NIS wouldn't have anything to protect Araya sunbaenim from the crime she did of breaking into our server. We have to hand her over the main NIS."

Jin pressed his lips with one another to restrain himself to say something anymore.

"I wish you understand." Namjoon said sympathetically, "and hyung, don't be late this time. It cost you seven years before. Tell her."

"What?"

"Tell her how you feel." Namjoon patted his shoulder once more, "I'll be off then."

Jin stayed there motionless for a few long moments even after Namjoon left.

Then he got up, went inside his room, opened a cabinet he barely touched last seven years.

He brought out a few pictures from inside a notebook.
All from the time, Jin was partnering with Arya. Well- with her sister to be precise.

Jin looked at the pictures for a few moments and then came out into his living room.
The fridge contained a few soju bottles that Arya brought out from his cellar during her stay in the house.

Jin grabbed a bottle and came back and sat in front of the table where the pictures were scattered now.

A long time passed him looking at the pictures of betrayals.
He opened the soju bottle mindlessly and before he takes a sip, he again looked at the bottle.

He didn't take the sip.
Instead, he knocked down the bottle with a mild push on the table.

He brought out the lighter from his pocket and lit it and threw it on the table.

He calmly watched the celluloid papers turn into meaningless ashes soaked in alcohol one by one.

After only ashes remained on the table, he let out a sigh and lied down on the couch. His legs curled up to his chest and he closed his eyes.

Lying down on the couch in such an unmannered way- probably he'd glare at himself if it were some other time. Not to mention the mess on the table with soaking alcohol on the table and floor.
He just laid there, closing his eyes, not bothering on anything around him anymore.