Magic on the Dead Chapter 19

What? At the continued nonsensical question, Hajin let the beer he was holding in his mouth trickle back into the can. He wiped his damp lips and widened his eyes. The person who had actually uttered the absurd words simply lifted his gaze nonchalantly from his chest to his face.

‘Did I mishear?’

Am I completely possessed by a lust demon? The reason the question “Are you mixed race?” felt somewhat impure was probably because…

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you correctly. What did you say?”

“Are you mixed race?”

So I heard correctly. Hajin threw a bewildered glance and then peeked behind him. Jeffry and Park Chunbeom were still lost in their duet of snores. Even after confirming that his companions were asleep, he somehow felt self-conscious and the decibel level of his voice naturally lowered.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon, was that question just now directed at me?”

“Yes.”

He had clearly opened with the words ‘Mr. Do Hajin, too’. This meant it was in the same vein as when he had asked him in the bathroom earlier if he was mixed race… What is this?

Hajin rolled his eyes, trying to figure out his intention. He tried to observe his biological reactions, but he couldn’t see anything from Eden right now.

‘Is he saying my dick looks big too? All of a sudden?’

No matter how skilled he was at mental magic, he wasn’t actually capable of telepathy, so Hajin tried to infer the intention of his question but soon gave up.

Eden muttered as if to himself towards Hajin, who looked somewhat confused.

“I guess you’ve never heard that before…”

His reaction was one of having asked something unnecessary. Hajin, without realizing it, glanced down at his own lower body and bit his bottom lip. Ah, this is strangely hurting my pride.

“Don’t assume. It’s not like I’ve never heard that kind of talk before.”

Of course, it was the first time he had heard it.

“Aha.”

The corners of Jung Taegeon’s mouth, which had shown no change in expression, crept up.

“Well, anyone who saw Mr. Do Hajin’s chest would have thought that at least once.”

…Chest?

Hajin furrowed his brow at Eden, who was suddenly talking about his chest. Eden, noticing that he wasn’t getting the point at all, kindly added an explanation.

“I’m talking about the size and color of your areolas, Mr. Do Hajin. They’re large and plump, and a light pink color. Strawberry milk-colored, shall we say.”

Hajin’s closed lips slowly parted. Could his face really burn up like this from just a few sips of beer? He didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol, but his cheeks were burning hot.

Meanwhile, Eden added, like an emotionless robot reciting lines from a play.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. It’s purely out of curiosity. It’s difficult for ordinary Asian men, especially adults, to have such a light color for their nipples like you do, Mr. Do Hajin. Whether it’s the influence of hormones, they’re mostly a dark brown color like chocolate…”

“No, no.”

Hajin cut him off, waving his left hand frantically. Shame boiled up inside him. He felt like he wanted to dig a tunnel down to the Earth’s inner core and hide.

“Please shut your mouth for a moment.”

Meanwhile, Jung Taegeon rolled the unopened beer can on the bed. Hajin’s body flinched at the cold sensation that touched his thigh.

Hajin, feeling like he couldn’t take it anymore, shot up from his seat. Even as he frantically gulped down the beer he was holding, he felt the illusion that his whole body was on fire.

A sense of defeat washed over him. He couldn’t believe that he, a master of social maneuvering who would be sad to be called second-best when it came to being slick, had been KO’d by such a simple joke. Was this revenge for the magic show earlier? Or was it because I was the one who first spouted nonsense in the bathroom about being mixed race…

“That… mixed-race comment, I made it first, so I’ll apologize. I didn’t mean to look, it was just because we were showering together. It just didn’t look like a Korean size at all, I mean, well, anyway, I’m sorry.”

As Hajin frantically paced in the same spot while offering his apology, Eden replied coolly.

“You have nothing to apologize to me for. What man would be offended by being told his dick is big?”

Hajin crushed the beer can he had emptied in one go and put a hand to his forehead. Right, your dick is big…

“…Yeees. If that’s the case, then I’m glad.”

Was it because he had suddenly poured alcohol into his practically empty stomach? Hajin felt a little dizzy and sat down again, taking his place against the wall next to the TV.

“For your information, I’m not of mixed race.”

Eden’s smiling voice followed.

