By Zephyria 
Anyway, he was a natural at leaving people speechless. Ha-jin reluctantly nodded.
“If you’re done with your consultation, get some sleep.”
With those words, Eden moved to the side table. Ha-jin, who had been staring blankly at him, staggered up and lay down on the single bed. Surprisingly, he quickly fell asleep.
Even in his sleep, Ha-jin replayed his conversation with Eden. Ignoring Mi-so and his strengths, and that brazen face that changed the subject with sexual jokes…
‘It’s one of the rules of the unit I used to be in. Excessive haste leads to waste. Make every decision carefully.’
Was it deliberate? Timing-wise, Eden had once again rejected his offer to join him and slipped away like an eel.
‘The more I think about it, the more sly he seems…’
He turned and glanced at Eden, who was sitting on the sofa next to the double bed. He had his head tilted back towards the ceiling and his eyes closed.
Ha-jin’s eyelids soon drooped as he blankly watched Eden’s profile.
❖ ❖ ❖
[You weren’t asleep?]
[Got a little shut-eye.]
It was literally just a little shut-eye. Eden casually replied to Jeffrey’s question as he did calisthenics next to the side table. He exhaled with each one-handed push-up, then glared at Jeffrey, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair.
“Haaaah─!”
Jeffrey was yawning widely, his hair a complete mess. When their eyes met, Jeffrey’s carefree expression darkened for a moment. He seemed to belatedly realize where he was.
Thump, thump! The sound of stomping feet and shouting came from somewhere. Most of the people staying here were generally careless. There was constant chatter, as if they were socializing.
[Fucking hell… I never imagined this when I came to Korea.]
Jeffrey muttered and rubbed his face roughly. Eden, who had finished his last set of five, stood up and opened a bottle of leftover mineral water. He quenched his thirst with just two gulps and put the bottle back in the mini-fridge.
[Eden.]
[Yeah?]
[Why did you do that on the hospital rooftop? You’re not someone who can’t grasp the situation, why did you try to grab the departing helicopter? You could have died.]
Jeffrey complained, sounding dumbfounded just thinking about it.
[Fucking hell, it must have been awful, I just woke up from a dream where you died.]
[Drama queen.]
[I’m serious, you bastard.]
Jeffrey’s usually gentle eyes hardened as if demanding an explanation. Eden walked towards the window with the curtains drawn and replied.
[I don’t know. I just had a feeling that helicopter would be the last one.]
[The last what?]
[Chance to escape. Just a hunch.]
[You’re really scaring me, seriously….]
Jeffrey tore at his fluffy brown hair in despair.
Eden’s face was serious as he slightly parted the curtains to look outside.
The sun in late May lasted quite long. It was a little before 8 PM, but it was still bright enough to make out objects. Except for the occasional zombie shuffling along the road, there was no sign of people.
In theory, it would only take 24 hours for South Korea, with its high population density, to be devastated by the virus. Those who were going to die would already be zombies, and the living would be staying in safe places, watching the situation. It hadn’t been long since the outbreak, so there probably weren’t many people out looking for food yet.
[So, what are you planning to do now?]
Eden, who had closed the curtains again, turned around and answered.
[What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’m going to check out the nearby shopping district as soon as it gets light and get a head start.]
[No, that’s not what I meant. What are we going to do about our next destination? The war room probably thinks we’re dead. They can’t help but think that since the escape operation failed. Haa….]
Jeffrey grumbled, rolling his dead phone in his hand. Eden shook his head.
[They wouldn’t have given up. I told them to keep an eye on the channels coming in from Korea, even if we couldn’t get on the Transport plane.]
[Well, it wouldn’t make sense to abandon talents like us. Whew. How much longer do we have to hold out here? Do you think the virus will be contained?]
Eden leaned against the curtain, standing with his legs crossed. He crossed his arms and tilted his chin as if lost in thought.
You could tell just by listening to the announcements coming from the idiot box. There was nowhere safe in South Korea right now. If there were, they would have restricted traffic in the virus outbreak areas or guided the survivors to ports or airports.
[Let’s wait a week and if it doesn’t look good, we’ll leave right away. It’s getting hotter, so we can’t delay any longer.]
Jeffrey nodded quickly, as if he had been thinking the same thing. He asked about their next destination.
[Do we really have to go all the way to the research lab? Is there no other way to contact Hugo? Ah, I’m a little uneasy.]
[There’s a way to get out before that.]
[Huh?]
Jeffrey scratched his nose as if wondering what he meant. Eden turned his gaze to Ha-jin, who was sound asleep. His eyelashes weren’t even fluttering, and his chest was rising and falling at a steady pace. After confirming that Ha-jin was sound asleep, he turned his head back to Jeffrey.
[We’re going to the Maintenance Depot.]
Eden whispered as if telling a secret. Jeffrey blinked blankly for a moment, then his face suddenly lit up.
