“It’s getting late,” Jongin said, plopping himself down on the passenger seat of their car. “Let’s call it a day.”

“No, let’s make one more stop,” Minseok said, starting the engine. “Let’s go visit our neighbour.”

“Oh Sehun?” Jongin asked, looking at his notes as Minseok started driving. “Also known as H-K-K-M-R-9-4 or hikikomori 94, allegedly one of the people who weren’t happy at the outing because of the mudslinging match that might or might not have happened, and responded strongly to the victim’s bullying.” He looked at Minseok. “And we know that bit’s true because of the messages in the victim’s inbox.”

“What messages?”

“‘Suho’ sent him insulting messages about being a mama’s boy, and he responded with choice four-letter words,” Jongin said, flipping through his notes once again. “Or maybe that’s just a normal, everyday conversation that us ‘outsiders’ will never understand,” he added in a mutter.

“Auntie Oh never mentioned that she has a son though,” Minseok said. “Have you seen him around?”

“I’ve never even met your so-called Auntie Oh.”

“We should try to be more neighbourly. I want to settle here.”

Jongin put his notepad down to look at Minseok. “I thought you’re not into settling down?”

“What gives you that idea?”

“Isn’t that why we’ve been moving around so much?” Jongin asked. “Because you get bored of seeing the same faces and the same places everyday?”

“That’s the beauty of this place,” Minseok said. “We’ve been here for weeks but we’ve barely met anybody, not even our next door neighbour. Everything is so different here. It’s fascinating to imagine spending the rest of our lives in this town.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Jongin asked.

Minseok glanced at him before returning his eyes to the road as he drove uphill towards their destination. “Give this town a chance. It’s perfect for us.”

“It’s been weeks but it hasn’t grown on me at all, what with the murder and the freaks we’ve been meeting.”

“You don’t like having a job to do?”

Jongin hesitated. “No, it’s not that, it’s just- I don’t know, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m not giving this town a chance.”

“You’ll like it eventually,” Minseok said, bringing the car to a stop in front of the house a fair way away from, but technically next to, theirs. “Let’s go meet our neighbour.”

“Who may be a murderer,” Jongin said under his breath as he got out of the car. He caught a glimpse of someone peeking through the curtains from inside the house out of the corner of his eye, but dismissed it as an illusion caused by fatigue when a direct scrutiny revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

Minseok walked up to the front door and took hold of the elaborate metal doorknocker to hit it against the door.

“Thank god we don’t have one of those on our door. I used to think not having a doorbell was weird enough,” Jongin said, earning him a disapproving look from Minseok.

“The houses here have more individuality than the ones in the city,” Minseok said. “I think that’s something worth admiring.”

Jongin nodded and they continued waiting in silence. “Maybe you should knock again.”

Minseok rapped the doorknocker a few more times. “I hope somebody’s home.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be a shut-in?” Jongin asked. “Why call yourself a hikikomori if you’re not one?”

“You can be anything online. Isn’t that what we’ve learned?” Minseok said, before quickly returning his attention to the door when it was practically wrenched open.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting guests,” a woman who was presumably Oh Sehun’s mother, or Auntie Oh, said breathlessly, fixing an apparently quickly pulled on full-length satin robe and self-consciously patting down her long hair, before looking at Minseok and giving him a bright, genial smile. “You’re my neighbour. Minseok, right?”

“Yes, and this is my partner– my work partner, Jongin,” Minseok said, smiling back at her. “We live in the same house, but I don’t think you’ve met him.”

“I don't think so either,” she said, sounding oddly affected. “Nice to meet you, Jongin.”

Jongin gave a curt nod. Everything about this woman was exaggerated. Jongin didn’t think he would like her the slightest bit.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” Minseok continued.

“No, no, of course not,” she said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We’re here to see your son,” Minseok said. “We need to talk to him about something.”

“My son?” she asked, lowering her gaze to register what her two visitors were wearing, a confused smile frozen on her face. “Is he in trouble?”

