“What the hell is he talking about? Hey, you’re still a patient. You need to rest—”
“Rest can wait. Just cancel the pair registration first.”
Rion pushed himself up from the bed as he spoke. The conviction he’d clung to even in the haze of unconsciousness was still burning clear in his mind.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?”
“I never want to be paired with that guy for the rest of my life. I’ll take guiding because I have to, but I refuse to be tied to that jerk with a word like pair!”
I gave up an arm to save him, and this is what I get? Is he out of his mind? There are Espers and Guides here too—if he can’t even take care of himself, why the hell is he doing this?
“There’s no way I’m pairing with an ungrateful bastard like that. It’s not like I have to be paired to get guided.”
“Hey, but still, he—”
“Nope, I’m not listening. Isn’t the person’s own consent the most important thing anyway? Even if I die, I won’t do it. I’d be dead from stress within a month.”
Rion finally resorted to covering his ears, pretending not to hear a thing. He looked absolutely horrified at the thought of being paired with Yu-won.
The Center Director watched him and let out a long sigh. As Rion had said, a pair registration wasn’t something that could be undone once completed—so it was crucial to be matched with someone you trusted unconditionally.
The reason pair applications could only be submitted once every month was because they were binding. That period was meant to give people time to find someone with a better matching rate or to observe the potential partner more carefully before making a final decision.
The chances of finding a Guide who could beat a 99% match were virtually zero, and yet Rion was adamantly throwing a fit, saying no.
“Do you really hate it that much?”
“I’ve put up with a lot, seriously. But I just can’t with him. Pairing isn’t mandatory, right?”
“Still, people are gonna talk if a matching Guide doesn’t even have a pair…”
“I don’t want to make a pairing just to save face. Seriously… I went in ready to lose an arm to save him, and all I got was ‘Are you insane?’”
The Center Director tried his best to calm Rion down, but his unyielding stubbornness eventually won out. In the end, the registration was canceled an hour and a half before the scheduled pairing.
“One party opposing is enough to block the registration, so I canceled it for now… but how am I supposed to explain this to Yu-won?”
Worn out from the hour-long ordeal, the Center Director stared at the tablet in his hand and muttered.
Rion, having finally gotten his way, flopped back onto the bed and said,
“He probably won’t even care. I mean, if he really wanted to be my pair, would he have said those things like that?”
Grinding his teeth, Rion recalled the awful things Yu-won had said. 99 percent, 99 percent. He’d repeated that number to himself so many times, trying to endure—but he couldn’t take it anymore.
No doubt that 1 percent deduction was because of his shitty personality, Rion thought grimly.
“He should be relieved he doesn’t have to pair with a clingy, hot-headed Esper like me. If he doesn’t go celebrating, that’ll be miracle enough.”
Even after that, Rion continued ranting about his built-up frustrations, keeping the Center Director from leaving. The man just nodded along mechanically, having heard it all several times before.
“Alright, I really have to go now. I’ve got to tell Yu-won about the cancellation too… You, just focus on resting. The treatment’s done, but you’ll probably still feel sore for a few days.”
With that, the Center Director opened the door to the hospital room. Just as he was about to step out, he stumbled over a paper bag and picked it up.
“What’s this?”
“Ah, that’s probably from Kang-woo hyung. He must’ve left it earlier.”
Rion recognized the familiar packaging of a health drink as he spoke. Kang-woo, who always worried about Rion like a real older brother, liked to bring him things and fuss over him.
Speaking casually, Rion accepted the paper bag—one of the same kind that had been left outside his dorm room several times, and even brought into the Gate with him.
“That guy really overprotects you.”
“Right? He’s a pain sometimes, but now that I’ve got a matching Guide, there’s no need for him to keep fussing like this.”
Rion’s face twisted at the thought of Yu-won. He’d never once welcomed a vacation since becoming an Esper, but now, the idea of not seeing that annoying face for a few days brought him peace for the first time.
“Alright then. I’m heading out. Get some rest.”
“Take care.”
After seeing the Center Director off, Rion casually unwrapped the drink. As he sipped from the pack, a thought occurred to him.
99 percent. So close to perfect, yet still not. Maybe this outcome was inevitable from the start…
***
It had already been a few months since the rumor of Yu-won and Rion’s pair registration being canceled swept through the Center, yet the two of them were still famous.
Given their abilities, it was natural—but it wasn’t just their skills that made them well-known.
