Magic on the Dead Chapter 99

Eden felt his chest grow damp as he patted the small body in his arms.

“Hooo… huhuh…”

A mix of relief, bitterness, and apology flashed across his face as he comforted his noticeably thinner niece. Each time Byeol let out a tear-filled cry, Hajin, who was embracing Miso and Jeffrey, also felt the tip of his nose turn red.

Inside the hiking apparel store, which was about 12-pyeong, everyone, including Eden, was speechless for a while at the unexpected, miraculous reunion. They were simply busy taking in each other’s presence and swallowing their sobs.

Even without exchanging many words, the past days of narrowly escaping death seemed to be vividly painted in each other’s minds. One could tell just by looking at their beggar-like appearances.

Byeol’s trademark pigtails were half undone, and one of Miso’s shoes was in tatters. Worst of all was Jeffrey. The stench coming from him was unusual, as if he had not washed for a long time.

Hajin looked at Miso, Jeffrey, and Byeol, who were all thinner than before, one by one, then roughly wiped the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.

He did not know how long he had been watching, but when his eyes met Eden’s, who was staring intently at him, an awkward laugh escaped. Ahem. Clearing his tight throat, he carefully spoke to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

“Um… I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this, but,”

The gazes of the people who had been tearfully swallowing their emotions all turned to Hajin at once.

“I think Jeffrey smells like poop.”

The moment Hajin finished speaking, a “Ugh!” was heard and Miso, who had been hugging Jeffrey, moved far away. At the same time, Eden and Byeol pinched their noses. Pie, who happened to be passing by Jeffrey, also bared his teeth fiercely and backed away.

At Pie’s reaction, which revealed its presence at the perfect moment, everyone burst into a bright smile. Feeling a sense of comfort they had not felt in a long time, the group happily folded their teary eyes into smiles.

“By the way, when did you part with Mr. Chunbeom? I didn’t see him from the start, so I figured you’d already said your goodbyes.”

After the lingering feelings of the miraculous reunion had somewhat subsided, Miso asked about Chunbeom’s absence, as if she had been waiting.

[That’s right. It’s still a bit far to Yongun City. Didn’t you guys part too early? Is his family home around here?]

“Huh! I promised to play cat’s cradle with Uncle Chunbeom!”

Eden quietly exchanged a glance with Hajin. Normally, it would have been right to inform them of Chunbeom’s death, but considering the rest of the journey ahead, it seemed there was no need to lower the group’s morale. They had discussed this matter before, so Eden naturally told a white lie.

“Mr. Park Chunbeom returned home safely. It hasn’t been long since we parted.”

Hajin bitterly nodded at his calm lie. At the two’s reaction, Miso, who did not suspect Chunbeom’s death at all, shrugged and sighed.

“Phew, it’s a relief he made it back safely. But I can’t help feeling sad. We parted without even saying a proper goodbye…”

After expressing their regret over Chunbeom’s absence for a while, the group turned their attention to their new companion. The new companion, Pie, who seemed to be in high spirits for some reason, was playing with a bag of wet wipes with Byeol.

To lift the somber mood, Hajin explained in detail how he had met Pie. At the part where he said that Pie had come down the mountain with Hajin’s lost brooch in his mouth, Jeffrey patted Pie’s butt, pat, pat, as if to say he was a good boy.

Afterward, they filled in the gaps of time by sharing the various hardships they had each experienced. It was already past 10 p.m. To mark the end of a long day, the group laid their bodies down on the clothes spread out on the floor.

Miso, who seemed to be having trouble falling asleep, muttered in disbelief.

“It really feels like a dream. I never imagined we’d meet like this.”

Hajin, who was lying next to her, also let out a sigh of empathy.

“I know. To be honest, I was worried about what would happen if we parted like this for good.”

“Well, even if that had happened, I would have survived just fine.”

At her confident remark, he snorted, psh—, letting out a laugh through his nose.

“You’re too thin for someone who’s so confident. Did Jeffrey give you a hard time?”

“Man… seriously, don’t even get me started. His mental age is younger than Byeol’s. I thought I was taking care of two kids.”

As if on cue, complaints poured out of her mouth. Krrrr— Krrrrung— The person in question, Jeffrey, was fast asleep, snoring loudly. Miso, after sharply badmouthing Jeffrey for a while, turned her body in Hajin’s direction.

“By the way, did anything happen between you and Mr. Jung Taegeon?”

His eyes, which had been wandering in the dark emptiness, glanced toward Miso. Even in the pitch-black darkness, her gaze seemed to shine brightly for some reason. Hajin tried to look away from her burdensome stare.

