Chapter 270 - Comeback (30): An Idol's Stage

Song Tamlin was reading the reports in front of him with a worried face. The private investigator he had hired sent him all the details he could gather.

"The President is out?" Tamlin demanded. "For how long?"

"The past two weeks," the detective replied. "He left the mansion and is now hiding elsewhere. They placed decoys in the mansion to fool the informers and fish out spies."

"What is he planning?" Tamlin questioned.

"All I could find out is that he put particular emphasis on 7A's debut performance," the detective stated. His whole planning was solely on having 7A perform on the same stage as KJ today. He's definitely going to attack your friend there."

Tamlin sat back in worry. The President himself had finally come out of hiding. He no longer cared about public scrutiny. He was going to kill Kwon Jiwon on that stage. But how? 

"How will he do it?" 

"No idea, sir," the detective admitted. "There is no clue on what he is about to do."

There was no other way. He must inform the CEO of Abyss. If he's not wrong, the President was already inside the stadium, probably in some sort of disguise. Tamlin quickly picked up the phone and dialed Mirae's number. 

….

"Is that a mask?" the hitman asked. The President was smiling in a friendly way, masking his sinister thoughts.

"A facade," he replied. "You know what to do."

The hitman looked at the old man. The mask was hiding all his scars well. It looked like real skin and almost impossible to say that it was fake.

"I do," he said, picking up the guitar case. He even found the perfect spot.

"Don't fail," the old man warned.

"I won't," the hitman swore. He could not afford to fail. It was his only shot. The old man nodded and went back, carrying another guitar case. He went back towards the makeup room of 7A. 

The guards had finally broken up the fight. The one stationed for 7A returned to their room to find the old chauffeur patiently waiting for him.

"Ahjusshi, I'll take you to the organizer's room," he said.

"Thank you, son," the chauffeur thanked him gratefully. Together, they headed towards one of the organizer's rooms to get the guitar fixed.

….

The hitman quietly walked along the corridor, passing by the chattering fans. In his casual clothes, no one paid any heed to him. Large groups of fans were walking around, allowing him to blend in easily with them. He had been mapping the building for weeks and had it memorized like the backside of his palm. 

The guards were overwhelmed by the number of fans but managed to efficiently handle the load. They were breaking up the fans into groups, to make the commute towards the stadium easier.

"Group A please go to the right!" one guard instructed. "Group B to the left! Group C stay in line!"

They were so busy maintaining the queues that they did not notice the man with the guitar slipping through the stage and heading towards the very end of the stadium. He pushed past the crowd, almost feeling suffocated until he reached the door to the emergency exit. But he was not going through there. 

Instead, he walked towards a cleaning cabinet right next to it. The room was small and dark, used only for stocking supplies. The hitman pushed the large shelf aside with all his might. He took out a pen and stabbed the grey wall behind it. But it was not a wall.

There was a large hole carved there behind which was a broad passageway. He stumbled upon it by luck a few days ago and camouflaged it with thick paper to hide it. He got into the hole and began to crawl through it until he reached an opening on the other side. 

It was part of the old structure of the stadium which was hidden away after a full renovation. This forgotten area was his route to KJ. There was a narrow staircase which led to the old upper deck of the stadium. From there, he could get a shot of the entire stage and the crowd below without having to worry about the security. There were no cameras in that abandoned place, giving him plenty of opportunity to lock his target.

He calmly climbed on to the upper deck and peered through a hole in the wall. The audience was chanting loudly for their idols. There was another group on that stage, performing some EDM song. KJ was not scheduled for another one and a half hours so all he had to do was wait.

He opened the guitar case. The instrument inside was heavier than usual but thankfully, the guards did not check it well. It was actually a case which he had specifically designed. It can only be unlocked using a password by playing the strings in a particular rhythm. He played the strings and it popped open. 

Inside it was a detached rifle, capable of shooting up to 1500 meters. The distance was enough from his hiding place to the stage. He took out the rifle and attached it.

"It's gonna be a long wait," he sneered.

….

"KJ, we have to cancel this performance!" Mirae declared. She was in KJ's makeup room with Hyun Jung, Somi, Riggs, Dasom and Eli. KJ was sitting there, quietly listening.

"What happened?" Hyun Jung asked.

"Song Tamlin just called," Mirae replied in exasperation. "He just said the President himself is in this building! He must have gotten in with 7A. He'll carry out an assassination but we don't know how!"

"So this is why Ash made 7A debut," Eli realized. "To get access to this building!"

"And the President entered through them," Mirae gritted. "And by now, he must have blended in with the crowd. If we go to confront 7A, they may create the audience to panic! Or worse, they might start open fire!"

"But we're too late to back out," Dasom pointed out. "They've cornered us well. If KJ goes on that stage, he dies and if he doesn't his reputation dies. Either way, we're been trapped."

"The President had misdirected us," Somi said thoughtfully.

"We have to cancel the performance!" Riggs spoke up. "It will be too difficult for us to control the crowd if something happens during the show."

Mirae ran her hands through her hair, feeling helpless. She would not let KJ go on that stage if his life was in danger. There was absolutely no way she would allow that.

"KJ, why aren't you saying anything?" she demanded. "Please just cancel this show!"

To everyone's surprise, KJ let out a laugh. 

"Why are you laughing?" Mirae asked sharply. "This is not funny!"

"I'm sorry I just couldn't help it," he snickered. Even though he was smiling, Mirae could see that his eyes were cold and calculative. He was not scared nor was he laughing from his heart. KJ was angry.

He leaned forward, a strange smile playing on his lips.

"They've made a big mistake coming here," he said quietly. "All this time, we went to their turf to attack them. But today...they're in our area. That stage...that's my home."

His eyes hardened with each word. "It's the place I've lived at for the past decade. The place where I was worshipped by millions. It's not a mere ground for me to perform on. For an idol, that stage is sacred. Once I'm there, no one can ever harm me."

Mirae was about to counter but Dasom cut in.

"He's right," Dasom agreed. "The safest place for an idol is on the stage. No one can kill him there."

"What do you mean?" Mirae frowned, but Dasom was looking at KJ.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he grinned. KJ nodded.

"Don't you think it's time for the Nation's Idol to show what power really is?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "All of you give me your phones."

Puzzled by his demand, they handed their phones to KJ. He took them, one by one, and began to browse on the internet. They watched in confusion as he typed on their phones.

"We have one and a half hours," he said, returning each phone to its respective owners. "Just wait and watch what happens."

His cryptic smile was unsettling them. What did he do?