Magic on the Dead Chapter 56

My body grew hot and stuffy, as if trapped in a steam room. Hajin blinked his sweat-beaded eyelashes. Even as he focused all his senses on the outside, he found himself biting his lip at the sound of Eden’s heartbeat, which echoed near his collarbone.

He pulled his captured arm away and placed his right palm on the rough wall next to Eden’s face, but this posture was strange in its own way. Didn’t it look just like he was pouncing on him?

Their skin, radiating a fiery heat, pressed together through their thin t-shirts. If he took one wrong step, he’d fall and end up showering in filth, so he couldn’t back away.

The faint moonlight that had been hidden by dark clouds reappeared, illuminating the entrance of the culvert.

“Kya-gak… Kiiieeeek….”

Eden turned his head in the direction of the sound. Near the entrance, at least three zombies were estimated to be wandering about. Their upright shadows were as whole as a person’s, suggesting they hadn’t been zombies for long. That meant if they were caught by those monsters, the situation would get quite complicated.

Hajin whispered as if in resignation.

“Those just died recently, didn’t they.”

“Yes.”

“Crazy….”

Zombies in a moderate state of decay are significantly slower and weaker than an average person. That’s why they aren’t very difficult to deal with, but a fiend that has just turned into a zombie is as fast and reckless as an agitated beast. It was common sense he had naturally learned over the past few weeks.

“Thank you for everything until now, Mr. Jung Taegeon.”

“Don’t say such unlucky things.”

Despite Hajin’s overly dramatic farewell, Eden was uncharacteristically on edge. It was because of the two zombies he had faced by the highway guardrail just a few dozen minutes ago.

Judging by the feel of their skin and their smell, they had been in an advanced state of decay, yet their strength and speed were immense. Whether it was intentional or not, they had silently ambushed him from behind without even making the kinds of sounds a beast would make.

‘…Evolution.’

Eden chewed the inside of his cheek, recalling the single word that had casually crossed his mind.

It had only been a fortnight since the zombie outbreak began, but that was a story limited to South Korea. If the cannibal virus in Sudan, which hadn’t even made the news, was the same as the current virus, it meant this damned virus had survived on Earth for over half a year.

Considering the time frame alone, there was a high possibility it had mutated and evolved enough. However, he couldn’t recklessly predict how far its threshold would go, or how the virus’s momentum would change in the future.

While imagining the worst-case scenario circling in his head, the ceiling of the underpass shook as if it would collapse.

Rumble!!

The zombies were surrounding the underpass, running or walking. If by some chance the monsters pushed their way into the culvert, it was obvious they would be caught and eaten helplessly in the filth.

“Ugh, a cramp.”

Just then, Hajin whispered in a strained voice. Eden looked down, but there was no rat to be seen anywhere.

“Where is there a rat.”

“No, no. In, in my leg.”

Hajin was fidgeting as if he was about to fall backward at any moment.

“There isn’t one?”

“Not that animal! My, leg, cramp… ugh!”

Hajin tapped Eden’s chest in frustration. It was a situation where he couldn’t guarantee he’d survive even if he stayed still, but the uneven ground kept making the sole of his foot twist.

As he stood with his weight tensed on the balls of his feet, a sharp pain shot all the way up to his waist in an instant. His toes inside his shoe were curled up and wouldn’t even straighten properly. He couldn’t bring himself to ask to be held, and just furrowed his brow tightly.

Eden wrapped both arms around Hajin’s waist, which was swaying as he barely managed to stay upright. Their bodies pressed together without a gap, from chest and stomach down to their lower bodies.

“Lean on me.”

At the even-toned voice, Hajin placed both hands on Eden’s shoulders without a moment’s thought for his dignity.

“Relax your body completely.”

He nodded his head frantically and buried his face in the hollow below Eden’s collarbone. When he slightly lifted his cramped right leg and supported himself with only his left, his body tilted precariously.

“Hoo, ugh… thank you.”

It still hurt like hell, but thanks to Eden holding his upper body firmly, he felt like he could breathe a little.

“Ugh… hah….”

Cursing the sole and toes of his foot that had curled up like a squid, Hajin panted heavily.

