Chapter 10: I Asked For Docile Not Twenty

“Do you know how old I am?”

Jin-yeop, with an expression of utter absurdity, alternated his gaze between the document and the planner before rubbing his face with his hand.

He was at a loss where to even begin pointing out the problem.

No matter how remarkable an A-class Esper he was, this was a remarriage.

Moreover, he was ten years older than the other party.

The first digit of their ages was different.

The other guy had just put a ‘2’ in front, while he had just turned ‘3’.

Until last year, this would have been a crime.

This was absolutely not a situation to just laugh off.

“Common sense dictates… setting aside my situation and conditions for a moment.

Why would a mere twenty-year-old kid, who just awakened and is undergoing assessment, register with a matchmaking agency?”

Honestly, this was the most incomprehensible part.

Even if married relationships were beneficial for Guides, there was no reason to choose marriage at such an early age.

No, if he clearly knew what choices were beneficial for himself, marriage would be even less likely.

A simple partner contract would be sufficient at that age.

Of course, a partner contract wasn’t an easy decision to make either.

Since guiding was based on physical contact, after facing numerous urgent situations, feelings could develop even where none existed.

Once feelings developed, it couldn’t remain a simple contractual relationship, and developing into lovers was the natural progression, but this wasn’t always romantic either.

There were cases where people were in a partner relationship simply due to a high match rate, but each had different lovers.

Although rare now, in the past, affairs and cheating arising like this were common.

Without a partner contract, it was frequent for a Guide on temporary dispatch duty at the Guide Center to fall for another Esper during free dating, or for an Esper to one day claim they found a higher match rate and abandon their Guide.

Anyway, with such emotional entanglements frequent, Awakeners had difficulty with normal dating.

This was why married couples were preferred over partners.

At least in a legal marital relationship, you could claim alimony from the other party.

Partner contracts were somewhat weaker in legal effect in these aspects compared to marriage.

But no matter how many reasons you listed, a twenty-year-old seeking a partner through a matchmaking agency made no sense.

Did young, energetic kids not date because dating was hard?

Wasn’t it the current generation that perfectly raided dungeons with their ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends?

“It’s not that matchmaking agencies have no advantages.

They find partners based on matching data, and you can keep trying until someone with your desired conditions appears.”

“…..”

“But twenty years old is a bit much.

No, even if a twenty-year-old can register with a matchmaking agency, I don’t want to be matched with him.

I didn’t specifically set an age limit because I wasn’t considering someone younger than me.”

This is too much.

Jin-yeop swallowed those words inwardly.

But his expression alone must have conveyed the meaning clearly.

At Jin-yeop’s firm expression, the planner smiled awkwardly and spoke.

“But, the person who best fits the conditions you set is this one…”

“The condition I set was only A-class or above…

Ah.”

Jin-yeop frowned heavily as a memory flashed through his mind.

One word he had irritably thrown at the planner while being asked various questions for the matching.

[I don’t need anything else, just bring me the most docile one, no… candidate.

Please.]

Jin-yeop let out a hollow breath.

Saying to bring a docile one didn’t mean bring a clueless kid who just stepped into society.

“What I meant was that I hoped for someone with a gentle and calm personality, not that I wanted such a young partner.”

What did they take him for, some shameless bastard…

Jin-yeop’s head ached.

With the throbbing headache, Jin-yeop just wanted to leave this place quickly.

“Anyway, let’s forget this ever happened.

The other party probably accepted for fun anyway.

He probably wanted to hear firsthand about the juicy rumors the whole world is buzzing about from the person involved.”

“B-but, he’s on his way right now.”

“What?”

“Lee Eun-ru-ssi is on his way.

That’s why we rented out this entire cafe.”

No wonder there wasn’t a single soul in sight.

Jin-yeop no longer had the energy to respond.

The whole thing was handled with lightning speed—no, it was like roasting beans in a flash of lightning.

Was this an unspoken plea to just match him with anyone and get rid of him?

At this rate, he might end up live-streaming his shitty married life with Kang Jung-hoon to the other party throughout the entire matching process.

“Don’t misunderstand, we found the most suitable candidate considering both parties’ conditions.”

“Did the other party even want a divorcee with no kids?”

Jin-yeop asked snidely, but the planner showed no sign of offense.

“That’s not it, but he preferred an older partner.”

“…..”

“Really.”

Even if he preferred older, at most it would be a year or two older.

No, if he registered with a matchmaking agency in the first place, maybe he considered up to five years older.

Not that he knew if twenty-five-year-olds registered with matchmaking agencies.

“I’ll meet him.

But I’d also like to meet others.

