Hana sat in the dimly lit safehouse, her eyes fixed on the flickering monitors in front of her, but her mind was far from the screen. Daeyoung was in the next room, the heavy silence between them lingering after the earlier confrontation. He had almost killed her. Almost. But now, it was her turn to grapple with something she never thought she'd have to: the thought of killing him.

Her hands rested on her lap, clenched tight into fists. Could she really trust him again? Could she afford to? A person who had once been like a brother to her, a confidant, was now a potential threat. The thought of him pointing the gun at her, his finger near the trigger, was still fresh in her mind. That image wouldn’t go away.

Hana sighed deeply, her chest tight as she leaned back in her chair. The dim light cast long shadows on the walls, making the room feel even smaller than it already was. The air was thick with tension. She replayed the scene over and over—Daeyoung’s voice, the look in his eyes, the cold steel of the gun.

"He’ll do it again," her mind whispered, a dangerous thought creeping into her consciousness. "Next time, he might not hesitate."

Hana closed her eyes, wrestling with the emotions that were beginning to suffocate her. Was she prepared to let that happen? No, she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. This wasn’t just about her survival anymore—there was too much at stake. Kaito. The mission. Their war with Jin Woo.

If Daeyoung couldn't be trusted, what was stopping him from sabotaging everything they had worked for? A shiver ran down her spine as she considered the possibility. A single moment of doubt from him could ruin everything. And what if he turned again—this time, on Kaito? What if his wavering loyalty put them all at risk?

The logical part of her mind, the part that had kept her alive through all the chaos, began calculating. Daeyoung was a threat. The trust between them was broken, shattered. The tension between them was like a crack in the foundation of their team, and cracks, she knew, eventually led to collapse. If he couldn’t handle the pressure now, if he was questioning their mission, then he was a liability.

But could she really kill him? Her stomach churned at the thought.

Daeyoung had saved her life more times than she could count. He was the one who’d kept her going when she had nothing left, when the weight of their mission seemed too heavy to bear. They had bled together, fought side by side in moments of pure chaos. To even consider taking him out felt like a betrayal of everything they had built.

Yet, the gun pointed at her head flashed in her mind again, the tremor in his voice as he had accused her of going too far. She had seen something in his eyes that day, something she couldn't unsee—fear, doubt, and maybe even hatred. Those emotions didn’t just disappear. No, they festered, grew, and eventually erupted into something uncontrollable.

Her jaw tightened. "He’s a danger now," she thought, feeling the cold calculation seeping in. "If I don't deal with him, he could get us all killed."

Her eyes flicked to the room where Daeyoung sat, slumped in the chair, still reeling from the emotional fallout of his own actions. He looked broken, but was it all an act? Could he be planning something even now? Was he biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike again?

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Hana felt her fingers twitch toward the gun on the table beside her. She could end it now, prevent the possibility of future betrayal. One clean shot. Quick. Painless. It would be over before he even knew what was happening. She could say he tried again, that it was self-defense. No one would question her. Not Kaito. Not the rest of the team. They trusted her.

But did she trust herself?

Hana's breathing became shallow, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession as the weight of the decision pressed down on her. Was this who she had become? Someone who would kill a friend to protect a mission, no matter how just the cause?

Her mind raced through the possibilities. She could talk to him again, try to make him see reason. But would that work? The seeds of doubt had already been planted. Could she afford to risk another outburst, another gun pointed at her head?

"Think, Hana," she told herself. "He’s dangerous. He’s unstable. He’s a liability."

But a small voice in her head, one she hadn't heard in a long time, pushed back. "He’s your friend. You can’t just kill him. There’s still a way to fix this."

She bit her lip, her heart torn between the ruthless pragmatism the situation demanded and the loyalty she still felt for Daeyoung. Her eyes burned as she fought back the sting of tears. No matter how far she had come, no matter how hardened the fight had made her, this was different. This was personal.

“What would I be if I killed him?” she thought, her throat tightening. “Am I really so far gone that I would do this? To Daeyoung?”

Her fingers curled around the grip of her gun, and she closed her eyes, imagining the scene. Walking into the next room, the sound of his breathing as he slept. She could do it quickly. No hesitation. She could frame it as an accident—an unfortunate casualty of the mission. But the thought of pulling the trigger sent a sharp pang of regret through her chest.

Daeyoung wasn’t the enemy. Jin Woo was. The FBI was. But Daeyoung had nearly made himself an enemy today. That truth was undeniable.

Just then, the door opened quietly, and Kaito stepped inside, breaking her train of thought. He noticed her hand on the gun immediately and raised an eyebrow.

"Hana?" His voice was soft but concerned, as if he knew what was going through her mind.

She didn’t answer at first, her grip loosening as she turned to look at him. Kaito approached cautiously, his eyes flicking to the room where Daeyoung was and then back to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his tone more pointed now. He glanced down at the gun, then met her gaze with a worried frown. "You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?"

Hana exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples with her free hand. "I don’t know what to do, Kaito. He almost killed me earlier. And now I’m sitting here, thinking if I should—" She cut herself off, unable to finish the sentence.

Kaito's expression softened, and he stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Hana, you’re not a killer. Not like that. I know what you’re thinking, but Daeyoung… he's lost, confused. Killing him won’t fix anything. You know that."

"I don’t know if I can trust him," she muttered, her voice hollow. "If he turns on us again—"

Kaito placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her in the moment. "Then we deal with it when it happens. But right now, we need to be a team. We need him, Hana. And you need to stay in control. Don’t let this tear us apart."

Hana stared down at her hands, at the weapon she had been so close to using, and felt a surge of shame. Kaito was right. If she killed Daeyoung now, she’d lose something vital, something she couldn’t afford to lose: her humanity.

After a long silence, she set the gun down on the table, the clatter of metal against wood echoing in the room. Her decision was made, at least for now. She would deal with Daeyoung another way, but not like this.

“I’ll talk to him,” she finally said, though her voice was strained. “But if he tries anything again, I won’t hesitate.”

Kaito nodded, the tension between them easing just slightly. "That’s all I ask."