A cool breeze filtered through Daehyun’s window, the slightly open pane bringing some of the wintry air inside his room. He looked out the window at the night sky and was able to count the few stars bright enough to shine past the bustling streets below. He blinked and turned back to his laptop screen, the blue light harsh on his eyes. Pushing his glasses farther up his nose, Daehyun squinted at the text in front of him, none of it quite what he was looking for.

The text on the ring was something in particular that intrigued him. He thought it was in English at first, but upon further inspection it contained character combinations that he was quite unfamiliar with. He skimmed the various alphabets he found on his browser but none quite matched.

He didn’t know if the text was important at all. Maybe he was wasting his time trying to figure it out. But it was something that he could actually put his effort into investigating with the information they had currently, so here he was up late, neck aching from sitting and staring at his computer, a long-since eaten bowl of instant ramen at the corner of his desk. He yawned.

Daehyun thought about Youngjae. He had held so much anger in his eyes when at the station. Even when the young man was being smart with him, Daehyun could see the fire burning in those dark orbs, and if looks could kill he would’ve been burned to a crisp like Youngjae’s “science project.” The cop leaned back in his chair, wondering why that hate was directed at him. The obvious answer would be he had a history of crime, but none of the things listed on file were any more than misdemeanors that would not warrant time in prison, time at a correctional facility, nothing. Just warnings. Did he have a family history with bad cops? No way to tell besides his file, and there wasn’t any information of that there.

Another guess of his was the possibility of a toxic home environment. Many of the young delinquents he met came from abusive households which spurred their frequent episodes of acting out. As police training taught, Daehyun had looked for signs of bruising, lacerations, or any other physical damage to Youngjae’s person that might hint at something happening behind the scenes, but saw nothing. The boy dressed well enough, too. Clothes seemed clean and far from being worn-out.

It and everything else occupying his mind the past week was puzzling. Daehyun sighed and stretched his sore neck, taking his glasses off and placing them next to the laptop. He got up and threw the ramen bowl away, deciding maybe it would be better to just shower now than early tomorrow morning.

The warm water was a nice escape from the cold air he had allowed into his room; he did his best thinking in a cool environment, probably influenced by the fact that the police station was always air conditioned maybe too well. Daehyun let the water rush through his hair and trickle down his neck to his toned torso, just enjoying the peaceful sound of the shower running and the comforting heat. He washed himself, rubbing his tan skin with his favorite soap that smelled of almonds with hints of sandalwood. It was great at calming him and he needed that often.

The things he had seen as a police officer sometimes threw him into emotional turmoil. Murders in cold blood, brutal assaults, violent or non-violent burglaries that left families’ lives in shambles. Even after five long years of being on the force Daehyun still could not understand the cruelty of people. His near constant exposure to sufferings hadn’t yet dulled his ability for empathy.

Sometimes he was furious, other times distraught. The worst feeling in the world was arriving too late; thoughts of what could have been stopped, who could have been saved, would plague him after a failed assignment. Even now he remembered the faces of lives snuffed out because he wasn’t fast enough to respond. Daehyun shivered, the water feeling much colder than before.

He turned off the flow and grabbed a towel, rubbing his hair with it a little harder than necessary. He patted the rest of his body down with it and looked in the mirror, the long scar just below his left collarbone a constant reminder of one of those times. It stung and he winced slightly. He rubbed his face and realized a shadow had appeared again along his jaw. The thought of shaving not appealing at the moment, he chose to do that quickly tomorrow before work.

Daehyun picked up the phone at his desk, the chilly air conditioning of the station making the plastic icy. He dialed and waited for a low voice to pick up on the other end of the line.

“This is Chief.” a man answered a few rings later.

“Hey, Chief, Jung speaking,” Daehyun started, “I need the number for a detective, if possible.”

“Detective?” Chief Bang queried. “What for?”

Daehyun glanced at the script he had scribbled down before calling. “Well you see, I had some kids in for questioning last week and after some introspection I decided I might want to look into one of them: Yoo Youngjae.”

“Go on.”

“It appears as if his companion is being pressured. It was very clear to me that he did not want to be here. Looked remorseful while Yoo looked real defiant.” He glanced over to Junhong, who gave a thumbs-up while standing far enough away to not looked involved. “If this is the case I’d like to look into Yoo further for risk of blackmail or the like.”

“I see. Give me five minutes, Jung, then come up to my office.”

“Understood, thank you.” Daehyun placed the phone back in its cradle and let out a breath.

“That went well.” Junhong spoke as he approached. “He’s going to give permission to get Kim on board?”

“I didn’t specify which detective I needed, but most likely. He’s our go-to.”

