The soft beeping of the monitors filled the quiet hospital room. Siya shifted slightly in her bed, still tired from the lingering soreness in her shoulder, her eyelids heavy as she tried to catch a few more moments of rest.
A faint sound made her stir. Footsteps.
Is it a nurse? she thought, blinking sleepily. "Nurse… I—"
Her words caught in her throat as she turned around.
Swayam stood there, cold, rigid, his eyes unreadable.
Her breath hitched. "Swayam…"she whispered softly, her voice barely audible.
He didn't move closer. He didn't smile. He just stood there, his presence sharp, controlled, and intimidating. His gaze swept over her like a blade.
"Looks like you're enjoying your little trip," he said, his tone flat, almost clinical.
Siya blinked, realizing he must have gone to her house. Her parents… had told him.
Swayam's eyes darkened. "Mom, Dad…" he said bitterly, his voice low and tense, "They don't even know that their one and only daughter… is lying to them. Hiding from them. And you… you think that's fine?"
He stepped a little closer, the tension in the air thick enough to choke. "Are you having fun… playing with my emotions, Siya aka… Agent 01?" His words snapped like a whip.
Siya's body tensed. She sat up straighter despite the soreness in her shoulder, gripping the blankets behind her for support. "Swayam… I didn't want to hide from you—" she began, voice soft, pleading, but he cut her off sharply.
"Yes, you didn't mean to!" he barked, his hands clenching at his sides. "But that doesn't change the fact that you feel… good… playing with my feelings, doesn't it?"
Her chest tightened. His words weren't just accusations—they were raw, they were the weight of betrayal and hurt, of fear that had been simmering inside him since the moment he realized the truth.
Siya shook her head, struggling to find words, pain and guilt warring in her chest. "No… Swayam, it wasn't like that…"
But he didn't soften. He didn't move closer. He just stood there, unmoving, cold, distant. Every ounce of warmth they had shared over the past week seemed to vanish under the weight of his anger and disappointment.
The room was quiet again, save for the steady beeping of the monitors and the faint sound of Swayam's measured breathing.
Siya looked at him, her eyes wide, hurt and remorse reflected in their depths. How do I make him understand? How do I tell him the truth without pushing him away forever?
And in that tense, suspended moment, both of them realized something: this confrontation was only the beginning.
The air between them was heavy, charged with unspoken truths, unhealed wounds, and emotions neither could fully control.
Outside the room, the hospital was still. Inside, two hearts—one icy, one vulnerable—were about to collide in ways neither had anticipated.
And somewhere deep inside, Swayam knew… the game of truth and lies had just become far more personal.
Siya took a shaky breath, sitting upright despite the soreness in her shoulder. Her hands gripped the blanket tightly, knuckles white. "Swayam… please… let me explain," she said softly, her voice trembling but earnest.
He didn't move, didn't relax, his cold gaze fixed on her. "Explain? After all this? After hiding everything from me?"His voice was tight, brittle with hurt.
Siya swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to hide it. It wasn't like that… I—"
"You call this not hiding it?" he interrupted, his voice sharper, almost venomous. "You're the one I've been thinking about… worrying about… and all this time… you were someone else. Someone I've been working with, respecting, and hating at the same time. And it was you the whole time?"
Her chest tightened. "Yes… it's me. Agent 01… it's me, Siya. The girl you saved… the girl who made you feel… something real. I never wanted to lie to you. I wanted to protect you—from the chaos, from the danger, from me…"Her voice cracked, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Swayam froze, the words hitting him harder than any mission, harder than any betrayal. She was… both. The innocent, bubbly girl he had fallen for, and the fierce, unyielding operative he had worked with. The realization left him breathless, torn between anger, disbelief, and something he hadn't allowed himself to feel in a long time—affection, care… maybe even love.
"You… you mean to say… all this time, it's been you?" His voice was quieter now, laced with disbelief. "The girl… the agent… everything?"
Siya nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Yes, Swayam… it's me. I didn't want to involve you… I didn't want you to get hurt… I didn't want you to see me as… someone dangerous. I wanted… to be just Siya for you."
