Chapter 40: Another Patient

I patted Han Jun’s head resting on my shoulder and comforted him.

“It’ll get better if I rest a little. Don’t worry so much.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“Then what? I’ll just have you carry me around.”

“…Don’t say stupid things.”

When we returned to the hotel and tried to enter the room, Shin Doong-ho—who had just barely survived—suddenly dropped to his knees the moment he saw me.

His knees slammed loudly against the marble floor.

I wondered if his knees were okay.

I had just healed him and now he was practically injuring himself again.

“I will serve you with my life forever!!”

This guy has watched way too many gangster movies.

Looking down at the shiny top of his head, I shook my head.

Last night, while we were busy spending our… rather intimate time together, he had been betrayed and tortured by his own subordinates.

The men he had bullied and controlled had tried to kill him.

Apparently he had spent the night crying tears of blood, reflecting on his life—realizing he had no one he could truly trust.

He said he had been about to die full of regret, but because I gave him another chance to live properly, he would be grateful for the rest of his life.

His behavior was so exaggerated that it was hard to fully believe him.

Still, the fierce temper Shin Doong-ho once had seemed completely broken now, which eased my mind somewhat.

“Don’t touch the civilians. Forget everything that happened last night.”

I warned him, worried that he might take revenge on his subordinates.

Shin Doong-ho waved his hands frantically, swearing he would never do such a thing.

Could a person really change overnight?

I left him with the words that I would keep watching him, then stepped into the elevator with my still-trembling legs.

It was supposed to be a cool scene where I walk away after saying something impressive.

But with my legs shaking like this, it wasn’t cool at all.

“Today was really exhausting. Ah, the life of a popular person.”

I had spent my life as a meddling bystander trailing behind Han Jun, yet suddenly people were showing me respect and admiration just because of my healing ability.

It felt strange.

Like I had suddenly become someone important.

“It’s only three o’clock.”

“I feel like I’ve done a whole day’s worth of work already.”

“Are you going to rest as soon as we get in?”

“Of course.”

What else could I do in this condition?

I turned to Han Jun with a confused look, but he was staring at me with obvious disappointment.

A chill ran down my spine.

“You bastard… don’t tell me. No way, right?”

“What?”

“You horny idiot. Are you seriously thinking about that when I’m this exhausted and dying?!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You did! Your eyes are saying everything! That filthy look!”

He seemed unaware of how obscene he looked when he stared at people with those half-lidded eyes.

It was a very indecent gaze.

“Stop accusing me.”

“You didn’t listen to me today, so you’re not getting anything. No. Wait.”

“…Am I a dog? Should I bark like one?”

Ignoring his threatening tone, I shoved him away the moment we entered the room.

“Don’t come near me!!”

Treating him like some kind of beast, I dove under the blanket.

Listening to his footsteps slowly approaching, I trembled slightly.

“Hyung.”

“Don’t call me.”

“Hyung, I’m really not going to do anything.”

“Go away.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust your d*ck.”

Seeing that I refused to let go of my suspicion, Han Jun gave up trying to persuade me and sat on the bed.

He tapped the blanket where I was hiding.

“Whenever you act like this, I think I get even more excited. Isn’t that strange?”

That was a terrifying statement.

“Y-you’re insane.”

“Why is that? I think I really am a bastard. When you run away, I want to chase you more.”

The mattress sank as his weight leaned toward me.

“Ugh, you’re heavy.”

“Still, since I’m listening to you right now, don’t actually run away. Got it?”

“…Yes. I understand very well. I will remember it carefully.”

If I said I didn’t understand, it felt like something terrible might happen.

Even small warning signs like this couldn’t be ignored.

Especially because lately, my instincts had been frighteningly accurate.

I slept straight through until evening.

When someone told me to wake up for dinner, I half-consciously ate the food Han Jun fed me.

Then I collapsed again and fell asleep immediately.

When I woke up again, it was the next morning.

After sleeping like a dead person, my body finally felt lighter.

Considering I had saved two people who were on the brink of death, it was fortunate that eighteen hours of sleep was enough to recover.

“Ugh…”

Stretching my stiff body, my joints cracked loudly.

After stretching for a while, I looked around the room.

Han Jun wasn’t there.

I wondered where he had gone and wandered out of the room.

“Boss!! You’re awake!!”

As I stood near the elevator in the hallway, a gangster suddenly rushed out as if he had been waiting for me and bowed deeply.

“Oh… yes…”

I reflexively bowed back.

I told them not to call me boss.

