Archive of Our Own

 Seokmin had his head in his hands, elbows on his desk and he sighed every three minutes. It was nice weather, perfect, rather, and yet he was stuck at work.

It wasn’t even like he had any cases to do, he came in every day over the fact that ‘we might need you on the day you disappear!’ by his coworkers. He groaned. He could get up and walk out right now and not regret it, it would be worth it. It would be so worth it.

He dropped his hands and walked over to the window. The sun was shining and yet he was holed up in the office, waiting for someone to come in claiming they had a case that just absolutely needed his attention, so much attention, in fact, that he couldn’t take a day off. He scoffed. He was leaving.

Grabbing his bag in the other corner of the room, he was about to log out of his computer when the door opened and a thick manila folder was slapped onto his desk. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to flip the table. He slowly stood straight and looked his coworker in the eye, as if to tell him, ‘What the fuck.’

He simply shook his head. “They want you for this one, boss. Seems right up your alley.” Seokmin sighed and picked it up, flipping it open and seeing the autopsy report of a Yejun Hong, multiple files on his extended family and background. Seokmin’s eyes already burned.

“Why is this up my alley? What am I doing now, for Christs sake?” He reluctantly dropped his bag and flopped into his seat, looking up at his co detective, waiting for an answer.

“Because,” He leaned down to flip the pages of the still open folder, coming to a profile on a Jisoo Hong. He saw nothing more than his ID photo and his name before he looked back up. “You need to go here,” He pointed at an address. “And interrogate him and his staff. We’re trying to get answers. We’ve been on this case for about a week and none of the leads we had took off. The man in suspect is now everyone in that house. So, you’re going.” He clapped his hands and turned, leaving a baffled Seokmin.

“Wait!” He turned. “I still don’t get why I’m the one doing this. We have other private investigators you could get on this.”

“Listen Seokmin, you’re the smartest. You can read into things best, and plus you haven’t gotten much exposure to this kind of business. It would be good for you.” Seokmin went to open his mouth to argue back, but was cut off. “And chief agrees!” Seokmin groaned again. He stared at the profile photo, not bothering to read much more other than the address.

Instructions from his chief led him to understand that he needed to weed information out of the twelve people living in this house. Really, he was just trying to make someone confess.

The autopsy said Yejun Hong was murdered around two months ago, and when the academy got the files back, they waited on it, and sent various people to check out where he worked, and where he frequented. It listed that on another sheet of paper that whomever he lived with requested to be secluded from the investigation for a while. He assumes that people have been there before, obviously, but no one ever really bothered to go back and check.

He shut the radio so as not to distract himself trying to find the house. He ended up in a neighborhood that he did not expect, by far, but the address held true, and the house he pulled up to was long and grand, and very modern. White exterior with black accenting, a large garden and delicate white stones on the driveway made Seokmin wish he went into something that put a little more in his pocket than forensics.

The sun was beginning to start its nightly routine when he pulled up, the clouds in the sky rimmed with a cotton candy pink, and the horizon a warm orange. He shut the car door and made his way up the stairs, his ugly brown briefcase handing from his left hand while he had his wallet in his right, just in case he needed to hold it up to flash his badge. He took a deep breath and headed up the polished white staircase, running his fingers through his styled-up hair before ringing the doorbell.

He took the waiting time to examine the perimeter of the house, there were LED lights tucked in the overhang, and he could see a TV going in the second-floor window. It was too far away to see exactly what it was playing.

The door swung open and he was taken slightly aback by the man that showed himself. He was wearing a neatly pressed burgundy suit, a deeper red, velvet handkerchief was hanging from the breast pocket and gold chains were connecting one side of the jacket to the other. He had a nicely structured face, high cheekbones and full lips, his dark hair was gelled to the top of his head, and he had one silver cartilage piercing. He stood very straight. “Good evening. How can I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Lee Seokmin, I work for Pledis Forensics.” He flashed his wallet, showing off the badge of authentication. “Does a Jisoo Hong live here? I need to speak with him on behalf of the investigation on the murder of Yejun Hong.”

The man at the door smiled. “You need Mr. Hong? Gladly. Please come in, no need to remove your shoes.” Seokmin stepped inside the house and tried to stay professional as he discreetly examined the house. It was very grand, obviously, the person that owns it must have been severely loaded, Seokmin thinks. He waits in the empty foyer, eyeing up the large table to his left in a separate room, and a closed glass door on the right, revealing a broad television that was not turned on, and very comfortable looking black couches. The stair case was right in front of him, well, probably about fifteen feet away. The black handlebars on the guard rails accented the massive black-jeweled chandelier that hung above his head, probably close to twenty feet high. He heard footsteps echo through the rooms and he straightened up, trying to hide his shock with a blank expression.

The man that came out was not as old as he had expected, hell he didn’t even look thirty. He had an almost angelic looking face, ears littered with little metal studs and a welcoming smile. He wore a matching burgundy button down to what the first man was wearing, and tight black jeans. His hair was loosely falling over his forehead, it was a chestnut brown and looked soft, Seokmin had to admit. As they approached, he watched the man who opened the door stand a reasonable distance away, his hands clasped in front of his body. Seokmin cleared his throat.

“You must be Mr. Hong.” He held out his hand. “I am Private Investigator Lee Seokmin.” The man- boy? – took his hand in greeting.

“Please, Mr. Hong was my husband.” His voice was silky, and considerably less raspy than that of the other man. “What can we do for you?”

Seokmin decided not to question the word ‘we’, and rather jumped into it.

“I have been hired to interrogate those who live here. Nothing too serious, just about life before and after the passing of Mr. Hong. I would prefer somewhere quiet, and secluded.”

“Of course, that’s no problem.” Jisoo’s held a very monotone voice, and he didn’t seem remotely emotional at all. His face was straight with a hint of a grin and he was oddly relaxed for someone about to be interrogated on his late husband. “Give me one second, and I’ll take you to a room.” Seokmin nodded in consent, and his eyes followed Jisoo as he went up to the other man standing by the wall and talked very lowly to him. The man brought his hand to rest on Jisoo’s hip, considerably close to his ass, and nodded at every word he said. As they backed away from each other, the hand that was on Jisoo’s hip went to his elbow, and he dragged his fingertips all the way down his forearm. He quirked his eyebrow before he turned completely, and Seokmin easily put two and two together. Whoever this was, he was clearly into Jisoo, and he ranked number one on Seokmin’s suspect list due to jealousy of the one he wanted being in a steady relationship. “Please, this way.”

Jisoo directed him through a hallway that connected to the room with the large table, and they went into a set of grand doors on the right side of the hall. Seokmin was breathless as he was brought into a library, one of those you would see in castles. The doors opened on a platform with stairs on either side of it, leading into the main seating area that was occupied by couches and tables. The ceiling was as high as the foyer, and books were stacked endlessly with ladders to reach them. This was his high-schooler-self dream.

“Wonwoo, we need to be alone, if you don’t mind.” Jisoo spoke into the pit of the room, and he saw a boy sitting and reading, startled by the command.

“Uh, yes, Sir.” The boy, Wonwoo, took his circular glasses off and stood quickly, embarrassingly scurrying up the stairs with the book in his arms and out of the room. Jisoo shut the door behind him.

“Please.” He gestured for Seokmin to follow him down the stairs and into the main seating area. They took a seat at one of the tables by the window that looked out into the backyard, where he could see a circular swimming pool and a boy in a black button down identical to Wonwoo’s cleaning the water. Further back was a large expanse of grass.

“Okay, so, I don’t know if you have done this before, but it’s nothing to be panicking about. You don’t seem to be panicking but it is protocol that I recite this to everyone. Shall we start?” Jisoo answered with a nod. “So please, tell me about yourself, Jisoo.”

“Joshua, I prefer Joshua.”

“Sorry, Joshua.”

Joshua smiled at him, and bit his bottom lip, eyes looking down in thought. “Well, I come from California, and I was raised in Los Angeles, and I met Yejun when I was a sophomore in college.” Seokmin nodded, jotting it down on a notepad. “The first encounter was a little shocking, as it was foreign to me, and I never expected it to happen to me out of all people. He left a note on a sugar packet at the restaurant that I worked at. I took his order, gave him food, and when I collected the tips, I saw it, and it had his number, so I texted it. He promised me no more job or worrying about debt, and I couldn’t have turned down such a good offer.” Seokmin’s hand paused, the gears turning in his head.

“Wait… Yejun was a-”

“Sugar daddy.” Seokmin’s mouth opened and then closed, and he shook his head with a small laugh.

“Um, how… old was Yejun? When you met him?” Seokmin furrowed his brows.

Joshua inhaled deeply. “Oh, maybe, 53?” Seokmin’s eyes widened slightly, trying to keep composure.

“And, you?” He really should have read more into the profiles.

Joshua snickered. “I was 21.” Seokmin took the breath in this time, and he looked back down to his notepad, processing all this information.

“Okay, sugar daddy.” He wrote this down.

“He was into business, and he owned his own stocks company, or whatever. He had lived here before I came into his life, so, after a couple years, we just kind of tied the knot, and I moved in. He had a bunch of old staff, so, we eradicated those and hired new, fresh ones. It’s nice being around lots of younger boys.”

“Staff?”

“Yes, like, housekeepers. Except they all have many different jobs. I can’t keep this place up and running by myself.”

“So,” Seokmin dropped the pen. “Who are your staff?”

Joshua grinned. “Well, the one who answered the door is our butler, Choi Seungcheol.” Butler. Of course, it’s always the butler. “The one who was in here is Wonwoo, the gardener, my two most important staff, Jeonghan, my stylist and valet, and Junhui, my personal shopper. He’s from China.” Joshua giggled to himself and looked down at his folded arms on the table. “There’s also Soonyoung, my pool boy, Jihoon, the accountant, Mingyu, the chef, seriously he makes fine dishes.” He sighed dreamily. “Minghao, the house keeper, also from China. Seungkwan, the house boy, Vernon the handy man, from America, and Chan, who works alongside Minghao.” He ended with a small smile, and the look he sent Seokmin made him shiver. “They keep me a lot of company when I’m lonely.” His voice dropped to a whisper on the last sentence, and Seokmin didn’t bother on trying to write any of that down.

“Is that everyone?” Joshua hummed. Seokmin nodded. “Well, I will need to interrogate them when I get the chance. I don’t think I will be able to do it all in one day, or two. I may need a few.” Seokmin labeled the top of his note with Joshua’s full name and ripped it off the binding. “If you don’t mind, I would like to see Seungcheol now.”

