The smell of fresh coffee was the first thing that hit Hyunseung’s senses as he stepped into the café, causing his brain to snap awake. Gina Noona (as she insisted on being called) was already busy sending the kitchen help scurrying around. The two girls whom he had met the day before were busy setting up the tables.

“Morning Hyunseung,” Kikwang greeted cheerfully from behind the counter. “Get changed and help the girls out.”

The orange-haired boy nodded in return and entered the toilet. After about five minutes of staring at the mirror and poking at his hair, Hyunseung decided to just leave it and get to work.

His uniform was pretty much the standard wear that anyone would expect to see at a café of some standard. White long-sleeve collared shirt with a black bowtie and black pants. The girls’ uniform was of the same colour scheme just that they wore a black tie and a black skirt instead. Kikwang was the only one who wore a smart black vest on top of the basic uniform, indicating his status as the manager and owner.

Gina raised a hand and called out for everyone to gather. Hyunseung took this chance to check out the other café staff. The two girls with whom he’ll be working with were standing next to him. Hyuna, the taller of the two, had long black hair with straight bangs. She had those full pouty lips that any straight guy would love to kiss. Sohyun on the other hand, was the youngest and one of the most cheerful girls he had ever met. Upon meeting him, she insisted that they had to take a selca together because they had similar hairstyles. The kitchen staff were dressed in white and stood off to one side. He didn’t know anyone yet.

“Alright everyone,” Gina tapped her pen on the table to get the room’s attention. Today, her long mocha-brown hair was done up in a half bun with the rest falling across her left shoulder. “As you all know, today we’ll be opening for business so I want you all to be on your best behavior. Remember what I spoke to each of you about. And I’ll spare you all the details this time, if not Kikwang will say I’m nagging again.”

Laughter swept through the room at that statement, though everyone secretly sent him appreciative looks when they thought Gina wasn’t looking. Kikwang stepped up beside Gina with his usual smile but there was something different. Today, it was a proud one.

“I don’t have much to say other than thank you all for helping me out with the running of this café. As some of you may know, it has been my dream for some time and I’m glad to have you all with me.”  Kikwang exchanged a glance with Gina and they both nodded. “Without further ado, I declare this café now open.”

Gina gave sufficient time for the applause before clapping her hands together. “Let’s get to work boys and girls!”

Hyunseung joined in the other staff as they returned to their stations.

The day had passed by surprisingly fast as they got caught up in the routine of attending to customers and cleaning up after. There was a rather steady stream of people, most of them curious passers-by who decided to drop by to rest their weary legs.

Hyunseung rearranged the cups as he watched the current bunch of customers in the café. There were some high school girls in uniform giggling in the far corner and a few couples were seated here and there enjoying each other’s company. There was one particular couple that caught his eye though. More so for the male’s outstanding ash silver hair which was quite hard to miss.

He had arrived at about noon and his date just ten minutes later. They were one of the better-dressed couples so far. The fair-skinned female had long fiery red hair and wore a tight dress. The male was all suited up smartly in black which only served to draw even more attention to his unusual hair colour. Hyunseung figured he must be some big shot to get away with that.

The tinkling of the bell alerted him to the presence of a new customer and before he could greet them, a flash of blonde crossed his vision as the smaller figure bounced in.

“Hi there Hyunseung,” An all too familiar face grinned at him over the counter top. “So this is where you work!”

Hyunseung continued to stare, speechless as an even taller male joined him.

“Seobbie, I’ll go get us a seat first okay?” He ruffled Yoseob’s hair, his expensive ring and Rolex glinting under the light.

“Doo, I just fixed my hair before we came in.”

“I’ll fix it for you again later,” the man reassured him as he walked off.

The blonde stuck out his tongue at the retreating figure before turning back to Hyunseung. “Oh you’re probably gonna ask what I’m doing here, aren’t you?”

Hyunseung closed his mouth and nodded. So this was the boy’s mysterious ‘Doo’ man. He looked really rich.

