Magic on the Dead Chapter 81

It felt like he had been beaten up by someone, as if every single one of his joints was dislocated.

“Ugh…”

Hajin tossed and turned his stiff body in the unusually uncomfortable sleeping spot, finally lifting his closed eyelids.

Only after facing the misty, pale blue sky did he realize he was lying on an asphalt highway.

“Phha…”

The events of the night before began to play across the screen-like sky, one by one. Being caught by the thugs and robbed of his food, hearing news of his companions, and the surprise attack by a zombie that had appeared out of the darkness…

His last memory was fighting the monsters that charged in with the thugs at Pi’s signal, and then dragging his exhausted body to lie down on the asphalt.

To think he had gotten mixed up with looters and brazenly spent a night with them. Recalling the situation, he scrubbed his rough face with a sense of resignation.

Slurp, slurp. At that moment, he heard a wet sound. Turning his head while still lying down, he saw Pi wagging his tail from side to side and, in front of him, the gang leader kid crouching down.

A look of bewilderment crossed the man’s face when their eyes met. At the same time, the hand that had been stroking Pi’s head froze awkwardly.

‘…What the. Is he feeding Pi right now?’

A breath of disbelief escaped Hajin’s lips as he belatedly grasped the situation.

20 minutes later, Eden, who had been lying with a bundle for a pillow, also woke up.

He stared blankly at the fog-covered dawn sky, then turned his head at the clamor that caught his ear. Pi, Do Hajin, and the gang leader kid, all sitting in a row, came into view.

Do Hajin was earnestly explaining something to the kid.

“He’s a high school senior, but he’s skinny like a middle school third-year. His eyes are a bit slanted, and he’s shorter than me.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know his name, I didn’t ask.”

“So to sum it up, you’re saying that some guy in a police uniform and a boy whose name you don’t know might pass through here?”

The guy who had been spewing vulgar curses last night was nowhere to be seen; he was now responding to Hajin’s words with a rather meek attitude.

“Are they with you guys too? How is your group so split up?”

“No, we’re not a group, we just met for a short time. Anyway… but do you really have to take their food? If he’s a high school senior, he’s still a kid. You guys said you don’t touch kids.”

“Whaat? Come on, how is a high school senior a kid? He’s only one year different from me. And we can absolutely not give up the food. That’s the reason we’re suffering out here.”

“Is stealing other people’s food what you call suffering?”

A sound like air escaping his lungs came from Eden, who had been listening quietly to the conversation.

He had wondered what they were doing sitting there, and it seemed Hajin was asking the kid to look out for Officer Kim and the boy. It was amazing that he hadn’t just gone with them, considering how much he seemed to care.

‘Do Hajin, seriously. What a softie.’

He watched Hajin and the kid bickering for a while before getting up.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“Yes. Did you wake up early, Mr. Do Hajin?”

“I did, about 20 minutes ago…? Shall we get going?”

It was a foggy dawn, and the air touching his skin was quite chilly. As he picked up his pickaxe and bundle and set off, Do Hajin and Pi immediately fell in step beside him.

“Take care, guys! I’ll enjoy the rice!!”

The gang leader kid’s ridiculous farewell followed from behind them. For a moment, Eden had to barely suppress the urge to slit the throats of all the men sleeping in the tent and get their food back.

“What are you doing? Let’s go.”

Hajin, noticing his stiff expression, pulled on his arm and added in a placating tone.

“Just think of the food as payment for one night’s stay. If not for them, we might not have known the road was out and gotten into big trouble walking at night. Plus, we got to hear news about Miso, Jeffrey, and Byeol…”

Swallowing a sigh, Eden slung the pickaxe over his shoulder.

“When did you get so friendly with that little shit?”

“We’re not friendly. He finally recognized my face this morning and started pestering me to show him magic.”

“And did you show him?”

Hajin’s eyes shot up as if he found the question absurd.

“Hah, I have my pride. I’m not that easy. Why would I show magic to a guy who stole my food?”

Of course, he had offered to show magic on the condition that they return the food, only to be refused, but he decided to omit that detail for the sake of his pride.

As if satisfied with the answer, Eden gave a short laugh, and Hajin seized the opportunity to quickly change the subject.

“Anyway, why would they destroy a perfectly good bridge?”

“Who knows. Maybe they were trying to save just the capital region, or maybe the opposite, but either way, it looks like we’ve just wasted time on a pointless endeavor.”

Eden glanced at Hajin, who was repeatedly rubbing his arms.

“Are you cold?”

Although it was foggy, the weather wasn’t cold enough to make one shiver.

“Maybe because it’s dawn… I feel a little chilly. I’m not sick, I’m fine.”

“Be honest if you feel like you can’t go on. It’s okay if we’re a little late.”

“I’m really fine. We have to hurry and catch up to Miso and the others.”

For someone who was shivering, his face looked fine. After carefully examining Hajin’s complexion, his gaze returned to the fog-shrouded road.