“Let’s just hope he’s not already on assignment.” The tall cop handed Daehyun a small, wrapped package. “They were giving these out in the break room, figured I’d grab you one.”

“Oh, thanks. Who brought these?”

“Probably Jieun. You know how she likes to treat us.” Daehyun ignored the nudge Junhong gave him.

“Great. I’ll head up now.” He tucked the pastry in his drawer and locked it, brushing past his friend. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Cool, see you then.”

Daehyun turned down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator, waiting for the double doors to open. It dinged hoarsely and he wondered why nobody had fixed the poor thing yet. Maybe if they stopped pouring so much money into air conditioning they could afford a healthier-sounding elevator.

It whined again and he exited the box, walking a short way to find Chief Bang’s door with a guard standing out front as per usual. He nodded to the man standing there, the one who had brought Youngjae and Jongup to him last week Daehyun recognized, and adjusted his uniform slightly. The guard poked his head behind the door briefly and then signaled for Daehyun to enter, closing the door behind him.

The Chief’s office was quite minimal and very orderly, white walls not decorated with much save for a few cork boards with papers pinned to them, a hanging calendar, and some certificates made out to “Chief Bang Yongguk, Station 0126.” Bang tapped a stack of papers on his desk, getting them to align before tucking them into a drawer. He looked up, a cool smile on his face.

“Officer Jung, how are you today?”

“I’m doing well. And you?” Daehyun sat when his superior gestured towards a seat.

“Oh, you know. Same as always. Bit more filing to do than usual though, I must say.”

“It’s seemed that way recently.” the young cop offered and Chief chuckled, folding his hands on his lap and leaning back in his chair.

“You mentioned over the phone you need a detective?”

“That’s right. I was wondering if Detective Kim was on assignment or not?”

“No, no. He was actually out sick for a few days last week; didn’t become available until Friday, I heard.”

Interesting. “I see. Is he fit for work currently?”

“You know Kim; he’s always fit if the work interests him. Hopefully you’ve got an interesting case?”

He didn’t really know Kim, actually, but he wasn’t about to correct him. “I believe it will be very interesting, sir.”

Bang raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Well I trust your judgement, Jung. You haven’t led us astray yet.” He leaned forward. “So what’s got you interested?”

“The difference in disposition between the two boys.” Daehyun sat up a little straighter. Time to sell it. “One did not seem to take the situation seriously, and the other seemed to drip with chagrin. I suspect that Yoo is pressuring Moon in some way. How, I do not know. This feels very similar to peer pressure or bullying, however this is more serious as actual crimes are being committed.” When the man didn’t say anything, Daehyun continued, “For someone to be so obviously displeased with his actions but continue to commit crime anyways makes me feel something is happening behind the scenes.” He cleared his throat. “As someone who was bullied, sir, I can recognize the signs and I emphasize.”

“You were bullied into crime, Jung?”

Daehyun froze. “Well—not exactly—”

Bang laughed, heartier this time. “Don’t worry, I kid. You wouldn’t have passed the background check if you did, right?”

“Right, sir, of course.”

Chief Bang nodded satisfactorily. “Yes, well as I said, I trust your judgement. I’ll have someone connect you to Kim soon. You are dismissed.”

“Thank you.” Daehyun stood and bowed before leaving, trying hard to hold back the triumphant smile that wanted to appear on his lips.

He arrived back downstairs and headed for his desk, brushing past Junhong on the way who gave him a look. Daehyun returned his thumbs-up from earlier and the younger subtly pumped his fist.

Junhong sat next to Daehyun at a small round table, his six-foot-two frame making the latter look small in comparison, even though Daehyun wasn’t exactly short himself. Their usual cafe smelled like fresh coffee grounds and cream, as always, but the calming atmosphere was overshadowed by worry that Kim wouldn’t be on board with what they had to say.

Neither said much as they waited for the detective to arrive, just sipping their coffee and scrolling through whatever they had decided to look at on their phones. They had already discussed what they wanted to say; all that was left to do was wait and see how things unfolded. The door jingled and both officers looked up, but the face they saw wasn’t Kim’s.

Daehyun sighed. Waiting to discuss with a detective never stressed him out, but the circumstances right now were different. Someone’s life was potentially on the line and they had nothing to go on thus far, and Daehyun still wasn’t completely convinced Youngjae was in any danger based on just a dream. He wondered if he’d have to stop referring to it as a “dream” after today.

“Is he late or are we just early.” Daehyun’s friend said next to him, breaking the silence.

“We agreed on four o’clock and it’s ten past, so the former.”

“Well now would be the time to get this thing done as I’m hyped up on caffeine. Maybe that’s why I’m so jittery.”

