Page 59 of K-Pop Double Life

“Richard says he found some online chatter about the movie’s showing at Cannes, but nothing that would indicate the concert was targeted as part of that.”

I was already reaching for my phone. “It’s good to knock out the movie. But we still need to understand if these attacks are new behavior or an escalation. I’m sure that Jin’s dealt with obsessive fans before, and Sunny will know who crossed lines, who made threats, who kept showing up when they shouldn’t.” I pulled up her number. “Patterns matter.”

Liam gave me a faint smile. “You always did like patterns.”

“Only when they lead somewhere useful.”

23

DROWNING

JIN — LONDON

Aidan found me in the corridor outside the green room a half hour before the concert started, where I’d escaped for a few minutes. The hallway smelled of hairspray, overheated electronics, and the stale adrenaline that seemed to live permanently in venues like this.

“How are you holding up?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

He gave me a look that made it clear he wasn’t buying that for a second.

“Jin, I’ve spent most of my adult life protecting people who are in danger. I know what fine looks like, and this isn’t it.”

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes for a moment. “Sang-hoon left.”

“I know. Sunny told me.”

That should have embarrassed me, but I was too exhausted to care.

“For what it’s worth,” Aidan said, “I think he made the wrong call.”

I looked at him in surprise. “You do?”

“Absolutely. Protection details don’t usually fail because someone loves the principal too much. They fail because communication breaks down, because people make assumptions, because someone important is somewhere they shouldn’t be.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Sang-hoon leaving doesn’t make you safer. It makes you distracted. And distracted people miss things.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“Fear makes smart people do stupid things.”

I let out a breath that sounded dangerously close to a laugh.

“Your group needs you focused tonight,” he said. “Twenty thousand people. A massive venue. An active threat we still haven’t identified. So I need an honest answer.”

I already knew what he was going to ask.

“Can you do this?”

At rehearsal, my body had felt heavy, and every movement had seemed delayed by half a second, as though my mind was somewhere else and the rest of me was struggling to catch up.

“Yes.”

Aidan’s expression didn’t change. “Can you stay alert?” he asked quietly. “Can you pay attention if something feels wrong? Can you react?”

Every thought I had circled back to Sang-hoon. To the way he’d stood in the hotel room pretending this was the right decision for both of us.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Aidan nodded. “Then do your best to stay present,” he said. “Because if someone is planning to make a move, vulnerability is exactly what they’re counting on.”