Chapter 30: A New Contract

Hyun Taewoon was smiling as brightly as the flowers.
The moment I saw his face, I tried to close the door, but he quickly caught it.

“Shinui-ssi, good morning.”

“Why are you here, Hyun Taewoon-ssi?”

Seeing his face first thing in the morning was not a very pleasant experience.

“I came to pick you up to the Center. And this is a congratulatory gift for your S-Class Guide awakening.”

He said, blushing slightly as he handed me the bouquet.
The scent of the flowers lingered around me, but it felt as suffocating as the smell of the cigarettes he used to smoke before the regression.

“I don’t like flowers.”

“You don’t like flowers?”

“No. And I have no intention of going with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s uncomfortable.”

I removed his hand from the door and closed it.
I could hear his voice from beyond the door, but I ignored it and called the Center staff.

Fortunately, when I opened the door after getting ready to leave upon hearing that the staff had arrived at the hotel’s main entrance, he was still waiting for me by the door.

I had a feeling, but I was annoyed to see him waiting.
The flowers from before were gone.
It seemed he had gotten rid of them after I said I didn’t like flowers.

He had a look on his face as if he wanted to talk to me, but I ignored him and walked to the elevator.

When I arrived at the hotel lobby on the first floor, a Center staff member was waiting for me.
As I got into the staff’s car and headed to the Center, his car followed behind.
It was getting on my nerves, but I decided to ignore him, thinking it would be enough.

When I arrived at the Center, I was taken to the basement, not the ground-floor test room I had been in yesterday.
For a detailed grade test, I was supposed to visit the International Association, but this time, they said a physical-type Esper had moved the test machine to the Center.

The basement hallway was filled with researchers, guides, and Espers.
Every time I moved, they cautiously moved far away.
It was a similar sight to when Joo Wonjae and Hyun Taewoon had their matching test.

In the room I was guided to, Dr. Yoon and the Center researchers had already arrived and were waiting for me.

“Guide Shinui, you’re here. Did you have a comfortable night?”

“Yes. I slept well, thanks to you.”

“That’s a relief. The Association President is also here today.”

I had been a part of the Association for three years, but this was the first time I had met the President.
It seemed certain that being an S-Class was very important to the Association.

I greeted the Association President under Dr. Yoon’s guidance.
Surprisingly, the President looked younger than I had expected.
He smiled and offered a formal greeting.

After a brief greeting with the President, I began the re-test in front of dozens of Center managers and Hyun Taewoon.

The International Association’s grade test glass dome was larger and thicker than the one at the Center.
When I went inside, I even felt a sense of suffocation from the pressure.

I sat on the chair placed in the middle and waited for Dr. Yoon’s words.

• [Guide Shinui, we will now begin the test. It will be over faster than yesterday. Please make yourself comfortable.]

“Yes.”

No sooner had Dr. Yoon finished speaking than the airflow inside the dome became rough.
My wavelength also showed unstable movements, but it soon began to suppress the airflow in the dome.
This was a new sensation, so I was also flustered.

Irregular airflows occurred and violently struck my body for a while.
It felt like being in a fierce typhoon, and the intensity of the pressure gradually increased to the point where I couldn’t breathe properly.

When the inside of the dome became calm, as if it had entered the eye of a storm, I heard Dr. Yoon’s raised voice.

• [Shinui-nim, you have currently recorded the highest score among all S-Class Guides!]

Dr. Yoon said, unable to hide his excited voice.
Along with him, I heard the joyful voices of the researchers.

Just like yesterday, I was congratulated by everyone, but my face had an expression that was the complete opposite of theirs.

I still couldn’t accept the fact that I was an S-Class, but I knew that now that the test result was S-Class, I couldn’t undo it.

After my S-Class grade was confirmed, I immediately moved to the Association building with the Association President to sign the contract.

It was the same as yesterday, but I wasn’t happy at all about becoming an S-Class.
When I had so desperately wanted it, I couldn’t rise no matter how hard I tried, but now that I didn’t want it, I was an S-Class.

If I were a C-Class, I could live a life relatively similar to a civilian’s, but as an S-Class, I had to be loyal to the country.
However, I didn’t want a life of servitude.

When we arrived at the Association’s reception room, the President’s secretary had already prepared the contract.

I carefully examined the contract in front of the President and people who seemed to be executives.
It was practically a lifetime contract, but I would be able to amend it to my advantage.

“If there are any parts you would like to amend, please feel free to speak.”

“First of all, I do not wish to be anyone’s exclusive.”

I first brought up the thought that had been on my mind in the car.
Right now, the clause related to being an exclusive was the most important.

“I understand.”

“And I have no intention of guiding Esper Hyun Taewoon.”

“…For what reason?”

At my words, the President looked at me with a surprised face, as if he had heard something unexpected, and asked with a puzzled expression.

“There is no reason. And I heard that there are Espers and guides who move overseas.”

It was information I had heard from fellow guides when I was promoted to B-Class before the regression.
From A-Class and above, there were often cases of moving after receiving a scouting offer from another country.

“To be precise, I heard that it’s possible to sign a contract with another country’s association instead of the Korean Association.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

As I, who had just awakened as a guide, brought up the topic of foreign associations, the President looked at me with an interested expression.

