Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Yeong-ro learns from a television report that her brother Yeong-u has died after the clash at sea. The same report identifies Soo-ho as a Northern spy. She blames him for the loss and tries to run outside, but he restrains her before she reaches the explosives. Her grief leaves her unable to accept his attempts at comfort. Soo-ho later returns the scarf her brother gave her, and she asks to see Yeong-u one last time. He refuses. Chung-ya notices Soo-ho's concern for Yeong-ro and warns him against allowing personal feelings to interfere with the mission. The necklace he gave Yeong-ro makes their connection harder for him to dismiss.
Gang-mu escapes his restraints and discovers Seung-hee's hidden surveillance room, where recordings reveal more about the political arrangement and Chung-ya's identity. After another confrontation, he reaches the outside through a concealed route and asks SWAT to enter with him. Instead, officers fire to force him back inside. Recaptured, he tells Soo-ho that both sides are treating the people in the dormitory as expendable pieces in an election scheme. Soo-ho still insists that he will accept his country's orders. Yeong-ro approaches Gang-mu and learns about the remote detonator Soo-ho carries. When Soo-ho tends her injured hand, she asks whether he returned for her and embraces him. The contact lets her take the detonator, turning a moment of closeness into an attempt to remove his power over the hostages.