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“Human, you don’t want to have an older sibling?”
Dragon. An existence that stood above all creatures and known to be arrogant and individualistic. That was what Cale learned from the novel he read before coming into the very world itself. However, the 6-years-old dragon in front of him seemed to be the complete opposite of those descriptions.
Despite calling himself ‘great and mighty’ over and over, he got so frustrated when he couldn’t go through his first growth phase that he called himself ‘not great and mighty’. He was also the opposite of individualistic. As far as Cale could remember, from the moment the black dragon joined their company, never once had he seen the great and mighty Raon Miru alone. Raon stayed with Cale almost all the time and he slept with Cale and the kittens. Even when he needed to use the washroom before he slept at night, he would ask for Cale’s company. ‘I’m not scared of going alone at night! You're just a weak human so I need to watch over you all the time!’ was what he told Cale.
And today, that very same Raon Miru asked Cale that question upon seeing Cale’s unpleasant expression after the crown prince’s visit explaining his proposal of them being sworn brothers. Cale was going to ask the dragon why he was asking such an obvious question, but the dragon was faster.
“You see, human, I think having a sibling is fun! On and Hong are always together. The wolf children too. They always look happy together with their siblings.”
Raon had been weak and lonely in the dark cave for 4 years, and one of the first interactions he experienced after exiting the cave was with the kittens. Sometimes, Raon found himself staring at them playing and taking care of each other. As much as his pride didn’t allow him to be jealous of that, he did feel a tad bit jealous. His feeling became stronger after seeing how the 10 wolf children hugged Lock tightly when they reunited.
He knew that it was near impossible for him to have a dragon sibling, considering the time required for the dragon egg to hatch. He did feel close to Eruhaben since they were both dragons, but their age difference was not that of a sibling. That was why he gave up on that thought. ‘It’s ok, the human doesn’t have an older sibling that spoils him too!’ was what Raon kept telling himself every time he yearned for a sibling.
But the moment the crown prince offered a brotherly connection with his human, his yearning for siblings and to be spoiled by his siblings, came back and overflowed his thoughts. However, his human didn’t look happy, so he had to ask for the reason. Although his own thought came out in the process.
“I also want to have a sibling,” Raon said in a very low voice.
Cale was dumbfounded at this statement. He then asked Raon, “Don’t you already have siblings?”
Raon blinked and asked, “Who?”
“On and Hong? You can even call the wolves your siblings.”
“But they are not dragons.”
“The crown prince is a quarter elf too.”
Raon was quiet for a bit. He had always associated the crown prince with being a human that he completely forgot about Alberu being a quarter dark elf.
“So you can be siblings even though you’re not the same race?”
“Why are you asking such an obvious question?”
“But! But On and Hong never called me dongsaeng. The crown prince even called you dongsaeng before he left just now.”
“You never called them hyung and noona as well.”
“I don’t know if they will like it. I know that they have always called me ‘the youngest’, but what if they just want me to be the youngest by age and not dongsaeng...”
Cale knew exactly that the kittens didn’t think that way, that they would be overjoyed had they heard what Raon said just now. It really brought back memories to when he was Kim Rok Soo, about how his team leader, Lee Soo Hyuk, and his noisy teammate, Choi Jung Soo, were so adamant about wanting to be called hyung. He started wondering how happy they would be had he called them, well only Lee Soo Hyuk though, hyung back then. Kim Rok Soo slightly regretted that fact, but quickly switched his line of thought to the present. He didn’t want Raon to feel the same regret.
“But you’ll never know if you don’t try.”
Raon looked down, looking lost deep in thought.
“Raon. Raon Miru.”
Raon looked up into Cale’s eyes. Cale then continued on.
“If the words are already at the tip of your tongue, it’s better to let it out. You’ve been together with them throughout ⅓ of your life after all. You should say what you want to say before it’s too late.”
Cale started patting Raon’s head as he added on, “You told me that your attribute is ‘the present’, right? Wouldn’t the first step to understand your attribute be to hold onto the present?”
Cale then started teasingly smiled at Raon, the same smile like the one he had when he was about to scam someone, but softer and gentler, “If it’s too much of a jump, why don’t you start by calling me ‘Cale’?”
“NO! You’re human! Weak human!”
And that was how the conversation ended that day.
Not long after that incident, Raon found out about the red dragon. He had a sibling, but not anymore. He didn’t get to play, sleep, or even meet his sibling. He felt sad, really sad.
‘You should say what you want to say before it’s too late.’
Cale’s word echoed in Raon’s mind louder than ever. His human wouldn’t say anything just to scare him, so there must be a reason behind it. ‘Maybe human had the same experience when he was in Korea,’ was what he thought.
