Magic on the Dead Chapter 3

“Standby in 5 minutes.”

The assistant standing next to Hajin shared the situation with the staff over the radio. Hajin repeatedly jumped in place, moistening his parched lips with his tongue. Hoo, hah, hoo….

“I think you can get in now.”

The assistant opened the door of the transparent carriage, which looked like it came straight out of a fairy tale, and looked back at Hajin. Following his guidance, Hajin climbed onto the carriage, leaving the noise of the chaotic audience behind him. It was the opening carriage that would be revealed when the red curtain was drawn.

—Before the performance begins, please switch your cell phones to airplane mode. Food and drinks, with the exception of water, are all prohibited, and once the performance starts, please refrain from moving from your seats as much as possible….

The assistant stuck his head back in before closing the carriage door.

“Oh, by the way, Hajin-hyung! You left your phone on the warehouse floor, so I put it on top of the water bottle box.”

“Ah, uh, thanks. I’ll go find it later.”

“You had several calls from your younger brother. I’m just letting you know to check them later when it’s over. Anyway, fighting!”

Hajin nodded and awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth. As the transparent carriage door closed, the anxiety he had been trying so hard to ignore washed over him. He desperately stretched his stiff fingers, clenching and unclenching both hands simultaneously. He mumbled the opening lines he had memorized to death and closed his eyes.

Hello, everyone. I am the magician who will be in charge of your time travel today, Do Hajin….

All the lights went out. The staff members who had been bustling around also vanished at some point. Miso’s voice could be heard faintly and intermittently from somewhere, but Hajin did not open his closed eyes and quietly calmed his nerves.

Thump, thump. The opening music, striking at his heart, rang in his ears. The assistant, Jinwoo, announced the opening of the magic show with witty remarks. He was a guy who was naturally good with words. The sound of the audience’s laughter bursting out boisterously could be heard, whatever ad-libs he was throwing.

Hajin took a deep breath, fumbling with the silver brooch his younger brother Junseok had gifted him.

“Introducing, Magician Do—Ha—!”

Before the words were even finished, the stage curtain, draped with red velvet fabric, was drawn. Hajin, who had been on the transparent carriage, resolutely opened his closed eyes and stood up.

“Woooooow—!!”

The sound of applause rang like tinnitus. Blood was circulating so intensely it made his heart throb. He could not quite tell if it was due to nervousness or if endorphins were rushing through him from excitement. His vision was hazy from the pin-spotlight pouring onto the stage.

At that moment, assistant performers holding a large white cloth ran out. The carriage instantly disappeared behind the cloth and then reappeared. Not even two seconds had passed. Hajin, who was in the carriage, had vanished just like that.

Wow! The audience burst out in gasps, as if they had been struck by a surprise attack. The assistant performers, who had disappeared offstage with the white cloth, once again stomped their feet and ran out. This time, too, the cloth brushed past the carriage as if to envelop it once.

Inside the carriage that reappeared, a large teddy bear was sitting, out of place. The expected figure of Hajin was nowhere to be seen.

The audience members who saw the doll tilted their heads with bewildered eyes. Murmur, murmur. While everyone was looking for the magician’s whereabouts, a mischievous voice was suddenly heard from an unexpected place.

“Where are you looking? I’m right here.”

Simultaneously, the pin-spotlight moved to the second-floor audience seats. The audience’s gazes naturally turned upward toward the gathered white light.

“I am Magician Do Hajin, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

With a resounding opening statement, Do Hajin bowed his head. In terms of physical distance, it was a situation where moving in such a short time was impossible. People once again burst out in admiration at the magic, which was as if he had teleported.

Below the stage, Miso, who had been waiting with an anxious heart next to the screen, bit her lower lip with a moved expression.

While the audience’s applause erupted, the pin-spotlight turned off, and the theater went dark. At that moment, a recorded video began to play on the large screen placed on the right side of the stage.

—The time I am currently filming this video is May 26th, 11:32 PM.

