Page 82 of K-Pop Double Life

Even with everything hanging over us, the threat, the endless security briefings, the woman at Genesis House, once the music started, Jin became himself again. Not the exhausted man who fell asleep against my shoulder in hotel rooms. Not the frightened man who had admitted someone might be trying to kill him.

Onstage, he was untouchable.

Around us, the machinery of the show was breaking down. Equipment being packed, crew members coordinating load-out, the audience filing out clutching souvenir programs and T-shirts.

But for just a moment, in the wings of Madison Square Garden with thousands of people still cheering beyond the curtain, it was just us.

“I love you,” Jin said quietly, the words almost lost in the noise. It was the first time he’d used those words, and they hit me deep in my heart.

“I love you too,” I said.

But we had no time to dive into what that meant. Sun-hee-noona appeared, herding us toward the green room. “Let’s go. Vehicles are waiting. We need to move before the crowd disperses.”

The underground loading area was brightly lit, all concrete and painted lines and the smell of exhaust. Our SUVs were waiting, engines running, security already in position.

For the first time all day, I let myself believe we were going to make it back to the hotel without incident. Then the walls around us began to vibrate with sound.

33

NO ONE IS SAFE

SANG-HOON — NEW YORK

Woo was still talking about pizza, somehow finding enough energy after a full concert to bounce on the balls of his feet while Min-kyu laughed at him. Tae looked exhausted but calmer than he had before the show. Even Haneul’s shoulders had loosened a little.

Jin walked beside me, close enough that our hands nearly brushed. He looked drained, sweat-damp at the temples, makeup beginning to fade under the harsh garage lighting, but there was a lightness in his expression I hadn’t seen all day. Madison Square Garden. We had done it.

Aidan moved ahead of us, scanning automatically, Liam and Jason flanking the group with the rest of security positioned around us.

The sound grew louder, a swell of noise that didn’t belong underground. It was high-pitched, chaotic, unmistakable.

Screaming. Not one or two voices. Dozens, then hundreds.

“What the hell?” Liam muttered.

I turned to see fans pouring down the access ramp, mostly teenage girls and young women, some crying, some waving signs, others with their phones raised so high their arms shook.

“Jin-ah! Min-kyu! Tae! Haneul!”

“Woo, I love you!”

“Jin-ah!”

“We love you!”

“Oh my god, he’s here!”

Not all of them were calling for Jin. That should have made it feel less dangerous somehow.

It didn’t.

Everything happened at once. Aidan grabbed Jin’s arm and shoved him toward the nearest SUV. Liam and the other security officers surged forward to form a barrier, but the crowd hit them with sheer momentum, a human wave driven by adrenaline and obsession and whatever information had brought them here at exactly the wrong moment.

Someone slammed into my shoulder hard enough to spin me sideways.

A girl with tears streaming down her face pushed between me and Jin, reaching for him with both hands. “I just want to touch him!”

Another grabbed at Woo, who recoiled with a startled cry as Min-kyu yanked him backward.