A 95% Match

Eun-chan kept pressing, refusing to let it go.

"Why aren't you my exclusive guide?"

"And why would I want to be your exclusive guide?" Seo-ah shot back. It was hilarious, coming from Eun-chan, who knew her better than anyone.

"Ha…… So one guy isn't enough for you."

"……That was fast."

Too fast, actually. Possessiveness already? They'd barely started.

It was normal for espers to show possessiveness over their guides.

But Kang Eun-chan had been guided exactly once in his life. And they'd been friends first, on top of that.

Seo-ah knew perfectly well that a guy who'd rolled around with plenty of women didn't lose his heart over a single night in bed.

"You were lying about having dated a lot of women, weren't you."

"Why would I lie about that?"

Then again, from what she'd seen back then, he clearly wasn't a virgin.

So why was he acting like an anxious boyfriend who couldn't keep his girl on a leash? This was classic obsessive-male-lead behavior.

Calling to mind the novels she'd read in the study, Seo-ah quietly gauged Eun-chan's current state.

"What's fast, exactly?"

"Nothing. Better if you don't know."

Usually, people only recognized these feelings after going through a proper denial phase. Eun-chan was something else entirely.

Better not to tell him and set him off.

"You're thinking something weird again, aren't you."

"What, do I think weird thoughts every single day?"

He did, in fact. More than half of her thoughts were exactly that kind. The moment she zoned out, her imagination unspooled all on its own — she couldn't help it.

Seo-ah kept her mouth firmly shut to keep her expression from giving her away, and stared straight ahead.

When they reached the research institute entrance, she checked the device buzzing at her.

"……A ninety-five percent matching rate."

Seo-ah's eyes went round at the unfamiliar figure. More than anything, she was stunned that the match was Shin Woo-jin of all people.

Woo-jin is my partner?

Just then, a researcher spotted her standing outside the door and tapped his staff badge to unlock it.

"You're here. We've been expecting you. Though the person beside you is……"

Seo-ah hastily collected herself and shut off the device screen.

"Ah, this is my esper, Kang Eun-chan. He's also my partner — we entered the gate together this time."

The researcher glanced briefly inside, then motioned them in without further comment.

"We were going to call you in separately, but since you're both here, you may as well get your examinations done now."

His manner toward Eun-chan was subtly different from how he treated Seo-ah. Eun-chan noticed it too, if the faint shift in his expression meant anything.

"I figured it was better to do it all in one trip than make you call us twice."

"I see. The examinations differ by rank, so I'll walk you through them separately. If you'll follow me? Guide Lee Seo-ah will be escorted by Researcher Woo-jin."

Seo-ah gave a light nod. Eun-chan, apparently displeased about something, didn't move an inch.

"What are you doing? Go on, hurry. You said you came for the examination, didn't you?"

At her shooing, Eun-chan's eyes narrowed.

"That look. I really hate that look on you."

"What's wrong with my face?"

"It's lecherous. Your nostrils look like they're flaring right now."

"Are you serious? Nostrils flare when you breathe, that's how noses work. And weren't you the one who wanted to wait?"

When Seo-ah waved him off with her hand, Eun-chan only stepped closer and grabbed her by the waist instead.

He rested his chin on her shoulder and looked at the researcher.

"We just came back from a gate, and somehow I don't feel like letting her go. I'd rather we got examined together."

"……That would be a little……"

"This is awkward, isn't it? I'm so sorry. I think he's caught a fever or something. We're old friends — he's just messing around."

At her words, Eun-chan only wrapped his arms around her waist tighter and pressed in closer.

"Why are you doing stuff you never do?"

"Beats me. Ever since the guiding, I just feel like this."

Just then came the sound of the door opening, and Woo-jin appeared.

"Guide Lee Seo-ah, I've come to…… escort you."

Seo-ah gave Woo-jin an awkward smile. This was their first meeting since the matching — and she had to be caught looking like this.

Woo-jin's gaze dropped to Eun-chan's hand on her waist.

"Mr. Kang Eun-chan has come along as well. Well, since you both require examinations, it's good timing."

Not a flicker of emotion crossed his face. And yet, somehow, he sounded eerily articulate.

"That's why we were hoping to be examined together. Is that a problem?"

"Yes. That is not possible."

