Jongdae’s new favorite pastime (and by favorite he means least favorite) was avoiding calls from Detective Choi. His other favorite pastime was dealing with Jongsu’s grandma who was trying to micromanage his mom’s funeral.

“I think we are just going to have a small ceremony” Jongdae said one afternoon. Mrs. Oh had completely relocated to the city so she was as big a part of Jongdae’s life as possible.

“That’s not very honorable is it?” Mrs. Oh responded, “We should have a big service and a wake”

“Mrs. Oh I don’t want to be rude to my mother or her memory but to be honest I have so much right now I cannot plan a whole other ceremony and I also cannot afford it”

“Money shouldn’t stop you from respecting your mother.” Mrs. Oh said. Jongdae agreed, however money is what was going to stop him from respecting his mother.

“She wouldn’t have wanted a big ceremony.” Jongdae lied. There was nothing saying she wanted a big ceremony, he just knew from all the years he knew her that she would have settled for nothing less than the biggest ceremony Jongdae could possibly muster.

He sighed and leaned back. The one nice thing about this conversation is that they met in Minseok’s coffee shop, and although Baekhyun wasn’t there Jongdae still felt safe. Luhan made eye contact with him from the counter and winked before walking back to the office.

“Well if that's what she would have wanted.” Mrs. Oh said with a dainty sigh. Luhan returned with two cups of coffee,

“On the house” He said, winking at Jongdae. Jongdae grabbed his cup but was surprised to feel it was cold. He trusted Luhan and took a sip. It was not coffee. It was definitely alcohol. He tried to not react but ended up coughing at the sudden taste filling his mouth. He turned around to glare at Luhan who just winked at him again.

“What’s wrong dear did he mess up your order?”

“Oh no no he just, added something different.” Jongdae assured Mrs. Oh. He could hear Luhan laughing behind him. He took the gesture as a gift and took another sip of his spiked coffee. Maybe it would help him through the rest of the day.

Jongdae got home a few hours before he had to go pick up Jongsu from school and decided to clean the house a little and maybe take a nap. He didn’t get very far when there was a firm knock on his door. He opened the door to Choi Siwon marching into his house, followed by the CPS agent, Kim Kibum.

“Mr. Kim. We were recently informed of an incident at your nephew's school and of your recent unemployment.” Detective Choi said.

“How did you hear about either of those?” The only people who knew those things were the school. He hadn’t even told Baekhyun he had quit his job.

“That’s none of your concern.” Detective Choi smiled, “I just have a couple of quick questions for you”

“And him?” Jongdae glanced at the CPS agent.

“We had to let him out otherwise he gets anxious. Nothing to worry about”

“Okay, would you like some coffee? Or tea?”

“Tea would be lovely.” Kim Kibum said, reading the titles of the books on Jongdae’s shelf like he is going to find one titled ‘how to be a bad uncle’

“Okie dokie.” Jongdae sighed and went to the kitchen.

“So now that you’re unemployed what are you going to do?” Detective Choi asked casually once they were seated around Jongdae’s tiny dinner table piled high with books and papers.

“I fail to see how that’s relevant to you finding who murdered my brother.”

“It’s not I suppose.”

“Speaking of, have you made any progress? I would like this to end as soon as possible.” Jongdae said.

“I would as well Mr. Kim. I just have one more quick question for you. We have narrowed it down to a few people we just need a little bit more information.”

“Okay”

“I know we have already talked about him but what do you know about Park Chanyeol?”

“Nothing. Is that it?”

“Come on you have to know something.”

“I know he dated Byun Baekhyun for a while and then they broke up and now he’s back in town but that’s honestly it.” Jongdae said. He felt uncomfortable suddenly, not just with the questions but with the idea that they were presenting.

“Alright alright.”

“So it looks like you’re looking for a new house.” Kim Kibum remarked, reading some of the papers on Jongdae’s table.

“Yes. There is no need for Jongsu and I to stay in this huge house alone. We will probably find an apartment or something smaller and more fitted to us. Besides this is where his grandma and dad lived and it has a lot of sour memories for Jongsu” Jongdae said, “are we done here? I have to go pick up my nephew from school.”

“Alright I’ll call you if anything comes up” Choi Siwon stared at Jongdae with a calculating glare.

“Great.” Jongdae stared back but probably not quite as intimidatingly. He walked them to the door and closed it with finality. He quickly called Taeyeon,

“Hey I need a huge favor from you, can you go pick up Jongsu from school and take him home?......yeah she can come I don’t care. I just have something quick to take care of. I’ll buy dinner for everyone. Thanks so much T!”

He glanced out the blinds and watched Detective Choi’s car drive away.