Magic on the Dead Chapter 77

It had been a long time since he’d had such a quiet rest.

Contrary to his exhausted body, his mind only grew clearer and clearer. Hajin couldn’t keep his fingers still and kept moving them. He had lost the bag full of cards, as well as the brooch his younger brother had given him.

He had realized the brooch was gone right after coming down from the mountain. He tried not to get depressed, but he couldn’t help feeling regretful and sad.

Whenever he doubted whether he could ever meet his brother Junseok again, he had rubbed the brooch to soothe his anxious heart….

Out of regret, he pointlessly folded the receipt he’d picked up earlier into the shape of a rose. While he was lying down for a while, Eden was the first to get up from his spot.

“Let’s wash up quickly. We need to find something to make a fire with before it gets darker.”

Hajin dragged his stiff body and entered the public restroom with Eden.

Fortunately, the water hadn’t been cut off, likely because the water tank was still intact. After letting brown water run for a while, clean water began to trickle out.

Eden washed his body first with a long hose attached to the wall, and Hajin meticulously washed his face with the hand soap and bar soap on the sink.

‘Ah, this is life.’

The moment he lifted his head again, Eden’s bare body reflected in the mirror came into view.

“The water pressure has weakened. Mr. Do Hajin, you should come and wash your body quickly too.”

Having said that, Eden nonchalantly washed his latissimus dorsi.

Hajin shook his bangs, from which water was dripping, and naturally lowered his gaze. While he was glancing around, Eden, who had approached him at some point, snatched the clothes as he took off his shirt, which was soaked with blood and sweat.

Surprised, Hajin lifted his chin, and Eden gestured with his eyes as if telling him to take off his pants as well.

“I’ll wash yours along with mine, so take them off.”

“You’re doing laundry? It’ll take some time to dry, won’t it? We don’t have anything to wear in the meantime….”

“We’re not in a position to be picky, and it’s not like there’s anyone to see us anyway.”

“…”

“If you’re really that embarrassed, you can wear a restaurant apron or something.”

Hajin’s face, who had been awkwardly holding the waistband of his pants, hardened. It was because, for a moment, he had imagined himself and Eden wearing nothing but restaurant aprons.

…I’d rather die.

Eden, having read his transparent expression, twitched his lips.

“It’s a joke. I found some restaurant uniforms outside. We’ll look ridiculous, but it’s better than an apron.”

Hajin, who had been tense, finally let out a sigh of relief. As he took off his pants as well, Eden gestured with his chin toward his lower body, clad in boxer briefs.

“Aren’t you taking off your underwear?”

“…Give me a break. I can wash my own underwear.”

Even while he was joking around, Hajin made a desperate effort not to look at Eden’s body, which was glistening and wet with water. He fixed his gaze on the floor to an unnatural degree or stared into the empty air.

A faint smile appeared on Eden’s lips as he witnessed the undeniable ‘consciousness.’

🃏

A long candle, the kind that might be used on a memorial service table, was burning its wick and illuminating the space. Hajin looked at the candle burning on the table, then shifted his gaze to the back of his hand.

“When on earth did you grab this?”

“I’ve had it in my pocket the whole time.”

Eden squeezed out a moderate amount of ointment and skillfully applied the medicine onto Hajin’s delicate skin. Hajin, looking down at his glistening wrist, pointlessly wriggled his toes.

“I can put on the ointment myself.”

“If you can’t control the amount, you’ll use it up quickly. It’s more comfortable for me to just do it.”

With nothing left to say, he turned his gaze back to the burning candle flame.

‘It’s hot….’

For a while now, the nape of his neck had been feeling warm and he was getting thirsty for no reason. He wasn’t particularly embarrassed about wearing the navy blue short-sleeved shirt with a duck character on it, but he felt puzzled by himself for getting hot at such a strange moment.

Eden, who was silently moving his index finger over Hajin’s skin, narrowed his brow.

“You have a lot of scratches.”

“I guess it happened while I was coming down the mountain.”

Tsk. He clicked his tongue and moved his index finger to the area above Hajin’s elbow. At that nimble and delicate contact, the area below his navel suddenly trembled with a ticklish sensation.

…What was that just now?

Hajin bit his lower lip hard with his upper teeth and stared into the dark space. While he was biting his lip until it could bleed, Eden’s fingers kept brushing against unexpected places. He had to desperately hold back his body from twitching and moaning every time his hand lingered.

“I’ll look at your legs too, so lie on your stomach.”

I’m fine, I’ll do it myself now. He barely managed to swallow the words that rose to his throat and slowly laid his body down on the linoleum floor. It was because if he refused for no reason, Eden would surely pick a fight, asking if he was feeling self-conscious.

Once again, Eden’s thumb gently touched an unexpected area.

“Ngh.”

Startled by the sudden contact on the back of his knee, he flinched his body without realizing it.

“Does it sting a lot?”

“Ah, no, it’s just a little… ticklish.”

“I guess you’re very ticklish.”

