Chapter One

Baekhyun sits at the shady dinner by himself. For the third time since he got there, the middle-aged waitress stops by his table and he feels obligated to order something, even though his nerves are too agitated for breakfast.

As soon as she is out of his sight, a tall man wearing all black sits in front of him. “Sehun?” Baekhyun asks, sighing in relief when the man nods. “Oh thank God, I thought you weren’t going to show up.”

Excitedly, Sehun pulls an envelope out of his backpack and scatters a bunch of photos on top of the table. “Okay, so, I’m really glad we’re finally doing this.” All photos are of the same well-dressed man, in various locations. But he is never looking at the camera.

“Is that…” Baekhyun starts, then glances around before continuing. “the vampire?” He whispers.

Sehun nods. “Kim Junmyeon. Rich guy, no family. Owns a coffee shop just a few blocks away and, get this, it only opens at night.”

At this point, the waitress comes back with Baekhyun’s order — Bacon and eggs. “Thank you,” he says, immediately pushing the plate away once she is gone. Sehun makes it his mission to eat that bacon himself.

“Okay, the night thing is weird. I’ll give you that. But what makes you so sure he’s a vampire?” Baekhyun asks, afraid this has all been a huge waste of time.

The thing is, he was never one to believe in myths and magic. When he first found Sehun on a subreddit, arguing with some other user about conspiracy theories, he never imagined he’d get so into it. But his time is ending, and Baekhyun is just on the verge of despair.

He needs this to be real.

“The night thing is weird? I can’t believe that’s all you have to say. I’m sorry, who else but a vampire goes out to drink coffee in the middle of the night!?”

“Hm, college students?”

“Oh,” Sehun blinks at him, “I never thought of that… Maybe I’ll drop by next time I have an assignment for the next day. But whatever, never mind the café then.” Pointing to one of Mr. Kim’s pictures, Sehun explains his reasoning as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “For starters, he’s handsome. Like, otherworldly handsome. That’s a vampire thing.” Swallowing his frustration, Baekhyun stands up abruptly, not even bothering to say his goodbyes. He only stops when he hears Sehun’s next words. “Also, he attacked someone. I have video evidence.”

In a lack of words, Baekhyun finds himself sitting back down. “Maybe start with that next time?” He complains, groaning at the man’s victorious grin.

✧

The Stargazers Café is Chanyeol’s pride and joy. Sure, he doesn’t own the place but he’s still the one who named it, picked the location and managed the menu. The walls are dark blue, constellations painted over them, the tables have half-walls between one another, giving his clients some privacy. On the far wall, there’s a simple bookshelf with a few astronomy books. In short, it’s his passion project. 

When he first talked to Junmyeon about his idea of an astronomy-themed coffee shop for vampires, he never imagined that the man would fund it. Yet here he is, managing a cozy place for vampires to meet safely and, surprisingly, a lot of humans drop by as well! Which is good because, not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of coffee loving vampires walking around to keep the business going.

The thing about dying is that it greatly affects one’s appetite. Blood-Thirst aside, they don’t really crave for any substance and most even find it bothersome to waste time and money on food. So having human customers is highly beneficial for him.

Therefore, Chanyeol doesn’t even blink when a cute human guy crosses the front door, their shopkeeper bell softly announcing his presence. It is only when said guy looks up at him with a shy smile and asks for his drink with a small voice that Chanyeol feels his dead heart briefly beat again.

Then he starts to notice.

Admittedly too shy for his own good, the barista pretends to dry the same mug with a white cloth for five minutes straight, spying on the man as best as he can under the dimly lit lights. Brown haired, cute button nose, petite figure… He is easily their most attractive customer to date. But contrasting with his easy-going looks, there’s worry heavy in his eyes.

The cute guy, Baekhyun, as he said when he ordered his latte, has his eyes trained on the front door the whole time he is there, and it only pikes Chanyeol’s interest.

“Waiting for someone?” The taller asks letting the cloth hang casually on his left shoulder as if he isn’t dying to hear the answer.