“Doo heard it was opening so he wanted to come and check it out. Then I saw you through the window. Oh by the way, that girl looks like your little sister,” Yoseob pointed to Sohyun who was attending to a customer. “Must be your hair. Oh and you are coming tomorrow right?”

Hyunseung blinked. “Tomorrow?”

“Practice!” The blonde gave him a horrified look. “Idiot Jun is done with his lyrics so we’ll have a listen tomorrow. Studio Two on the third floor. Don’t be late.”

Oh right, practice. He almost forgot about it. Hyunseung did a mental check of his schedule. Sad to say, he was free. He had a feeling that Yoseob already knew that though. That boy really scared him with how much he could find out. He wondered what lay behind the depths of Yoseob’s hyperness and aegyo. Hyunseung wasn’t that good at reading people but he just had this feeling that there was something more to the boy that he hasn’t seen yet.

“Oh err... Yeah practice,” the doe-eyed boy replied in a hesitant tone. “Yeah, I’ll be there… Could I ask something though?”

“Hmm?”

“Is that Junhyung guy scary?”

Yoseob paused for a long while, his hand covering his mouth in an effort not laugh out loud in a hysterical fashion. “Him?! Scary?”

Hyunseung frowned. It was a valid question was it not? To want to know about the people that one was going to work with.

“I mean his face that night,” he attempted to explain. “It looked like he could eat a baby or something.”

By this time, Yoseob was burying his face in his jacket and shaking with uncontrolled mirth. Some of the nearer patrons were giving him weird looks and ‘Doo’ looked like he wanted to come over and find out what was wrong.

The blonde waved him away, his laughter already lessened but he looked like he was going to burst out again at anytime. “Oh you, you. You’re so special. It’s the first time I’ve met someone like you.”

Hyunseung wanted to reply that it was the first time he had met someone as strange as Yoseob too but decided to keep his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure if he could take that as a compliment.

“Don’t worry about that idiot,” Yoseob snorted. “He’s generally harmless. Not the most smiley man around but yeah.”

He patted Hyunseung on the arm. “I’ll be getting back to my boy now. We’ll have two lattes please. Good luck on the job!”

The taller male nodded and proceeded to make the order.

Harmless man huh?

---

Kikwang raised a hand to suppress a yawn as he came down the stairs. There was a second level but it wasn’t open yet. For now, Gina and him used it as a meeting room when they needed to discuss important matters in private.

“You alright, Kikwang?” Gina placed a hand on his shoulder, concern evident in her tone.

The male nodded and managed a smile that he hoped was somewhat normal. “Yeah, just a little tired. I’ll be fine, Noona.”

The day wasn’t fully over yet. This was no time to be feeling tired. Kikwang shook his head slightly to clear it. He would deal with that problem afterwards. Everything seemed to be going well so far at least and he hoped that it would stay that way.

Just then, the door opened to reveal a familiar tall blonde figure and Kikwang could feel his mood lift just a bit.

“Dongwoon,” the older male waved as he approached. “You made it. Thank you so much for agreeing.”

“Yeah, I did,” Dongwoon replied. “It’s not a problem really.”

“Still!” Kikwang insisted with a firm nod. “It’s really a great help.”

Gina tapped him on the shoulder lightly, still hesitant to leave him. “I’ll be checking on the boys in the kitchen first?”

“Okay Noona,” the brown-haired male sent her one of his reassuring smiles. It was a habit of his, especially when he didn’t want anyone to worry. He turned his attention back to the taller blonde. “You can leave your stuff on the second floor and the piano’s waiting for you any time you’re ready.”

Kikwang watched as Dongwoon headed up to put his stuff down and joined Hyunseung behind the counter. The waiter placed a long black in front of him, earning him a questioning glance from Kikwang.

“Gina noona told me to give you this cause you seemed rather tired,” the orange-haired boy explained.

“Ahh, thanks,” Kikwang took a sip and felt the caffeine work its magic, dispelling his weariness. “How’s everything been on the floor?”

