Chan’s fingers hovered uncertainly over the ‘send’ button. It had been two days already, yet he hadn’t heard anything from the Soonyoung.

‘How’s the investigation going?’ He read his text over and over again.

Would it be weird to send this? He doesn’t even have anything to do with the case.

Wait, he did help in some ways.

But it’s not his business anyway. Would Soonyoung find him annoying?

After a full minute of inner conflict, Chan squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the button, tossing his phone onto the bed immediately as though he had been shocked.

“Ah, I don’t know anymore!” Chan squished his face in between his pillow. Why was he acting like a teenage girl anyway?

His phone rang. Chan grabbed it at once, to find Soonyoung calling him. His stomach clenched weirdly. Ignoring whatever that was, he picked up.

“Channie-ah!” Chan felt blinded by the brightness in his voice. It was evening for god’s sake. Who even sounded so energetic after a whole day of work?

“Hyung.”

“I’m glad you texted. Things are going well. The lady we saved managed to give us more details about the killer. Things like his height and some information about his appearance. Apparently, they saw each other at a bar and he followed her.”

Chan smiled unconsciously. “That’s great.”

“Unfortunately, the knife we obtained contained no fingerprints. But no worries, the case’ll be solved soon. What are you doing now?”

“Nothing, just lying on the bed. I just came back from school.”

Soonyoung chuckled. “Shouldn’t you be doing homework now? You don’t have to worry so much about the case, I have it under control. Or did you miss me?”

“Of course not,” Chan deadpanned.

They continued talking for a while longer. Chan learnt a lot about the other during this time. Like how he used to dance when he was in high school too, how he liked to sing, and how he came to be a police officer. The whole time, the weird, giddy twist in his stomach refused to disappear.

It’s only when his phone buzzed, that Chan finally realized how long they’d been talking. 20% battery remaining, his phone reminded, its heat burning his palm. Strange, Chan frowned, he could have sworn it was fully charged just now. He looked at the time and gasped. It was night.

“Hyung, its night! We’ve been talking for hours,” Chan said, aghast.

“Yeah, why? Do you not like talking to your hyung?” Chan could hear the pout in his voice.

“Yes, now bye. I’ve wasted too much time.”

Soonyoung gasped dramatically. “Is talking to me a waste of time?!”

Chan rolled his eyes, ignoring the theatrics. He gave a last goodbye before hanging up.

----------

He’s in a strange room. A warehouse of some sort. A run-down, dusty room, with wallpapers that had begun peeling off to reveal the mouldy yellow underneath. There was only one working bulb in the whole room, its shallow light not doing much to help illuminate the room. It was all empty save for two figures. One was kneeling in front of a shattered window, its head casted downwards to the ground. The other was a tall man, with dishevelled, greasy, shoulder-length hair, his right hand gripping tightly onto a dagger. The Killer.

Outside the window, it was pouring and the sky was dark. There was a red building in the far off distance, but it was too dark to discern properly. The Killer took a step forward to the one under the window.

An ear-splitting ring tone blasted. Chan’s eyes snapped open.

He’s on his bed, sunlight already seeping in through the window. His heart was threatening to break a hole through his ribs, palms and back already damp with sweat. Dazed, Chan lay there for a moment, taking a few deep breaths as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings.

He forced himself to get up and answer the phone. It’s noon. “Hello?” he said groggily.

“Oh, were you sleeping? Sorry.” It’s Soonyoung.

“Yeah…” Chan rubbed his eyes. “It’s Saturday so…”

“I was just calling to tell you we’ve gotten a lead!” Soonyoung exclaimed excitedly.

“Good timing hyung, I just had a dream too. But I don’t think it’s going to happen today. Or soon for that matter.”

“Oh, are you free now? I’ll come fetch you then.”

“Yeah sure hyung,” Chan said, already getting up.

As soon as Chan got into the car, Soonyoung began to spill the details animatedly.

Apparently, after their encounter, the Killer had hurriedly ran away and rushed home immediately. Luckily, there was a witness who saw him running into a building. The witness was a middle-aged man who caught a glimpse of the Killer’s face. He came forward to the police a few days later when he heard the police were looking for someone similar. After that, Soonyoung and the police entered the building and using the details provided by the witness, they were able to question the residents properly, and obtain more information.

According to them, he was a strange man who lived in solitude and never spoke to anyone else, always staying cooped up in his room. His identity was still a mystery. And now, he had completely disappeared. Where to, no one knew.

“But at least we have his face now! We’ll be able to seek the public’s help and get people to be more aware,” Soonyoung said optimistically.

“That’s really great hyung!” Chan smiled genuinely.