But it didn’t seem like they would listen, so I just ignored it.

The gangster didn’t leave either, standing beside me like a bodyguard with his hands clasped.

This was painfully awkward.

“You can go do your work…”

“No, sir!”

I waited for the elevator to arrive, enduring the uncomfortable silence.

As an ordinary citizen, I had never imagined having any connection with gangsters in my life.

So being around them made me uneasy.

When Han Jun was beside me, I could act boldly by relying on him.

But without him, I suddenly felt timid.

It made me realize once again how much I relied on him.

Ding—

The elevator arrived with a chime.

Relieved, I quickly stepped inside—

But the gangster followed me in as well.

He really intended to act like my bodyguard.

I pressed myself against the wall of the elevator.

“Um…”

“Yes! Just give the order!”

The gangster responded immediately with intense enthusiasm.

Why was he so excited?

He looked at me like someone waiting for an order to kill.

“…Do you know where Han Jun went?”

“You mean Boss Han Jun?! He went out this morning to exercise and hasn’t returned yet. I’ll send the guys out to search for him!”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Please wait a moment!”

“No… he’ll come back on his own… hey?”

The moment we reached the first floor, the gangster ran out immediately.

I tried to stop him, but my quiet voice didn’t reach him.

That idiot Han Jun probably went outside again and started sticking his nose into trouble.

What if he was fighting monsters again?

I told him not to overuse his power.

I worried about Han Jun like a mother with a troublesome son.

When I’m around, he behaves somewhat calmly.

But when left alone, he tends to go wild.

He says he’s just going jogging, then comes back after killing dozens of monsters around noon.

Or he runs out in the middle of the night because some noise bothers him and ends up fighting monsters again.

He seemed to have too much energy for his own good.

“Sigh… who’s going to stop him?”

As soon as I entered the dining area, the chef ran toward me.

He bowed repeatedly, acting almost like he wanted to kneel.

At first I wondered why he was acting like that.

Then I remembered his wife.

“Oh right. I said I’d check on your wife today.”

“Yes. Thank you for remembering. Thank you.”

Seeing his tearful face made me realize how careless I had been earlier.

He had thrown away his pride for the sake of his family, yet I had only been worried about exhausting myself again.

I felt slightly guilty.

After eating another lavish meal, I went up to the sixth floor of the hotel.

The chef and his wife were staying there.

Before opening room 601, the chef turned to me.

“My wife’s condition is very bad… the room might be messy.”

“That’s okay.”

When the door opened, I saw someone tied to the bed.

The white sheets were stained with urine and feces.

The woman—his wife—was staring at the ceiling while having a violent seizure.

Startled by the sight of the chef’s wife screaming while tied down, I instinctively stepped back.

“Is it okay to keep her tied up like this?”

“If I don’t, she hurts herself… she keeps saying she has to run away from monsters and tries to escape outside.”

The chef looked at his wife with a pained expression.

But it seemed he had no choice.

If he didn’t restrain her, who knew what she might do.

Holding my nose against the foul smell, I approached the bed.

“Hmm…”

“D-do you know what’s wrong with her?”

Once again, my guess turned out to be correct.

The chef’s wife had also been exposed to Lespia energy, causing severe mental instability.

Compared to the woman I treated yesterday, the energy flowing toward her brain was far stronger—likely because she had been exposed for a longer time.

“M-monster… monster!! Ah!! My leg!! My leg!!”

She trembled violently as if her leg had been cut off, rolling her eyes back.

The energy around her brain was clearly making her see terrifying hallucinations.

This time, I tried a different approach.

Instead of pouring energy into her recklessly, I decided to target the energy accumulated in her brain.

“Please hold her head still for a moment.”

“Yes!!”

While the chef firmly held his wife’s head, I placed my hand on top of it.

White light seeped into her body.

I carefully guided my energy like a living creature, chasing away the energy tormenting her mind.

To reduce my fatigue, I used only a small amount of power.

I was experimenting, trying to achieve maximum efficiency with minimal energy.

The light was faint, but the mental effort was doubled.

Cold sweat formed on my forehead.

The chef watched me with hopeful, awestruck eyes.

Like playing a game of Go, I cornered the energy that had seeped deep into her brain.

Then I struck it all at once.

With that precise attack, even a small amount of energy was enough to disperse it.

“Phew…”

“I-is it finished?”

The chef’s wife had fallen into a deep sleep, breathing steadily.

After checking one more time to make sure no energy remained in her head, I confirmed that it had completely disappeared and stood up.