They stand behind the counter and watch her as Yunho brings her in, guiding her to one of the tables. He tilts his head to them, prompting any of them to give the menu to him and Wooyoung fishes it out - which has collected dust since it's barely used - from under the counter before throwing it to him. He catches it with ease, and places it in front of her, waiting beside her to hear what she wants. She scans the one-page menu from top to bottom without moving and emitting any sound at all, that he thought she has fallen asleep.

He leans forward to get a good look of her face but gets startled when she suddenly looks at him dead in the eye, akin to the expression she gave when she was outside and they thought she was a ghost.

She puts out one finger, slides it along the menu before asking, "Do you have something sweet that I can eat?"

He looks over to the display unit placed beside the counter, which has been empty since they first unveiled the cafe. They never had any cakes or pastries to sell, and it has always been only the coffee. Even then they get customers scarcely, but it's not like it matters since they are not the ones keeping the cafe alive. The cafe is only a disguise for something bigger; something they have been keeping well under wraps for almost a year and hopefully, for more years to come.

"Hmm," he looks up, pretending to search for suitable words, "it's a pity that you came a bit later because the couple just took the last slice of cake," he lies through his teeth, faking an exaggerated sigh and a look of dismay. Although he's pretty sure that Hwayoung has probably drifted off to sleep, he can hear her saying 'Dad, stop lying' in his head. He knows that she's not a local at the Light District, because he has never seen her around before. Their district is pretty small, where everyone knows each other, but tries to keep to themselves most of the time. "Why don't you try the caramel latte instead? That's something sweet you can try."

"I'll have that one then." She gives back the menu before quickly adding, "I'll have it and leave soon after. I just need a caffeine fix."

He raises his eyebrows as the corners of his lips lifts up. "It's fine, really. Take your time. Though..." he throws his vision outside, looking at the dark sky without any source of light. The only moon out tonight is their own cafe's neon sign, but even that is not switched on. He lets it trail off as he excuses himself, signalling to any of the four to start making a cup of caramel latte.

Wooyoung, Jongho, Yeosang and Mingi nudge each other roughly, refusing to be the one to take a cup and start brewing the coffee.

Mingi cannot brew a cup of coffee to save his life, that once upon a time he did and the rest had food poisoning that lasted for three days and they had to close the cafe because no one was available to work. He never told them what he put in the pot, but they banned him from getting near the coffee machine for getting them almost killed. He was known as the 'innocent killer' among them, knowing that he can probably poison your food without you and even himself noticing.

Wooyoung and Jongho are the best, that they could actually pass off as real baristas if things get bad and they are forced to find other jobs; but they are too lazy to brew it for her. Yeosang is a decent barista, but he firmly states that he won't be making the cup for her and he'll be busy with the book he's currently holding. They turn to Yunho, since he was the one who brought her in, but he says that he needs to check up on Hwayoung and disappears upstairs.

"But you're the one who invited her in when we're about to close- ah, Jeong Yunho stop using Hwayoung as an excuse!" Wooyoung whispers angrily, only managing to spit it out to Yunho's shadow as his figure is already out of sight.

They stay quiet, observing as she looks around the cafe.

"Maybe if we stay still she won't notice that we're here and leave," Jongho suggests. "Or she'll get tired of waiting and leave."

"Idiot, she just ordered a cup of coffee and she saw us tumbling onto the road, remember? We're not ghosts; she can see us all right," Yeosang replies.

"Shit, I think she saw us," Mingi says.

"Stay quiet everyone, don't say anything," Wooyoung instructs. "And don't move."

They obey; trying to breathe evenly and slowly, standing still like statues. Even when Yeosang wanted to flip to the next page of his book, Wooyoung slaps his hand away while glaring at him. He grumbles, gives up and puts down the book. They all end up looking similar; hands clasped and bodies leaned against the counter. Their eyes are fixed on her, their mouths pressed into thin lines.