Crash—!
“Here we go again.”
“Seriously, those two…”
People looked toward the source of the noise with practiced nonchalance.
Sure enough, Rion and Yu-won were at it again, arguing right in the middle of the Center.
“The Princess and the Hothead are fighting again?”
“Who else but them would cause a scene like this at the Center?”
Over the past few months, Yu-won had earned himself a new nickname—Princess. It sounded cute on the surface, but in truth, it was far from flattering.
“Does breaking everything in sight make you feel better? Like you won or something?”
“I told you to shut up—”
Nicknamed The Princess of Verbal Destruction, or just Princess for short, no one could understand how a mere Guide with no Esper abilities could be so reckless with his words.
“If Kang Rion didn’t have the constitution he has, and if the Princess weren’t his matching Guide, there’d have been several explosions by now.”
If Yu-won had been another Esper, Rion probably would’ve already decked him—consequences be damned.
But Yu-won was a Guide, with no physical ability whatsoever. If he got hurt, Rion would bear the full brunt of the consequences.
And so, their fights always ended the same way—with Rion shouting in frustration, unable to lay a hand on him.
“Argh!”
“There he goes again.”
“Not like it’s anything new.”
At this point, no one batted an eye when the two argued in the middle of the Center lobby. Their daily fights had become part of the routine.
After today’s shouting match ended, Rion stormed out of the lobby, roaring like a lion.
“Anyway, I heard there’s another S-rank Guide coming in today?”
“Yeah. Two S-rank Guides joining the Center in one year… what’s going on?”
Naturally, everyone’s attention shifted from the usual drama to something new—today’s hot topic was the arrival of a newly assigned S-rank Guide.
“I’ve got a friend at the Guide Training Office—he said the guy looks like a celebrity.”
“Are all S-ranks chosen based on their looks or what? So jealous.”
“How old is he?”
“I heard he’s the same age as Rion. Just got back from studying abroad.”
Normally, a new Esper or Guide joining the Center wasn’t that big of a deal—but an S-rank was a different story altogether.
“Seriously? A returnee too? Why are S-rank Guides so overpowered these days?”
“Guess their powers get filtered by looks and résumé now, huh?”
People chuckled and gossiped freely. At that moment, Rion returned from unloading his rage on Kang-woo and casually inserted himself into the conversation.
“An S-rank Guide, huh?”
“What, you done throwing your tantrum?”
“Come on, I was mad at Lee Yu-won, not everyone else. What reason do I have to yell at my seniors?”
Rion muttered grumpily as he sat down next to the Espers chatting away. No one disagreed—he had a point—so the conversation continued.
“Yeah, S-rank. But still… it doesn’t really concern you, does it? You’ve already got a matching Guide. Don’t tell me you’re aiming for another?”
“Even if someone handed me Yu-won, I’d throw him right back. We’re not paired anymore anyway. Everyone else gets guided just fine by him—so why shouldn’t I look at other Guides too?”
Rion muttered bitterly. So what if the match rate is high and the guiding works well? Every meeting feels like death by stress.
“I’d take a lower match rate and a peaceful guiding session any day.”
“That’s true, but… do you really think lightning’s gonna strike twice in one year? Don’t get your hopes up.”
At that, Rion’s lips jutted out in a pout. Can’t I hope, at least a little?
Of course, he didn’t expect much from the new guy either. He just hoped that since he was S-rank, maybe—just maybe—he’d get a 50% match rate. Or even 40%.
That’d be enough to dump that damn Yu-won for good.
“Hey, is that him? The new Guide?”
“Where?”
At someone’s comment, all the Espers and Guides in the lobby looked up. A man with light brown hair followed behind the Center Director, and at the sound of the murmuring crowd, glanced down from the stairs.
“Whoa. The rumor about his looks wasn’t exaggerated.”
“I think I heard he’s mixed, too…”
The crowd buzzed, captivated by his striking appearance. But Rion didn’t care about any of that. He just stared up silently, not joining in the murmuring.
“……?”
At that moment, the S-rank Guide glanced down, caught Rion’s gaze, and smiled gently before turning back to follow the Director.
Huh? Did our eyes just meet? Or am I imagining things?
“Well, either way, having another S-rank Guide at the Center can’t be a bad thing. Let’s all make a good first impression.”
At one Esper’s comment, the group nodded and began moving on.
Rion also decided it must’ve been his imagination and turned away, rejoining the conversation.