Soonyoung’s features softened. “What about your dream? Where is it gonna take place?”

“It’s at a warehouse or something. I don’t know where it is, but it’s near a red building. And it’s in this town too, for sure.”

“A red building? What kind?” Soonyoung asked, confused.

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, I’ll try and search for the place. Tell me more about your dream.”

“I didn’t actually see the murder. Your call woke me up before that. Although something’s strange about this time. I didn’t see her face but the victim almost looks like a male. I mean she had short hair. And it wasn’t blonde hair either. At least I don’t think it was.”

“That’s strange,” Soonyoung commented, eyes still glued to his phone. “He only kills women. What reason would he have to kill a man? Are you sure it was a male?”

“I…not really? I didn’t actually see her face, so maybe it was just the angle I saw it from…And it was pretty dark,” Chan nodded, though still not totally convinced.

“Got it!” Soonyoung sprang up from his seat, grasping tightly to Chan’s wrist and showing him his phone. “It’s not far from where the Killer lives. There’re only a couple of warehouses over here so it wasn’t hard to narrow down. This should be the right place. The red building is actually a school. Come on, let’s go!” The car accelerated.

The warehouse was definitely abandoned. Situated in the middle of nowhere and enshrouded in trees, it was isolated away from the city. The road that they had arrived from was the only sight where human activity was actually present. And even that was minimal.

Soonyoung blanched and halted his footsteps suddenly. “You don’t think he’s inside, do you?”

“No, it was at night.”

“But what if he’s staying here for the time being?” Soonyoung asked nervously.

“It’ll be fine, we just have to peek in and see whether he’s there. Call it a hunch but I really don’t think he’d be here. Besides, it’s two against one. And you have a gun.” He pointed to gun holster at his shoulder area. “He’s not stupid to fight us.” Chan concluded confidently, before breaking out in a teasing grin. “Gosh, who’s the police officer here?”

“Of course I am,” Soonyoung said, chest swelling up.

That’s how they ended up sneaking next to the door suspiciously, with Soonyoung in front of him, pistol ready in his hand. The door was ajar, allowing them the view of a portion of the room. Chan was pretty sure they looked ridiculous.

“Chan, stick closer to the wall,” Soonyoung whispered from in front of him. His other hand came up to Chan’s waist, pushing him closer to his back gently. His nose brushed the back of Soonyoung’s shirt unintentionally. Electricity burned his skin from where Soonyoung’s fingers came into contact with, and Chan almost spluttered out loud, the tips of his ears burning.

A sweet scent wafted over, standing out from the rank, stale, dusty odour of the old warehouse. Chan sniffed quietly. Soonyoung smelled like a blend of citrus and soap, the nice kind. Chan froze when he realized what he was doing, slapping himself mentally as he immediately inched away from Soonyoung.

‘I’m going in,’ Soonyoung motioned silently, before kicking the door open, and moving in. “Police!” he shouted, pistol held up.

Chan peeked in a millisecond later, only to find the room barren and empty. They both turned to gaze at each other before bursting into fits of laughter.

“You were freaking out for nothing,” Chan giggled, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Soonyoung let out small smile despite the fact that the younger was laughing at him and ruffled his hair. “You should laugh more often. You’re still a kid, don’t be too worried about the murders.”

“I laugh all the time, okay,” Chan said sourly, swatting the hand away.

“Alright,” Soonyoung chuckled. He took a step inside and observed the place. Chan followed closely behind. “Careful Chan, there’s lot of broken glass here.”

“Doesn’t look like there’s a killer living here,” Chan noted.

Soonyoung agreed. He swung an arm around Chan’s shoulders naturally and led him away. “Let’s go back.”

“What are you going to do now? The Killer is still going to be at this location one day,” Chan asked.

“Well, I’ll talk to my chief about this…hopefully it’ll work out,” Soonyoung sighed despondently.

----------

Chan walked home, humming slightly, ear phones plugged in his ears. After their escapade at the warehouse, Soonyoung had to rush back to the police headquarters to meet his boss and had left after making sure Chan was near the train station and could make it back on his own. Chan honestly hadn’t mind. But Soonyoung had apologised profusely for not being able to send Chan home, even going to the extent of shouting out promises of making it up to him somehow. (Chan had stalked off in embarrassment, intending to put as much distance between him and Soonyoung, who was hollering out of the car window, as possible, and pretending not to know him when people started sending disapproving looks at them both.)

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand and a shudder ripped through him suddenly. He stopped, slowly taking out his ear phones and looking back. The street was empty, with nothing out of the ordinary. He gulped, slightly anxious now as his eyes darted around furiously.

