Tristan stared at his notebook for ten minutes, pencil unmoved. He tried his absolute best to come up with any idea.

Anything.

But his mind came up blank.

"AHHHH!"

He scratched his head with both hands in frustration. "Curse my lack of creativity!"

After letting out a frustrated huff, he took deep breaths to calm himself down, and continued to brainstorm for any ideas

Until.

"You can use Google Images or other vtubers for inspiration!" Words of the host played in his mind.

Tristan froze in his seat as the slow realization hit them. Once he recovered, he physically face-palmed and let out a frustrated chuckle.

"Of course! I'm so dumb." He muttered to himself.

Tristan went on YouTube and began to watch some clips of his favorite vtubers, hoping that spark of creativity kicks in. However, after two hours, Tristan sighed in defeat as he could still not come up with a single idea that didn't border on plagiarism.

Tristan brainstormed about his potential vtuber persona nonstop for an entire week. Trying his absolute best to come up with one he's satisfied with.

His first idea was a happy-go-lucky energetic barista character based entirely on Fidel. But the concept of trying to mimic him felt wrong, so Tristan quickly scrapped it.

His second idea was a soldier character, inspired by an actual soldier who ordered in the cafe. However, Tristan felt like he wouldn't be able to pull off a convincing soldier mannerism, so he scrapped the idea as well.

His third idea came when he was on his way carrying a tray of two cherry pies to two customers' table. As he gently placed the plate of pastries on their table, Tristan couldn't help but to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"… Do you remember Joseph? Our classmate back in high school?"

"Joseph? Big glasses guy with frizzy hair? Yeah, have heard nothing about him since graduation. Why?"

"It's been five years, so it's safe to say, but he had a massive crush on you back then!"

"Wait, what? He did? Then why did he play matchmaker with me and Mark?"

"No clue, honestly. I saw his Facebook post, just got married last week, didn't know he was even dating someone."

"Huh… I guess it's a good thing we didn't become a couple then."

Tristan smiled politely at the customers and walked back behind the counter. He placed the tray on the tray stack, then grabbed one receipt from the counter to check the type of drink he's about to make next.

Tristan froze when Samantha's words suddenly echoed in his mind.

He felt a teeny tiny spark of idea form in his mind, bits of information recalled. He took his time for all the pieces to fit together.

Until he let out a gasp.

A grin slowly formed on his face as he toyed with the idea. The more he thought about it, the more he felt excited to just run back home and brainstorm.

Tristan was so excited that he absentmindedly let out a giggle. When all of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He snapped out of his thoughts and jolted in surprise as he turned around to see Fidel looking at him, worried.

"Are you okay?"

Tristan blushed in embarrassment. His eyes darted away from Fidel's gaze. "Yeah! Yeah… Just remembered something funny… Sorry." He scratched the back of his head.

Fidel looked unconvinced, but his expression quickly morphed into excitement. "Ah, don't worry about it! I had those moments too!" He chucked, then turned his attention back to the espresso machine.

Tristan’s heart beat fast seeing Fidel look at him worried. In a way, he felt a little guilty lying to him.

Shaking his head to clear his thought, he grabbed a clean Portafilter and went on the coffee grinder to make the next customer's drink, bobbing and humming happily while working.

The more he toyed with the psychologist idea, the more he liked it. It was interesting and unique, something to stand out in the sea of online streamers and vtubers on the internet.

And if possible, he could use his supposed "skills" on giving people love advice if Samantha was right.

Tristan continued to semi-daydream while at work. And after an hour, he made his decision.

Tristan had just arrived back home when he dashed to his room, brimming with excitement. He threw his side bag on his bed, hastily removed his shoes and clothes on the floor, then sat down on his chair.

Tristan grabbed his notebook and pencil, then began to write all the ideas he accumulated back at work.

'A half mask wearing vtuber who works as a barista by day and a love consultant at night in secret.' Tristan wrote in his notebook.

He looked at his note, happily reading the concept repeatedly. But after a while, he looked uncertain, frowning a little.

Tristan circled his pencil in the air, pondering about how to improve the idea.