Joshua hummed again. He placed his dainty fingers (that were littered with thin, expensive looking gold bands) onto Seokmin’s upper arm, and traced his bicep. “You know, in the meantime, you’re always welcome to stay. We have plenty of room.”

Seokmin gently moved out of Joshua’s touch. “Thank you for the offer, but it would be strictly against the rules, and this is to be a professional environment while I am around.” Joshua was still staring at him like he wanted to devour him in one bite, and he swallowed thickly. “Seungcheol, please.” He rasped.

Joshua tilted his head as he slid out of the seat and bounced up the stairs, and in the time he was waiting for Seungcheol, he wiped some sweat from his brow. He could already tell this place was going to work him up.

The door opened and shut quietly, and Seokmin flashed a friendly smile as Seungcheol sat down.

“Choi Seungcheol.” The man in question nodded. “I’m going to ask you a few questions, nothing too serious, so take a deep breath and relax. I’m going to write things down as you say them, because it is literally my job, so, don’t freak out. Let’s begin. How did you get hired here?”

Seungcheol sat straight with his hands in his lap, keeping his eyes trained on Seokmin. “Family relation. My eldest cousin worked for Mr. Hong, and when he was laid off, they put me in his position. Mr. Joshua said I had the potential to live up to my cousin’s standards. I was very excited, honestly. Mr. Joshua keeps me good company.” Seungcheol broke eye contact at the last sentence, and his cheeks flushed a tiny bit.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Choi,”

“Seungcheol is fine.”

“Okay. Seungcheol, if I can ask you this, please answer; it caught my attention earlier the way you acted with Mr. Hong. Is there any kind of relation between you two?”

“No, no! Not at all. Mr. Joshua gets very close with his servants because he likes the family atmosphere, no one gets excluded around here.” He gently smiled at Seokmin, and he averted his eyes to jot more notes down on a fresh page.

“Does Mr. Hong seem to hold up any of his servants on a higher platform than others?”

“Well,” Seungcheol gulped. “He likes me a lot, and Jeonghan, his valet, and Mingyu, the chef.” Seokmin nods, letting Seungcheol know he already knows this information. “There are staff he does not see very often, like Wonwoo, or Soonyoung, because they work outside, and in Wonwoo’s case, he comes in here a lot.” Seokmin nods, writing all of this down. “He makes sure that no one feels neglected.”

“One more question, Seungcheol.”

“Sure.”

“Has Mr. Hong always had such a flirtatious attitude?” Seokmin watches as Seungcheol’s cheeks flush further at the question.

“Yes, it’s in his character. We all think it’s what reeled Mr. Hong in to him.” Seungcheol laughed. “Mr. Joshua has no bad intentions. We all like Mr. Joshua a lot.”

Seokmin finished scribbling by labeling this note and tucking it into the folder. “Thank you, Seungcheol. If you don’t mind taking me back to the foyer now, it’s a little late, and I must come back early.” Seungcheol nodded and directed him out of the library and back into the hallway. The floors glistened with specks of fancy stone of all colors, the marble of the tiles reflected the lights above him into his eye.

He met Joshua again in the foyer who was chatting with another staff, he must have been, looking identical to the two he saw earlier, and this staff was standing tall, high above Joshua and nodding intently to what Joshua was preaching to him. His hands were folded neatly in front, and he looked slightly afraid, as if Joshua would hit him at any moment.

Joshua turned when he heard them both approach. “You’re done. That was fast.”

“Just a few harmless questions, it’s like pulling a band aid.” Joshua smiled at him, and turned back to his staff.

“Seokmin, this is Mingyu, our chef. He’s certainly very talented in the kitchen. He has a real taste in great food.” Seokmin extended his hand that Mingyu took.

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Oh, please, just Seokmin is fine.” Mingyu looked toward Joshua for a split second, then hesitantly nodded.

“It really is a shame you won’t be staying. Mingyu’s making a fine meal for everyone tonight. What is it again?”

Mingyu’s face pinkened as Joshua addressed him. “Ah, it’s called Il timballo del gattopardo. It’s an Italian pasta pie that uses pasta as the main ingredient, some meat, and fine truffle. One of the specialties I learned in school.” He seemed very proud to be talking about his dishes, and Seokmin almost felt bad.

Joshua hummed while looking up at Mingyu. Mingyu seemed flustered by the action. “It is very good, along with everything else you have to offer. Are you sure you can’t stay?” The question now directed to Seokmin.

“Really, I’m very sorry to miss out on that, it sounds very good, but I really can’t stay. I would be very against the professionalism of my job.”

“Well, when you’re not in your suit and tie, come back. We have a lot more than just food over here for you to enjoy.” Seokmin tried to avoid any hinting that may have gone into that, and directed the question elsewhere.

“I will consider it. It sounds very good, Mingyu.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Seokmin didn’t bother correcting him again, as it seems he was too stuck in his ways to let go of the formalities. “I should come early tomorrow, to get as many interrogations done as I can. What time should I come?”

“Any time past 8. We will all be awake.” Seokmin nodded at that, and said his farewells to the three in the foyer. The door shut behind him, and on the drive home, he was far too distracted to think about how to get out of the lavish neighborhood.

It took him a minute the next morning to bring himself to get out of the car, as he was too busy staring at the profile of Joshua. He decided to take a look at it, finally, in order to avoid any more confusion. Looking over every word and every single thing that Joshua has accomplished in high school and college pushed his original suspect, Seungcheol, further up his list. Joshua did not seem capable of pulling off such a stunt.

Seungcheol seemed capable, however. He may have been wearing clothes but Seokmin had eyes, and he could tell that the guy was probably working out in between greeting people and serving Joshua’s needs.

That thought sparked another one. Seungcheol kept saying how Joshua made sure no one got left out. It was odd, though, because usually, in big houses in stuck up areas like this, the masters couldn’t really give less of a fuck about his servants. Joshua was different. Maybe it really was what reeled Mr. Hong in.

Nonetheless, he knocked on the door at two minutes past 8:30, and it swung open to reveal Seungcheol in a lavender suit, clad with silver buttons and matching handkerchief. “Good morning, sir. I was to give you instructions that Mr. Joshua would be downstairs in a moment, and you can choose from going to the library for your next interview, or to meet him upstairs.”

Seokmin tried his hardest to suppress the idea of going upstairs, and let Seungcheol lead him to the library after he spoke his choice.

“The three youngest staff are attending school while also working here, so they aren’t here to be interrogated, unfortunately. Name any other staff, though, and you are welcome to see them now.”

Seokmin thought for a moment. Truthfully, he did not recall many of their names, rather, the only ones he seemed to remember were the ones he met, which was only Seungcheol and Mingyu. Since he knew his name and figured he wasn’t at school, he gave it a shot.

“Is Mingyu available?” Seungcheol smiled at the request.

“Of course. Take a seat and I will send him here right away.” Seokmin descended the stairs and sat at the table he occupied yesterday and opened his case to extract the folder and the notepad, along with a pen. He took this silent moment to really examine the library, admiring the fine detail of the bookcases and shelves, and the books themselves. He felt like he was in an old-fashioned mansion, this library seemed to be the oldest part of the house. There was a table underneath the window which held things like a globe, a cup of pens and even feathered quills, frames of documents and college degrees, and a photo of a bunch of people who looked very stiff. He looked away as he heard the door open.

Mingyu took the seat in front of Seokmin and bounced up and down for a moment, searching for a comfortable looking position, most likely from nerves. Seokmin would know.

“Mingyu. I’m going to ask you some questions about Mr. Hong, the house, and about yourself, so don’t be nervous, it’s just simple, harmless questions. Are we good to go?” Mingyu nodded. “Okay. First question. You told me yesterday that you learned to cook in school. Did you go to culinary school?”

Mingyu seemed to relax a little at this question about his school, and Seokmin silently praised his actions. He needed to loosen him up before he actually started.

“Yes, I went to culinary school. It was what I wanted to do, and because my parents wanted me to follow their steps and do something in the medical field, I lost their support, but, along the way I met Mr. Joshua, and he offered to help me out. That’s how I ended up here.”

“Why did you not do medical?”

Mingyu sheepishly laughed. “It grosses me out.” Seokmin laughed as well.

“I get that.” Mingyu watched as Seokmin scribbled, and he looked back up. “Now, stop me if this is a personal question, but, it seemed that yesterday, while you were speaking with Mr. Hong, you seemed almost afraid of him. Is there a reason?”

“Oh, well,” Mingyu broke eye contact and looked to the side. His cheeks reddened. “Mr. Joshua is a semi-strict person sometimes, and we have all seen him mad. I’m always a little worried that I may slip up and make a mistake, and he will get mad. I, along with everyone else, I’m sure, is always on our best behavior around Mr. Joshua. We don’t want to be in a position of where we may lose our jobs.”

Seokmin nods while writing, and looks back up, ready to dish out the real hard hitting stuff. “One more.” Mingyu nods again. “Describe to me everything that happened on the night of Mr. Hong’s death.”

Mingyu swallowed audibly, and he looked to the table as if it had the answers. “Um, well, there was a business party. There were a lot of people here, old people, especially, all friends of Mr. Hong’s, and there were a lot of people standing around and waiting for food and talking and it was very loud. They all sat in the main dining room, and dinner was served.”

Seokmin cut off Mingyu. “What was on the menu?”

“Um, it was Veal Milanese. And for dessert it was red velvet cheesecake.”

“Did you make this?”

“Yes, all of it.” Seokmin silently praised the boy for his stigma, and being able to cook so fast.

“Okay, continue.”

Mingyu straightened out again. “Everything went by smoothly and after dinner, people started dispersing around the house, but, news went around that Mr. Hong had a fatal heart attack. Everything got hectic after that, and all I remember after the chaos was a lot of police. And seeing Mr. Hong’s body.” Mingyu visibly tried to suppress a shudder at the memory.

“Where was Joshua during all of this?”

“Uh,” Mingyu clenched his jaw. “H-he was by his side. I think he was one of the few to call an ambulance.”

Seokmin nodded again, his pen moving furiously across the paper. “You think?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t remember a lot from that night. It was very chaotic.”

“Right. Thank you for your time and participation, Mingyu. If you don’t mind, please send in whoever you see next.” Mingyu nodded and whispered a small ‘thank you’ in return and scurried off.

Many thoughts ran through his head at this point. Mr. Hong’s death was considered a murder, but it was cardiac arrest that killed him. His mind immediately wandered to the food. He was conflicted. Mingyu did not seem capable of pulling a huge stunt like this off, especially without getting testified for it. He was very shaky, and didn’t seem able to stand on his own two feet around Joshua. There was no way.

