The Unscratched Winning Ticket

Eun-chan took a long, hollow laugh after reading the email.

"They're asking if it's fine to proceed with matching me with other guides?"

Like hell it was fine.

Did Lee Seo-ah know about this too?

He'd come to the training room to clear his head, and his thoughts only got messier. He was already irritated that some new esper had popped up right after a guiding session, and now this on top of it?

She definitely said it was fine. It has to be Lee Seo-ah who approved this.

Otherwise there was no way something like this would happen. When had it ever been a problem — moaning underneath him, melting into the guiding — and now that she'd gotten fed, she was throwing him away?

Wait, no. Was she actually not into him after all?

Was it his dick size that was the problem?

No way that was it.

Eun-chan's brow furrowed hard. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. A lifelong virgin with nothing but demands — no experience at all, so why was he so particular, so strict with his standards?

Wait. That was about himself. He was the virgin. He was the one with no experience and endless standards, overthinking everything.

Would she tell Shin Woo-jin it was fine if another guide got attached to him too?

No way. Hell no. Woo-jin would think of himself as different, wouldn't he.

That stung even worse.

What about me? Am I not hurt too? Well, honestly, not that hurt. Eun-chan had swallowed too many insults in his life to be wounded by something like that.

Boxing had thrown him into contact with too many pieces of shit with personality disorders; he'd grown thick skin to people dragging him down or cutting him with words.

So Lee Seo-ah's words were, at most, a cute little tantrum.

Fine, she can be a little shit. But this is a different problem.

Eating and running wasn't okay.

She ate, didn't she? She ate and even said it was delicious. And now she's throwing me away?

This had never happened before, so he had no idea how to handle it. Who should he even go complain to?

Kim Han? Or the Center director?

No.

He had to go to the person who caused this whole mess.

Eun-chan strode straight out of the training room and headed for wherever Seo-ah would be. None of this made a shred of sense.

Asking an esper who already had a guide to proceed with matching — what kind of manners were those?

And saying "it's fine, go put yourself out there" — that was downright sociopathic.

Is this just how it works when you're not full-time?

He'd gone through the orientation, but a lot of the Center's rules ran contrary to common sense.

Seo-ah felt a sudden chill run down her spine.

"What is this… why does my back…"

She'd already heard the news that guides had gone to the team leader demanding to be matched with Kang Eun-chan.

Fast. They're all so fast.

So he really was popular, huh. She'd assumed it was just him bragging, but judging by how the guides were acting, Kang Eun-chan was apparently the type women went for.

Seo-ah reviewed her data with Woo-jin while waiting for the next gate entry order.

An S-rank would receive guiding obediently, right?

Or maybe not — he might not accept it at all. This kind of thing would be awkward for him.

Ideally the next gate would be something like that human-type one.

He was a researcher, after all — pique his curiosity and he'd probably go along with whatever she suggested. Seo-ah began combing through high-rank gates.

"This one's already cleared, and the data's all been transferred over."

I need to see what level of danger guiding usually happens under.

Seo-ah was more serious than she had ever been. She focused, and focused again.

I need to get closer to Woo-jin.

Should I visit the research wing again?

No. Showing up without any reason would be way too obvious. Can't do that.

Seo-ah drummed her fingers on the desk, then picked at her device. There was an internal messaging system, but reaching out first felt too risky.

If I approach him suddenly, he'll bolt, right?

She had to close the distance slowly, without being overwhelming.

Come to think of it, even talking to women seemed to fluster him. She'd assumed it would be easy since they were similar, but with her exacting personality, nothing came easily.

She'd read so much that she couldn't tell what to actually apply anymore.

Well, it's not like I've talked to many men myself.

How to win a man's heart — she had no idea. In novels, the male and female leads just fell for each other, or some incident threw them together, something like that.

Meanwhile, Seo-ah and Woo-jin had exactly two things in common: being S-rank, and a high matching rate. What else could there possibly be?

She was deep in concentration when voices drifted in from outside. The office was usually dead silent, but right now the atmosphere felt… oddly buoyant.

