Magic on the Dead Chapter 15

The car crawled as slowly as a turtle. As expected, the alley was a chaotic mess, and the grotesque freaks loitering here and there created an eerie atmosphere.

“I’ll stop here for a moment.”

Hajin quietly stopped the car and turned off the engine. He wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and turned his head back.

The inside of the van was a total steam bath. The heated breaths and body heat warmed the air like a sweat lodge. It was because Jungbyul, soaked to the bone from the rain, was shivering so violently that they couldn’t even turn on the air conditioning.

“If we go straight for one more block, there’s the motel where Miso and I are staying. They’re connecting rooms, and we have the room keys. My plan is to go there first and make a plan.”

Park Chunbeom, who had been wiping his fogged-up glasses, raised his hand and asked.

“Excuse me, is it okay for us to go with you?”

“That’s what I was about to ask you.”

Hajin shifted his gaze from the back to his side. Eden was untying the rope, which was thoroughly soaked in blood and rainwater, from his arm. Their eyes met.

“What will you do? Will you follow us? If you need to go find another transport plane, we should split up now.”

Even though he knew Eden had no other choice, Hajin deliberately asked for his opinion. Just as he was about to observe the change in his expression, Eden’s lips parted first.

“We’ll be in your debt for a while.”

Hajin’s eyebrows twitched for a moment at the unexpectedly easy and agreeable answer. In a situation where he should have been bowing his head, that unbending neck of his was subtly provoking his temper. For a second, he was tempted to childishly bring up a zero-sum game, like a psycho bargaining with someone’s life.

In fact, a childish yet familiar revenge scenario floated through his mind—something along the lines of how he only had one room with a maximum capacity of five, but there were six people in the car, so one person would have to be left behind.

“…….”

Of course, it was all just a thought. Hajin, having finished his pathetic delusion, straightened himself up again.

“Ahyo… Yes, well.”

Answering vaguely, he frowned and looked beyond the cracked windshield.

The narrow alley was packed with tangled cars. It seemed they could reach the motel without much difficulty if they hid their bodies well among them.

Hajin, who had been observing the zombies’ movement patterns, spoke up.

“Then let’s go.”

The motel stood like a deserted island at the end of the alley, across the road. Being far from the entertainment district and having outdated facilities, it didn’t have many customers. The possibility of it being occupied by zombies? Close to zero.

Hajin followed behind Eden on trembling legs, clutching a box of crackers. Like a string of beads, they all ducked their upper bodies low and crossed the narrow road.

The three-story brown brick building, ‘Easy Motel,’ was right in front of them. The outdated Myeongjo font embedded in the yellowish sign maximized its gloomy aura.

“Th-This is it, right? It looks more like an inn than a motel….”

Park Chunbeom, who seemed a bit tactless, whispered as he helped carry the cracker box. Instead of answering, Hajin just ambiguously lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

Eden, who was walking in front, stopped at the entrance. He swept his stiffly drying bangs up from his forehead and opened the glass door of ‘Easy Motel’ without hesitation.

Blink. The sensor light turned on, as if the electricity was still running. An elevator was right in front, and a reception window was visible to the side. Miso, who came in last, gently closed the glass door.

“Haah, haah….”

“Hoo….”

The group stood in a sloppy circle, letting out the breaths that had been constricted with tension all at once. The elevator was stopped on the third floor.

While Hajin was peering at the stairs, Eden looked inside the reception window. An old man with graying white hair was lying face down on the floor. A river of blood had formed near his head. With this much blood, it seemed unlikely he would reanimate even as a zombie.

Eden quickly scanned the old man’s surroundings for any useful items. Inside the open mini-fridge, an empty water bottle was rolling around, and the wall shelves that held boxes of instant rice and room keys were all completely empty. There were no suitable tools that could be used as weapons.

‘A person killed him.’

Having quickly assessed the situation, Eden turned and lowered his gaze to the floor. Footprints that had stepped in the old man’s blood were stamped all over the narrow hallway and stairs. The motel was already at full capacity, not with zombies, but with living humans.

They took the stairs and arrived on the second floor. The firmly closed guest rooms were mostly quiet, but the occasional sound from a TV, the noise of a shower, and whispered conversations echoed in the hallway. It was a sign that the electricity hadn’t been cut off yet and the water tank was still intact. In many ways, it was the perfect place to regroup.

“Here.”

Hajin, who was looking around the hallway, stopped in front of a door marked 201. Miso stood right next to it, in front of 202, and gestured to Byul.