I get it, you’re the great one… Hajin didn’t answer further and closed his eyes. He placed his right hand on his one bent knee and let out a deep breath.

As he continued to breathe from his lower abdomen, he heard a rustling sound. The silhouette of Eden, who had gotten up, flickered before his eyes. What is he doing? When he opened his eyes a slit, Eden had taken a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and was handing it to Hajin.

“Drink.”

“…It’s okay. We have to save water.”

“Then drink a little at a time when you get thirsty.”

Hajin, keeping his eyes half-open, looked up suspiciously at Eden, who was showing uncharacteristic kindness. When their eyes met, Eden sighed and tossed the cards he had gathered from the bed onto Hajin’s lap.

“From now on, try to refrain from alcohol as much as possible. It’s a luxury item, so it’s useful for bartering, but drinking alcohol in a disaster situation is no different from suicide. It might seem to quench your thirst immediately, but it only robs you of moisture.”

“…….”

“You probably know this, but you can survive for three weeks without food, but you can’t last even three days without water. It’s basic common sense, so be mindful of water management.”

There was an edge to his words. Hajin, at the conversation turning serious again, lifted his half-closed eyelids.

He turned his gaze to the plastic bags of water on the nightstand. It was a water reservoir that Eden had made in preparation for the water supply and drinking water, which could be cut off at any moment. They were dozens of water bags made using the plastic bags Hajin had packed in his suitcase.

“Ahem.”

Hajin, feeling embarrassed for no reason, let out a dry cough. Feeling his mouth suddenly go dry, he carefully opened the water bottle and put it to his lips. He drank only enough to moisten his mouth, treasuring even that.

Come to think of it, the man, being a former elite special forces member, would be more of an expert than anyone on survival strategies.

Hajin put down the water bottle he had sipped from like a bird. Eden, who had been standing in front of him, was now sitting on the single bed again. Hajin scratched the back of his head and hesitated.

“You seem composed, Mr. Jung Taegeon.”

Eden tilted his head towards his left shoulder, as if trying to gauge his meaning. Hajin, seeing his questioning face, added an explanation.

“Actually, I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion, but strangely, whenever I close my eyes, I only think of zombie faces and scenes of people dying… The card practice earlier was also in the hopes that I might feel a little better.”

Although he tried to act as if nothing was wrong, every time Hajin recalled the scenes of people dying, he would feel nauseous and have to vomit into the toilet several times.

Even after coming here, he could occasionally hear screams for help from outside the window, unable to tell if they were auditory hallucinations or real. Every time, his heart would clench tightly and cold sweat would trickle down his back. Even if he took out his lip balm from his suitcase and applied it, his lips kept getting chapped and dry.

On the TV that had been on since morning, the news report he had checked earlier was playing endlessly on mute. This whole situation just… felt intensely unreal.

Eden, reading Hajin’s confused expression, offered some indifferent advice.

“I’m pretending to be composed. Fear is a natural phenomenon that all humans experience. I’m no different.”

Eden leaned his upper body forward and stared intently at Hajin’s still-flushed face.

“But if you do it right, it’s also possible to use it.”

The fear felt from the threat of death is nothing more than a survival instinct, and it only serves to draw attention to potential injuries or dangers. The calm and confident voice lodged itself in Hajin’s ear.

“…How do you use it?”

“It’s simple. The more anxious you are, the more you run. You have to run to a safe place and wander in search of a way to survive.”

Eden leaned his body back and finished his words.

“It means that it would be better for you to be making plans or countermeasures in the time you spend whining about being scared.”

Hajin’s eyebrow twitched as he listened attentively. The word ‘whining’ bothered him, but he could clearly understand what he was trying to say. Fear and anxiety are perfectly normal phenomena, and he was telling him not to get bogged down by them but to use those feelings to survive.

Somehow, it felt strangely comforting, to the point that it was rather upsetting. Hajin felt his anxiously pounding heart gradually calming down.

“But you haven’t even decided where you’re going, Mr. Jung Taegeon. We’re in the same boat when it comes to not having a plan.”

“Undue haste makes waste.”

At the English sentence that flew by quickly, he furrowed his brow.

“It’s one of the rules of the unit I was once a part of. It means that excessive haste causes waste. Whatever you do, make your decisions carefully.”