neat
[neet] adjective
1.  a single, unmixed liquor served without being chilled and without any water, ice, or other mixer.

Hongbin was more than weirded out when he came in for work the next week and found a busboy wrapped around his body.

"HONGBIN-HYUNG!" Hyuk cried, tightening his squeeze on the dumbfounded bartender. "PLEASE NEVER LEAVE US AGAIN!"

"What on Earth happened here?" Hongbin chuckled, tousling the kid's hair. He felt another pair of arms wrap around his neck and the soft whisper of 'earl grey' at his ear. "I guess you missed me too, Taek-hyung?"

"Let's just say N can't bartend," Hyuk shivered a bit. "Or do the rumba."

"Hey!" N appeared out of nowhere, glaring at the way Leo was hugging Hongbin. "I can so bartend! You just don't see the expertise of my skills!"

"YOU HAVE THE SKILLS OF A MONKEY!"

"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW MONKEYS ARE VERY INTELLIGENT!"

"While I would love to argue about the brain capacity of our primate counterparts," Hongbin wriggled out of their suffocating embraces. "It's been a couple days since I was in here and I need to get reacquainted with my babies. And don't worry Leo-hyung; I'll get right on your tea." He added when Leo was about to say something. The brunet strode to his place behind the bar just as a janitor came out of the kitchen.

"Oh. Hey," Ravi greeted warmly when he noticed him. "Nice to see you back."

"Thanks." Hongbin took a whiff. "You smell like toilet."

"Yep, new cologne. Literally eau du toilette."

Just then a blond chef popped his head into the window, startling them both. 

"Something's suspicious here!" Ken exclaimed, a grin on his lips. "What went on between you two?" 

"Nothing," Hongbin replied immediately, and fled to his precious alcohol.

Ravi slightly glared at Ken for interrupting his Hongbin-time. "I didn't see you when I was in the kitchen earlier. Did you come just now?"

Ken nodded vigorously. "My mom was sick, so I had to take care of her since this morning. Lots of vomit. Don't tell the boss I was late!" He said, and disappeared into the kitchen. Not too long after, Ravi heard loud thuds and clangs.

"Oh," he opened the kitchen door to find the chef groaning on the ground. "I forgot to tell you I mopped the floor. My bad."

Eventually Ken recovered from back pain and the pub opened. It was business as usual, with the occasional N-tackling-Leo-off-the-stage and Ravi-staring-too-long-at-somebody-and-nearly-spraying-chemicals-onto-his-hand, nothing that Hyuk hadn't seen before.

But something or someone new came later into the night, and Hyuk was startled out of his wits when this certain customer came in wailing.

This customer was a lady in her forties or fifties, and what was really noticeable about her was the unbelievably messy hair on her head.  She was wailing, crying, sniveling, and causing a scene.

N came right by side, taking her hand in his. "Aw, Banshee! Don't cry; Hongbinnie won't give you any drinks if you're crying!"

The lady obediently attempted to stop crying and followed N to the bar. Hyuk matched the description with his memory and remembered that they have spoken of a Banshee before. 

"Hey Ken!" Hongbin knocked on the kitchen window. "Banshee's arrived." 

A moment later a piece of paper slid onto the window. Scrawled on it were the words 'I'm not here'.

The bartender shrugged and went to greet their regular. He gave her a shot of soju and a tissue. "What's wrong this time, Banshee?"

The woman downed the entire cup before answering. "... M-M-MY SON LEFT ME!" She cried into N's arms.

"Aw, it's okay..." The boss assured. "I'm certain he'll come back!"

"How do you know?!" She drank the second shot Hongbin poured her. "H-He's ashamed. He's ashamed of m-me! He'll never come back!"

"Now why would he be ashamed of a lovely lady like you?" The brunet asked, brushing aside her unruly hair.

"N-No one would want a mother like me..." Banshee sobbed and drank uncontrollably. "A mother who drinks all the time!"

"Then maybe you should stop drinking," Hongbin suggested earnestly. 

"HOW CAN I IF MY SON KEEPS LEAVING ME?!" She forcefully grabbed another shot from his hand and drank.

"... We should distract her," N whispered aside to Hongbin, who nodded.

So they called their busboy.

As Hyuk walked over to them, he faintly thought that those two who were babying a middle-aged woman were weird, not that they were ever not weird.