"Whoa, what's going on? I almost didn't recognize him."

"Oh my…"

Glued to her monitor, Seo-ah glanced past the glass wall. The blinds were down, but she could make out people through the slats.

The ones who never even left their desks unless they were heading into a gate or doing a guiding session were all standing.

And rising head and shoulders above them, she could see a tall head of hair.

A man? An esper? Whoever it is, he's popular.

None of her business. Seo-ah had no interest in anyone who wasn't her partner.

Getting worked up over something you can't have just gives you heartburn.

She lost interest almost immediately and turned her eyes back to the monitor. But when someone knocked on her private office door, she had no choice but to get up.

"Did you need something from me……?"

She answered absently, eyes still fixed on her monitor. Hope the next gate turns out like this last one.

There's so much to research — Woo-jin will probably be thrilled too, right?

"Um, Seo-ah… ssi."

At the familiar voice calling her name, Seo-ah turned her head. And standing before her was a man she'd never seen before.

……Who is that? But why does he look familiar?

Seo-ah stared at the man hard.

Her eyes narrowed. Her gaze was busy, sweeping down from his hair, slowly taking his measure from head to toe.

Hair swept lightly to the side, neat brows, and pitch-black eyes. A shy face with reddened ears. A puppy-like face paired with a demure bearing and a white lab coat.

……Huh?

And a green plaid shirt.

Oh my god!

"Woo-jin… ssi?"

She'd dared to hope, and he really was the unscratched winning ticket.

She'd only floated it as a试探 — no wait, she'd only floated it as a tiny test, and he'd gone as far as taking off his glasses. He really did whatever she said.

Now she understood why everyone outside was losing their minds.

Seo-ah clapped a hand over her mouth. No — this was beyond what she'd imagined.

He's so handsome. He matched her image of the nerd-nam archetype exactly. With the glasses off, his features were genuinely striking.

A face like this, from an engineering student? Impossible. He'd probably been so buried in his studies he never even realized he was good-looking.

"Is it really you, Woo-jin?"

"It is strange, isn't it. I only cut it so I wouldn't get in your way…… I'll put it back the way it was……"

He hurriedly raised his hands to sweep his bangs down, and Seo-ah caught his wrists without thinking.

"Don't! Leave it just like that. It looks good. Not strange at all."

"……Oh."

The moment their eyes met, his ears went even redder. Is he going to explode like that? Seo-ah stole a glance at his ears and smiled to herself.

"It's just that your image changed, so I was surprised. It really suits you."

"Th-Thank you."

God, he's adorable.

Barely holding back a grin, Seo-ah collected herself. Now that she looked, his hands were big too. Is it because he's so gentle? His hands feel warm too.

Seo-ah looked down at Woo-jin's hands and asked,

"So what brings you here? It's not often you come all the way from the research wing to the Bureau."

He'd become an esper, but Woo-jin still insisted on staying at the research institute, which was why he wasn't stationed at the Bureau with her.

"I had to bring some research data to the Bureau…… so I stopped by. And I thought, since I was here, it would be nice to see you, so I came."

"Did the paperwork get delivered alright?"

His hands are what, triple the size of mine? He's tall, sure, but who knew his hands were this big too.

Seo-ah kept studying Woo-jin's hand, which she was still holding. Smaller than Kang Eun-chan's? Still, researcher's hands — even big, they're elegant.

Nothing like Eun-chan's hands, callused and thick-knuckled from boxing. These were more even, softer……

"Yes, they did. But, um, Seo-ah ssi."

"Go ahead."

It's not quite 'like a woman's hands,' but there's something different about the feel…

"Um…… my, my hand."

"Yes, your hand. I was just thinking how pretty it is, actually."

"No, thank you, but that's not what I……"

At his hesitant voice, Seo-ah lifted her head. His face was flushed to the point of bursting.

"Oh my, Woo-jin, your face looks like it's about to pop."

The moment Seo-ah pointed at his face, the door burst open.

"Look at this absolute circus. What are you doing holding hands?"