“Byul-ah, let’s wash up with me and then go over to the uncles’ room. The rooms are connected inside, so it’s safe.”

“Okay. Sounds good.”

As Byul nodded, Eden handed the child over to Miso as if entrusting her to her care. After confirming that Miso and the child had safely gone inside, Hajin took out the key. A dark brown key with a square plastic card attached, marked 201, dangled in the air.

“What era are we in… it’s a key? I thought it would be a key card.”

Park Chunbeom asked, puzzled. He had imagined a well-equipped hotel since it was a connecting room, but it was a motel no different from an inn, with a door that had to be opened with an old-fashioned key.

Hajin, looking sheepish, once again just lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile. He was suddenly embarrassed by the fact that he had gotten a cheap room to pay for the rental, labor, and stage production costs for his magic show.

“It’s old, but it’s clean, at least.”

Even though he was sure no one would be there, he felt a surge of tension for some reason. As he imagined the face of a zombie popping out like a jack-in-the-box, the door quietly opened. As he first stepped into the dark room, blink, the sensor light turned on. The inside of his mouth was dry with tension.

Fortunately, the room was quiet. Only the sound of Miso soothing the child could be heard from beyond the connecting door in the thin wall. The stuffy nicotine smell, characteristic of motels, stimulated his nasal mucous membranes.

Hajin, taking off his stiff leather shoes, inserted the plastic card attached to the key into the slot on the wall. The lights inside turned on.

In the room, there was one double bed and one single bed, and opposite them were a large mirror, a small TV, and the thin door connecting to room 202. To call it a connecting room was a stretch; it was such a flimsy structure that it was practically a large room with a partition wall installed.

It seemed the room hadn’t been cleaned, as the interior was not much different from when Hajin had left. Eden, Jeffry, and Park Chunbeom followed him in.

【Oh, the inside is pretty nice, huh?】

“It’s not bad, except for the red rose wallpaper.”

While the others were offering their critiques, Hajin approached a brown suitcase that was wide open under a small nightstand next to the double bed. A brief sense of relief washed over Hajin’s face as he saw a change of casual clothes and underwear.

‘I’m saved.’

He wanted to quickly wash his body, drenched in the smell of sweat and blood, in cool water. Just as Hajin, who had hurriedly unbuttoned the front of his dress shirt, picked up a change of clothes and turned around.

“Ah.”

Startled by the obstacle right in front of him, he flinched and stepped back. Jeffry and Park Chunbeom were staring desperately at the fresh clothes in Hajin’s hands with teary eyes.

“Mr. Hajin, I’m sorry, but could we also have just one piece of clothing….”

Clumsy Korean words popped out of Jeffry’s mouth as well.

“My body, save, one cloth.”

Hajin, receiving the fidgety men’s gazes with a sour expression, turned his head. A mini-suitcase and a backpack placed on the single bed caught his eye. They were the belongings that Assistant Jinwoo and the youngest assistant had brought.

“…….”

The chance they might come back…. He knew the probability was low, but for some reason, Hajin couldn’t bring himself to touch the kids’ belongings carelessly. After pondering for a moment, he shifted his gaze to the two white shower gowns hanging on the wall.

“For now, you two can wash up and put those on. Let’s wait just one more day… and if the friends who shared the room don’t come back, I’ll give you some clothes to change into then.”

Park Chunbeom, who immediately understood Hajin’s meaning, nodded with a rather somber face.

“I’m sorry we seem to be causing nothing but trouble.”

“No. It’s a situation that can’t be helped.”

Although he tried to speak nonchalantly, Hajin couldn’t hide his own somber feelings. It was because his younger brother Junseok’s face naturally came to mind after the faces of his assistants, whose fates were unknown.

Is he hiding well? Is there a possibility he evacuated somewhere else? Could it be that he stayed there because I said I would go get him, and something bad happened to him for no reason? As various hypotheses sprang up like mushrooms, his head throbbed.

Hoo. Letting out a short sigh, Hajin slowly walked towards the shower. Junseok would be fine. He was a guy who couldn’t stand being in pain for the life of him, so he would have survived tenaciously somehow.

Even if it took a little longer, for the time being, he had to monitor the situation outside and search for a way to cross over to Yong-un City safely. He had to get a new car, and if the roads were blocked, he had to prepare equipment and find a way to travel on foot….

Click. Hajin opened the bathroom door and placed the clothes on top of the toilet. As he finished unbuttoning the remaining buttons and was about to pull off his dress shirt.

“You’re quite forward.”

At the sudden, low-pitched voice, a startled Hajin snapped his lowered head up.