By Zephyria 
“Magician Do Ha-jin.” Your first solo magic show is just an hour away. Any words on how you feel?”
Do Ha-jin’s face was zoomed in on the camera angle. His sharp jawline contrasted with his gentle eyes, which glanced this way. A red tongue anxiously licked his dry lower lip.
Do Ha-jin in the video looked like he was about to faint any second.
“Your feelings? You have to say something.”
“Please, save me.”
“…Again.”
Manager Yun Mi-so, with a stern voice, pushed the camcorder even closer, oblivious to Ha-jin’s distress.
“Do Ha-jin, you’re finally holding your first solo magic show in eight years. Please say a few words, even if it’s short.”
This time, his whole body filled the screen. Ha-jin, standing stiffly like a mannequin, was wearing a sleek black suit and a black dress shirt. He looked at the magic props scattered at his feet and wryly raised the corner of his lips.
“Um… I can’t do this.”
“Let’s try again.”
“Look at this. My fingers are all stiff.”
“Hey.”
Snap! Yun Mi-so finally folded the camcorder screen in half, letting out a small burst of anger.
“I know you’re nervous, but please be serious. Considering the schedule ahead, I won’t have much time to edit.”
Ha-jin furrowed his brow at Mi-so’s nagging, looking wronged. He acted lighthearted to avoid getting too serious, but the truth was, vlogs and whatnot weren’t the important thing. Unlike his playful answers, his condition was genuinely not good.
It had been eight years since he embarked on the path of a magician. The historic moment of overcoming his dreaded stage fright and challenging his first solo show was just an hour away.
The lines he had prepared kept evaporating from his mind, and the finger joints that had been smoothly loosened until this morning were stiff as if covered in melted wax. Driven to extreme stress, even his breathing was not properly controlled. A regret that he had started a pointless event poked like an awl in a corner of his heart.
As he loosened a couple of buttons at the neck, feeling suffocated, the silver brooch on his chest shook, emitting a brilliant light.
“Are you very nervous? Should we just film the vlog at the next performance?”
Mi-so, looking at Ha-jin who didn’t answer, sighed deeply. She took out a calming pill she had prepared from her bag and handed it to Ha-jin. The magician’s fingertips, squatting down and peeling off the spherical gold foil wrapper, were trembling.
Deep wrinkles formed on Mi-so’s forehead as she examined Ha-jin’s face.
“I’ll loosen your fingers a bit. Give me your hand.”
“Gwaeanga.”
Ha-jin mumbled, chewing on the calming pill, and fiddled with the deck of cards he had put in his suit pocket. Inside the suit, which had been loaded up, various props were nestled. The weight of each individual card, not even 2g, felt like a lead weight, his senses were so heightened.
Outside the curtain, the sounds of the magic troupe assistants busily checking the stage could be heard.
Mi-so plopped down next to Ha-jin, who had finished chewing the calming pill. Looking at him with pity, as if he was already exhausted, she changed the subject.
“Is Jun-seok working today too? It’s practically your debut show, it would be nice to have family by your side.”
“If he comes, I can’t concentrate. I told him I’d kill him if he secretly came.”
“Why do you have to say ‘kill him’… I would be so upset if I were him.”
Contrary to Mi-so’s worries, Jun-seok willingly accepted Ha-jin’s request not to come. He even joked on the phone as if his Hyung’s eccentricity was nothing new.
‘Do Ha-jin’s magic show, I hope it fails~’
Ha-jin chuckled, recalling his playful younger brother’s voice. As the curse of failure tickled his ear, his racing heart rate began to stabilize, even if only for a moment.
“Still, make sure to invite him to the next performance. Jun-seok is your only family.”
“Okay.”
He didn’t want to use his younger brother, who was busy with part-time jobs, as a mental stabilizer, but… looking at his current state, he thought he would have to bring him no matter what for the next performance. He also wanted to show him his performance on stage at least once.
Ha-jin picked up a water bottle lying on the floor. As he moistened his dry mouth, the tightness inside him began to ease little by little.
As he was slowly calming his nerves, someone carefully called Ha-jin from outside the curtain.
“Hello, Magician. I’m from the operations headquarters. May I briefly explain the progress?”
As he parted the curtain and stepped outside, a man with a youthful face greeted Ha-jin and Mi-so with his hands politely clasped. A silver name tag that read ‘Trainee Kim Cheol-hee’ was attached to the chest of the man wearing a generously sized suit.
Ha-jin habitually observed the face that looked to be around the same age as his younger brother, at most. A small heart piercing, which didn’t suit him, was attached to the man’s left earlobe, where long sideburns were draped.
“Yes, hello.”
As he belatedly returned the greeting, Trainee Kim Cheol-hee began to rattle off the prepared remarks.
“The on-site ticket booth has just opened, and we plan to help with seating guidance 15 minutes before the show starts. And our Team leader said that it might be better to adjust the location of the children’s magic tool product sales to next to the ticket booth instead of next to the entrance. Is that okay? The entry flow is ambiguous….”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
He seemed to answer casually, but in fact, Ha-jin didn’t hear the man’s words well. Overcoming the dreaded stage fright and fighting against the 110-minute running time without intermission. That was Ha-jin’s biggest concern at the moment.
“You can pick up the parking ticket from me after the show.”
The trainee, who had conveyed all the instructions, politely bowed his head. He hesitated briefly as he was about to go out to the downstage side and then opened his mouth.
