I'll Pay You Back

In the bathroom she'd worn a look of lingering regret as we brushed our teeth. Standing naked side by side under the shower, her face had been a mixture of embarrassment and happiness. And now, smiling at the mere thought that someone might see us leaving the motel together, Song Yura linked her arm through mine and chattered away.

"If Master had kept attending university, we really would've become famous as the most unusual campus couple. Hehe. We could even go every day, right? And if word got around that I sometimes finish you off with my mouth… then maybe I could stand to be a little bolder about it. A little more shameless."

From start to finish, she looked happy for no other reason than that she was with me.

This is messed up.

This was absolutely not the picture I wanted. Of course, I was the one who'd told Song Yura that if she wanted to live as a slave, she needed to show some sincerity… but if a single sentence could change a person this much, the government wouldn't pour enormous sums into rehabilitation programs every year. And I wasn't even sure those programs had particularly high success rates to begin with.

Is this the power of Demonic Energy?

The thought crossed my mind. If anything, considering the word itself — Demonic Energy — it would have been stranger if it didn't carry some kind of power like seduction or fascination.

For a moment, I'd even considered cutting the thing off.

Because Song Yura looked far too happy.

Or maybe this bitch was just born a nymphomaniac.

People come with different natures. She'd been a virgin until now, so there'd been no way to know — but perhaps Song Yura was, in truth, a sex-crazed slut who simply loved it to death. That hypothesis wasn't entirely without merit either.

But that pisses me off in its own way.

Whatever. Even if it wasn't the picture I'd wanted, the current situation itself wasn't so repulsive that it made me sick.

She's a woman I can kill whenever I feel like it, anyway.

Thinking that, I decided to leave things as they were for the time being.

Walking arm-in-arm with Song Yura made my pace slower than usual, and yet the time it took to arrive felt faster. Strange.

One minute before the lecture ends.

Click.

As if on cue, the lecture-hall doors swung open, and university students poured out in a noisy flood — some looking wrung out from the three-hour class, others wearing the faces of the newly liberated.

"Let's go eat!"

"Anyone up for karaoke or the PC cafe?"

They clustered together, talking over one another as they walked, but every last one of them glanced our way at least once. It was a change I'd been keenly aware of ever since acquiring Demonic Energy.

Among them were the two men I had business with.

"Oh, Naengjung! I was just about to go look for you. Nobody in the department has your number — I was this close to walking all the way to the department office."

Déjà vu?

I frowned at the two men approaching with the same boundless, unearned familiarity Song Yura had used when she first spoke to me.

Lee Jongyeon and Kang Pung.

Back in high school, they'd been thugs in a delinquent crew called Wind. After graduation they'd acted like those years had never happened. Both of them had come to university, picked up girlfriends, and were enjoying the campus life.

If I'd gotten this power back in high ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠school, I wonder what would've happened to these two.

I dismissed the idle thought and asked,

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Ah — we just got a group project in Intro to Mechanical Engineering. You were absent today, so I told the professor that Pung and I would pair up with you. If it weren't for us, you'd have been stuck doing it alone."

Lee Jongyeon said it like he was doing me a favor.

"Give me your number first. We stuck together for three whole years in high school and I still don't know your phone number. Shit, saying that out loud is actually kind of funny."

I huffed a laugh in spite of myself. It was funny. They'd shaken me down for money every chance they got — called me their personal ATM — and somehow still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't have my number after three years. Then again, that had been by design. I'd handed over the cash without a fuss and quietly never given them my number.

"Anyway, you'll do the research, I'll make the slides, and Pung'll handle the presentation. That's the split. Just so you know."

I gave a small nod as I looked at him. People really don't change. These two were about to prove it all over again. Not that it mattered — I had something to collect from them either way.

"So I do the research, and then you'll have me make the slides and give the presentation too?"

"Hey. Watch your mouth."

Lee Jongyeon's face turned ugly in an instant. Old habits. And in his memory, I was still just Han Naengjung — the walking wallet who'd never once turned down one of his demands.

"Sorry if I'm wrong. I just don't think I am."

I scratched the nerve one more time. Lee Jongyeon flicked a glance around to see who was watching, then clamped a hand on my shoulder.

His grip tightened.

"You lost your damn mind?"

He leaned in close and whispered it in a low, ugly voice. Perfectly the Lee Jongyeon I remembered.

"You think just because I act friendly at university, we're actually friends? You trying to die? And if something comes up, you make the slides and you do the presentation. You can handle all of it. People are supposed to help each other out. Right?"

"You're not wrong."

"See, you son of— khurk!"

In a single motion I seized Lee Jongyeon by the throat and drew up my Killing Aura.

"I've decided to collect what I'm owed for all the 'help' I've given you over the years. So you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going to follow me quietly. Unless you want your neck snapped right here."

"Ghk— ghhk!"

Fear swallowed him whole. His eyes went empty and he nodded. I let go of his throat and moved off with Song Yura first.

Around the back of the Mechanical Engineering Building was a quiet rear courtyard that students from other departments almost never approached. Researchers were usually the only ones who passed through, which made the place even more deserted. Sound carried a little, thanks to that — not that it was my problem.

