It had almost been two weeks since I visited Starlight Cafe for the first time and today marked my first full week of working there. From what I had seen so far, Hakyeon was my fellow barista (although he usually worked the cash register since he seemed to be a lot more sociable than I was) and Taekwoon mostly stayed in the kitchen making pastries that we sold along with coffee. The work wasn’t hard, Hakyeon taught me how to work the different machines relatively quickly and I picked up the recipes within my first two days. It was a bit stressful, I’ll admit, I wasn’t used to making coffee under a time minute for people I didn’t know. The only people I usually brewed for were close friends and family and I’d normally make something that they’d like (for example, Ilhoon loved sweet things so I always added extra cream or sugar in his coffee) so not knowing the customers made brewing their coffee a bit harder than it usually was. However, after a week I learned how to compensate for my lack of knowledge and work was generally incident-free.

                Suddenly, the door dinged causing me to look up in surprise. It was almost closing time and I hadn’t been expecting any other customers. A young man was standing at the door and he seemed to be looking straight at me. He had light brown hair that was styled up and warm brown eyes. The man was a bit shorter than me (making him a tad taller than Hakyeon) and had a nice build although he didn’t look particularly muscular. He moved his gaze from my face (why did everyone always stare at me? First Hakyeon and now this kid...) to the menu above before making a decision and walking up to the counter.

                “Excuse me?” the man said, his voice had a musical undertone which made me wonder how he would sound like if he sang. I looked around for Hakyeon but for some reason he didn’t seem to be in the cafe area. He was probably in the back bothering Taekwoon since we were about to close. The . Not like I thought we would have any other customers, but he should’ve stayed to be responsible and stuff. Isn’t that what managers were supposed to do?

                “Y-yes?” I stuttered. Groaning inwardly at my speech, I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. The man looked back up at the menu and tapped his foot in what seemed like an irritated manner. I walked up to the cash register and waited patiently for him to make his decision.

                “Can I have a Jekyll please?” the man asked nonchalantly. He looked down at his fingernails in boredom and a couple of seconds passed awkwardly.

                “P-pardon?” I questioned. I had never heard of that drink before and unless it was a street name for something I had absolutely no knowledge of anything (be it a drink or pastry) that was under that name. Looking around again, I found not one trace of an annoying but now required red haired male. A mixture of irritation and apprehension rose inside me as I turned back to the man who now looked a bit annoyed with the situation.

                “I said can I have a Jekyll,” the man replied, slowing his speech and enunciating every word properly and carefully. Resisting the urge to tell the man I wasn’t deaf or stupid, I drummed my fingers on the counter. Thinking carefully, I went through all the different types of coffee we served but could come up with none that would even be close to what this man seemed to be ordering.

                “Would you mind describing it?” I asked after I exhausted my mental capabilities. I had no idea what this person was going on about but the least I could do was try to make what he wanted. I mean, that’s what people in the service industry do... right?

                “How can you not know what a Jekyll is!” the man suddenly exploded. He looked furious, as if I had insulted his mother and stepped on his new shoes. “It’s practically the signature drink of this cafe! I cannot believe the ignorance of people these days!” the man continued to rant about modern culture and how technology was destroying the supple minds of the youths of South Korea. I wasn’t listening 100% but I was pretty sure he contradicted himself multiple times.

                “Ah, I see. However I still don’t know what your drink is sir,” I said, catching my sass enough to remember to be kind of polite, “so could you please explain it thoroughly or choose another drink on the menu?”

                “No I want a Jekyll and I cannot believe you don’t understand how to make it. You call yourself a barista?” the man jabbed his finger in my direction and began to wave his hands in a heated manner. Taken aback, I was at a loss of what to do. None of my previous jobs had prepared me for this (granted the manager was always present, unlike a certain red haired man) and considering I usually spent my weekends playing video games and watching anime I didn’t have enough social skills to be able to handle this type of situation properly.

                “Jaehwan!” a voice called from behind me. Whipping around, I saw Hakyeon emerge from the back room (what timing) with a bright smile on his face. He approached the stranger on the other side of the counter and the two embraced (they hugged a little too tightly but then again, Hakyeon was a touchy person). “You’re back from your trip?” Hakyeon asked as he leaned against the counter.

                “Wait, you know him?” I asked, confused. The man, Jaehwan, looked cross as he glared at Hakyeon from across the counter but Hakyeon took no notice.

                “Yup, this is Lee Jaehwan. He works here. Under the name of Ken though,” Hakyeon waved his hand dismissively. “But he and another worker went on a trip to visit their families a couple weeks ago. I didn’t think they’d be back so soon!”

                “We told you we were coming back this week though. I even texted Taekwoon hyung,” Jaehwan mumbled. “Anyways hyung! You ruined my secret camera! I was this close to giving this newbie a proper initiation!” Jaehwan pouted.

                “You shouldn’t be giving Hyukkie a hard time anyways! I mean look at how adorable he is!” Hakyeon countered and I suppressed the urge to shudder at his cooing. To this comment Jaehwan pouted even more (if that was even humanely possible) and remarked that I wasn’t even close to being as cute as he was. Cue argument. What they were even arguing about I didn’t know but I learned from my week here that Haykeon just kind of went where the wind took him and judging from the ten minutes spent with Jaehwan he seemed to be the same way.

                “Your idea was stupid in the first place hyung,” a deep voice came from the doorway the cafe and I looked up (what was with all these dramatic entrances? Seriously) to see a tall man with oddly dyed ash-blonde hair. He walked up to Jaehwan and crossed his arms. Jaehwan turned to him and gave him an annoyed look.

