In which, I open my mail containing your questions

•

Hello, darlings. First of all, I would like to thank you for 10k reads! It's a small milestone for many, but it's a milestone all the same. I'm thrilled beyond words.

Back when HoK (that's what I've been calling this book on my message board) hit a specific milestone, I posted the chapter LETTER BOX, where I asked you all to leave some questions for the characters and well, me!

To all those who sent their questions, thank you so much! To all those who didn't and wish to do so, you can always go back to the previous chapter and comment them! I will update this after another milestone :))

If you're on laptop, I apologize for the low quality of the gifs. The 3MB limit is really annoying and the pixelated features really stand out on desktop :(( 

—♪—

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| Was it hard being an inspector
| at first?
→ It definitely took some time getting used to it. I've had my ups and downs while in this job, but hopefully I've learnt from my mistakes and not let my achievements make me complacent in the face of justice.

| Q.2. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| Outside of work, when did you
| find your sister the most
| annoying?
→ There have been plenty of times when Wheein has, ahem, "got on my nerves". I think the tier for most annoying is ever-changing but I dislike her using my facewash without asking me first. Also, she uses an unhealthy amount of it - never the prescribed amount. I also detest how much salt she puts in the food when it's her turn to cook. And there's also the fact that she's the most slovenly person when it comes to keeping things back to their place. Also she talks while eating.

| Q.3. @deleted-user asked:
| Does having your sister by your
| make things easier, both in the
| professional and personal
| aspects of life?
→ Yes and no. There are pros and cons to every situation. There's an age limit to living with one's sister and I guess I'm pretty close to crossing it.

As to when it comes to our professional life, we try not to let it overlap with our personal life. However, it's a little hard to prevent that at all times. Sometimes our personal differences do play a part when we're in a professional environment, though we tend to not show it to our colleagues and keep it between us. I'm talking about sibling fights, of course.

However, she's a really great partner to work with. Some of my best cases have been solved with her by my side.

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| How do you handle Hoseok
| when he's mad?
→ It depends on the kind of "mad" he is. If he is in a fit of childish rage, I mostly ignore him and conveniently forget to do my share of the chores. If it is something more serious, I'd probably let him have his time to blow steam - which is spent in either watching television or obsessively rearranging his books or clothes. In that time, I'd probably fix a cup of coffee and ask him about his day. The truth behind his anger comes out, eventually.

If it has something to do with me, I'd probably do neither of the above two and spend my evening with a friend or work overtime. If he is still angry at me, I make it up by cooking the breakfast. This gives him the chance to criticize my cooking and then I'll flatter him by complimenting his own cooking. It works every single time.

| Q.2. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| When off work, what is the
| most annoying thing that your
| brother has done? 👀
→ Why are all these questions about Hoseok? I thought this was a 'Jung Wheein' interview, not a 'Jung Wheein opens up about her brother' interview.
Everything Hoseok does is annoying. He's semi-tolerable during work hours and absolutely a nightmare to live with. He cooks well so I have to give that to him, I guess.

| Q.3. @deleted-user asked:
| Who's more efficient while
| working on a case, alone? You
| or Hobes?
→ Joshua, is that you? That nickname reminds me of pubes, y'know? Maybe stop calling Hoseok that.

Or actually keep calling him that, it's hilarious.

I would say Hoseok because he gets it done as soon as possible. The juicier the case, the more time I've taken to take care of it. And that's not a very good trait to have as police. He mostly tries to avoid having me work on a case where there is a family waiting for answers. I'm working on that aspect of me. It's only been three years since I joined the force and five, for Hoseok. Hence, he's more experienced, too.

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| Do you love Jungkook? Rate it
| in percentage.
→ Yes, I do love him and it cannot be rated in percentage.

| Q.2. @deleted-user asked:
| What stimulated this psychotic
| urge to kill?
→ Oh, I don't know. Maybe scroll back a few times, read the whole book from my perspective :))(please he sounds so passive aggressive-
but I would recommend re-reading chapter 21.)

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| How much do you hate
| Joohyun? Rate it in percentage.
→ 97382927492% :)

I hated her so much I killed her. There, does that satisfy you?
(why am I making the Kim siblings so aggressive 😭)

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| Do you love me? Please love
| me :(
→ I'm sorry, I don't know you. I cannot believe I came all the way for this. If you have any other questions, you might pass them on to my secretary, Lee Chan.

| Q.2. @deleted-user asked:
| Do you feel sorry for Tae and
| Yeri? Who do you feel more
| sorry for?
→ Had they not stooped to the level they had, I would've found them sorry. It's honestly hard to say who I felt the most sympathy for. I suppose I felt more sympathy for Yerim than Taehyung, because in his case, my guilt outweighed my pity.