Baekhyun opens his mouth then immediately closes it again. And hey, Chanyeol gets it. It’s never easy to be stood up, he would know. But the next words that leave his customer’s mouth almost give him a panic attack.

“I’m looking for a vampire,” Baekhyun whispers, deciding that there’s no harm in sharing this info with the man. 

Chanyeol’s friendly smile freezes on his face. “A vampire?” He asks in a high pitched tone. Behind him, Jongdae, his co-worker, pours iced coffee all over his uniform. 

“I’m just bored. This guy online said this is a popular vampire hang out,” Baekhyun shrugs “I got curious.”

A manic, nervous laugh is all the answer Chanyeol gives him.

Finishing his latte with one last, disinterested sip, Baekhyun puts some money on the tip jar and smiles weakly. “See you around, I guess.”

Chanyeol waves weakly as the door closes behind Baekhyun, already sure that this will be the last time they meet.

But, as usual, he is wrong. 

Baekhyun comes back on the next night, then on the next night, then on the one after that. Soon enough, the barista feels himself looking forward to his visits, despite the fact that they barely trade words with each other. 

Maybe Chanyeol shouldn’t crush on a guy who actively stalks a coffee shop in search of creatures of the night. It doesn’t sound like the sanest thing to do. But the man tips well, damnit! If anything, Chanyeol would be insane if he didn’t find himself crushing on Baekhyun harder.

It very quickly becomes a routine. The barista waits for Baekhyun to show up, serves him the best latte ever, sometimes even fantasizing about drawing a cute heart on top of it, then hides on the back until his shift is over. Later, he goes back home to dream of all the pick-up lines he could have tried. Like a loser. 

It’s just a silly little crush. It’s going to pass soon enough.

This night as well Chanyeol taps his fingers nervously on the counter, waiting for the small human to appear. “Wow, it’s almost as if you’re planning to talk to him,” Jongdae, rolls his eyes, but the vampire doesn’t care, well aware of his faults.

The little bell announces the customer they’ve been waiting for has arrived. Chanyeol smiles sweetly, about to greet him. “Hey there Baek,” Jongdae beats him to it, deviously wiggling an eyebrow at the taller. “What can I get you today?”

He orders a latte. 

It’s all Baekhyun ever asks for. With the exception of that one time he also ordered a muffin and Chanyeol clumsily let it fall to the ground. After that graceless display of skill, the barista was so embarrassed he wished he could actually die. But tonight things will be different! Tonight, Chanyeol is going to man up and talk to Baek like a normal person, perhaps even flirt a little.

… As soon as he can calm his nerves.

Baekhyun sits on his usual table near the counter while Chanyeol prepares his drink. As usual as it is for him to make hearts on his customers’ drinks, the barista can’t bring himself to do it for his actual crush in fear that the human will find it cringy. However, this time, the vampire takes a deep breath and tries something different. Giggling, Jongdae leans closer to inspect Chanyeol’s latte art.

“It’s easier to just show him your fangs,” he says suggestively. “His will slide right off if you do.” 

“Shh!” The taller mildly panics at the possibility of them being overheard. Casually, they look over their shoulders to where the human is playing with his phone, bored. When Baekhyun looks up, they turn their backs to him in sync. “Have you lost your mind?” Chanyeol angrily whispers back.

Putting his hands up in surrender, Jongdae laughs and walks off to tend to the other tables, not that they ever have many people coming in this late.

Chanyeol smiles proudly at his creation, a simple yet cute bear face, finding it worthy of being served. 

“Thanks,” the human says sweetly when Chanyeol brings him his order and the taller almost squeals. Not stopping to look down at the latte, Baekhyun sips on his drink without noticing the taller’s drawing on the foam.

“Ah!” Chanyeol’s hands fly to his mouth to stop his disappointment from coming out. Confused, the human looks up at the barista. 

“Is something wrong?”

