"Times up!" Yoongi's voice echoed through the room, "Drop your pens, hands on the laps."

The whole room instantly resonated with the pens dropped on the table.

"Looks like none of you got the lessons about stealth and anonymity!" Yoongi's annoyed voice came again,
"You call yourself agents when you can't even keep silent for a tiny task? Useless!"

The whole room fell silent.

"Everyone, pass your answer sheets to the person in front of you."

The room again filled with the sound of paper flapping and passing of the papers.

"Everyone, get up!" Yoongi's voice was cold.

In a minute, every paper was in front of his desk but he wasn't looking at those.

"Looks like you like to ignore the instructions. I said silence- means SILENCE!"

The room was quiet as a grave.

"Get the hell out of the room.
I'll see you in an hour. Si-woo-sshi?"

"Yes?" The fitness instructor responded.

"I want them soaked in their sweat, top to bottom. You have one hour."

"Got it." Si-woo nodded and looked at the class and shouted, "get out everyone!"

As Yoongi said, he came to the training ground an hour later. The agents were in their edges, drenched in sweat, face flushed and panting.

Yoongi walked around the agents for a few seconds making them go silent, not even panting anymore.

"Squat down," Yoongi ordered.

Within a few seconds, everyone was on proper fall ins and sat down on the hot concrete of the training ground under the angry sun.

Yoongi dropped a heap of answer sheets near his feet and sighed, "owners of these papers here, get ready to see some real shits."

The ground was silent.
Everyone waited in trembling heart for what was Yoongi gonna say next.

"Too bad." Yoongi frowned, "why the hell did all of you come here? If you don't take your crafts seriously, just leave! I don't need students like you who have their minds elsewhere rather than their tests!"

The agents didn't even dare to move now.
Yoongi was scary.

"The last time I warned you. Those who failed this time, get ready to go home. And don't even dream to come back as long as I am here."

Silence.

"Did you think it was going to be easy?" Yoongi paced around in confident steps, "We deal with death and life. Your every little stupid decision can cost the life of you or others. You think it is funny?"

Silence.

Yoongi stayed silent for a few seconds and raised a few answer sheets in his hand.
"Agent CR2, Agent PS5, Agent STJ4, Agent BA7, Agent RR9," Yoongi called out the agent code, "congratulations. For top five."

The called agents all seemed flustered and startled at the same time.
And within a few moments, relaxation swept through their features.

"This one," Yoongi brought out one answer sheet among the few numbers of papers he was holding in his hand, "I'll pin it on the planning board. Have a look everyone. We'll have a class on this particular answer sheet tomorrow. Prepare yourself."

The agents looked at each other in confusion.
One entire class on an answer sheet? Whose was this? The topper?

"Agent AA3?" Yoongi called, "Get up."

Arya almost jumped and resisted her yawn and blinked a few times to clear her sleepy eyes.

"I am awake!" Arya blurted defensively as she raised her one hand, "Totally awake! I didn't sleep!"

A slightly amused expression flushed over Yoongi's face and his sarcastic voice came out, "Then do the honor and stand up."

Arya dropped her shoulder and stood up, "yes?"

The whole bunch of people were looking at her in utter shock and surprise expecting some sort of yelling from Yoongi for her laid-back and remorse-free attitude.

"Join me for dinner today." Yoongi slightly nodded his head, "My treat."

The whole class was silent again.
Both in disbelief and absurdity of the event that just happened.

Yoongi turned to Si-woo and nodded, "You can spare them this time Si-woo- sshi if you are satisfied." He looked back at all of them, "As for the class, Dismissed."

"May I ask why?" The whole class was about to get up but paused with the question Arya threw towards Yoongi.

"Glad to see you are maintaining your reputation, Sunbaenim," Yoongi smiled a little pointing at the answer paper in his hand, "What was your call sign, again?"

"Wild, it was wild eagle."

Yoongi nodded in acknowledgment and the whole class this time broke into a whisper gesture mess.

"No way! She is an eagle? What is she doing here? Who is she?"

"This was the most impressive answer I have seen in my time in here. You proved why you were the youngest Eagles in the force. Well done!"

"Thank you, Yoongi-sshi." Arya smiled widely and nodded.

The whisper intensified, "She is Araya Akaishi! No way!"

"Already forgot why you guys had to come here?" Yoongi frowned at them and the whispers instantly surpassed.

"Prepare for the next class. And don't dare go to agent AA3 for help. You have to crack this on your own. Got it?"

"Yes, Sir!" The whole class chorused.

"Didn't hear you." Yoongi was stern.

"Yes, Sir!" The whole crowd shouted their lungs out.

"Good. And Araya-sshi?"

"Yes?"

"Meet me at officer's mess. At 8, if you don't have other engagements."

"Sure will, Yoongi-sshi!"
Arya smiled and sat down without noticing the surprised stares and glares thrown in her direction.

Arya cursed as soon as she opened her locker.

Inside was a mess.

