"They are when you can't see the danger clearly enough to protect yourself." He checked his watch. "You've always beenidealistic. It's what makes your lyrics so powerful. Unfortunately idealism rots into recklessness when it puts others at risk."
"I'm not putting anyone at risk."
"Not intentionally. But intention doesn't matter when the outcome is harm."
People get hurt when systems destabilize.
It wasn’t a prediction. It was a framework. Comply, and the machine would keep everyone safe. Resist, and harm would arrive without fingerprints.
I understood the rules now.
I had to decide whether love was worth the cost.
Chapter thirteen
Griffin - LA - May 11
The crowd density was wrong at LAX.
I counted the phones first. Eighteen raised above heads in the front row. Twenty-three visible bodies pressed against soft barriers designed for queuing, not containment. And more behind them, unseen.
We’d planned for fifty people.
As we rounded a corner, I realized the total crowd was over three times that. The noise followed, voices layered over each other in Korean and English, rising in pitch as the formation came into view.
I was three bodies back from Rune in the formation. Too far.
Kang led point with two local security contractors I didn’t know. Soyeon and another handler flanked the band members.
It would have worked in a controlled environment. This was far from controlled.
"Kang." I was just loud enough for him to hear. "Density's too high."
He didn't turn around. He spoke sharply into his radio in Korean. Someone responded. He didn't like the answer.
I closed the gap between myself and Rune, an instinctive response. His shoulders were tight under his oversized hoodie, head down, earbuds in. He was bracing for impact.
I wanted to put my hand on his spine. Ground him the way I had in San Francisco and Portland. Let him feel he wasn't alone.
Couldn't. Not here. Not where cameras would catch it and turn my touch into another narrative.
The barricades were twenty feet ahead. Bodies pressed forward, phones extended like offerings. Taemin was beside Rune, already performing trademark smiles. Jinwoo set his jaw. Minjae looked young and overwhelmed.
The first breach happened at the left barricade.
A girl in a Violet Frequency tour shirt ducked under the retractable belt. The contractor nearest her reached out to redirect, but hesitated. I knew he didn't want to put his hands on a fan. It would be bad optics. She slipped past him.
Two more followed.
Containment collapsed.
Voices escalated from calls to shouts. They called out "Rune!" and "Taemin!" The soft barriers buckled.
Screams of excitement broke out. Bodies surged forward, pressure coming from behind.
Kang barked into his radio. I heard the strain in his voice.
A handler froze. She stopped moving, overwhelmed by the compression of bodies and noise.
