Chapter 15: A New Uniform, A New Hope

After being promoted to B-Class, I received a new uniform.
When I was a C-Class, the uniform was white, but this time it was a light sky-blue that reminded me of a clear sky.

The higher the grade, the darker the uniform color became, and Taewoon’s, being an S-Class, was black.
I wanted to wear the same color uniform as him someday, but I knew it was a wish that would never come true.

Still, I was happy to have been promoted and to be able to wear the B-Class Guide uniform.
Wearing the new uniform made my promotion to B-Class feel real.

I first went to the team’s exclusive room, where I was congratulated on my promotion by Team Leader Park and the team members.
My steps felt unusually light as I headed to the B-Class training room instead of the C-Class one.

After my promotion to B-Class, the training method changed.
From B-Class and above, Guides and Espers formed training partnerships and trained together.
I also became the training partner of Esper Kim Seongju, who had recently awakened as a B-Class Esper.

Becoming training partners meant we had to do guiding training together, but since I was already Taewoon’s exclusive Guide, we only did physical enhancement training together.

Unlike Taewoon, Kim Seongju was kind.
He looked at me with admiration for being promoted to B-Class and congratulated me.
My self-esteem, which had been dying because of Taewoon, was slowly recovering thanks to the support of my colleagues.

By the time I came out after training in the promotion program room, it was already late at night.

I was heading to the elevator to go home.
I saw the familiar figure of Minhyuk in front of the elevator.
Happy to see him, I quickly approached him.

“Minhyuk!”

“Oh? Shinui, I think your uniform has changed?”

He noticed the change in my uniform at a glance.
I proudly showed off my uniform and shared the news of my promotion.

“Yeah. I got promoted to B-Class this time!”

“You should have called me when you got promoted. Congratulations.”

“I couldn’t call because I thought you might be busy. Thanks for congratulating me.”

A smile naturally spread across my face at his sincere congratulations.
We got on the elevator together.

“Are you going home now?”

“Yeah. I’m tired from training late.”

“Then I’ll give you a ride to the dorm.”

“Ah, I don’t live in the dorm anymore.”

“Then where do you live?”

“I’m living at Esper Taewoon’s house.”

At my words, his expression changed to one of concern as he looked at me.
It was probably because of Taewoon’s infamous personality.

“Shinui, you were Esper Hyun Taewoon’s exclusive, right? Then I’ll take you there. I want to talk longer since it’s been a while.”

I also wanted to talk with him for a long time, so I nodded.

I explained the situation to the manager and took his car home.
Minhyuk and I talked about various things, and eventually, we started talking about Taewoon.

“I heard you don’t get along with Esper Hyun Taewoon. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay now.”

Everyone at the Center already knew that Taewoon and I didn’t get along.
Perhaps that’s why they often sent me looks of support and pity.
I hated the looks of pity, so I tried to act as nonchalant as possible.

“If it’s too hard, you should think about breaking the exclusive contract.”

“Is there a way to break it?”

Although he treated me like I was invisible, I didn’t want to break my exclusive contract with him.
He also didn’t seem to want to break it at the moment.

“Yeah. You can imprint with another Esper.”

At his words, my stomach immediately churned, and a wave of rejection washed over me.
I had never even thought about imprinting with another Esper, nor did I want to.

“No. I like how things are now.”

Despite my words, he still looked worried about me, but it was an unwanted concern.

“You look really tired.”

“I’m tired because I just came from training. I’m really fine.”

It was true that my body had been damaged in the process of raising my grade through strenuous training.
But the B-Class promotion gave me the driving force to not feel that any of it was difficult anymore.

“That’s a relief, then.”

Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of my house.
Minhyuk dropped me off in front of the apartment’s main gate.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“Rest well, and call me right away if anything happens.”

“Okay. Get home safely.”

I closed the car door and only went up after watching the car drive away.
I unlocked the door and went inside, and the smell of cigarette smoke hit me.
He was sitting on the living room sofa, drinking and smoking.

“I’m home.”

At my words, he gave me a quick glance.
I barely suppressed the cough that was about to erupt, covered my nose and mouth, and headed to my room.
Then, his sarcastic voice from behind stopped me in my tracks.

“Are you happy now that you’ve been promoted?”

The sneering tone of his voice made me feel slightly offended without me realizing it.

“Of course I’m happy.”

“They say Guides are crazy about Espers. I guess you’re no different?”

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

I couldn’t understand the intention behind his words.
I had never guided any Esper other than him, nor was I in contact with anyone else.

“It seems like you are. You seem to be messing around with some other Esper b*stard lately. Just focus on my guiding.”

He intentionally blew smoke in my direction.
A cough burst out of me without me knowing.
Even seeing me in distress, he ignored me and continued to smoke.

His behavior was cruel, but I couldn’t ask him to stop smoking just for my own sake.

“I haven’t messed around with any other Esper. And I told you to smoke on the terrace.”

“It’s my house. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”

At his words, I had no choice but to go into my room.
I had no idea why he was angry.
Perhaps he was misunderstanding that I was playing around with other Espers after my promotion.

Since I was always coming home late because of the promotion program, it was a situation where he could easily misunderstand.
It seemed I would have to clear up the misunderstanding tomorrow.
Though I didn’t know if he would listen…

On days when he was angry, my mood was down all day, so I tried my best to forget what had just happened.
But in the end, I became gloomy and sat on my bed for a while, wallowing in depression.

During the promotion program training, a research staff member suddenly came in.
When I asked what was wrong, he relayed a summons from Dr. Yoon.

I stopped training and went straight to his research lab.
He was waiting for me, looking at a tablet PC.

“Guide Shinui, you’re here.”

“Yes. What did you call me for?”

He moved to the round table next to the bookshelf and gestured for me to sit.
I sat across from him.

“I heard you were promoted this time. Congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Doctor.”

“It’s all thanks to your efforts, Guide Shinui. We’re currently conducting an S-Class project, would you like to participate? I see potential in you.”

“An S-Class project?”

At the words ‘S-Class project’, my eyes widened as I looked at him.
He continued to speak, smiling at my face.

“It’s a project aimed at S-Class promotion. It’s composed of only excellent professional researchers.”

S-Class.
It was a dream-like grade for me.
And it was also a grade I desperately wanted right now.

“Is it… possible for me?”

“Of course it’s possible.”

If there was a possibility, there was no reason to refuse.
Honestly, if I could become an S-Class, I felt like I could do anything.

“It’s a secret Association project with a small, elite group, so only you and I should know about its progress and situation.”

“Then I shouldn’t tell Esper Taewoon either?”

“No.”

His words about not telling Taewoon bothered me, but for me now, it was a project I had no reason to refuse.
The thought that I could surprise him later when I became an S-Class made me nod without hesitation.

“I can keep a secret. I want to participate in the project.”

“Then I’ll take that as your participation, Guide Shinui.”

“Yes. Thank you for suggesting it, even though it’s a small, elite project.”

“Not at all. There’s something special about you that’s different from other Guides.”

“I’m happy you see me that way.”

I was very grateful to him for allowing me to participate in the project.
He, still with a smile on his lips, showed me the tablet PC screen.

“Then shall we first look over the project’s confidentiality agreement?”

He showed me the electronic contract.
I checked the clauses one by one as I listened to him.
It was a simple contract.
It stated that everything about the project was to be kept confidential and that a mental-type Esper’s ability would be used to maintain that confidentiality.
It was written that the specific ability used was confidential, but it didn’t matter as long as I became an S-Class.