By Zephyria 
The man was sitting in front of the fourth mirror placed in the ‘Magic Gala Show’ dressing room. The round lights surrounding the mirror like a picture frame poured down on the man’s face. His features were not visible. Not because of the light, but because he had no eyes, nose, or mouth to begin with.
The man, who had been carefully caressing his egg-ghost-like face, turned his gaze to the playing cards scattered on the table beneath the mirror. The cards, stained with red ink, rustled as they aligned and overlapped like living creatures.
The ink began to spread across the table. This time, a fishy scent stung the tip of his nose.
Blood….
Ha-jin’s body stiffened as he realized it wasn’t ink, but human blood.
Bang! At that moment, the dressing room door burst open. Turning his head, he saw a man standing there with a white face like a peeled egg, just like his own.
“Do Ha-jin, let’s leave early.”
Where are we going? Ha-jin moved his lips, staring at the man whose features were erased like his own.
“Where to?”
“If you’re awake, get a grip….”
“If I’m awake?”
“…before more ghouls come… we’ll clear out the meal first.”
“Don’t you smell blood?”
“Just sleep-talking.”
The faceless man muttered. Ha-jin’s head gradually tilted to the side, as the voice sounded familiar.
“Sleep-talking?”
“There’s not much time to be lazing around so carefree….”
Black lines and shadows began to appear on the smooth face like an egg ghost. A neat and delicate face, as if drawn by the hand of a skilled artist, was completed. He walked towards Ha-jin. It was a face he knew well.
“…Jeong Tae-geon?”
Ha-jin had no idea why he was barging into the dressing room of the Atrium where the Magic Gala Show was being held. As questions bloomed, space and time twisted, and his body floated upwards. The ceiling twisted wildly, and the blood-stained cards scattered into the air.
Crash! The mirror shattered with a loud noise. Startled, Ha-jin turned his head. The dusty, grimy face of Jeong Byeol was briefly reflected in the sharp fragments.
As he desperately reached out to the boy, the grotesque face of a zombie with melting flesh came close. The zombie turned into Kim Sang-cheol, the trainee who had shaken hands with him on stage, and then into the face of Lee Chang-yeol, the police officer whose skull was crushed by his own hatchet.
Ha-jin’s face twisted in pain. Without realizing it, he apologized to the approaching zombie.
“I’m sorry.”
At the same time, someone shook his shoulder roughly.
“If you’re sorry, get up.”
A voice mixed with a sigh and slight annoyance followed. Huff, Ha-jin gasped and immediately woke up.
His eyes snapped open. His vision was murky. It took him a moment to recognize reality.
“Now that you’re awake, start waking up the others.”
Something black, which he had perceived as the dawn or night sky, was swaying aimlessly in front of his eyes. It was only later that he realized it was the black short-sleeved t-shirt Jeong Tae-geon was wearing, and then a bright light crashed down.
“Ugh.”
Ha-jin frowned and covered his face with his hand. As Jeong Tae-geon’s upper body, which had been blocking his view, moved back, the morning sunlight poured into his eyes.
“What time is it?”
“It’s half past seven.”
It was a later wake-up than usual. Ha-jin, rubbing his still-sleepy eyes, looked around. Last night, because of the Cult Leader’s commotion, Eden and his group had to sleep in front of the restaurant area instead of the convenience store.
Although it was a more public and dangerous place than the convenience store in the corner, they were able to sleep comfortably without having to stand guard inside a safe building with all sides blocked off for the first time in a while.
Ha-jin stared at Eden’s face as he diligently gathered the laundry. He, too, looked more refreshed than usual.
“You seem to have slept well.”
Eden answered by glancing at Ha-jin.
Caw!
The faint cry of a zombie was heard from somewhere. Ah, Ha-jin sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking beyond the glass door of the entrance. A zombie was seen staggering between the clear sky and the wide parking lot.
It seemed like they had to move before it got any later. Ha-jin woke up the group, who were still fast asleep, one by one, and finally picked up Jeong Byeol, who was clutching the Joker card and fast asleep. Byeol blinked his sleepy eyes and looked at him, fussing for a few seconds.
Beaming—Ha-jin, who was then met with an angelic smile, stroked Byeol’s messy hair. Whether it was the aftermath of the dream or the conversation he had with Eden last night, he felt strangely sorry for him.