It was just last night. Hajin smiled, showing the date and time on his phone screen. On the screen, he was sitting on his bed in comfortable pajamas, putting on a smooth performance.

—It’s for no other reason than that I have something I must say to the person in seat number 23 of row A. Would you mind uncrossing your arms, please?’

While people were bewildered, the screen switched to a live feed. The camera was pointing precisely at row A, seat 23, showing the seat number. As the camera lens slowly moved up, it captured a foreigner who was hastily uncrossing his arms with a flustered expression. It was Jeffrey.

“Hahaha! Look at that person’s face!”

“Wow, what is this?”

The audience seats were continuously abuzz, as if they could not believe Hajin’s recorded broadcast, which seemed to have predicted the audience member’s action in advance. Laughter-filled admiration and questions erupted from all over the theater.

“Isn’t that a person who was planted beforehand?”

As someone shouted with a laugh, the video, which had paused for a moment, started playing again.

—Now then, person in row A, seat 23. Would you mind saying one card that comes to mind?

As the question was thrown, a live screen was displayed in a split-screen right next to the recorded video. A bewildered-looking Jeffrey was moving his lips over the microphone that a staff member had handed him.

“Um… Ahh… Heart A…?”

Hajin in the video, who had been holding the edge of his hand to his ear as if waiting for an answer, grinned broadly. He immediately picked up a card he had hidden in his breast pocket.

“Wow!! Awesome!!”

As someone shouted, a round of applause erupted from all corners of the audience. The card that Hajin in the video had pulled out was the Ace of Hearts that Jeffrey had just mentioned.

“Everyone, for your information, I am meeting the person in row A, seat 23 for the first time.”

With a smooth comment, Hajin appeared on stage again. The man who had clearly been standing on the second floor was now sitting inside the transparent carriage, stroking the teddy bear’s head. Seeing him teleport once again, people began to stand up from their seats one by one.

On the screen, Jeffrey’s image remained, blinking his eyes as if he had seen a ghost. Eden let out a smirk watching the dumbfounded Jeffrey, and Jeong Byeol and Park Chunbeom also giggled and clapped their hands.

Hajin, having drawn attention with misdirection, opened the carriage door and slowly stepped down onto the floor. Standing in the center of the stage, he opened the performance with his own signature pose, a finger snap. The thumb and middle finger of his right hand slid against each other, and a crisp sound popped out.

Snap!

“Hello, everyone. I am the magician who will be in charge of your time travel today, Do Hajin.”

As someone whistled, people gave a thunderous round of applause and rose from their seats. It was a truly successful opening.

Miso watched Hajin’s situation from below the stage. Surprisingly, Hajin continued with his prepared opening remarks without a single change in his facial color. However, the situation with his left hand hidden behind his back seemed a little different.

Miso, who caught the sight of Hajin’s fingertips trembling like an aspen leaf, chewed on her lip. She muttered to herself toward Hajin, who was struggling to maintain a poker face.

“It’s okay, Do Hajin. You can do it.”

At that moment, a faint static noise reached Miso’s ears. It was a decibel level that was difficult to notice without listening closely. It was as if she were submerged in the deep sea, hearing voices from far beyond the water’s surface…. It seemed to be noise erupting from outside the building, not the lobby. What is it?

With her eyes fixed on Hajin on the stage, Miso slowly moved toward the side door used by staff. The female guide who was waiting in front of the emergency exit was also tilting her head as if something was strange. Thin screams and thick shouts could be heard like auditory hallucinations.

“Is there another event scheduled here by any chance? I was under the impression that our performance was the only one at this time.”

When Miso asked in a whisper, the guide nodded her head.

“Yes, the performance you are using in Hall B is all there is.”

The screams, which had been heard clearly, suddenly cut off. At that moment, a tense sound effect, like the main theme song from the movie ///Mission: Impossible///, filled the performance hall. As the music crescendoed, Miso looked back and forth between Hajin on the stage and the entrance door, as if growing anxious.

Hajin stood in the very center of the stage. Gulp. Swallowing, he fanned out the cards held between his fingers. He was about to draw their attention with some light hand magic and then begin to explain the theme of this performance in earnest.