Her eyes roam around the cafe, taking in her new surrounding. The cafe is quite spacious but there aren't many tables, if this was all to it there are only 10 tables with 4 chairs at each, and a stretch of a wall table with 6 chairs overlooking the alley. One of the hanging lamps is broken, but it seems that they don't bother to fix it. The walls are covered with wallpaper that has a white background with purple flowers, some torn at the edges where the walls meet. They don't bother to decorate the whole cafe, the only notable decoration is the frame with the words 'live more, love more' nailed against the wall behind the counter. The chair she's sitting on creaks whenever she moves, and she feels slightly uncomfortable especially when she's trying to angle her body so as to make sure she's hiding her torn skirt. The ceilings look like they are about to fall off any time soon and- is that a bullet hole through the ceiling?

It doesn't look like they put too much effort in maintaining the cafe. They probably have regular customers that help to keep the cafe in business, considering that the interior doesn't look too inviting. Or maybe the coffee's really good. It's probably the coffee, as that's the only thing on their menu.

She seems to snap back to reality as she starts to get the creeps and realize the situation she has put herself in; it's already past 10 at night and she's currently holed up in a cafe at a foreign district, far away from home. It doesn't help that the four weird workers are behind the counter, staring at her like she's some anomaly. The one who had invited her in is nowhere in sight, and she doesn't see any movement of making her order of coffee.

Oh gosh, she starts to realize. This is their modus operandi. They invite you in for a cup of coffee and the next thing you know you're all chopped up and ready to be sold to the black market. Han Byul, what have you gotten yourself into? Why am I always so stupid? Should've noticed it the moment I read the menu.

She eyes the entrance of the cafe, getting ready to make a dash for it, her mind calculating all the possibilities of her outrunning them. She cannot guess which one of them is a strong runner, but the one who held the man back while he was getting tickled looks strong and can probably run fast. She grabs her bag, lifts her butt off the chair slightly and turns her body to face the entrance. She places her feet flat on the floor to lift herself up but crashes back into the chair in alarm when one of the workers starts lifting his hands up and yells.

"Fine, fine. I'll make the coffee, damn it. One caramel latte coming right up," the man who looks the strongest shouts, swiping a cup right off the shelf and slamming it onto the tabletop. His fingers dance across the counter as he grabs the ingredients he needs, but his hand stops when he sees that the caramel pump bottle is empty. Then he lowers down his voice and says, "Wooyoung where is the damn caramel?"

Wooyoung shrugs. "We never really had anyone ordering caramel latte so we stopped stocking it up, remember? She's the first in months."

Jongho awkwardly laughs, showing off his gums as he turns around, exclaiming, "Ah, miss, looks like we're out of caramel for today. What about some fancy old original latte instead? You can pour all the sugar syrup into it, get diabetes- I mean, make it as sweet as you like and we won't judge."

Byul blinks, before shifting back to look at them. "Uh, of course, I can take the normal latte instead. Just anything with caffeine, really."

"Good choice!" he exclaims before turning back to the ingredients.

Behind him, Mingi whispers to Yeosang, "Have you ever seen Jongho so enthusiastic in making coffee other than for himself? What is he going to put in there?"

"I don't think you should be worried considering you almost killed all of us when you made coffee. He's probably just eager to kick her out once she's done with it."

Jongho places the cup under the snout, waiting as one shot of espresso is poured into the cup, and takes the steamed milk. He holds the cup with his left hand, then the milk pitcher with his right before pouring the milk in steadily, making sure to flick his wrist up as he's done. Satisfied, he places a saucer under the cup before ringing the bell, looking at the other three with a smug expression, jutting his chin out.

"I made the coffee, now give it to her so we can be done for today."

"All this drama for a cup of coffee," Mingi says under his breath as he swipes the saucer up and grabs the sugar syrup, walking towards the young woman, carefully placing it so that she'll be able to pick up the cup with her right hand.

She glowers over the latte and strangely, he feels as if he's about to hear a professional critique their coffee, making him nervous. "I hope you enjoy the coffee, miss. Our best barista made it for you."

She lifts her head up then asks, "A flower?"

"Huh?"

"The latte art is a flower, isn't it?"

