Griffin:On my way to your location. Don't leave the suite until I get there.
Griffin:Five minutes.
I looked up. "Griffin's coming."
Jinwoo stood immediately. "Taemin, clear the carts. Minjae, get dressed. We're treating this like a briefing."
Within three minutes, the suite looked less like chaos and more like a war room.
"Rune has always had a type," Taemin said casually while stacking plates. "Tall. Serious. Slightly terrifying authority figures."
My stomach clenched while Minjae opened his eyes wide.
"Very specific pattern," Taemin continued. "Competent. Controlled. Man in charge."
"You mean Soo-jin," I said flatly. "That was long ago. It's over." I'd tried to bury it, but some things refused to stay buried.
"I just think you're good at convincing yourself that what's necessary is the same as what's right." Taemin softened his voice. "That's all."
A knock at the door. Firm. Controlled.
Jinwoo checked the peephole, then opened it.
Griffin stood there in tactical blacks, tablet in hand, his eyes sharp. He took in the room, the four of us and the cleared space.
He looked at me. "Show me."
I showed him everything in Jinwoo's bedroom, away from the others. I closed the door, but I didn't lock it. Told him about someone moving my phone and refilling my water glass.
Griffin's hand flexed once, as if he were restraining himself.
"They were in your room."
"Yes."
"I should have stayed."
"You couldn't have prevented—"
"I could have made sure they never got that close." He rubbed the stubble on his chin. "They watched you and touched your things. They wanted you to know—" He stopped himself. Closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the professional mask was back, but I'd seen what lived underneath it.
Something raw. It lodged somewhere between fear and white-hot anger.
"We're going to find them," he insisted. "And we're going to make sure they never get near you again."
He pulled out his phone. "I'm sending Kang to your room now. He'll coordinate with hotel security. They'll pull access logs and check footage." He typed rapidly. "We'll document everything. The water glass. Your phone's position. Anything they might have moved."
"They won't find anything conclusive."
"Probably not, but we'll try." He looked at me again. "And Minjae saw someone filming you during the blackout?"
"Stage right equipment corridor. He's sure."
"I believe him." Griffin's jaw tightened. "I'm pulling yesterday's venue security footage. If someone were there, we'll find them. We'll figure out how they're getting this close." He looked up again. "Then we'll stop them."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
"We need to leave for the venue in twenty minutes," I said. "I can't let whoever this is know I'm rattled."
