Cold and damp clothes clung to his body as he laid in the street, rain beating down on his face and he stared up at the somber gray sky. People rushed by, but nobody stopped for him. Yellow tape kept the entities separated. Flashing lights glimmered off the wet pavement, the sound of boots sloshing deafening while pressed to the earth. Each splash disturbed the water enough to mix his blood with it, more and more until the edges of his clothes were stained crimson and his pale hands looked almost lifelike again, pink, under the red water. Maybe it was the rain, but his eyes were still bright like they had been moments before. His lips were parted as if intaking breath to speak. His raven hair stuck to his face like it would when he sweat after a brisk run.

Everything about him was still alive, if you pretended he had decided to lay down in the middle of the road.

A sharp flash cut through the din as a photograph was taken. People continued to push past the accident, eager to escape the pouring rain. An officer’s car slowed to a stop, the tires dragging through water, the sound of the car door shutting harmonized by a crack of thunder.  

The man approached the body. Looked it up and down, grimaced and crouched closer. “How did this happen?” he mused to nobody but the body below him. The boy’s dark eyes continued to gaze up at the sky and rain collected on his eyelashes and trickled down his cheeks. At this time another officer stood at the firsts’ side, mirroring the question.

The first shook his head tiredly and rose. “Probably wasn’t watching where he was going. You know kids these days…eyes glued to their phones.”

“Right…” the second muttered, eyes not leaving the corpse. “Any identification? Hit and run?”

“I assume hit and run as I see no vehicle besides ours,” the officer scanned the area, “and no ID yet; Kim hasn’t arrived.”

“He can’t be older than 20.” The second was still staring as he spoke. He clicked his tongue. “What a waste…good looking kid.”

“Mm.” the first agreed, pulling out a notepad and a pen. “Grab me the umbrella, would you?”

“On it.” When he returned he held it over the both of them as the first jotted down some notes about the environment.

         Middle of the road. Busy shopping district. Plenty of people around. Question some.

         Pouring rain.

         Nobody is stopping?

“Hey, Jung.” He looked up from his notes at his companion’s voice. “What’s flickering on his left hand?”

“Flickering? What—” he didn’t notice it before, but the boy’s left hand gleamed azure. “Was that there before, Choi?”

“First I’m seeing it.” He stepped closer. “Can’t tell what it is under all this water though.” He stepped yet closer. “You think I should—”

“Don’t,” Jung interjected, pocketing his notepad, “I’m your supervisor. I’ll take the heat from Kim if he’s particularly grouchy today.”

“If you say so.” Officer Choi backed off with his hands up, but he stayed close. Jung walked to approach the victim’s left side and squatted, unwilling to kneel in what was now inches of water. How are those eyes still so clear and bright? he wondered, a shiver trailing down his spine. This was his first time dealing with such a…lively corpse. Pulling his eyes away from the boy’s, he was able to see that the blue was emanating from his ring finger and the light crackled under the surface. Gingerly, Jung grasped his fingers around the soggy fabric of the sodden jacket and raised the arm, water dripping noisily even amongst the downpour. He moved his hand to the boy’s wrist, confirming there was no pulse.  

“It’s a ring?” he heard Choi murmur behind him and verified himself that, yes, the blue was shining from a delicate ring that encompassed the boy’s slender finger. It almost sparked with electricity, puzzling the officer. Was it an eye-trick of the falling water? The band itself buzzed and hummed with energy.

“Whatever it is, it’s live.” He hesitantly brought a finger close to the band and felt the hair along his arm stand on end. Thunder boomed overhead, a flash of lightning breaking in the distance. The ring sparked a little stronger and audibly buzzed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Officer Jung cursed under his breath. He didn’t know what was going on. He’d never seen anything like this in his life. Some kind of taser? He had no clue. It sparked again and the hair on the back of his neck raised. The water and the lightning in the air couldn’t be helping. “Choi!” he called, “I’ve gotta get this thing off his finger.” He reached for a glove in his back pocket, hoping it would be thick enough to deter most of the electricity.

From farther away than before Officer Choi called back “Kim just pulled up! Let him handle it; put his arm down!”  

Jung knew he couldn’t do that, with how much electricity this thing was channeling now. He’d essentially be placing a live wire in a pool of water, shocking them all. He cursed again.

Just then lightning struck a nearby tree and he jumped, the branches catching fire even in the rain. Thunder bellowed above immediately after, so loud he couldn’t hear the rain anymore. He slipped and fell backwards, still grasping the arm above water as best he could as his clothes became soaked.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. The air was filled with so much static he felt it in his bones.

Lightning struck again, even closer than before. “ it—” he growled, grabbing the thin metal and pulling it off, flinching at the sensation of energy coursing through him as it gleamed and sparked between his fingers. He released the arm and it fell, heavily, into the water below. The movement was enough to move the boy’s gaze away from the sky, now facing Jung almost directly.

“What the hell is that, Officer Jung?” he heard the low voice of Detective Kim grumble above him.

Just as he looked up to answer, white light filled his vision instead.

He felt nothing, and then everything went black.

An alarm blared, rousing Daehyun from his sleep. He groaned, much too cozy in his bed to leave it, and that was precisely why he put his alarm clock across the room. Deciding he didn’t want to listen to the noise anymore he sighed and pushed the covers back reluctantly, moving to turn the machine off.

It read 5AM. The young man rubbed his eyes and blearily looked for his pants, shuffling the uniform slacks over his legs as he made for the small apartment bathroom to wash his face and get ready for the day.

