Magic on the Dead Chapter 115

The neatly laid out corpses looked so peaceful that at a glance, they seemed to be people who had fallen asleep.

“It seems they haven’t been dead for long.”

Hajin nodded at Eden’s words. It felt strange to face a fully human-shaped corpse after always dealing with monsters with rotting flesh or unrecognizable forms. Suddenly, the image of Chunbeom lying obediently on the cold dirt floor came to mind.

Eden, who had entered the room first, discovered a plastic pill bottle and a porcelain cup rolling around near the corpses and narrowed his eyes. Judging by the traces of vomit around the corpses’ mouths, it was presumed to be a joint suicide using a drug overdose. They searched the surroundings thoroughly, but couldn’t even find a common will.

“…They must have been a family.”

Hajin let out a sorrowful breath.

“Let’s consider it payment for staying the night and bury them.”

The two men carried out the middle-aged man and woman, presumed to be a couple, and the two young-faced brothers in order. They went out to the forest through a side door connected to the back door and disposed of the four corpses.

It felt as if the past days of the family, who had lost their will to live and were steeped in pessimism and depression, were being drawn in his mind. He couldn’t even imagine how many tears they must have shed before deciding to die together.

In fact, there was a dried tear stain stuck on the cheek of the child presumed to be the younger brother. Hajin desperately tried not to think of Junseok.

After disposing of the corpses, they returned to the traditional house and carefully examined the building. The bookstore was on the right side of the entrance, and a small sign that said ‘Rest’ was hanging on the glass-paned paper sliding door.

Hajin stepped onto the narrow wooden porch where round cushions were placed and scanned the inside. Except for the cafe counter where dessert cases were displayed, all four sides were surrounded by wooden bookshelves.

The books on the shelves, from independent publications to humanities and liberal arts books, seemed random, but they had their own sense of stability. Hajin, who was looking around inside as if enchanted by the smell of paper he hadn’t smelled in a long time, went outside again.

The rest of the space, other than the bookstore, seemed to have been used for a book stay, as neat blankets were folded tidily in rows in the rooms.

After checking the annex, which was equipped with a bathroom and a common kitchen, the group firmly closed the entrance. Fortunately, it seemed they wouldn’t need a night watch tonight.

Hajin, who had finished showering first, gulped down a bottle of mineral water piled up in the common kitchen. The accumulated thirst and discomfort of the past few days melted away like snow. He quite liked the scent of grapefruit shampoo coming from his body and buried his face in his skin for a long while, sniffing.

After a hearty meal of canned tuna and instant rice from the kitchen, the time was already approaching 9 PM. Hajin sat on the narrow wooden porch with Pie and looked at the sky with a troubled face.

Byeol, who had diligently finished her share of the laundry by herself, came running with a patter and squeezed between Pie and Hajin, then sat down, curling up her small body.

“Uncle, what are you doing?”

Hajin lowered his head toward the child who was looking at him with her big, round eyes.

“Byeol, say ah.”

“Ung?”

“Say ah, and open your mouth like this.”

When Byeol obediently opened her mouth as she was told, he carefully examined the child’s oral cavity.

“You’ve grown so much in just a short time.”

One of the bottom teeth that had been empty was now halfway sprouted. No wonder her charmingly lisped pronunciation was gradually becoming clearer. He wondered if it was just his feeling, but the child’s arms and legs also seemed to have grown a little longer than before.

Feeling the fleeting passage of time, Hajin quickly became gloomy. Just then, a bold voice flew out.

“Uncle, is life hard?”

“…What?”

When he asked back with a dumbfounded expression at the unchildlike question, Byeol pretended to be serious and crossed her arms.

“Is it hard running around in Korea?”

It seemed like a question asking if it was hard to always be on the run. Hajin shrugged at the child who was asking the obvious.

“It’s hard. But you’re having a hard time too, Byeol, and Mr. Jung Taegeon, no, Uncle Eden and Uncle Jeffrey are all having a hard time too. It can’t be helped.”

As soon as he gave a textbook answer, the child pouted and asked.

“A maintenance depot means a place where they fix airplanes, right? I saw it on TV.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I heard Uncle Jeffrey and Uncle Eden talking. We’re going there, right?”

“Yeah.”

After a brief pause, Byeol continued to ask.

“Then we can go to where mom and dad are on a plane now, right?”

Hajin was quite surprised that she had inferred so much just from the adults’ conversations. As expected of a smart child, her ability to assess the situation was excellent.

