By Zephyria 
“What?” At the sudden question, Ha-jin let the beer he had been about to drink flow back into the can. He rubbed his damp lips and widened his eyes. The person who had uttered the absurd words simply raised his gaze from Ha-jin’s chest to his face, completely unfazed.
‘Did I mishear?’
Was he possessed by a perverted demon? The reason why the question about being of mixed race felt somewhat impure was probably….
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you correctly. What did you say?”
“I asked if you’re of mixed race.”
He had heard correctly. Ha-jin cast a bewildered glance before looking back. Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom were still engrossed in their duet of snores. Even after confirming that his companions were asleep, he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, and the volume of his voice naturally lowered.
“Jeong Tae-geon, are you sure you’re asking me that question?”
“Yes.”
He had clearly started with the words “Do Ha-jin, too.” This meant that it was in line with what he had asked him in the bathroom earlier about being of mixed race… What was this?
Ha-jin rolled his eyes, trying to figure out his intentions. He tried to observe his bio-responses, but he couldn’t see anything from Eden right now.
‘Is he saying my dick looks big? Out of nowhere?’
Even though he was skilled in Mental Magic, he couldn’t actually read minds, so Ha-jin gave up trying to guess the meaning behind his question.
Eden muttered to Ha-jin, who seemed somewhat confused, as if talking to himself.
“So, it’s the first time you’ve heard that….”
It was a reaction that implied he had asked something unnecessary. Ha-jin glanced down at his lower body without realizing it and bit his lower lip. Ah, this was subtly damaging to his pride.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s not like I’ve never heard that before.”
Of course, it was the first time he had heard it.
“I see.”
The corners of Jeong Tae-geon’s lips quirked up, without any other change in expression.
“Well, anyone who has seen Do Ha-jin’s chest would have thought that at least once.”
…Chest?
Ha-jin furrowed his brow at Eden, who was suddenly talking about his chest. Noticing that he wasn’t getting the point, Eden kindly added an explanation.
“I’m talking about Do Ha-jin’s areola size and color. It’s big and thick, and it’s light pink. You could say it’s the color of strawberry milk.”
Ha-jin’s closed lips slowly parted. Could his face really burn up this much from just a few sips of beer? Maybe it was the alcohol, but his cheeks felt hot and flushed.
In the meantime, Eden elaborated as if an emotionless robot was reciting lines from a play.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. It’s purely out of curiosity. It’s usually difficult for the nipples of ordinary East Asian men, especially adults, to be such a light color like Do Ha-jin’s. You could say it’s due to hormones; most are a dark brown like chocolate….”
“No, no.”
Ha-jin interrupted him, waving his left hand frantically. He was overwhelmed with shame. He felt like digging a tunnel all the way to the Earth’s core.
“Please, just shut your mouth for a moment.”
In the meantime, Jeong Tae-geon rolled an unopened can of beer onto the bed. Ha-jin’s body flinched at the cold sensation against his thigh.
Ha-jin stood up abruptly, as if he couldn’t take it anymore. He gulped down the beer he was holding without thinking, feeling as if his whole body was on fire.
A sense of defeat washed over him. He couldn’t believe that he, who wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to being slick and adaptable, had been KO’d by such a joke. Was this revenge for the magic show earlier? Or was it because I blurted out nonsense about being of mixed race in the bathroom first….
“Um… I apologize for the mixed-race comment. I didn’t mean to look, it’s just that we were showering together, and I couldn’t see it as a Korean size, well, anyway, I’m sorry.”
Eden replied coolly to Ha-jin, who was apologizing and pacing around the same spot.
“You don’t need to apologize to me. What man would be upset about being told he has a big dick?”
Ha-jin crushed the empty beer can in his hand and rubbed his forehead. Yeah, your dick is big….
“…Yes. I’m glad to hear that.”
Perhaps it was because he had suddenly poured alcohol into his otherwise empty stomach. Ha-jin felt a slight dizziness and sat back down by the wall next to the TV.
“For the record, I’m not of mixed race.”
Eden’s smiling voice followed.
I get it, you’re great…. Ha-jin didn’t reply and closed his eyes. He placed his right hand on his knee, which was bent to one side, and took a deep breath.