Just then, Eden let out a small laugh. Hajin didn’t miss the meaningful sound and glanced up at him.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

After giving him a suspicious look for a moment, Hajin lowered his head again. While they quietly waited for the storm to pass, the two remained frozen like statues, leaning on each other. But the zombies showed no sign of backing down easily, and just kept circling the area, waiting for their prey to come out on its own.

The number of shadows reflected on the floor of the underpass was gradually increasing. One of them had even come right inside the culvert, cawing, gurgle, gurgle! and getting on his nerves with its strange noises.

“Hnngh….”

As time passed, his left leg, which was bearing all his weight, also began to slowly ache. Noticing Hajin’s pain, Eden whispered.

“Let’s sit down and you can work it out.”

“Sit, sit down? Here? How.”

It was a dilemma where he couldn’t move in any direction, with a zombie in front and filth behind. While Hajin was looking bewildered, Eden slowly bent his knees. Naturally, Hajin’s knees bent along with his.

Realizing his intention, Hajin swallowed a horrified groan. It was embarrassing enough to be standing face-to-face in an embrace, but now it looked like he was about to sit facing Jung Taegeon. And on top of his crotch, at that.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon, Mr. Jung Taegeon? No matter what, this position….”

As he tried desperately to stop him, the zombies seemed to notice the faint noise, and their presence grew stronger. Hajin sucked in a breath and shut his mouth.

Eden sat with his body pressed against the wall as much as possible and adjusted Hajin’s knees, who was squatting awkwardly. Forced into the embarrassing position of sitting face-to-face, the back of Hajin’s neck flushed as if it would burst.

Even when he tried not to be conscious of it, he could clearly feel Eden’s sturdy member beneath his thighs. This was already the second time he had been in such an embarrassing situation.

Just imagining what kind of joke Jung Taegeon would use to tease him this time was draining.

However, contrary to his expectations, he was quiet. He should have spouted some cringeworthy line by now, like telling him to stop rubbing against him, or asking if he wanted to crush him that badly, but his tightly sealed lips showed no sign of opening.

For someone on edge because of the nearby zombies, it was a surprisingly strange reaction. Jung Taegeon was definitely the kind of guy who’d be busy getting a gross hard-on whether a zombie was passing right by him or not…. Of course, his member, tucked to the left, was plenty hard right now, too.

Suddenly, his numb sole and calf zapped, sending electricity all the way to the small of his back.

“Owowow….”

Hajin let out a groan and shifted his lower body. The pain ached all the way to his pelvis, and it was becoming difficult to bear it any longer. This time, his member was pressed against his butt instead of his thigh, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to care about such physical contact right now.

He massaged his outstretched right leg, starting from the calf. As he kneaded with all his might, as if it were self-harm, the tense muscles gradually softened. His numb toes finally started to wiggle at his command.

There.

A cold sweat trickled down. As he was putting his shoe back on and letting out a sigh of relief, he felt a soft sensation on the left side of his neck. It was the tip of Eden’s nose and his lips.

“……”

Hajin’s eyes widened. As his body froze in surprise, Eden buried his nose against him and mumbled.

“Let’s just stay like this for a bit. I’m going to die from the smell before I get bitten to death by a zombie.”

His tone was like that of a child throwing a tantrum. Hajin didn’t know how to react and could only blink his wide eyes. The breath tickling his nape made him swallow hard with a loud gulp.

No wonder the man who would have cracked a joke and then some had been quiet the whole time—it seemed he was getting sick from the smell of the filth.

Come to think of it, the foul stench was much stronger now that they were sitting than when they had been standing. Once his sense of smell opened up, nausea rose from deep within him. Just as the deathly cramp in his foot was gone, the stench was now the problem.

“Ugh.”

In order to survive, Hajin likewise pressed his nose to the area next to Eden’s ear. His unique body scent and a faint smell of sweat tickled the tip of his nose. As he unconsciously sniffed, sniff sniff, Eden let out a puff of incredulous laughter.

He didn’t ask why he was laughing this time. Because it was obvious that he, too, found this situation awkward and utterly absurd. Hajin buried his nose deeper into Eden’s hair. He could feel the arms wrapped around his waist tighten.