Her Rough and Warm Hands
The downtown streets had a restless, crowded energy about them.
Arriving there, I stepped out of the Lamborghini Veneno that always drew every eye around it, and looked at Are standing beside me.
Dressed more brightly than usual, she was so beautiful that she automatically captured not only my gaze but the stares of everyone else as well.
Over a white dress that clearly revealed her figure, she wore a matching brown cardigan.
Like Sooyoung, she had a chest that left nothing wanting when it came to captivating men's eyes.
A waist without a single ounce of excess fat, honed as a hunter.
And the firm hip line supporting it all.
Looking at her—radiating such an elegant and beautiful presence that walking beside her felt almost presumptuous—I somehow automatically felt a little intimidated.
Unlike Are, whom anyone could immediately judge a beauty, my face was, to put it generously, merely average.
I thought my body wasn't too bad as a former soldier, but in all my life I'd never once been told I was handsome.
On top of that, my style wasn't particularly good either, so I'd never been popular with women at all.
Walking with Are like this, I started to feel like I'd become the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.
Yeah… we don't really look like we match.
As I was feeling a little bitter over what might have been a trivial matter, I glanced at Are's face and automatically began to think something.
Looking at her like this, her face is identical to Sooyoung's… but the fundamental impression is quite different. Are has a glamour and elegance that Sooyoung doesn't have…
I felt a little guilty for continuously comparing Sooyoung and Are without meaning to, but given how identical the two looked, it seemed inevitable that I'd automatically measure them against each other.
That said, the attraction I was feeling toward Are in this moment wasn't solely because she resembled Sooyoung.
Regardless of Sooyoung, Are is a beautiful person in her own right… and she has a kind heart too.
She was the one who had given me a sense of direction in my somewhat aimless life after discharge, and the one who was warmly embracing the trauma I'd felt through my guild life.
In that sense, I felt gratitude toward her along with personal affection, and I also wanted to get a little closer to her if possible.
Despite some fatigue, the reason I'd come out to this occasion that seemed like a date of sorts was for that reason.
Then, looking at me as I was thinking those thoughts, Are carefully spoke.
"Shall we get going, then?"
"Yes, of course."
Her usual seemingly blunt demeanor. But looking at her like this, I could sense a slight feeling of anticipation lying beneath.
She seemed to be trying her hardest not to show it, but having been buried in work and finally coming out downtown after so long, she appeared to find it hard to hide her joy.
Looking at Are, whose mouth corners kept rising and falling slightly, I spoke first to ease the tension a bit.
"You said we should go to the department store first, right?"
"Yes, I want to look at some fall clothes there… and also…"
With those words, Are glanced at me. Then, for some reason, she cut herself off, turned her head slightly, and continued.
"Well, let's just go for now. This way."
"Okay."
Following Are's lead as we moved. Though it was a weekday, the nice weather meant quite a few people were coming and going downtown, and among them I often saw what looked like couples.
People holding hands or linking arms without any self-consciousness even in front of others.
Having always been single, I usually felt a bit envious when I saw people like that, but in this moment, the fact that a beauty enough to make me not feel that emotion was walking beside me filled me with a strange sense of satisfaction.
Then…
"Jinhyun."
"Yes?"
The next moment, she looked at me and slightly held out her hand. Unlike just before, with a somewhat expressionless face, she looked at me and said in a slightly stiff voice.
"There are too many people. If we keep going like this, we might get separated. And since the department store is still a ways off… would you hold it?"
"H-hold… you mean… your hand?"
"…"
Without answering my words, she simply nodded slightly.
For a moment I felt like her face color had changed a bit, but the face of the woman before me right now seemed to radiate the same cold composure she showed when heading into battle.
In other words, it felt like she was earnestly appealing that she was saying this in a truly serious tone.
I felt a strange sensation, but decided to play along with what she wanted for now.
"Hmm… yes, alright. It's true that losing each other in a place like this could get a bit troublesome."
And so, I carefully took the hand Are held out.
Separate from her beautiful face and perfect figure, her hand was rougher than I'd expected.
Calluses had formed in places, and the small scars etched over them made the surface quite uneven.
But holding her hand like this, rather than discomfort, I began to feel a sense of pity.
Are's hand was rough even compared to the S-class hunters I knew.
Through this, I could once again recall that she had lived a desperate life in the past, consumed by madness and a thirst for revenge as she faced the Abysses.
This rough hand of hers… was like a remaining trace of the pain from those days.
She really… went through a lot, just like she said before. It's heartbreaking. How did someone this pretty and gentle end up…
Indirectly feeling the pain she must have endured, I unconsciously gripped her hand a little tighter.
And at the same time, I felt more clearly… the hard yet warm sensation of her hand.
Wanting to soothe even a little of the pain contained within it, I began walking forward through the crowd together with Are, who had suddenly started moving quickly ahead.
Are, heading toward the department store while holding Jinhyun's hand.
But in this moment, honestly, her mind held almost no thoughts about the department store, nor about the things she would buy there.
Jinhyun… is holding… my… my hand… like this…
The hand she had held out while straining with all her might not to show anything.
Carrying the desire for what couples supposedly do—walking hand in hand—Are had succeeded in proposing it while maintaining a poker face by somehow recalling the bitter memories she'd experienced on the battlefield.
With plenty of people on the street, it was a suitable enough excuse.
Having somehow succeeded in holding hands, Are was briefly seized by a rapturous feeling as if she were flying through the sky.
A deep sense of happiness welling up from within her heart.
Even though it was a goal achieved under a convenient pretext, the fact that she had been able to get one step closer to this person was more than enough to make her feel good.
However…
In this very moment, Are had taken a critical hit from Jinhyun's completely unexpected strike.
At some point, Jinhyun had suddenly put strength into his grip and was firmly holding her hand.
Not simply squeezing tightly… but an action from which some unidentifiable emotion and will could be felt. Are, who had been barely maintaining her composure, suddenly felt her mind go hazy.
Cracks began to form in the poker face she had barely managed to construct, and her heart pounded madly as it set her face on fire.
But even so, she couldn't let Jinhyun catch her like this.
Thinking that if that happened she would probably die of embarrassment on the spot, Are had no choice in this moment but to move as hard as she could toward where the department store was.