The music shifted to a slower song. Rune's voice carried the melody alone for eight bars. Vulnerable. Exposed.
He glanced toward me once. Checking.
The rehearsal ended at 3:40 PM. The band headed to the green room, breathing hard.
During the dinner break, I found an empty production office and pulled out my phone. Kang had sent the hotel security report: no usable footage and no anomalous access logs. Whoever entered Rune's room had authorization or knew how to fake it.
The door opened. Do-hyun stepped inside, tablet under one arm. He turned the screen toward me without speaking.
Access logs. Credential timestamps.
"Everyone with authorized access to the rehearsal space today," he said. "Cross-referenced against yesterday's show and San Francisco."
Three names appeared across all events. Standard touring personnel. Two other names appeared only for Vancouver. One flagged as temporary venue staff. The other labeled media liaison.
"The venue staff credential shows presence during rehearsal and last night's show," Do-hyun said. "Longer than necessary for load-in support."
"And the media liaison?"
"Three separate accesses to the artist corridor yesterday. No scheduled interviews during those windows."
I absorbed the information. "Has Kang seen this?"
"Not yet. I wanted your input first."
He gave me information before it entered official channels. Before Soo-jin could frame the narrative.
"What's your read?" I asked.
"Authorized access doesn't mean harmless access. Management is interpreting the current silence as the end of the threats."
"It's not resolved."
"I know." Do-hyun picked up his tablet. "Keep watching. Keep documenting. If management asks, you haven't seen this data yet."
I stayed in the empty office after Do-hyun left, thinking about what Eamon had told me once: the most dangerous threats were the ones that looked like they were resolving.
The production meeting started at 5:00 PM.
Kang stood at the head of the table. Management sat along one side, Soo-jin and two others I didn't recognize.
"Morning threat activity," Kang said. "Evidence of room access. Minjae's eyewitness account of unauthorized presence during last night's show. We maintained. enhanced security throughout today's rehearsal. No incidents."
Soo-jin leaned forward. "So the increased visibility worked."
"Possibly," Kang said.
"More than possible." Soo-jin's voice was calm, reasonable. "We implemented appropriate measures. The concerning behavior stopped."
Kang glanced at me briefly. "The absence of visible activity doesn't indicate—"
"It shows exactly what it appears to show," Soo-jin interrupted gently. "Someone was testing boundaries. We reinforced them.The behavior stopped." He looked at Kang. "Unless you have evidence suggesting otherwise?"
"No direct evidence," Kang admitted.
I watched the room shift. A laptop closed and a chair scraped back. The tension wasn't gone. It merely stopped being anyone's responsibility.
Soo-jin turned his attention to me. "Griffin, do you have concerns about the current security posture?"
