Emmett rolls his eyes and imitates me in a high-pitched voice. “Oh, you’re so smart, Taeyo.”

I poke Emmett in the ribs—there’s no need to be rude when it’s the truth. But Taeyo just smiles. “Thanks, guys. That’s nice of you to say.”

Emmett doesn’t know how to respond to that, so instead, we huddle around Taeyo’s phone and wait to see what loads. The first photo that comes up is of a sour-faced man, with his name and profile below. It says his life was taken violently, and he is seeking revenge before he passes on to the Spiritrealm.

Taeyo swipes left. “That’s a hangry gwisin. I learned early on it’s best to avoid those.”

“Didn’t he read my profile?” asks Emmett. “I said I was looking for a mom.”

The next photo is of a super-pale woman dressed in white, with long black hair partially covering her face. Her head is angled down, but her black eyes are looking up with a steely gaze, and frankly, she totally gives me the creeps.

“‘My husband cheated on me, and when I tried to confront him, he killed me,’” Emmett reads out loud. “‘I don’t really want to pass on to the Spiritrealm—I’m enjoying haunting him too much. I’m just here to see what else is out there, and keep my options open. In my spare time, I enjoy crawling out of TV screens and taking long walks on the beach. Message me.’” Then Emmett adds with a shudder, “And there’s a kiss emoji.”

The three of us cringe in unison. “Swipe left, swipe left!”

We keep going until we run out of profiles. Emmett’s mom was not among them. The loading wheel keeps spinning, but no new gwisin come up.

“That’s a shame,” Taeyo says finally. “I thought it’d work, but I guess she’s not around here.”

Emmett tenses and fidgets with a napkin. “I knew we weren’t gonna find her. What a colossal waste of time. This is a stupid app.”

“Maybe she already passed through to the Spiritrealm?” I try.

Emmett turns away and shrugs.

“Sorry, Emmett,” Taeyo says, looking genuinely apologetic. “I really thought we could find her.” He turns to me. “Did you want to try locating your parents, Riley? We can change the profile and try again.”

For a moment, I’m tempted. I really am. But, looking at Emmett’s face, I decide against it. Maybe what Sora said is true, and my birth parents were good people. But this is not the time for a reunion.

I shake my head. “Is that it, then? The plan’s failed already?”