"Awww, he's like a baby~!" A soft and high pitched voice cooed.

"We see some weird but if you ever actually see a six foot tall baby, let me know." This one sounded like Ravi.

"Shut up, you've woken him up!" That must be N.

Hyuk blinked open and sat up immediately, nearly colliding his head into a stranger he hadn't seen earlier. "What the have you done to me?!" He whipped his head around towards N, his hands going up to clutch at his throbbing head. The strange man simply smiled, sitting down at his desk and crossing his fingers together as he shrugged nonchalantly. 

"You're our new staff!" 

"Waiter in training, Ken, and don't even think about pushing all your cleaning work onto him." The curly haired brunette, apparently named Ken, gave N a huge pout and slunk away into a corner of the other's office. 

"Hold on a second, you can't just appoint me your new staff without even explaining! You literally knocked me out!" Hyuk stood up and stormed over to the man's desk, and just before he could reach over and hold him by the collar, he was stopped. Deadass by thin air. His bewildered eyes drew a chuckle from the owner, who rised from his seat and sat onto his desk, crossing his legs elegantly and leaning close to Hyuk's face. 

"Calm down there. Yes, I can. You walked in here for a job, and I gave you one." N gently poked the young man's chest and he was pulled down into a chair that definitely was not there before. He looked over his shoulder, Ravi looking down at him stoicly as he held him down with a hand. "Now, let me explain. My shop is not just one of your shabby, plain little cafes you'd come across anywhere. This is a special place. I hope you understand that if you ever plan to quit or run away, it won't end very well for your memories." N's smile turned into a grin, and he waved Ravi away. "Get back on the floor so our beloved customers don't start a riot. Take Ken with you. I'm sure Hongbin could use some help in the kitchen." The brunette groaned at the mention of the kitchen as he was towed away by Ravi, but he managed to wave a little goodbye towards Hyuk before they stepped out of the office. 

"What do you mean, 'for my memories'? What are you going to do, brainwash me?" Hyuk almost snorted, but quite frankly he was a little too intimidated by all the strange things that were already happening to be that indignant. His throat went dry when he saw N's sly smile widen. "... What the hell are you?"

"I wouldn't be so rude to your boss if I were you, Hyukkie... Just relax and listen to me." He waved a finger, and Hyuk could swear he saw a cup of tea fly and land in front of him on the table. How- "Don't worry, you're not going insane." N interrupted his thoughts. "I happen to be a huge fan of... witchcraft. It's really not as ominous as it sounds, I don't do anything occult. That's Hongbin's job." He giggled and pointed at the door. "Once you step out of this door, you'll find that your eyes have gained a cute little ability to basically see what you couldn't before. Don't get too scared, you're going to have to get used to it for this job... I'm sure that's going to be no problem for a big guy like you." Hyuk shivered and glanced where the man pointed, his imagination going insanely wild thanks to N's unsettling words. "So, now that you understand, go get 'em!" Another wave of his hand pulled Hyuk up from the chair and the air escorted him to the door as it swung open.

The once empty cafe had been filled with tables of quiet guests, and the closer Hyuk looked, the more unsettling everything seemed. A glance at the clock told him it had only been fifteen minutes or so since he passed out. The door swinging shut behind him made him jump, attracting some attention from the customers. The feeling of a hand pulling at his own made him look down, seeing a small girl with- where the were her eyes?! "Are you new here, uncle?" Oh, they were there, they were just pitch black and creepy. Since when did children wear sclera lenses? 

"I, uh... Yes, actually, I'm the new waiter in training. My name is Hyuk... what's yours?" Before the girl could answer, Ravi's approaching figure stopped her and gently took her hand into his own. "Not now, Haeun, let's go back to your dad." She protested but to no avail, leaving with the waiter while Hyuk watched on in confusion. He let out a breath he had been holding, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. He must be dreaming, this was all too strange. What in the world did N mean by being able to see things he hadn't seen before? Head in his hand, he slumped over to follow Ravi to at least ask where he could get his uniform and when his shifts would start, and he poked into the kitchen to check if this was where they had gone. There were a total of four men working inside, two of who also had pitch black eyes... Just what were they? 

