“Come in. I’ve been expecting you.”

“You’ve been expecting us?” Jongin asked. Naturally, his and Minseok’s next stop was the house walking distance from where they left their car. If the grimy ute parked out front wasn’t telling enough, the ‘Lu’ written in cursive script on the mailbox confirmed that they were at the right place.

“Kyungsoo told me that Suho’s been murdered and you think we did it,” Lu Han said, casually sauntering further inside the house as he spoke, leaving the two policemen with no choice but to follow him.

“We’re just checking all the possibilities,” Jongin said, stealthily looking around the small house. Similar to Kim Joonmyun’s shed, it seemed homey, but it could be anybody’s home. There was something superficial about the coziness of both places.

“He told me you’d say that.” Lu Han turned around to face them. “Tea? Coffee?”

“No, thank you,” Minseok said. “You know why we’re here so we can just cut to the chase. I assume you went to the outing in the woods on Wednesday last week?”

“Yes,” Lu Han said, sitting himself down on an armchair and gesturing for them to sit on the adjacent couch.

“With the rest of the Loners Club,” Jongin added.

Lu Han blinked. “Who?”

“The Loners Club,” Jongin repeated. “The online forum?”

“I don’t know where you got that name from. We don’t call ourselves anything.”

Jongin crossed out the name on his notepad, somewhat puzzled.

“How many people did you go with?” Minseok asked.

“Eight, including Suho,” Lu Han said. “And there were still eight of them when I left.”

“Apparently you were the first one to leave?”

“I was, along with Kyungsoo.”

“Why was that?”

“Because Kyungsoo had something to do.”

Jongin frowned at his notes. “That’s not what the others said.”

“Really?” Lu Han said, completely unperturbed. “I guess memories get a bit hazy after more than a week.”

“What did he have to do?” Minseok asked.

“I don’t remember, but it was something trivial like charging his phone or something.”

“What did you do at the outing?”

“Nothing much. We had lunch, swam in the rock pool, and that’s about it.”

“We heard you played a game,” Jongin prompted.

“What game?” Lu Han asked.

“A mudslinging match.”

“Is that what you call a conversation?”

“Are you saying that you didn’t play a game during the outing?” Minseok asked.

“Yes,” Lu Han said. “I think I’d remember if we did.”

“Did everybody enjoy the outing?” Jongin asked.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I did.”

“There was no ill feeling at all?” Minseok asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“We heard that Kim Joonmyun – Suho talked to you in private,” Jongin said.

There was a slight but noticeable hesitation before Lu Han spoke. “Did Kyungsoo tell you that?”

“Does it matter?”

Lu Han sighed softly and shook his head. “To answer your question, yes, Suho did talk to me.”

“What did he say?” Minseok asked.

“It wasn’t anything important.”

“Humour us,” Jongin said.

“He said that he could see through my act,” Lu Han said after a momentary pause.

“What does that mean?” Minseok asked.

“Damned if I know.”

“Speaking of acting,” Jongin said, flipping through his notes. “Someone mentioned that all of you were ‘in character’ during the outing.”

“In character as our online selves?” Lu Han asked. “That could be what Suho was referring to. I wasn’t all that keen to roleplay.”

“You use an interesting username,” Minseok remarked. “Lilu is a demon, isn’t it? Is that what your online persona is?”

“No, it’s an inside joke of sorts,” Lu Han said, stifling a smile.

“An inside joke?”

“For the longest time Mr. Do thought I was a Li instead of a Lu.”

“Mr. Do?”

“Kyungsoo’s father.”

“I didn’t realize he has family,” Jongin said. Do Kyungsoo’s house had looked every inch like a bachelor pad.

“He doesn't. His father passed away when he was sixteen.”

“I suppose you’ve known Do Kyungsoo for a while?”

“Yes, we grew up together.”

“But you’re not close to the others?” Jongin asked. “This is a small town. I find it hard to believe that you don’t even know each other’s names.”