He presses his lips together, trying to contain the laugh that's about to erupt. "No, miss. It's a leaf. Choi Jongho was trying to make a leaf."

"Ah, I see..." she trails off, not showing the least bit of embarrassment or ridicule.

He leaves her with the newly-brewed coffee, joining the others behind the counter as they look on, intrigued on how she'll find the coffee. It's not always that they have someone from outside the district coming into the cafe, so they're curious on what reaction she'll show. Jongho is the most nervous, gripping on Yeosang's arm like he is a lifeline.

"Why do I feel like there's something bad that's going to happen?" Yeosang says. "Someone from outside the district, coming into the cafe when we're about to close, us serving her coffee past working hours..."

"It's probably just you over-reacting and overthinking," Wooyoung cuts him off.

"Oh trust me, over-reacting and overthinking are what we all do best," he replies.

She pours an outrageous amount of sugar into the coffee as they keep watching her. She picks up the cup, places it under her nose as she inhales the scent, closes her eyes and she takes a sip. Then she puts it down, the cup clinking as a line of froth sticks near her upper lip. She smacks her lips together, as if savouring every last bit of the taste a sip can offer her.

"I know I said that we won't judge but she's going to get diabetes the moment she steps out of here. What if she sues us and says that we're the reason for her illness?"

Their mouths drop open almost simultaneously when she starts crying. It's only a sniff at first but soon she starts bawling, palms pressed against her eyes, shoulders shaking and elbows on the table. They see her tears drop into the coffee, swirling in to mix into a pitiful concoction. The leaf has distorted into an unrecognizable shape, embodying the mess inside her right now. She feels lost in this world, like she is merely a speck of dust floating aimlessly in the vast open. When everyone else has secured the anchor, she is bobbing up and down in the water trying to get a breath of fresh air.

Everything is too much for her to bear, and here she is, in a cafe being watched by four of the workers, finally breaking down.

"Do you think she's crying because the coffee I made was too good until she needed a moment?"

"If I were you I won't flatter myself too much," Yeosang comments before yawning; he must have spent so much time moping around that his brain is getting sluggish even early at night. "We should just kick her out."

"But she's crying!" Mingi protests.

"Oh yeah, but she's not the one running the business, we need to follow opening hours. She's not allowed to cry here past 10 p.m." He gestures towards the clock behind the counter, "Look, it's already 10:30 p.m. and we still haven't locked the door. Tomorrow we have to open at 9."

They hear the door to their dorm upstairs being opened hurriedly, and it is as if the sound of it slamming against the wall is a sign for danger; an imminent danger brewing, threatening to spill. They feel their hearts physically drop to the floor as they hear Hongjoong's voice coming from upstairs, gradually becoming louder as he makes his way down.

Shit, they look at each other. If Yunho didn't tell the others upstairs, he wouldn't have known that they still have a customer. He would have thought that they have already closed the cafe.

But still, the sudden realization makes them unable to move to stop him, or say something to drown his voice out.

"Song Mingi! We finally got a new request, they're willing to pay us 100 grand to assassinate a gang leader's son. Urgent job, needed to be done by tomorrow."

Hongjoong stops talking as he arrives at the foot of the stairs, but it's not because he's done talking. The words get stuck in his throat as he looks at her; a person who shouldn't have been here. And definitely a person who shouldn't have listened to whatever he had just said.

They try to be the least bit hopeful that she couldn't hear Hongjoong's voice over her own sobbing, but everything happens in slow motion after. Her body stops moving, the sound of her sobbing dialed down. Then, slowly as ever, she lifts up her head to meet the stare of the leader.

It doesn't take them long to figure out that she has heard every single word clearly.

---

[A/N: San just posted pictures of his cat on Twitter and I just knew that he named her 'Byul', which is also my OC's name, so... coincidence????? Therefore this is how my OC looks like:

Isn't she just so pretty??? Sorry to break it to you guys but my OC is a cat----

jk

And he addresses himself as Byul's brother and I just :') brb crying

Anyway, hope you have/had/are having a nice day!!! <3]