Luke "Lukewarm Fragrance"/Rewards

Story Summary

Luke has received a commission to disguise as a barista at the Lotus coffee shop. The objective is to approach his target on the eve of the Coffee Festival. Practicing his latte art, he presents it to the MC for opinion. She mistakes his art for something else; hence there’s still room for improvement. Shortly after a month, Luke becomes the most popular acting store manager in the coffee shop due to his excellent latte art skills and handsome appearance. The MC arrives at the shop and Luke playacts as if she’s a customer. He teases her that he has promised a beautiful girl to make himself available the whole day. Suddenly, a young girl barges in the shop and demands to challenge Manager Pearce.

The young girl is Aria Derby. She is the granddaughter of the owner of Twilight coffee shop, a coffee shop on the opposite street. She remarks that ever since Manager Pearce became the store manager, the business of their shop deteriorated. So she is seeking to challenge him to see whose coffee is tastier. Luke accepts the challenge. Despite protest, Aria appoints the MC as the judge even though she personally knows Luke. Later, Luke shares to the MC that he has already met Aria’s grandfather, Mr. Derby. Mr. Derby claims that he’s too old to serve customers so he’s been driving them away and diverting them to Luke. Luke finds it odd that Mr. Derby is forbidding Aria from handling coffee, even though she obviously has a strong connection with coffee and their coffee shop. Meanwhile, the MC tells Luke to do his best because she’s not picking his coffee just because he’s her boyfriend. Luke teasingly kisses her cheek, to which the MC exclaims she will have to deduct points for bribing the judge.

Luke decides to make coffee art while Aria Derby will make creative coffee. Luke starts preparing the coffee, and soon, he adds his latte art - a very plump Peanut. Shortly after, the MC is served the cup and she takes a sip. It is delicious. At the same time, Aria’s coffee is also ready. Aria asks if she can try Luke’s coffee. After a sip, she comments that the coffee has a strong taste of love, but she hurriedly changes the subject. The MC now proceeds to judge Aria’s coffee - the taste is particularly difficult to describe. Then, Aria suggests that the coffee should remind her of “winter sunshine upon snow”.

Luke guesses that Aria Derby has coffee synesthesia. Synesthesia is "a type of condition where you experience one of your senses through another". It’s something like how talented musicians are able to see colors when they hear music. Luke narrates the story of one contestant who won the World Barista Championship 30 years ago. The contestant had coffee synesthesia. After winning, he went back to his hometown and opened a coffee shop. Suddenly, Aria’s grandfather barges in the shop and scolds Aria. The two argues. Luke tries to diffuse the argument and asks the MC to proceed with the judging. The MC picks Luke’s coffee first, but changes her mind and picks Aria’s. Before they leave, Luke invites Mr. Derby to drink a cup of his coffee which will be made from Misty Summer coffee beans.

Upon hearing “Misty Summer”, Mr. Derby decides to stay. While preparing the coffee, Luke tells the MC that Mr. Derby is that World Barista Champion 30 years ago. He wanted for his son to inherit his skills, but unfortunately, his son doesn’t have the same gift and is uninterested in coffee making. Later, his son gave up and left home. Luke suspects that Mr. Derby regrets driving his own son away, and this is the reason why he disallows Aria to learn coffee making. He probably does not know that Aria has the same gift. Later, Luke serves coffee to Mr. Derby and Aria. He prods Aria to describe the coffee, revealing to Mr. Derby that she also has the same gift of synesthesia. Luke then advices Mr. Derby to give people opportunity to make choices. As Luke glances towards the MC, the MC is reminded of a time when Luke also gave her the same opportunity to make her own choice after acknowledging that his own choices may not be the correct one. Aria tells her grandfather that she’s different from her dad and that she really likes coffee.

The MC asks Aria what color she saw when she drank Luke’s coffee. It was boundless sea of pink. Later that night, Luke and the MC spend time in the Coffee Festival. The MC guesses that Luke offered the coffee to Mr. Derby because he was able to relate to his feelings. It involves someone he loves and thinks that his decision is the safest path. Luke does not want him to experience the pain and struggle he had in the past. Luke and the MC then promise to each other that they will have many more tomorrows to spend together.

Illustrations

Mellow ChoiceLuke's latte tastes deliciously mellow. The milk to coffee ratio is perfect. Which one should you choose...

Video Call

Video Call		Luke: Lukewarm Fragrance (After Story 6)

Video Call script

Luke: It's a bit dark on your end. I can't see you well.

Luke: It's cold... Did you pick up my call under the blanket? Don't set the air conditioner temperature too low, or you may catch a cold at night.

Luke: ...Can't sleep? Did you drink too much coffee?

Luke: Let's see... We had an Americano, a latte, a mocha, and a cold brew iced coffee at the Coffee Festival today... That's a lot of coffee. No wonder you can't sleep.

Luke: That list of coffee names sounded like a lullaby to you? Hehe... I actually did that on purpose. How do you feel now? Are you getting a little sleepy?

Luke: Not at all!? Okay... I guess my lullaby was a flop.

Luke: Since you can't sleep, how about we play Truth or Dare?

Luke: How do we play? Well... When I count to three, we'll play rock-paper-scissors. The loser has to choose truth or dare.

Luke: ...You are in? Okay, I'll wait for you to get out from under the blanket.

Luke: You really do look like you just crawled out of bed... Look at your artfully messy bedhead.

Luke: All right, I will stop teasing you. So I'll start the count down. Three, two, one!

Luke: Rock beats scissors. Looks like I win.

Luke: Huh? You choose dare? Okay, let me think of something...

Luke: I got it! I dare you to close your eyes, fall asleep quickly, and have a pleasant dream.

Luke: And I hope I'm in your dreams. Good night.

Story Locations

Main Character's Residence
Your Residence

Lotus Coffee Shop

Long Beach District Street

Story Characters

Luke Pearce

Customer A

Customer B

Little Girl

Aria Derby

Mr. Derby

Story References

The Luke "Lukewarm Fragrance" story contains brief mentions or references of events that took place in the following:

• Luke "Under the Milky Way"