Her combat gear was barely holding its shape after being slashed everywhere. Her camouflage helmet was in two pieces and her boots were now just chunks of leathers inside the cabinet.

Someone dared to write on the inside of the locker door, "know your place, master's favorite dog!"

Arya slammed the door and sat down on the bench in front of the lockers.
Her combat tactics class was just minutes away and her uniform was gone.

Locking the door, she ran towards tactics building where she had to run for 2000 meters and crawled on the ditch for half an hour because of her showing up in alternative uniform, not the combat gear.

She came to the trainees' mess all dropping in sweat where the lunchtime was almost over.

She struggled to carry the tray to her table with her sore knees and it was not surprising when she punched the man who knocked down her tray.

Maybe intentionally or maybe it was just an accident- but Arya couldn't care less at this point.
Luckily few agents pulled both of them apart before it turned out messy.

Her meal was ruined and she left the cafeteria in fury.
Arya went inside a washroom and splashed water over her face repeatedly until her rage went down a bit.
She stared at her reflection for a few more seconds and blurted, "don't lose it, Arya, don't you dare lose it!"

Her application paper for a new supply of combat gear got soaked in the cafeteria after she left the table for a drink that afternoon.
The agent knocked down the water bottle apologized saying that was an accident.

She had to rewrite the application again and got an earful for submitting it late.

When she went for the promised dinner, she was spent. Both physically and mentally.

Yoongi raised one hand from a corner table and Arya went towards him and thumped down on the chair across him.

"Looks like you have faced some shits today," Yoongi was smiling.

"I saw you watching from afar when I punched that scumbag!"

"Trainees fight. We don't interfere. If someone is not capable to defend themselves, it is not acceptable."

"So you promote fighting?" Arya grinned, "does that mean I can beat the shit out of him if I want?"

"As long as one of you yields. If it is not reciprocal, you are out of this Pit."
Yoongi smiled.

"That is harsh," Arya rolled her eyes,
"God! I'd pay to beat some of the douchebags right now."

"What happened?" Yoongi asked.

"Can't believe I am being bullied here like we are still in the high school."
Arya sighed, "The only reason I am not fighting with them is just that I am older than them."

"Punching someone doesn't count as not getting into a fight!" Yoongi reminded her.

"Then you should have seen me in my early days. He is lucky that I only punched him. I have become too nice!" Arya groaned and blurted out,
"Where is the food? I am hungry."

"You haven't decided what you want." Yoongi shoved the day's menu in front of her.

"Sushi." Arya decided in a minute, "and Soju."

"Just this?"

"For now." Arya grinned.

Yoongi placed the order and listened to the complaints Arya was blabbering all along.

"Everybody is treating me like I was some sort of alien here!" Arya groaned in annoyance, "and you know how famous I am here? Everyone seemed to know me."

"You are indeed famous." Yoongi nodded.

"What did I do?" Arya frowned, more likely, what did her sister do this time? Cause no reaction was good towards her after they came to know Arya's identity.

"The incident in South Sudan." Yoongi was calm, "you remember any of this?"

"Yeah." The light on Arya's face didn't take time to disappear.

"It is not likely people hear that type of news every day!" Yoongi explained calmly, "that is why you are quite a familiar name around. And you are a topic in ethics and application for our special recruitment."

"Oh yes, the prodigious villain." Arya smiled, "I should have guessed."

"You were more of a scapegoat than a villain," Yoongi disagreed, "anyone with a conscience would see that."

"But I indeed was responsible for the incidence. If it was not for me, these people would have lived till now. It was my fault."

"So was the system's, your commanding offers', the ignorant seniors'. Yes, you had a fault but remember only you wanted to help while everyone was just audiences in the drama."

"That doesn't change anything, does it?" Arya tried to smile, "At the end of the day, I am the person who gets the hate from everyone. My people hate me, let alone the general people of the country. They even protested for my capital punishment."

"Noona," Yoongi's voice was calm, "I don't care what people say as long as I know what I want. Don't ponder on the past much, live for today and the future. You have people around you who believe you."

"Nobody believed me back then." Arya pointed.

"Seokjin hyung did, didn't he?" Yoongi smiled a little.

"He did." Arya tried to smile but her smile slowly faded away.

The waiter put down the food in front of them.

Looking at Arya who was somehow lost in her thought with a lingering shadow over her smile, Yoongi called her, "Noona? You ok?"

"Yeah." Arya smiled and hid a smile.

She so suddenly missed Jin.
She missed Jin from that island who didn't hesitate to let her embrace him and sleep in his arms, the soft voice, the caring hands, and indifferent yet worried eyes...

It has been a month since Jin didn't talk to her. Apart from the time of her submitting the performance report to him, He didn't even look at her. No matter how persistent and cheery Arya was, all she got from him was indifferent coldness.
Why so suddenly he changed that much? Why he was treating her like a stranger?

"Noona?" Yoongi again called her.

"Huh?" Arya burst out of her thoughts.

"You said you were hungry." Yoongi pointed at the food in front of her.

"Oh, right." Arya smiled and picked up the chopstick.

