Chapter 38: A New Leader

It seemed like he was talking about my butt.

Han Jun moved his hips slightly more in that position, then clicked his tongue as if disappointed and pulled out.

The sensation of him sliding out made my body tremble.

Realizing he had stopped at a reasonable point, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe I had been too tense, because my legs gave out and I had to brace myself against the wall.

Han Jun wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

I couldn’t tell if he was supporting me or clinging to me, as he pressed himself against my back and placed his lips on the back of my neck.

At first he licked lightly, ticklishly, but soon his teeth dug in and bit down.

“Ah—hey. That hurts, you bastard.”

“Hyung, let’s go to the bed and do a little more.”

“Just kill me already.”

With my legs still trembling, I stubbornly walked out of the bathroom.

Han Jun shamelessly clung to me even though I could barely walk, shuffling along behind me.

I wiped my body with a towel and collapsed onto the soft bed.

Whether Han Jun lay down next to me or not, I didn’t care—I just sprawled out.

“My butt feels weird.”

“I’ll check.”

“No. Don’t look. I’ll stab your eyes out.”

Check what? What would he even do after looking?

Not trusting him at all, I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket for maximum defense.

Han Jun frowned at the sight of me bundled up and roughly pulled the blanket away.

“Hey!”

The white blanket fluttered up into the air.

After hugging my naked body against his chest, he dropped the blanket back over us.

“You keep using your power in strange ways.”

“You should be grateful I’m not using it intentionally.”

“…Don’t ever intentionally decide to.”

“Hearing that makes me want to try it intentionally.”

Han Jun raised an eyebrow while lying beside me with an arm draped over my body.

Then he began playing with my chest absentmindedly.

The way he pinched my hardened nipples was extremely shameless.

I pretended not to hear him and closed my eyes.

I absolutely would not get dragged into this again.

“Hyung, don’t pretend to sleep.”

Ignoring him, I tried to fall asleep.

Just before drifting off, I felt a little bitter.

I’m a psychic too now…

I found my power too…

So why do I still feel so weak?

Of course it’s good that I can help Han Jun.

But I had wanted to become physically stronger too.

You know, something cool.

Instead I ended up like a strategist who just uses his brain.

“Ah!”

Even when he pinched me like that, I couldn’t do anything about it.

“Hyung, good night.”

“I won’t sleep well.”

“You’re just not tired enough. If we finish properly, don’t you think you’d sleep better?”

“That was a lie. I’m actually very sleepy right now. Very, very good night.”

It had been so long since I slept on a proper bed.

The comfort made it feel like my body was sinking deep into the mattress.

Han Jun’s weight resting on top of me was a little heavy, but it strangely made me feel safe.

He’s always messing around and clinging to me, but having him here is incredibly reassuring.

If I were alone, this night would probably feel terrifying.

But instead it felt warm.

And I knew that was because of him.

Well… maybe about twenty percent of the credit goes to my own careful planning and intelligence too.

Han Jun should at least acknowledge twenty percent.

If he doesn’t, then he’s just stingy.

After Shin Doong-ho fell, the gang members under him quickly assessed the situation.

They rapidly changed sides and decided to pledge loyalty to the stronger psychic.

Their quick judgment was admirable.

But they misunderstood something important.

“Good morning, boss!!”

The moment we came down to the first floor, the Dogani gang lined up and bowed deeply toward us.

They had started treating us like their bosses.

The entire group bent their waists like folding phones while greeting us.

Han Jun, who had suddenly become the leader of the Dogani gang, looked completely bewildered.

“What do we do about this?”

I was just as confused and looked around.

But Shin Doong-ho was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking maybe he was resting from the injuries he took yesterday, I asked one of the nearby gang members.

“Where’s Shin Doong-ho?”

“Huh?”

“Where is Mr. Shin Doong-ho?”

“Why… why are you asking about him?”

The henchman’s reaction felt strange.

Something must have happened to Shin Doong-ho.

Since he had psychic powers, we had deliberately spared him, so what now?

When I said I wanted to see him, the henchman hesitated for a long time before guiding us to the underground parking lot.

The basement smelled strongly of gasoline and damp concrete.

Shin Doong-ho was tied tightly to a pillar with thick rubber hoses.

Several gang members wearing red rubber gloves surrounded him.

“…Why is he like that?”

“Well… the thing is…”

It seemed even this small group of a few dozen people had factions within it.

Apparently Shin Doong-ho had relied on his psychic power and bossed the henchmen around constantly.

Some of them held grudges because of that.

When he lost consciousness in the elevator, they took the chance to tie him up.

