Doctor Demon

"Oi, Tinkerbell!"

Jina gritted her teeth, ignoring the annoying fly which was following her. She was walking fast but thanks to his long legs, Hobin easily caught up with her.

"Buy me food," he said.

"What?" Jina frowned. "Why should I buy you food? Buy your own food!"

"I solved an important case for you and you won't even treat me to a good dinner?" he sighed. "Typical cops."

"For your kind information, I could have solved the case without you," Jina claimed. 

"Uh huh," Hobin said in a sarcastic tone. "Sure."

Jina scowled at him. They had stepped out of the building and he was following her to the nearest convenience store. It was 2 AM but the convenience stores stayed open for 24 hours. The closest one was only a few blocks away from their building. 

The street was quite empty except for a few cars occasionally passing by. There were some homeless people sleeping on one side of the pavement. The buildings loomed around them, the street shrouded with complete silence. 

But amidst the seemingly desolate street, Jina felt several eyes on her. They were invisible to everyone but her, watching the duo as they walked by. She occasionally felt a silent spectator coming close, cold breeze softly touching her when they passed by her. Some of them were whispering in her ears but she ignored all of them. 

Hobin raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Jina was unusually still. She had her arms crossed against her chest in a defensive way which made him curious. It was not that cold outside but she was slightly shivering.

"If you're that scared of the dark, then why did you come out alone on your own?" he asked warily.

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"I'm not scared of the dark," she said. "Just of the things hidden in the darkness."

"Little midget is afraid of non-existent ghosts?" Hobin snorted.

Worse, Jina said in her thoughts. 

"Why are you awake this late at night?" she asked. "Don't you have a date with one of your millions of girlfriends?"

"At least I have a legion of girlfriends," he smirked. "Unlike a certain midget who's been single forever."

"Excuse me, but I have dated a few men!" Jina claimed.

"And how long did those relationships last?" Hobin grinned. 

Jina paused before admitting, "Never got past one date. Because I'm too busy all the time!"

That part was partially true. She was always busy in her work to give time to relationships. Moreover, she only went on a couple of dates because her friends or colleagues set her up. She was not interested in dating. With her job on one hand and helping out lost spirits on the other, who had the time for dating?

Hobin pushed open the door of the store for her.

"Or maybe, no one can handle your tantrums like I can," he said.

"You throw more tantrums than I do," she muttered. She picked a basket and walked straight towards the chocolates' section, picking up one choco bar. To her surprise, Hobin blindly picked up chocolates from the shelves and threw them in a shopping basket.

"You're gonna eat all that?" she frowned. 

"Yes," he replied, thrusting the basket into her hands. "After all, you're paying."

Grrr…

Jina wanted to snap at him but then thought better of it. He did, after all, help out with the case. As the team leader, it was the least she could do. 

"Fine," she gritted. "I'll pay for them."

"Also for these," he said and added two cups of ramen noodles and a couple of juice bottles in the basket. "Tell the cashier to heat them up."

Jina groaned but obliged. She paid for the food at the counter and waited for the cashier to heat up the noodles before following Hobin out of the store. 

There was a long bench outside. Hobin sat on it and motioned her to sit next to him. Jina handed him one of the ramen cups and a fork.

"Why are you awake this late at night?" She asked curiously.

"Couldn't sleep," he muttered, unwrapping the cup noodles and slurping on the food. "Had a nightmare."

"Doctor Demon had a nightmare," Jina joked. "Interesting."

"If a midget like you can have a nightmare then so can I," he shrugged.

"I...I didn't have a nightmare!" she claimed. "I was remembering someone. And how did you know I was having a bad dream?"

"When someone has a nightmare, they feel stuffy and uncomfortable in their own rooms," he explained. "Sometimes, they might even want to get out of the house. You followed the textbook reaction to nightmares, Ms. Midget."

"It wasn't a nightmare!" Jina stressed. "Just a memory…"

Hobin studied her carefully, noting the lingering sadness in her words. "Is this person really important to you?" he casually asked.

"Very," she admitted and flashed him a small smile. "You can say that he was my first love."

"Was?" Hobin asked. 

"He passed away," Jina revealed. "A long time ago."

She scooped in a mouthful of ramen, reminiscing her old friend. Hobin studied her carefully, wondering what was going on in her head. He wanted to touch her hand and read her memories but for some reason, it felt wrong. It was more interesting to listen to her ramble than find out everything at once.

"The best I can do is remember him," she sighed. "As long as someone remembers him, he'll be at ease."

"If someone is dead then they don't feel anything," Hobin said. "Does it really matter if you remember them or not? After all, they're not here anymore. How can you be so sure he'll be at ease?"

To his surprise, she laughed a little.

"You really think that those who die are not with us anymore?" she questioned him, still laughing. "You don't think that there can be a possibility that people can return?"

"Of course not!" Hobin frowned. "They're dead. How can they return?"

But Jina only laughed and patted his head as if dealing with a child.

"You have so much to learn, kid!" she snickered. 

"Says a grown woman who's scared of ghosts!" he scoffed. 

"There are worse things than ghosts and spirits," Jina mused. "Ghosts don't scare me. But…"

"But what?"

She was no longer laughing. A somber look dawned on her.

"Ghosts aren't scary," she said. "Their stories are."

Before Hobin could ask her what she meant, she stood up, threw away her empty ramen cup and yawned.

"I'm heading back home," she said. "Are you coming or staying?"

"I'm done too," he replied and threw his cup away. He picked up the bag of chocolates and slowly followed her back to their apartment. 

"Good night," Hobin muttered and was about to enter his unit when Jina remembered something.

"I forgot to ask about your nightmare," she realized. "What did you see?"

His hand froze on the knob. The image of the nameless girl followed by the manic laughter of the bespectacled man briefly flashed in his head.

"I saw a monster," he replied, not turning back to face her. "Someone who was worse than death itself."

Without another word, he entered his apartment, leaving her alone in the corridor. Jina was rooted to her spot, thinking about his words.

Guess a Doctor Demon has his own demons to fight, she thought. She slowly unlocked her door and went back in, locking it firmly behind her.