That night, after the cafe closed, Luke sat lost in thought on the second floor, which served as their home. Meanwhile, Noel and Ava were busy counting their earnings. Thump! A pillow flew through the air and hit Luke square in the face.
"What are you brooding about, big brother?" Ava asked, having been the one to throw it.
"Oh... sorry," Luke muttered, immediately snapping out of it to help them tally the day's take.
"You're thinking about getting rejected for the hundredth time, aren't you? Nice one, bro. You really are the king of being pathetic," Noel said, giving him a mocking thumbs-up.
"Shut it, Noel. Like you even have a girlfriend," Luke shot back.
"Uh, hello? I actually do have a girl, bro. I'll bring her by sometime just to flex on you," Noel bragged.
"Knock it off and count properly. I'm tired," Ava interrupted.
"Fine, bring her here. I want to see this," Luke said.
"Deal. I'll bring her tomorrow." Noel turned to look at Ava. "You should bring your boyfriend too, Ava, so he can help us out."
"No way. Forget it. I wouldn't get any work done if he was around," Ava replied.
"Wait, you have a boyfriend too, Ava?" Luke asked, surprised.
"Of course I do, bro. In this family, you're the only one who's hopelessly single," Ava answered with a teasing grin.
"Seriously, you two are the worst. Whatever, I'm going to bed," Luke huffed.
"Hey, hold on! We're finished, but we need to allocate the funds. That's your job," Noel reminded him.
"Ugh... fine, give it here," Luke grumbled.
He took the ledger and began recalculating the stack of cash in front of him. He carefully partitioned the money: college tuition for himself, school fees for his two siblings, monthly cafe operations, debt repayments, and a bit for their savings. When he was done, only five hundred dollars remained. Luke divided it up for his siblings' spending money. He gave Noel two hundred, Ava two hundred, and tucked the remaining one hundred into his own pocket.
Noel and Ava watched the way he split the money and shook their heads. They immediately swapped a hundred-dollar bill for two fifties.
"Here, Luke. Fifty from me," Ava said, placing a fifty-dollar bill on top of Luke's hundred in his shirt pocket.
"And fifty from me. Use it to fix yourself up, man. Change the way you dress, get some style. How do you expect to get a girl looking like that?" Noel added.
"No, I don't need it. Take it back," Luke insisted, trying to hand the two fifties back to his siblings.
Luke stood up, pocketing only his original hundred, and turned away. He flopped onto his bed, which wasn't far from the counting table. Ava and Noel watched as he lay there face-down.
"He's always like that," Ava said softly, looking down.
"What can we do? He's been sacrificing everything for us for a long time," Noel replied, patting Ava's head.
"Once I can work, I'm going to find a high-paying job. I feel bad for him. Ever since Mom and Dad passed, he's been stuck holding this cafe together. He's spending his whole youth in this place," Ava said.
"Yeah. We have to keep helping him run things. I suggested selling the cafe once, but he actually got angry," Noel noted.
"I'd be angry too. You know what this cafe means to the three of us," Ava said.
"I was just suggesting it because it hurts to see him so miserable. Anyway, let's go to sleep. School tomorrow," Noel replied.
"I need a shower first. Wait for me, and don't turn off the lights," Ava said, standing up.
"Gosh... fifteen years old and still acting like a kid," Noel teased.
"Whatever. Just wait," Ava shouted back.
She grabbed her towel and headed into the bathroom. Noel leaned back on the sofa and looked over at the sleeping Luke, shaking his head.
"Man... how are you ever going to get a girl? You never cut your hair, you dress like a middle-aged dad, and those thick glasses... you could easily buy thinner ones. I swear, by the time Ava and I get married, you'll still be right here all alone. I'm genuinely worried about you," Noel thought to himself.
***
Three hours later, "ugh," Luke's eyes fluttered open. He sat up in bed and glanced over at Noel and Ava's beds; they were both fast asleep. Luke scratched his head and reached for his phone.
"Ugh... only three in the morning? I'm wide awake again," Luke thought.
He unlocked his phone and opened his notes. As his mind cleared, the heartache from earlier came rushing back. Feeling drained, he looked at his logs. He updated the cafe's income spreadsheet, then switched to another one—a list of every girl he had ever asked out or confessed to. He added Claire's name to the very bottom, followed by a question mark for her partner.
He read the list from the top, reaching the fiftieth girl. His heart started racing as he noticed a clear, undeniable pattern. Every single girl who rejected him eventually ended up at his cafe—either bringing a new boyfriend or meeting one right there. He slumped over, looking down.
"God, why? Why does every girl who turns me down end up making it official at my cafe? Or they get a boyfriend somewhere else and bring him here the very same day, just like Claire... they're all so heartless. This life is a joke," Luke thought, feeling a wave of despair.
He set his phone down and looked at his sleeping siblings. A bit of petty curiosity—fueled by their teasing earlier—got the better of him. He quietly slipped out of bed and crept over to Noel's side. He picked up Noel's phone and managed to get in. When he checked the chat history, the color drained from his face. There was an intense conversation between Noel and a girl named Vanessa; it was obvious they were a couple.
"So he wasn't lying," Luke thought, his chest tightening.
After putting Noel's phone back, he moved to Ava's bed. She was sleeping while clutching her phone. He slowly pried her fingers away one by one. When she stirred, he froze, but eventually, he got the device and turned it on. Luke's heart sank further. He didn't even need to unlock it—the lock screen wallpaper was a photo of Ava with a guy who looked maybe a year older than her. Dejected, Luke slid the phone back into her hand and trudged back to his own bed.
He sat there, arms crossed, eyes closed, thinking hard. He felt incredibly pathetic compared to his younger siblings.
"This is so unlucky... I'm going to end up as a hermit at this rate. Why are they so successful when I'm not? We have the same face... same genes... Just as long as I don't hit six figures in rejections. Three figures is more than enough... My head is a mess. Whatever. The main thing is to keep the cafe running and make money for the family. Back to sleep," Luke muttered as he lay back down and closed his eyes.
A few moments later, Luke was snoring again, fast asleep. But without him knowing, something was happening inside his head.
[Matchmaker System Requirements: Rejected by girls (100/100) - Completed. Matched couples (100/100) - Completed.]
[Requirements met.]
[Activating Matchmaker System... 10... 20... 30... 40... 50... 60... 70... 80... 90... 100... Completed.]
[Requirement Reward: $200,000.00 deposited into a new bank account under the Host's name.]
[Matchmaker System activated.]
[New Quest: Find 110 matches (100/110).]