You Are Truly a Beautiful Person
Are stood before me with her top removed, showing me the scars across her back.
Then she looked at me and spoke in a quiet voice laced with a trace of bitterness.
"…I'm sorry. For making you look at something so unsightly. But… I still felt I had to show you. You, of all people."
"…Are."
"Even though you told me I was beautiful… as you can see, this is who I am. A body covered in scars ugly enough to make people flinch in disgust. I didn't want to deceive you with only the face I show the world."
As I listened, I realized the wounds she spoke of were not merely the ones carved into her back.
Those rough, calloused hands I had held before…
And the countless scars I had just seen running down her spine…
Beneath the surface of a woman who looked so beautiful and fragile, pain unlike anything ordinary people carried had left its deep, indelible marks.
Not only on her body, but in her heart as well.
Like the scars on her back…
Or perhaps even deeper still…
In the past, she had thrown herself forward with no regard for her own well-being, driven solely by revenge, and the traces of that path would still remain inside her like open wounds.
And yet…
I felt not the slightest revulsion or rejection at that truth.
No—what I felt in that moment was something else entirely.
It was…
"That's not true."
"Pardon?"
She looked faintly startled by my words. Meeting her eyes, I spoke with complete seriousness.
"They're not ugly. They don't disgust me. No… if anything, they're beautiful. Those scars of yours. They're proof of how hard you've fought—for us. For humanity. Anyone who would sneer at them is the one who deserves to be despised."
"…Jinhyun…"
Her voice trembled slightly at my firm reply. Then, a faint flush rose in her cheeks as she looked at me.
"Are you… are you truly all right with this? Even someone like me… can still look beautiful to you?"
"Yes. Of course. You are a truly beautiful person. More than anyone else in this world."
"Ah…"
At my clear, unhesitating words, tears began to gather at the corners of Are's eyes—as if a knot she had carried deep in her heart for so long was finally coming undone.
Watching her, a quiet smile found its way to my own lips.
So even if she never showed it, she had a complex about this… Honestly, as a fellow soldier, I feel nothing but respect.
The marks of someone who had fought to protect humanity, her country, and her family.
No matter how ugly they might look on the surface, from where I stood—knowing better than anyone what they truly meant—they felt less like blemishes and more like medals of honor, testifying to everything she had given.
But then…
"…Hm?"
In the next moment, Are rose from her seat and began walking slowly toward me.
As she came almost nose-to-nose with me, something I had somehow failed to keep in mind slammed back into my awareness.
Namely…
That Are was still bare from the waist up, standing right in front of me with her bare skin on full display.
She was wearing a bra, yes—but if anything, that only made the sight more intensely provocative.
Watching her approach like that, I felt my heart—which I had only just managed to calm—begin to hammer wildly again.
"Uh… Are…?"
"Then… there's no problem anymore… is there?"
She whispered it in a voice so thick and honeyed it seemed to drip with sweetness.
Thinking back, the words I had just spoken must have released some kind of limiter inside her.
"Haa…"
Are exhaled a breath heavy with raw excitement. Then, slowly…
With a hunter's heavy strength I had no hope of resisting, she planted her hands against me and began pushing my body back into the sofa.
Her gaze fixed on me was sticky with intent—utterly different from the melancholy woman who had just been speaking of her scars. This was Are at her most alluring.
Caught between lingering bewilderment and a heartbeat that refused to settle, I could only stare.
W-what is this… D-don't tell me… am I really about to…?
For a moment I felt like a frog about to be swallowed by a snake—and even so, my eyes drifted of their own accord to Are's chest, framed by her bra.
Up close, the black bra was embroidered with unexpectedly ornate patterns…
And beyond it, her full, beautiful breasts…
Looking at them, a fierce, instinctive desire to touch them seized me.
And then—
"Ah…!"
In the next instant, Are slowly lowered herself onto me, settling her body over mine.
At the same time, the soft, full weight of her chest pressed against my own.
Even that simple contact carried a sensation so soft and so hot it felt as if it might melt my brain—overwhelming and intoxicating all at once.
"Jinhyun…"
She called my name softly. Her voice was sweeter than I had ever heard it, and I found myself looking up into her face.
Are watched me with the intent gaze of a cat. Her cheeks were flushed a deep red, and in those gleaming crimson eyes, an unconcealed flame of desire seemed to burn.
Seeing her like that…
I moved as if it were the most natural thing in the world—following pure instinct as I slowly reached up toward her hair.
The soft silk of it under my fingers. Carefully, I drew her face down toward mine.
Understanding exactly what I meant, Are closed her eyes.
And then…
Chup…
What I felt next was a sweetness I had never experienced once in my entire life.
In the spark that flared at the edge of my lips, I pressed harder into the kiss, devouring her mouth—and Are answered in kind.
"Haa… ahh…"
The first kiss of my life…
But this was nothing like the light, slightly awkward first kiss of ordinary young people.
This was not merely lips moving against lips. Tongues tangled. Fluids were exchanged. It was a dense, adult kiss through and through.
A sensation that made the connection between us feel absolute and undeniable.
Swept up in that sweet vortex of feeling…
I carefully reached out and began to caress her breast.
The soft fabric of her bra, and the yielding flesh beneath it.
Are showed not the slightest resistance. On the contrary—as if welcoming it—she pulled me harder against her and kissed me with even greater passion.
For a stretch of time neither of us could have measured, the two of us traded that dense, heated exchange…
And then, a little later…
Are slowly drew her lips away, reluctance plain in the motion.
"Haa…"
A scorching breath spilled from her mouth. That heat only drove my excitement higher—
And Are, as if she could no longer hold herself back, began tugging at my shirt like someone possessed.
But then—
"Let's kill this love! Ya Ya!~"
A ringtone that murdered the sweet atmosphere on the spot.
Under ordinary circumstances I would have ignored it—but we were still on active escort duty. A call reaching us now meant something had happened.
Both of us scowled automatically and, with no other choice, slowly got to our feet.
Then, thick with regret and irritation, I answered the phone.
"Aide! Are you looking right now? Outside the window!"
"What? Outside the window…? What are you talking about—!"
Unable to make sense of Glass's words, both of us turned our heads toward the outside.
And then…
"Oh, hell…"
"W-what… is that…"