“That’s right, it’s not long until we get to the maintenance depot, so you just have to hang in there a little longer, Byeol.”

“But Uncle Hajini isn’t coming to America with us?”

“……”

“Can’t you just come with us? Uncle is….”

He was a little more surprised by those words. Hajin tried to compose his expression to look calm, but he couldn’t hide his stiffened lips.

“You can’t because you have to meet your younger brother, uncle?”

Unable to find the right words to answer, Hajin fumbled for a moment. The image of the child crying to the point of exhaustion on the day Miso left automatically came to his mind. Byeol, who was dangling her legs and watching Hajin’s expression, soon lowered her head.

“…have to marry… um… to do that, we have to go together.”

At the small voice that was mumbling to itself, Hajin brought his ear close to the small, plump lips.

“Byeol. What did you say?”

“Umm, well… uncle has to marry me…”

At that moment, a rather irritable conversation could be heard from the room across the courtyard. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was clear that an argument had broken out between Jeffrey and Eden.

As the surprised Hajin’s eyes widened, Jeong Byeol clicked her tongue like a little adult. The child, who was mimicking a worried adult, soon let out a faint sigh, pooh.

“The fools are fighting again.”

The voices gradually got louder. It seemed Jeffrey was particularly agitated. He continued to speak without a break, like a furious rapper spewing English rap lyrics at high speed.

“This won’t do, Byeol. Uncle will be right back.”

“You don’t have to go! If you leave them alone, they’ll make up again.”

“When did those two… fight again?”

“When Uncle Hajini went to wash up alone earlier, and, um, and yesterday when uncle was asleep, they secretly went out and fought too.”

“What did they fight about?”

Byeol shrugged her shoulders like a little old lady again, as if she didn’t know that much.

The fight showed no signs of stopping. Hajin instinctively felt that the argument between Eden and Jeffrey was related to him. The complex and subtle gaze Jeffrey had been giving him these past few days and the long sigh that escaped his lips were clues, if any.

Putting various situations together, Eden must have told Jeffrey that he would stay in Korea to follow him. It was only natural that his best friend, Jeffrey, would get heated.

In the end, Hajin quietly got up from his seat and walked toward the room where the argument was taking place.

Slide! Not long after he arrived in front of the door, his eyes met Jeffrey’s as he opened the paper-paneled sliding door and came out. He scanned Hajin’s face once with a look mixed with annoyance and apology, then quickly turned his head away.

Eden followed after Jeffrey. He cast a curious glance at Hajin, who was standing there blankly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I just suddenly heard fighting…”

Eden gently tidied Hajin’s bangs, which were still damp, as if to say it was nothing to worry about.

“We’re done talking.”

“You were fighting because of me, weren’t you?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

He answered immediately, but he couldn’t hide the deep worry in his brow. It was the moment Hajin, with his eyes half-open, moved his lips to say something.

Jeffrey, who had disappeared into the annex, came out into the courtyard again, stomping. He announced to Hajin and Eden, who were standing side by side, “I’m going to bed first,” and then called Pie and slipped into his room.

Byeol, who had been fidgeting by herself in the distance, also rubbed her sleepy eyes and trudged toward the room where Jeffrey had disappeared.

“I’m going to sleep too! Do uncles have to come quickly too?”

“Come here, Jeong Byeol. You have to give me a kiss before you go to sleep.”

The child made a sulky face, then reluctantly planted a kiss on Eden’s cheek. Then, as she was about to enter the room, her eyes suddenly sparkled and she clung to Hajin’s thigh.

“Should I give Uncle Hajini one too?”

“No. Hurry up and go to sleep.”

Eden lifted Byeol’s body, who was puckering her lips towards Hajin. As he personally escorted the child to the front of the room, Hajin grumbled.

“What’s this. I want to get a kiss from Byeol too.”

“You also need to be clear about your attitude, Mr. Do Hajin.”

“Pardon?”

Hajin’s face showed confusion at the sudden criticism of his attitude.

“It might all seem like a joke, talking about getting married or not, but Jeong Byeol is serious. You could get into big trouble if you underestimate her just because she’s young.”

“No, what… what is there to be clear about my attitude towards a baby….”

Hajin scowled, utterly dumbfounded. While he was grumbling with a bewildered face, his wrist was naturally caught in a large hand.

Eden led Hajin straight to the bookstore. The inside of the bookstore, without a single point of light, was pitch black. He found a lighter from the counter as if he had already noted its location, and lit the candles in the glass jars placed here and there.