At Woo-jin's flat reply, the hand wrapped around her waist twitched. Caught between the two men's subtle tension, Seo-ah glanced back and forth between Eun-chan holding her and the impassive Woo-jin.

"Ah."

She twisted around and smacked Eun-chan right on the forehead.

"Stop making a scene and get moving. Do you have any idea how valuable these people's time is?"

"Hey, you—"

"My time is valuable too. Everyone's time is valuable."

Eun-chan stared at her, dumbfounded. The instant his grip loosened, Seo-ah slipped free without missing a beat.

"Shall we go, Woo-jin?"

Taking Woo-jin's hand, she stepped into the depths of the research institute.

Woo-jin looked down at the hand Seo-ah had seized.

She's…… holding my hand right now.

Guiding didn't work through simple contact, but he worried all the same that her body might take strain.

Should I say something? Or not?

But…… this is nice. So Seo-ah's hand is warm. Soft as a baby's skin.

What perfume does she wear?

It smells like flowers, maybe — something sweet……

Every last one of Woo-jin's senses had converged on Seo-ah. She had never once been escorted anywhere by him personally before.

This is wonderful.

I'm so happy I could lose my mind.

Someone like me is Seo-ah's partner. Wait — am I even allowed to keep holding her hand like this?

Woo-jin was still deep in his private war. The urge to play dumb and keep holding on welled up from somewhere fathomless inside him.

He had never held a woman's hand before. Was it all right for an ignoramus like him to presume to hold Seo-ah's hand and harbor such irreverent thoughts?

Come to think of it, a nobody like me, touching her like this — she might find it disgusting.

"S-Seo-ah. Um, this hand…… you should probably let go."

"Oh! Sorry about that."

Seo-ah hastily released him. Woo-jin's gaze fell to her newly freed hand.

Her hands are so small and cute.

The sensation of her slender, delicate fingers wrapped around his still lingered. Woo-jin curled his fist shut and open again, quietly estimating the thickness of her fingers.

"Right — I was curious who I'd been matched with, and it turned out to be you, Woo-jin. Isn't that amazing?"

"……Yes. It was, a surprise for me too."

"We've greeted each other in passing all this time, and I never dreamed we'd end up as partners. It's going to be hard for me to stay cooped up in the institute from now on — what am I going to do?"

Woo-jin shook his head.

"It's quite all right. I can do my research at night as well. More importantly…… are you going to be all right, Seo-ah?"

"Sorry?"

"With me…… as your partner. Someone like me — is that, all right with you……?"

Seo-ah beamed up at him.

"If it's you, of course it's fine. You're so gentle and well-mannered. It's a little disappointing that you don't seem to deploy to the field much, but still — I think we'll get along great."

Her warm answer lit up Woo-jin's face. If she regretted his rare gate deployments, then he simply had to satisfy her.

"I'll deploy to gates frequently, then."

"No, no, you really don't have to. You were a researcher, after all — the field must be unfamiliar to you—"

"If you'll have me, Seo-ah, I'll work myself to the bone. Just leave it to me."

He had to become someone worthy of the title of partner. But if he went into gates often, that meant that much more guiding — and wouldn't that be bad, for Seo-ah?

Woo-jin's expression darkened all over again.

"Seo-ah, I think it's better if you don't deploy to gates too often. Frequent guiding will wear you down."

She wouldn't be guiding just one esper, but two — the strain was obvious.

At his words, it was Seo-ah's turn to startle.

"What are you talking about? Espers have a duty to suppress gates. We have to see our responsibility through. Ah…… unless guiding me is uncomfortable for you?"

"No. Not at all. In fact I'd be glad— no, that's…… I don't mean it like that. I'm fine with anything, truly."

Despite what was in his heart, the words kept coming out halting and clunky. Seo-ah listened to his answer, then smiled.

"Don't worry about the guiding. Contact guiding is my preference, but if touching makes you uncomfortable, there are other methods."

"I'm not uncomfortable. It's only…… whether I can, ah…… satisfy you. That's what worries me."

Woo-jin glanced around, then closed the distance between them. And then he spoke in a voice pitched for her ears alone.

"I…… I'm big. Down there. And if that still doesn't please you, Seo-ah, I'll make it bigger. There are plenty of methods."

He was a researcher, after all. Finding out how to grow a cock was hardly beyond him.