Page 9 of Bliss & Her Idols

“Crick is also a hacker,” I explain. “I haven’t told him about the BPU. But he’s been becoming increasingly worried about Jin. He reached out to me to start with because I’m a music journalist who has already run several stories about abuse on my social media. I’m also a member of the fan club. It’s been frustratingly hard to uncover evidence. Then Crick found something on a discord server: a couple of lines from an Idol rulebook that nobody should have access to.”

I click onto a message from Cricket, before holding up the screen between Piper and me.

“Idols must keep the pack’s secrets,” Piper reads out, before his eyes darken with fury. “A rock star Beta who divulges to journalists or fans the Idols’ rules, training regime, or punishments will be matched with an Alpha and Omega in the Pack Bonds TV show. Idols cannot refuse this bond. To reach the top in show business, you must smile to hide the tears…” He breaks off. He’s shaking. He glances up at me. “What. The. Fuck?”

I swallow.

I felt just as shaky, when I first received the evidence from Cricket.

The problem is that I can’t verify it. I can’t publish something as explosive as this without being able to back it up.

Yet nobody will talk.

If the consequences to the Betas is being forced into a pack bond, then I can understand why.

Iwillsolve this mystery.

What’s going on in the Idol camp, which is run by the Idol family?

Like us, the Idols are orphans. Unlike us, they’re all Alphas: two sisters and four brothers.

They’re also billionaires.

Every rumor I’ve unearthed, including blurred paparazzi photos, describes each of them as dazzlingly beautiful and talented in their own right.

Yet they rule the Betas, who are taken into their pack as kids and trained up to become future rock stars, with an iron fist.

Nobody knows how.

I’ll be the first because I’m going to find out.

It’ll be my exclusive — how I break into journalism.

I swipe across on my phone, pressing onto a video edit of vlog clips that Cricket put together for me.

Cricket creates fan edits and incredible montages of Jin from interviews, concerts, and public appearances, which he does for his fan club.

Yet this edit is private.

For the last year, Cricket has developed the theory that Jin has been hiding messages in each appearance, asking for help.

Is it true?

It would be the story of the decade, if it was.

“What’s this?” Piper taps the screen. “This is just the vlog that Jin makes for fans, right? Immortal does one too…not that I watch it. Much. Okay, every day. Twice. Three times, but who’s counting? Why do you think Jin is in more danger than Immortal, for example? Wait, can we rescue Immortal too?”

Alarmed, Piper slams his hands onto the counter almost tipping over the tray.

“Hey, calm down.” I put out soothing pheromones, at the same time as I rest my hand on my brother’s arm. Piper is volatile. He looks ready to march into the nearest recording studio and kidnap Immortal. “Jin is the one who is in troubleright now. If this runs as deep as I think that it may, however, then we’ll save every Idol, Immortal included. Now, watch.”

Piper’s shoulders slump.

He nods.

I glance at the screen.

Jin is seated behind a small table in what looks to be a cheap hotel room. He has shadows under his eyes but he’s still the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.

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