“No, we just need to ask him a few questions.”

“I see,” she said, stepping back before once again stretching her lips into a megawatt grin. “Come on in.”

Jongin followed as Minseok entered the house, and they were both led to the spacious living room.

“Can I get you anything?” Oh Sehun’s mother asked, gesturing for them to sit on the couch in the living room.

“No, thank you,” Minseok said, smiling at her.

“I just made a fresh batch of biscuits and you have to try them,” she said, heading to the back of the house. “They’re absolutely scrumptious.”

“We’re just here to have a quick chat with your son,” Jongin said, but she was well out of earshot.

She returned to the living room with a large plate of biscuits, which she placed on the coffee table in front of the couch, before sitting herself down beside Minseok. “What do you need to talk to him about?”

“I think it’s best if we speak with him directly,” Jongin said, frowning as Minseok reached for a biscuit.

“I can pass the message on to him.”

“We’re investigating the death of one of his friends,” Jongin said, done beating around the bush.

“Which friend is this?” she asked, her smile dropping slightly.

“I don’t think you’d know him. He was an online friend,” Minseok said. He lifted the half-eaten biscuit in his hand. “This is really good, by the way.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at Minseok, before turning to Jongin. “If you’re investigating it then it has to be a local death, but I haven’t heard anything.”

“Everything’s still in the early stages,” Minseok said, finishing the biscuit.

“What’s his name?” she asked. “I know everybody in this town.”

“Kim Joonmyun.”

“Suho?”

Jongin looked at her, taken aback. “You know about the local online forum?”

“Yes,” she said. “My son goes on there a lot.”

“Anyway, we just need to ask your son a few questions,” Minseok said. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Just simple questions about the last time he saw Kim Joonmyun and the likes.”

“Why is that important?”

“Look, lady-”

“We’re just making sure that we know all the facts,” Minseok interrupted, shooting Jongin a warning glance.

“My son didn’t kill him, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Not at all, this is just routine questioning,” Minseok said.

“And I think you should let your son speak for himself,” Jongin added.

“You want to know about the last time he saw Kim Joonmyun?” she asked.

“Yes, and we’d like to know about it from him,” Jongin said pointedly.

“Let’s cut the bull,” she, or rather, he, said, dropping the fake, affected voice he had been maintaining and pulling the wig off his head and flinging it onto the armrest. “I saw him on Wednesday last week.”

Jongin stared at him. “Oh Sehun?”

“When you went to the waterfall on an outing?” Minseok asked, apparently unruffled.

“Yes,” Sehun said, running his fingers through his hair to fix it. “To both questions.”

“Who did you go there with?”

“The rest of the forum members.”

“How many of you were there?”

“Nine.”

“What did you do at the waterfall?”

Sehun paused, apparently deep in thought. “We got there at around lunchtime, so we had lunch first. Then some people wanted to swim, but most of us were too full for that, so we decided to play a game first.”

“A game?” Jongin asked, flipping through his notepad when he finally got over his initial shock.

“We had one on one verbal matches. Those who couldn’t think of a comeback or those who got angry lost and had to dunk themselves in the water.”

“Who won that game?” Minseok asked.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I couldn’t care less about the final match.”

“Why?”

“It was between the two people that I really don’t care for.”

“Who?” Jongin prompted.

“Kim Joonmyun and Zhang Yixing.”

“Zhang Yixing?” Jongin asked, looking down at his notes.

“He goes by ‘The Fiend’,” Sehun said flatly. “A if I ever saw one.”

“You’re not a big fan of Kim Joonmyun either,” Jongin remarked.

“No, but I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”

“Why didn’t you like him?”

“He wasn’t very nice to me,” Sehun said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

“What happened after you played that game?” Minseok asked.

“Most of us were soaked, so we swam for a bit. I don’t know what the people who didn’t swim did.”

“Who went swimming and who didn’t?” Jongin asked.