He flipped open the folder to examine the autopsy report. There was no trace of poison found in his body, and the only thing noted was cardiac arrest. Seokmin sighed and closed the folder. Who exactly the fuck killed this guy?

The door creaked open and a timid looking black haired boy stumbled in. He sat down with a greeting, and Seokmin recognized him as the boy who was in the library yesterday.

“Wonwoo, correct?” Wonwoo nodded. “I’m going to ask you a few questions about events surrounding the death of Mr. Hong and about the house in general, so relax, take a deep breath, and we will start.”

“Okay.” He whispered, and Seokmin almost had to strain himself to hear.

“First, a question about Mr. Joshua Hong. What was his and Mr. Hong’s relationship like?”

Wonwoo cleared his throat. “They got along okay. They had arguments a little more often than the usual couple would, but if both of them stayed committed in the relationship, I think they managed to work it out just fine.”

“Do you know what the arguments were about?”

“Well, I never really heard one, I usually only heard the details from Jeonghan or Junhui, who are up in their private quarters with them often. Sometimes it would be about how Mr. Hong did a lot of things that Mr. Joshua didn’t appreciate, and they got into fights about them a lot.”

Seokmin nodded, looking intently at Wonwoo. “You’ve never been in his room?”

“Well… I have, but, it-it’s only to take care of his plants in there. It’s not very often. But I do.”

“Right. You are the gardener.” Wonwoo nodded. “Has Mr. Hong ever gone behind Joshua’s back and done something that might have been considered unloyal to the relationship?”

Wonwoo showed a hint of a small grin. “Once. Mr. Joshua knew, but we don’t think it changed anything.”

“Why do you think that?”

Wonwoo brought his voice down a few levels, to ensure that no one heard just in case there were listeners. “We all think that Mr. Joshua is just married to the money. Not in a bad way, though. We can see why anyone would want to be.”

Seokmin nodded. He decided not to write that down.

“Did Joshua seem to be romantically involved with anyone else?”

Wonwoo opened and closed his mouth briefly, before speaking again. “No. We don’t think that he was ever.”

Seokmin stayed quiet for a moment, pausing his pen and just staring at his notes. He curtly nodded once he decided that he wrote everything necessary.

“Thank you, Wonwoo. You are all set.”

Wonwoo stood, but before he left, he addressed Seokmin again. “Mr. Joshua told me that once we were done to invite you outside of the library for some food, or, whatever you like.” Wonwoo stood, and wasn’t leaving until he got an answer, so Seokmin nodded, and stood from his place, putting all of his notes and the folder inside of his briefcase, and sealed it. He left it on the table as he followed Wonwoo out of the room.

He walked out and it was a little more loud than it had been yesterday, there seemed to be more staff bustling around the house, even though he recalls Seungcheol telling him that there were a few attending school. He was met with another boy, with soft facial features and fluffy brown hair. The sleeves of his black button down were rolled to his elbows, and he was carrying shirts over one of his arms.

“Good morning, sir.” He addressed Seokmin, and he simply bowed his head in return.

“That was Minghao, the house keeper. He doesn’t usually do laundry, but, he’s taking over right now, as Seungkwan is in school, and that’s usually his chore.” Wonwoo introduced him to the boy that was now many feet behind them. Wonwoo wove them through corridors and past big doors that Seokmin could only dream of what may be behind them.

They eventually came to the kitchen, the white cabinetry made the whole room seem more open, and the beautiful weather was flowing in through the open doors of the patio, and rustling the white sheer curtains. Wonwoo stopped, and Seokmin turned to him.

“Mr. Joshua is out there, and he would like you to join him.”

Seokmin looked out through the doors, he could not see him, but rather, only the view of the pool, backyard, and what lay beyond that. “You won’t be coming?”

“No, sir. Mr. Joshua asked for you.” Seokmin turned back and went out through the doors. The sunlight on his face felt fresh and new, like something he hasn’t felt in a while. He looked to his left and saw no one, and again to his right and saw his target, except, not how he expected.

He noticed the robe first. Joshua was wearing a sheer, baby pink robe with elegant sleeves and train, and every hem was covered in a feather boa of the matching color. He had a glass in his hand with red liquid being swished around with every movement, and his head turned when he heard Seokmin approach. As he got closer, though, he could horrifically tell that Joshua was not wearing anything underneath the robe. This sent shivers down his spine.

“Seokmin. Didn’t want you to stay cooped up in that library all day. It’s not very exciting.”

Instead of disagreeing, Seokmin looked at his watch. “Are you drinking wine at 9 in the morning?”

Joshua giggled, Seokmin stared. “I’m not an alcoholic, you know. I just enjoy a drink every now and then.”

“At 9 in the morning?”

Joshua huffed and turned back to watching the pool boy scrape up leaves that made their way into the water. Seokmin examined his outfit, and saw the crystals littered throughout the sheer material, his eyes wandered lower onto the tie of robe, made of what looked to be a silk, and his eyes were drawn to the curve of his ass, and everything he could see more clearly than he thought he wanted to, but for a second he could not take his eyes off the slope and the dip of his lower back, and he was only startled out of his revere when he was addressed.

“See something you like?” Joshua was obviously taking on a teasing tone, and when Seokmin met his eyes, he had a look to them that Seokmin couldn’t put his fingers on. He shocked himself when he said nothing, and let Joshua continue. “You know,” Joshua placed his hand that wasn’t occupied by the glass on Seokmin’s arm. “With just me and all the staff it can get lonely. You should keep us company. Keep me company. It’s always pretty lonely.”

Seokmin watched as Joshua’s finger ran up and down his suit jacket sleeve, and his hands clenched where they were rested on the guard railing of the patio. He turned his head back to the pool, where he made eye contact with the pool boy, who quickly looked away after.

“I… will at least wait for the others to come back home. I can’t tell you I will stay.”

Joshua hummed, something Seokmin found out that he likes to do, and he retracted his arm, holding out his drink in offer for Seokmin to take a sip. Seokmin shook his head. He drank, but certainly not this early.

“I would think that you would have… um, put clothes on.” Seokmin tried to make his point obvious without looking back at the skin that was being revealed. He tried to hide how flustered he was getting.

“Does this bother you?” He spoke in a way that said he was in no way concerned with if Seokmin was bothered or not, but rather enjoyed seeing Seokmin become so embarrassed to be around Joshua like this.

Seokmin didn’t answer, rather, he asked a question.

“I know we aren’t technically doing an interrogation, but, can I ask a question?”

Joshua turned to him, an eyebrow quirked. “Sure.”

“Where were you while Mr. Hong was dying?”

Joshua stilled for a moment. He looked down at the guard rail and placed his glass on the edge.

“I was kind of all over the place. There were friends of my husband’s all throughout the house, everyone was trying to find me, everyone told me that an ambulance was called because he just had a heart attack. By the time I got to see him, he was on the ground, and still. I waited for paramedics to come.”

Seokmin kept a straight face, but his mind was racing. What Mingyu had told him did not match up, and he couldn’t see why it didn’t. Granted, Mingyu was most likely in the kitchen at any time and could be easily fed lies, but it had been a while, and the story should be straight. Seokmin was still pondering over why Joshua did not seem in the least bit upset, or lost over the passing of his husband. He simply nodded.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Joshua was silent for a minute. “It seems Soonyoung is done. You can take him in next, if you want.”

Seokmin watched as the boy in subject put all of the pool equipment away, and he went into the house. “Take me to him.”

Seokmin followed Joshua as they weaved in and out of the corridors Wonwoo took him through to get there, and stopped at an entry way with stairs leading to the basement. He watched as the pool boy came trotting up the stairs, not seeing them at first, and then scurrying up once Joshua was in sight. Seokmin questioned what kind of authority he has here.

“Good morning, sir.” He spoke to them both, and Joshua placed his hand on the boy’s elbow.

“Seokmin here would like to take you to the library to ask you some questions. Is that fine, Soonyoung?”

Joshua turned to Seokmin, and Seokmin watched as Soonyoung’s eyes darted to his exposed shoulder that was being uncovered by the fabric of the robe sliding off, and his cheeks turned pink. He looked up at Seokmin, and stiffened when he noticed that Seokmin was watching.

“Y-yes, that’s fine.” Seokmin nodded.

“Let’s go. Mind taking me back?” Soonyoung nodded, and turned, Seokmin saw how Joshua trailed his fingers down his back as he retreated.

They arrived at the library and Seokmin instructed him to sit where his case was. He pulled the notepad and pen out again, ripping the page for a fresh note, and began with the introduction.

“So Soonyoung, I’m just going to ask you some questions, nothing to stress out about, it will be easy and quick. Shall we start?”

“Yes, okay.”

“Alright. First, how did you come to attain the position that you work in now?”

“Ah, well, I started as a lifeguard when I was 18. I think it had been a year since I got the job that Mr. Joshua told me he could treat me better than the public pool did.”

“So you were trained in saving people and swimming but now you just clean?”

“Well, no, sometimes Mr. Joshua and everyone are in the pool, and he kind of trusts me to watch it over.”

“Do you sit out?”

“No, I go in, too.”

“Okay.” Seokmin thought for a moment, and decided to ask him about the looks he threw their way earlier. “I saw you earlier, and I noticed you watching us from where you were in the yard, and I saw how you looked at Joshua. Is there any kind of relation between you two?”

Soonyoung sat up straighter. “Oh, no, no. Um,” Soonyoung seemed to be lost for words. He began syllables and cut himself short, before thinking again, trying to find the right thing to say. Seokmin waited patiently. “I-it’s just kind of like, we have been living with Mr. Joshua for so long. It’s weird to see him with anyone besides Mr. Hong.”

“And how you looked at him in the hallway?”

Soonyoung nervously laughed. He ducked his head to hide his face. “I-I won’t deny that a few of us have taken a liking to Mr. Joshua.”

“Platonically? Romantically? Sexually?”

Soonyoung swallowed. “No, no. Maybe romantically? But all the feelings are to be kept strictly platonic.” He would not meet Seokmin’s eyes.

“Did Joshua seem to overstep his boundaries while he was committed to Mr. Hong?”

“I would think not. Mr. Joshua was not that type of person.”

“Was Mr. Hong?”

“Ah, well, I don’t know. I didn’t know Mr. Hong that well, I only ever saw him if he walked past me and I greeted him.”

“How did you get to know Joshua so well then if you are outside a lot, and only ever saw them walk by?”

