Page 30 of K-Pop Double Life

“I think it’s unauthorized, which makes it a security breach regardless of contents.” His voice was calm, professional. “Could be innocent. Maybe a fan who bribed a staff member, who thought the giver was being romantic. But until we know for sure, Jin doesn’t come back to this room.”

I nodded, throat tight. “Should I get Jason?”

“Already texted him. He’s bringing the arena’s portable X-ray scanner.” Aidan’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it. “Liam’s securing the corridor. Go. Now. And Sang-hoon?”

I paused at the door.

“Don’t let Jin see you’re scared. He’ll know something’s wrong.”

Too late for that. Jin could read me like sheet music.

But I headed back toward the stage, my pulse hammering in my ears, trying to figure out how to keep my face neutral when every instinct was screaming at me to grab Jin and run.

The stage lights were bright enough to make me squint after the dim corridor. The group was back in formation, running through the final set of songs.

I scanned for Jin and found him stage left, conferring with Min-kyu about something. Their heads were close together, Min-kyu’s hand on Jin’s shoulder in that casual way the members touched each other. Years of proximity made physical contact as natural as breathing.

I walked up as casually as I could manage. “Joon-hi-ah.”

He turned, and his smile faltered immediately. “What’s wrong?”

Damn it. Aidan was right—I wasn’t able to hide anything from him.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I said, keeping my voice low. “But Aidan wants to double-check some security protocols before the show. Can you stay out here for a bit? Run through the encore staging maybe?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “What kind of protocols?”

“Just routine.” The lie tasted metallic. “New venue, new procedures. You know how bodyguards are.”

Haneul was watching me now too, his leader instincts picking up on the tension. “Is there a problem, Sang-hoon-ssi?”

“No problem. Just being thorough.” I forced a smile. “After Cannes, everyone’s a little more careful.”

Haneul studied my face for a long moment, and I saw him calculating, reading the micro-expressions I couldn’t control, weighing what I was saying against what I wasn’t.

Then he nodded slowly. “Okay. We’ll run the encore blocking.”

“Thank you.”

I started to turn away, but Jin caught my wrist—brief, light, almost accidental. “Sang-hoon.”

I looked back.

“Tell me if I need to worry.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a request for honesty, the kind that only worked between people who’d spent a long time learning each other’s tells.

“I will,” I promised. “I’ll tell you everything once Aidan’s finished.”

That seemed to satisfy him. He released my wrist and turned back to Haneul, who was already shifting into leader mode. “Let’s work on the blocking when we all go down the runway and reach down to the fans. Woo keeps drifting too far stage right.”

I walked back to the wings, my heart still racing, and nearly collided with Liam in the corridor.

“Aidan’s got Jason with him,” Liam said quietly. “The arena keeps a portable X-ray scanner on hand for this kind of thing. Should know what’s in the box in about five minutes.”

“And if it’s dangerous?”

“Then we evacuate the arena and call the bomb squad.” He said it so matter-of-factly, like this was just another day at work. Maybe for him it was. “You did good, keeping Jin occupied.”