"Daddy, I'm bored!" Haeun whined up at someone with short, wavy black hair, his fringe just ending above his big, seemingly normal brown eyes. "Can I please go play with uncle Leo?" She was responded with a nod and a dimpled smile, the child cheering and skipping off to another door that was towards the back of the kitchen. That was his daughter?! The man's eyes landed on him, widening and blinking in surprise. 

"Oh, hello! Customers aren't allowed back here-"

"That's our new waiter in training!" Ken interrupted with his loud, happy voice as he flipped an omelette onto a plate. "His name is Hyuk! Hyuk, meet Hongbin, he's the patisserie!" So this was the occult guy? Hongbin nodded in a greeting to the younger, flashing his bright smile for good measure. Seems pretty normal though...

"I'm just someone who happens to bake, don't fall for Ken's fancy titles. Where's your uniform?" As Hyuk explained that he was looking for it as well as his work schedule, Hongbin went over to wash his hands and wipe them off. "Follow me then, I'll take you to our break room. You can leave your clothes there though, I'm assuming N hired you on the spot so you'll literally have to start working like... now, I guess." He chuckled apologetically and led the college student into the door his daughter had entered just moments before. "Haeunnie, don't exhaust uncle Leo before his performance." The little girl had climbed onto the shoulders of a very long physiqued and grey haired man who turned around slowly with a strangely blank expression. Hyuk stopped in his tracks when he noticed Leo's bright yellow eyes. 

".....?" Leo tilted his head at Hongbin for an explanation, who told him what he knew. He then approached Hyuk with Haeun and held out his hand quietly. 

"Uh... hi?" Hyuk received no verbal answer, only a nod of acknowledgement. So far, he had met a witch, a mere waiter with a strong grip, a bubbly chef, a baker with a daughter, and a mute man... What the hell kind of establishment was this? Hongbin dropped a pile of clothes into his arms, mumbling something about his size, and he was left alone to change while the three gave him some privacy. The uniform was identical to Ravi's, a crisp white shirt with a navy blue waistcoat that was lined with gold. They were complete with simple black slacks and a black bowtie. The size was just right, but Hyuk felt a little mismatched since he was wearing his old pair of white sneakers. He remembered N had said something about buying new shoes... Hyuk stepped out of the break room and was met with a whistle of admiration from Ken. 

"Oh man, you're gonna have to get new shoes." Ken held out a plate of steaming alfredo pasta, the smell almost making him drool. "Here's your first errand~ Send this out to the table by the second window. It's a woman with long, blonde hair. She's a regular here, so you better memorize her orders." Hyuk was gently pushed out of the kitchen, his eyes frantically glancing about to find the table. He let out a sigh of relief when he spotted her, being the only blonde in the room, and walked as smoothly as he could over with her order. 

"Excuse me, ma'am, your pasta..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say and feeling nervous as she turned to face him. Her eyes caught him off guard, gleaming with the same yellow that reminded him of Leo. She smiled and thanked him as he set her plate down. 

"Are you new?" Her voice was high and gentle. "That's so exciting, they've never hired a normal human before!" He blinked at her words, immediately reminded that he was likely no longer surrounded by normal people. "I'm Chungha, it's nice to meet you~" 

"Hyuk... I was told that I should memorize your orders since you're a regular." That made her laugh quietly, shaking her head and waving over at the kitchen window where Ken greeted back with an energetic flail of his arm. 

"He's just playing with you, I don't have usuals. I do come here a lot though." Hyuk stifled a sigh and glared towards Ken who stuck his tongue out and went back to work. He excused himself so she could dine and snuck over to where Ravi was pouring wine at another table, noticing a small platform with a white grand piano. 

"Do you guys have performances here?" Ravi glanced behind him at Hyuk's question and nodded. 

"Only by Leo. He's our singer." 

"I thought he was mute?" 

"Nah, he just doesn't like talking much." Hyuk felt more and more cheated by the minute and shook his head to himself. Leo's grey hair caught his eye as the man suddenly appeared from the shadows, taking a seat at the piano in a stylish maroon suit. The cafe was soon filled with gentle playing, all eyes drifting towards Leo as he lulled them calmly into his first song, eyes closed serenely. Even Hyuk was almost pulled into a trance, only being reminded that he was supposed to be working by Ravi who gave Leo a small glance of appreciation before leading the younger to start teaching him what he needed to know. It was all fairly easy, nothing that Hyuk couldn't manage, until he was led to a table of a man with literal horns growing out of his forehead. 

