"No? But I'm so charming!" she laughs, even as she's beaten by a pillow.

Yeah, she kind of is.

Woo-young decides to go ahead and schedule a meeting with Fugimura Hana. Waiting isn't going to help with anything, it'll just waste time, and—he doesn't need to rehash the arguments in his head. He knows them. It'll be fine. The fact that he'd been with Tae-hwan for four years and so has very little recent experience meeting new partners is immaterial.

(He's not replacing Tae-hwan. He's not. Not... in the ways that matter. This is only about practicalities.)

(He wasn't in love with Tae-hwan, but he did love Tae-hwan. It's hard to think about. He mostly tries not to.)

And now he... waits.

His prospective partner arrives at precisely the appointed time. She is tall and willowy and coldly beautiful, with long and dark black hair and amber eyes that might remind him of someone in particular.

He's sitting down—he's too backlashed to stand—so when she walks in he looks up at her and...

...he doesn't get confused. Tae-hwan's hair was dark purple, it only looked black most of the time. His eyes were a different shade of amber. And though he was beautiful, he was never cold; he was always smiling, or smirking, or pouting, or rolling his eyes, or grinning, or frowning. It's a mistake to say he was easy to read because he was more like a TV show, no reading comprehension necessary, he was always one hundred percent what and who he was, for all the world to see. If he saw Woo-young like this, he'd scoff and make fun of him for just sitting there slack-jawed.

She really doesn't look like Tae-hwan at all, except for the small ways in which she could be his sister because she does look like him a little bit, and when she looks at Woo-young he does see Tae-hwan's eyes, for a moment.

His throat is too tight, right now, and he can't get a greeting out.

This woman is definitely unreadable, and she bows in a way Tae-hwan never would.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she says carefully, in accented but intelligible Korean. "I am Fumigura Hana."

Right. He's here for a reason. He bows his head. "Likewise. I am Min Woo-young; apologies for not standing up, but I am currently not able to," he says, gesturing at the wheelchair he's in.

He's not sure he can do this. He has to, but he's not sure he can.

She gives an expressionless nod, then steps forward and holds her hand out towards him to take.

Right, then. That's the main thing they came here to do. He takes it.

Just how compatible are they?

More compatible than he is with Tae-gun, but not as compatible as he'd been with Tae-hwan. Definitely compatible, though.

She looks... vaguely thoughtful? Probably? As she pulls away, and sits down.

"Does this meet the level of compatibility you're looking for in a partner?" she asks, as if the whole Japan and Korea thing are not involved at all.

...yeah. Probably.

"Yes, I believe so. How about yours?"

"In typical circumstances, yes. ... Though it depends on how Quasar is equipped to handle an international partnership. I am not currently prepared to move to Korea."

"Are you... planning to join Quasar?"

".... Probably," she sighs, sounding resigned.

"I see." So they'll... need to be teleporting to guide each other.

"...tell me a bit about... yourself, I guess?" This was easier with Tae-hwan. Woo-young didn't even have to ask, Tae-hwan was blabbing about everything and nothing within three minutes of meeting him.

"I'm twenty-two. I awakened five years ago, when I was seventeen. I've had four partners, all of which lasted for over six months." Which is somewhat odd, actually, usually the early ones end more quickly than that, but she doesn't explain further. "My power is emotional impressions, which I primarily use to help people with traumatic experiences. I'm currently working to get a degree in psychology and certification as a counselor."

It's sort of like she's reading a set of cue cards more than telling about herself.

Yeah, it kind of is.

Can Woo-young even... improve on that, though. He's having a hard time mustering up any enthusiasm, and that's not... the best foot to start this partnership on...

Maybe it's for the best? Maybe it'll just be temporary, something to get him functional until he can get... a proper partner again...

How is he going to find a proper partner.

Maybe that's just too much to ask. Actually, it is too much to ask. He just lost Tae-hwan, one of his two favourite people in the world, and, and he's not getting Tae-hwan back, no matter what, but he, he's still.

"...I don't know how much you know about, um, the situation that... has led me to... not have a partner." Because, actually, he should just be straightforward and honest. Then if... if it is temporary, at least Fugimura Hana-shi won't have been working under any misapprehensions about it.

"I am aware," she says, very quietly.

"We were not... romantically involved, but..." He's no longer breaking down into sobs every time he thinks about Tae-hwan, at least. "He was my best friend," he says, lowering his gaze. "And—it sometimes seems like a technicality, to say we weren't dating. And now he's dead and—" Breathe. Breathe. "And you should know that. That I don't, I'm. That I don't know what I can offer. I'll, I'll try to make it work, but—we'd been partners for years. I, I'll probably have triggers I haven't even thought of, in addition to all of the triggers I have thought of. And I don't know if I could be—intimate—with a new person this quickly.

"So. That's where I'm at, right now."

Nod.

"Mine left me," she replies, as if she's talking about the weather.

Woo-young looks up at her, surprised by how he's not even tearing up, and tries to look—interested. He is interested, he's just... not feeling it. But he wants to know. Showing an interest and caring about his new partner's history is the least he can do.

"He - stayed longer than he perhaps should have. I am... not very good... at this aspect of being an esper. The - personal connection aspect with one's partner."

...the person she's reminding Woo-young of right now isn't Tae-hwan, anymore; it's hyung.

And she's lying.

Or, not exactly lying, but—she's doing the hunny gunny thing. One of the hunny gunny things, at any rate. 

"Well, we can... probably figure it out. What, um... do you usually like to do for backlash reduction?"

".... Cuddling is usually very efficient for backlash reduction with minimal discomfort to both parties."