It’s nothing, he told himself, stuffing his ear phones into his pocket, before continuing to walk home. Only after a few minutes, did he hear a soft shuffle of footsteps behind him. He whipped around at the speed of light, to find the street empty. Everything was normal. No one was behind him. He must be imagining things.

Still, his heart couldn’t help but pound harder. Without a care for anything else, he made a mad run for his house, which was just up ahead, and slammed the door shut. He breathed out, relieved behind the door, finally able to relax a little. Only after did he realise how paranoid he was being. Chan frowned. The suspense of the case must be getting to him. He pushed the memory to the back of his mind.

----------

Soonyoung took a deep breath and stepped into Seungcheol’s line of vision.

“What is it?” He asked in a clipped tone. He was dressed in a dark dress shirt, tie loosened halfway to his chest, dark circles staining his eyes as he gulped his coffee from a mug, looking utterly exhausted.

“Sir, it’s about the case.”

“What about it? Is there a new lead?”

Soonyoung swallowed nervously, knowing he’ll have to spill the beans. “I have reasons to believe the next victim will be attacked at a warehouse near Y Street.”

“What makes you say so?”

“…It’s rather near to where the killer stays…”

“That’s not a real reason. I’m not going to send our men over there just for a mere speculation. Give me real proof next time,” he responded, traces of anger slipping into his voice. “Don’t waste my time.”

“No, sir, you don’t understand. We just need several policemen to keep watch there.”

“Enlighten me then, what exactly don’t I understand here?” His voice raised slightly, getting visibly annoyed.

Soonyoung wilted. “Okay, this is going to sound stupid, but it’s true. There’s this boy, he’s a student. I met him during one of our investigations. He has these visions or something, enabling him to see the murders before they happen. That’s how I knew the whereabouts of the previous victim,” Soonyoung releasing a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Seungcheol sat there, face red, looking absolutely livid. A vein in his temple was threatening to burst. “Are you kidding me?!” he roared, slamming his hand on the desk. The rest of the office turned quiet as they gaped at him.

“You’ve always been practical and reliable, so I trusted you! And this is what you come up with? When did you start believing in superstitions? And how could you drag an innocent citizen into this?” He bellowed. “You know what, take two days off and clear you mind! When you come back, I better not hear about his again! You’re lucky I’m not demoting you!”

“But—” Soonyoung protested.

“Leave,” Seungcheol said, his tone indicating that the conversation was over, turning back to his computer. “I’m busy enough as it is.”

Soonyoung sighed, head low. Left with no other choice, he grabbed his bag and left, ignoring the pitiful glances tossed his way.

Two days off? What was he going to do? What if the Killer strikes again?

An image of Chan surfaced in his mind. He smiled to himself, the heavy feeling in his heart suddenly disappeared. Maybe a break wasn’t so bad after all.

The phone rang for only a few seconds before it was picked up.

“Hyung!” Chan answered.

Soonyoung’s heart melted a little. “Hey Chan. You free tomorrow?”

“Yep, why?”

“Get ready soon, okay? I’ll pick you up at twelve.”

“What?” Chan asked, startled.

“See you,” Soonyoung said cheerfully and hung up.

He gazed fondly at the number on his phone afterwards. He wasn’t sure why he kept coming back to the younger. Seungcheol was right. He shouldn’t be involving a citizen so deeply in police work. They could have just discussed the dreams over the phone. Honestly, there wasn’t a need to bring Chan out all the time to check out his dreams. Or the need to tell Chan all the details about the case and whenever a new clue surfaced. But he still couldn’t help it. He would thumb through his contacts and subconsciously click on Chan’s. Before he knew it, he was calling Chan to talk all about his day.

He smiled slightly to himself.

----------

True to his words, there was a knock on Chan’s door at twelve sharp in the afternoon. Chan would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. Already dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, he opened the door, not before putting on a neutral expression. Soonyoung was in a casual dress shirt and jeans, wearing a wide smile on his face.

“Do you not have a life that you keep coming to find me?” is the first thing he asked.

“Nope! Come on, let’s go!” Soonyoung draped an arm around his neck, dragging him out. Chan had to scramble to lock the doors behind him.

“Where exactly?” Chan looked at him sceptically.

“Anywhere you want to! You need to experience a little fun too. It’s my treat, as a thanks for helping me with the case,” Soonyoung sent him a breath-taking smile.

Chan averted his eyes, flushing slightly. Soonyoung’s stare seemed to be able to read his soul.

“Let’s go to a café then.”

Soonyoung held a hand to his chest exaggeratedly, wiping away fake tears. “My Chan’s all grown up now and drinks coffee! One day you’re going to fly away and leave your Soonyoung hyung all alone!”