"Y-your champagne... sir..." Had Halloween come early and Hyuk wasn't informed? The man's red eyes gave him a once over, and he grinned in a friendly manner. Hyuk quickly excused himself and rushed back into the kitchens to hide, clutching at his chest as he felt the terror subside and leaving his heart pounding. "Who is that?!" He asked Hongbin, who was busy kneading dough. "I-it's like he's a devil, he had HORNS, his eyes were literally bright red, I feel like if I had stayed for another second he would have just the soul right out of me!" 

"Oh, you mean Yongguk? He's really nice, don't worry." 

"Nice?!"

"Yeah, he just tends to have that effect on people. If you get used to it he's really just a nice dude." Hyuk nodded faintly, glancing back out the window and seeing the man chatting with Ravi. "By the way, have you seen Haeun somewhere out there?" He looked back at Hongbin and shook his head. 

"Oh yeah, she's your daughter, right?" He was surprised by the man shaking his head. "But she called you daddy..." 

"She doesn't know, but I don't have children. Technically anyway... I brought her and these two in." He gestured at the two other men with black eyes, working with the food. "They don't really know how they died, and I found their bodies and just naturally kind of adopted them I guess." 

"... dead bodies." Hyuk's eyes narrowed at Hongbin suspiciously, thinking that maybe this was just another joke. "So what are they, zombies?" He tried to laugh it off in a hushed voice, but his eyes widened when the baker nodded. 

"I mean, in a way they are. I brought them back to life just to test them out. I couldn't figure out how to undo that and I didn't want to kill them again so I had N hire them as kitchen staff. Haeun was genuinely too young to remember that she died, so she assumed I was her father. I can't bear telling her anyway..." 

"Woah, hang on. Test WHAT out?!" 

"Reanimation." Hongbin responded as if that was the most matter of ing fact thing in the world.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"I mean, that's definitely something I've heard since I was young." Hongbin chuckled, leaving Hyuk to stare at him in shock. "They aren't harmful. They don't eat brains or whatever, they're just basically corpses... with a mind of their own." Hyuk looked back at the two men who seemed to be normally moving around and doing their jobs. 

"You don't say... Wait, should I be looking for Haeun?" He cursed quietly when Hongbin nodded and rushed out of the kitchen, looking around for the little girl. He was relieved to find her sitting right next to Leo's piano, swaying along to the man's soft singing. 

"Where have you been? You know you can't just leave the floor like that unless there's an order to send out." Ravi's deep voice scared him from behind and made him turn his head way too fast for his neck's own good. "Here's something to do, go refill water for the tables." He was handed a large pitcher and escorted to the first table, gasping in shock when the occupant looked up to reveal LITERALLY no eyes in his sockets. "Don't be so rude, he can still hear. Sorry, new guy. It's nice to see you again, Kai." Ravi greeted him as if he were an old friend, reaching out to give his hand a little brotherly slap. 

"I mean, it would be nice to see you again, but y'know." Kai laughed at his own pathetic joke and waved towards Hyuk. "Hey, newbie. Has Ravi been giving you a hard time?" Hyuk shook his head meekly before remembering the guy can't see, and responded with a quick no. "Well that's good. Don't be fooled by his looks, he's a real softie." Ravi protested with a small noise.

"As if you'd know what my looks are." He teased and excused them both, leading Hyuk back to the bar where he generally was. "So, now you know there's demons and such here, but Kai's different. He's basically a ghost. Been a customer since he died." Ravi looked at Hyuk as if expecting an answer before continuing. "He can't find his way to the other side until he finishes what he needs to do here, but that's really all I know." 

"What happened to him...?"

"His ex was kind of a ... and by that I mean she was a total psycho. Gouged his eyes out because she thought he was cheating on her."

"What the ?!"

"I know right? She somehow got away from the police, and he definitely wasn't her first victim. I'd her up myself, but..." Ravi sighed and shook his head in dismay, bending down to get a few ingredients for an order of a blue martini. Hyuk watched the man shake up the cocktail for a while until he finally asked the one question that was pushing for an answer.

"So... am I the only human here?" Ravi slowly looked up, his glasses glinting from catching a nearby table candle as a mysterious smirk crossed his lips. Had his eyes always been an icy grey?

"Yes."