Magic on the Dead Chapter 63

Leo.

He was the first friend to extend a hand to Eden, who was suffering from racial discrimination after moving to America. The childhood friend, whose connection to him was as cliché as his name, left many footprints on Eden’s life.

He would arbitrarily hold a Yard Sale in the cynical young immigrant’s front yard, and then make him squander all the money scraped together from used goods at a barbecue restaurant.

He also diligently fattened up Eden’s once-gaunt frame with flesh and muscle, leading to the subjugation of Jeffrey, a punk from the next neighborhood who used to look down on Eden. In the end, thanks to Leo’s scheme, the two were able to become the best of friends.

He was a pure eccentric who, at times, knew how to say things that were heavy beyond his years. He was the one who gave Eden, who had a vague dream of making weapons, some unexpected advice.

‘A man who wants to handle weapons ought to go to the battlefield. You have to realize how many lives will follow in your hands, Eden.’

The world you see in your eyes is not the only one. A world of its own exists in that ocean sullied with the water of corpses, in the desert where the aurora appears, and in the sky where contrails leave their mark….

Leo, who enlisted in the special forces with Eden, set an example with his own body on the battlefield.

‘Eden, the hostages will all be rescued tomorrow. Can you believe it? We’re the ones who saved people.’

Northern Iraq, where they had been dispatched to carry out a counter-terrorism operation. Leo, lying buried in the desert sand, was baring his white teeth in a bear-like grin.

Leo tried to instill, at least indirectly, the symbiosis of ‘weapons’ and ‘good.’ But Eden was not fooled by his pure ploy. Because from the start, it was something close to impossible.

The thrill of an enemy’s head flying off from a single bullet he fired, and an entire building collapsing from a single grenade, gave him an addiction comparable to drugs. The trigger of the dust-covered sniper rifle only ignited the spark of Eden’s grand dream.

The moment Leo died in his arms from enemy aerial fire, his resolve became even firmer.

An ambition to create the world’s strongest killing weapon. A rage-filled dream of cutting through the sky faster than anyone and decisively ending the enemy’s life.

And so, after Leo died, Eden ran forward, looking only ahead. He participated in the birth of the Stealth F-27 and worked ceaselessly on maximizing the lethality of older weapons.

Fame and fortune naturally followed his unstoppable progress, and the newly created weapons were exported to battlefields in countries around the world. Many people died, and others were saved.

But Leo still lay buried in the cold earth. Though he had achieved everything he had dreamed of, Eden sometimes felt a sense of emptiness.

He still couldn’t tell whether it was longing for his dead friend, or an inexplicable sense of guilt.

He, who had been lost in thought, lifted his closed eyelids.

“A friend I cherished died on the battlefield.”

The calm silence was broken. Hajin’s body, which had been sprawled on the pile of hay, sat up straight. At the sudden confession, his shoulders tensed up.

A blunt voice, from which not a single emotion could be read, continued its confession.

“I’ve seen countless dead bodies, but having my own person die was a different dimension of pain. I think that was probably the first time I realized the true meaning of death.”

“……”

“It’s laughable, isn’t it? That a man who strutted around, claiming to know more about death than anyone, was actually a novice who knew nothing.”

As Eden spoke, he shrugged his shoulders from time to time, as if in self-mockery.

Death does not simply take away a life. It takes away all those moments you can never see again, can never return to.

The hearty laughter, the road to the barbecue restaurant, the nights spent crying and laughing over a B-movie, the baseball bat they used together, the bicycle with the broken pedal, the stubborn beliefs, and the Adam’s apple that would turn bright red when he raised his voice….

The year he lost Leo, Eden locked the bolt of his heart shut, along with a fervent sense of loss.

“Since then, I don’t let people get close to me. Even though it was just once, losing someone… it was just so sickening.”

Hajin traced Eden’s form with his eyes as he mocked himself, and recalled how he used to push people away with an almost obsessive compulsion.

The enigmatic conversations he had sporadically shared with him at one point also came to mind one after another.

‘I just asked because it suddenly struck me as odd why you, Mr. Jung Taegeon, take me around with you.’

‘Well. I guess I thought I could save him this time.’

Had he been seeing the image of his old friend in him? He never imagined that the words, ‘I thought I could save him this time,’ could hold such a meaning.

Through the heavy thoughts, Eden’s voice rang out, harsh once again.

“Of course, this is all just a cliché story. It’s common for comrades to lose their lives on the battlefield, and the current situation is no different.”

With those words, Eden’s mouth closed. Breaths came and went quietly in the serene silence.

Hajin could tell that he didn’t want to talk about this matter any further. His mind grew complicated, wondering if he had needlessly picked at a wound.

But it was strange. While his heart ached for his unfortunate past, a corner of his chest felt like it was deflating—phew—like a popped balloon.

Upon learning the fact that he had been kept alive by being superimposed on the shadow of a dead person, a strange sense of disappointment weighed on his mind. He had tried so hard not to assign any meaning to it, but it seemed that deep down, he had prided himself on receiving special treatment from Eden.