“Um… Magician. If it’s not too much to ask, can I shake your hand once? I’ve been a true fan subscribing to the Magician’s channel since it had 10,000 subscribers.”
“Yes? Ah?”
A foolish exclamation popped out of Ha-jin’s mouth, who was flustered. Although the number of YouTube subscribers he runs with Mi-so exceeds 900,000, Ha-jin couldn’t hide his bewildered expression because he had almost no experience meeting fans in person.
“Thank you. If it was at 10,000, it would have been about 6 years ago, it’s amazing.”
As he held out his hand, Trainee Kim Cheol-hee grabbed it as if it were an honor. He went even further and uttered praise mixed with admiration.
“There are so many comments that you probably can’t see them all, right? My nickname is Cheolppang. I used to use lowercase ch before. I used to leave a lot of comments, but I haven’t been able to lately… Anyway, you’re much more handsome in person. You’re really too handsome.”
“Oh, yes, thank you. Please spread the real-life reviews on the internet.”
Ha-jin, who had already composed his expression, countered with a sly remark. Yun Mi-so, who was watching the sudden fan meeting, turned her head to the side, trying hard to swallow the laughter that was about to burst out.
❖ ❖ ❖
Do Ha-jin was a natural storyteller. He appeared like a comet at the age of twenty-two and made a name for himself with his innovative technique that combined card magic and Mental Magic.
He continued his active career, sweeping various awards at famous overseas magic programs within a year of his debut, and was one of the hottest rising stars of the time.
If it weren’t for Do Ha-jin’s sudden stage fright, he might have become the most famous magician in Korea by now. Breaking down the wall of stage fright that came like an accident was not as easy as he thought, and Ha-jin eventually chose the path of a reclusive magician. Currently, he makes a living as a coach for YouTube and a magic troupe under his name.
Non-face-to-face magician, aspiring actor, fake magician, god of video editing…. The sharp ridicule and contempt towards him, who had come down from the stage, had not subsided for years.
“Just you wait. It’s just the beginning.”
But Yun Mi-so, Do Ha-jin’s ten-year-old friend and manager, was confident. Today would be the historic day to repay all the past grievances.
She clenched her fists and looked at Ha-jin, who was rehearsing on stage. Considering that he had been able to handle magic volunteer work for the elderly and children without any problems lately—although there were only about ten audience members—she had no doubt that he would be able to do well in this small theater magic show as well.
“But why did Ha-jin Hyung develop stage fright? I can’t believe it because I can’t stand seeing him tremble when he does magic.”
Assistant Jin-woo, who was standing in the middle seat of the 7th row with Mi-so, asked slyly. Mi-so shrugged and replied.
“His face turns red whenever he stands on stage. He doesn’t remember the reason.”
“Really? He’s not a shy person either, is he? Of course, he has a bit of a nerd vibe.”
“It might not be related to personality, who knows.”
The assistant, who nodded, suddenly picked up his phone as if he had remembered something and turned on a real-time trending video.
“But Manager, have you seen this?”
Mi-so waved her hand without even looking.
“If you have time to chat, go and check the carriage wheels one more time. You’re getting paid, but you’ve been shamelessly loafing around since earlier.”
“No, just take a look at this. Remember when we passed an ambulance when we came to the small theater earlier? I think it’s because of this.”
Mi-so turned her head again. An ambulance? He must be talking about the ambulance they encountered earlier when they were driving to the small theater with the troupe members in a van. She even remembered having to stop the car and wait for a while because as many as five ambulances were lining up and squeezing into the narrow alleyway.
“Why? Did a big accident happen somewhere?”
“People are tearing each other’s faces apart. It’s a mess. It looks like they did drugs as a group.”
“What? Tearing what?”
Slightly shocked, she grabbed the assistant’s phone as if snatching it away. The video playing on the small screen had already been running for a few seconds. A man’s rough breathing echoed from beyond the speaker.
—Haa, haa. Crazy. Is this filming? Right? What is this?
The man was urgently asking a passerby something. The screen shook constantly, making her feel nauseous. Pebbles on the asphalt, brown walls, and power lines in the sky filled the screen in a chaotic manner, creating a tense situation.
Finally, the lens, which had been showing the man’s dirty sneakers, faced forward. There, about six people were screaming sharply while tangled together.
—Kyaaaaaaa—!
—Kueeeeck!!
It was a roar closer to the sound of a beast than a human. It was blurry because it was far away, but their faces and bodies were not normal at a glance. Broken arm bones were sticking out as if they would pierce the skin, and their movements were also strange. Moreover, something bright red was smeared on their chins….
One of the women, who was tangled up and making a loud noise, turned her head to the side with a flick. Her long black hair was tangled in a mess and stretched out in all directions. The next moment, her neck was bent 180 degrees like a cursed Satan doll. The face that should have been on her chest was instantly hanging on her back.
Mi-so’s pupils, which were watching the screen, shook greatly. The area below the woman’s nose was all stained bright red with blood.
—Sh, shit, don’t come! Don’t come!
The man in the video, who was breathing roughly, turned around and started running. The screen shook violently as it showed the street. Shouts and screams erupted from all directions at once.
—Fucking! Cunt!! Everyone run! Run!!
The video stopped around there. Mi-so, who was blankly opening her mouth, blinked, looking at the darkened screen. She quickly shifted her gaze to check the title of the video.
「Zombies appearing in Sangwon City?? Came back from the dead. What are these bastards??」