Soonyoung did not answer this question right away. He was thinking of something to say, and seemed to be under pressure by Seokmin’s stare

“Did you have any type of relation with Joshua Hong?” He asked again, and spoke slower.

“No. No, I don’t. I didn’t. Mr. Joshua is very friendly with everyone here, and he wants everyone to feel welcome.”

Seokmin watches Soonyoung as he becomes jittery, and eager to be out of his presence. He lets him go. “Thank you for your time, Soonyoung. Please sent whoever you see next in here.” Soonyoung rose from his seat and didn’t look back as he left the room.

Seokmin browsed over his notes again. Soonyoung seemed to be letting on to something. Something that Seokmin needed to get his hands on. It was vital for this case, and if he would be the one to figure it out, hell, that would be amazing.

He looked to his right to see a shorter boy descend the stairs, his hair was curly and brown, and he was wearing circular glasses, similar to the ones Wonwoo had on the previous day. He sits in front of Seokmin, not seeming as nervous, rather, emitting an aura that resembled Seungcheol’s. He introduced himself.

“Lee Jihoon.”

“Nice to meet you, Jihoon. Now, I’m going to ask you some questions about things pertaining to the house, and Mr. Hong and Joshua. Deep breath, don’t panic, let’s start.” He asked the first question once Jihoon nodded. “What is your position here?”

“I am the accountant. Since when Mr. Hong died he still had a business to run, and I majored in business and economics in college, and I was hired to do most of the transactions. When he died, I was the only one smart enough to filter the income.”

“I see. Was it Mr. Hong or Joshua who hired you?”

“Mr. Joshua.”

“Okay. Did Mr. Hong seem opposed to the idea of firing his old accountant and hiring a new one?”

“I’m not sure. This was before I was even hired, and that could have been the case. It didn’t seem like Mr. Hong liked me much at first, but, I guess he started liking me as I was trustworthy to take over the accountant position.”

“Where do you think this disliking came from? Was it rooted in Joshua firing his old staff or was it purposefully against you?”

“Maybe… it could have been because Mr. Hong liked his old staff very much, and Mr. Joshua found use for new ones. I became trusted soon though.”

“Now, about the night of the party,” Jihoon kept his stone-cold face, but Seokmin could tell he was anxious. “Where was Joshua while all the commotion was happening?”

Jihoon blinked a few times, and then proceeded to answer. “I was not around while it was all happening. I don’t know where Mr. Joshua was. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Where were you, then?”

“I was in the office. I was told to go back frequently and check on a transaction that Mr. Hong had been waiting for. I was too busy darting in and out of the party and the office that I was not there when it happened.”

“I see. So, you missed all of the commotion? I heard from others that it was loud and rowdy, this did not bring you downstairs?”

“No. The walls are soundproof. I did not hear anything until Seungcheol came to tell me to come downstairs.”

“Does Joshua seem to take a liking to any of his staff in particular?”

Jihoon looked at the table, and he furrowed his brows. “He seems to like Jeonghan and Junhui a lot. I think he also favors Mingyu? And maybe Chan, because he’s the youngest.”

Seokmin wrote this down, making a mental note to compare it to what Seungcheol told him.

“Is it normalized that Joshua treats all his servants very closely? I noticed how he addresses everyone, and how some seem afraid of his position of authority.”

“Mr. Joshua really has no bad intentions, and he likes to live in an environment where he can be in control. He isn’t always in control, but, everyone respects him and his authority.”

“When is he not in control?”

“Uh, well, he, um… Sometimes when he… Not all the time, he bosses us around, not that he like, strictly bosses us around but, um, sometimes he lets us just kind of relax. And take a break, sometimes.”

Seokmin tilted his head, trying to decipher what exactly Jihoon was stumbling over. He watched as Jihoon fiddled with his thumbs. Seokmin doesn’t move from his position but merely averts his eyes to write on his notepad. He stays quiet, jotting down various notes for about a minute, and regains eye contact.

“Thank you, Jihoon. Your time and participation is appreciated.” Jihoon nodded, and he stood, making his way up the stairs and through the doors. Seokmin sat still for a moment, not making any move to try and fetch someone new. Both Jihoon and Soonyoung seemed very hesitant to let certain pieces of information go, and he wanted to know now.

He ripped another fresh piece of paper off of the pad and scribbled down the names of people he had already talked to: Joshua, Seungcheol, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Soonyoung; and as he was writing Jihoon, the door opened, and he lost all train of thought when Joshua stepped in.

He closed the door behind him and Seokmin stared as the long, pink, feathered train of his robe cascaded down the steps behind him, and he made an elegant entrance. He did not seem to tighten the belt at all since he last saw him, and the right side of his robe was hanging by his bicep, the majority of his chest was exposed. Seokmin couldn’t tear his eyes from the exposed skin.

Joshua swayed over and sat down in front of Seokmin. He propped his chin on a hand and gazed at Seokmin. He did nothing to try to get Joshua away from him.

“I think you should take a break.”

“But I did. Before Soonyoung’s I was out with you. I don’t need another break, really.”

“Being cooped up in here isn’t good for you.”

“This is my job, Mr. Hong.”

“Joshua.” Joshua whispered, not seemed aggravated at the amount of times he has had to correct Seokmin. “And I know it’s your job, but, it’s close to noon, and it would do you, and the other some good to have a little company. It will do me good.”

Seokmin shut his briefcase. “You have them all to keep you company. I am just here for my job.”

“And your job can take a break.” Joshua took Seokmin’s hand in his own, the one that wasn’t being used to hold his head up. Seokmin didn’t pull away, and was surprised with how soft his hand was. Joshua’s fingers found their way underneath to his palm, and his hand wasn’t obeying him when it upturned on its own, and let Joshua have free range on his hand.

Joshua’s fingers ran over Seokmin’s calloused finger tips, and his heart rate sped up when he would focus on one finger at a time. Seokmin couldn’t find any words in the moment, and when he looked up, Joshua was watching him with hooded lids, and an amused gaze.

“Come on. You can sit out here with us, talk, and wait for the kids to come home.”

Seokmin almost stumbled trying to get up. “T-the kids?”

“Yeah. Hansol, Seungkwan, Chan. They will be home soon.”

“You call them kids?” Seokmin clumsily went up the stairs, feeling embarrassed next to Joshua, who moved gracefully, not even tripping over the long ass train.

“Yeah, they’re the kids.”

“How old are they?”

“They’re all 19. I told them once they turn 20 they can either continue with school or not. Most of them here didn’t continue, only Mingyu and Jihoon did.”

Seokmin said nothing as he let Joshua lead him out of the room. They passed the foyer where Seungcheol stood, talking to a boy his height with black hair pushed over his forehead, wearing an expensive looking suit. He clammed up when he saw Joshua, but Joshua made no move to acknowledge him at first.

He stopped short in the entryway, making Seokmin bump into him. Joshua turned, making a motion with his hand beckoning Seungcheol and the other boy over quickly. Joshua turned, and kept walking.

They passed Wonwoo, who was instructed to round up all the staff and bring them to the poolside.

Once there, Seokmin realized how big the pool actually was. It was not a typical inground pool, it was rather twice the size, and he felt bad for Soonyoung. Seokmin was dragged by a hand on his elbow to the lounge area. He stood, while Joshua took a seat. Reluctantly, he sat next to him.

The staff were filtering out of the house, and all stood in front of them one by one.

“Seokmin, you know these five,” He pointed to those who he had already talked to, and he nodded. “This is Junhui,” this was the one Seungcheol was talking to. He stood very straight and seemed to be a professional at keeping his clothes clean. “This is Jeonghan.” The blonde boy bowed his head. “And Minghao.” This was the one Seokmin walked by and hadn’t interrogated yet, he figured he would be soon. “The others should be home shortly. Thank you.” He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Five of them dispersed, while three of them stayed around.

Joshua stood, looking out into the yard. “It’s a beautiful day, yeah?”

Seokmin didn’t know who he was addressing, so he didn’t answer. Joshua turned, Seokmin tried his best to keep his eyes above Joshua’s waistline.

“Didn’t I say go?” The three who remained, Minghao, Seungcheol and Junhui, looked embarrassed for a second, then retreated to the house.

Once they were out of sight, Joshua pulled Seokmin up and walked towards the pools edge.

“We should swim.”

“Oh, um, I really don’t think that-” He had no time to finish his sentence, rather, it got caught in his throat as Joshua untied his robe and dropped it on the ground, still completely naked underneath. Seokmin hated himself for it, but he let his eyes roam.

Joshua stepped into the pool, went in to his waistline, then went completely under. Seokmin felt odd just standing there, but he was in no way considering going in with Joshua. When he reemerged, his hair was sinfully pushed to the top of his head and he looked over at Seokmin, the word ‘seduction’ written all over his face.

Seokmin’s knees almost gave out just by the look Joshua sent his way, and it sent a flurry of emotion stirring in his stomach, things he couldn’t put a name on, and things he didn’t want to name.

“You should come in. It’s really nice.”

“No, I shouldn’t.” He’d intended for it to come out stronger, but his voice was weak compared to the signals that Joshua was throwing.

Someone approached them from behind. “Sir, should I bring something else out for you?”

“No, leave the robe.” Seokmin didn’t turn, but he assumed it was either Jeonghan or Junhui, as he recalls them being associated with his clothing.

“Sir, Seungkwan, Hansol and Chan just returned. Should I send them out?”

“No.” Joshua was not breaking eye contact with Seokmin, and he instinctively reached up to loosen his collar.

“But sir, you said he could meet them.”

“Go. Now.” He looked over only to make his point officially clear. “And tell no one else to come out. No matter what.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry.” The footsteps scurried, and the two were left alone.

“Why ‘sir’?” Seokmin asked, albeit a bit quietly.

Joshua shrugged, the water in his collar bones dripping out. “I like it.” Joshua seemed significantly more unbothered by the situation than Seokmin was. He bent down to the pool level.

“I really think that I should go, Mr. Hong. I have no business-”

“It’s Joshua.” He stated it a little more harshly than the times before, and he eyes Seokmin up and down for a second, before lunging at him and taking a hold of his tie. He pulled him in closer, so close where their faces were almost touching, actually, they were touching. Seokmin could feel Joshua’s nose on his own, and his breath was caught in his throat. “But you can call me sir too, if you like.” He whispered, and it made Seokmin’s joints weak. Joshua moved his face in closer, and he could feel his lips so close to his own they almost touched. Almost.

