Page 36 of K-Pop Double Life

“Exactly. The kids just want to perform and succeed. It’s the adults around them, the ones with careers and egos and financial stakes, who make it complicated.”

In my experience, the most dangerous threats rarely came from the obvious enemies. They came from the people close enough to know your vulnerabilities, patient enough to wait for the perfect moment, and desperate enough to risk everything.

Someone at Starhouse fit that profile.

Liam and I just had to figure out who before they made their next move.

When I got back to the room, Liam was already in bed, reading something on his tablet. “Learn anything useful?” he asked.

“Maybe.” I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling off my shoes. “There are at least four people at Starhouse HQ with motive, means, and access. I’m curious about the technical director, the tech engineer, and the social content guy. Sunny’s pulling travel records.”

“That’s a lot of suspects,” Liam corrected. “Could be more we haven’t identified yet.”

“Cheerful thought.”

He set down his tablet, pulled me back against his chest. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

I leaned into his warmth, feeling the day’s tension start to drain away. “What if we don’t? What if we miss something and Jin gets hurt?”

“Then it won’t be because we didn’t try hard enough.” His arms tightened around me. “We’re doing everything right, Aidan. Building the profile, eliminating possibilities, protecting the principal. The rest is just patience and luck.”

“I hate relying on luck.”

“I know. But all we can do is try to eliminate every variable you can control.” He kissed the top of my head. “But some things you can’t control. You just have to trust your instincts and react fast when it matters.”

Then he grabbed my dick and squeezed. My mouth dropped open and he laughed. “See? Like that?”

I went for his right nipple then, through his shirt. I could be just as fast as he was. His body shivered and he leaned his head back. “Oh, baby. You know what that does to me.”

“I do,” I said. “Shirt off. Now.”

“Pushy bottom,” he said, but he complied. I applied myself to licking and kissing and twisting his nipples, one by one. I was so busy I didn’t notice that he’d dropped his pants to the floor. His dick was stiff and pressing against the white fabric of his jockstrap.

I dropped to the carpet and began licking through the fabric, slow and steady, as his dick leaked and he ran his fingers through my hair. “Why am I nearly naked and you’re still wearing clothes?” he asked.

“Because you’re an exhibitionist,” I said.

“I have a great body,” he said. “It deserves to be shared.”

“Only with me,” I said. I stood up and we kissed, and then I quickly shed my clothes and we tumbled into bed. Quickly I was on my knees and he was at my hole, licking and probing with his tongue. He must have grabbed the lube while I was stripping because I felt the squirt, and his fingers opening me up.

Then he pulled me back toward him by my waist, and with one fast push he was inside me. I couldn’t think anymore, just feel him rocking back and forth, pressing my prostate, filling me up in a way only he could.

He reached around and grabbed my dick and stroked me in rhythm with his pushes, and we alternated between fast and slow, trying to prolong the pleasure. But there was more between us than raw sexual attraction, and love made the difference.

When we were both spent and breathing deeply, he pulled me up from the bed and pressed our groins together. “Big mess,” he said.

“And you love it.”

We took a quick shower together, and when we were drying off my phone buzzed. Email from Sunny, sent to me, Liam, and Jason.

Preliminary travel records attached. Choi Ji-won was in Nice two weeks before Cannes—logged as personal vacation. Lee Sang-min was in Paris for a music industry conference and he came to Cannes with Sara Yoon.

All three have VPN access. All three have been asking questions about Pryzm’s tour schedule.

I don’t want to believe any of them would do this. But I can’t ignore the patterns.

I showed it to Liam.