Jongin found it difficult to not stare at the haggard-looking person sitting across from him. It had been more than two weeks since he had started working at the local police station, but other than answering the occasional complaint phone calls, he had absolutely nothing to do. The small town was about as quiet and peaceful as a place could get. He wondered how long it would take for him to morph into a stereotypical television policeman, sitting in front of a computer all day long, using up the satellite broadband data usage while munching on doughnuts bought from the service station, safeguarding a paunch instead of the town.

In a way, the haggard-looking guest was a welcomed change, but the bull he was spouting was something Jongin didn't quite know how to deal with. Where was Minseok when he needed him?

“So let me get this straight,” Jongin said, looking at what he had managed to scribble down while the man had gone on what could only be called a fit of hysterics. “You think that someone has been missing for a week. Is that right?”

The man nodded weakly. “Maybe more. I’m not sure.”

Jongin rifled through the under desk filing cabinet drawer for a missing person report form. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out one of the photocopied forms in the file and placed it on his desk, ready to start filling out a report for what was probably nothing. “What’s his name?”

The man hesitated. “I don’t know.”

Jongin looked at him, frowning. “You don’t know.”

“We don’t use our real names,” the man mumbled, averting his eyes.

“You don’t use your real names.”

“We met online.” The man glanced at Jongin, before hastily returning his gaze downwards.

Jongin placed the pen in his hand down and leaned back in his chair. This must be some kind of bad joke. He supposed the locals were just as bored as he was. If this guy was the best liar the town had to offer, then he had nothing to worry about save for wasted time and strained patience. “What’s your name?”

“Do Kyungsoo,” the man said, a hint of confusion in his tone.

“Do you have a job?”

“I’m a student, but that’s not important.” Kyungsoo gestured at the blank form on the desk. “Aren’t you going to fill that out?”

“I’m not filing a report just because someone hasn’t been online for the past week and you think he’s gone AWOL.”

“That’s not why I’m here. We went on an outing last week and I haven’t seen him since.”

Jongin sighed, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. He might as well humour this stranger. “Do you usually see him?”

“Around town. We don’t meet up or anything, but we usually run into each other at the shops.”

“So he lives in this town.”

Kyungsoo nodded.

“You’re the only person who’s reported someone missing. Wouldn’t someone else notice first? A family member or a colleague?”

“I think he lives alone.” Kyungsoo paused, brows furrowed as he thought. “I don’t know if he works.”

“Do you know his address?”

“No, but I think he might have said something about living close to the woods.”

“What does he look like?”

“He’s about my height, short black hair, brown eyes.”

“What about his build?”

“Average, I guess?” Kyungsoo said hesitantly. “Medium?”

“Any identifying features?”

Kyungsoo shook his head.

That could be anybody in town. Hell, he could be describing Minseok for all Jongin knew. Where was Minseok anyway? He said he was going out 'for a bit', but he had been gone for hours now. “You said you saw him last at an outing?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “We went to the waterfall with the rest of the group last Wednesday.”

“What group?”

“We’re like an online community. That outing was the first time we met as a group in real life.”

“How many of you went?”

“Nine including myself.”

“Hmm,” Jongin said listlessly. “And yet you’re the only one who seems to think that he’s gone missing.”

“We’re not very close to each other,” Kyungsoo mumbled.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I’m worried about him.”

“You’re worried about someone you don’t know?”

“He’s a friend.”

“You don’t know his name,” Jongin pointed out.

“His real name. The best part of being in an online community is that you can be whoever you want. I know him as who he wants to be, and not who life forces him to be.”

“Save the lecture,” Jongin muttered. “I can’t help you find a missing virtual friend.”

“Isn’t that one of the things you’re paid to do?”

“It’s a dead-end case. We don’t have a name, a face, or an address. We don’t even know if he’s actually missing.”

Kyungsoo hesitated, seemingly deep in thought. He finally breathed out an audible sigh and looked up at Jongin. “Where’s the Chief Commissioner?”

“On holiday.”

Kyungsoo nodded and stood up, disappointment obvious on his face. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

Jongin gave a dismissive wave of the hand and returned the form he had taken back to the under desk filing cabinet drawer as Kyungsoo left the station. Now he was back to whiling away his time doing nothing. He eyed the computer on the desk, wondering if he should waste his time googling crap that he didn’t want to know, but quickly directed his gaze to the entrance when he noticed somebody walking in.

“Where have you been?”

“The other guys were showing me how they do things here,” Minseok said, eyes twinkling with excitement. “And guess what?”

“What?”

“We have a case.”

Jongin looked at him questioningly. “I can tell that you’ve been extremely bored. What is it? Did someone steal a neighbour’s garden gnome?”

“They found a body in the rock pool in the woods.”

“A body?”

“He was distended almost beyond recognition, so I’d say he’s been in there for a week or two.”

“Slow down,” Jongin interrupted. “A body?”

“Yeah. A dead man,” Minseok said flippantly. “They reckon it’s murder.”

“You’re a patrol officer, not a homicide detective,” Jongin pointed out.

“I am from today, and so are you.”

“But I like doing desk work,” Jongin said, frowning. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not something you can just decide out of the blue.”

“The Chief has been on holiday ever since we started working here, and the other two are planning to leave town this weekend, so we’re in charge of this case.”

Jongin stared at him. “What kind of logic is that? Can’t they get someone qualified to come in?”

“Didn’t you hear what the Chief told us on our first day? What happens in this town stays in this town.”

Jongin sighed. This was a hick town. Of course. “Why do you think it’s murder?”

“The water’s not deep enough to accidentally drown in.”

“How do you know it’s not suicide?”

“There are obviously easier ways to die, but it could be.” Minseok shrugged. “We’ll have to look into that.”

“Do we even know who the dead guy is?”

“Yeah, he had ID on him surprisingly. The other guys thought he looked familiar too, although a bit more bloated and, you know, dead.”

“So who is he?”

“A hermit who lived in a shed near the woods,” Minseok said. “Somebody called Kim Joonmyun.”