Four songs later, mid-set, it happened. The production changed again to another stripped-down sequence. It was the song I'd waited for, the one where Rune's solo vocal was lit by a single amber spot while the others repositioned at the edges of the stage.
I counted beats. Four. Three. Two. The cue was supposed to fire on one.
The stage remained fully lit. Wrong lights. Wrong intensity. Harsh white instead of warm amber. Rune stood center stage, exposed and isolated.
I moved before my brain processed it all. Weight forward, muscles coiled, ready to—
The lights snapped off completely. Full blackout. The crowd gasped.
My heart pounded. It wasn't a missed cue. Something was wrong. Emergency lighting should have engaged. It didn't.
I heard Rune still singing through seconds of total darkness, his voice steady despite the blackout.
Then the lights slammed back on at full intensity. Blinding white. All of them. Every fixture in the grid firing simultaneously. Rune raised his right hand to shield his eyes.
The crowd screamed, sounds of concern.
Taemin broke formation immediately. He walked toward Rune without hesitation, touching his back. Jinwoo stepped forward as well.
Three seconds later, the lights finally executed correctly. An amber spot appeared at the proper intensity.
Violet Frequency continued as if nothing had happened. Rune's voice never faltered. The choreography flowed. Half the crowd probably thought what had occurred was intentional.
I pulled out my phone and messaged Kang:
Griffin:Lighting failure mid-set. Full blackout then full intensity. Check booth NOW.
Twenty seconds later:
Kang:On it.
Someone was testing whether they could isolate Rune. With blinding lights, they'd succeeded.
I looked up at the lighting booth. Too far to see details, but I tracked movement. Someone was up there. Someone was supposed to be up there. The question was whether they were supposed to be doing what they'd just done.
After the last song, backstage burst into motion, loud and barely holding together. Handlers converged with water and towels. Staff rushed to clear pathways. The band came off stage in a wave of heat and adrenaline.
Jinwoo first, breathing hard, accepting a towel without breaking stride.
Taemin and Minjae together, still buzzing, talking over each other in rapid Korean.
Rune came last.
He moved more slowly than the others. Sweat dampened his shirt. His hair had fallen partially into his face.
He saw me standing against the wall. Our eyes locked. Everything else fell away.
He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something.
"Rune." A handler appeared at his elbow with water. The moment shattered.
He took the bottle. Drank. Headed for the dressing area with the others.
I pulled out my phone and walked toward Kang's position near the loading corridor.
He was already on his radio, coordinating something. When he saw me, he held up one finger, signaling me to wait.
After finishing his conversation, he lowered the radio's volume. "Lighting booth. The technical director is reviewing the logs now."
