Ethan:
Yuna's breathing slowly softened.
At some point during the night, the exhaustion finally took over her. She had been awake for hours, worrying, caring for him, arguing with him… fighting him.
Now she was asleep.
Her head rested near the edge of the bed, her hand still loosely holding his.
Ethan lay still, staring at the ceiling.
The room was quiet again.
Only the faint sound of Yuna's breathing and the ticking clock filled the silence.
He slowly turned his head and looked at her.
Her hair had fallen over her face again.
She looked peaceful now… nothing like the stubborn girl who had just challenged him minutes ago.
Ethan carefully moved his hand, brushing the hair away from her face.
"You really don't know what you're doing…" he murmured.
His gaze stayed on her for a long moment.
Then his eyes drifted to the ceiling again.
Love.
He had heard that word countless times in his life.
People killed for it.
People betrayed for it.
People cried because of it.
But Ethan had never understood it.
Not really.
Growing up, emotions had always been something distant to him. Fear, anger, attachment… he could recognize them in others, but inside himself there was mostly silence.
Cold control.
That was how he survived.
That was how he built the life he had now.
Even Luca once said to him:
"You're the only person I know who can pull a trigger without your heartbeat changing."
Ethan never thought there was anything wrong with that.
Until Yuna.
His eyes slowly returned to her sleeping face.
She had confessed to him.
Said she loved him.
And what did he give her in return?
Desire.
He exhaled quietly.
"What even is love…" he whispered under his breath.
He tried to remember if he had ever truly felt it.
Nothing came.
No clear memory.
No emotion strong enough to give that word meaning.
But there was something else.
Something unfamiliar.
Every time Yuna smiled, something in his chest felt… lighter.
Every time she looked sad because of him, something tightened painfully inside him.
And tonight, when he saw her run outside toward him while he was bleeding…
For a second, Ethan had actually been afraid.
Not of dying.
But of her getting hurt.
His fingers unconsciously tightened around hers.
"That's not love," he muttered quietly, almost convincing himself.
"It can't be."
Love was weakness.
Love created targets.
Love destroyed people in his world.
Yet…
His gaze softened as he looked at her again.
She had stayed.
Even after he rejected her.
Even after he told her he didn't love her.
Even after he warned her about the danger.
She still stayed.
Ethan slowly reached out and gently pulled the blanket over her shoulders.
"Stubborn girl," he murmured.
For a long moment he just watched her sleep.
Then he whispered something so quietly that even he barely heard it.
"…but I know I feel something."
His thumb brushed lightly over her fingers.
Something he couldn't name.
Something unfamiliar.
Something dangerous.
And for the first time in years…
Ethan wasn't sure if he wanted to push that feeling away.
Or keep it.