Yoongi noticed her for a few seconds more and smiled, "You know noona, you are so much different from Seokjin hyung, but sometimes it feels like you two are so much alike!"

"Really?" Arya chuckled, "How so?"

"I don't know," Yoongi shook his head side to side, "I can't exactly point it out. But whenever either one of you is there, I just feel like nothing will go wrong. And even if it goes wrong, you'll handle it, I won't have to worry. You know what I mean?"

"No." Arya again smiled.

"It feels like no matter what it is, I can blindly put my trust in you guys. You guys are so alike in some points that I wondered, why wouldn't you two connect this well? You two are just perfect for each other."

"Hold your horse right there!" Arya laughed, "as much as I am flattered with your compliments storm, now I'd appreciate if you get out of your delusion."

"What delusion?" Yoongi frowned.

"Me and Jin- perfect for each other? Oh, come on!"

"As a partner," Yoongi flashed his gummy smile, "geez! What were you thinking about?"

"Ya, caveman!" Arya yelled, "you think I am stupid?"

"At some extent." Yoongi grinned and Arya rolled her eyes.

"But you two are different in most of the cases." Yoongi eyed Arya happily munching on her sushi, "Hyung can't eat sushi."

"You know my ass." Arya scrunched her nose, "he can, and loves sushi."

"No." Yoongi strongly disagreed.

"Yes. Whenever I took him out, we always had sushi. No exception. He loved it." Arya assured.

"Or maybe it was you who loved it?" Yoongi shrugged.

Arya thought for a second. Maybe, though the memories weren't that clear, she was the one who always ordered for Jin indeed.

"See? Told you." Yoongi smiled as if he was reading Arya's mind.
"It was you, right?"

"Whatever. If he didn't like it, he'd say it." Arya argued.

"Did you ever ask him?" Yoongi raised one brow.

Arya almost groaned again.
She didn't.

"You know, Seokjin hyung will never say anything unless you ask him." Yoongi smiled victoriously, "take notes, he can't eat any type of raw food, especially proteins. He can't eat garlic or spicy food. He loves seafood." Yoongi sipped his drink, "well, he never said it, but it seemed like that. And he is very selective about food."

"He is selective about everything." Arya rolled her eyes again, "No swear words, no cursing, no noise, talking during eating is banned, no lies, sit in proper posture, maintain your manners, no colorful or extravagant clothing, always be neat and clean as a chunk of snow, no junk food, no street food, no late-night snacks, no staying up late- ughhhhh!" Arya groaned in frustration, "how can you guys still call him a human? He is straight-up a robot or a programmed machine. Just like the highly sensitive programs I made on my laptops!"

"Maybe," Yoongi smiled, "when was the last time you met with him before?"

"In England." Arya didn't hesitate to answer.

"England?"

Arya's hand paused for a moment.
And it took her a few seconds to realize that her hand was slightly shaking.

It was vague.
It was blurry.

But she was sure that they met in England many years ago just like Jin said earlier.
She was sure of it.

The grip on her chopstick increased.
Her head was foggy. But it was still trying to remember something.

"Noona?" Yoongi's concerned voice came through but Arya was feeling a sharp pain across her head making her all dizzy and confused.

"Noona?"

Arya heard the words but she sharply closed her eyes as she dropped the chopsticks.

Blood...there was blood on the floor made of polished oak. It was dripping slowly as if she could hear the sound of the dripping on the floor.

The times seemed like an eternity as if everything slowed down and the dripping continued.

Arya forcefully covered her ears but the sound didn't go away rather random pictures of puzzles flashed on her mind.

A vintage library with polished wood,
One glass- No, few glass shards-
A broken window-
Rain, thunder.
One book.
The smell of the book and blood...

"Come back!"

Arya snapped opened her eyes as Yoongi already came beside her and slowly patted her back, "It is ok, noona..."

Arya fumbled in her pocket and popped two pills in her mouth and gulped down the water in front of her as she tried to even her breathing sound.

"Noona?"

"Don't ask." Arya put her head on the table and closed her eyes.

Her eating disorder was almost gone, her insomnia was almost under her control, so is her acrophobia. But the anxiety and panic attack was long due.
Especially when the recurring memories tend to come back little by little.

She sighed and the same familiar voice echoed in her ear,

"Come back!"

[ well, those who don't know, "Eagle" is a rare title given to extraordinary pilots in the air force just like the title "Top Gun."

Very few people become the eagle in their entire carrier, but Arya's batch had not one, but two eagles. Arya and Jin, making Arya the first female Eagle of the force.

And as for the long-ass break of almost a fortnight- I was very busy with work and some other stuff and most importantly, my laptop betrayed me and erased more than ten draft chapters that were about to be published.
Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to upload those in my cloud and now I am facing the consequences!

Life is indeed beautiful! 😅😅😅

Anyway, I'll try to update as soon as possible and sorry for this boring chapter, I promise I'll do better next time.

Stay safe, stay blessed, and of course, like always adios and "onnea"😄😄]