Swayam's jaw clenched. His mind raced through every memory—the laughter, the warmth, the hospital, the missions, the gunfire, the way she had pulled him back from danger. All of it was her… all of it.
A tense silence filled the room. Swayam's eyes softened, just slightly, but his posture remained rigid. "You… could have told me," he murmured, almost to himself. "I would have… understood."
Siya reached out a trembling hand. "I know… I should have. I was scared… scared you'd see me differently. Scared you'd hate me."
Swayam's hand twitched, almost reaching toward hers—but he didn't. His mind wrestled with the storm inside him: anger at the secrecy, awe at her courage, warmth at the care she had shown him, and the undeniable pull he felt toward her.
"I… don't hate you," he said finally, his voice low, raw. "Not entirely. I… I just…" He shook his head, frustrated, conflicted. "I don't know what to feel. But…" His gaze softened, lingering on her tear-streaked face, "you're… important to me, Siya. Both of you… both sides. I can't… I can't pretend otherwise."
Siya's tears fell freely now, relief and emotion flooding her. "Swayam… I'm sorry. I should have trusted you sooner."
Swayam's laugh was low, bitter, almost hollow. It echoed softly in the hospital room, cutting through the quiet like a knife.
"How funny…" he murmured, voice shaking with a mix of frustration and disbelief, "How funny it is that I spent countless nights… thinking I was… thinking about two women at the same time… and it was you… all along."
Siya's hands clenched the blanket beneath her, eyes wide with guilt and fear.
"Do you even have the slightest idea?," he continued, his voice rising, raw and tense, "How hard these past days have been for me? I felt like… like I was a cheater, a player… someone who couldn't even keep his feelings straight. And it was all you… hiding behind your masks, your secrets, your… your games!"
He ran a hand over his face, jaw tight. "I couldn't push away the cheerful, innocent Siya I saw… I couldn't stop worrying about your condition in the hospital… about how you risked yourself for me. And somehow… somehow I managed to admit you here… and your team… your team didn't even let me see you properly! True enough, you wore masks… every time! But in front of the doctors… no mask. No wonder your team never let me near."
Siya's lips trembled. "They… they're our team…"she said softly, trying to explain.
Swayam snapped his head toward her, eyes flashing. "Our? Our?!" His laugh was sharp, bitter. "If we were one team, you wouldn't have hidden your identity! They wouldn't have hidden your identity! The first time I saw you talking with them… I thought you had that nature… to mingle with anyone and everyone… to act like you don't even know each other but getting along very well. Pretending, huh? Pretending you guys don't even know each other. You… you played this… very well."
Siya's eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth, voice breaking, almost pleading. "I… I'm sorry, Swayam… it's my fault…"
Swayam's shoulders slumped slightly, the storm in his chest battling with the tenderness he still felt. "I don't know if I can forgive easily… or quickly… but… you should know… I… I care, Siya. I always cared. And yet… you made it so damn hard for me to understand who you really are."
Siya's tears spilled freely now, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I didn't want to hurt you… I never wanted to… I just… I didn't know how to tell you. I wanted to protect you… and… I… I wanted you to see the real me… someday… without fear."
Swayam's eyes softened slightly, the coldness cracking just enough to show a glimmer of the man beneath the harsh exterior. He let out a long, shaky breath, running a hand over his face. "You've made it… impossible… but also… undeniable. And now… I don't know what to do with all of it."
Siya reached out, trembling, desperate. "Swayam… please… I'm sorry… I never wanted to hurt you… I just… needed you to understand…"
The room was silent except for the soft beeping of the monitors. Two people—one bitter, one remorseful—sat on the edge of truth and confession, caught in the tension of emotions too long held, too tightly restrained.
Swayam stared at her, bitter, frustrated… but beneath it all, a flicker of care remained, battling with the storm of anger and betrayal.
And Siya… she knew, in that quiet hospital room, that the bridge between them was fragile—but not yet broken.
But both knew: the world outside was still dangerous, still unpredictable, and the path ahead would not be easy.