"You do! If you have preferences feel free to state them and I may or may not take them into account."

"I like mushrooms."

"Then I shall proceed undaunted."

"My disapproval would have been truly ruinous to your plans, surely."

"Well I do still have my people-pleaser tendencies."

Haru hums a little two-note acknowledgment and returns his attention to his computer.

Jaeha cooks.

Then he serves himself and Haru.

Then he... fidgets.

Then he says, "Turn down the professionality?"

"- on the emails - oh, uh - sure?"

"Huh? No. I mean—with me. About now. You're—being very patient and stuff. The Haru who writes your blog is not a very patient man."

"Sometimes I sit on a post for months! Also I'm not sure I'd describe 'immediately getting into how we can get you back into the field saving people' as 'dropping the professionalism' since like that's kinda my job."

"I suppose. But still, it's, like—one meta level up, the thing where—maybe I'm being oversensitive again."

"You, oversensitive, never." Omnomnomelette.

"That's better!"

"Gotta stop hiding my light under a bushel or something because, insert Sesame Street theme song, you like me just the way I am, maybe dialed up twenty percent for safety margin?"

"That might be very useful."

"If I run out of sarcastic one-liners whatever shall I do?"

"—the sarcastic one-liners aren't really the thing. Just, you know, I don't—need considerateness right now, I guess. Or want it. I, uh..." He doesn't know what he uh so instead he will drink some juice but maybe Haru will come up with what he uh.

"Okay, so, how about getting you back in the field, then," Haru shrugs, "as far as I know you haven't gotten your own agent and there is in this case an argument for us to share so we should get you onboarded with Paula and pick a target intensity for your first time out and then coordinate so nobody there is expecting not to have any mad convict psychics appear at their workplace, and roll out?"

"I'm assuming you'd be coming with me to the dungeons, yes? Though also I, uh..."

"...wow this is embarrassing but maybe I should... wear a mask...?" Like some kind of western esper. Ridiculous.

"I'll be coming with you every time, yes. What would the mask be for, in case a dungeon victim recognizes you from the news?"

"Or anyone outside, or the media, yes."

"- oh, they've tightened up media access, we can easily get your presence, like, off the record unless there's an incident."

"...we can? That's. That would be a lot of tightening."

"Wait. It... was because of me, wasn't it. And Kim Hye-jin."