Chapter 25: Wrapped in the Colonel’s Coat

“Still, there’s such a thing as dignity.”

“Oh? Dignity.”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles looked sideways at Lee Juju, smiling in lazy circles as he stared at him.

Lee Juju knew very well that, having just woken up and greeting the two with a sleepy face, he wasn’t exactly in a position to talk about dignity.

But going outside in pajamas was a different matter altogether.

“Wait,”

Colonel Shan said in a flat voice.

He had already opened the door and stepped outside.

When Lieutenant Colonel Miles continued to move at an unhurried pace, Lee Juju, inexplicably frustrated, reached out and pushed him in the back.

“Hurry up, go already!”

“All right, all right.”

With a laughing voice, Lieutenant Colonel Miles allowed himself to be shoved along by Lee Juju.

After chasing the two men out, Lee Juju let out a long sigh and looked up at the nearly empty coat rack.

There weren’t many decent clothes to choose from.

It couldn’t be helped.

When he had been forcibly relocated from the facility, all he’d brought with him was the clothes on his back.

Well, that and the ice spray and steel hammer he’d been holding at the time.

Putting back on the transitional-season coat he’d been wearing while on duty felt oddly uncomfortable, as if he’d been wearing the same thing over and over again.

For the past month, he’d been too busy just surviving day to day to care about how he dressed, but lately he seemed to be running into Colonel Shan more and more often…

More than that, Lieutenant Colonel Miles was a striking contrast to how half-dead he’d looked just a few days ago.

His red hair was slicked back neatly with hair gel, and the coat layered over his uniform was clearly of high quality, making it obvious that he paid attention to his appearance.

Even Colonel Shan was the same.

He wasn’t as excessively dressed up as Lieutenant Colonel Miles, but true to his meticulous personality, he wore even his uniform cloak without omission.

Standing beside men like that while wearing this brown coat felt strangely embarrassing.

In the end, after a long moment of deliberation, Lee Juju stepped outside wearing plain black slacks and an ivory knit sweater that Michael had bought him to celebrate surviving a month.

The gazes of Lieutenant Colonel Miles and Colonel Shan Pei, who had been leaning against the wall chatting, landed on him at once.

“That took longer than expected. Aren’t you a bit too concerned with keeping up appearances?”

“That’s not it. It’s just…”

Provoked by Lieutenant Colonel Miles’ teasing words, still accompanied by that lazy smile, Lee Juju was about to say it was because he had no clothes, but stopped himself and shut his mouth.

‘How am I supposed to say I don’t have clothes without sounding pathetic?’

On top of that, the two of them were soldiers.

No matter how well-dressed they were, they still wore uniforms like school uniforms, and saying he had no clothes in front of soldiers like that felt awkward.

The place the three arrived at was Colonel Shan’s room.

Just like the first day Lee Juju had come to the company, the colonel’s office was filled with officers and noncommissioned officers.

Out of habit, Lee Juju checked the eye colors of the espers gathered there.

‘Hmm, Russell needs another round of guiding. Frank hasn’t been getting guided lately, so I was worried, but he was just resting. His eyes are a very clear green.’

Suddenly, there was a sharp clack! as heels struck the floor.

The officers and NCOs all stood up and saluted.

Lieutenant Colonel Miles accepted the salute playfully, while Colonel Shan merely dipped his head once with an expressionless face.

Lee Juju’s cheeks flushed slightly.

He wasn’t an officer affiliated with the military like a lieutenant colonel or colonel, nor was he someone important enough to receive salutes from so many people.

As Lee Juju hesitantly tried to drift away from Colonel Shan and Lieutenant Colonel Miles, Lieutenant Colonel Miles noticed and grabbed his arm.

Lee Juju immediately recoiled in protest.

“Do you think it’s a common experience to receive salutes standing next to Colonel Shan?”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles said with a mischievous grin.

He had clearly noticed how uncomfortable Lee Juju felt.

“Ah, let go.”

Lee Juju muttered quietly, but judging by the silence filling the colonel’s office, the espers inside had probably heard every word.

The already quiet room grew even quieter, and Lee Juju’s face turned bright red.

The soldiers kept sneaking glances at the guide who looked especially small standing beside the tall Colonel Shan and Lieutenant Colonel Miles.

Guide Lee Juju, whose embarrassment had reddened him all the way to his forehead, fidgeted with his lips before pretending nothing was wrong and looking away.

Smiles of fond amusement spread across the faces of the officers and NCOs, whose personalities had long since hardened from drilling soldiers and risking their lives suppressing gates.