“Slightly busy but alright so far,” Hyunseung commented as wiped the counter top. “A lot of interesting customers so far. Like that couple.”

He looked in the direction that Hyunseung was pointing to. The well-dressed couple from earlier was being romantic over their dessert. The redhead laughing gently as her partner fed her bits of cake.

“And those two came up to me and kept wishing me luck even though I told them I don’t own the place,” the doe-eyed boy pointed at two guys. One had ash coloured hair, slightly darker than the guy from the previous couple and the other had light brown, almost blonde hair. “They kept mentioning their group’s steak house and how they tried to cook pasta and failed. Though I’m not sure how that would relate to our café.”

Kikwang laughed at that. “Well, perhaps they were just being concerned. I think I’ve seen them around before though, with five others.”

A soft but clear piano note floated over the noise and collectively the café fell silent as all attention was diverted to the blonde on the piano. Dongwoon was dressed differently today. Instead of his casual attire of shirts and jeans, he wore a pure white suit and pants that contrasted with his tanned skin but somehow looked perfect on him.

Kikwang watched intently as Dongwoon began playing. His eyes were closed as his fingers appeared to caress the keys softly, coaxing a beautiful melody from the ivory piano. His body moved with the music and Kikwang could feel himself being absorbed into this tale that the tune spun. He didn’t have to look around to know that it was the same for rest of the people in the café.

If Dongwoon appeared to be quiet and reserved on a normal basis, here his emotions flowed into his playing. The soft spotlight made the stage glow with an ethereal light. To Kikwang, he looked like an angelic prince.

The magical moment seemed to end all too soon. There was a contemplative silence as Dongwoon ended his piece and stood up. A round of applause from everyone followed, some even giving a standing ovation. The blonde bowed once and sat back down, continuing with a lighter atmospheric tune.

“Is he your friend?” Hyunseung asked curiously as he noticed the look on his manager’s face. “He’s good.”

“Well,” Kikwang’s smile grew slightly wider. “Not exactly. But yeah, he is isn’t he?”

---

Dongwoon blinked as the shorter male served him a cup of café mocha. He didn’t remember ordering it or did he?

“Don’t worry about it,” Kikwang laughed softly. “It’s on the house. As thanks.”

The customers had already left and the staff were working hard to get the last bit of cleaning done as fast as possible so that they could go home. Dongwoon watched as he sipped the piping hot drink. The woman they called Gina noona was performing an inspection on the kitchen cleanliness and the kitchen boys were all fidgeting as she did so. After her routine check, she declared the kitchen clean and dismissed them. The waiters and waitresses on duty that night had already changed out and were just heading out the door after saying their farewells to the rest.

Dongwoon thoughts wandered back to his performance just now. He probably could’ve done better but it was the most fulfilling thing he had done in a long time. From the moment he sat down, it felt like the years in between the last time he had properly played the piano had disappeared and it all came back easily. He missed this feeling where it was just him and the music.

“Yes, Noona,” Kikwang was saying as he ushered Gina out the door. “Don't worry about me. Your fiancée’s waiting isn’t he? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Gina gave him a disapproving look and hovered at the entrance, reluctant to be chased away. They talked awhile before she finally gave up and left but not before reminding him to head home as soon as possible.

“You should listen to her,” Dongwoon told Kikwang as he walked past, getting up at the same time to wash the cup.

“Oh, not you too,” he huffed. “I’m just gonna get changed then I’ll leave. You can go on ahead first.”

The blonde placed the cup on the rack to dry, frowning slightly. He ought to be heading home soon. Tomorrow was a Monday and that meant school. Dongwoon groaned inwardly at that thought. He didn’t want to leave just yet though. Not when the other looked like he couldn’t even handle crossing a road.

With a sigh, he reclaimed his seat on the high chair and waited.

Soon enough, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and he glanced up from his phone just in time to see a figure collapse on the ground.

“Kikwang?”

Dongwoon panicked, chucked his phone on the table and rushed over immediately.