“If you mean nervous then it’s not just you. I’m—” he stopped when the small bell hanging from the cafe door jingled again. His heart beat a little faster when he recognized the man as Kim Himchan. He wore an elegant long coat and his raven hair was neatly cropped, expression souring his handsome face. Daehyun stood and the detective noticed the gesture, heading over to their table. When he was close enough to hear the officer asked “Did you want to order anything before we start? Could be a while.”

“No, thank you.” Kim answered coolly. “I try to limit my caffeine intake these days; I feel it negatively impacts one’s thinking.”

Junhong shifted in his seat and Daehyun retook his own. “I see. Should we jump right into it, then?”

“Yes, let’s. I heard from Yongguk that you had an interesting case for me?” He took out a small journal and clicked his pen. The lack of an honorific shocked Daehyun.

“Yes, both Officer Choi and I.”

“Alright, fill me in.” The detective placed his pen on paper.

Daehyun cleared his throat. “Last week I spoke with two young men and questioned them about attempting arson at their college. As nothing happened, they were let go with a warning, but I had noticed on both of their files they had a list of previous misdemeanors.”

“None of which threw them in jail.” Junhong added. “Though they may be expelled from school.”

“Likely.” Kim spoke as he quickly wrote in his book. The officers paused to give him time to catch up. When his lean fingers stopped writing, they continued.

“I noticed as I was talking to them that one of the boys, Yoo Youngjae, had a real bad attitude, but his companion, Moon Jongup, did not. To me, it seemed like they were not equally motivated.”

“Do you think Moon was pressured by Yoo?”

He’s quick. “That’s what both Choi and I believe. I think there may be hints of blackmail or some other kind of toxic relationship between the two.”

“I see…” The detective quietly scribbled the rest of this out, circling some things, drawing arrows here and there, and crossing lines out when he deemed something irrelevant, which seemed to be a lot. “But you have no evidence of such?”

“Not exactly.”

“But you convinced Yongguk that this was serious enough for you to have a detective look into it?” He sighed, dragging a hand through his hair and placing his pen down. “I was told I would be very intrigued by this case, but I’m not. You don’t have much to go on, Officer Jung.”

“I realize that. However there is something about Yoo Youngjae that interests me in particular, and I believe it will interest you too.” Kim raised an eyebrow and Daehyun’s heart jumped in his throat as he quickly glanced at Junhong who was staring at the detective.

“And what is that?”

“You see, Yoo Youngjae died.”

“What?” Detective Kim made a face at him like he was crazy. “So the boy you met was an impersonator, then.”

Daehyun steeled his jaw. “Detective Kim, do you recall being summoned to a murder scene recently?”

He huffed. “That’s typically what I’m called for, these days. You have to give me more details.”

“Alright, how about a murder scene during very rainy weather, at a small side street in Gangnam?” The man across from him said nothing, just watching. “A boy had been killed and was laying in the middle of the semi-flooded street, his blood turning the water red.”

“Officer Jung and I were both there.” Junhong piped up. “And then you arrived, Detective.”

At this point Kim’s face had turned from confusion to anger. “You’re just wasting my time.” he growled and stood up, stuffing his journal into his jacket. “Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Before he could stomp away Daehyun jumped up from his chair and grabbed Kim by the wrist, the seat falling to the floor and clattering behind him. He didn’t care about the other patrons who were now watching them. The detective tried to shake his arm free, but the cop was too strong for him.

“Let go of me—”

“‘What the hell is that, Officer Jung?’” Daehyun spoke, looking the man straight in the eyes. “You said this to me as you walked over to where I was crouched by the body, his arm in my grasp. His hand was glowing blue, remember? You asked me what that was. And then lightning struck.” He released Kim’s sleeve as he had stopped struggling. “And here we are.”

Junhong was also standing at this point, a couple steps behind Daehyun. The two officers searched Kim’s face for a sign that he recognized the scene. The silence was deafening as they waited for a reaction, but none came. Instead, Detective Kim adjusted his clothes and stalked out of the cafe, the door swinging behind him.

Daehyun felt his blood chill and Junhong cursed behind him. This wasn’t what they were expecting. Kim was supposed to recognize the dream, help them gather information on Youngjae, figure out what they were supposed to do, possibly save the boy, and whatever came after. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Soft murmuring brought him back to his senses and he was now hyper aware of everybody’s gazes on him. He apologetically picked up his chair and Junhong sat back down, face in his hands. He was about to do the same when his phone vibrated. Not really caring who it was, he weakly pulled it out of his pocket. It was a text from a number he didn’t know. His breath hitched when he recognized who it was from.

            I had the dream, too. Let’s meet up again tomorrow, Officer Jung.

           This is Kim. Save my number.