"Hunny gunny," she repeats, delighted.

He giggles and hiccups. "'Scuse me." More wine. "Don't say that in front of him. Or do, he doesn't hate it, he just gets embarrassed."

She cackles. "Of course he does. I love it. That's amazing. Is that just you or like, is that a nickname??"

"Oh that's everyone. 'S 'cause he's really cute. He's got a resting bitch face and newbies always get intimidated but then they get to know 'im and he's a softy."

"Was I supposed to be intimidated by him? Oops. Missed that Quasar memo," she muses, wryly. "Maybe it's the knowledge that I can just melt whatever ice he makes, but, like. He's pretty obviously an idiotic self destructive softie?"

"So self-destructive," Woo-young sighs. He yawns enormously and hiccups again, then clonks his forehead on the table. "Such an idiot." He turns his head to the side to rest his cheek on the table and grabs another piece of their nearly empty sushi platter. "I've been trying so hard... hmmmm..."

"Yeah. Speaking as someone with more pride than sense, he is definitely a kindred spirit. So, uh, sorry?"

"Maybe you'll be the best person to deal with 'im. He keeps... throwing himself at stuff. Works himself to the bone, refuses to get a partner on principle like a dumbass." Hiccup.

"... What principle????" she wonders, astonished. "Ugh - don't tell me, it's not actually my business, and I think the thing he needs is space and patience more than anything else. Like a, a deer. Or a rabbit. Heh, in English that'd be hunny-bunny."

He snorts then stars giggling. "Yeah I can't tell you, just ask 'im, or, no he wouldn't say. Idiot." Sigh. "Good luck with him. You're gonna need it, he's a tough nut to crack."

"Thank you, he certainly is." Whether that's to 'idiot' or 'tough nut to crack' is an exercise left to the reader. Wine sip. "It's going to be so hard not to call him hunny-bunny though. Because that's totally him, shy little bunny with a resting bitch face and ice knives."

"Yyyyyup." He sighs again. "...I worry for him. He's... I've seen his physicals. It's not... not pretty."

So, the ordinary thing to do here is overshare a little because you're drunk, but for Hye-jin, who is not drunk but is competently pretending to be at least a little, it's calculated. All of what she's saying is true! This is what Ideal Drunk Hye-jin would be doing! But it's calculated.

"It's really, really not. I'm - sort of torn between wanting to get him in a good space so he feels safe to go find whatever partner he wants - be free, little bunny! - and also general protectiveness? But like. That'll be soooooo awkward long term. 'Hi honey, how was your day,' 'Good, barely even acknowledged my simmering resentment of your guild, what about you,' 'Oh, you know, didn't get myself killed pretending I'm a space alien, but there's still time.'"

"Well, you can't be friends with all of your partner's friends," he says, reasonably, then hiccups again. "He'll have to get used to it."

"Well, yes, but... Maybe it's different here." She kind of doesn't think so, anymore. "I guess I'll have to at least work to be cordial."

It's very obvious she doesn't want to be.

"Hey, you're cordial to me, that's like, half the battle. ...one percent of the battle. .......something, I don't know what our headcount actually is right now. Hmmmm..."

"It's not the individual people I'm worried about? I'm sure they're all lovely. It's just the... overall expectation and entitlement of things from me. Come, be friends, do it for the guild, so on, and. I'm so sick of that."

He sits up straight suddenly as if shocked. "Who's saying that? I'ma fight them."

"The - Quasar president? You're going to fight your own guild's president??" She snorts. "Well, good luck, let me know if you need backup??"

"Oh, him," he says dismissively, and lays down in the table again. "I already yelled at him. Yelled a lot, that dumbass. 'M surrounded by dumbasses, hmm."

"You -" she starts, then stops. "... you fought the president???" For her??? He barely knows her!! That's very much risking his job, holy shit! That's - that's -

No one's ever done that for her before????? It was all platitudes and sympathies and empty words and - everything else that made her want to flee Japan.

"Yeah. The way he treated you wasn't right. Like that very same day, I went over to where he was and he said that sunbae was going to forgive him and I just went you nincompoop what about her." Snort. "He'd just kind of assumed you'd be fine with it or like, yell at him yourself if you were pissed off? Like, no, what, you were strangers, he can't just treat you like a friend before even saying hi to you..."

"Wait, that's how he treats his friends, what the actual fuck, that's worse - I mean. Thank you. I. I appreciate it."

She's. Actually having trouble not tearing up a bit. Um. She'll just. Have some more wine. Um.

"Yeah, sure." He shrugs. "And I mean, it's fine, right, if you're friends with someone sometimes you're an ass to them and you fight and make up later and it's fine. Like he didn't realise how much of an ass he was being? But with friends it's fine to be an ass sometimes." Yawn. "Ughhhh whatever let's stop talking about him I'm getting mad at him all over again and it would do no one any good for me to punch him."

"I don't know, I'd kind of enjoy it," she says, a little wryly. But. Despite her clever wit, she's still sure having some feelings. She should not be having feelings, feelings are not what she signed up for at this time! This is why she only gets fake drunk! Unfair to have real feelings when being fake drunk.

"U-um, it's. Getting kind of late." It isn't, really. They'd been chatting for a while, but it's still not really late enough to properly turn in. "Thank you for the drinks and food and company, I should - head home before my aunt gets worried about me. You know, families of espers, they kinda have it harder than us sometimes..."