As he continued to breathe from his diaphragm, he heard a rustling sound. Eden’s figure, who had gotten up from his seat, flickered in front of his eyes. What was he doing? When he squinted, he saw Eden taking a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and handing it to Ha-jin.
“Drink this.”
“…I’m okay. We need to conserve water.”
“Then share it little by little when you’re thirsty.”
Ha-jin kept his eyes half-open and looked up at Eden suspiciously, who was unusually kind. When their eyes met, Eden sighed and tossed the cards he had gathered from the bed onto Ha-jin’s lap.
“Try to refrain from drinking alcohol as much as possible from now on. It’s useful for bartering because it’s a luxury item, but drinking alcohol in a disaster situation is no different from suicide. It may seem like it quenches your thirst right away, but it only deprives you of moisture.”
“…….”
“You probably know this, but you can last 3 weeks without food, but you can’t last 3 days without water. It’s basic common sense, so be careful with your drinking water.”
There was a hidden meaning in his words. Ha-jin lifted the eyelids he had been half-closing at the conversation that was becoming serious again.
He turned his gaze to the Water Pouch on the side table. It was Eden’s water storage, prepared in case the water supply was cut off at any moment. It was made up of dozens of Water Pouches made using the plastic bags that Ha-jin had packed in his carrier.
“Ahem.”
Ha-jin cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed for no reason. Feeling his mouth dry up again, he carefully opened the bottled water and put it to his lips. Even then, he only moistened his mouth, as if he was afraid to waste it.
Come to think of it, the man was an expert on survival strategies, as he was from the elite special forces.
Ha-jin put down the bottled water he had drunk as much as a bird’s feed. Eden, who had been standing in front of him, was already sitting back on the single bed. Ha-jin scratched the back of his head and hesitated.
“Jeong Tae-geon, you seem so calm.”
Eden tilted his head to his left shoulder as if trying to gauge the meaning. Ha-jin, seeing his questioning face, added an explanation.
“Actually, I’m so tired I could die, but strangely, whenever I close my eyes, I can only think of zombie faces and scenes of people dying… I practiced with the cards earlier because I thought it would make me feel a little better.”
He tried to act like it was nothing, but Ha-jin had to vomit several times into the toilet every time he recalled the scene of people dying.
Even after arriving here, screams for help that he couldn’t tell whether they were auditory hallucinations or real could be heard from outside from time to time. Every time that happened, his heart would clench and cold sweat would run down his spine. Even when he took out lip balm from his carrier and applied it, his lips kept feeling dry and chapped.
The news screen that he had checked earlier was constantly playing on the TV that had been turned on since morning, with the sound muted. It was just that this whole situation… felt terribly unreal.
Eden, who had read Ha-jin’s confused eyes, gave him a nonchalant piece of advice.
“I’m pretending to be calm. Fear is a natural phenomenon that everyone experiences. I’m no different.”
Eden leaned forward and stared intently at Ha-jin’s face, which was still flushed.
“But if you do it right, you can use it.”
The fear you feel from the threat of death is nothing more than a survival instinct, and it only serves to alert you to possible injuries or dangers, his calm and confident voice was etched into Ha-jin’s ears.
“…How do you use it?”
“It’s simple. The more anxious you are, the more you run. You have to run to a safe place and search for ways to survive.”
Eden leaned back, finishing his sentence.
“It means that it’s more beneficial to your well-being to come up with a plan or prepare for it than to whine about being scared.”
One of Ha-jin’s eyebrows twitched as he listened attentively. The word “whine” bothered him, but he could clearly understand what he was trying to say. Fear and anxiety were perfectly natural phenomena, and instead of being trapped in them, he should use those emotions to survive.
It strangely felt like a comfort, which made him feel even worse. Ha-jin felt the anxiety that had been pounding in his heart gradually subside.
“But Jeong Tae-geon hasn’t even decided where to go yet. Isn’t it the same for everyone that there’s no plan?”
“Undue haste makes waste.”
He was about to narrow his brow at the quickly spoken English sentence.
“It’s one of the rules of the unit I used to be in. It means that too much haste causes waste. Be careful when making any decisions.”