By Zephyria 
Did I just hear that right? Unable to hide his bewildered expression, Eden answered nonchalantly.
“I’m asking because you’re not sleeping and just fiddling with your hands.”
“Fiddling….”
Ha-jin frowned, seemingly displeased as he mulled over Eden’s words. To dismiss his efforts of practicing rhythm memory by handling 52 cards every morning for a whole 8 years as mere fiddling.
Truthfully, he had heard such insults as easily as breathing from anonymous commenters hiding behind anonymity, so it didn’t really affect him, but there was definitely something about Eden’s tone that grated on his nerves.
Ha-jin put a card between his index and middle fingers and mimed throwing it with a ‘whoosh’ sound.
“I’ve even hit a zombie’s eyeball with this fiddling. Isn’t my skill worth something?”
Even as he moved his hand threateningly, Eden’s expression remained indifferent. Ha-jin finally sighed and continued.
“It’s practice. Not just fiddling. If you’re really curious about what I’m doing, come down here.”
Then, instead of snapping back, he made an effort to soften his voice and called to Eden. He didn’t have a hobby of trying to persuade those with skeptical views of magic, but despite that, a desire to somehow make him ‘enjoy’ himself began to spring up.
“Not really curious.”
How absurd.
“Then why did you ask if I was bored?”
Ha-jin grabbed the pile of cards and the pad he had placed on the floor and stood up. It was barely two and a half steps to the single bed where Eden was sitting. Thump. The bed sank weakly as he sat down next to Eden.
Ha-jin tapped his temple and opened his mouth.
“Call out any number that comes to mind from 1 to 52.”
Eden suddenly tried to guess the age of Do Ha-jin sitting next to him. Just looking at his face, he seemed like a fresh-faced youngster who couldn’t be over 25, but judging by his slick way of talking and the speed at which he adapted to reality, he seemed to be at least 30 years old. Even though they were both Asian, it was difficult to gauge a Korean’s age.
“…27.”
He’d be around this age at most. Eden carefully chose a number while predicting Ha-jin’s age.
“27? If it’s 27,”
Ha-jin placed the cards he was holding in front of Eden’s thigh and looked up at the ceiling. His rather smooth and long neck was defenselessly exposed.
Eden gazed at the neck, which seemed like it could be held in one hand, and lightly closed and opened his eyes. Compared to the frame of a normal adult male, his neck was quite slender.
“Hmm.”
Looking closer, he also noticed a red line that he hadn’t seen in the bathroom. It was a long, horizontal scar at the point where his neck ended and his collarbone met. It seemed to be a mark left when Eden had grabbed Ha-jin’s collar on stage. It was somehow a satisfying color.
It was also similar to the color of Do Ha-jin’s nipples that he had seen in the bathroom.
While Eden was admiring his neck, Ha-jin, who had briefly closed his eyes and muttered, confidently spat out the answer.
“Diamond 7.”
“……”
“Exactly the 27th card. It’s Diamond 7. Jeong Tae-geon, count it yourself to check. Shake the dust off your palm first so you don’t get any on the cards.”
Ha-jin pointed to the pile of cards placed on the bed and urged Eden.
“Why would I?”
“Weren’t you bored?”
Eden ended up letting out a bland laugh at the question, which was asked with wide eyes. He briefly shook his palm and turned halfway around, reaching out to the stack of cards. Eden’s movements as he picked up the cards and stacked them to the side were quite perfunctory.
However, Ha-jin couldn’t take his eyes off his hands. Unlike his fierce impression, Jeong Tae-geon’s hands were surprisingly delicate and neat. Each finger joint fell smoothly in a straight line without being angularly protruding, and even the way he pinched the cards with his thumb and index finger was elegant.
Clean, square fingernails without any vertical lines, faint half-moons, appropriately wrinkled middle joints, and a palm width and thickness that was more than enough to hide cards.
‘That’s right, it was that picture. The hand I imagined is exactly….’
Each time Eden’s long fingers picked up and turned over a card, Ha-jin’s upper body leaned further and further forward. Jeong Tae-geon’s hands were the very ‘hands’ of the perfect magician that had only been realized in his imagination.
Except for a small scratch on the right knuckle, perhaps from being injured while fighting zombies, it was surprisingly pristine. Ha-jin was staring with his mouth open like someone who had seen a magnificent view when Eden suddenly spoke to him.
“I don’t think you answered my question from earlier.”
“Your hands are so pret… Huh? What answer?”
“Why did you save me?”
“……”
There it goes again. Ha-jin barely managed to tear his gaze away from Eden’s fingers and narrowed his eyes. Did he want to hear an answer like, ‘I quickly went to save you in case some crumbs might fall’?