“Everyone. If you were given a magical ability to travel through time…, where would you all….”

Feeling a sudden dizziness, Hajin caught his breath. As his line was cut off, a pale question mark floated above the faces of the focused audience. Hajin, who squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, shook his head as if to regain his senses. He habitually vanished the cards, diverting people’s attention.

“Where would you like to travel in time?”

The several cards Hajin had been holding instantly disappeared. He rolled up his suit jacket and dress shirt as if to show there was nothing inside his sleeves.

“Would you like to go to the past?”

Then he brought his hands together as if in prayer and pulled them apart. In the blink of an eye, a figurine representing a child appeared in his hand.

“Or perhaps a world before you were born.”

When he clenched his fist around the figurine and opened his hand again, this time, a fairly large dinosaur doll popped out. Hajin, who playfully bounced the dinosaur doll on his palm, swallowed hard.

Heat was rising from the pit of his stomach. He could feel a flush creeping up from his spine to the nape of his neck. It was not a good sign. A drop of sweat trickled down his temple.

“Or, it could be the near future.”

The dinosaur that had been bouncing in the air instantly vanished before his eyes. This time, what landed on his palm was a long cane. It was a seamless switch. He tapped the stiff, brown, old-man-like cane on the stage.

The people held their breath as they watched Hajin, who was standing there with nothing but his body and no table, continuously producing various objects. It was when everyone was gaping at the unbelievably magical sleight of hand, like CGI in a movie.

At the timing when he should have delivered a line, Hajin’s lips were sealed shut. He could not form a single thought, like a person whose mind had gone completely blank. Thump, thump, thump. He could feel his heart rate gradually increasing as the music built up.

Instead of delivering the next line, Hajin reflexively took out the blindfold from his pocket. It was a minimal safety measure to relax his tension, if only for a moment. He tried to ignore his trembling hands and covered his eyes with the black blindfold, blocking his vision.

The people, who noticed Hajin’s intention to perform magic without seeing, burst into expectant cheers.

Miso, who was standing by the side door, widened her eyes in surprise at Hajin’s sudden action. She picked up the radio attached to her waist and tuned the channel.

“Assistant Jinwoo? Was there a blindfold performance in the program?”

Beep—

“…Assistant-nim?”

Beep—

“Jinwoo-ya?”

The signal was clearly going through, but there was no answer. Miso sighed and pressed her forehead. Looking again, the assistant who should have been standing guard on the opposite side was nowhere to be seen. Did he go to the bathroom? Swallowing her rising irritation, she was about to turn back to the stage.

Chzzzk— Suddenly, a receiving tone sounded from the radio. Chzzi, jzzzik….

—Mi, Manager-ni…. Outside, chzzzik— …run….

The reception was poor, as if there was radio interference. Miso belatedly pressed her ear closer to the radio.

“What are you saying? I can’t hear you, say it again.”

—…run away, ji… earli…er video… chzzzik—

“Jinwoo-ya, where are you.”

—Chzik, chik….

“Lee Jinwoo?”

The transmission soon cut off. Miso, who stared blankly at the radio for a moment, chewed on her lower lip without realizing it. Something about this felt strange.

As her sixth sense detected a danger signal, her mouth went dry. It was the moment she turned her body and approached the side door to check the situation outside. The guide suddenly stood in Miso’s way, blocking her.

“What are you do….”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you should go out right now.”

“Pardon?”

“The sounds are getting closer, there’s something strange outside….”

KUNG—!! KOO-GUNG—!!

At that moment, a heavy impact sound echoed from the side door. Miso reflexively crumpled the cue sheet she was holding. Her wide-open eyes slowly turned toward the side door. At the same time, an ear-splitting scream struck her eardrums from beyond the radio.

—Fuck, don’t open the door! The door—!! Lock the door!!!

Before she could even comprehend the meaning, goosebumps ran down her spine. The bloodcurdling shout was also echoing clearly from beyond the door.