Xu Minghao worked at a quaint little potions cafe that was situated right in the heart of South Korea’s biggest hidden magical city. At Moonwalker Cafe, he has already met all sorts of creatures and beings; from the shortest of fairies who couldn’t live without caffeine to the prettiest of elves even if they don’t take caffeine very well; from brute trolls who ordered creamy drinks to vampires who just needed a quick substitute. Things were, in one word, interesting.

The boy himself was a vampire, although he felt like he could pass for a wizard or at least an alchemist soon enough. His boss, Jeon Wonwoo, made sure he knew not just the classic coffee drinks that humans had, but also how these things could be elevated—with magic, of course. Minghao didn’t exactly have magic, but he did have Wonwoo’s stock of herbs and ingredients and pre-made potions that were always a big help.

“I’ll have the usual,” came the honey-like voice of Yoon Jeonghan, resident siren with a sweet tooth that usually left his throat sore.

Next to him was a boy Minghao hasn’t seen in the cafe before, but with pink hair that matched the siren’s own, so he figured they were probably of the same kind. The said boy gave Jeonghan a pointed look, one that could easily be interpreted as a judgmental one, eyebrows raised. He must know of Jeonghan’s tendencies as well, then, since the latter merely laughed when he caught the other’s stare.

“Relax, Jisoo, I know what I’m doing! This is a magic cafe for a reason. Right, Minghao?” He directed his last statement at the barista, who nodded immediately.

“Jeonghan orders his strawberry frappe with an added potion, crafted by Wonwoo himself. It soothes his throat with each sip and counters whatever effect the sweet drink has,” Minghao said dutifully.

“Right!” The siren said happily, turning to his friend once more. “I told you they were good. I can’t believe you’ve never checked them out before.”

His friend—Jisoo, Minghao figured—merely rolled his eyes, although there was an amused smile on his lips. A siren who doesn’t have his voice, huh? That was new, the Chinese boy thought to himself, as he busied himself with making the drink before he got too curious about the other boy and let it show. Sirens and beautiful voices went hand in hand; it was probably a sensitive topic, even if the other boy didn’t seem to mind.

“Here you go,” the vampire came back a few minutes later, complete with Jeonghan’s drink and an extra slice of cake, on the house since he dropped by so often. Jeonghan said his thanks and left, hand in hand with the other siren. Minghao wondered briefly if it was romantic in any way, but figured that was just another thing that peaked his curiousity that didn’t exactly need an answer.

Moonwalker Cafe was famous for a lot of reasons. Apart from selling their drinks and occasional pastries with potions and essentially being the only magical cafe around, it was one of the few spaces that was a safe haven for those like Minghao and more. Humans couldn’t see the cafe; thanks to Wonwoo’s wards, the spot where the cafe stood appeared as a mere brick wall to those without magical blood.

Nobody had to hide anything, really, which was one of the reasons he loved working there as well.

It was a rainy Friday night when Minghao found himself staying later in the cafe than usual, just a little past closing time. He had talked about making the cafe a 24 hour business with Wonwoo before, explaining that he could totally do it since it’s not like he slept much, but the older boy had said no. Nightlife in the magical realm hardly meant staying in cafes; plus that was extra money to spend on the wizard’s part.

During most mornings, Minghao also worked with a few other people. By the time the sun sets though, he was used to staying alone. It wasn’t completely in his job description, but he enjoyed sorting out Wonwoo’s various plants—even the ones that bit him now and then—and clean around. He would also make a mental note of which potions were running out so that he could tell the boss when to restock.

He was in the midst of wondering if he could somehow get Wonwoo to agree to paying him more when the door suddenly swung open.

A drenched figure immediately stumbled in, getting rain all over the floor that Minghao had just mopped, too. Irritated just a little bit, the vampire was about to try his best to calmly tell the customer that the cafe was closed half an hour ago can’t you read the sign outside, when he stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air once, twice, as he watched the other boy finally get the hair out of his eyes.

Minghao’s eyes widened at the familiar scent, one he could find everywhere but inside the cafe.

A human?

“How did you get in here?” the raven haired boy asked immediately, as he inwardly panicked over the situation, but tried his best to appear calm. This has never happened before. It’s not supposed to be something that could happen. He was at least glad he was the only different being in the cafe at the time. Things would not have went well if the human arrived while the cafe was packed with sprites and sirens and dwarves alike. He didn’t even want to think about the possibility of there being a first generation vampire in the mix.

“I’m so sorry, the rain suddenly began to pour and I kind of just ran without really seeing where I was going,” the human said, looking genuinely apologetic that Minghao softened just a little bit. “I could have sworn I was headed straight for a wall, but I was basically blind earlier.”

Well. That explained things, at least. Minghao breathed out a sigh of relief that the human got in entirely by accident. He didn’t know how he was possibly going to bring up the topic that the illusion placed by one of the most powerful wizards of all time failed. Wonwoo would probably turn him into a frog for such an insult. Thoughts about frogs aside, Minghao regarded the still soaking boy and figured he could try and help, since there was no way the human could leave with the rain still pouring, anyway.

“It’s fine,” he replied. Minghao gestured towards the boy’s jacket, already thinking that he should still be able to get the hot chocolate machine to work. It depen