Page 58 of K-Pop Double Life

I had watched Jin stumble, miss cues and stop in the middle of a song at the rehearsal. “Do you think Jin’s performance at rehearsal was off because Sang-hoon left?”

“Probably.”

“Could he be the leak?” Liam asked. “We know he had backstage access. Maybe his work is done and he’s leaving to avoid suspicion. Does he have the server access to send those emails?”

“Liam,” I said. “You saw how they looked at each other. If Sang-hoon was faking that he deserves to be on stage himself. And we did a full background check on him. He’s not the leak.”

“I agree with Aidan,” Eun-ji said. “I’ve had my suspicions that Jin and Sang-hoon were involved for a long time but I didn’t have any evidence to confront either of them. And he’s only a staff member, and doesn’t have the kind of access to the Starhouse server necessary to send emails the way those were sent. So I don’t believe he’s the leak.”

She took a deep breath. “If someone releases the information, it could ruin both of them. They’re both in violation of the contracts they signed. Sang-hoon told Sunny that he was leaving to protect Jin. He has a very sizeable female fan following. They might feel betrayed to discover he’s gay.”

Silence settled over the room. Then Eun-ji said, “The O2 seats twenty thousand. Security is difficult even on a normal night.”

“Jason and I are coordinating with venue security,” Liam said.

“And if that’s not enough?”

“Then we cancel.”

She stared at him. “We can’t.”

“Would you rather explain a canceled concert,” Liam asked evenly, “or a dead performer?”

For a long moment she stared at us. Then, surprisingly, she smiled.

“You two are lucky to have found each other,” she said. Her smile turned sad. “I’ve seen a lot of partnerships in this industry. Professional, romantic, everything in between. Most of them are transactional. What you two have? That’s rare.”

I thought about Liam in our kitchen in Banneret-les-Vaux, lining up electronics like surgical instruments. The way he’d looked at me that night, possessive and certain.

“Sixteen years,” I said. “Twelve of them married. Hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it.” I reached out and took Liam’s hand, and he squeezed mine.

“Jin and Sang-hoon have five years of wanting and only a few days of actually having.” She stood, collecting her tablet. “I hope they get the chance to have more. When this is all over.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” I said.

After Eun-ji left, Liam stayed where he was, leaning back in his chair with the thoughtful look that usually meant his mind was racing ahead into unpleasant possibilities.

But the first thing he said was, “Have we been outed? As a gay couple?”

“Eun-ji’s a smart woman. She signed a contract with Agence that had a full background check on us, including the fact that we’re married. And neither of us has been hiding anything.”

“You’re right. Part of my brain is still back in the SEALs, stuck in that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell mentality. I forget that the world has changed.” He stretched his shoulders and rotated his head, a sure sign that he was tense. “What’s your instinct?” he asked. “Not who. Just what kind of person does this?”

I was feeling the stress too. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to organize thoughts that refused to line up neatly. “Someone with resources. Patience. Access. This wasn’t improvised.”

“You still think Starhouse?”

“Maybe. Or someone using Starhouse. A fan with money. A disgruntled insider. Someone with a personal obsession and enough discipline to turn it into an operation.”

“What about Park Min-woo?” Liam asked.

I checked the message Richard had sent earlier. “Busan. Conference room, badge logs, CCTV, expense receipts for the company he’s contracting with. Unless he’s developed the ability to bilocate, he wasn’t setting fires in Cannes.”

“That doesn’t rule out hiring someone. He has a motive, doesn’t he? Fired employee seeking retribution.”

“And he’s acting out by making a lot of online complaints. It’s a big jump from saying nasty things on Reddit to carrying out an elaborate plot that might involve murder.”

“Well, I’m not crossing him off the suspect list yet. But it drops him from prime suspect to supporting cast. We still have far too many possibilities.”