He looked at himself in the mirror, brushing his teeth and noticing the beginnings of dark eye bags. “What a bad dream…” he mumbled through toothpaste. Daehyun didn’t dream often, but when he did it was never something so intense.

The pouring rain, a dead body bleeding out, crowded streets, a small taser-ring (he wasn’t sure what to call it), and lots and lots of lightning. He shivered thinking about it. Did our division mention new kinds of tasers recently? He spit and rinsed his mouth. With no time for a shower – he only did that on days he was willing to wake up a little earlier – Daehyun sloshed water on his face and through his hair, patting both dry and combing the dark brown strands so they laid flat. Couldn’t show up at the station with bed-head.

After grabbing his phone he poured himself a thermos of coffee; there was coffee at work but it was never much good. The lid securely screwed on he slipped it into his bag, grabbed his keys and his jacket and was out the door. The one thing he liked about being up so early was the lack of traffic.

Donning his jacket, Daehyun locked his car and slung his bag over his shoulder as he approached the police station. No ride-alongs or patrols today, just desk work.

Daehyun nodded to the receptionist as he entered, the cool air inside the building breezing past him. “Morning, Jieun.” he greeted the pretty girl behind the desk. She looked up and a smile immediately decorated her face.

“Good morning!” she beamed. “Glad you brought your jacket; it’s cold in here.”

Daehyun laughed. “Forget outside. We work in an icebox.”

“Mhm, gotta keep us shivering this early or we’ll fall asleep on the job.” Jieun rubbed her arms. “Anyway, have a good shift!”

“Thanks, you too.” the officer waved and pushed through double doors, met with soft noise and occasional raised voices. Must’ve brought some people in for questioning today Daehyun mused. Meaning, that would probably also be his job today. Sighing, grabbed his thermos from his bag, tossed the sack in a locker, and met paperwork at his desk. Just as he sat down a tall figure loomed over him. “Good morning, Choi.”

“Hiya,” the young officer chirped, “I’ve got some files for you. Couple kids were kept here overnight and Chief wants them questioned for attempted arson.”

“Arson? Damn kids…” Daehyun grumbled and took the folders. “Alright, give me a few to get situated. I’ll call for them when I’m ready.”

“You got it.” He smiled as he left and Daehyun wondered if their age difference explained the contrast in energy, even though they weren’t that far apart in years. That or officer Choi had already raided the coffee machines.

Choi Junhong was a new recruit. A sturdy young man with a baby-face, it was easy to underestimate him, but he knew his stuff. He was assigned to Daehyun’s supervision and while the cheeriness was occasionally grating, Daehyun didn’t mind it all too much. They needed levity in such a serious profession.

Turning to the folders, two of them, he opened the first to reveal a photo of a young man with sharp eyes. “Moon Jongup.” he mouthed, reading the description. 22 years of age, 174cm tall, college student. Daehyun figured he wasn’t an active studier if he had time to attempt arson. He set Jongup’s file down and opened the other. The boy in this picture glared, a scowl marring what would otherwise be a pretty face. His name was Yoo Youngjae, stats the same as Jongup’s save for the fact that he was a tad taller. The officer squinted down at the photo, feeling like there was something special about Youngjae. Had he seen him in the station before? His file said he had a record of menial property damage or other small offenses, so it would be likely. He lived close, after all. He and Jongup both.

But he’d never seen Jongup before. Nothing felt familiar about him.

Closing Youngjae’s file as well he picked up the phone at his desk and called for the two boys. The voice on the other end said they’d be up in five minutes. Five minutes for Daehyun to sip his coffee and think. He tugged his jacket closer around him and opened Youngjae’s file again, furrowing his brows as he scanned the boy’s face for features that might spark his memory. He kept staring into those dark, fiery eyes, feeling as if that was important somehow.

“Officer Jung?” a voice spoke above him, causing Daehyun to jump in his seat.

“Yes, sorry?”

“I have Moon and Yoo here for questioning.”

“Ah, right. Yes, thank you.” The guard pushed the two boys into the pair of chairs facing Daehyun’s desk and he got a good look at them. Well, as good a look as he could at one of them because the other had his head down and refused to raise it. He assumed this was Youngjae by both his countenance and the fact that he could identify the other young man as Jongup. He cleared his throat. “Young man—”

“As if you’re that much older…” Youngjae muttered, cutting the officer off. He continued to stare down at the floor.

Daehyun started again. “Young man, I’m going to need you to look at me, please. Raise your head.” When the boy didn’t he added firmly, “Now.”

And Youngjae looked up, eyes shooting daggers at Daehyun. They were dark and bright, and realization washed over the officer and his blood chilled.

This was the dead boy in his dream. The one whose same dark eyes had stared listlessly up at the gray sky, a pool of blood spreading into the rainwater that enveloped him. He was most certainly dead then. Yet, here he was. Sitting in front of Daehyun.

They say sometimes you dream about people you see in passing, as long as you’ve seen their face once. You don’t need to know them. Maybe he has been to the station before? He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He adjusted his jacket once again and something jingled in his pocket.

“Got some loose change for us poor souls, officer?” Youngjae smirked and Daehyun thought Jongup hissed ‘Cut it out’ under his breath but the words were too soft to tell. Glaring back he reached into the pocket, something thin and cool touching his fingers. He pulled it out to observe and his eyes widened. It was a small, blue ring, one he’d never seen before in his life.

Except, of course, in his dream.