“W-well, not really…” Chanyeol begins in a loss of words. It would be too silly to tell the human he just drank his latte art without even seeing it, but as Baekhyun frowns at him, Chanyeol starts to worry that saying nothing may be worse. “I’m just wondering if you enjoy our little café? I mean…” he panics further when Baekhyun’s eyes only grow more confused. “There are no vampires here, but you still come every night… And order a latte. I like lattes too, you know?” 

Wow, great, I don’t sound like a stalker at all. Oh please, someone kill me. He turns to Jongdae with pleading eyes, but his co-worker only hides his laughter behind his hands, clearly enjoying his misery.

Baekhyun’s cheeks color and he tries to hide it behind another sip of his drink. “Yeah, the place is nice,” he mutters, feeling a bit bad that the barista paid enough attention to him to remember what he orders and what they talked about so many nights ago, and yet this is the first time he reads his name tag. Loey. “Your name is weird.”

“It’s a nickname,” Chanyeol says, almost offended. “and it’s not weird.”

The door opens and the human turns his gaze to it, a couple of giggling women step inside with linked arms. One quick glance at them and Baekhyun is sighing. Maybe that Junmyeon guy will never show up, maybe he just owns the place but never visits. “If you say so,” he mutters to the taller.

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun looks back at him, and only then does the vampire realize he needs to complete the sentence. “That’s my name.”

“Cool.” 

Is all the response he gets.

Understanding that their weird conversation is now over, Chanyeol crawls to the back wishing he had done it sooner. It would have saved him from making an out of himself. He refuses to get out of his safe haven even after Jongdae comes to let him know that Baekhyun has already left. They’re about to close anyway, he might as well stay there where no one can see the shame in his eyes.

✧

Out of all things to leave behind, how could he forget his wallet? Baekhyun groans as he turns around, heading back to the coffee shop. It’s a good fifteen-minute walk from his apartment if he picks up his pace, something he is not allowed to do, so it takes him nearly double the time to get there.

Scowling at the ‘closed’ sign on the door, he considers knocking. The lights are still on, maybe he could just…

Pushing the door, Baekhyun is pleasantly surprised when it opens. “Hello?” He calls for someone, leaning forward so only his head is inside the café. The chiming of the bell should be enough indicator that he is walking in but, somehow, calling for someone makes him feel less like an intruder. 

No one answers.

The lights shine brightly inside, full on contrasting with the dim lights that Baekhyun is used to, the ones that give the café its calm ambiance. To be honest, seeing the place this bright and empty is freaky. Baekhyun has to remind himself that the sun will be rising soon to gather enough courage to step inside. 

“Aren’t you too old to be this bad at flirting?”

“… I need a drink.”

He can faintly hear voices coming from the back. Good, his wallet isn’t on his table, so one of the baristas must’ve taken it there for safekeeping. Going behind the counter, Baekhyun walks towards the back door. He is about to call for them again when a loud, mocking voice stops him.

“Maybe if you took my advice and just told him you’re a vampire.”

Hands heavy on the door, Baekhyun’s eyes go wide. Did he hear that right?

“Really? And how would that work, exactly?” A sarcastic voice responds. Baekhyun recognizes the voice as Chanyeol’s.

“You got a size kink, he’s got a vampire . It’s a match made in heaven! H-hey no need to flash those scary eyes at me, I’m just joking!” Hoping to escape his friend’s glare, Jongdae opens the door and comes face to face with a surprised Baekhyun. “Hello? What are you doing here?” He asks accusingly, trying to hide the room from the human’s line of sight with his body.

But it’s too late. Baekhyun clearly sees what was on the other side, his eyes locked with Chanyeol’s dark red ones, a bag — a blood bag — falls from the taller’s hands, spilling its contents on the floor.

“H-hey,” Chanyeol tries, blinking his eyes back to its usual brown color. A smudge of blood on the corner of his mouth as he gives the human a panicked smile.

And Baekhyun?

Baekhyun shrieks like there’s no tomorrow.