Page 41 of K-Pop Double Life

“Fans?” Sun-hee-noona asked.

“Maybe.”

“But the post included a description of the bus and the license plate.”

“I had the plate number in the paperwork from the bus company,” Sun-hee-noona said. “Only someone who had access to the Starhouse common drive could know that.”

Aidan nodded once. “Exactly.”

The doors opened, and he stepped out first. After looking both ways down the hall, he turned back to us.

“Get some sleep,” he said. “Tomorrow we fly to Amsterdam.”

Long after the hotel went quiet, I lay awake wondering whether the person helping our enemy was sleeping somewhere under the same roof.

15

BEHIND THE LIGHTS

AIDAN — AMSTERDAM

Tuesday May 26, 2026

Tuesday morning at breakfast, everyone was excited, eating their last chance at authentic French pastry and talking about how well the show had gone the night before. I couldn’t help noticing that the croissants at the hotel, despite the reputation of the dining room, weren’t as good as the ones at the local boulangerie in Banneret-les-Vaux. I sent a quick text to check on Hayam, and got a photo of her sprawled in Slava’s lap, sleeping peacefully.

Like Jin and Sang-hoon, Slava and Thierry had fallen in love under dangerous circumstances. But our neighbors were an older couple who’d seen much of the world and come to terms with their lives. Jin and Sang-hoon were so young, and it was sweet to watch their love blossom.

Coming back from the buffet table, Liam bent over to pick up a fallen napkin, and the hem of his polo shirt rode up as his slacks dropped, showing off the strap of his athletic supporter and an inch of butt crack.

“Sweetheart, you don’t need to show everyone what you’re wearing under your slacks,” I said. I turned to the rest of the group. “My husband is a bit of an exhibitionist. But I’m sure you all are accustomed to seeing male butt cracks in dressing rooms.”

“Aidan, a little professionalism?” Liam said, but there was a smile on his face.

I was glad to add a bit of humor to the morning, which carried over as the crew gathered their bags and loaded the bus for Paris–Le Bourget Airport. Security was strong and we didn’t have to worry about any wild fans mobbing the leased jet.

As soon as we took off, I sat with Liam, Sunny and Jason at a small round table at the front of the plane. “If we’re on time, we’ll be at the Conservatorium hotel in central Amsterdam by noon,” Sunny said.

“We’ll expect a small crowd of fans outside the Conservatorium,” Jason said. “Someone at every hotel manages to leak when performers arrive. But they’re accustomed to VIP guests so we shouldn’t have any problems.”

“They’ll have an hour for lunch, and then the bus will take them to the Ziggo Dome,” Sunny continued, picking up seamlessly after her husband. “It’s in a neighborhood called Amsterdam-Zuidoost, a half-hour southeast from the hotel.”

“Security has been alerted at the Ziggo Dome about the problem in Cannes,” Jason said. “We expect the tech rehearsal to last until a dinner break.”

“Reservations for a private room at a rijsttafel restaurant near the hotel,” Sunny said. “The evening free, though we’ll discourage them from leaving the hotel.”

“Sounds like you have everything locked down,” Liam said. “Good planning.”

“This is Pryzm’s second tour,” Sunny said. “Though the first one was only in Asia. We’ve had time to work out the schedule.”

The BBJ taxied past rows of blue KLM tails before turning toward a quieter corner of Schiphol. Instead of jet bridges and crowded terminals, a black Mercedes van waited beside a low glass building. About fifty eager fans waited behind a barricade, some of them carrying homemade signs in Korean and Dutch, a few waving Korean flags.

In addition, an entertainment reporter spoke into a microphone while a camera crew filmed everything. While it was a lot less chaotic than the crowds had been in Cannes and Paris, I knew that our arrival would be well-documented for whoever was stalking the group.

Liam, Sunny and Jason deplaned first, followed by the five group members. Each stopped for a moment at the top of the stair and waved to the crowd, Jin last of all. He listened to the crowd for a moment and then gave them a heart gesture. The rest of the team deplaned after him, and Liam and Jason shepherded everyone to the van.

Our hotel was the Conservatorium, in the Museum Quarter. The online guidebook said we would be within walking distance of the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Vondelpark, and upscale shopping. Too bad no one would have time to enjoy the city.

Sunny gave them a half-hour to unpack and relax, then called everyone back to the van for the trip to the Ziggo Dome. It was a giant square box at the edge of a massive parking lot. Concert ads were projected on the side, and when the ad for Pryzm appeared as we drove up, everyone in the bus cheered, even Liam and me.