[…You’re saying we’re going to get out on our own?]
[Yeah. The jets and helicopters there are already disassembled, so no one would have touched them anyway.]
Jeffrey opened his mouth wide with his characteristic exaggerated expression.
[Crazy! Why didn’t I think of that? Eden, you bastard, you’re a genius!]
He kept exclaiming, “That’s right, there was that way.” The Maintenance Depot was the decisive reason why Eden and Jeffrey had come to Korea.
The aircraft of ‘Blue Works’, which produces the world’s strongest jets and helicopters, were particularly popular in Asia.
South Korea was also buying Blue Works products to strengthen its defense capabilities, but the problem was that there was no Maintenance Depot or technicians in the country to maintain and disassemble the imported products.
Basic repairs could be done independently by the Air Force, but after about seven years, a comprehensive inspection of the product had to be carried out at a high intensity. For safety reasons, a Maintenance Depot with Blue Works’ technical capabilities was essential, not an option.
In the end, after long negotiations between Blue Works and the Ministry of National Defense, a new Maintenance Depot was established in Korea. There were only two conditions.
First, all the costs required for construction would be borne by South Korea. Second, Blue Works would share the new wireless technology of ‘Jinhwa Tech’, a K-defense company.
The official name of the new wireless technology was ‘Tune’. Tune was a revolutionary technology that completely broke away from the existing wireless system with limited visibility and could send signals to the other side of the world.
Coincidentally, Eden, who had South Korea as his mother country, unusually formed a TF team, and he brought Jeffrey to Korea just before the Maintenance Depot was completed. Assistant manager Park Chun-beom, dispatched from Jinhwa Tech, was Eden’s escort secretary and guide to the Yongwoon Research Institute, where ‘Tune’ was located.
When you think about it, Eden’s real purpose in visiting Korea was not the Maintenance Depot, but ‘Tune’.
Jeffrey glanced at the sleeping Park Chun-beom and whispered quietly.
[Is Tune going to the Maintenance Depot too?]
Jeffrey liked to call Assistant manager Park Chun-beom by the name of the new technology, ‘Tune’, instead of his real name.
[He’ll probably split off before that. He said his family is near Yongwoon.]
[Yeah… the Transport plane should still be there.]
[Even if our engineers ran away with it, there should be a few left.]
The last time Jeffrey and Eden visited the Maintenance Depot was the day before the magic show, the day before yesterday afternoon. A total of three stealth aircraft were in the Maintenance Depot, having just finished their disassembly show for inspection, and several Transport plane helicopters were also there.
The only people who could escape on the stealth aircraft or helicopters at the Maintenance Depot were the ‘Blue Works’ engineers. Jeffrey, a pilot, and Eden, a program engineer, could assemble the disassembled aircraft and leave Korea. If there was an aircraft carrier in the nearby sea, it would be an even safer gamble.
The listless look in Jeffrey’s eyes began to brighten. About that time, Tune, or rather Park Chun-beom, slowly woke up. Ha-jin was still lying there as if dead.
[By the way, what are you going to do with Do Ha-jin? Is he coming with us?]
Jeffrey asked, his voice brighter than before, and Eden shook his head.
[I’ll think about it.]
[What?!]
Jeffrey, shocked by the unexpected answer, glanced at the sleeping Ha-jin and lowered his voice again.
[What do you mean, you’ll think about it? Is there another problem?]
[It’s not that. I just mean I’ll think about it.]
[Why… no, they saved our lives. The Maintenance Depot is in Yongwoon anyway, so it wouldn’t be a problem to take them with us.]
Jeffrey fidgeted on the bed as if he was about to jump up.
[Eden, is it because of Leo? Are you still not letting people in because of that bastard…]
At that moment, a cold light flashed across Eden’s face.
[Watch your mouth.]
Eden glared at Jeffrey sharply and turned his gaze to Ha-jin’s suitcase, which was spread out next to the side table. Neatly folded clothes and ten bundles of Card Deck, which felt compulsively organized, were gathered together.
From the gold-plated deck that looked like cigarettes to the round moon, the clown picture, and the dark green case that smelled of unripe fruit… Even someone who didn’t know much about magic could tell that it was an unusual custom deck.
‘Jeong Tae-geon, please count and check them yourself. Dust off your palms so you don’t get dust on the cards.’
A human being who is crazy about something is likely to risk his life on something equally crazy. For a moment, he imagined Do Ha-jin clumsily playing with his hands and being bitten by a zombie and dying.
Knock, knock.
Then there was a faint knock on the door. Park Chun-beom, who was rubbing his eyes, Jeffrey, who was frowning as if he didn’t understand, and Eden, who was leaning against the wall and lost in thought, all turned their heads towards the door at the same time.
*Maintenance Depot: A facility responsible for high-level repair technology and maintenance of aircraft