Today, it just seems discourteous to send him away without meeting.”

“Yes, yes.

Understood.

We’ll prepare immediately.”

At Jin-yeop’s frowning approval, the director and planner immediately stood up, bowed, and fled the scene.

Jin-yeop watched their retreating figures with an expression of disbelief, then shifted his gaze back to the document.

‘Born under an unlucky star, no matter how many times I’m reborn, it’s the same.’

How did he end up being the one to teach a fresh twenty-year-old the bitter taste of marriage?

He might even end up resolving to stay single after hearing Jin-yeop’s story.

Jin-yeop sighed and skimmed the history written on the document.

Still young, there wasn’t much recorded.

His parents were ordinary office workers, and since he was still under assessment, he had no experience working at the Guide Center either.

The only noticeable parts in the almost empty document were the other party’s age and face.

“Good-looking.”

Do ID photos usually turn out this well?

Jin-yeop stared intently at the small photo.

Slightly wavy light brown hair, sharp features.

Definitely a face that wouldn’t need to come to a place like a matchmaking agency.

‘With a face like that, even with a low match rate, people would beg him to be their partner.’

He could just fulfill the minimum required attendance days at the Guide Center and live an entertainment life.

A face that would work well even as an actor.

No, actively using the fact that he’s a Guide, just appearing on broadcasts would probably be enough.

As his thoughts reached that point, Jin-yeop’s face naturally scrunched up.

Because it reminded him of someone familiar.

Someone with a decent face who only fulfilled the minimum required attendance days at the Guide Center.

His soon-to-be ex-husband, Kang Jung-hoon.

The saying about living off one’s face wasn’t entirely wrong.

Hadn’t he himself lived off Kang Jung-hoon’s face for ten years?

Thinking about the years he was captivated by that decent face made him shudder.

This Lee Eun-ru candidate, who poked at all the wrong sore spots with just a single document, was completely eliminated from Jin-yeop’s mind.

He didn’t know what possessed him to agree to come here, but he resolved to have at least one cup of coffee for courtesy’s sake and then leave.

His body and mind were exhausted; he had no energy left to sit across from someone and chat away.

“Come to think of it, this is absurd.

Don’t people usually see each other’s profiles first and agree before meeting?”

Jin-yeop muttered softly and tightly shut his eyes.

His mind was filled with nothing but the thought of diving into a soft bed and sleeping soundly.

Just then, sensing someone approaching, Jin-yeop snapped his eyes open and lifted his head.

What came into view was a man with a radiant smile.

“Cha Jin-yeop-ssi?”

At the gentle yet weighty voice, Jin-yeop unconsciously shot up and faced him.

The moment he saw the man, tall enough that even standing, he had to tilt his head back slightly, Jin-yeop swallowed hard and thought.

‘They must have taken that photo with their feet.’

His handsome looks were so startling that words wouldn’t come easily.

At the same time, all sorts of conjectures ran wild in his mind, tangling and fighting with each other.

‘Is there a flaw somewhere?

If so, where exactly?

Is he an older-woman—older-man killer?

Is he after money?

No, that’s not it.

Maybe he actually has a divorcee fetish or something…’

“Are you Cha Jin-yeop-ssi?”

Jin-yeop, who had been spacing out, quickly nodded at Eun-ru’s polite question and extended his hand for a handshake.

“I’m sorry.

Yes, that’s me.”

“Nice to meet you.

My name is Lee Eun-ru.”

He immediately grasped Jin-yeop’s outstretched hand.

At that moment, Jin-yeop’s eyes widened as he looked at Eun-ru.

The instant their bare skin lightly touched, the foggy, stuff feeling in his head suddenly cleared, and he felt like he could breathe.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t even remember the last time he received guiding from Kang Jung-hoon.

Of course, since Jin-yeop had barely done any dungeon raids during the marriage, there hadn’t been a recent need for guiding.

As his body lightened so quickly he couldn’t collect his thoughts, Jin-yeop unconsciously gripped Eun-ru’s hand tightly, then came to his senses and relaxed his grip.

“Uh, well…

I’m, I’m sorry.”

“I heard during training that fire-type Espers benefit from receiving guiding even during ordinary times.”

Jin-yeop tried to let go of Eun-ru’s hand, but instead, it was firmly gripped, and he couldn’t escape.

Eun-ru even naturally slid his fingers between Jin-yeop’s, interlacing them.

“You must not have received guiding for a long time.”

“I apologize.

If you could let go of my hand…”

“I guess this is what a high match rate feels like.

I don’t even feel like I’m guiding.”

His firm, large fingertips lightly brushed against Jin-yeop’s hand.