“Oh God.” Chan stared at the sky and stalked off, wondering what he did to deserve this. Laughing, Soonyoung jogged after him.

“So, can I ask why you live alone?” Soonyoung asked once they sat down in a café, drinks ordered. (Soonyoung had endlessly when he had ordered the double chocolate frappe, with layers and layers of whipped cream added to the top. “You’re still a kid after all!”)

“My parents are dead,” Chan said after a while, sipping his drink slowly. “They were murdered when I was very small.”

If Soonyoung was shocked, he didn’t show it, and just nodded, encouraging Chan to continue.

“They never found the killer.” Chan’s fingers tightened around his cup. “I was sent to live with my aunt and her family, but…they only saw me as burden.” His voice cracked a little towards the end. “So I’m living alone now, living off the money sent by them every month.”

Soonyoung hummed softly. “Maybe that’s why you have these dreams,” he said gently.

Chan’s eyebrows rose in confusion.

“Since you never found out who killed your parents, the dreams give you hints about other killers. They let you save potential victims. Really, it’s more of a blessing than a curse.”

“That…makes sense. I never thought about it that way,” Chan nodded.

“Besides, you’ll always have me!” Soonyoung sported a smile so radiant it could probably cure cancer.

Chan mindlessly gazed at Soonyoung’s features. He decided he really liked Soonyoung’s smile. The way his small, slanted pair of eyes would narrow even further, making them look as if it wasn’t opened. The way his nose would scrunch up cutely. The way he revealed a set of pearly white teeth. The way he seemed to look at nobody else but Chan. Whenever that happened, it was as if someone had turned down the volume in Chan’s ears. Everything and everyone but Soonyoung blurred out of the picture and Chan would get lost in those eyes…

Oh.

The rest of Chan’s thoughts slinked out of his mind. His heart skipped a beat, mouth forming a small ‘o’. Because he thinks he finally understands.

“Chan?” Soonyoung asked, concerned, interrupting his inner monologue.

Chan groaned out loud and proceeded to bang his head on the table. He moaned in pain, immediately regretting it. He’s so, so stupid. A stupid kid with an even more stupid heart.

Time seemed to pass really quickly. Granted, time always seemed to pass quickly with Soonyoung. In that little café, they talked for hours, Chan’s beating heart refused to calm down the entire time. Before he realised it, it’s night.

“Well…my house’s this way,” Soonyoung said when they reached a forked road. “Bye?” he said, looking at Chan unsurely.

Chan wanted to nod, but the state of his surroundings caught his eye. His words got caught in his throat. The street was empty and dark, the only illumination coming from the street lamps, and even that was a dim yellow. The memory of walking home a few days back surfaced in his mind.

“Yeah, bye,” Chan said after a while. He was being stupid. His house was just a few blocks down. It’s not like anyone’s following him or anything. Still…

His hand shot out to grab at Soonyoung’s sleeve just as he turned, before his brain even processed what he was doing. Too late, Soonyoung was already staring at him.

“Wait. It’s kinda late…”

Soonyoung raised his eyebrows, clueless, as if asking ‘so?’

Beating around the bush apparently wasn’t going to work. “Walk with me. Just until I reach my house.” Chan regretted his words just as it came out of his mouth. He was being dumb. He wasn’t some needy kid. He’s a grown adult, he can walk home himself.

“I mean, never mind,” Chan hurriedly took back his words.

But Soonyoung’s already grinning smugly at him, and wrapping an arm around his shoulders again. “Are you scared?” he teased.

“What? No! Not at all. You can go home now, I’ll be going. Bye.”

Soonyoung guffawed loudly. “You’re so cute! Don’t worry, I’ll walk you home. Your reliable and strong hyung is going to protect you! Nothing to be afraid of!” He patted his chest confidently.

Chan outwardly sighed, but the butterflies went wild in his stomach.

----------

Chan felt like he was floating. He knew this place. It was the same warehouse. The Killer’s there. The victim too, leaning against the wall below a large, broken window, head down.

The same thing was going to happen. His dreams always ended in the victim lying in a pool of their own blood. Chan didn’t want to see this. But this time, the Killer’s bending down, talking. He couldn’t hear the words but he saw the lips moving, a dark, unsettling glimmer in his eyes. And then the knife was raised.

Run, Chan wanted to shout. But it’s like he’s trapped behind an invisible wall. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get across it.

And suddenly, the victim raises her head. Except it’s no lady. Chan’s heart stopped. He saw the raw fear in the other’s eyes.

Those familiar, slanted, thin eyes. That familiar face that he’s seen so much of in the mirror.

It’s him.