Page 39 of K-Pop Double Life

“A fan edit.” She laughed. “They’re ridiculous.”

I leaned over automatically. The video opened with Jin walking offstage after the Cannes concert, his eyes scanning the wings until they landed on me. His expression softened into a smile I’d never realized anyone else had noticed.

The clip changed to my hands smoothing his jacket before the encore. Then another, with me straightening the microphone pack at the small of his back.

Then me in Cannes, running toward the stage before anyone else moved.

The caption read: Things only Jin’s stylist gets away with.

The comments blurred together.

Tell me they’re not dating. Watch who Jin looks for first after every show. The stylist is more protective than security.

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he’s in love with him.

Mina chuckled. “Fans will ship anybody.”

Wan-suk, the makeup artist, leaned over her shoulder. “They’ve got way too much time on their hands.”

“They’re probably already making wedding videos next,” Mina said.

Everyone laughed. Everyone except me and Ji-ho, the socials guy. I looked at him. “Did you post any of these?”

He shook his head. “I never post anything backstage. And certainly not things like that.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the screen. Not because the fans were right. Because they had noticed.

Tiny moments I’d thought belonged only to us. A glance. A touch to straighten his collar. The way my attention found him in every room.

Thousands of strangers had assembled them into a story.

Sun-hee-noona stepped into the hallway beside us. She glanced at Mina’s phone, then at my face. “Everything okay?”

I forced a smile. “Fine.”

Mina dismissed the video with a swipe. “Don’t worry. By tomorrow they’ll be shipping Haneul with a flight attendant or the lighting director.”

Everyone laughed again and continued down the corridor. I stood for a moment longer, my stomach tightening.

If fans could see it...what would someone who’d been watching Jin for months see?

My footsteps were heavy as I walked to the elevator, then down the hall to Jin’s room. I kept seeing the images on Mina’s phone, and the photograph of him in Cannes that Aidan had found in Jin’s dressing room. The way he looked so vulnerable, his face circled in red marker like a target. Someone had walked past every security checkpoint, every protocol, every precaution Aidan and Liam had put in place. And left that image in his dressing room like a calling card.

You wanted our devotion. Now you'll learn what it costs

I let myself into Jin’s room with the extra key card he’d been given. He slept curled on his side, one hand tucked under the pillow, his breathing soft and even. The deep sleep that only came from total exhaustion, the weight of being watched and threatened finally dragging him under. I sat in the armchair by the window, laptop open but ignored, watching the rise and fall of his chest in the dim light coming through the blinds.

I’d read the threat analysis Aidan had given us. Professional operation. Inside access. Multiple assets positioned across the tour. Three people who’d been in both Cannes and Paris, any of whom might have taken that photo.

One of them had been close enough to photograph Jin during a costume change.

Close enough to hurt him.

And I’d been there. Right there, doing my job, fixing his makeup, adjusting his costume. And I hadn’t seen the threat until it was already delivered, already escalating.

Jin woke and smiled at me. “Come here,” he said, and patted the side of the bed next to him. He sat up, and when I joined him we kissed.

“Do you think we can get away with sleeping together?” he asked. “Sun-hee-noona already knows and I think Eun-ji does too.”