“I know Joonmyun didn’t because he said he didn’t see any point in getting himself wet – I guess that meant he won the verbal match. Anyway, I’m not sure about the others. I think most of us swam, including me.” Sehun paused. “Oh, I think Baekhyun didn’t because he didn’t want Thorny to get wet.”

“You know all their names,” Jongin commented.

“Playing woman of the year has its perks.”

“What’s with that anyway?” Jongin asked. “Why the hell would you cross dress as your mother on a daily basis?”

“I don’t think that has any relevance to your investigation,” Sehun said, giving Jongin a bland smile.

“What did you do after you were done swimming?” Minseok asked, trying to get them back on track.

“We sat by the rock pool and chatted, trying to find out more about each other, or at least find out more about each other's online personas. Then Joonmyun said that he wanted to speak with each of us privately.”

“He talked to all of you?” Jongin asked.

“I think so.”

“What did he say to you?” Minseok asked.

“He said he knew my secret.”

“What secret?” Jongin asked.

“Have a guess.”

Jongin’s eyes automatically dropped to the presumably fake s jutting out from beneath the thin satin robe Sehun was wearing, and he quickly turned away, clearing his throat. “Was he the only person who found out your secret?”

“Did I kill him to keep his mouth shut?” Sehun said. “No.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“A lot of people know. They just don’t say anything about it.”

“What happened after Kim Joonmyun talked to you in private?” Minseok asked.

“I went back to join the others, and he called more people aside, one at a time,” Sehun said. “When he had spoken to all of us, he came back and announced that the outing was over and we could head home whenever we wanted.”

“What time was it then?”

“Dusk.”

“When did you go back?”

“I was the last to leave.”

“Why?” Jongin asked.

“I had to change and put my wig and makeup back on before I returned to town.”

“Wait,” Jongin said. “Did you go there dressed as your mother too?”

“Yes. I was the first to arrive and then I changed in the woods.”

“Did Kim Joonmyun leave earlier than you?” Minseok asked.

Sehun nodded. “He left just before I did.”

“Was that the last time you saw him?”

“Yes.”

“I think that’s all we need to ask you for now,” Minseok said, shifting to get off the couch.

“Can you help us put names to the rest of the usernames?” Jongin asked quickly.

“It’s your job to find out, but sure,” Sehun said. “What do you want to know?”

“Can you tell us who 1lonewolf is?”

“Kim Jongdae.”

“What about sone0530?”

“Huang Zitao.”

“So byuntaeng is…” Jongin trailed off, scanning his notes.

“Park Chanyeol,” Sehun said. “I guess those are the people you haven’t talked to?”

Jongin nodded and stood up. “Thank you for your help.”

Minseok stood up as well. “We might be in touch soon.”

“Okay,” Sehun said, seeing them out, a bright, affected smile back on his face. “Best of luck with the rest of your investigation.”

“Thank you,” Jongin mumbled, heading towards the car, leaving Minseok by the front door.

“I’ll bring you more biscuits someday,” Sehun added.

“That’ll be great,” Minseok said, smiling at him, turning to leave only when Sehun had closed the door.

“You don’t think that’s weird?” Jongin asked as soon as Minseok entered the car.

“He must have his reasons,” Minseok said, starting the engine.

“If he is his mother, then where’s the real Auntie Oh?”

“I don’t know,” Minseok said distractedly, turning around to look through the rear windshield as he reversed the car. “Maybe she passed away and he wants to keep her alive.”

“You don’t think that’s weird?”

Minseok waited until he had reversed the car onto the main road, before turning to frown at Jongin. “Anybody can do anything for whatever reason. It’s not our place to judge.”

Jongin hesitated, before giving a sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

“He- She makes good biscuits anyway,” Minseok said, starting to drive down the road towards their house. “You should’ve tried one. You would’ve loved it.”

“Maybe next time,” Jongin said, more than ready to call it a day. “I wonder what kind of people we’d meet tomorrow.”