Gin stared at the gun in her hands. His breath caught—not in fear, but betrayal so sharp it cut deeper than any blade.
"I had no choice," she said, stepping closer. "You killed three of their men back at the compound. You think they'd ever let me live unless I proved something?"
"You… used me?"
"I loved you," she whispered. "Maybe I still do. But love doesn't change the rules of survival in this world."
He slowly lowered the flash drive onto the counter. "So what now?"
"I take that," she said, nodding to the drive. "And I say you tried to run. I kill you, and they let me live. Maybe even let me out."
Gin swallowed. His ribs throbbed. Blood dripped from a cut near his eye. "You really think they'll ever let you go? You're just a pretty pawn, Sori. They'll use you until you're dust."
"Maybe. But at least I'll still be breathing."
She pulled the trigger.
Click.
Empty.
Gin hadn't loaded it. The real magazine was still in his pocket.
For a moment, silence sat between them like a ghost.
Then Sori screamed, threw the pistol at him, and ran. Gin didn't chase. He couldn't.
His heart had broken before the bullet could.
By the time he stepped outside, sirens were approaching. Too late. The Syndicate wouldn't just come with guns now — they'd come with fire.
He limped into the alley behind the building. The sky above was bleeding orange with the coming dawn.
He pulled out the flash drive. He could destroy it. Throw it into a drain. But he didn't.
Instead, he set it under a brick near a rusted dumpster. If someone worthy found it, maybe the truth inside would survive.
Footsteps.
He turned — and saw the Syndicate boss himself.
"Found you," the man said. His voice was calm, cold as winter steel.
Behind him, five enforcers. All armed.
Gin didn't run. He had nothing left.
He smiled, blood on his lips. "Took you long enough."
They raised their weapons.
He didn't close his eyes.
The bullets tore through him, each one a final punctuation mark to a sentence written in betrayal and pain.
As his body crumpled to the ground, the last thing Gin saw was the light of the sun cresting over the city.
And in that light, for a heartbeat, he thought he saw her — not Sori, but Yoon Seo — smiling.
Then darkness took him.
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