I wonder, what would've happened had I found the courage to defend Taehyung that day. Maybe all these murders wouldn't have happened. And maybe, Joohyun would never have been able to snake her way to the top and harass Yerim like she did.

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| If you were to pick between
| Joohyun, Yerim or me, who
| would you choose?
→ Is this a gossip tabloid? I'm trying to keep my company afloat, stop asking me such scandalous questions.

... Yerim, if I could have a second chance.

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| Are you attracted to money as
| much as you're attracted to
| Hansol?
→ Hansol is a handsome lad, no doubt. He has a very handsome bank account too. And it would be handsomer if all had gone to plan, i.e., if he'd married Yerim and if I hadn't been killed by that silly girl.

You may make your own conclusions :)

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| NAMJOON MAY YOU REST IN
| PEACE WOULD YOU LIKE ME
| TO HAUNT YERIM FOR YOU
→ Please don't. I wish to rest (in hell) in peace.

| Q.2. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| To Sir Kim Namjoon:
| If you married Joohyun because
| you want to "own" her beauty,
| then why did you marry Min
| Yoonji? Is it because of her sass
| or she threatened you to shoot
| you in the face if you didn't
| marry her ooooorrr money? Or
| none of the above. pls tell, sir :))
→ First of all, I'm not a knight. So please stop addressing me as 'Sir Kim Namjoon'. Second of all, neither of your reasons are true. Ours was a love marriage, like my second one. And whoever put the idea in your head that I wanted to "own" Joohyun's beauty?

| Q.3. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| To Min Yoonji:
| Pls tell us what kind of man was
| Sir Kim Namjoon 👀
→ Why are you addressing that man as if he was a knight? Ghastly bore. I suppose the first few years of marriage were sweet or whatever, but he was a bit prudish after the children were born. Bossing around everyone, even my younger brother. And from what I've learned, he was worse after I died. I can only hope my children are doing better.

| Q.4. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| To Jeon Jungkook:
| How are you now, bb? 😢 it
| must've hurt you knowing
| Taetae is one of the culprits 😢
→ Yes, and it still does. It was cruel that our happiness lasted for such a little time. I wish I wasn't so blind to all the signs around me. I wish I had persuaded him to go to therapy or something like that. I wish he had told me the depth of his trauma earlier.

Sometimes I wonder whether I knew my husband or not.

| Q.5. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| To my ol' man, Min Yoongi:
| What was your first impression
| of Namjoon? And oh! Did you
| have Bodyfriend massage chair
| just like how I imagine? 🌚
→ Wha'ever do ya mean by 'bodyfriend'? Naw, I don' have any o' the new devilry. I believe in a life o' simplicity. And your ol' man is at home, missie. I don' remember having you as ma little girl.

When we first met Kim, 'e was a condescendin' li'l twat. 'Twas before I left ma job. 'E kept to 'imself, mostly. Till the day I died, I cannot see why me sister or me old man saw in tha' worm. 'E did 'ave charm, though. Tae got it from somewhere, I suppose. 

| Q.1. dinonarasour asked:
| Hi you write so wonderfully :)
| Are you making a book 2 of
| Hoseok and Wheein doing a
| different investigation?
→ Hello, that's extremely kind of you <3
Yes, I am working on another book. I have two spin-offs planned; one centering Hoseok and the other centering Wheein. The spin-off I'm working on currently is called The Min Dilemma. I had briefly posted the introductory chapter with the cast earlier this year but unpublished because I didn't plan it well enough. I get busier with each passing year but I do hope I can publish the first chapter by the end of this year. The idea for both the spin-offs came to me earlier this year. 

I hope that you look forward to it!

| Q.2. _thekimsalert_ asked:
| Before writing this book, were
| you inspired by movies, drama,
| shows or anime? Or it just came
| randomly? 😆
→ I had a bunch of inspirations while writing this book, like any other writer (after all, no idea is completely original). I would say the broadest possible inspiration was Agatha Christie's The Body in the Library. I was extremely intrigued by the author's note: 

I apologize for dumping that on you (lmao) but the first few lines really caught my attention. It gave me the idea for the "pattern", you see. A book littered with cliché murders but only that was the pattern itself. The classic-"ness" of it, you see. 

I was also going through my own struggles in life when I first conceptualized the book. I was still finding it hard to come out to my classmates at the time and this idea was in infancy back in 2018, before homosexuality was decriminalized in my country. The day after it was decriminalized, some of my classmates were talking about how they "might" be bisexual. The same classmates who'd made "lesbian" jokes when my twelve-year old self had cried when my best friend had ditched me for good (at that time, I hadn't realized that I had a massive crush on her). The same classmates who had pushed me away when I had tried telling them off for making such jokes, making me the target of ragging during matches (I played hockey).

