By Zephyria 
After clearing the meal, everyone gathered in small groups as if by appointment. Several thick blankets were already laid out on the floor, suggesting that people often slept inside the convenience store.
“If you need it, I’ll set aside some food for you to take before you leave tomorrow. I’ll keep it separate.”
The Cult Leader, who was arranging bedding, said with a benevolent face, as if doing a great favor. Eden, who had been eyeing the food, shook his hand as if it was welcome news. Ha-jin snorted inwardly at his unfamiliar, gentle demeanor.
“Oh, what’s that card? Do you have a poker card?”
A high school student sitting far away spoke to Byeol. Byeol proudly answered, fiddling with the Joker card Ha-jin had given him with his small hands.
“Yeah! But Ha-jin Hyung gave it to me. My Hyung has a lot of cards.”
“A lot?”
“Yeah. Should I show you my Ha-jin Hyung’s magic?”
Byeol puffed out his chest, calling Ha-jin’s Mental Magic ‘magic’. Ha-jin, who was about to lie down on the floor, sighed. He thought he could get away with it today…
“Hyung! Just show us one magic trick before you sleep!”
The boy shook Ha-jin’s shoulder, who was awkwardly lying down, with eager hands, as if showing off his most precious treasure. Eden, who would normally have been busy stopping Byeol for being noisy, was strangely quiet.
Ha-jin, getting up again, rummaged through his bag and took out his practice Card Deck and Magic Pad. Even though he was tired, his hands moved on their own because the boy liked it so much.
“I’ll only show you once.”
The people who had been chatting in small groups were now looking at Ha-jin with curious eyes. The Cult Leader, who was sipping tomato juice, stared at Ha-jin’s fingertips with a meaningful gaze.
While shuffling the cards, Ha-jin, wondering what technique to show, remembered the Clip Shift he had thought of while looking at Jeong Tae-geon earlier. In addition, he decided to show a magic trick by applying the Arcane that even he had found amazing.
Arcane was short for ‘Any Card At Any Number’, a magic technique that made the card the audience said appear at the number the audience said. Of course, since he was planning to show a magic trick combined with Clip Shift, there was no need to ask for the number.
Ha-jin placed the bundle of cards he was holding on the black velvet pad and asked.
“Student, can you tell me just one card that comes to your mind right now?”
The boy hesitated at the refreshing question. He seemed shy because attention was focused on him.
“The one that comes to mind?”
After thinking for a while, the boy shouted with determination as if he had made up his mind.
“Diamond J!”
“Diamond J?”
Ha-jin frowned and groaned.
“Um… I’ll give you a chance to change it.”
“I won’t change it, I’ll just do Diamond J.”
“Really? You won’t regret it?”
The boy was grinning for some reason. He seemed happy that the Hyung, who looked much older than him, was using polite language. The boy, who had been pretending to think for a long time, changed his mind.
“Hehe. I’m kidding. I’ll change it, to Spade 5.”
“Spade 5…? Really? Is that your best choice? I’ll give you another chance to change it.”
“Ah, no. Just Spade 5.”
Ha-jin, who chuckled, tapped the top card he had placed down.
“Turn it over.”
The boy, staring at the card with suspicious eyes, walked over on his knees. A look of doubt briefly swept across Ha-jin’s face. The Cult Leader’s son turned the card over with half doubt and half expectation.
“Gasp. What the hell! What is this!”
He was so surprised that he fell backward on his butt. Jeong Byeol, who had been watching with nervous eyes, clapped and laughed. People murmured and looked back and forth between the flipped card and Ha-jin’s face.
As the boy had said, the Spade 5 was on top.
“Isn’t this like a prediction? You didn’t even touch the cards?”
“Crazy! I thought you looked familiar! You’re a magician, right?”
Like the foreigners who couldn’t hide their admiration, Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom, who were in the same group, were just as amazed. They had been watching Ha-jin’s magic show at least once a day because of Byeol’s enthusiasm, but they were still mesmerized by the dazzling sleight of hand and Mental Magic every time they saw it.
“Ha-jin! You didn’t keep it a secret again. When are you going to tell me about the arm-linking?”
Jeffrey, who had been waiting for the opportunity, shook Ha-jin’s shoulder wildly. He seemed to want to know the technique he had used in the magic show so badly that he was quite persistent. However, Ha-jin was just as persistent when it came to tenacity. Ha-jin smiled slyly again and promised next time.