"Ah… aah…"

Song Yura had been silent beside me the entire time, but she'd been letting out faint, thin sounds, and her face had gone deathly pale. When I saw the cold sweat on her, I asked,

"…Something wrong?"

"N-no. It's nothing. Hic. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She could have just told me why.

Tsk.

I unhooked my arm from Song Yura, who could do nothing but apologize, and a moment later fixed my eyes on Lee Jongyeon and Kang Pung as they came shuffling awkwardly into the courtyard.

Good. The ones I could take this filthy feeling out on were standing right in front of me.

"Hey! Han Naengjung!"

Kang Pung still hadn't figured out what was going on. He bellowed loud enough to shake the whole area and came charging at me.

He seized my collar.

Grabbing me by the throat without so much as a word of warning — I couldn't help a hollow laugh. I'd wondered if becoming an adult might have reformed him. No such luck. He was exactly the same.

"Ha."

The laugh slipped out because my mood had improved a fraction. Kang Pung stared at me like I was insane and started running his mouth.

"This son of a bitch is laughing? You really got a death wish, don't you? You think I won't hit you? I could beat you like a dog right here, put you in the hospital, and I wouldn't lose a minute of sleep over it."

"You think you can?"

I asked it like the idea was laughable. Kang Pung snorted right back.

"What, you counting on the cops? Your head got a little bigger now that you're not a high-schooler anymore? Gonna start some shiny new life, is that it? Doesn't matter, you piece of shit."

He shook me by the collar as he went on.

"Doesn't matter, because you're still a pathetic orphan with no backing and no parents. You go to a hospital right now — who's gonna stand up for you? So while we're still being generous, you'd better fall in line. Keep acting like you did in high school and we'll look after you all the way to graduation."

Song Yura couldn't take it. She dropped where she stood and broke into sobs.

"S-stop… please, stop."

I had no idea why she was acting like that, but watching her made my mood even fouler. Not that I needed the extra push. There was already plenty about Lee Jongyeon and Kang Pung that I couldn't stand.

"The money I handed over to you two probably comes to well over ten million won, easy."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"With interest, I want ten million each within the month. Twenty million total. Do that and I'll forget our relationship ever existed. In a way, that's a lot lighter than what I gave Song Yura. Though for that, you'll need to give me your numbers first—"

"Hey! What kind of bullshit is that?!"

Lee Jongyeon, who'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been hanging back reading the room, put on a sour face and nodded along.

"Y-you can't come at us with that now, you bastard. Look. We'll just do the group project for you too. Call it even."

"…"

I thought the same thing. It was a novel proposal, in a completely different sense from Song Yura's. And the funnier part was their value system — the genuine belief that they could settle a demand for twenty million won by doing a group project in my place.

I suppose that's exactly where they think I stand.

So if I changed that standing, would we start speaking the same language? Or would these two flip overnight the way Song Yura had?

Curiosity in hand, I drew up every last drop of Killing Aura I could produce.

A surge of blood welled up in my throat. I ignored it. If I could make the things in front of me understand their place, a little internal damage was a bargain.

"Lee Jongyeon. Kang Pung. Shut those disgusting mouths and listen."

"…!"

A chill ran through both of them. They had no choice but to close their mouths. Their instincts were screaming that if they didn't, they would die.

"Use your heads. We're not friends. You borrowed that much money from me in high school — of course you pay it back with interest."

"Th-tha— khhk!"

Kang Pung tried to say something and instead dropped to his knees, sucking down empty air in ragged gasps. The hair he'd grown out since starting university was already soaked through with sweat, hanging limp around his face.

"Or did I phrase that wrong? Maybe you'll understand it better the way you used to say it."

"Ghk!"

The weightless pressure crushed down on them, and both men shook far more violently than before. I set my foot on their heads and pressed down, lightly, as I spoke.

"If you think a person can't be killed in this day and age… well, that's not the worst thing you could believe. But you'll be the ones who answer for that choice. So I'll ask you. Looking at me right now — do you think I can kill someone, or don't you?"

Gulp.

Even as they gasped under the Killing Aura, both of them reflexively lifted their heads and met my eyes.

They screamed at the same time and fell over backward.

"Hyaaaaaaah!"

"Uwaaah! U-uhh… uwaaah…!"

Judging by that reaction, I was a little curious what I looked like right now. I was pouring Killing Aura out without pause, and yet the actual act of killing them stirred nothing in me at all.

I looked down at them with a flat, empty expression and asked again.

"So what's it gonna be?"

They answered with their faces shoved into the dirt.

"I-I'll pay you back… I'll pay, so please — just let us live."

"Ten million each. Or one of you can cover the full twenty. I don't care which."

Tap.

I gave them my number in passing and started walking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Song Yura reach for me with trembling hands.

"U-um, Master…"

I deliberately put more distance between us.

"It's time for your shift."

"Ah… yes…"

Still deathly pale, Song Yura hung her head. She stood rooted to the spot with a look of genuine misery, unable to make herself move. I glanced back at her once, and then I kept walking.