By Zephyria 
While feeling each other’s body temperature through their fingers, a sweet prelude was heard in his ear. Ha-jin tilted his head to the side at the familiar melody he had heard somewhere before.
It was the first time he had heard music in months. Ha-jin felt a pleasant shiver run down his entire body, as he had never gone so long without listening to music in his life.
A fresh shock struck his head, like a child just born into the world recognizing a melody for the first time. Eden seemed to feel the same way, as he squeezed the hand he was holding.
A unique timbre, as if holding helium gas, settled over the folk-rock sound with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Pie, who was sitting at Ha-jin’s feet, perked up his ears and tilted his head towards the speaker from which the music was coming. His tail wagged quickly in irregular rhythm.
―You only need the light when it’s burning low, Only miss the sun when it starts to snow….
It was definitely a song he had heard before. As Ha-jin listened to the song, he remembered Mi-so, who had returned from a trip to Europe, showing off an LP she had bought at Brick Lane Market in England. He even recalled the scene of her sipping bourbon whiskey while playing the famous album she had bought on the LP player in the corner of the Magic troupe’s office.
This song was one of the hidden tracks on that famous album. The singer was leading the song with a consistently indifferent tone, but the message contained within was by no means light. The song mainly consisted of lyrical lyrics about realizing the value of something only after it has been lost.
It was a moving song that made him think about the past and reminded him of the importance of the present. Even after the music ended, Ha-jin stared blankly into the air for a long time, unable to shake off the lingering feeling.
Then, he heard a sniffling sound from somewhere. When he turned his head, he saw Hee-soo hastily wiping away tears.
It was a world where even the ordinary act of listening to music had become a luxury. Ha-jin silently watched Hee-soo, who was rubbing her red eyes with the back of her hand. When their eyes met, she smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed.
The concert lasted longer than expected. The garden counselor’s musical taste was truly all over the place. The concert, which opened with a lyrical pop song, ended with a hybrid of savory trot and high-class classical music.
The subdued atmosphere was soon lifted as they shared their musical tastes with each other. Throughout the concert, Eden was watching Ha-jin humming along to the melodies coming from the speakers with interest.
“Now, before we take a group photo, we’ll start a talent show with a personal photo ticket at stake. Please raise your hand if you want to participate!”
The counselor shouted as she organized the speakers next to the stage. Then, as if he had been waiting for it, Ha-jin raised his hand.
He belatedly looked around to identify his opponents. But there was no one else who had raised their hand like him.
A sense of dismay crossed Ha-jin’s face. He quickly lowered his hand as if it were a mistake, but it was already too late. The garden counselor, who had spotted her prey, came down from the stage and quickly grabbed Ha-jin’s hand.
As he was being dragged away, Ha-jin turned around and met Eden’s eyes. Eden, who had been holding back his laughter, waved his hand lightly as if to say good luck.
“This is the first time someone has applied for a talent show so bravely.”
Laughter erupted here and there at the counselor’s comment. Ha-jin scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
“I’m the only participant, so you can just give me the personal photo ticket, right?”
“Hey, don’t try to get something for nothing. Is it all about being handsome, Ha-jin?”
The woman’s sly answer made him even more embarrassed, and he hung his head. The only talent he had to show was the Magic he had made his profession. It was a pleasure to show off his Magic, but he started to sweat on the bridge of his nose due to the tension of having a stage set up for the first time in a while.
Ha-jin took out the poker cards he had put in his pocket and looked ahead. Eden, who had been leaning comfortably on the sofa, leaned forward as if concentrating.
“Then I’ll show you a simple Magic trick and go down.”
Everyone except Hee-sung and Eden, who knew that Ha-jin’s job was a magician, laughed lightly at his words.
After taking a short breath, Ha-jin raised the poker cards in his hand. He had warmed up lightly before coming out, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous because it was a technique he was showing off for the first time in a long time. Moreover, the cards he was holding now were not the Magic playing cards commonly used by magicians.
What could he do with thick, cheap plastic cards? After a brief thought, Ha-jin came down from the stage, thinking of an audience participation Magic trick. He stopped in front of Hee-soo, who had swollen eyes.
All eyes were on them. Ha-jin gently spread the cards in a fan shape at her feet. Hee-sung let out an exclamation of admiration at that one insignificant movement. All the spread cards were facing down.
“Pick one card that you’re drawn to. Don’t show me the card you picked, and check it out with the other people.”
