Rion blinked, doubting what he’d just heard. Tae-hwan and Hee-soo quickly waved their hands, trying to calm his confusion.
“No, no—I’m not saying dating is the answer. You’ve gotta let someone finish before you jump to conclusions.”
“Ah, yeah, of course. Right.”
Finally closing his slightly parted mouth, Rion nodded. Tae-hwan, looking a little awkward, continued his story.
The two hadn’t started dating out of a romance that bloomed from all their fighting, nor was there any particularly grand reason behind it.
***
“Aren’t they dating?”
“That’s how it starts~ when love begins to bloom~”
“Ah, to be young and in love.”
While the two were genuinely at each other’s throats, the seniors just found it adorable. They’d regularly tease them behind their backs, wondering aloud if the pair was secretly in a relationship.
“So… should we just date?”
“How can you suggest dating like you’re asking what we should have for lunch today?!”
And so, half out of impulse, half out of stubborn pride, they started dating. There was even a bit of hope—maybe this will fix whatever’s wrong between us.
But reality was nothing like a romance drama. Changing the label didn’t change the relationship.
“Wait, your idea of a date is taking me to the market? It’s packed with people and there’s literally nothing to do!”
“Thought we could grab some groceries while we’re out.”
“Do you even know what a date is?! God, this is so frustrating!”
A relationship fueled by nothing but ego and spite was never going to work. Their dynamic hit rock bottom, and even the seniors at the Center—who once teased them affectionately—began walking on eggshells.
“Uh… for this Gate, it’ll be Tae-hwan’s pair… uh…”
“Why are you acting like you’re walking on glass? We’re the Center’s official couple.”
“You seriously need to read the room…”
“Wait, what? You broke up…? Sorry, I’m always the last to hear things…”
“We didn’t break up.”
Still, neither of them said it first—let’s break up. Because doing so felt like losing. And so, time passed with them continuing the charade.
“If that’s how it is, why don’t you just say we should break up?”
“No? I’m not gonna end things over something so petty.”
It wasn’t a romance—it was just an extension of their fights—but both of them clung to that flimsy relationship, stubbornly dragging it along.
That tug-of-war went on until, finally, something had to give. And when it did, it came in the form of a rather intense confrontation.
“Be honest. You haven’t said anything because it’d feel like you lost, right?”
“Oh, please. Like you’re any different. Who are you to say that when you’re exactly the same?”
That kind of pride-driven behavior couldn’t last forever. Eventually, everything they’d bottled up exploded. They were supposed to be out on a “date,” but ended up raising their voices in a restaurant.
“Hey, that couple’s fighting.”
“Are they even a real couple?”
“They’re clearly breaking up.”
“Wait… don’t those two look kinda familiar? Haven’t we seen them before?”
Espers and Guides were technically public officials—fairly well-known—but not usually recognized in everyday life. That said, thanks to their involvement in the recent S-rank Gate incident, the two had gotten a fair bit of media exposure.
“…Someone’s going to recognize us at this rate. Let’s go talk somewhere quieter.”
“Fine.”
They moved somewhere more isolated to continue their argument. As always, the reason for the fight was more or less the same as ever.
“I’m done. Seriously, this is ridiculous. I don’t even know if we can call this dating… let’s just break up. Yeah. Let’s break up.”
Hee-soo was the one to finally say it. Her tone was completely flat, leaving no trace of regret or hesitation.
“But since we’re breaking up anyway, can we at least talk? Just once?”
“About what? You’re just gonna pick another fight.”
“God, you’re so aggravating!”
Hee-soo ran a hand through her hair in frustration, then took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. She was still annoyed as hell—but if they were going to end things, she wanted to say everything she hadn’t said yet.
“You’re so damn good at reading everyone else, so why do you act like a total idiot only around me?!”
“Wh-What?”
“I wouldn’t even be this mad if you were just clueless all the time! But you’re not. You’re great with other people—but with me? You act like a complete dumbass.”
