moonlight shadows ☆ stray kids

☆ chapter 2 ☆

Hyun Soyoung

Tired but satisfied, Soyoung got out of her van and held her face up to the last rays of sunshine. She had had a long drive and after she had unloaded all her moving boxes in her new home, she wanted to make use of the rented van and went to the store. Now she had all kinds of utensils in the back of the vehicle that she would need for the rebuild of her café.
To save money and because she loved working on something herself and seeing the end result, the young woman had decided to do all the work herself as far as possible. And so, she was stranded here on a Friday evening, because unfortunately she had to return the van tomorrow; the price of the hire was far too expensive to be able to keep it longer.

It slowly began to get cooler and Soyoung pulled her thin jacket tighter around her, shivering. Ignoring her surroundings, she smiled as she looked up at the lettering above the long window on the right-hand side of the door. Midnight Moon was written there in curved letters, framed by a crescent moon on the left-hand side.
It wasn't lit up yet, but Soyoung couldn't wait to switch the café's power back on and reopen it. But until then, she still had a lot of work to do.

She was briefly startled when the streetlights switched on with a soft ping and their gentle light wafted along the road. Determined, Soyoung walked to the back of the van and opened the flaps to unload it. She was already looking forward to her home and her makeshift bed. It wasn't the definition of cosy, but as tired as she was, it would have to do for today.
Slowly and already half asleep, she carried the materials and tools into the small café and placed everything in the front area. Everyone could see in, but in a village as small as this one, she couldn't imagine anyone breaking in to steal anything.

After a while, she finally finished and made her way out of the café. Soyoung was standing with her back to the street to lock the door when a movement caught the corner of her eye. Two figures dressed in black were walking along the other side of the street, whispering quietly to each other, their hoods pulled low over their faces as if they didn't want to be seen.
Irritated, Soyoung looked after them. The few times she had been to the café now, not a single soul had been on the street. Mrs Moon had assured her that this would change as soon as the café reopened. But something about these two figures made her feel doubtful, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

Shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts as quickly as possible, she walked round the front of the van and dropped behind the steering wheel. She had probably only imagined this uneasy feeling due to the darkness setting in, and her tiredness had done the rest.
Sighing, she started the car and looked in the rear-view mirror out of sheer habit. A pair of glowing orange eyes looked straight in her direction from a distance and Soyoung turned round in her seat in shock.
But there was nothing and no one to be seen, even the two figures from a moment ago were nowhere to be found. Taking a deep breath, she fastened her seatbelt and drove off.

What she had seen made no sense at all. There were no glowing orange eyes on humans and wild animals would hardly appear in the middle of a village, even if it was near a nature reserve. So, she must have been mistaken; she had probably just seen a reflection of the light from the streetlights in some reflective surface.
Hopefully.

☆

In the morning, everything looked very different, and the events of the previous evening seemed far less mysterious than they had during the night. Full of energy, Soyoung made her way to her café and fuelled with plenty of caffeine, she had managed to clean up the café as much as possible by the evening.
The walls had been cleared of wallpaper, rotten floor coverings had been removed and the kitchen had been completely emptied. Exhausted but happy, the young woman dropped to the floor and looked at her work with satisfaction. A structural engineer would be coming on Monday, and she would only be able to start on the library once he had given her the go-ahead. So, she had decided to do as much as possible today and dedicate Sunday to her new home. She still hadn't unpacked a single box.

A loud growl let her know that she was done working for the day and that she'd better find something to eat. So, she got up and made her way to her small, ageing but beloved car. As soon as the café was finished, she would get herself a bike, but at the moment she just wasn't ready for the extra physical exertion.
Just before she arrived at her little house, she remembered that her fridge was just as empty as all the other cupboards, so Soyoung decided to make a quick trip to the neighbouring village to get the most necessary groceries.

On the way back, the sky was already pitch black, but that didn't bother her. Soyoung was far too busy singing along to her favourite song, which was playing on the radio at full blast. As soon as it had finished, she wanted to turn the radio down again, but her hand froze in the air just before the small knob.
Instead of the presenter's rather high-pitched voice, all she could hear was a hissing sound coming from the speakers. Startled, Soyoung pulled her hand back and looked at the road to steer back into her lane. Just as she had recovered from the fright, she saw a pair of glowing orange eyes at the edge of the forest in the corner of her eye, looking straight at her.

Unsettled, she switched off the radio and stubbornly looked straight ahead for the rest of the journey. When she arrived home, she hurried to her front door as quickly as possible and as soon as she had turned the key, she pushed the door open and wanted to enter.
But something made her pause on the doorstep; she felt like she was being watched. Unsure, she turned round and scanned the area, but there was nothing to be seen.

She quickly shook off the thought of being watched or followed, stepped inside and closed the door behind her. It was only after she had locked it behind her that the breath, she hadn't realised she had been holding, escaped her and Soyoung let herself slide onto the floor, exhausted.
Meanwhile, the owner of the orange-coloured eyes set off to report his observations to his companions.