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The lawyer leaned back, sighing. Then, something occurred to me. Something Joon had only told me recently that surely could be verified.

“ENT has a protection order against her.”

He straightened, eyes fixed on me.

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Does that help?”

“It doesn’t necessarily help us. It was issued in Korea,” he said mildly. “But it won’t help her, either,” he said with a small smile.

The police interviewed me with Monsieur Lallouche present, and it went a lot faster than I expected. He made it clear that this was a preliminary interview while the events were fresh in my mind, but in turn the police were firm that they expected me to attend the station the following day to make a formal statement.

The police knew more than me, which considering I still had no idea what had happened, or why, wasn’t a stretch. They told us that the taxi driver and the other passenger had been detained and were being questioned.

Handing over my side of events had required some backstory in order to add context as to why Hana Park had lured me into the taxi, and why there had been a paparazzo in the car with us.

I told them the dates of my prior employment with ENT, when I’d met Hana, and our relationship as colleague and friends – although the words tasted bitter in my mouth.

They wanted to know about Hana’s involvement with the group, and why she would have come all the way to Paris to target me, specifically.

The lawyer held up his hand as I opened my mouth to reply.

“Miss Thompson can tell you what she witnessed today and explain to you her history with Ms Park. Unless she has direct knowledge of Ms Park’s intentions, anything further would be speculation.”

I fell silent. They’d confirmed they were holding Hana for questioning. She hadn’t been formally arrested. Airport police had detained her once Youngsoo had raised the alert that someone with an active restraining order had breached it, seemingly travelling specifically to do so.

Once again, I was amazed at the speed with which this had escalated.

I couldn’t help wondering what she was saying. If she was being interviewed now, as I was. What she might say to get herself out of this. What leverage she might still have.

And then, even as I’d had hours to process what had occurred, it only then hit me.

Hana was in Paris.

Hana had come to Paris for me, apparently, to put me in a locked car with a paparazzi. A paparazzi who had asked me such direct questions that there could be no doubt in what Hana had told her. What evidence she might have shown her to persuade her to get in the car.

Ice slipped down my spine, and my stomach clenched, because suddenly it felt like everything was about to change, and I wasn’t prepared. I had never been prepared for this possibility – of a world where everyone knew everything.

I tried to drag air in through my open mouth, and I put a shaking hand on the table to steady myself, trying to push the mounting panic down to a more manageable level.

“I suggest we pause the interview for now,” the lawyer continued, addressing the two officers sitting across from us.

They looked at each other before agreeing.

“We will make arrangements to come to the station in the morning,” Monsieur Lallouche said decisively. He stood, gesturing for me to follow and I rose unsteadily to my feet, calmer now that action was being taken.

The officers handed me their cards and asked that I think carefully on the events of this morning, which felt like redundant advice. I doubted I’d be able to think of anything else.

After the police left, Monsieur Lallouche and I had briefly met with some of the department heads that accompanied the tour. It was broadly agreed that this would not involve the group, and would be handled separately, without any involvement or mention of them, for as long as possible, regardless of any connection to me.

No one said it, but everyone in that room had made some sort of assumption about the nature of my relationship with Jihoon. The man had literally sprinted through traffic to come after me. I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with that. Not yet.

It was also agreed that I would not be expected to cover the Paris stop in as much detail as I would have before. I would still be expected to write about the concerts, but I would be accompanied by a security detail.

I heard the words, and I understood the caution, but I didn’t feel like I was properly absorbing it. It seemed ludicrous. Me? A security detail? Who the hell was I to need security? Frankly, I was surprised ENT was putting in the effort. The lawyer I could understand, but everything else was unexpected. Maybe that was cynical of me, but I had come to expect them to care about their artists, and very little else.

Youngsoo was waiting for me afterwards. It was barely midday, and already my feet were dragging.