He pulled away, and floated into the water. “Tell one of them to get your stuff from the library. I’ll see you tomorrow?” He spoke as if none of that ever happened, and Seokmin could only rise to his feet and nod.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Joshua smirked at him, and Seokmin turned, closing his eyes tight and trying to fight off that unwelcomed feeling.

Seokmin woke the next morning with three realizations in his head.

One: Seokmin finds himself oddly enamored with the way Joshua Hong runs things around his house. He has incredible authority but at the same time, none at all.

Two: He’s a little freaked out over that feeling of not fearing being over at his house anymore, but rather, a constricting feeling in his chest, something akin to excitement, when he would be on his way. Which scared him, a lot. He was not supposed to be feeling these things. This is a professional environment, there are no room for silly feelings.

And three: He scrapped the tie this morning as he remembered the previous day’s activities. He was finalizing the knot when he remembered how Joshua had looked at him with his tie in his hand and Seokmin instantly untied it and threw it on the bed.

He didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t know how Joshua was going to present himself to Seokmin this time, he couldn’t prepare.

He left his house later than he had the day before, figuring that he wanted to finish up the interrogations and get the hell out. No more of the inconspicuous flirting, which Seokmin could clearly tell that’s what it was (and was disappointed in himself that every time he made a move to stop it, he couldn’t).

That’s why he found himself right where he was, running through his morals while sitting in the driver’s seat of his car parked in front of Joshua’s multi-million-dollar house. It was noon, a little closer to 1 PM when he knocked on the door, and Seungcheol answered again.

“Mr. Joshua says to just head to the library. He is already down there with some of the staff.”

Seokmin nodded, adjusting his collar and non-existent tie by habit. “That’s great, but, I still don’t know how to get there.” Seungcheol grinned to himself and nodded, leading the way after he shut the front door.

He simply opened the library door, stepped back, and let Seokmin inside. He shut it, not bringing himself in the room. Seokmin descended the stairs and looked around. Joshua was standing around a group of three people. From the back, he only recognized Jeonghan’s blonde hair.

Joshua looked in his direction as he walked over, and Joshua perked up at the sight of him.

“Seokmin! Come, come.” Joshua waved him over, and the staff turned. Seokmin’s eyes immediately dropped to what Joshua was wearing, a flowy pink button down, except all but one button was undone. He could see a large expanse of his chest, and he had to bring his eyes back up once he got closer. The other staff there were Junhui and Minghao. “Anyone in particular you want to go first?”

Seokmin scanned over the staffs, and noticed how Jeonghan and Junhui looked a little stiff, and Minghao cowered into himself. He looked the most afraid, so he would save him for last.

“Jeonghan.” He walked over to the table and placed his briefcase down, Jeonghan following him closely. “Then Junhui, then Minghao. You can come in once Jeonghan leaves.” He politely gestured his arm towards the door, hoping they got the hint.

Junhui and Minghao did, leaving by the staircase, but Joshua stayed. He slung his arm over Jeonghan’s shoulder, and Seokmin saw as Jeonghan eyed his hand. Seokmin cleared his throat.

“Oh, come on, Seokmin. I can’t stay and listen?” Joshua pouted, resting his head in the crook of Jeonghan’s shoulder. Jeonghan brought his eyes back up to Seokmin.

“No, Joshua. This is confidential. You can come back once it’s all over.” Joshua made a face at Seokmin, and it twisted something inside his gut.

“Fine.” Joshua turned away from Jeonghan, making his way towards the stairs. Seokmin watched as the arm that was on his shoulder trailed down to his waist, and gently touched the clothed skin as he was leaving. Jeonghan didn’t react to this. “Make it fast.” If Seokmin’s gut twisted at a face he made, it must have collapsed into itself when Joshua winked at him, strutting up the stairs and out through the door. Seokmin turned to Jeonghan.

“Please, sit.” Seokmin took a seat and waiting until Jeonghan to his to start.

“So, like I said with everyone else, I’m going to ask you a few questions about the house, people in the house, and events surrounding the night of Mr. Hong’s death, okay?” Jeonghan nodded. Seokmin had yet to hear him speak. “Let’s begin. What is your position in the house?”

“I am a stylist, or valet. I kind of work side by side with the personal shopper which is Junhui, and we basically have control over Mr. Joshua’s wardrobe and things to do with that.”

“So you have control over what Joshua wears?”

“Well, no, it’s more like, style choices. We hand pick the clothes but, he chooses what to wear, sometimes he asks us for help.”

“Okay. So, I assume that with this kind of position you are very close to Joshua?”

Jeonghan hesitated before answering. “Well, yes. We are up there a lot, dealing with everything that he has up there, and I would say we are up there more often than not.”

Seokmin nodded, his pen moving so fast he himself was worried he would rip the paper.

Once he was done, he paused, thinking over his next question. He took a deep breath. Jeonghan seemed to keep a steady composure. “Now, because you work so closely with Joshua, does he seem like the type that would have affairs while Mr. Hong was absent?”

Jeonghan did the exact opposite of what Seokmin was expecting. Instead of denying fervently, he cracked a grin, and stared at Seokmin. He laughed curtly, and brought his hands onto the table. Jeonghan leaned in, and Seokmin quirked his brow and stared at him, involuntarily backing up a little bit.

“Say, Seokmin. Would you have slept with Joshua had his husband been alive?”

Seokmin’s eyes went wide, and he paused his train of thoughts at the notice of two things. One being the lack of formalities with Joshua. Every other servant so far as addressed his as Mr. Joshua, or sir, never just ‘Joshua’. It struck Seokmin as fishy, something between the two was obviously different than with the rest. Second, the question threw Seokmin totally off course, and he flushed in the face. Years of training to be where he was now, he was no idiot, and he knew what Jeonghan was up to. He was just too surprised to react like how he knew he should have reacted.

Jeonghan’s grin grew wider. “I see how you look at him. Is it confusing to you? Are your feelings getting in the way of you performing your job?”

“This isn’t about me. I am here to ask you questions.”

“But you’re not denying it. That Joshua makes you confused. Confused how? Confused because you shouldn’t be liking someone on the job like this? Confused because you’ve never liked a man before? People get like that when they meet Joshua.”

“Nothing is confusing except why you are addressing him so informally.”

“Does it bother you? Would you rather hear me call him Mr. Joshua, or sir? Daddy?”

“Jeonghan.” Jeonghan hummed. “That’s enough.”

Jeonghan tilted his head. “But you can just dismiss the questions with a simple no, right? But you didn’t. Is it true? Are you jealous of how Joshua treats his employees? Do you want to be treated like that, too?”

Something stirred inside Seokmin. He thought back to yesterday, and how Joshua pulled his tie and brought him close to his face. His skin was so smooth up close, and the wet hair adding water droplets onto his face made Seokmin dizzy. His eyes glistened, and behind them he could see more than just what meets the eye. He was insinuating so much more, and it overwhelmed Seokmin in the present moment.

‘You can call me sir, too, if you like.’ That phrase will haunt his dreams forever. A thought crossed his mind, a chilling thought that he knew he would never be able to get rid of. His hands all over Joshua’s naked upper body, his fingers trailing the details of his back muscles and threading through his soft auburn hair. Joshua is below him, whining, writhing, begging. His face is sweat slicked and his lips are red and swollen, Seokmin has a hand around his neck. Joshua wraps both his own hands around the arm that has a hold on Joshua’s throat, but he’s not asking for him to stop. His eyes plead what his mouth cannot, he wants it harder, faster, he needs Seokmin desperately.

Seokmin pulls his hips away from Joshua’s, and with one firm snap, Joshua’s eyes are shutting tight and his mouth opens, and he lets out a scream of pure pleasure, Seokmin growls, and then he-

“Seokmin.” Seokmin looks up to see Jeonghan, staring at his amusedly, a dark look in his eyes. “Having fun?”

“One more question.” Jeonghan nodded his head, and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. “Where were you on the night of the murder of Mr. Hong?”

“You look very tired Seokmin, what were you thinking about?”

“Don’t change the topic.”

Jeonghan smirked. Seokmin wanted to slap him. “I was busy. I was around.”

“Where does this insinuate?”

Jeonghan shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t remember. Was never really a fan of that Hong guy.” Jeonghan leaned forward again. “You seem like a lonely guy, Seokmin. Seems like it’s been a while since you’ve been laid.”

“That’s not important.”

“Have you been thinking about getting laid?” Jeonghan looked smug, and Seokmin could take no more.

“Leave. We’re done.”

Jeonghan laughed, standing from his seat with no hesitation. “Thank you.” Seokmin didn’t meet his eyes as he just ripped the paper from the notebook pad and threw it into his briefcase, sighing into his hands and rubbing his eyes. He wished he wouldn’t have to deal with another one like Jeonghan.

He didn’t look up to see who was the next one walking in. He sighed in relief when it wasn’t Jeonghan again, or Joshua, but rather Junhui.

He straightened up, trying to rid his sour attitude, figuring that it’s a new person, and the attitude can’t carry over. Junhui took a seat in front of him, and he pushed his hair out of his eyes.

“Junhui, right?”

“Just Jun is fine.”

“Thank you. I am going to ask you a few questions about events in the house and pertaining to the murder of Mr. Hong. So, don’t worry, it will be quick and easy.” Jun nodded. “Okay. First, I remember Mr. Hong saying that you come from China.” He waited for Jun to confirm his suspicions by nodding before continuing. “How did you get this job, then?”

“I came here with Minghao to go to school, where we met Soonyoung. Soonyoung introduced us to Mr. Joshua, who then hired us, offered to take us in.”

“Did you both learn the language prior to coming here?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, now, I couldn’t help but notice how everyone in the house calls Mr. Hong by Mr. Joshua, but I just ended with Jeonghan and he referred to him by just his first name. Is there something between the two?”

Jun stayed calm as he answered. “No. I think it’s simply because they work very close, closer than me. I only get paid to spend his money. Jeonghan does a lot more than I do.” His voice was raspy and low, and Seokmin slowed his pace of writing and lifted his head searching for the next question. He never got it out, though, because Jun beat him to it.

“It’s weird. You address everybody informally but say Mr. Hong instead of just Joshua.”

“I say both.” Seokmin spoke quietly.

“But why just him?” Seokmin was busy trying to think of an answer and not get pissed off at this Jeonghan 2.0 when Jun raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth in an ‘ah!’

“Do you have an authority kink or something?” Seokmin was speechless. He stared at Jun, who was only smirking and lowered his head to laugh. He rubbed his nose, and looked back up at Seokmin. “You, too, huh?”

“M-me, too?” Seokmin closed his eyes briefly, and tried to understand what he meant. “Who else?”