“I guess you don't know since you’re both outsiders,” Lu Han said bluntly. “We don’t really socialize in this town. Most, if not all, of us were homeschooled, and if you haven’t noticed, there aren’t any places to hang out or anything. We recognize each other’s faces, but I don’t see a reason to learn each other’s names.”

“Do you know if anybody’s close to Kim Joonmyun in real life?” Minseok asked.

Lu Han shook his head. “Even if someone was close to him, it could’ve been strictly offline.”

“We heard that the members of the online forum weren’t particularly fond of him,” Jongin said.

“I didn’t mind him. He could get a bit excessive sometimes with the teasing, but it didn’t really bother me.”

“What about the rest?”

“I can only speak based on what happened in the public chat space, but I think the fanboys might not have liked him very much," Lu Han said.

“The fanboys?” Minseok asked.

“Sone0530 and byuntaeng.”

“Why do you think that they didn’t like him?”

“I think Suho called them out the most in the chat space.”

“Called them out?”

“He’d insult the group that they like, or their favourite members. They’d call him names or something in retaliation.” Lu Han paused. “Come to think of it, they were getting pretty riled up during the outing.”

“What happened?” Minseok asked.

“Suho said things that he’d usually say, but I guess since he said it to their faces, things got more heated than usual. It wasn’t a full-blown fight or anything though. I think they talked it out in private.”

“Who else did he talk to in private?”

“All of us, if I remember correctly.”

“Are those two the only ones who didn’t seem to like him?” Jongin asked.

“It’s difficult to say. He used to tease all of us, and some of us responded more strongly than others.”

"For example?”

“Hikikomori94.” Lu Han gave a slight shrug. “1lonewolf sometimes?”

“Did anybody else respond negatively to his so-called teasing?”

“If we’re nitpicking, then I think all of us have at one point or another, but none of us hated him enough to kill him.”

“That’s not what we’re implying,” Minseok said quickly.

“Right,” Lu Han scoffed.

“We heard that the online forum is an exclusive place that you can only join by invitation,” Jongin said, changing the subject.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And Kim Joonmyun invited you to join by mail.”

Lu Han nodded. “He left a note in my mailbox.”

“Do you know why he chose you and the rest of the members?”

“He never told us why, but the only thing I can think of is that he might’ve invited all the young local males.”

“The nine of you are the only young men in this town?” Jongin asked dubiously.

“We’re the only local young men,” Lu Han stressed. “Born and bred.”

“We also heard that there’s a rule saying that you have to be single to remain a member,” Minseok said.

“It’s a silly rule, but yes.”

“Do you think there might be someone who’s not too happy with that rule?”

“Not enough to kill,” Lu Han said, obviously amused.

“Maybe not to that extent, but do you think there might have been discontentment within the group?”

“Maybe,” Lu Han said, chuckling. “Frankly, I think the members are made up of people who desperately need to get laid and people who are sick of getting laid.”

“Which one are you?” Jongin asked.

“The latter,” Lu Han said without hesitation. “The ute’s a chick magnet.”

“What happens if you don’t want to be a member anymore?” Minseok asked. “Can you just leave?”

“That has never happened before, so I don’t know.”

“Have any of you mentioned leaving before?”

“I don’t think any of us have ever even thought of leaving. We’ve joked about moving to a different town, but I’m sure none of us really meant it.”

“Why not?” Jongin asked.

“Why would we?”

“So you can go out and live, interact with real people, make real friends, and possibly find love instead of just staring at a computer screen all day.”

“You outsiders will never understand,” Lu Han said, shaking his head. “The forum hasn’t been around our whole lives anyway. I think we’ve done enough living beforehand.”

“Well, thank you for your time,” Minseok said, standing up. “We might contact you again in the next few days.”

“Let me just add that not everything happens online,” Lu Han said, standing up as well to show the policemen to the front door.

“What do you mean?” Jongin asked, stepping out of the house.

“Exactly what I said,” Lu Han said simply. “We do have lives outside of the internet.”

Minseok nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind.”