“I’ll really tell you next time.”
“When is next time?”
“Um… When Jeffrey and I break up?”
Jeffrey looked somewhat disappointed, but Ha-jin even hooked his pinky this time as if he really meant it.
“This is a technique that doesn’t even appear in lectures worth tens of millions of won, so I can’t just tell you. But I’ll definitely tell you when the time comes, so please be patient.”
Ha-jin coaxed Jeffrey as if he were soothing a child, intertwining his fingers. Eden, who had been watching, clicked his tongue as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
At that moment, the Cult Leader, who had been sitting with a sullen expression in the midst of the noisy crowd, waved his hand and shouted.
“Everyone. Don’t be enthusiastic about such shallow sleight of hand. Pretending that a fake is real and deceiving people is no different from the devil’s trick!”
“Ah, Dad! Please, enough!”
The Cult Leader’s son, embarrassed, was very annoyed. The Cult Leader glared fiercely at his son, who was ashamed of him, and turned his gaze back to Ha-jin.
“Did you say your name was Do Ha-jin?”
Ha-jin smiled without panicking and nodded. There was always a heckler who harassed and envied magicians wherever he went. Of course, he didn’t expect to encounter one even in a place like this.
“Yes, I am Do Ha-jin.”
“If we had done it with the Diamond J card that our son said earlier, this result would not have come out, right? You clearly encouraged my son to give him a chance to change it. Trying to manipulate people with this kind of wordplay is not a game, it’s clearly a scam. It’s no different from Satan!”
As if acting in a play, each sentence the man uttered was awkward.
Eden, who was leaning back with his arms behind him, watched the situation with interest. Even for a third party like him, it wasn’t a very pleasant sound. However, since he had said something similar to Ha-jin before, he had nothing to say in particular.
“Um… You’re saying that if I had chosen Diamond J instead of Spade 5, my magic would have failed?”
Ha-jin, nodding slyly, turned over the Spade 5 that was rolling around and placed it on top of the Card Deck as if to show it off. Ha-jin, supporting the bottom of the bundle of cards with his thumb and grabbing the opposite bottom with the rest of his fingers, shook his wrist from side to side. It was a smooth rhythm, like a bartender shaking a shaker.
People stared at Ha-jin’s firm back of his hand as if they were possessed. Slowly twice, quickly once. He had only shaken his wrist three times, but the Spade 5 that had been turned over on top had surprisingly changed to Diamond J. It happened so quickly that people didn’t even notice when the card had changed.
It was Ha-jin’s signature technique, Clip Shift.
Ah. The exclamation erupted exactly 2 seconds later. It was a technique that only elicited admiration, as if proving that hands are faster than eyes. People could only blink blankly.
Eden looked at Ha-jin’s profile and the Card Deck held by his long fingers and smiled leisurely. It had only been a short time ago that he had cast a contemptuous gaze at him, calling him a joker, but now he felt quite interested in this situation where even he was about to be captivated by his magic.
“Y-you….”
The Cult Leader, his face red, finally pointed his finger.
“If you insult Won-shin, you will not be able to avoid great misfortune! Won-shin, who hates liars and cherishes those who speak the truth, save the foolish people who have been seduced by that devilish gesture!”
“Dad, please! Stop it!”
“Ugh, mister. I’m tired of it, really! Please stop. Do you have to ruin a fun performance like that?”
Even Dan-bal joined in to scold the Cult Leader. There was no such thing as this kind of mess. Ha-jin, who smiled bitterly as if there was nothing he could do, was about to spread the cards out in a fan shape on the pad.
Splash! Suddenly, a wet liquid soaked Ha-jin’s short-sleeved shirt and the cards.
“……”
Gasp. Someone quickly swallowed their breath. Ha-jin, blinking at the wet sensation, slowly rolled his eyes. A red liquid resembling blood was splattered everywhere. Ha-jin’s mouth gaped blankly as he barely distinguished the color of the liquid that had soaked his hand and the cards beyond the flickering candlelight.
The unidentified drink was the tomato juice that the Cult Leader was holding.
“Ah, crazy, I’ve been watching this guy for a while now!”
Mi-so, who had been watching, jumped up from her seat. But Byeol, who jumped up from his seat one step ahead of her, ran towards the Cult Leader.
“Hey, you bad old man! Apologize! Apologize to my Ha-jin Hyung!!”
His small hands mercilessly tore at the Cult Leader’s bangs as if tearing up weeds.