Jun inhaled sharply, but didn’t look like he regretted anything. He kissed his teeth. “I’ve said to much.” He barely spoke loud enough to where Seokmin could hear, but the library was quiet, and there was nothing distracting, so why was Seokmin so lost?

“Do you… have one?” He was almost embarrassed speaking about things like that, but it vanished when Junhui smirked wider and he sat straight in his chair, eyes locking with Seokmin’s.

“Don’t worry about it.” He suddenly turned to the door, then looked back at Seokmin. “I think the next person is ready.”

“Wait, wait, I asked you nothing!” Seokmin called after Jun’s quickly fleeing body.

“Ask Minghao!” He walked out the door, and left Seokmin in a puddle of puzzlement, and none of the pieces were fitting together nicely.

He seriously debated on going out there and pulling the kid back in by his ear, but he figured fuck it, there will always be one uncooperative person of the bunch, and there were twelve people living here.

Seokmin waited until Minghao was through the doors and seated comfortably in front of him to start.

“Minghao?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. I am going to ask you a few things related to the events going on in the house, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Seokmin offered a friendly smile when Minghao nodded. “First, Jun said that you both came here from China?”

“Yes, we did. We were going to school together, and met Soonyoung and Mr. Joshua. He took care of us from then on.” Minghao was very quiet, and from the look on his face, he didn’t have much to say, or was trying not to let anything spill.

“You don’t go to school anymore?”

“No, I stopped once I turned twenty.” Seokmin nodded, recalling Joshua saying that he let them stop once they turned twenty.

“Okay. Now, what was everybody’s relationship between themselves and Joshua?”

“Um, Mr. Joshua isn’t really that involved in our lives. He mostly stays in his room with the company of another staff but, he’s not very… forward with us.” Minghao’s eyes darted around, meeting Seokmin’s every now and then but never settling. He immediately noticed how Minghao’s answered different from the majority. All of the staff he has interrogated claimed that Joshua was rather very involved. He made the servants feel welcome and included, but Minghao was claiming that he didn’t care as much as the other claim he did.

“Your answer differs from everyone else’s. They all say he is involved, how come you’re not?”

Minghao straightened, and cast his gaze to the tabletop. “Well, probably just me, who’s not very involved. Me and the young ones, we, have a different kind of responsibility. We are all over the house, cleaning after everyone. It gets hard to see Mr. Joshua as often as some of them do.”

“But some of them work outside and still say they are involved.”

“Maybe it’s just the younger ones. We don’t have a lot of…” Minghao swallowed. “Interactions like the others do.”

Seokmin watched him closely, and he squirmed. “What kind of interactions?”

“Just,” He paused, trying not to stumble over his words, but not doing very well. “They see Mr. Joshua more often, and he can relate more to the older staff.”

Seokmin sat back in his chair and watched Minghao, who was looking progressively more uncomfortable.

“Where were you on the night of Mr. Hong’s death?”

“I was in the kitchen, helping Mingyu. He had spilled something, and I happened to be in there while it happened, so I helped him clean it.”

“What was the scene like when you emerged from the kitchen?”

“Well, we didn’t know that Mr. Hong had died until then. We came out, and the ambulance had just left.”

Seokmin opened his case and sifted through his notes, clutching the note labeled ‘Mingyu’ as soon as he found it. He read over it, squinted his eyes as if something he wrote didn’t make sense, and placed it back inside. He addressed Minghao again.

“So you saw no body?”

“No, sir.”

Seokmin wrote this down, and casually leaned in his seat, not caring about trying to hint at his point. Minghao and Mingyu told him different things. Mingyu did not say anything about Minghao, and he claims while he saw the body, while Minghao said he was with Mingyu and they did not. He shook his head and sighed.

“Minghao, if you know who killed Mr. Hong, I need you to tell me.”

“I don’t know, sir. I really don’t know.”

“Minghao-”

“Sir, I really don’t know. None of us had anything to do with it.”

Seokmin sighed, and threw his pen down. He nodded his head towards the door. “Go. Bring someone else.” Minghao nodded meekly and left the room, and Seokmin wanted to rip his hair out.

The door was opened once again and Seokmin saw someone he did not recognize. He was about the same height as Soonyoung, maybe shorter, and he had slightly curly, chestnut colored hair, and when he sat down, Seokmin noticed he had chubby cheeks, and kind eyes. He concluded this was probably one of the young ones.

“I’m sorry, I guess I don’t have your name.”

“Ah,” The boy looked down and flushed slightly, his cheeks turning pink. It was endearingly cute. “I’m Seungkwan.”

Seokmin held out his hand, and was met with a timid one in return.

“Okay, Seungkwan. I’m going to ask you a couple questions, and it will be all over before you know it.” Seungkwan took a breath and nodded, straightened out and placed his hands on the table, folded neatly. “Let’s begin. Tell me about your position here.”

“Well, I am pretty much one of the few who is in charge of basic chores. I pretty much handle the laundry and make sure that each room is in place.”

“So, cleaning, basically?” Seokmin paused his writing to look up and assess Seungkwan.

“Yes, pretty much.” Seungkwan cast his eyes downward, then back up.

“Who else do you work alongside?”

“I work with Chan, Hansol and Minghao. We kind of interchange sometimes, but stick to what we know.”

“I see.” Seokmin put down his pen and focused entirely to Seungkwan. The boy seemed to get nervous at this. “So, because you are in the house often, you must see Mr. Hong around a lot, right? Does he seem to take a liking to more staff than some others?”

“Um, well, there are some that he favors. I guess it’s just because he likes them more.”

Seokmin nodded, still not writing it down. “Who would that be?”

“I guess, like, he likes Jeonghan and Junhui a lot. Mingyu, maybe because he makes him food. I don’t think he takes much of a liking to me and the other two young ones. Maybe he sees us as too young but, he still cares for us. Besides those three I don’t think he has a favorite. He kind of treats all the older ones the same, and us younger ones like kids even though we clean for him, and go to school.”

“Why do you think he sees the older ones differently than he sees you three?”

Seungkwan sighed and looked down, looking like he was about to start ranting. Seokmin sat straight, and waited. “I don’t know. A few of them have told me, when I would get sad because I just see unequal treatment, that he relates more to the older ones, I guess because they are closer in age to him. I don’t know how because I’m younger means I won’t understand if he has a problem, but I guess that’s what it is. I asked him about it one night and he told me that they can just help comfort him better than anyone, which I thought was weird and I said he still had Mr. Hong, but he told me they understand him better. He pulled me aside and told me that no one can know after I saw him take Junhui into his room late at night, and I was so frustrated, like why does he treat them so much better? And I-”

“Wait, what?”

“Huh?” Seungkwan stopped in the middle of his rant, one eyebrow raised, not realizing what came out of his mouth. Seokmin leaned forward, mouth open in question.

“What did you just say?”

“That Mr. Joshua just has a liking for his older staff? That they understand him better, that he told me to keep quiet after I saw him and Junhui; how-” It was at this moment, that Seungkwan realized what he said. He slapped a hand over his mouth and his eyes went wide, and after the initial shock, he dropped his hands and waved them in a defensive manner, denying fervently. “I-it’s really not what it sounds like, it’s totally different!”

“Are you sure, Seungkwan? Because it sounds like you just admitted something very important here.”

Seungkwan was on the verge of hyperventilating, and Seokmin wished the kid would just admit it before he passed out. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times to try and form coherent words, but it turned out to be a bust as he was close to tears.

He put his hands on his face, and bounced in his seat. When he dropped his hands, he looked at Seokmin desperately. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“If you didn’t mean to say that, that means it was specifically told to be kept a secret.” Seungkwan was still looking anxious as hell, so Seokmin saved him the trouble. “Seungkwan. Are you implying that Joshua is taking his servants to bed?”

Seungkwan’s face contorted, and he looked around the room frantically, like Joshua was sitting in a chair, staring at him in disapproval. Seokmin stood up when his question was still not answered, leaned on the desk, and looked Seungkwan in his eyes. This seemed to make him cave.

“Yes! Yes, yes, he does. Oh, but,” He swiveled again, checking the surroundings thoroughly. “not-not us though, not the young ones. Everyone but us.”

Seokmin dropped his head and sighed deeply. He didn’t bother to look at the boy to know he was acting like his life was on the line. He pushed himself off the table and rounded to Seungkwan’s side, pulling him up by his shoulders, and gently shoved him towards the door.

“Take me to him.”

Seungkwan obviously cowered, but followed his orders anyway. They were taken through the hallway and into the foyer, up the grand stairs and past Seungcheol, who was probably putting two and two together at this point. Seokmin didn’t even look at his surroundings, all he remembers was being ushered through a big set of double doors.

The room was very long, and dark. The floors were dark hardwood and the walls were black. There were lights scattered along the crown molding to light it up, and a fireplace opposite the white bed with a black accent blanket at the foot. His eyes drifted to the bed, which had a headboard that was plastered to the wall and made of black cushion. The bed was on a raised platform of only about two inches, but Seokmin stayed rooted to his spot, trying to find the mastermind behind this.

To the right of the bed was a couch and television mounted on a wall, and a balcony was to the left of that. He stepped tentatively over there when he noticed them open and flowing, and proceeded quicker when he saw Joshua.

“Joshua.” Said man turned, not shocked to see Seokmin there at all. Seokmin, horrifically, felt his anger slowly drain out of his body, and he tried his best to stay in the state of anger. With Joshua in his extremely sheer, lace, crème robe and nothing but his birthday suit, his mind became foggy and he had a hard time deciphering if this was the right thing to do.

“Seokmin. So glad you could join me.” He turned fully to Seokmin, and he kept his eyes on Joshua’s but he couldn’t help but notice through his peripheral that the front of his robe fell open, revealing everything, but it seemed like Joshua really didn’t give a shit.

Seokmin walked up to Joshua, squinting in the sunlight, and felt the cool breeze come and blow his hair to the side, as he saw Joshua’s go. “Are you sleeping with your fucking staff?”

Joshua simply laughed, and placed a slender hand on Seokmin’s shoulder. A tremor ran up his spine. He looked up and made solid eye contact, not breaking it.

“Where did your tie go?”

“Joshua, that’s not what I asked.”

Joshua held a firm gaze, not wavering, like Seokmin’s was. He still did not answer his question. Seokmin gulped. “I left it at home.” He whispered.

Joshua put pressure on Seokmin’s chest with the hand that was previously on his shoulder. He stumbled backwards into Joshua’s room, watching Joshua’s face with non-expressed fascination. Once he stopped, they were in the middle. Joshua’s robe was now slipping off one shoulder, the skin tempting, and the word delicious crossed Seokmin’s mind.

