The damp pavement made everything smell sharper—wet concrete, river water, and the ever-present pine.
Griffin stayed close without touching. His hands were visible at his sides, not in pockets. Ready.
We turned onto a quieter side street. There were fewer people and more trees. The older buildings were brick and wood instead of glass and steel.
"Fifteen minutes before we need to loop back," Griffin said quietly.
I stopped walking. He stopped immediately at my side. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just—" I stared at the empty street ahead. "I need to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"Not here, but soon. Before we go back."
"Is this about the threat?"
I took a deep breath. "It's about who's behind it."
"You know then," he said.
"95% sure." My voice was steadier than expected. "And I need to tell you before I lose the nerve."
"There's a park two blocks east," Griffin said quietly. "Smaller. Less traffic. Still within approved parameters."
"How do you know that?"
"I walked the entire route this morning before you woke up."
"Okay. There."
The small park held a few benches, a patch of grass, and a single Japanese maple tree with flaming red leaves.
Griffin checked his phone. "Ten minutes before we need to head back." He glanced at Officer Yoon, who'd stopped at the park's edge and turned away from us.
I sat on one of the benches. Griffin sat beside me, leaving the same six inches. For a moment, I simply breathed and watched the leaves move in a slight breeze.
My palms were sweating. The words came out in a rush. "Soo-jin wasn't just management. There was a relationship."
Griffin was still. I kept going.
"It started three years ago. Quiet. Secret. We constructed it on stolen time and the lie that secrecy meant safety." I pressed my thumb against my index finger. "We both understood what exposure would mean."
"What would it mean?" Griffin's voice was calm.
"The end of everything. Not only me. Jinwoo, Taemin, Minjae, everyone who'd sacrificed so much. It would all be gone." I paused. "Not because I loved someone. Because I loved the wrong type of someone."
Griffin scanned the park perimeter, then turned back to me.
"It ended eighteen months ago. His choice. He said it was for the band. He thought we'd gotten too comfortable and believed someone would notice, eventually." I looked at my hands. "He expected me to accept that as a sign of his love and his desire to protect me."
"Did you accept it?"
"No." The word sounded harsh. "I understood it as Soo-jin protecting the machine. Choosing the system over—"
Over me. I didn't speak the final word. I didn't need to.
Griffin was silent.