"Banshee, we'd like you to meet our newest member." Hongbin gestured for him to introduce himself.

Hyuk bowed respectfully. "I'm Han Sanghyuk."

"Psst! Your name is Hyuk, did you forget?!" N whispered loudly. The busboy ignored him and waited for Banshee to say something.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes watered and she began to wail again. "YOU REMIND ME OF MY SON!" She sobbed, and the other customers were giving Hyuk dirty looks for making an elder cry.

"Quick! Call the secret weapon!" Hongbin said, and N turned in his seat towards the stage.

"Taek! We need a lullaby, stat!"

The redhead arrived at the bar shortly after, a mic in hand. Immediately Leo began to sing the words to Amazing Grace, and immediately Banshee nodded off to sleep.

"How does that even work?" Hyuk retorted as soon as they heard Banshee snore. 

"Thanks baby," N patted Leo's and ushered him back to the stage. "Speaking of babies, Banshee's like one. Cute, right?"

"Uh."

Hongbin left to knock on the kitchen window again. "Ken! Are you going to drive Banshee home?"

The door opened and a begrudging Ken came out. He went over to the sleeping lady and lifted her onto his back. "Why does she drink so much?" 

"If you're complaining, then why don't you get a taxi to drive her?" Hyuk sassed as the chef heaved them out.

"I don't feel that she's safe in a taxi," he muttered, and left.

"AWW!" N squealed loudly into the busboy's ear, startling him once more. "He is so in love!"

"Or not. I'm pretty sure you're over-exaggerating."

"No! I never exaggerate! I am an expert in love!"

"About as much as you are an expert in bartending," Hongbin sighed when he found a spoon in the cash register. "So she drank four bottles of soju... That's ten thousand won added to her tab."

"How much is in her tab?" Hyuk was still continuing his question streak. He was particularly curious this evening.

"About..." The bartender squinted through his glasses. "Three million won."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm just joking. It's somewhere close to that."

N interrupted Hyuk's incredulous stare by slamming his fists onto the counter. "We should ask him if he likes Banshee!"

"It shouldn't have taken so long to figure that out."

Ken came back to the pub half an hour later. As soon as he stepped in, they ambushed him.

"YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH BANSHEE, AREN'T YOU?!" N accused wildly, grabbing the shocked chef by the shoulders.

"Wh-What?!"

"SEE!" The boss pointed at Hyuk. "HE STUTTERED! SO IT MUST BE TRUE!"

The busboy was more than happy to see Leo walk up to N and whack him across the head.

"Ouch! Why are you hitting me?!"

"You're being idiotic," the singer replied. "Listen to people for once."

"Well, Ken?" Hongbin called. "What is Banshee to you?"

Ken attempted to find a way out but knew he was caught. He let out a sigh and dropped the truth.

"... Banshee... Is my mom."

The employees became completely silent as the idea ran through their minds. Of course, with the exception of Sasshyuk, who shouted 'called it!'

"I didn't want you guys to know because, well, I am a bit ashamed of her. She acts like a kid twenty-four-seven and hides in closets all the time!"

"Gee, sounds like someone else I know," a certain bartender muttered.

"I'm sorry for hiding it from you guys," Ken pouted sadly. "It's hard to say you came out of a woman who acts and looks like a banshee."

N came up to him and gave him a tight hug. "It's okay Ken-Ken, we understand. But you know... Your mom loves you very much, right?"

Hongbin agreed. "She comes in often and only talks about you, now that I think about it."

The chef nodded. "I know. I love her too, but—"

"So what are you standing around here for?!" N began to push him towards the door. "Go and tell her that!"

"O-Okay!" And with that, Ken was off again.

Hongbin let out a soft chuckle. "All's well that ends well. But Hyuk... How come you didn't believe he didn't have a crush on Banshee?"

"Let's be realistic," the busboy started. "Why would Ken-hyung, a probably twenty-something-year-old, have a crush on a fifty-something-year-old? That's a little weird and creepy."

"Hongbin has a crush on wine, so the boundaries are pretty far out," Ravi passed by the bar with a yawn, having just woken up from his nap. "By the way, what'd I miss?"

"Not much."

well that was very anti-climatic
You'll like the next chapter I promise
okay, I'm thinking of incorporating Hyuken into the story
Are you guys okay with that? or should I just keep it to bromance
Honestly Hyuken is very awkward for me otl