From Eden’s perspective, he had received kindness in return for enmity, so it was inevitable that he would be curious. For that reason, he couldn’t help but understand the desire to soothe his embarrassment by hearing a materialistic answer.
“Is there a reason for saving someone? I just couldn’t pass by.”
“There’s no reason?”
“What reason is there for saving a person’s life?”
Eden’s hand, which had been counting the cards, slowed down noticeably. Ha-jin glanced up and looked at his lowered eyebrows and the bridge of his nose.
Jeong Tae-geon was making a strange expression. Even with such a heartfelt line in front of him, his face looked somewhat displeased. Just as Ha-jin tilted his head, wondering if he had caught a glimpse of sarcasm, Eden changed his expression again.
“That’s right. Diamond 7.”
Memorizing 52 cards, each with different patterns and numbers, in 23 seconds was a level that couldn’t be expressed simply by saying he had a good memory.
“I’m good at remembering things, if nothing else… Wouldn’t something like this be helpful for survival? You never know what kind of situation might arise.”
Eden cast a knowing glance at Ha-jin, who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Judging by the way he was joking around, it seemed like he wasn’t bragging but appealing for his skills.
Eden tilted his head and asked.
“I have a question. Can something like this be called magic?”
“Pardon?”
Ha-jin twitched the corners of his eyes, which had been smiling, and asked back.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking because I was wondering if it’s just a simple memory test. You just matched it by memorizing the order.”
Ha-jin tilted his head back for a moment and blew on his bangs that had fallen down. It was obvious that he had a lot he wanted to say, but he was making an effort to hold it back.
Instead of making petty rebuttals, Ha-jin chose to take action himself. With a snap of his fingers, just like he had shown on stage, he grabbed Eden’s attention and confidently ordered.
“Okay. Then I’ll show you one ‘real’ magic trick that Jeong Tae-geon thinks of. Shuffle the cards yourself.”
Jeong Tae-geon surprisingly obeyed without complaint. His gaze, as he shuffled the cards haphazardly, remained fixed on Ha-jin’s pupils. It was a look that felt somewhat provocative.
“When you’re done shuffling, turn them over and put them on the pad.”
As Eden put the cards down, the next question followed.
“Say a number from 1 to 52.”
“15.”
“What card comes to mind?”
“Club 4.”
Eden answered obediently, but he remained skeptical throughout. These cards were in an order that had been completely rearranged by his own hands.
“Turn over the cards yourself like before. Up to the 15th card that Jeong Tae-geon said.”
Moreover, Do Ha-jin hadn’t touched the cards even for a single moment from beginning to end. He had only spread out his palms in the air as if to prove his innocence. It was a probability game no different from gambling, which couldn’t be explained unless it was a prediction.
Eden slowly turned over the cards. 1… 7… 14…. It was the moment when only one last card remained. Just as he was about to grab the back of the last card with a look full of disbelief, Ha-jin whispered.
“Club 4.”
The card was turned over and fell onto the pad. The clear club and the number 4 decorated the finale of the magic trick.
It was the first time that Eden’s pupils, which had been indifferent throughout, wavered.
❖ ❖ ❖
There were bottles of mineral water packed tightly in the refrigerator, aloe and tangerine juice provided by the motel, and four cans of beer filling the next compartment. Ha-jin took out two cans of beer and came back to sit next to Eden.
“Have one.”
When Eden didn’t take it and just stared blankly, he even forced the can into his hand. It had been an hour since he had put on the unexpected magic show.
“What is this?”
“It would be a lie if I said there was no intention. I’m appealing for you to take a good look at me.”
“……”
“As I said before, my younger brother is in Dragon Cloud City. I have to go there, but it’s obvious that it will be too much for just Mi-so and me. I don’t know which way Jeong Tae-geon will go yet, but… if the direction is right, we could go together.”
Ha-jin opened the can of beer and took a refreshing sip. He wiped his damp lips with the back of his hand and continued.
“If I were to appeal for Mi-so’s strengths, that friend is very smart. Oh, did I mention it? Mi-so is a former volleyball player. Her grip strength is no joke, and her guts are no joke either. Honestly, I think I’d lose if I arm-wrestled her.”
Eden, as expected, didn’t answer.
Ha-jin, feeling slightly anxious, shook one leg that was dangling under the bed. It had only been half a day since he had come to the motel, but was he proposing to go together too hastily?
As he rubbed the cold water droplets on the surface of the can with his thumb, the droplets dripped onto his black shorts.
“Do Ha-jin.”
Ha-jin, who had put the beer can to his mouth to take another sip, turned his head at the call. Eden was already looking at his chest with an indifferent gaze. His lips slowly opened.
“By any chance, is Do Ha-jin also mixed-race?”