Ever since Lee Juju had settled into the infirmary and begun guiding, he’d been roaming the base as if it were his own home.

And from that moment on, the Ghost Company had fallen in love.

They felt like they could even eat vomit straight from Lee Juju’s hands if he told them to.

Just watching this tiny guide scamper around was enough to make him adorable.

The cream-colored knit matched his pale skin perfectly, and…

Several officers narrowed their eyes and glared at Lieutenant Colonel Miles as he teased Lee Juju.

That flirtatious-looking lieutenant colonel seemed completely smitten too.

“That’s enough, Miles.”

‘Well done, Colonel!’

In one heart and one mind, the officers and NCOs silently cheered for Colonel Shan.

They couldn’t let the company’s guide be stolen by a flirt.

Wide-eyed like an angel…

No, Lee Juju looked up at Colonel Shan.

“The reason I called you all here is that an inspection team from the Center will be arriving soon.”

“Ah, has time passed already?”

Sergeant Michael muttered as if he had a headache.

Chief Warrant Officer Rascal also turned with a grave expression to speak to nearby NCOs.

“It should pass without any special issues, sir. We can just hide Lee Juju-nim for a while.”

“But there isn’t really a place to hide him…”

“Do we really need to hide him?”

“Center inspections usually involve espers, so he’ll be discovered one hundred percent.”

“Ah. I didn’t think it through, Warrant Officer.”

Colonel Shan watched the company members discuss countermeasures with an expressionless face.

When no concrete solution emerged, a brief silence followed.

“Then shall I take charge of him?”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles said with a beaming smile.

Sergeant Michael stared at him with obvious reluctance and replied in an unenthusiastic voice.

“…Yes, well.”

“That’s not allowed!”

Even though everyone knew there weren’t many alternatives, voices of opposition burst out from all sides.

“Why not? I’ll take good care of him.”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles, wearing a sly expression, went on to deliver a roughly five-hundred-character vow about how well he would take care of Lee Juju, but the officers and NCOs mostly ignored him, snorting dismissively.

Lee Juju, who had been staring blankly at the now-noisy colonel’s office, noticed Colonel Shan walking steadily toward somewhere inside the room.

Only then did Lee Juju realize that he’d been standing stupidly near the doorway the whole time, and he felt awkward.
Lieutenant Colonel Miles was already seated on a sofa among the others.

‘There’s… no seat for me.’

Being the topic of debate over whether to hand him over or not was embarrassing, and standing around awkwardly like this was uncomfortable too.

He considered slipping inside and sitting somewhere, but squeezing into the middle of officers in the midst of a heated discussion wasn’t easy.

“Hey now! Even if you oppose it that much, the final decision will be the colonel’s anyway.”

“The colonel will never allow it!”

“Are you the colonel? Are you?”

At that moment, Colonel Shan, who had gone into the room, approached Lee Juju again.

Feeling something warm drape over his body, Lee Juju reflexively looked down at his shoulders, only to find Colonel Shan silently putting a thick, fur-lined coat on him.

“Your arms.”

With a vacant expression, Lee Juju lifted his arms as ordered.

Whether it was Colonel Shan’s coat or not, it was far too large on him.

“This seems kind of big…”

“…”

Even at Lee Juju’s small voice, Colonel Shan said nothing and methodically helped him into the coat, fastening the buttons carefully.

His body, which had been chilly with only a knit sweater on, gradually warmed.

When Colonel Shan stepped aside after finishing, all the officers and NCOs who had been arguing with Lieutenant Colonel Miles were staring in their direction.

Lee Juju’s cheeks began to burn again.

“You looked cold, so that’s a relief,”

Colonel Shan said, dipping his head once with a blank face.

Lee Juju could tell that beneath that expressionlessness, the colonel was quite satisfied.

“You definitely need a coat.”

“You went out with Juju-nim and Shankriti and didn’t even put proper clothes on him. What were you doing?”

“We were feeding him when something came up, so it just… no, Captain Russell. Are you protesting against me now, a lieutenant colonel?”

“It’s not a protest, just an observation.”

Colonel Shan glanced around the colonel’s office, then walked inside with Lee Juju, now bundled up tightly.

“Ah! Please sit here, Colonel.”

“Very well.”

Lee Juju blinked.

Colonel Shan took the seat Lieutenant Frank had vacated, and Lee Juju ended up sitting in the one empty seat left behind, the colonel’s seat.