🃏

Crack… crackle…

Staring blankly at the burning flames, Hajin swatted away a mountain mosquito that was buzzing and tickling his ear.

Was it because they had trekked through the rugged mountains without rest until the afternoon? After eating some unidentifiable bird meat that Eden had procured from somewhere, his body had grown so languid that he couldn’t move an inch.

“Mr. Do Hajin, I’ve finished the sunshade, so come over here and rest.”

No sooner had he turned his head at the call than his arm was grabbed. A firm force then pulled his body up, like a radish being plucked from the ground.

“Oh, oh, thank you.”

Hajin familiarly took Eden’s hand. As he walked toward the sunshade with him, he heard a small laugh from above his head.

“Why are you laughing?”

When he looked up with a curious gaze, the man just shook his head silently. Hajin glanced suspiciously at Eden, who seemed to be laughing a lot more lately, and then flinched, his body stiffening. The man’s hand, which he hadn’t realized he had been holding, was now weaving through the spaces between his fingers.

Before he could pull his hand away in surprise, he was sat down on a thick pile of leaves. Pi came over to his side, happily flopped onto his back, and rubbed it against the ground.

Without letting go of his hand, Eden plopped down right next to Hajin. The more Hajin tried to get away, the tighter he squeezed back with even greater force.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing. You grabbed my hand first, Mr. Do Hajin.”

“…I grabbed it first?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because of the survival-gay act they had put on at the ranch, Hajin often found himself grabbing Eden’s hand without realizing it. Even when he tried to shake his hand off again out of embarrassment, the man, as if to make a point, didn’t budge.

“My hand, please let go. Stop joking around…”

Despite Hajin’s request, Eden paid him no mind and took out some ointment from his pocket.

“I’m going to apply medicine, so you just stay still, Mr. Do Hajin.”

Only after the ointment was applied to his wrist did Hajin relax the hand he had been fidgeting with.

He should have been used to it by now, but every time he witnessed his kindness, his whole body would tingle, and his toes would keep curling inward.

Ahem…! Hajin let out a dry cough and turned his gaze to the sunshade stretched diagonally above his head. A bundle, its two ends tied with rope, was spread wide between two trees.

A companion who not only caught animals but also whipped up a temporary shelter using the surrounding terrain.

‘As expected.’

He felt like praising his past self for recognizing Eden’s survival skills early on and desperately clinging to him.

“Hold out your foot, too.”

Startled by the sensation of his calf being grabbed, he waved his hands frantically.

“Oh, my feet are fine. They haven’t been washed, so they smell…!”

“Is this the first or second day they’ve smelled?”

“What…?”

For a moment, Hajin gaped with a dumbfounded expression.

Is this the first or second day they’ve smelled? Is he telling me I smell every day?

He had never let go of his passion for meticulously brushing his teeth, even if he had to make time for it, and thoroughly washing up to the back of his neck with drinking water.

He had tried to maintain a minimum of dignity in this harsh and cruel environment.

“Do I smell a lot?”

He, who had prided himself on being more hygienic than anyone else, asked again in disbelief.

Eden had already pulled his sock down to his heel and was slathering on ointment. Glance. He flicked his eyes toward Hajin and answered nonchalantly.

“I’m kidding.”

Even though he said he was kidding, Hajin was not reassured and lifted his shirt to sniff himself, his face flushing red. Eden, who had been applying the medicine with a delicate touch, looked up again at the continuous sniff, sniff sounds.

He had thought Hajin had a fussier side than most people, but he hadn’t known he would be this sensitive to a single joke. It was a reaction that didn’t at all suit Hajin, who usually had a smooth and brazen side.

There was no proper place to wash, and they were always fighting foul-smelling monsters, so it wouldn’t have been strange at all if he had a bad odor, but Hajin was restless, as if it were all his own fault.

Eden swallowed the laugh that threatened to escape as he watched him, who was bold at the oddest times and shy at the oddest times. The more he looked at him, the more he found him to have an endearing side.

He thought about teasing him more, but at this rate, it seemed Hajin might actually dig a hole and crawl into it, so he had to barely hold back his rising playfulness.

“I was just messing with you. You don’t smell.”

In reality, Do Hajin had never had an unpleasant odor. His natural scent was so much to his liking that he had, on more than one occasion, secretly buried his nose in the sleeping man’s nape to savor the smell of his skin. On days when they encountered many zombies, he would often find himself seeking out his scent in particular.

Hajin, who had turned his head to sniff at his shoulder, shot him a look of disbelief.

“Don’t lie.”

“You really don’t. Don’t you trust me?”

Even when he tried to soothe him, the blush on his cheeks showed no signs of fading. Thinking he might have a slight fever, he reached out his hand, but flinch, Hajin pulled his head back.

In that instant, the corners of Eden’s eyes twitched minutely. Failing to notice the fierce glint in his eyes, Hajin scratched the back of his neck and pulled his captured foot away.