Raon then made a resolution to call On and Hong noona and hyung as soon as he could.
‘I’m great and mighty, I can do this!’
Days and weeks passed, but Raon was still struggling to find the right moment to call out to his ‘siblings’. The time for the final battle had then arrived, and they were once again facing the Cat Tribe.
Impure, dirty, trash, inferior, failure. All insults were thrown towards On and Hong as they faced the current Cat Tribe’s leader. Raon’s head boiled more and more as the current head of the Cat tribe kept insulting On and Hong. More and more black mana fluctuated around his body the more he listened. Raon was extremely furious.
Raon shouted with an angry expression on his face.
“Do you want to die? My, my-”
Raon hesitated for a moment before looking at On and Hong. His memories of Cale’s words emerged line by line.
‘If the words are already at the tip of your tongue, it’s better to let it out.’
‘Wouldn’t the first step to understand your attribute be to hold onto the present?’
And finally.
‘You should say what you want to say before it’s too late.’
Raon loved On and Hong and treated them like his siblings. His first memory of them was seeing the kittens glare and hit the guards who tortured him, who was a stranger at that point. They played, ate, and slept together ever since. On and Hong had always taken care of him. They were his family, a very precious one. But his precious people were insulted. Ridiculed. This made him mad, very mad. Raon wanted to protect his family, to do what his siblings did for him.
‘I can do this! This should be easy for the great and mighty me!’
Raon then glared back at the tribe leader, with eyes full of determination.
“I’m not going to let you mess with my noona and my hyung. I will destroy everything.”
His voice was calm but full of anger. Raon let his thoughts out. He called On and Hong his noona and hyung. He wanted to look back and see how the kittens reacted, but it was not the best thing to do with an enemy right in front of them.
“That’s right. We need to destroy everyone who messes with our kids.”
Cale confirmed Raon’s raging exclamation.
The Cat Tribes tried to fire a sneak attack on On but was blocked by Ron. On and Hong seemed to be ready to fight as well.
“I don’t think there will be any danger at all, young master-nim.”
“We will take care of things here, nya.”
“Dongsaeng! You can leave it to us and go, nya!”
Raon’s eyes sparkled on the word dongsaeng. It reached them. His feelings reached them. They called him their dongsaeng. Raon really wanted to hug them that time, but the timing was bad. They were in the middle of a battle. At Cale’s word, Raon followed Cale and headed to another location to fight. Raon made a resolution that he would call the kittens hyung and noona again the moment this war ended.
The White Star was defeated. Raon, along with Cale, quickly teleported to where Ron was, as he would be with the kittens. The teleportation circle shone and once the light went off, Raon was getting ready to fly towards the kitten when he heard 2 familiar meows approaching him.
“Dongsaeng! You’re here, nya~”
“How are you, dongsaeng?”
Raon looked shocked and stopped moving. He was planning to call On and Hong noona and hyung the moment he saw them, but they greeted him first. No more importantly, they called him dongsaeng. Raon stood still frozen, unsure about how to reply.
“Are you ok, dongsaeng?”
“Dongsaeng! Are you hurt, nya?”
They called him dongsaeng again. He didn’t mishear it. His heart felt warm and tears started falling down his chubby cheeks. He finally launched himself towards the kittens and hugged them tightly.
“HYUNG! NOONA! I’M YOUR DONGSAENG!”
On and Hong was confused at this sudden development, but when they saw Cale smiling gently and proudly looking at Raon, they felt relieved. Raon was ok.
“Of course you are, nya! We have always been siblings since we first met!”
“You’re our younger brother, our beloved dongsaeng!”
On and Hong started patting the dragon’s back to calm their little brother down. The 3 kids stayed still hugging each other for a while. They all smiled happily. Raon now found his siblings. He was no longer the only child.
“I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, HYUNG, NOONA! Let’s travel around the world together, with human!”
They all laughed together, while Cale could feel goosebumps behind his neck.
Epilogue:
After hugging On and Hong for a while, Raon suddenly turned back and stared at Cale. He stared for a long time, then looked down while playing with his paws. He looked like he was about to say something to Cale yet the word couldn’t come out.
A minute had passed. Raon finally clenched his paws and determinedly looked towards Cale.
‘Oh, is he gonna call me ‘Cale’ now finally?’
Cale smiled mischievously while looking at Raon, as if he was challenging him. Raon then shouted his heart out loud.
“T-THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME, D-DAD! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!”
Silence filled the surrounding. The mischievous smile on Cale face had been transferred into the giggling kittens. Cale was speechless.