"We're closed," Liam announced the moment he opened the door. It was twenty minutes past closing time. The only reason he was still at work was that he'd promised his aunt he'd look into the bug in the system. In the end, it turned out that it wasn't a bug at all.

Liam suspected his aunt had set the whole thing up to get him out of bed.

"I don't think so," the unknown man replied, pointing somewhere behind Liam.

The blond turned around to find that the stranger was gesturing toward the LED message board, where a different quote about love was displayed every day. Today, it was: "Love is an open door."

Liam turned back to the man and informed him again in a firm voice, "We're still closed. Come back tomorrow."

"What if by tomorrow it's already too late and my soulmate is taken?" The stranger raised an eyebrow. It was obvious he wasn't serious and was just teasing him, but Liam wasn't in the mood for that. He should have been in bed twenty minutes ago, eating ice cream and watching a TV show.

"Are you really here for love?" the blond asked.

"Of course," the unknown man replied in a serious tone, but one that Liam was sure wasn't serious at all—he was just messing with him. "What else would I be here for?"

Liam let out a sigh, and over the next three seconds, he made a decision he knew he would regret in a moment. "Come inside."

A triumphant smile appeared on the man's face, and as soon as Liam stepped away from the door, he moved around him and went inside. Liam led him to his small office tucked around the corner and took a seat behind his desk. The stranger took up a position across from him, looking around the room curiously.

One of the things Liam was proud of was his sense of design. Just like his room in his flat, his office was his safe place. The pale pink walls not only felt comforting, but they also matched the idea of finding love. Liam hated all the Valentine's Day ads and dating apps that highlighted red as the color of love. All the true professionals knew it was pink.

"So..." He cleared his throat, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward. "What are your expectations?"

The man finally paid attention to him, and their gazes met.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Just tell me how it works, and I'll decide."

Liam couldn't believe his own ears. Not only was this man late, but he also had no idea what he was doing here—of all days, on Liam's first day back at work in two weeks. Just his luck.

The blond chose to maintain a professional approach and mentally counted to three to calm himself down.

"The first step is filling out the profile. You put your name, your picture, your hobbies, what you like, what you don't like. Then you choose how many dates you want to go on per week. The least you can do is one, the most you can do is five," he began to explain.

"One is plenty," the stranger cut him off.

Liam couldn't control his expression, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Excuse me?”

"I'm just saying I'm a man who has traditional values and doesn't want to date too many potential partners at once." He gave him an innocent smile. "Is that a problem?"

"Of course not." A similar smile appeared on Liam's face, only a little more ironic. "As I was saying..." He continued to explain. "Since you only want one date a week, it's easy. You'll get profiles of three potential partners each week. They will always include the person you were with last time, so you can meet again if you want. During the week, you can text the person you choose. You get to know each other both online and offline. If you also want to meet outside of the app's set date, that's up to you."

"Where's the catch?" the man asked.

"The catch?" Liam repeated uncomprehendingly. "Why would there be a catch?"

"There's always a catch," the man told him.

"There isn't one," Liam assured him. "The app is set up so that there's nothing to go wrong. You're not divulging any personal information. There's no address or phone number in your profile, nothing that can be used against you."

"Good." The stranger nodded in satisfaction.

"We also provide consulting services. We've found that sometimes people need help making the right decision, and their friends tend to tell them what they want to hear. That's why we offer our unbiased perspective," Liam said, although he would prefer to leave that part out when it came to the unknown man. The rule was that since he was helping him sign up for their app, he automatically became his client, not his aunt's.

Fortunately, the unknown man seemed just as excited about the idea as Liam was. "So, I have to come here and talk to you about my love life?"

"You don't have to," Liam assured him. "But you can. It's optional. If you have mixed feelings after the date, we can talk about it."

The man nodded, and for once, he seemed reconciled to Liam's words. "So how do I start?"

"First, you fill out a short application, then you download the app and sign up. I know it's not the traditional procedure, but this is how we ensure no one who's trying to catfish anyone signs up for the app. We have to confirm every registration," Liam explained, pulling a paper application form from his drawer and sliding it over to the man to read.

The stranger immediately began to read it carefully, nodding along as he did so. "Can I have a pen?" After a moment, he lifted his head back to Liam and asked.

Without a word, Liam took his pen and slid it over to the man. "Thanks."

He started to fill out the application form, and Liam stopped watching him after a moment, shifting his gaze elsewhere so as not to make him uncomfortable. 

His gaze lingered on the clock. More minutes had passed since he should have been on his way home. He was sure James had already been there, watching television without him. Hopefully, he hadn't watched another episode of their favorite show without him.

His roommate and best friend in one had no regrets when it came to watching the show and hated when he had to wait to watch a new episode. Even Liam's broken heart wasn't a good enough reason for him to wait.

"Done." The man slid the application form over to Liam, and when the blond looked at it, he finally discovered the name of the man in front of him – Gavin.

"Okay." Liam quickly scanned the application to ensure everything that needed to be filled out had been completed so he could wrap up the meeting. "Looks like we're done here. All you need to do now is download the app and sign up. I'll confirm your registration, and then you can fill out your profile. Within two days, you should receive the first three profiles of potential partners."

As it turned out, however, Gavin wasn't ready to leave just yet. "One more thing."

"Yes?" Liam tried to sound pleasant, despite his eyes practically pushing the man out the door.

"It's not one of those homophobic apps where I only get matches with women, right? Or worse—matches with homophobic women? They're so annoying." Whatever Liam had expected from the man, this wasn't it.

Liam cleared his throat, still surprised. He attempted to sound neutral, but it was clear he wasn't succeeding. "Of course not. You enter your preferences when you fill out your profile. Plus, you indicate your sexual orientation, so you shouldn't be contacted by any homophobic women," he reassured him.

"Thank goodness."

Liam forced a tight-lipped smile. "Do you have any more questions?"

"No, that's all." This time, Gavin's answer pleased him.

The strange man stood, and Liam followed suit. When he extended his hand, the blond shook it, noting that for such a cynical person, Gavin had surprisingly soft hands.

He quickly pushed the thought away before he could focus on it too much.

"Thank you for choosing Cupid, Inc. in your quest for love."

Gavin smirked when Liam uttered the phrase of their agency, but thankfully made no comment. A minute later, Liam was walking him out the door, and shortly after that, he, too, was finally on his way home.

Just as he'd expected, James was watching their favorite show without him. Liam decided to forgive him, however, when he found out that James had ordered pizza for both of them, so he joined him on the couch.

"How was work?" his best friend asked.

"Don't even ask." Liam rolled his eyes at the memory of the strange man.

"Was the bug really that bad?" James ignored his answer and continued asking.

"Not the bug," Liam replied.

"Client?"

The blond nodded while shoving a slice of pizza into his mouth. "He was so annoying. Hopefully, I'll never see him again."

He couldn't have been more wrong.