He's Dead

2 hours ago.

Mingyoo was sitting at a stainless steel table in the interrogation room. Across from him was Zeeshow, the guy who had just been nabbed for the infamous 822 gun-snatching murder case.

Zeeshow looked like a plant that hadn't been watered in weeks. His eyes were sunken, and his face was ghostly pale. It seemed like the life had been sucked out of him, not just by the murder he committed but something more.

At this point, Mingyoo wasn't sure if he could squeeze the truth out of Zeeshow, especially since the guy seemed hell-bent on self-destruction.

"You called for me?" Mingyoo pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tossed one to Zeeshow.

Zeeshow's hands were cuffed to a metal ring on the table. He glanced at the cigarette, took it, put it in his mouth, and muttered, "Thanks."

With a flick of a lighter, smoke curled up. Zeeshow coughed a few times, getting used to the tobacco. "Remember the question you asked me last time? Still want to know the answer?"

Mingyoo lit a cigarette for himself and said, "I've got nothing to bargain with you. Your case is airtight, man. Snatching a gun and killing someone. There's no way out. Doesn't even matter if you admit to those other four murders."

Zeeshow shook his head. "You don't have to offer me anything. From the moment I awakened this power, I had no plans of sticking around."

Mingyoo raised an eyebrow. Zeeshow continued, "Yeah, super brain, if that's what you want to call it. I've got that." He took a deep drag and said, "For me, life has been a never-ending nightmare. There's not much difference between living and being dead. I thought things were turning around. My dad got old, couldn't hit me anymore. Our studio landed a big contract, and I found someone worth loving…"

He stared at the smoke curling from the tip of the cigarette, paused, and shook his head. "But the world never changed. I was still the unluckiest guy, the punching bag."

Mingyoo silently sighed and pushed an ashtray towards him. Zeeshow clumsily tapped the ash off his cigarette. "I don't need any deals, and I'm not looking for sympathy. I just need someone to talk to… I've always wondered if what I've become is good or evil, or if I've just lost it because of what's in my head, turned into a monster I can't even understand." He looked at Mingyoo, almost pleadingly. "Maybe talking about it will help me find the answer."

Mingyoo said, "Go ahead."

Zeeshow began his somber tale. "You were right. I used my 'super-brain' to control that lunatic and made him kill the first three victims."

Like many scrawny, introverted kids, Zeeshow was bullied at school. It wasn't as bad in elementary school since he was in Maplewood and people felt sorry for the kid without a mom. But when his grandparents passed away, and his dad, Jian, took him to the city for middle school, the real nightmare began.

Short, shy, outsider, poor… all the dangerous labels were on him. At first, it was just a couple of kids making fun of him, but soon the whole grade joined in.

The first victim was one of the ringleaders. When Zeeshow beat him in math for the first time, the guy and his gang cornered Zeeshow after school and gave him a beating.

"Teenage boys in rebellion can be demons," Zeeshow said, extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray. "You can imagine the worst they did to me, but I assure you, reality was even worse… After that day, I couldn't speak in public. I was terrified, but no one cared. My dad thought it was better this way; I wouldn't beg or talk back when getting beaten."

He coughed a few times. Mingyoo handed him a bottle of water. After taking a sip, Zeeshow continued, "Things got worse. In my first year of high school, I was even scared to go out for meals because I couldn't order food. My teacher noticed my problem and got me psychological help through a youth center. It seemed to work at first. I calmed down a bit and could talk to the teacher sometimes. But then the nightmare returned. At sixteen, I realized I was gay."

Society was more accepting of different sexual orientations by then, but Jian wasn't. Zeeshow, a late bloomer with psychological issues, realized he was what his father hated the most. The fear was even worse than when he found out his mother had committed suicide.

To make matters worse, his first love was a total jerk.

"I guess I'm not good at hiding my emotions, especially towards someone I have a crush on," Zeeshow said. "I don't know how he found out, but right before our final competition in senior year, he asked me out, confessed that he knew I liked him and that he liked me too."

"I was scared, thinking my dad would kill me if he found out, but I was also so happy," he took another cigarette from Mingyoo's pack, holding it between his fingers. "I rarely felt happy; it seemed like a luxury. But it felt so good, I couldn't resist. So, I admitted my feelings and accepted his confession."