“Yes.”

“W-what?”

“I sleep with my staff. I have been, for months.” Joshua did not seem fazed, even by the fact that he just admitted this to Seokmin. “It’s fun, you know? They’re all so different. If I want it soft, I know who to go to. I know who likes bondage, I know who’s into roleplay. I know all their secrets, and it’s fun letting them fulfill their fantasies.”

Seokmin stared. “But why?” He could not bring his voice louder; the pitch was lower than he wanted.

“Because I like it.”

Joshua watched him, Seokmin’s mind flitted with emotion, and his face involuntarily curled into a frown.

“Jealous?” Joshua whispered, slowly walking towards Seokmin. He made no move. “Do you want to sleep with me, too? We can have some fun.” His voice was dangerously flirtatious, and it erupted shivers on his skin.

Seokmin swallowed. He never envisioned himself being here after his first day, pulling into the driveway. He never saw the person he was investigating doing what he was, which was sliding a hand into his jacket and across his chest, his fingers dancing closely to the seam of his buttons.

Joshua looked back up into his eyes, and Seokmin’s heart raced.

“You want a tie? I bet one would look real good wrapped around your eyes.” Joshua thread his hand into the hairs at the nape of Seokmin’s neck, and pulled him in. The mere skin of their lips touched before Seokmin turned his head to the right, avoiding the kiss. He breathed heavily, open-mouthed and his blood pressure went up when he felt Joshua’s tender finger trace his nose and cheekbones.

“I have… interrogations to finish…” He couldn’t find his breath, and he continued to stay that was as long as Joshua had a hand on him.

Joshua dropped his hand and stepped back, seeming proud of making Seokmin like this.

“Come back, then.” He winked, and stepped back out onto he balcony, ignoring him like he had already walked out the door.

He found his own way back to the library. He bypassed everybody, and only stopped once to ask for Hansol. Said boy came into the library not long after Seokmin took a seat.

His hair was blonde, and he had it falling onto his face, the tips were just touching his eyebrows. He leaned backwards, not caring about his posture and seemingly casual, and Seokmin inwardly groaned. He knew he was going to be dealing with another smart ass.

“Hansol, you know, usually I would just start this with telling you this is going to be quick and easy, but I think I say that to help myself more than anyone. I’m going to cut to the chase, hope you don’t mind.”

“Nah, man.” Seokmin sighed.

“I found out way too much shit today that’s making my head spin and I just want answers. Where were you on the night of Mr. Hong’s death?”

Hansol shrugged. “I was probably somewhere in the yard with Soonyoung. All I remember was the morning after.”

“Why were you in the yard?”

“You know. Just having fun.”

“Doing…?”

“Seungcheol knows people. We know Seungcheol. Simple.”

“Are you trying to imply Seungcheol bought drugs off of someone and you were smoking pot in the backyard while the owner of this house went under cardiac arrest?”

Hansol just laughed. “Yes.”

Seokmin knew he should also be worrying about where Seungcheol bought said drugs from, but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care at all.

Seokmin shook his head. “You were getting high while Mr. Hong was dying, fantastic.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I was just informed that Joshua has been taking servants to bed. Is this true?”

“Yeah, he does. Not me, though. Or Seungkwan and Chan. I don’t know when he started, but I know every day they’re always looking forward to see who is next.”

“It happens every night?”

“Nah, maybe two or three times a week. Maybe four. Sometimes he even takes more than one.”

An irrational feeling climbed its way up Seokmin’s spine and settled in between his ribcage. The thought of wanting no one except himself touching Joshua dashed across his train of thought, and it made his stomach curl.

“Is this what everyone meant when they said he makes them feel more welcome?”

“They said that? If so then yeah, that’s what they mean. When they start to feel like they aren’t important, Josh always takes them up. Sometimes, I’m pretty sure some of them fake it just to have sex with him. They did this weird thing once, they all went in at the same time. Soonyoung said it was a great experience to see him covered in everyone’s come. Some kind of bukkake initiation I can only imagine.”

Seokmin had a hard time processing this. He couldn’t find the words to say, never mind what to think about all of this. He didn’t bother writing this down, either.

“So, I’m having trouble processing this. He takes them to bed, sometimes multiple people, and does… bukkake.”

“That was only once. But yes, sometimes he takes three of them in. That’s the most I’ve ever seen.”

“Has he been doing this since Mr. Hong was still alive?”

Hansol thought for a moment. “I would say yes. Mr. Hong would always disappear on business trips and left Josh here by himself. Josh claims he got lonely, and wanted them to go upstairs with him.”

“So, it’s been happening? And he wanted everyone just to… keep it a secret?”

“Pretty much.”

Seokmin sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He threw his fist onto the table frustratingly. Hansol didn’t flinch.

“Who the fuck…” He spoke to the table, then lifted his head. “Who killed Mr. Hong?”

Hansol shrugged again. “Couldn’t tell you. I don’t know if it was an inside job, someone in his business wanted the company, or he cut someone off while driving and they really wanted him dead.”

“What do you mean by inside job?”

“Like, someone in the house. I don’t know. Could have been Jihoon. Have you seen that son of a bitch? Creeps me out. I try to stay away from him.”

“Thanks, Hansol,” Seokmin really wasn’t thankful. “I’ll take your accusation into consideration.” No, he won’t.

He nodded once in farewell and walked out after receiving instructions to get Chan for him. He sighed. He was almost done. This was the last one, and the last time he would have to be in this godforsaken house.

He would need to check and recheck all of the information he has obtained if no one wants to tell him who really did it, and he was almost positive that everything he gathered would lead him in different directions.

Seokmin said nothing as Chan walked in and sat down. He honestly did look like the youngest, he still had chubby cheeks and his hair was gelled to the side, pushing his bangs back. Seokmin almost felt bad that he needed to go through this, but he didn’t worry about it right now. He wanted answers.

Chan was looking everywhere but Seokmin. Seokmin studied his expression for a minute more and then cleared his throat. Chan jumped.

“Chan.” He shook his head at himself, wanting to skip the initial procedure but figuring this kid needed it.” Just going to ask you a few questions, don’t stress, it will be fine.” Chan nodded. He still didn’t meet his eyes. “What do you do here?”

“I um… I kind of just clean and stuff, take care of the chores with Seungkwan and Hansol. Sometimes Minghao, too.”

“What are you in school for?”

“I’m in young child development programs, kind of just learning how to teach children and how their brain works and stuff.”

“Sounds nice. How did you meet Joshua, then?”

“I was working at one of my old jobs and I guess he overheard me talking to one of my coworkers about how I couldn’t find another job and how I would have to do anything I could to keep my apartment, and he came over and said that he could keep me in school and give me a place to live. It seemed fishy at the time but, we talked more and he said it would be nice for me. I guess he was right.”

Seokmin nodded, he had totally giving up on trying to write anything down anymore. “Do you like it here?”

Chan nodded shyly. “I do. Mr. Joshua treats me nicely.”

“That brings me to my next point,” Chan seemed to know what was coming. “Joshua sleeps with his servants, correct?”

“Uh, yeah. He does.” His voice was timid, and he couldn’t lift his eyes from the table.

“Only the others, right?”

“Yes.”

“When did this start?”

“I don’t know. I just… remember hearing Jeonghan talk to Mingyu about it from the kitchen door, they didn’t know I was listening. He said something about… keeping quiet, and being rewarded with…” He cocked his head to the side, almost disgusted. “More sex.”

Seokmin took notice of how the boy grimaced at the thought, but he also picked up the dialogue happening. Jeonghan said something about keeping quiet?

“What were they talking about?”

“I don’t know. I just remember Jeonghan telling Mingyu that if he obeyed he would be rewarded by Mr. Joshua.”

Seokmin leaned forward, Chan cowered back. “Was this before or after Mr. Hong’s death?”

“Um, after?” He said as a question, then when he put the pieces together, his eyes widened, and he started to shake his head, but Seokmin cut him off.

“Chan if you know who killed Mr. Hong, you need to tell me.”

“I don’t, I-I-”

“Chan. I have dealt with so much shit today. I no longer want to sit in this house and watch everyone act so afraid of Joshua and then come in here and some, I won’t be saying names, act like they can flip the whole thing around and make me the subject. And quite frankly, I don’t want to stay in the house any longer. So, Chan. If you know who the fuck killed Mr. Hong, you need to tell me, now.”

Chan was about to keep denying, so Seokmin stood, leaned on his arms and towered over Chan’s small figure. He almost felt bad, but his mental health was slowly deteriorating by being in the house.

“Who killed Yejun Hong?” He cut straight to the chase, he spoke harshly and if Chan decided to keep stalling, he would have gotten mad.

“Oh- Joshua! It was Joshua,” He whimpered, and Seokmin stood straight. He stared incredulously at Chan.

“Joshua?”

“Yes, it was Joshua.” The kid looked close to tears. “He didn’t want to be strapped down anymore, so he was sleeping with everyone here because he liked the thrill of it, and he eventually got tired of Mr. Hong, and he just wanted to…”

Seokmin sighed and sat back down. He sifted through folders of various documents, ranging from autopsy reports to Joshua’s own profile.

“How did he do it?” He didn’t look at Chan, instead kept flipping through the pages. He found nothing that could trace back to a murder, especially coming from inside this very house. He had to only conclude it was murder since he was in perfect health condition, and it was unlikely for a massive heart attack to spring up out of nowhere.

“I-I don’t know. He just simply told us to stay quiet, and to not say anything.”

“So why did you finally sell him out then?”

This question had Chan looking lost. His eyes glossed over and Seokmin just sat and waited, probably a sadistic fuck at this point, but he was so done with this house.

“You just… seemed tired.” Seokmin stared. “I’m the youngest here and I’m the newest addition, I know being here is tiring. Not everyone gives you a straight answer. And even if it puts my job on the line, I’m not really a fan of Josh. He has very obvious favoritism, and it sucks to just watch it happen. I don’t mind selling him out.”

Despite his extremely distressed look he seemed almost joyous to be rebellious, like he was breaking the strict rules put in place and he loved it.

“I… I can’t do anything with this information unless there is solid proof, and… there is none. I can’t do anything.”

He helplessly flipped through the documents one last time, hoping that he was missing a key piece of evidence, but his eyes played no tricks.

“I’m sure he would tell you.”

“What?”

“If you asked him if he did, he would probably say it. Not to make you uncomfortable, but, he knows he has an effect on you. It’s obvious to everyone that he wants you.”

