Tao cracked open his eyes at the sound of the door down the hall clicking shut. An inky black figure padded past him and toward the kitchen. He liked watching her, but he liked taking action more. Wrapping his blanket around his body, he stood up from the couch. His back made a series of popping noises that sounded like porcelain shattering.

 

Byul whipped around and the light. Her whole body went tense and her shoulders shot up instinctively.

 

"Hi I live here." Tao gave a small wave under his blanket. Byul relaxed and combed her long hair back with her fingers.

 

"What are you doing up?"

 

"You woke me from my deep and peaceful sleep on this luxurious sofa." He said sarcastically, gesturing dramatically behind him. Byul rolled her eyes. Tao chuckled softly and walked up beside her, fixing her hair behind her shoulders. His own shoulders popped loudly

 

She shivered and looked down. "I'm sorry. I'll find somewhere else to stay."

 

"You know I can't let you do that."

 

She sighed. "Wait, are you not wearing any pants?"

 

"That's for me to know and you to find out." He smirked.

 

"I think I'll pass." She started opening cabinets over the kitchen counter. "You don't have anything to eat?"

 

Tao shrugged. "I don't usually eat much. Basically whatever the others leave behind."

 

"What are you?" Her eyes narrowed. "An omega?"

 

"Kind of.." He said lowly. Byul shut the cabinets.

 

"I have to go to work." She went over to the door to put on her jacket and shoes. "Come down later and you can eat."

 

Tao nodded, lowering himself onto the sofa. His back made the sickening snapping sounds again.

 

"You can't keep sleeping there." Byul sighed and rested her hand on the doorknob.

 

Tao pursed his lips. "I'll sleep in the bed tonight."

 

"And I'll be on the couch. Later." She left quickly.

 

"That's not what I meant." Tao covered his face and sprawled out on the couch in a tantrum.

 

 

 

 

It was Byul's turn to open up the shop and she was having issues getting her key into the lock.

 

Now that she was fully awake, she was aware of her surroundings. The morning jogger across the street, the maintenance worker fixing an atm machine down the block, the footsteps of a large man encroaching in three, two, one.

 

"Is Jeah here?" Kris asked, his hands in his pockets.

 

"Observe," Byul said dramatically with her arms outstretched toward the cafe. "The blackened room. And me, holding the very key that will bring it to life."

 

Kris blinked.

 

"No she's not here yet and you're no fun." She scoffed. "And the stupid door won't-"

 

Kris plucked the key from her fingers and opened the door with ease.

 

"Thanks." She grumbled.

 

"No problem." He leaned over and sniffed her hair. "Did you-"

 

Byul's nose wrinkled and she slipped inside. "Creep."

 

He followed her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

 

"We're still closed." She pointed to the sign on the door.

 

Kris strode over and flipped it to say 'open'. "I'll be in my spot."

 

Byul rolled her eyes and busied herself until Kori got in.

 

The manager herself shrieked when she arrived for work, dropping whatever paperwork she was holding.

 

Byul and Kris both rushed to help her clean up.

 

Yixing entered behind her and sighed. "You have to be more careful."

 

"I was startled." Kori shot a glare at Kris, who ducked his head apologetically. Yixing bent down to pick up a file folder.

 

"Who did you sleep with last night?"

 

Byul looked up into Yixing's dark eyes and dropped what she was holding.

 

"You can't ask that! It's rude." Kori slapped his arm and he returned to his task.

 

She caught Kris's gaze for a second and mumbled "no one" before retreating to the back store room.

 

"Morning." Jeah said cheerfully, popping in a few moments later. "What are you doing?"

 

"I reorganize when I'm bored." Byul, being fairly small, was struggling to put a box on one of the upper shelves of the room. Jeah took the box from her and put it on the ground.

 

"Where did you sleep last night?"

 

Byul froze. "Why does everyone want to know that?"

 

"Because you smell like a dog. Like-" Jeah crossed her arms and turned her head to look through to the main dining room.

 

"Like one of them?" Byul brushed her hands on her jeans.

 

"How did you know?"

 

"I'm familiar with them. Not them specifically." She chuckled and picked the box back up, standing on her toes to place it in the correct spot.

 

The sweater she was wearing that was too big for her rose up and Jeah saw long, silver scars running up her friend's side. She shook her head and pressed her lips together.

 

"You're wondering how?" One of Byul's eyebrows arched and Jeah shook her head, unsure. "Fine then." She shrugged and left the store room.

 

Jeah scurried out behind her. Most of the boys from the pack had congregated in the cafe. She caught a few shooting Byul strange glances.

 

'She has to be more careful.'

 

She looked up to find Kris waving at her from his corner.

 

"Excuse me." Byul looked up at a boy with wide eyes.

 

"How can I help you?" She asked in her bright voice that she reserved for customers.

 

"I'm Kyungsoo. Can I ask you a question?"

 

"You just did." She said flatly. "But go on."

 

Kyungsoo looked around nervously. "Where did you get that sweater?"

 

"None of your business, kid."

 

"I'm just asking because it looks like Tao's." He ducked his head. "You even smell like him."

 

Byul smirked. "Still none of your business."

 

The boy seemed taken aback and left quietly to rejoin his group.

 

"She's scary." Luhan looked past Kyungsoo's head at the girl behind the counter.

 

"You're a wimp." Chen snickered. "She's just a girl."

 

"No she isn't." Suho stepped in, chuckling. "You're not observing her properly."

 

"What's there to observe?" The boy scoffed.

 

"You'll see."

 

Yixing crept up to the counter. "The pack is getting nervous with you around."

 

Byul didn't look up. "I don't acknowledge the outcry of an underling."

 

His jaw dropped. Kris came by and pushed it up. "Byul, you're scaring the children."

 

The girl bit her lip and looked up as the bell over the door jingled. The room fell silent as everyone else watched Tao come in and sit at one of the tables.

 

Byul excused herself and went to sit across from him. "What's up?"

 

"You promised to feed me." He grinned wryly.

 

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back."

 

She returned with a full breakfast and set it down in front of him. "I'm not your mother. You should be able to eat enough to sustain yourself."

 

Tao ate quietly with his head down. A tall boy bravely wandered over to them, flanked by another, and tried to swipe a sausage from Tao's plate. Byul slapped his hand and he recoiled like he'd been burned.

 

"I'm sorry and you are?" She glared up at him.

 

He pouted and rubbed his hand. "I don't feel safe disclosing this information."

 

"He's Chanyeol." The other one blurted out. "I'm Baekhyun, in case you were wondering."

 

"I wasn't." Byul took a bite of Tao's food before going back to work.

 

"I'm worried about her." Kori whispered to Jeah, watching Byul fend off the boys from stealing Tao's breakfast.

 

"Don't be." Suho squeezed between them, grinning widely. Jeah pushed him away and wiped her hands on her thighs as if even his touch repulsed her. Which it did.

 

"She seems to like him." Kori shrugged and skipped over to her boyfriend.

 

"You don't even know the half of it." Suho sighed, leaning on Jeah's shoulder. She shook him off and went to find Kris, who was hovering around Byul.

 

"What're you two up to?" She asked, snuggling up next to Kris.

 

"Enjoying the company of someone with average intelligence." Byul looked up. "Well, kind of."

 

"Thanks." Kris glared.

 

Jeah leaned over the counter. "How do you know about them?"

 

Byul followed her gaze over her shoulder to the groups of boys occupying the shop.

 

"Because-"

 

Kris cleared his throat. "Because she is one of us."