Weird Relationship with Bullied and Bully

I was talking to my friend on Skype. It was actually funny. He mentioned how he had a normal life and wasn't too stressed in school. Then, I told him about me bullying him. I wasn't directly part of the bullying but I was part of the gang. So, I am responsible for the bullying as well. I think they bullied him once or something. There was this incident where the guy used money to make the bullied draw on his face for 5 bucks? Money was rare back then. I used to beg for money too. So he did it and he got paid. Of course he got embarrassed because he couldn't erase it off during class. As time passed, I removed myself from the gang. I just don't like groups. I prefer to be independent and a loner. Well, a different type of loner because I knew most of the people there. The funny thing is I'm still friends with the bullied. In like really good terms. Its really weird when you think about it. I help him with his social issues. Then he  gives me stuff for free. I don't even ask and he gives me stuff. We're both engineers. My school is better but honestly he has more skills.