"Seong Myin" whispered an eerie baritone voice.
Seong Myin flinched and turned around, but there was no one. The streets were empty at 1 in the morning, the neighborhood was asleep, and it was rare to see a passing car at this hour. The young Korean thought that he must have been delusional from overworking.
He was about to let out a sigh, but held his breath when…
"Seong Myin." Again that deep voice, a mysterious sound that seemed to hide thousands of secrets.
"Who — Who's there?" A shiver ran down Seong Myin's body. Was this some prank his fellow coworkers had pulled on him? The day was March 11, but April fools wasn't for another month. He couldn't think of a plausible explanation.
"Seong Myin." The voice called out a third time.
The street lamps above flickered for a moment before dimming. Darkness descended on Seoul and fear encroached Seong Myin's heart; his body trembled. Looking up, Seong Myin saw a strange dark hooded figure facing him, outlined by the moonlight.
The black cloak concealed the upper part of the figure's face, but he could see below the nose. The hooded figure smiled — a wretched smile with bleach-white teeth – and Seong Myin felt that the being, whoever it was, could see him through to his very bones.
The hooded figure flicked an object as one would a coin with his finger. It shimmered, reflecting the moonlight and spun in the air; after a moment, it descended towards the ground.
Clang, Clang, Clang.
Each contact with the ground resonated around the street. The object twirled on its side before resting on the concrete floor.
Seong Myin's looked back up, confused, but he was left agape. The figure was gone! The mysterious hooded presence had vanished and the street lamps shone brightly as if they had never gone out. There were no noticeable abnormalities present save the object on the floor.
Rubbing his eyes, Seong Myin's looked towards the ground. Before him was that very shimmering object, a ring. Seong Myin thought it was made of shiny silver with golden embroidering, and he noticed a red Jem crowned the center. Twirling the ring in his palm, Seong Myin pocketed it and rushed home.
(His mother and father lived in the countryside and he rented an apartment with his younger sister from a generous landlady.)
But as he scampered up the worn stairs shutting the door behind him with the familiar click, he felt troubled. What he just experienced could not be explained by any scientist or reasoned by any logistician. Seong Myin thought for a bit longer, but felt his mind giving way to exhaustion as he flung himself on his bed. Setting the ring on his night stand, he let sleep overcome his thoughts.