Demons Beside You

“Leonardo, you keep staring at that pretty blonde. She your type?”

Leonardo was a bit shy. “She’s pretty.”

“Then go and get her number.”

“I don’t know her. How can I get her number?”

“Then you’ll have to ask Chen,” Chris said. “He asked for my number the first time we met.”

“Leonardo, if you can get her number, I’ll pay tonight,” Chen Zhao said.

“But...”

“Go, don’t be scared.”

Everyone was tipsy now. Encouraged by them all, Leonardo gathered his courage and walked toward the pretty blonde.

“Miss, can I have your number?”

The girl glanced at Leonardo, rolled her eyes, and turned around. Leonardo came back, head hanging low.

Chris looked at Chen Zhao. “You go.”

Chen Zhao stood up and walked to the blonde. “Can I sit here?”

She glanced at Chen Zhao and nodded.

“Are you alone or waiting for friends?”

“Alone,” the blonde replied.

“After alcohol enters your body, it’ll mix into your blood. If you talk to someone, you’ll take in more oxygen. This can reduce the effect of the alcohol and speed up metabolism. That’s why you should never drink by yourself. It’s lonely, so I’ll buy you this one.”

The blonde tried the drink and scooted closer to Chen Zhao. Her red lips carried an intoxicating fragrance.

“You know what makes the drunkenness go away even faster? Intense exercise and sweating. Sweat can expel alcohol too.”

“This is my hotel room number and my phone number. If you need to get sober, you can come find me tonight.”

Chen Zhao returned to the group with a triumphant smile.

“Chen, you’re too awesome. How did you do that?”

“It’s a skill.”

“Let’s play cards,” Sienna said.

“Yeah, let’s play...”

Ten rounds later, Chen Zhao and Sienna practically never lost.

“Sienna, can you make that guy behind you stop walking around?” Chen Zhao called out. “Your cheating is so obvious.”

“There’s someone behind Sienna?” Leonardo asked, confused.

Chris, David, and Fali all knew what Chen Zhao meant. They just didn’t explain it.

“Don’t say you didn’t cheat.”

“It’s only cheating if you get caught. Otherwise, it’s a skill.”

“You’re all so powerful. Can you not trick us normal people?”

They were kind of drunk now. Just then, a big guy with a beard, leather jacket, and bandana walked over to Fali. “Miss, can I have this dance?”

“Sorry, I have a partner.” Fali held onto Chen Zhao’s arm.

“That Asian?” The big guy looked down drunkenly at Chen Zhao.

“Go away. Don’t cause trouble for yourself.” Chen Zhao stood up, swaying.

Boom—

The big guy punched straight at Chen Zhao’s face, sending him to the ground. But then he picked himself up again.

Like an angry bull, Chen Zhao head-butted the big guy’s chest, Pushing him to the center of the dance floor, Chen Zhao pressed him down and started raining down blows.

...

An hour later, Chen Zhao sat in the police station with a bruised face.

David, Leonardo, Fali, Chris, and Sienna all sat beside him. They were much more sober now. Four big guys sat across from them with similar bruised faces.

The bar owner had called the cops on them for public fighting.

Reality proved that one’s skills and street fighting weren’t really related. In a chaotic fight like this, it was just a punch from you and a kick from me.

The four across from them weren’t easy targets. They were all from a biker gang and practically ten feet tall. They were very muscular and probably twice as big as Chen Zhao.

Fighting was an everyday thing for them. Compared to Chen Zhao’s group of six rookies, it was much easier for them.

They didn’t have an advantage in this fight though. Chen Zhao and David were like human dragons. They could take on two each with no problem.

In the fight, both sides were hurt, but the four bikers had more serious injuries. Leonardo broke his left arm and had a cast now. Two of the bikers also had casts.

“Hey, you’re all pretty strong,” the big bearded guy said. He was the cause of this conflict.

He was the one who’d started fighting with Chen Zhao, but he didn’t get angry at Chen Zhao’s group because of this. Fighting was like eating to bikers. They moved on after each fight ended.

They wouldn’t hold grudges just because they’d fought.

“You’re not bad either.”

Melson walked over. “Sign this and you can leave.”

The two didn’t plan on suing the other, so there was no need to go to court.

After the bikers left, Leonardo cowered a little when faced with Melson.

“Chen, I didn’t think that you’d know how to fight.”

“You finally got some blackmail material on me?” Chen Zhao touched the bruise on his cheek. It was still hurting.

“Oh, right. Chen, I heard that the fire victims in Mountain Village all got a mysterious gift. Do you know about this?”

“It’s not a secret. Of course I know.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you, right?”

“If it’s me, I’d definitely keep the gold,” Chen Zhao said matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t do all that.”

“Fine.” Melson didn’t plan on continuing to ask. He turned to Leonardo. “Today’s your birthday, so I won’t yell at you. Hand a report to my office tomorrow.”

The farce was finally over. They all walked out of the police station. However, they were all happy tonight. Even though they’d ended up at the cops, it was still an interesting experience.

“Thank you for giving me a beautiful birthday party.” Leonardo hugged everyone.

“As long as you don’t think we ruined your birthday.”

“No way,” Leonardo said genuinely. “This is the happiest night of my life.”

“Even better than when you lost your virginity?” David asked.

Leonardo was speechless. This was a very meaningful night to him.

It was also a meaningful night for Chen Zhao.

Everyone was tired after the eventful night though, so they all went back home.