 I felt a rage like no other that day. Yes, it wasn't justified; I was fifteen years old then, and I had known that I was bisexual since I was thirteen. I still had a lot to learn about internalized homophobia (which I suspect/assume, might've been the case). Nevertheless, the rage I felt is multiplied grotesquely in Taehyung's character. I didn't want to murder them, of course, but I did want to do something that might shut their mouths. 

(WOW I HAD SOME  m a s s i v e  PROBLEMS !!)

As I have mentioned before, I started working on HoK when I was fifteen. I think that moment inspired me to write about a gay villain. And that the biggest twist in the whole plot would be that his accomplice was also gay.

Other loose inspirations: Alfred Hitchhock's Psycho, Agatha Christie's A Pocket full of Rye and Sue Grafton's A is for Alibi. All of them are recommended. 

| Q.3. crystaellites376 asked:
| Were Yerim and Taehyung
| aware of each other's plans?
→ Hello, Sky <33 
No, they weren't. Yerim just took advantage of the spiked bath salts, not realizing that Taehyung was trying to frame her. And Yerim didn't have a plan, per se. It was a rough moment of impulse (not unlike my own mentioned in the previous answer), something that had been sitting in her mind since before the Jeju trip. 

And Taehyung didn't know that Yerim had choked Joohyun. There was a flaw in the plan (as Seokjin pointed out in Chapter Twenty Four) and Joohyun might've survived, had it not been for Yerim's intervention.

| Q.4. Aquaevie asked:
| How many times did you
| change the plot, characters until
| you were satisfied with it?
| I love this book.
→ I'm glad you asked that! I would say about four times. The first ever draft was written in late 2018 when I was still trying to cast faceclaims. This one didn't have Jungkook or Yoongi in it. The second draft was written in early 2019 and in here, Taehyung is the one who murders all three of them (Joohyun, too), Yoongi and Jungkook are part of the cast too. The third draft was in mid 2019, and in here, were the most massive changes: Seokjin's character has been revamped, Wheein rose to prominence, the Jeju Island trip taken by the siblings, etc. The fourth draft changed the entire plot and it was actually after I had published (on Wattpad) the first four chapters: Yerim is the one who murders Joohyun, Wheein's last line "Park Jimin was gay" is birthed, Ms. Kang Seulgi is introduced (as well as her testimony), the trip to Waggy and Attaboy bars is written, etc. 

And of course, after publishing it, I have edited it five times. And in the fifth time (which is just before I answered this q&a), I have made some changes in the plot: the gender of the hooded figure is undisclosed, Jimin's sexuality is more subtle, Yerim is slightly better at hiding her emotions, etc. 

And I'm beyond honoured that you love this book. I'm so glad that all these years it took to write it, paid off. Thank you for reading <33

| Q.5. @deleted-user asked:
| It's so well written
| and the plot is very well thought
| out; what is your thought
| process behind such a
| masterpiece?
→ Thank you so much! If you guys keep giving me such compliments, I'll end up having an extremely fat ego.

I've expanded on this in the previous two answers and more in the EXPLANATIONS + NOTES. My goal was to keep it as authentic (if not realistic) as possible and try to make it difficult for people to hate the antagonists. I hope I did a decent job. 

| Q.6. @deleted-user asked:
| NAME THAT PROTEIN SHAKE
| OR ELSE I WILL MAKE U END
| UP LIKE JOON! jk jk
→ NJDSFOKJOGPOKG I DONT DRINK ANY LMAOO

Uh, try having some tea? Chai? I drink a mix of masala and darjeeling tea, with lemongrass mixed in it and (sometimes) a dash of ginger. No, I'm not trying to be a Pinterest board; my mother is extremely picky. And if you want to know whether I eat anything healthy, please, I don't. I'll have almonds and cashew nuts if they're mixed or ground in a dessert. As for walnuts, I like them in my coffee and walnut ice cream. I try to follow a gluten-free and lactose-free diet (with the occasional cheating because I cannot control my temptations). And whenever I cheat massively (like have bread or ramen three days in a row or if I bake a cheesecake or if I drink my hot chocolate with whipped cream), the toilet becomes my second home.

I cook myself different variations of ramen once a week. Please do NOT follow my example. 
 

—♪— 

And that's the end of this q&a! Thank you so much for sending in those questions! I had so much fun answering each one of them. And if you have any more, comment them in LETTER BOX and I'll update this chapter whenever I can with your answers <33

Unrelated and nobody asked but I'm just going to dump some of the details behind the gifs in THIS chapter. The rest are purely aesthetics and just really sexy GIFs that go well with the character's concept.

Bae Joohyun :: She's the one who snitched about Taehyung so her GIF was one in which she wore a hood. 
Kim Yerim :: Her GIF is a picture of serenity and poise; the complete opposite to her character.
Cho Seungyoun :: Maits is desperately in love with this man so please stream WAITING by WOODZ, he came back a week ago. This is my second comeback since stanning this man; he always exceeds expectations.