Chapter 12 - Scent

"Kid, you really want to die? I'm from the Tiger Gang!" The thug screamed in anger, the knife now dangerously close to Asher's face.

He even dismissed the CCTV as inconsequential, confident that the owner of this place would likely be too frightened to report the incident, especially once he knew they were from a big group. 

"I'll make your life a living hell if you keep messing with me. Not just you—this whole place will be messed up by us. I'm sure your boss won't like that," he added.

Asher didn't reply immediately; this was bigger than a normal brawl.

If this drunk man was really from a gang, beating the daylights out of him would only invite more trouble.

He wasn't worried about them coming after him—he could protect himself. But he might lose his job if the store got raided.

"Alright, but maybe you can just take three packs instead of nine. This would be deducted from my salary, and I'm really broke right now," Asher explained, finally giving up.

He had to back down on this one.

"Why do I care ? Just give it to me ." the drunk man insisted. 

Seeing that talking to this bunch of idiots was useless, he sighed and started putting the cigarettes in a plastic bag.

Along the way, they even grabbed some condoms, and some snacks.

Thankfully, there were CCTV cameras in the store.

Asher could just explain to his boss that he had been threatened and that they would come back to cause trouble if he fought back.

'I hope the boss doesn't get too mad at me,' he sighed and went back to sleep.

***

Outside.

Ten meters away from the convenience store, on top a building's roof, sat a beautiful girl.

Her black hair flowed with the cold wind as she observed everything happening inside the store.

If Asher was here, he would recognize her as the same girl who had come to the store previously.

However, this time, there was something unusual about her.

Her eyes were a different color now, it was blood red, and as she smiled, a cute fang appeared in her mouth, giving her an appearance akin to a vampire. 

"What are you?" she mused aloud, unable to hide her smile as she stalked him. She had been watching him for hours, trying to uncover his true nature.

'And why do you smell so nice?' 

***

A few hours earlier, as she strolled along the road, the cold wind played with her black hair, but it was the scent that stopped her in her tracks.

A rich, intoxicating aroma passed through her nose, stirring something deep inside her.

Curiosity led her to track the source of the smell, where she was astonished to find the scent emanating from a human.

This was the second time she had caught a whiff of this scent; the first time was around 3,000 years ago, when she encountered one of the most powerful demons, Beelzebub.

'But that's impossible; I heard that Beelzebub died in the war against Lucifer,'

'I need to find out for sure,' she thought, moving closer to him while pretending to be a customer, eager to observe him up close.

She expected to discover something extraordinary.

However--

'He's just an ordinary human, and on top of that, he doesn't even have a demon heart,'

She frowned slightly, her eyebrows rising in question.

No matter how hard she tried, the only thing she noticed about him was his scent. Nothing else stood out.

'Then why does he smell like him?' She touched her lips with curiosity, a wide smile forming as her interest in him deepened.