When Hakyeon arrived at his cafe first thing in the morning, he was surprised to find a figure standing in front of the closed door.

"Uh, can I help you?" he asked.

The figure turned to him. "Oh, hello," he cheerfully said. "When will this cafe open?" 

"Not for a few hours, at least," Hakyeon offered.

"Oh, I just wanted to speak to the owner," the figure said. "Are you by any chance the owner?"

Hakyeon nodded. "Yeah, I am."

The guy seemed happy. "Great!"

Hakyeon stepped forward, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door. "So what can I help you with?" he asked. "We don't actually have any vacancies available-"

"I know you're a demigod," the stranger cut him off.

He froze in the process of pushing the door handle down. "Wha-?"

"I know that you're a son of Zelos, and that your roommate is a son of Zeus, and that you employ a son of Hermes here."

Who the hell was this guy?

"Who are you and how do you know so much?" he carefully asked.

He laughed. "Relax, relax, you don't need to be so suspicious," he assured, putting his hands up. "I'm a demigod, just like you!"

"Shh," Hakyeon hissed. "Might as well shout it to the world."

He quickly looked around. Since it was still very early and the sun hadn't completely risen yet (the sky was still dyed in purple hues), the street was virtually empty. The only other people apart from them were a few lone morning walkers and cyclists, none of whom gave any indication they'd heard their conversation. 

For a moment, he cast his eyes towards the newcomer. He looked about his age, maybe a couple of years younger. He was tall, with sharp features, a big nose and a wide toothy smile. He had hair that was dyed brown and fell over his forehead. He seemed to literally be jumping on his toes out of excitement.

Hakyeon pushed open the door. "Come inside," he told him. "We'll talk about this in more detail."

He led the younger inside. "By the way," he said as a thought struck him, "what's your name? I'm Cha Hakyeon."

"Oh, I think I forgot to introduce myself. I'm sorry," he said, holding out his hand.

"My name is Lee Jaehwan, and I'm a son of Zeus."

"So, how did you know who I was?" Hakyeon questioned, leaning against the bar with his arms folded across his chest. "Don't tell me-?"

Jaehwan quickly shook his head. "It's not what you think," he assured. "I'm a Teacher's Aid over at Dongguk University."

Dongguk University? Hakyeon thought. That's where Hongbin and Sanghyuk study...

Jaehwan seemed to read his mind. "Yeah, I'm assigned to Han Sanghyuk's class. That's how I got to know him. Through him, I also got to meet Lee Hongbin. They told me about you, and how you'd taken them both in when they were at their lowest."

Hakyeon chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say that," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Hongbin was just a bit lost and out on the streets, so I offered him to room with me. Thought it would also help the rent a bit, not like he pays any," he grumbled towards the end. "Sanghyuk, on the other hand, just needed a job that wouldn't take away too much of his time, and I had a vacancy, so..."

Jaehwan had remained quiet all this time, raising an eyebrow. "You sure love to talk, don't you?" he murmured.

"What was that?" Hakyeon asked. 

"Nothing," Jaehwan said, adjusting himself so that he had his hands folded in front of him, leaning on the counter. "So, how did you know they were demigods?" 

"They told me," Hakyeon admitted. 

"So readily?" Jaehwan wondered. 

Hakyeon shrugged. "I'll admit I'm not tuned into the energy field as much as other demigods, probably a side effect of being tuned into the emotional spectrum. I find it hard to tell demigods from normal humans, I need to focus a lot more when Sanghyuk could just look at a guy and go 'that's a demigod.'" He snapped his fingers for effect.

Jaehwan crossed his arms over his chest. "So how do you navigate?" he wondered. "Don't you miss out many others?"

Hakyeon shrugged. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," he said. "Either way, I can't spend too much time on that. Sadly, even us demigods need to make a living."

"You operate a cafe..." Jaehwan softly mumbled.

Hakyeon glowered at him. "You try running a steady business and see how well that goes," he growled. "You have any idea how much work it takes to run a cafe? I have to reach here early to set the goods out to bake since they're fresh everyday, not to mention checking the deliveries and cleaning the store and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Jaehwan patted him to calm him down. "It's hard work."

"And you can learn all about it first hand too," Hakyeon chastised. "You start Monday."

"Huh?"

But by then, Hakyeon had turned around and stormed away into the kitchen side, leaving Jaehwan all alone. 

"Did he just...?" Jaehwan asked into thin air. "Did I just...?"

He then ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. "Cha Hakyeon, you truly are someone," he murmured.

Busy arranging the newest supply of condiments on the shelves behind the cash counter, Hakyeon barely caught the sound of the bell, signalling a new arrival to his cafe.

"Yeah, just a sec!" he called out, setting down a jar of cinnamon.

Finally done, Hakyeon dusted off his hands and turned around to serve his customer, only to find Taekwoon standing there.

"Taekwoon?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Was in the area for business," Taekwoon simply said. "Thought I'd drop by."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Hakyeon grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, I forgot. What would you like?"

Taekwoon looked over at the dishes and drinks up on the screens on the wall before looking back down. "I'll just have your famous coffee, Hakyeon-ah," he decided, smiling.

"Coming right up!" Hakyeon exclaimed. When Taekwoon dug into his pocket to bring out his wallet, Hakyeon stopped him. "Don't bother, this one's on the house."

"Now don't say that," Taekwoon said. "I'm not paying you. I'm contributing to the economy!"

"You've contributed enough," Hakyeon scolded. "Now go and take a seat. I'll be there in a sec."

Taekwoon looked around. "Don't you have other customers?" 

Hakyeon shook his head. "It's a slow day."

Taekwoon nodded, making to leave for one of the corner seats, a more secluded place where he could have his drink in peace, when he caught sight of a new face inside.

Wait, a new face?

He narrowed his eyes. While he wasn't the most frequent visitor to the cafe, he did know everyone who worked there, from Hakyeon to all of his part timers. He'd spoken with quite a few a number of times, so a new face made him stop in his tracks.

Not to mention, there was something about the energy of this new guy. Taekwoon could swear that if he concentrated, he could actually see a yellow energy coming off in waves from his body. The same energy that separated a human...from a demigod.

So this new guy was a demigod as well? Great.

Demigods seemed to be attracted to Hakyeon like moths to a flame. He wondered whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.