Since he had already lost to us anyway, they decided it was a good time to finish him off.

Judging by his condition, they had even tortured him through the night.

Shin Doong-ho was barely conscious.

The world of gangsters was truly ruthless.

The moment someone became weak, they were eliminated.

“Untie him.”

“What?”

“I said untie him. Who told you to beat him?”

“Sir… you may not know, but he’s extremely vicious. Helping him won’t make him change. If we leave him alive, he’ll only look for a chance to stab you in the back. It would be much better for you bosses if we just finish him now…”

Several of them had taken part in beating him.

They were clearly afraid of letting him go.

They kept trying to persuade us.

I glanced at Han Jun, who was watching silently with his arms crossed.

He said only one word.

“Untie him.”

The moment Han Jun spoke, the henchmen froze.

They seemed to find me easy to deal with, but Han Jun scared them.

Unable to withstand his gaze, they finally untied Shin Doong-ho.

As soon as the hoses came off, Shin Doong-ho collapsed onto the ground.

Seeing his miserable condition made me rub my forehead.

What a mess.

He had been tortured so badly that he was burning with fever and barely conscious.

Maybe this was the inevitable fate of someone who enjoyed abusing weaker people.

Even so, I didn’t feel particularly sorry for him.

I didn’t feel sympathy—but he still needed emergency treatment.

So I approached him.

The smell of urine and blood hit my nose.

There was also pus and blood dripping from his wounds.

My weak stomach nearly made me gag.

“Ugh.”

It was impossible to suppress it completely.

It felt rude to gag in front of someone who was injured, so I shut my eyes and covered my nose and mouth with my hand.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

“Tr—ugh—treatment.”

“Why bother?”

Han Jun sounded unusually cold.

He had no sympathy for bad people.

He clearly distinguished between those worth protecting and those who weren’t.

I was different.

It wasn’t that I thought it was my duty to protect everyone.

But in order to survive, even bad people could sometimes be useful.

“If we leave him, he’ll die today.”

That was the feeling I got.

His faint aura looked like smoke dispersing into the air, as if his life force was fading away.

I wasn’t sure whether I could really save someone on the brink of death.

But it seemed like a good opportunity to test the limits of my ability.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and sent energy into him.

A faint light spread out, briefly illuminating the dark basement.

The gang members watching nearby gasped in amazement.

As if they had witnessed a miracle.

After about ten seconds—

Shin Doong-ho, who had been nearly dead, twitched and opened his eyes.

Looking up at me in disbelief, tears streamed down his face.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

“Sob… sob…”

He must have known he was dying.

Overwhelmed by the fact that he had survived, he threw away his pride and began thanking me.

Still weak, he crawled forward and slammed his head against the ground repeatedly.

After all that effort to heal him, now he was hurting himself again.

His sudden change in attitude caught me off guard.

But I also felt a strange sense of pride.

“Ugh…”

However, my power clearly wasn’t limitless.

The moment I stood up after healing him, my vision spun.

If I didn’t steady myself, I felt like I might faint.

Han Jun supported me and complained in an annoyed tone.

“Why push yourself until you get dizzy? He’s not worth it.”

Coming from someone who always went out of his way to help people, that sounded ironic.

Rubbing my suddenly hungry stomach, I muttered—

“I’m hungry.”

I meant it for Han Jun.

But the gang members nearby reacted first.

“We’ll prepare something immediately, boss!!”

“Right away, boss!!”

“What would you like to eat, boss?!”

What the hell is wrong with them?

The moment we returned to the first-floor lobby, a feast appeared before my eyes.

Food was scarce these days, so seeing such luxury was shocking.

I looked at the table with a slightly overwhelmed expression.

Shiny braised pork, thick cuts of roasted meat, sweet-and-sour fried fish, stir-fried vegetables, and noodle dishes.

All kinds of Chinese dishes greeted me, making my mouth water.

Just then a man stepped forward from among the gang members.

He had a rough face marked by a long knife scar, and he smiled awkwardly when he saw my confusion.

“I used my fifteen years of experience as a Chinese restaurant chef. I hope it suits your taste.”

“Aren’t you a gangster?”

“Oh no! I used to be a cook.”

“I worked at the market.”

“I only used knives at a butcher shop.”

I had assumed they were all gangsters.

Some of them really were.

But many had simply been ordinary people making a living before the world collapsed.

After everything fell apart, they had joined the Dogani gang just to survive.

“…I see.”

The people who had bullied the weak and tortured Shin Doong-ho were actually ordinary people once.

Maybe circumstances truly shape people.

With monsters roaming the streets and food running scarce, they probably had no choice but to become cruel just to survive.