The subtle feeling of self-loathing, which resembled jealousy, was bewildering. In this moment, he couldn’t properly feel the rough texture of the rope digging into his wrists, nor the sensation of his scraped knees on the floor.

Why? Tens of thousands of question marks floated in his head. Before he could fall deeper into the pit of his thoughts, Hajin hurriedly opened his mouth.

“You must have really liked him.”

However, the words that rushed out without passing through his brain flew off in a completely wrong direction. Hajin gaped and then, reproaching himself, scrunched up his face in a fierce scowl. Ah… you idiot….

“What do you mean by that?”

When a question came back immediately, he fidgeted with his rope-bound hands.

“No, I just mean it literally. That you seemed to have liked your friend a lot.”

“……”

“I don’t know if you were lovers, but anyway….”

Somehow, the more he opened his mouth, the worse it got. If only his hands weren’t tied, he would have slapped his own flippant lips without a second thought.

“Mr. Do Hajin, what did you think I was talking about?”

“Huh?”

Hajin shrank back at Eden’s displeased tone. He let out a loud sigh and corrected the misunderstanding.

“Leo wasn’t my lover, he was just a friend. Just because I’m open to men, it doesn’t seem right to pair me up with everyone in that way.”

Momentarily flustered, Hajin stammered.

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

“Then, since you’re heterosexual, Mr. Do Hajin, is it okay to pair you up with Ms. Yoon Miso?”

Before he could even properly understand the meaning of his words, a barrage of questions like a machine gun flew at him one after another.

“Speaking of which, what is your relationship with Ms. Yoon Miso? Come to think of it, you two are always sticking together. Are you really just friends?”

“Whaat?!”

At that part, Hajin unknowingly let out a loud shriek. A wave of bewilderment so strong that it made him completely forget he was in a kidnapping situation washed over him, making the crown of his head burn.

“No, what, the example… why are you saying such, ridiculous things…?”

“How does it feel to have it done to you?”

“It-it feels lousy.”

“Right. I feel lousy too. Besides, hairy men like Leo are the type I absolutely can’t stand.”

Eden, who just a moment ago had been acting sentimental as if mourning a dead lover, was now pointing out his friend’s hairiness in a voice filled with displeasure.

“Hah, I, I also can’t stand scary types like Miso, you know?”

Not to be outdone, Hajin also hurried to deny his relationship with Miso. As he jumped up and down while answering, the corners of Eden’s mouth began to loosen strangely.

“Are you sure you have absolutely no relationship with Ms. Yoon Miso?”

“Ah, seriously…! I told you to stop with the ridiculous talk. She’s just a buddy without balls!”

“Hmm, I see.”

“That’s right!”

“Understood.”

“Yes…!”

“Yes.”

Shaking his dizzy head, Hajin let out a deep sigh. Phew.

‘What in the world is this conversation?’

He was so flabbergasted and dumbfounded that his entire body turned red. He had been misunderstood like that once or twice before from spending a long time with Miso as business partners, but for some reason, Eden’s questions seemed to have a hidden barb, and he had reacted sensitively without realizing it.

Hajin couldn’t understand why he so easily showed his raw emotions only to him.

Not long after, Eden asked with a hint of a smile.

“What are you so curious about?”

Hajin’s chin, which had been buried in the ground, slowly lifted. Eden muttered in a strangely mischievous tone.

“You’ve been fidgeting since a while ago like a puppy that needs to pee….”

“……”

“Are you perhaps under the delusion that I saw that friend in you, Mr. Do Hajin?”

He was so perfectly hit on the mark that he was at a loss for words. Thump. Do they train in mind-reading in the Delta Force, too…? In a situation where he couldn’t even see his face properly, he had no idea how he had read his thoughts.

Interpreting Hajin’s non-response as an affirmation, Eden continued to answer his own questions.

“I don’t know why you would make such a mistake, but I’m not that mentally ill. Taking you in as a comrade was merely an impulse, it has nothing to do with my dead friend.”

At the clean explanation, Hajin was once again left dumbfounded. The air that had deflated in his chest began to fill up again, puffing it out.

He had no idea why his mood swung back and forth at a single word from Eden, over something as trivial as special treatment. Had something gone wrong with his brain after experiencing so many things today? No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.

Putting that aside, the most important question still hadn’t been clearly resolved.

“If you didn’t take me in because I resemble your friend, then why on earth did you choose me?”

“Are you that curious?”

“…I can be curious.”

“Mr. Do Hajin, are you aware that we’re in a situation where we’ve been kidnapped?”

It was a situation where they should be racking their brains on how to escape, so what was the use of such curiosity, was the implication. Hajin did not yield.

“It’s a simple question, why can’t you answer it? Then I’ll tell you first. I stuck to you, Mr. Jung Taegeon, because you seemed strong.”

*Yard Sale: A small market where used items are sold cheaply or given away in the front yard of a house.