                “I’m older than you! You shouldn’t talk to me like that!” Jaehwan whined childishly to which the new addition rolled his eyes. Hakyeon laughed at the duo which made Jaehwan turn to face him and they began to argue about something else. My head was pounding with the overload of information and I was beginning to understand why Taekwoon hid in the kitchen all the time. With workers like these it was a surprise he was still sane. Actually, maybe he wasn’t, it was too soon to tell.

                “Anyways,” the stranger sighed at Hakyeon and Jaehwan’s antics, “I’m Kim Wonshik. Although I guess here I’d go by Ravi. To be honest this double name thing is just really confusing. It almost makes us look like a host club with us using stage names.”

                “It so does not,” Hakyeon cut in, punching Wonshik not-too-lightly on the shoulder. “It’s cool! Kind of like we’re spies or something.”

                “Spies hyung? You’re almost 25 and you’re pretending to be a spy?” Wonshik remarked. Hakyeon pouted (that was something I never wanted to see again) and hit Wonshik again which caused him to rub the affected area with a grimace upon his face.

                “Shut up, it’s awesome, trust. Anyways, you guys are just in time. Actually now that I think about, Taekwoon probably knew which is why he was already prepared but whatever. TAEKWOON,” Hakyeon rambled on before calling for the silent chef. There a couple minutes of shuffling from the kitchen before Taekwoon appeared holding a medium sized cake in his hands. The candles were already lit and the lights of the cafe suddenly dimmed (I realized it was Hakyeon after turning around to see that he had disappeared from his previous place).

                “What’s this?” I asked, confused once again. Today was just full of surprises and I honestly wished that this wouldn’t become a permanent feature in my work day. Looking around, I saw that no more customers were inside the cafe and there was a ‘CLOSED’ sign hanging on the door (which I assumed Wonshik had placed when he walked in).

                “It’s your welcoming party Hyukkie! Jaehwan has already kind of not really hazed you so we’re gonna have a small celebration!” Hakyeon cheered, dancing around the statue that was called Taekwoon since he was holding the cake. “Now that you’ve met all four members of Starlight we can officially call you a worker! Congratulations!” Hakyeon beamed brightly and Taekwoon pushed the cake into Hyuk’s arms before retreating into the corner where he could watch everything silently.

                “Oh well, thanks?” I said, still taken aback and confused about today’s preceding events. I leaned forwards slightly and blew the candles out. The four older workers clapped (well Hakyeon and Jaehwan clapped while Wonshik did so half-heartedly and I wasn’t sure if Taekwoon was even still in the building) and Hakyeon turned the lights back on. Admiring the cake, I saw that it was a simple vanilla flavour with frosting and carefully designed swirls around the border. Looking closer, I became confused at the words written inside the border, ‘Welcome Han Sanghyuk/Hyuk!’. Glancing up for someone to ask I found that Hakyeon was currently yelling at Wonshik for stealing frosting and Jaehwan had gone to the kitchen for plates and cutlery.

                “It’s your name,” a quiet voice answered my silent question. I turned my head to see Taekwoon come a bit closer. “Your worker name is Hyuk because Hakyeon is uncreative,” Taekwoon stated. I stared at him in surprise. Nine words. Taekwoon actually spoke nine words to me! I guess Hakyeon was right and that he’d warm up to me in time. Taekwoon then handed me a metal tag before retreating back into his corner for the night. As Jaehwan came out of the kitchen with plates and Hakyeon forcefully took the cake away from me to divide, I look down at the metal object in my hands. It was a name tag with ‘Hyuk’ engraved on it. I smiled slightly before pinning the tag onto my uniform shirt and returned my attention to the other workers. Hakyeon was acting very mother like in his division of the cake while Jaehwan and Wonshik were squabbling like siblings. Taekwoon had moved to perch on a stool beside Hakyeon, occasionally stealing bits and pieces of the cake to which Hakyeon scolded him but merely cut Taekwoon his own piece. My smile grew as I continued watching the cheerfully loud group. They were annoying that’s for sure, a bit too loud in the morning and hilariously irritating at times, but they were also accepting and welcoming. I looked down at my slice of cake and felt the smooth metal of my nametag again before I tuned back into the conversation of Jaehwan and Wonshik’s trips back home.

Aight, here's the next chapter! We finally meet the rest of VIXX! Ken and Ravi are here! AND they have a cute party like oh my goodness I want a party when I get a job. Too bad life doesn't work like fanfics (or else my bias would've confessed his undying love to me already). TT^TT

Also Taekwoon is me during family reunions. Hides in corner. See food. Comes out to grab food. Retreats back into corner.

Have I ever mentioned that I write the rough copies of this fic in math class? Well I do and while I was writing this chapter my math teacher came by and asked if I needed help. It was extremely awkward like I'm just there casually leaning all over my paper and telling him that I'm fine. >.<

Oh by the way I realized that CLC's album, First Love, pretty much fits this fic perfect (to me at least). There's even a song called "카페모카 주세요" or "Please Give Me a Cafe Mocha" how perfect is that?

Once again, thanks for reading and I do not own anything in this story other than the idea and plot, any similarities to other works of fiction are purely coincidental or have been used as sources of inspiration. Please do not repost this anywhere without my permission; plagiarism isn’t nice!

Hope you're smiling!

~ Alateni