"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..."

"Oh, okay." He has no idea what time it is so he'll take it on faith that it's late. "Bye then." And he closes his eyes.

"Good night. And. ... Thanks."

She will go make sure his sister knows he's here without company and be sure that he'll, like, get home safe. And while she's there Hye-jin will give her thanks for the excellent food and drink and be generally very Japanese about it. But making sure he is safe is the priority before she runs. It's probably fine, but still.

Yeah yeah it's fine he'll wake up on his own or she'll wake him then he'll teleport on top of Tae-hwan and they'll make out until they've both dealt with their backlashes.

Did not need to know that information but she will nod along like she did! (Good for him but also, ow, that's not a thing she's probably ever going to get with her extremely cold partner!)

And then she'll flee.

She has a proposed dungeon schedule with Lee Tae-gun, if she'd like to follow his insane hours. She can of course refuse to do so, like a reasonable person, and Lee Tae-gun can take care of some other dungeons alone, because he's going to work insane hours with or without guild oversight so they might as well help where they can, but the ones they've selected are stepping up in difficulty and complexity slowly so that they can get used to each other in more situations.

No, she's totally down to follow his insane hours. Honestly, she'd been getting kind of bored. She will require a space heater in the silo they've been using, though. If that's a thing that Quasar will get her, great, if she has to buy it and drag it in herself, fine, but she'll hold it against them until the end of time.

No of course they can get her whatever she needs in her silo, it's all good. They don't need to use the small apartments Lee Tae-gun has been taking her to, either, they have other on- and off-site on-demand silos. They're not going to be as good as ones that are personalised for her specifically but they're the next best thing.

.... Huh.

She's still going to personalize her own silo, have it be entirely in her own name and not beholden to any guild of any kind, but.

.... Surprisingly decent of them??? She was kind of expecting a corporate 'Fuck you, you said you wanted nothing to do with us, so you get no help at all.'

Her contract says that she won't be requiring a guild silo but it doesn't say that the guild isn't allowed to offer her isolation if she wants it. It in fact does its best to, legalese permitting, leave open the possibility for her to use whatever guild resources she might want.

Right. Just...

Nevermind. Thank you, she'll take a temporary Guild silo until she's got her own sorted out to her satisfaction. Stocked with these amenities. If one is available with a fireplace then that would be great.

Yeah absolutely.

...does she want it to be shared with Lee Tae-gun? It'll be harder to outfit one that's good for both Kim Hye-jin and him, given the way, uh, temperature works, but they'll try their best if she wants them to!

No. They are not at that level in their relationship yet. ... Maybe have a bottle of the backlash medications he prefers available, but. No, this is for her.

(Ugh. She is now reminded of why she doesn't want a guild silo, even if it's more convenient...)

Sure sure can do.

And then they can... clear some dungeons together, he supposes?

Yes!

She's downright peppy about this, though she does check on him and make sure he's okay. She is still concerned for him. Backlash from their first time out together wasn't that bad?

It wasn't. Honestly, she carried him so he basically didn't use his powers at all, relatively speaking, which he can admit out loud was probably good for him. At least now that he's proven to himself that he can adapt to having a partner again quickly enough that he will not be making a fool of himself, he'd be having a lot more trouble admitting problems he wasn't already most of the way to solving or at least certain that he could.

Objectively speaking it's not surprising that the most powerful esper in Korea isn't taking any credit for her work, but...

... He's also not attempting to protect his, as Hideyoshi would say, 'masculine dignity.'

Huh. Weird. She appreciates it, though.

Anyway! Dungeons. Kim Hye-jin is, as it turns out, a total workaholic who actively enjoys her job. Wheeeeee a partner who can make judgement calls to use his powers in more than just the most basic ways and the one she tells him to do! Amazing!!!! She was missing out for years, apparently! This is objectively really fucking sad, but look, she didn't realize it had gotten that bad until it has now stopped!

Tae-gun also, actually... really likes his job, it turns out. Once he's no longer moping about having failed at something and is used enough to his backlash having decided to have a target that he can correct for it, he... likes it.

And boy howdy he's good. It's one thing to read about it and see the very few occasions when he's needed to use his powers in public and it got recorded and a whole 'nother to witness it in person. He's in his element when he's fighting, he's really good and getting better with practice at using only and exactly the amount of power necessary to achieve their goals, he's amazing at battlefield tactics (at least in these "easy" dungeons), and it's clear very quickly to a discerning eye that he's much less about power than precision and cleverness.

She loves precision and cleverness!! Oh, she loves it so much!!! Honestly, for Hye-jin, this is in many ways better than sex. She is so happy with him, and is very, very obvious about it!! Next to him she's a bright bundle of joy and fire that is gleefully setting him up for precision and cleverness once she has a good feel for his tricks.

With exposure to her, it becomes obvious that she's packing a lot more power than she usually displays, it's just that actually having too much fire is bad. In most situations, precise is just better. But! But!!! With him here! She can cut loose, for more reasons than just the backlash reduction and power magnification! He can just actually cancel her out, or at least put a wall of ice between them and the searing hot, metal-melting inferno that she can call up. Which means she can go so very hot! Eeeheeheeheeheeeeee.

It's after one of these is used to take out a dungeon core that she unconsciously reaches for his hand, grinning madly.

Three things happen, then, in sequence.

One, a jolt of not-electricity runs through them at the touch, even more confirmation that they're so compatible it's the stuff of stories. It's, again, the sort of thing that you have to feel to believe, not even the fact that they can feel each other from as far as they can could really prepare either of them for the strength of the connection. 

Two, he looks at her. He looks at her with, with some kind of expression. It's not the kind of expression you'd want the most powerful man in Korea to point in your direction, not if you valued your safety.