“Ahem, yes.”

An unreadable laugh escaped from Eden. He was meticulously examining every part of his body with an obsessive-like focus. Unable to bear the tickling any longer, his ears turned bright red and he abruptly sat up, and only then did the finger pull away.

Chirp-chirp— As night fell, a mountain bird sang peacefully. Feeling somehow exhausted, Hajin folded his body over the table and laid his head down. Staring beyond the dark glass door, he opened his mouth with a tired voice.

“Those bastards who killed Mr. Chunbeom. I thought I’d feel refreshed after getting revenge, but it’s not really like that.”

Hajin’s mumbling, which was unclear whether it was a question or a lament, continued. Eden was resting his chin on his hands, his elbows on the table.

“Private First Class Gu… the guy who cleaned the ranch with me at dawn. The one who was whining and crying after getting shot in the thigh earlier.”

“…”

“I still can’t believe it. That that bastard was also one of them, a murderer who killed residents. You know how it is sometimes? You talk to someone for just a moment and you instinctively feel, ah, this person is good, or this person is simple-hearted. Private First Class Gu was exactly like that.”

Eden listened to that gentle voice and met Hajin’s eyes. The voice, which didn’t lose its refined quality even when cursing, was quite pleasant to listen to.

“Even though we’d only exchanged a few words, I felt strangely betrayed by Private First Class Gu earlier. I even wondered if my ability to read people was that bad, for a magician. Or maybe not… having good observation skills and discerning a person’s character are probably not related.”

“Do you feel betrayed because that person wasn’t a good person?”

Hajin blinked at Eden, who was looking down at him. Eden, who was listening attentively to his meaningless rambling, felt strangely unfamiliar.

He didn’t want to admit it, but there were times he got a gentle feeling from him. Just like right now.

Shadows fell over Eden’s face, following the flickering candlelight.

“Mr. Do Hajin.”

“…”

“Evil is more mundane than you think.* It’s everywhere, so there’s nothing special about it at all. Private First Class Gu was just one of those ordinary people. What I’m saying is, you shouldn’t blame yourself, Mr. Do Hajin, for not being a good judge of character.”

At the unexpected philosophical advice, Hajin’s mouth fell open stupidly. Evil is mundane, huh…. It was a theory he had never considered before, but for some reason, the sentence flew and lodged in his chest like an arrow.

Hajin, who had been mulling over those words for a while, pushed himself up from his slumped position on the table.

“Then what about you, Mr. Jung Taegeon? Are you one of those ordinary people too?”

He answered Hajin’s question without hesitation.

“I’m one of those ordinary bastards. I am a person who can be easily stained by evil.”

…Was he better at self-assessment than I thought? Looking at the frighteningly rational Eden, he swallowed a gasp of astonishment.

“In that sense, I like you, Mr. Do Hajin. Because you’re not predictable.”

At the words that followed, his earlobes grew hot.

“…H-hey, you refused to travel with me before, saying you didn’t like that I was good and altruistic. Why are you changing your tune now?”

Feeling needlessly shy and embarrassed, he chided him, and Eden covered his chin and mouth and laughed with a puff of air.

“That’s strange. I don’t recall ever saying I didn’t like it.”

Ah.

Hajin, having missed the timing to retort, found his gaze locked on Eden.

Now that he looked, it seemed he had scratches in places other than his arms. He scratched at his constantly itching chest, but he couldn’t find the exact spot, so Hajin had to furrow his brow in frustration.

🃏

Pitter… Patter…. Hajin, who had been dozing off on a thick pile of aprons and uniforms, slowly lifted his eyelids at the sound of rain.

“Rain…”

Muttering in a hoarse voice, he looked to his side. His vision was completely dark, so it felt like his eyes were closed even when they were open. When he groped the spot next to him where Eden should have been, he felt the hard floor.

‘Where did he go.’

Flustered, Hajin awkwardly sat up and grabbed the extinguished candle. He lit it with a lighter that was lying on the table, and his surroundings instantly brightened.

He looked for Eden with his eyes narrowed, trying to adjust to the light. He wasn’t far, sleeping with his back against a wall.

‘He should sleep comfortably.’

Soon, Hajin turned his head to the wall clock. The hour hand pointed to 3 AM. It was far too early for even the rooster to crow. Still, since he had gone to sleep in the early evening, he had slept soundly for a good seven hours.

He slowly sat up, massaging his aching body. Even at that careful movement, Eden woke up quickly. Hajin lowered his voice towards him, who was slowly blinking his bloodshot eyes.

“You’re awake? I was just about to tell you to sleep comfortably. It’s raining outside right now.”

He meant that it was safe to sleep since the zombies were unlikely to be roaming around, but Eden’s gaze was directed at a completely different place.

“Mr. Jung Taegeon?”

He, who had been staring at the dark glass door in the distance, got up from his spot.

“Give me the candle.”

At the sudden command, a look of puzzlement spread across Hajin’s face.