Tristan doodled a small 'X' on the upper right side of the note and began brainstorming for a new idea based on the old one.

However, his lack of creativity struck again, as struggled to come up with a new idea for hours. Cold air interrupted Tristan's frustrated thoughts when he felt it hit his skin. He shivered a little, and that's when he realized his window was still open.

It was getting dark already. Tristan stood up and was about to close his window when he noticed a few visible stars and the full moon above the sky.

Tristan stood still, mesmerizing the rare appearance of the moon and stars, taking his time. When all of a sudden, something clicked his mind.

He couldn't focus on the sightseeing anymore as another idea slowly formulated in his mind.

And then.

"That's it! Space!"

Tristan felt waves of excitement as the idea repeated in his mind. He rushed back to his chair, glee on his face, and began writing a star themed consultant character.

Tristan circled his wrist around, trying to answer his own question.

Tristan scrunched up his nose, not convinced by the idea.

He continued to brainstorm, trying his absolute best to squeeze his mind with as much creativity as he could muster. Polishing the current idea to a degree.

And after an hour of bouncing ideas with himself, he placed down his pencil and let out a satisfied huff.

"Finally!"

Tristan felt so proud of himself for coming up with a creative background story and concept for his character. It was something he'd never done before, but being able to accomplish it for the first time felt exhilarating.

Before he could continue, he let out a long yawn and felt his body suddenly get tired. He grabbed his phone to check the time.

Thinking whether he should eat or not, he let out a sigh.

Tristan closed his notebook, turned off his room light, then plopped on his bed. A satisfied smile on his face, looking forward to accomplish something new again tomorrow.

The amount of customers baffled Tristan at the cafe today, normally more than their expected customers.

And that's when he realized today was a special non-working holiday, so he and Fidel were extra busy at work.

Tristan didn't get to brainstorm much, and the tiny breaks he could sneak in were not enough to brainstorm properly. Even he noticed Fidel was getting slightly tired, but kept his composure and positive spirit when interacting with customers.

Overall, Tristan won't be able to brainstorm at work today, so planned to do that back at home instead.

Tristan carried a tray of a large cappuccino to a customer's table. He grabbed their drink and gently placed it in front of them with a polite smile. "Here you go Ma'am! Have a good day!"

He was about to walk back to the counter when suddenly, a song began blasting on the customer's phone.

"Mister Dreamboy, Mister Dreamboy, I wonder what's on your mind?"

The customer swiftly grabbed her phone and answered the call. She glanced her head around in embarrassment as she started talking to the caller.

Tristan mentally shrugged and rushed back to the counter, feeling a little bad for the customer's discomfort.

When suddenly, another idea clicked in his mind again.

Tristan stared down the list of receipts, slowly feeling a rush of excitement at the idea.

Tristan let out a faint chuckle and was about to continue brainstorming when he realizes the many, many receipts on the counter. He shook his head and lightly smacked his cheeks to clear his thoughts.

Hours later, the influx of customers slowed down. Tristan heard a cup placed beside him. He looked at his right, Fidel smiled at him while he held another cup in his other hand. "Here you go! Take some rest. I'll take care of the next customers."

Tristan blushed a little. "A-are you sure?"

"Yup!" He grinned.

"… T-Thank you." Tristan nod his head as he took his coffee to the kitchen, then grabbed a nearby chair to sit on it.

Tristan took a sip of his coffee. The refreshing taste was enough to re-wake his brain and set it off into brainstorming mode. This time, with no interruptions.

Tristan let out a faint chuckle before he took another sip of his coffee.

He tried to think of other alternative names, but his mind kept going back to Mister Loveboy. The more he toyed with that name, the more it slowly grew on him.

Tristan was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice Fidel slowly tiptoeing beside him, then poked his side, making him flinch. His reaction made Fidel bark out a loud laughter that echoed throughout the kitchen.

"Y-y-you jerk! I almost spilled my coffee!"

Fidel continued to laugh, which made Tristan flustered.

"Sorry! Sorry! Couldn't resist it!" He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. Tristan sulked, then sipped his coffee. He faced away from Fidel's joyful expression as it made his heart fluster for the millionth time.