To be honest, I didn’t want to go to another country and live while guiding.
I had said it just to give the President a warning.
Knowing that my existence as an S-Class guide was desperate for the Korean Association, which hadn’t had a single S-Class guide for the past 10 years, I planned to use that value thoroughly.

“I have exactly three conditions. I will not guide Esper Hyun Taewoon. You will prohibit Esper Hyun Taewoon from approaching me. And the Association will not interfere with my personal actions. These are the three.”

“Yes, I understand. However, I would like you to reconsider the matter concerning Esper Hyun Taewoon one more time.”

“My thoughts won’t change no matter how much I think about it.”

I answered firmly, but the earnest persuasion of the President and the executives continued, and in the end, we agreed to discuss it again in two days and concluded the conversation.
For the remaining two days, I will re-read the contents of the contract and organize the contents to be amended to propose new conditions that are advantageous to me.

I was heading to the elevator to meet the temporary Center staff member who was waiting for me in the Association’s first-floor lobby.

A familiar tall man was walking from the opposite direction.
I recognized him as Sung Yohan even from a distance.
I was puzzled because he should have been on an overseas assignment at this time.

Sung Yohan greeted me first, just like when we first met.

“Hello.”

“…Hello.”

“You must be the guide who awakened as an S-Class this time.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

I didn’t know how he knew, but there was a high probability that my story had already spread throughout the Association and the Center.

“Because you’re holding an S-Class exclusive contract. I’m Sung Yohan.”

“Ah…. I’m Lee Shinui.”

I then hurriedly put the contract I was holding in my hand into an envelope.

“Guide Lee Shinui, how do you feel about becoming an S-Class?”

Sung Yohan, who was watching my actions, asked with a smile.
At his sudden question about my feelings, I honestly told him what I was thinking.

“I’m neither happy nor sad.”

“It sounds like you’re saying it’s not that great.”

As Sung Yohan said, it was closer to not great, but I didn’t reply.
He looked down at me, who was silent, and then whispered as if telling a secret between the two of us.

“Still, it’s better than being a C-Class, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

The treatment was incomparably better than when I was a C-Class.
But when I compared my current situation with my situation just before I died, it was also painful.

“Let’s see each other often as fellow S-Classes.”

“Yes. Then I have someone waiting for me on the first floor, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Okay. See you at the matching test next time.”

I just nodded my head and headed back to the elevator.
Sung Yohan was a man I felt uncomfortable with for some reason, so I didn’t want to get close to him, just like with Hyun Taewoon.

Hearing him say ‘see you at the matching test’ painted a picture of the future.
Since I had become an S-Class, I would probably have to do a matching test with the domestic S and A-Class Espers.
Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

The Center staff member who was waiting for me in the first-floor lobby took me back to the Association hotel.

The Center staff member said that a dedicated manager would be assigned to me from tomorrow, and that a celebration party would be held when the contract was signed.
I pressed my temples with my hand at the news that was tiring just thinking about it.

As soon as I entered the hotel room, I soothed my stuffy stomach with cold water and leaned my tired body against the sofa.

I let out a long sigh and looked at the contract envelope I had thrown on the sofa table.
Not wanting to waste time, I reached out and scanned the contract again.
There were so many toxic clauses.
I checked the parts to be amended one by one with the ballpoint pen provided in the room.
I was checking the items one by one like that.

The doorbell rang.
No one was supposed to visit, so I was puzzled.
For a moment, I thought it might be a reporter, but since reporters couldn’t come up this far, I had no choice but to go to the front door to check who it was.

“Who is it?”

“Shinui-ssi, it’s me. Hyun Taewoon.”

At the name Hyun Taewoon, my annoyance flared up, and my eyebrows furrowed.
His wavelength came in through the front door and clung to me, adding to my displeasure.

“How did you get here?”

I had definitely told the staff to prevent him from approaching.

“I heard from the Association President. Why did you say you wouldn’t guide me?”

The Association President seemed to be a rather light-lipped person.
A variable had arisen in the important confrontation with him, which was annoying.
I tried to suppress my rising irritation and continued.

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Please open the door. I want to talk to you face to face.”

“I don’t want to. And I’ll take this opportunity to say it. I dislike you, Hyun Taewoon-ssi. I don’t want to be close to you, and I don’t want to get involved with you if possible.”

“Why? I’m the one who knew you were an S-Class from the beginning. I’m sure our matching rate will be high too.”

A laugh burst out at his words that he knew I was an S-Class from the beginning.
He had said the same thing before the regression, but I was a C-Class then.

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Then at least tell me the reason.”

“Does one need a reason to dislike someone? Please leave.”

I turned around and called the Center staff.

“Hyun Taewoon-ssi is causing a disturbance in front of my door right now. Please make sure he can’t approach me anymore.”

The Center staff member, who didn’t seem to know he had come, hurriedly said okay.
He was also capable of teleportation, so he might have entered using that ability.

I could still hear his pleading voice from outside.
Seeing that, I was reminded one by one of the things he had said before the regression.

He had said he was anxious every day because there was no guide with a high matching rate for him and no guide of a suitable grade in a situation where his level was always dropping due to side effects.
So he was happy that I, with my high matching rate, had appeared.

The current him must feel like a lifeline has been thrown down to him, now that I, an S-Class guide, have appeared.

If I were in his shoes, I would have whispered sweet words and acted with feigned kindness to win me over.

But I was not the me from before the regression, and I had no intention of being deceived by his false appearances.