“What could have happened? It was just the same as usual.”

He tried to sound as calm as possible, but he could not even swallow his saliva for fear that his lie would be exposed at any moment. After all, Miso was a friend who could uncannily read his mood just from the pitch of his voice.

“The way you’re talking, it seems like something definitely happened.”

Sure enough, Hajin’s prediction was spot on.

He bit his lower lip hard to keep from reacting to her whisper. The memories with Eden that he had been trying so hard to forget popped up in his head one by one like popcorn, pop, pop. As last night’s events, when they had mindlessly explored each other’s bodies, vividly replayed before his eyes, Hajin’s ears grew hot as if they were on fire.

“Well, it would be weirder if nothing had happened for over ten days.”

“…”

His heart began to pound anxiously at Miso’s on-point mumble, which seemed to infer more than he had thought. However, at the words she added, Hajin realized that the ‘something’ she was thinking of and the ‘something’ he was thinking of were on completely different planes.

“You two were always busy growling at each other whenever you made eye contact. You’d fight, get sulky, and bicker at the drop of a hat. So I was wondering if you guys got into a fistfight while you were together.”

“…Him and me? We didn’t fight that often.”

“Oh, please.”

Miso snorted and shook her head. Her long, loose hair scattered rustlingly over the clothes piled up like a pillow.

“Anyway, Do Hajin… It’s so, so good to see you again.”

At last, a rough hand touched the top of Hajin’s head. Hajin closed his eyes, lulled to sleep by Miso’s voice, which was filled with emotion. The lingering feeling of having miraculously met the group warmed his chest once again.

But apart from that, the complicated thoughts about Jung Taegeon still did not leave his mind.

‘To be honest, I thought you were planning to use me and then throw me away.’

Anyone would think I was the one who pounced on him.

Although he could not say that the reason he taught him magic was born from purely innocent intentions, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the sentence was somehow unfair.

“Hoo…”

Hajin let out a long sigh without realizing it.

Even if he acted as his heart desired, Yongun City, which was their final destination, was not far away. That meant there was not much time left to spend with Eden.

But why did he use the expression ‘throw away’? He now felt regret over the conversation that had been cut off before he could even ask its meaning. Until the moment he fell into a deep sleep, Hajin could not stop thinking about Eden.

🃏

It was early dawn. Jeffrey, having finished his business over the urinal, pulled up his pants and asked Eden.

[What happened?]

Eden was spitting out toothpaste water into the sink. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he lifted his gaze. His handsome eyebrows shot up and down as if he had no idea what the question meant.

Jeffrey strode over to Eden’s side, leaned his butt against the sink, and crossed his arms. After a moment of hesitation, he met Eden’s indifferent gaze and opened his mouth.

[I mean Tune. How did he die?]

Hoo. Eden let out a short sigh and swept back his bangs that had fallen forward. The guy who was usually so dense he was frustrating was as sharp as a ghost when it came to useless things. As Jeffrey poked him in the side, as if to press him for an answer, Eden let out a low groan.

“Mm…”

He did not want to explain the death of his subordinate, with whom he had shared a bond, however short, in a long-winded, gossipy way, so after some thought, he gave a concise answer.

[He was shot and killed at the ranch.]

[…Don’t tell me you’re talking about when we were running away?]

When he answered by slowly nodding, Jeffrey’s expression immediately darkened.

[Fuck, that’s a real dog’s death.]

A hollow breath mixed with curses and anger fell heavily inside the bathroom.

Eden raised his right hand and patted his shoulder. Pat, pat. At the uncharacteristic comforting gesture, Jeffrey glanced at him and asked.

[Were you okay?]

[Why wouldn’t I be okay?]

Jeffrey carefully studied Eden’s face for a while, as if trying to read his inner thoughts. However, unable to read any signs of sadness, he sighed briefly and then shook his head.

[Never mind. It’s fine as long as you sent him off well.]

Eden shrugged and pulled a paper towel from the dispenser attached under the mirror. Although he understood the meaning of the question “were you okay,” he pretended not to and kept his mouth shut. In reality, he had been too busy getting it on with Do Hajin to have the mental capacity to think about the shadow of the deceased Leo.

As he was crumpling the towel and throwing it in the trash, Eden suddenly looked back at Jeffrey.

[By the way, did you wash your hands after doing your business?]

[…You sharp bastard.]

[Let’s try to live clean.]

It was the moment he grabbed the handle of the bathroom door to go outside. Jeffrey threw another sharp question at him.

[That kiss mark on Do Hajin’s neck, you’re the one who did that, right?]