“If everyone’s up, let’s raid the convenience store first.”
“Isn’t there anything in the restaurant area?”
Mi-so, who had tied her loose hair back with a rubber band, asked.
“I looked around beforehand, but everything was either rotten or only commercial-sized cans that weighed quite a bit.”
This time, Jeffrey raised his hand.
[Can we take whatever we want from the convenience store?]
“We should take a reasonable amount.”
[We don’t just have to take what they give us? They said they’d pack us some separately.]
[Fuck them.]
Eden cursed softly in English and quickly moved his body. The people who had been standing blankly followed him. The group quietly headed to the convenience store counter connected to the restaurant area.
The Cult Leader, his son, and the two female part-timers were still fast asleep inside the convenience store. They showed no caution or sense of danger. Eden, who was looking at them sleeping peacefully despite the arrival of strangers, gestured to the group.
One by one, they took charge of a corner and gathered the necessary food. They wanted to sweep everything away, but there were issues with volume and weight, and they also had to leave some food for the people staying here out of a sense of morality.
Ha-jin and Mi-so moved their hands, estimating a reasonable amount, while Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom packed food as they reached it without hesitation. Byeol stayed close to Ha-jin and secretly stuffed lollipops and such into the front pocket of his overalls, avoiding Eden’s eyes.
They had packed quite a few items and were heading towards the exit of the restaurant area when it happened.
“Wait a minute!”
At the small call, the group’s heads turned back at the same time. The two women, who had woken up at some point, were hurriedly fixing their hair and approaching them.
“A-Are you just leaving without saying hello?”
Their eyes, which had been running over in a flustered manner, suddenly turned sour. They suspiciously glanced at the group’s bags, which were more bulging than yesterday, and then turned their gaze back to the convenience store. A long sigh escaped from their mouths as they confirmed that they had taken the food without permission.
“…Haa. We’ll apologize on behalf of the Cult Leader for the commotion yesterday. But this is not right.”
The long-haired woman with her arms crossed pointed to Park Chun-beom’s fat bag, from which a cookie bag was bulging out.
“If you had told us, we would have taken care of it for you. Where did you learn to steal like this?”
Eden, who had been checking the situation outside, turned his gaze to the women who were chattering away.
“The food we left you should be enough to last you more than a month.”
“Hey, listen here.”
“Thank you for your hospitality last night. Take care.”
Eden, who gave a perfunctory greeting in a stiff tone that contained no soul, was about to open the locked glass door and go outside.
“Wait a minute!”
The short-haired woman blocked his path again. Eden suppressed his annoyance and lowered his gaze.
“What is it?”
“Please take us with you too. We packed our bags last night, so we can bring them quickly.”
Eden’s eyes narrowed at the sudden suggestion. Ha-jin, who was holding Byeol, stiffened his face and looked at Eden.
“Since the food was ours anyway, we can share it as we go.”
Eden ignored the woman blocking his path and grabbed the glass door. He didn’t want to argue, so he kept his mouth shut, but strictly speaking, the food here didn’t belong to them. It was closer to ‘abandoning’ the food and supplies left here.
So, if they were to argue about who had the right to the unclaimed items, Jeong Tae-geon could have easily made them his own long ago. But the reason he didn’t do that was because he wanted to leave at least a minimum of goodwill for those who had opened the door for them last night.
Mi-so, as if to soothe the embarrassed woman, gently patted her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. We don’t want any more companions.”
“Why? We’re just going together? We’re not asking you to take care of us, we just want to go to Misan Ranch with you.”
“We haven’t completely decided on our destination. And the road we’re taking is very rough. We have to climb mountains, so it’ll be very difficult.”
“We can do it. I used to be a mountain climbing maniac. Right? Ye-rim, I’m good at climbing mountains. You come and say something too.”
“Ah, just let them go! Don’t you have any pride? They said they don’t want to go with us.”
The short-haired woman glared fiercely at the long-haired woman who was being uncooperative. After glaring at her for a while, she turned her gaze back to Eden.
“Please take us with you. We’ll stick close so we don’t get in your way.”
Ha-jin, while stroking Byeol’s hair as a habit, couldn’t take his eyes off the woman’s desperate face. It was a scene that reminded him of himself, when he had blocked Eden’s path and begged him to take him along.
He drooped his shoulders with a bitter look.