Demon in Disguise

Peng You (Friend)

Chen left the next day, broken-hearted and melancholic.

"Qiang?"

A tap to her shoulder brings her back to reality. "Huh? I'm sorry what?" She blinks.

Ying Ai looks at her in concern. "Are you okay? You've been so out of it today." She places her hand on Qiang's forehead.

"I'm fine." She steps back and avoids eye-contact so that Ying Ai wouldn't know that something was bothering her. Chen's words and the hurt look in his eyes played inside her head on repeat.

"Okay." Ying Ai nods slowly not really believing Qiang but not wanting to push it either. "So um.. how is Chen? I heard he came back yesterday."

Chen.

"He's fine. He came back just to visit for a while and then he left again." Qiang replies.

"Oh... Where did he go?"

"The States."

"The States? Why?"

That was exactly what she had asked him before they had their little dispute.

"I'm not sure, you should ask him when he gets back." She lies to Ying Ai.

"Oh, alright." Ying Ai nods.

"Qiang! Go ask for orders at table twelve please." Her boss shouts, interrupting their almost dead conversation.

Qiang grabs her apron and quickly ties it around herself before grabbing a notepad and a pen to go help the customers at table 12.

"Junmyeon?" She stops in her tracks at the sight of the handsome man who was the subject of her argument with Chen the day before. What was he doing here?

"Qiang." Junmyeon smiles cheerfully. "I heard that you worked here so I came to see you."

Sitting at the table with him were the two men that had set up the fireworks show and three other men that she did not recognize.

"Don't you have work today?" She asks while sweeping her eyes at the five men watching them.

"My boss had a family issue today so I was let out early." was Junmyeon's answer. He notices her gaze and glances at his comrades. "Oh, sorry. These are my friends, you remember Chanyeol and Sehun from the fireworks show right?"

She nods and he continues, "These three are Han, Zitao and Yifan. You remember them too?" Han had big, bright eyes and a baby face, he had dyed his hair a reddish brown color. Zitao did indeed look like a killer, he had sharp features and dark eye-bags. Yifan too looked intimidating, his hair was dyed a golden color. She makes eye contact with the stoic faces of Junmyeon's old friends.

"Oh! Han, Zitao and Yifan! Yes I remember them, hello nice to meet you I am Zhou Qiang." She smiles at the three men hoping their intimidating facades would fall apart to reveal warm souls.

"I met them a a couple hours ago and I suggested that we all come here together. They wanted to see you." Junmyeon smiles.

"Junmyeon talks about you all the time." Chanyeol reveals, "It's all he ever talks about." He laughs loudly as Junmyeon hits his arm.

"Well, that makes sense because Miss Qiang here is a very beautiful woman." Han gives her a charming smile and winks.

"Han." Junmyeon frowns.

"Thank you for the compliment Han but I'm not here to get compliments. I'm here to get your food orders, what would you guys like?" Qiang notifies an amused Han, looking around at the six of them as she finished her sentence. They all gave her their orders and she returns to the kitchen, handing Cook Zhu the slip of paper.

"Qiang." The females beckon her over to their circle. "Who are the guys sitting at table 12?" they ask her excitedly.

"Junmyeon and his friends."

"They're so handsome." A girl named Jie swoons.

"They're rich too. Most of what they wear are only available in the big expensive department stores, they also probably order their clothes online or have them shipped overseas." Daiyu informs the group.

"How do you know?" Peizhi queries.

"I order monthly issues from magazines, some of the items I see on those men were on the models in the magazines." Daiyu responds.

"How could that be...?" Qiang whispers to herself. They weren't much older than her, how could they be so wealthy already? Junmyeon's father is a business man maybe that has something to do with it.

Fei squeals, "Rich and handsome."

Qiang snorts and shakes her head as she walks over to Cook Zhu to retrieve the food for her table.

"Here you go guys, the first dish." She announces, as she backs up she stealthily eyes their clothing. Most of what they wore was leather, cashmere, linen and buffalo plaid. She knew this because her father's good friend's wife used to work in a fabric company. She explained to Qiang which fabrics were considered 'luxury fabrics' and which were "fake" luxury fabrics. Junmyeon often wore cashmere sweaters but today he was a wearing a shirt made of very fine linen. Perhaps they were all wealthy after all.

That night as she lays in bed after having said good night to Junmyeon, she thinks about Chen. She knew that what he told her was not really what he wanted to tell her. She knew, though she could not confirm it, that Chen had feelings for her. How long he had been infatuated with her she did not know.

"I missed you Qiang."

She covers her eyes with her arm and sighs. She knew that his words meant more than 'I missed your company'. So why did he not tell her about his feelings? How would she have answered? For now she did not reciprocate his feelings. Did she like Junmyeon then?

When she couldn't find the answer to her question she sighs in frustration. "What am I going to do..."

Her mind travels back to the argument she had with Chen, immediately saddened by the memory.

"So this is what it's like huh? I never would've expected this from you Qiang, being with another man while I'm away. Who would've guessed you were this kind of person."

Did he think they were something special? Did she lead him on without knowing? How could he have said that to her? Even if her feelings had been hurt by Chen, if he came back and apologized she would still forgive him. He had proved to be a good person and you must'nt let go of the good people who come into your life. They're the real treasures in life.

She reaches for her phone and dials his number, pressing her ear to the phone. "Come on, answer.." After the last ring it went to voicemail.

"Hello this is Chen, I'm sorry I couldn't answer your call. I will try my best to call you back right away or you can leave a voicemail and I will get back to you when I can."

She ends the call and places her phone on the table beside the bed, "Good night Chen."