Seokmin stared at Chan and ran over those words over and over again. Joshua wants Seokmin. Joshua made efforts to advance on Seokmin in hopes of… seducing him? The thought sent a ripple of shivers down his back. Joshua consciously trying to seduce Seokmin, he hated himself as he figured out quickly it wasn’t a thought he rejected.

“You should just say you know. Don’t bring me up though, I know what he’s capable of, and I don’t really want anything to do with it.” He frantically rushed out the last sentence, but Seokmin just stopped and considered his options.

“I don’t really want to do that.” Seokmin lowly voiced. Chan shrugged.

“It would make your time here less than you want it to be.”

Seokmin sighed. Yes, he knew he should bring it up because, fuck, he was an investigator and it was his job to crack out the murderers and find them guilty even when they say they aren’t, but Joshua never technically said he was or was not guilty. He knew he should because if he didn’t he would be going against what probably was so many laws, and his own morals.

But he didn’t want to, simple because he didn’t know where it could lead. Every meetup he has had with Joshua has been a mystery, and it has taken a (sexual) turn every time. He doesn’t want to go and talk to him, because knowing Joshua, and now knowing what his intentions were, anything could happen. And that’s what Seokmin was afraid of.

He sighed again. Get it over with, and leave. Just like that. But it really wasn’t, and despite knowing this, he stood up anyway.

“Fine.”

Chan was so gracious as to lead him to Joshua’s room, where he carried his briefcase that felt no heavier. His nerves were thrumming and his fingers got pins and needles just ascending the flight of stairs.

He was greeted with the same doors as before. Chan walked away, and left Seokmin to walk in without knocking. He was sure Joshua was expecting him, anyway.

He set his briefcase down on the floor, and searched around the expanse of a room. Joshua was nowhere to be seen. The balcony doors were still open, the gentle breeze blowing back the sheer curtains, and he noticed there was a closet to the left that he hadn’t noticed last time, and a bathroom attached. There were LED lights over Joshua’s bed that seemed to serve as a spotlight, whereas no other light in the room was lit, except for the setting sun coming in through the open doors.

He hears rustling in the corner and turns to see Joshua bent over, picking something off the ground, most likely his long robe train.

“Joshua.” Seokmin tries to say firmly, but instead came out as a plea.

Joshua looks up, and Seokmin’s eyes dip below his collarbones once to quickly survey what he was wearing (a red, sheer robe with black feathers at the hems. The chest was widely on display to show his flawless chest, and Seokmin couldn’t take looking anymore when he noticed straps on his legs, more specifically, the thighs.), and he loses all of his game plan in that instant.

“Is there a problem?”

Joshua strutted over to a corner of the bed, the one closest to Seokmin and sat down, crossing his legs and waiting for him to continue.

“Did you do it?” Seokmin spoke after a beat of silence, and Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“Do ‘it’?” Joshua questioned.

“Did you kill him?” Joshua snickered and stood, approaching Seokmin. Seokmin gulped.

Joshua had ahold of his collar, and he was sure in the moment that if he wore the tie, he would have grabbed that instead. Joshua pulled him close and tilted his head.

“You won’t hurt us… will you? I know how much you secretly love being here, how much attention I give you. Would be a shame to just get rid of it all so fast, huh?”

“Just… answer the question.” He stared Joshua in the eyes, and the other man seemed to radiate this aura of pure seduction. Seokmin understood it now. He also understood that he was not going to leave this room the same man he was when he walked in.

“Yes. I did. I was tired. It was so boring being married to such an old man when the real adventure is out there in the young ones. It’s how I… kept myself busy when he was gone.”

Seokmin swallowed again. “How…?”

“Not important.” Joshua’s hand snaked into Seokmin’s hair. He felt his knees go weak. “What’s important is that you won’t do anything, right? You can’t let us be turned in… I love them all so much… I know you love me.” Joshua looked Seokmin right in the eyes. “You know you can’t help that feeling you get,” Joshua’s other hand made its way into Seokmin’s jacket. “When you found out I take them up here,” His fingers made their way into the crevices of the buttons. “And treat them so nicely,” He teased it open ever so slightly. “When you want it so bad.” His button popped pen, and Joshua’s whole hand went inside, and Seokmin felt the warmth of his splayed fingers on his chest. He looked up at Joshua.

“Now or never.” Joshua spoke very hushed but Seokmin’s conscious needed no more persuasion. He grabbed Joshua by the hips and pulled him in close, finally breaking the distance between their mouths. Joshua’s hand left Seokmin’s chest and he threaded both of his through Seokmin’s hair, giving it a right tug that made Seokmin groan into the kiss.

It was messy. It wasn’t neat and didn’t hold and etiquette, but Seokmin couldn’t have cared less. He felt every inch of Joshua’s skin that he could with only two hands, one travelling up his back, fingers fully spread, cherishing every bump and scar, while the other went down, and he grabbed his ass with such fervor that Joshua moaned.

Joshua grinded onto Seokmin’s leg and his tugs in his hair got sharper. Seokmin removed his hands from their previous positions and grabbed his waist again, but forcefully pushed him away. He only got to spare a glance at Joshua’s glazed eyes and his red lips before Seokmin pushed him backwards onto the bed, easily climbing over him to top.

He wasted no time in capturing his lips again while his left hand came up to caress the side of Joshua’s face. Joshua’s own hands were doing quick work of the buttons of Seokmin’s dress shirt and filled the void of emptiness on his skin with his hands. Empowered by the feeling of his fingertips on his chest and abdomen, he took of his jacket and threw it to the side. Joshua pushed the material over the top of his shoulders, only revealing Seokmin’s upper half, keeping his forearms strained for movement, still bound in the clothing.

Still kissing heatedly, Seokmin found his way to the tie of Joshua’s robe and undid it swiftly. He pulled the hem off of Joshua’s shoulders and felt the man underneath him lift his body to get the robe away.

Seokmin only detached from the kiss now to inspect this. He and Joshua alike were panting heavily, Seokmin embarrassingly straining in his pants. He eyes up the garter and sheer thigh highs Joshua adorned, and he brought his head back up and buried his face in Joshua’s neck, inhaling the scent and his lips finding his way to the soft skin.

Joshua moaned and scratched at Seokmin’s bare back, or the top of it at least, while the other hand was still tangled in his hair. Seokmin sucked harshly at the spots on his neck and he held no mercy as he trailed lower and lower, biting at Joshua’s collarbone and hearing him mewl.

Joshua dragged Seokmin back up by the hair and pulled him back to his lips, where he easily complied. Seokmin was addicted to the way Joshua tasted. His lips were soft, like his tongue was also, and Seokmin wanted him closer, wanted more of him. He tried to press in closer, to give his body friction and touch, he needed Joshua’s hands, he needed-

He pulled away. He looked to the right at his jacket on the floor, also because he couldn’t look Joshua in the eyes.

They were both breathing heavily, and Joshua said nothing, he seemed to get what was happening.

What was exactly happening? Well, Seokmin happened to snap into his right mind at this moment, and realized exactly what he was doing. He was about to have sex with this guy, who just admitted guilty to murder, and was about to throw away all of his morals.

He had some dignity, and with that last shred of dignity he pulled himself from Joshua and said nothing as he slung on his jacket and retreated. He assumed Joshua was not mad, rather, expected this, as he sat with a smug look and didn’t protest, or make Seokmin stay.

In was only then in the car did he realize that he was about to turn his back on all he has known for years as an investigator, turn his back on law and civility, turn his back on justice, and he was not going to turn Joshua Hong in.

Thursday. The rain was starting to lighten up now and the sun was peeking behind the clouds, and Seokmin’s mood felt heavily affected by this recent storm. He could not stop thinking about yesterday’s events.

When he came into work that morning, he reported that there was no evidence, no one pled guilty and no one snitched, and there was no reason to go back. He had a sick feeling in his stomach when he blatantly lied about this, but he felt no remorse. He felt no guilt as he let the murderer and helping party walk free. This concerned him, but not enough to turn himself in.

The harsh opening of his door startled him. It was the same officer who had assigned him to the case on Monday. He shook his head and placed a carefully folded white piece of paper on his desk.

“What’s this?” Seokmin didn’t bother to pick it up, waiting for an explanation.

“Take a look.” So, he did.

Dread wasn’t an appropriate word. Any word that is stronger than ‘dread’ would have worked perfectly to describe what Seokmin was looking at.

A page of neat handwriting. Small letters but things he understood perfectly.

A letter to the police department accusing Joshua Hong of murder, and explaining exactly how he did it.

“You really got no leads from that place?” Seokmin shook his head. He knew he was lying.

“Potassium chloride. That shit kills, apparently. Executed it perfectly. Guy is probably a mastermind, if you had asked me.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Seokmin mumbled.

“So we went to arrest him, and everyone there.”

“What?” Seokmin’s head shot up. The officer shook his head again and plopped into the seat across from Seokmin’s desk. He took a moment to find the right words.

“Don’t know how they did it. Don’t know who wrote this, don’t know anything about the history of anyone living there. But they did it.”

“Did what? What did they do?” Seokmin was on the edge of his seat, literally.

“Went to arrest everyone in the house. Police cars come in, they surround the driveway. Horns blaring, no activity from the outside. Knock on the door three times and then break the hinges.” He sighed through his nose, and his mouth quirked up in a disbelieving smile. “Not a single person was in that house.”

Seokmin stared. And stared. He was speechless. “What?”

“Everyone was gone, Seokmin. There was nobody in the fucking house. How many were there?” He grabbed the notes from Seokmin and looked quickly. He threw them back and leaned back again. “Twelve. Not one was there.”

Seokmin begun to shake his head, but was cut off. “Go see for yourself.”

So, he did. He got out of his car, parked across the street, out of the way of the police vehicles still parked there, and walked over, umbrella in hand. He watched from the sidelines as police went in the house, looking to come out with someone in handcuffs, only to return empty-handed. There were forensics on the scene, a ton of officers doting around, and he could see some in the windows. The garages were open, and there were no cars inside. The house looked so vulnerable like this. This was not how he remembered seeing it that first day.

Something pulled at his heartstrings. He stood in the drizzling rain, watching all these people come in and go out, and he had a thought, a feeling, that they had no right to be there.

But Seokmin laughed curtly. He spoke to no one: “Where did you go, you sneaky bastard?” He sighed, not exhaustedly, and closed his umbrella, letting the mist cool his heated skin. He walked back to his car and tossed the umbrella to the passenger’s side, and with one last look at the mansion as he drove away, he hoped briefly that their paths would cross again.