Page 121 of K-Pop Double Life

Suddenly people were all around us. Hands were pulling me back. Security, medical team, voices shouting in Korean and English. Emergency lights coming up, revealing the destruction—the center stage destroyed, rigging scattered across fifty square meters, fans pressed against the regular barriers around the pit trying to see what happened.

I helped Liam up. “Are you all right?” I asked.

“Hit my head,” he said. “Good thing it’s hard. My ribs ache but I’ll survive. Where are all the idols?”

“Jin’s right there, with the paramedics. Sang-hoon is with him. Looks like none of the other singers were hurt.”

Jason’s voice came through on my headset. “Security grabbed Sara Yoon trying to get out an emergency exit.”

Around me, I saw patrons from the front rows being treated for injuries from the falling rigging. None looked too serious, just some blood and what might have been arm fracture. I remembered that Jin’s parents had been out there, and when I scanned the area I saw Eun-ji escorting two people from the stands toward Jin and Sang-hoon. When the woman embraced Jin, crying, I realized they must be his parents. I was glad they’d escaped being hurt when the rigging fell.

Liam put his hand up against his head. “Is it all over?” he asked.

I tugged him down and kissed him, the way Sang-hoon had done with Jin. “It’s over, sweetheart,” I said.

49

STANDING DOWN

AIDAN — SEOUL

We debriefed everyone after the concert. Jason reported that it had taken some time to evacuate the stadium after the fall of the lighting rig. “Ten people were injured by flying debris,” he said. “None seriously.”

“Thank goodness,” Eun-ji said. “Starhouse has already issued a press release apologizing for the disruption, though they say the investigation into the fall is ongoing. All those in the front two rows have been offered free tickets at the next Starhouse concert.” She smiled. “Most of them were Starhouse employees or our VIP guests.”

“The police asked Sara Yoon how she got into the stadium,” Jason said. “She insists she showed her Starhouse credentials and walked in. That she had every right to be here, and she denies being anywhere near the lighting rig.”

The stage manager who had overseen the unloading of the extra equipment bowed nervously to Eun-ji, who was the ranking Starhouse employee. “I am humbly sorry, I didn’t think about it at the time, because I was busy checking all the manifests. But I realize now that I didn’t see the assistant get back on the truck. That person matches your description. I noticed her hair because my daughter has the same blonde tips.”

Jason turned to Eun-ji and bowed deeply. “I take full responsibility for this. I was there for the delivery as well. I should have spotted Sara Yoon myself.” His face was steely. “You will have my resignation on your desk immediately.”

I saw Sunny behind her husband, ready to cry.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eun-ji said. “This isn’t the Joseon dynasty. No one expects you to drink poison over a mistake.”

I turned to my husband. “You were right, she slipped in with an equipment delivery,” I said. “Unfortunately she was ahead of us even then.”

Liam looked at me. “Too bad she’s a criminal. She would have been a great military officer.”

Jason looked at us. “For everything so far, Sara Yoon has been a planner rather than an actor. She has been the mastermind who never gets her hands dirty. What do you think made her change?”

“Maybe she didn’t have anyone left to trust,” I said. “Even the most meticulous planner can eventually run out of options.”

Liam nodded. “In our experience, professionals use assets until they run out of assets.”

“What happened to Grace?” Jin asked.

“She’s in custody,” I said. “Police picked her up as she was packing up her apartment. She had an airline ticket to Switzerland.”

“Did she ever say why she recorded us?” Sang-hoon asked. “We thought of her as one of us, part of our team.”

“She told the detectives she never thought anyone would die. Apparently she started working with Sara Yoon soon after she was hired at Starhouse, feeding her information she gathered from her translation work. Sara paid her, and eventually she came to need that money and didn’t know how to stop.”

By the time the police finished taking statements, it was nearly three in the morning. Eun-ji had notified Starhouse management that Choi Ji-won and Lee Sang-min were cleared. She had also told them that because Park Min-woo had posted negative things about Starhouse, he should be interviewed about a possible connection to Sara Yoon, though she had no proof of his involvement in her operation.

The conference room beneath World Cup Stadium looked as though a hurricane had passed through it. Coffee cups, laptops, half-eaten sandwiches, and enough paperwork to keep a team of prosecutors busy for months covered every available surface. Liam sat beside me with an ice pack balanced against his ribs, insisting he was fine in the same tone of voice he always used when he wasn’t.

The lead detective ended a call and put his cell phone down on the table. “Sara Yoon isn’t cooperating.”