Demon in Disguise

Dark Circles

"Qiang!" Chen's voice shouts. "Qiang wake up!" He woke up to the sound of her screaming. It terrified him to see her this way.

Her eyes fly open and she cries once she sees that it was just a dream. A nightmare. She was drenched in cold sweat and her tears came down heavily, shaking with each intake of breath.

"It's okay." Chen assured her. "It was just a dream." He pats her back to assure her physically and gives Mr. Wang a concerned look once the old man had made his way down the stairs.

"Good lord Qiang, you scared me." Mr. Wang's wrinkled face creases in worry and he heads to the kitchen. The light turns on, giving the dark living room some light. Chen reaches over and turns on the lamp, not once leaving her side.

Mr. Wang returns with a cup of water and hands it to her. Qiang drinks the liquid until the cup was empty. Hands shaking all the while, Chen worried that she may even spill the liquid all over her.

Chen stared at her as she sniffled and looked at the cup in her hands. She looked so vulnerable and tiny, he just wanted to hold her and kiss away her worries. He breaks his stare and looks at something else, he shouldn't be having these thoughts, just because she was nice to him for a couple hours didn't mean he was allowed to thing such things.

"What did you dream about?" Mr. Wang sits on the couch opposite her and Chen.

Qiang curled her legs, hugging the blanket to her chest. She closes her eyes but opens them again, her dream still replaying in her head. She just simply shook her head, "It's nothing to worry about. Let's all go back to sleep."

Chen and Mr. Wang frown at her words, the poor girl was pale as snow and she was shaking like a leaf. "I'll retire for the night then." Mr. Wang slowly stands up, even though he would probably be up the whole night after this little scene he walked up the stairs and into his room after bidding the children a good night.

"Are you okay?" Chen asks.

"I'm fine Chen."

Chen stares at her not sure what to do, an idea pops into his head and he smiles. Chen pouts and whines, "Baaaabbbee."

Qiang squints her eyes at him but chuckles, "You're so annoying go to sleep." She lightly punches his arm.

He laughs and sits on the ground beside her. "I'll stay up and protect you."

The next morning Qiang left early because she had to get ready for work. "Mr. Wang." She says softly. "I'll be taking my leave now."

Walking home she was extra cautious. Every noise made her head turn and every person made her uncomfortable. When she got home she looked at herself in the mirror, she had dark circles under her eyes and she looked pale, unwell. Ai Hui rubs her soft body against Qiang's leg. "Did you sleep well last night Ai Hui?" Her mind went back to the kind Chen from last night. It was such a drastic change, she didn't know if she would ever be able to get used to it. She shakes her head and walks out the door.

"I can do this." She places a smile on her face as she enters the restaurant.

"Qiang? Are you okay?" Her boss asks. "You look terrible."

Her smile drops, "I'm great. Only like three or four hours of sleep last night, it was really fun."

"Only three or four hours of sleep? Girl what were you doing?" Her boss looks at her disapprovingly, "You need a man."

Qiang makes an offended face, "I'm independent, a twenty-four year old woman who is fully capable of taking care of herself. I don't need a man."

"I still think you do, no matter what you say. Hey there's a new guy in town. I heard that he's quite the looker."

Qiang scoffs, "He won't be here much longer once he hears about what happened a month ago."

The entire back room becomes quiet and Qiang sighs, "It's true guys, we can't hide it forever. We all have to move on and he will find out eventually."

"Qiang is right.." Ying Ai speaks up. "It's been a month, we have to get over it. The new neighbor in town will find out eventually too, nothing can ever stay a secret for long." Winter was almost upon them so Ying Ai had temporarily closed her shop.

Their boss finally ordered everybody to get back to work after a silence in the backroom, everybody staring at one another in discomfort. BiYu nor the new neighbor was brought up after that.

Driving home from work that evening, Qiang decided to go meet the new neighbor. The moving van was still there and she could see the new neighbor outside. Her boss was right, he is handsome. He stood tall, helping the movers take his things inside his new house. He smiles and she could make out a dimple on his cheek, "Cute." She smiles. Qiang parks across from them and gets out of the car, "Hello." She smiles, "You must be the new neighbor, I am Zhou Qiang."

"Hello, I am Kim Junmyeon." His smile was kind and his eyes sincere.

Qiang cocks her head, "Kim Junmyeon? You aren't Chinese are you?"

"I'm Korean." He shakes his head.

"Do you like it here so far?"

"Yes, the neighbors are kind and the neighborhood seems pretty nice."

"That's good. I knew the neighbors who used to live here," She gestures to his house. "They were really kind but had to move out because the father had a job that required them to move them around a lot."

"Oh, what a pity. This house is really nice." He puts his hands on his hips, looking at his house and at the moving men. Qiang's eyes travel down his body on their own and she quickly looks away in surprise, cheeks warming up at what she had just done.

"Have you met any of the neighbors here yet?" She asks, hoping nobody noticed her wandering eyes.

"No," He smiles shyly, "I didn't know who to greet first."

Ah, he was shy."There is Chen, he lives next to Mr. Wang. Chen likes to play games and he likes to joke around but he isn't all that bad. You can meet up with Mr. Wang too but I doubt you would like him much, he may be too old for you..." She trails off at his intense stare. His eyes were kind but his constant staring made her self-conscious.

"You're really pretty Miss Qiang."

His sudden compliment made her eyes go wide, blushing, Qiang thanks him. "Ah... thank you Mr. Kim."

"You can just call me Junmyeon." He smiles at her, "It is quite cold isn't it? Would you like to go inside? the moving men are done now."

"Ah.. that's okay. I have to get going." Qiang just met this man and no matter how nice and safe he seems to be, she did not think it proper to go inside his house. Besides, she didn't know if she could trust him just yet. Not everybody is always like how they seem.

"I see, it's fine. I understand." He smiles kindly at her and she returns it equally kindly.

"See you around." She gives him a small wave and crosses the street to her car.

He watches her car as it drives away, "What an interesting girl."