“And what about you? I never said anything ‘cause I figured I should be the mature one—your sunbae, your oppa—but don’t you think you were being way too harsh? You show basic decency to every other sunbae, so why treat me like shit?!”
Even though they’d fought constantly, this was the first time they’d ever actually asked why. Why do you treat me like that?
Their argument continued along the same lines, no different from all the ones before. But as they tried to trace the root of the problem—who started it, whose fault it was—Tae-hwan suddenly raised his voice.
“Come on! Aren’t we a matching pair?! A pair! And you can’t even try to understand me?”
“…First thing you’ve said that actually makes sense.”
The truth was—they had been expecting something from each other all along.
Matching Guide. Pair.
Among Espers and Guides, few words carried more weight than those.
Every rookie had fantasized, at least once, about being matched with someone. What would it be like? Would we get along? Would we be like partners for life?
Of course, reality and fantasy don’t always match—but still. This? This is just too much.
And it hadn’t just been Tae-hwan having those thoughts. Hee-soo had been thinking the same thing.
In the end, they’d both projected their hopes and fantasies onto each other—and that illusion had warped into conflict.
Until one day, it all swelled up and exploded.
***
“All that resentment just built up from having those kinds of expectations. Looking back now, I was just a kid. Barely any experience, and suddenly I’m being hailed as some elite S-rank Esper. I was too busy trying to live up to everyone’s expectations to take care of anyone else.”
“Can’t believe there’d come a day when you actually admit that. I can die in peace now.”
“Then go ahead. Close your eyes.”
Tae-hwan and Hee-soo laughed at each other. After a moment of shared laughter, they continued.
“After that day, when we finally talked it all out… we realized we’d been so fired up over nothing. They just threw two rookies with sky-high expectations straight into an S-rank Gate—of course things went south before we had any time to build trust.”
“Yeah. It all came down to the expectations. Pair, Matching Guide… those words just sound so fancy.”
Rion listened with a serious expression. Expectations—he couldn’t say he’d been immune to them either.
The moment he heard an S-rank Guide was coming, he’d felt a flicker of hope. His matching rate had always been abysmal. Maybe, just maybe, this one would be different.
And when that tiny hope turned into a 99% match rate—how could he not expect something from it?
“Exactly. I didn’t even really know him yet, but it still felt like… I’d found a life partner. Like everything would just work out.”
“But when things start to crack early on, even the smallest stuff feels worse. Didn’t you two get a 99% match rate? That kind of number—it feels like everything should be perfect. So even tiny hiccups start to feel huge.”
99%.
It was surreal. A number that didn’t feel real, and yet was impossible to ignore. At times, it felt more like 99% chance this won’t work out.
“Try talking. Really talking. Lay it all out on the table. You might feel better after.”
“Yeah. Even if you argue, it’s better to say what’s really bothering you than just sniping over random annoyances.”
“Maybe it sounds old-fashioned, but we’ve been through something pretty similar. Just don’t take it the wrong way.”
“No, I… I think this helped. A lot.”
Rion nodded. Come to think of it, every time he and Yu-won argued, they’d both just said what they wanted to say. Neither of them had really tried to figure out the root of it all.
He had wondered, “Why is he only like this with me?” But he’d always figured it wouldn’t change anyway—so he’d never asked.
But now… thinking about last night, maybe if he opened up first, Yu-won would tell him something he hadn’t expected.
Rion clenched his fist, as if making a decision.
“I’ll try.”
“Good. Think of it as a 99% chance it’ll go well. You two already work great together—if you start getting along, you’ll be unstoppable.”
“He’s a bit quiet, but Yu-won’s a good guy. It’ll work out.”
Yeah—99%.
Rion thought of that number. And of Yu-won.
He hoped that by the time they got out of this damn S-rank Gate, the two of them might be… something different.
With that hope in mind, Rion turned to look at his teammates gathered in the distance.