With those words, Ha-jin raised both hands in the air and turned around. Hee-soo, who had been rolling her eyes, picked the card in the very center. The card in her hand was the K of Hearts. She shared the identity of the card with the others.
“Did everyone check?”
When Ha-jin asked, everyone answered “Yes” in an excited voice. He led Hee-soo skillfully, as if he had never been nervous.
“Try to hide the card you picked secretly among the cards on the floor.”
After hesitating, she hid the K of Hearts among the backs of the cards. Ha-jin turned around again and swept the cards on the floor into one hand.
“This time, I’m not going to shuffle them myself, but I’m going to borrow someone else’s hand to shuffle them. Da-yeon, would you come out and do it?”
Da-yeon obediently took the cards as Ha-jin told her to. As her small hands awkwardly fiddled with the cards, one of the gardeners couldn’t stand it and came forward to shuffle the cards as if he were dealing Go-Stop cards. A flashy and chaotic gesture followed.
After that, the deck of 52 cards passed through the hands of several people. After all the steps were completed, Ha-jin once again spread the cards in a fan shape at Hee-soo’s feet.
“Can you stick out one index finger?”
She silently stuck out her index finger with an expectant expression. Ha-jin carefully grabbed Da-yeon’s outstretched wrist and made eye contact with her.
“From now on, I’m going to guess where Lee Hee-soo’s first chosen card is using only telepathy. Don’t avoid my gaze, fix it on me.”
He began to move Hee-soo’s grasped hand like a compass. Her index finger roamed over the 52 cards. Even during that time, Ha-jin did not take his eyes off Hee-soo.
Gulp, the sound of someone swallowing could be heard loudly. It was then. Ha-jin and Hee-soo’s hands stopped in one place.
“It’s here.”
Without hesitation, Ha-jin picked up one card that her hand was pointing to. When the overturned card faced forward, everyone burst into exclamation as if they had promised.
Hee-soo, who was right in front of him, widened her eyes and mouth as if she was about to faint, and the coordinator screamed as if she had seen a ghost because she was so surprised.
Ha-jin smiled brightly, shaking the red K of Hearts. With the excited commotion, the atmosphere heated up in an instant.
The essence of the talent show, which had started with a personal photo at stake, had long been forgotten. Before he could even give his closing remarks, he was responding to the constant requests of “One more time,” and before he knew it, the Magic show had been going on for nearly two hours.
Ha-jin had to squeeze out the maximum hand skills and Psychological magic he could use with cheap poker cards. He only chose tricks that could meet people’s expectations without much effort, but sweat was dripping down his temples because he had been concentrating for a long time.
Eden, who couldn’t stand it any longer, dragged the enthusiastic audience off the stage, ending Ha-jin’s performance. Although fatigue was smeared all over his face as he came down to applause, he couldn’t hide the proud smile hanging on his lips.
A curly-haired man who admired Da-yeon belatedly went up on stage and showed off his clumsy dancing skills. He was pathetically performing a dance of courtship, sweating profusely, but Ha-jin was eventually selected as the final winner of the talent show.
After that, they took the planned group photo. The small Polaroid photo, the size of a palm, was proudly hung on the wall near the entrance of the center.
“Ha-jin, what do you want to do? Should I take your personal photo now?”
At the question, Ha-jin nodded his head vigorously. The counselor pointed to the indoor greenhouse and said.
“It’s pretty over there, so I’ll take it outside.”
“Can I take it with someone else?”
“Of course. Who do you want to take it with?”
Ha-jin pointed to Eden, who was sitting slovenly on the sofa. He paused for a moment at the unexpected suggestion before getting up from his seat.
Eden smoothed Ha-jin’s disheveled bangs with his hand and narrowed his brow seriously.
“Were you planning to take it together from the beginning?”
“Yes. That’s why I worked so hard on the Magic show.”
“This is a bit touching.”
The two moved to the indoor greenhouse led by the woman. Ha-jin, who was standing in front of a large baobab tree, hesitated and carefully grabbed Eden’s hand. They were quite satisfied with the closer distance, and they both smiled at the same time.
“I’m going to take it. You only have one chance, so don’t close your eyes.”
Soon, the camera button was pressed in response to the signal.
Ha-jin carefully accepted the Polaroid photo that the woman handed him. The shape of the subject began to slowly appear on the black background. Pie was sitting proudly in front of the two people holding hands affectionately, with his head sticking out.
Eden couldn’t take his eyes off the photo placed on Ha-jin’s palm for a long time.
Passenger. (2012). Let her go [Song]. All the Little Lights. SONY MUSIC