"What happened next was like a soap opera," he lit the cigarette and continued, "He invited me to his place the night before the competition, we got intimate, and then he locked me in the room while I was asleep so I'd miss the competition. But I was obsessed with exams. Even though I nearly broke my leg jumping out of a third-floor window, I made it."

"You should have seen his face when I walked into the exam hall. He looked like he'd seen a ghost," Zeeshow chuckled darkly, then his face fell. "But in the end, he won. I had a fever during the exam and couldn't finish. He got the scholarship… You asked me if I was jealous of him. No, I wasn't jealous, just full of hatred. I knew first loves usually fail, but I didn't expect it to end this way."

He paused and shook his head. "I had to kill him. He made my first love die in the ugliest way. If I had to describe it, it was like being torn to pieces."

Mingyoo silently watched him finish the cigarette and asked, "What about the fourth person?"

Zeeshow replied, "You must have found out, right? He was my boyfriend. We were together before we started the studio. That apartment was both our workshop and home."

He took a third cigarette but didn't light it, just fiddled with it absentmindedly. "I loved him so much. If there was anything in this world that made me happy, it was being with him. Doing anything, playing games, working, even fighting. Just knowing he was there made life sweet."

He fell silent for a moment, as if reminiscing about those brief, beautiful days. Slowly, a look of despair crossed his worn-out face. "I killed him. You were right last time; I couldn't control myself, let alone the knife in my hand. I don't know when, but the lunatic started to share some of my emotions. He couldn't discern them, just acted on them, with death as his method."

He placed the crumpled cigarette on the ashtray. "Maybe if we hadn't fought that day, or if I hadn't seen the lunatic afterward, things would have been different… But it was too late. He didn't come home that night. By the time I got to the pig farm, it was too late. The lunatic had beaten him all night and left him in the pigpen. When I found him, I only had time to say one last thing."

"He told me, 'Don't cry'."

The interrogation room fell into a long silence. Zeeshow sat motionless, staring coldly at his cuffed hands as if they were stained with something horrifying, like the blood of his lover.

After what felt like an eternity, Mingyoo flicked his lighter. "He didn't know about your ability, did he? He didn't know that what happened to him was connected to you."

"No."

"Then he was lucky," Mingyoo said. "Until the end, he loved you."

Zeeshow choked up, burying his face in his hands, his voice a raspy whisper.

Suddenly, Mingyoo felt the room getting stifling hot. He looked around, feeling a tension building in his mind – something dangerous was spreading.

Was it Zeeshow?

Mingyoo patted his shoulder and handed him the water bottle.

Zeeshow took a sip, seemingly feeling the oppressive heat too. He tugged at his collar and croaked, "You asked me where I got this ability. If I could, I'd rather be the mute who can't speak in public…"

He coughed, sweat beading on his forehead. He reached for the pack of cigarettes, but his hand started shaking uncontrollably. "It was just before my second year in college. I was undergoing my sixth round of therapy when someone sent me an address through the campus network… Cough!"

He seemed to choke on something and started coughing. Mingyoo, sitting across from him, saw Zeeshow's face turn blue at an alarming rate, his eyes bulging from suffocation…

"Highyang Chan!" Mingyoo's pupils contracted as he hit the alarm. "Get a doctor!" At the same time, he strained his own super-brain to find the attacker invading the interrogation room.

Zeeshow, clutching his throat, slumped in the chair. His eyes rolled back as he gasped, "They… they're here… I swore… not to tell…"

Mingyoo quickly unlocked his cuffs and laid him on the floor. Zeeshow's pupils were dilating, blood trickling from the corner of his eyes. His fingers clutched Mingyoo's sleeve, and a twisted smile crossed his pale lips. "Oh… it's real… the other side… the light… so beautiful…"

Mingyoo felt an indescribable, powerful energy engulf the room. His own powers felt insignificant against this force as it consumed Zeeshow, draining the life out of him.

Drenched in sweat, Mingyoo mechanically performed CPR on Zeeshow's cooling body until a familiar figure entered the room. It felt like a gentle light pushing back the darkness that had swallowed him, and he realized he had failed again. He was so close to grasping the truth.

He let go, panting heavily, and looked up at Wenjay standing in the doorway. With a defeated voice, he said, "He's dead."