Work Text:
The daylight seeped through the translucent gold coloured curtains draped across the window. As per his orders, nobody was allowed to disturb Cale during his slumber, not even Ron, unless it was an emergency.
The war against the White Star was already over so really, Cale finally achieved his dreamed slacker life. He could sleep for hours on end without any sudden external attacks.
Except for internal ones.
"Mmm..." Cale woke up in a daze. Looking at his surroundings, it was clearly still morning. He never awoke when it was early, only during times of war or when the kids were being rowdy which was rather rare, surprisingly. Hell, the kids were still asleep right now.
He tried to prop himself up against the bed rest. Keyword: tried. His head hurt like a bitch like hell and he didn't feel like getting up anytime soon. He didn't even know why—wait, it was probably the headache.
'Fuck.' was the only thought he had in his head. His hands and feet felt cold but his head and body was warm. It wasn't that bad with the lack of a blocked or runny nose and sore throat but still, it was definitely the telltale signs of a mild fever. How the hell did he even get a fever with the Vitality of Heart?
—...You know how heat helps with combatting bacteria? Yeah, it's just your body doing that...
—You can't even deal with the bacteria to stop the infection in the first place?
—W-well it's not life threatening!
—...It'll be life threatening in a different way.
Cale shuddered, but not because of the cold.
"Haaa...Just shut up for now." He mumbled to himself. Any loud sounds, especially in his head, made his headache a lot worse and he definitely didn't want to deal with the Ancient Powers bantering right now. He turned away from where the kids were sleeping in mild hopes that they wouldn't get infected should he suddenly cough, and returned to sleep. Of course, he pulled up the blanket to help with the cold first.
...Unluckily for him, the kids were practically trained to wake up at the slightest movement and sound because of their upbringing. Slowly, they raise their eyelids and peeked over at their slumbering human, wrapped up in the blanket, leaving part of it for them as well.
"What's wrong with the human?" Raon quietly whispered to his siblings. "He usually doesn't wake up this early on his own."
"He turned away from us too nya." Hong added on.
On quietly got off the bed, transforming into her human form, and walked over to where Cale was facing. She gently put her hand on the red haired's forehead and compared it to her own. Living on the streets had taught her how to identify injuries and sickness for both herself and her brother, though she never learnt how to treat them. The day Cale threw in extra herbs on top of the food he gave since they first met was the first time she ever applied and took medication. They had let their injuries and illnesses to naturally heal though of course, it took a much longer time than if they had medicine.
"He has a mild fever. Let's not disturb him and tell Grandpa Ron."
Raon and Hong nodded and jumped off the bed, heading towards the door with On. Together, they slowly creaked open the door and escaped into the hallway.
***
"Grandpa Ron! The human has a fever!" Raon was the first to exclaim to the butler when they found him in the kitchen with Beacrox."
"Oh? How concerning." Ron simply commented. In the many years he had served under Cale, this was the first time that he was properly sick and not just having a hangover or coughing up blood. In a way, he was grateful that it wasn't that much serious as compared to when his puppy young master stands on the battlefield.
"Do we have medicine for fever?" On asked.
"I'll need to make a trip to the city for that but I'm sure the young master will be fine." Ron then looked towards Beacrox, who simply nodded and began preparing for the children's breakfast and the young master's meal for later.
"B-but the human said 'Just shut up for now' what if it's something serious nya?"
"Th-that's right! The human mentioned that he could talk to his powers before! What if he was talking to them?"
Everyone, except On, stared at the black dragon in shock. Knowing Cale, he would hide whatever sickness that he had or the severe condition that his body was in, saying that he was fine. If it was to the extent that his powers were worrying about him and he shut them down...
'...But it's really just a fever.' On mentally face palmed. She knew what was serious and what was not. Surely, a fever can't kill a man in his early adulthood? She quietly prayed for Cale's mental well being when the news spreads.
"Well then, I'll need to get Eruhaben-nim to do a thorough check up on him then." Ron put on his signature benign smile. He hoped that it was really nothing serious but nevertheless, it was better to be on the safe side when it came to his young master. "Let's go then, you're all worried as well, yes?."
"Yeah, yeah! Let's go!" Raon and Hong excitedly sped to the door, holding it open for Ron to exit while On slowly trailed behind him.
***
"Gramps! The human is sick!! What should we do!?"
"How sick?" Honestly, couldn't that unlucky bastard catch a break?
"...He just has a mild fever." On hoped that Ron listens and Eruhaben understands.
"But he told his powers to shut up!"
'Right, he could talk to his powers.' Eruhaben recalled the time at the Wind Island. He thought about it for a bit and correctly concluded that Cale likely told them to shut up because his head hurts, assuming On, the rational one, was correct. "Was there anything else strange?"
"Uhm...! He woke up extra early but went back to sleep facing the other way and pulled up his blanket!"
'Yep. A regular fever alright.' But he couldn't just brush the children off, considering the fact that they see Cale as their father. They were worried enough to seek out Ron and himself so the least he could do was to take a look at his condition. Besides, he was concerned about his child as well. "Alright then, I'll have a look at him." Before leaving, he grabbed a towel and a basin of water, storing it into his spatial inventory as well as an extra blanket, just in case.
***
In his room, Cale woke up at some point and somehow managed to sit against his bed rest, seemingly staring into space. His head felt heavy and was throbbing every second while his hands were still tucked beneath the blanket, cold.
—Cale, are you feeling alright?
—Hey, Crybaby! Work harder to heal him!
—L-Like I said! I can't heal what the body is already trying to heal!
—Well, you also heal injuries that the body heals! What's stopping you?
—This and that are different! I simply pump more blood and circulate the cells faster, not produce more of them!
"Seriously, just shut up. I'll recover on my own." The voices in his head fell silent. He pulled his hand away from the warmth of the covers to massage his temples, easing the extra headache that the bickering powers were causing.
Right now, he just wanted a glass of water. Cold, if possible, funny enough. 'I swear, if Ron walks in with lemon tea, I will—'
Creak.
"Oh? Cale-nim, you're awake?" Choi Han stood at the door. He came over to bring the children over for breakfast after his morning exercise. It was a habit he had developed at some point in time.
"Great timing. Could you get a glass of cold water?"
"Sure, but are you alright, Cale-nim? You look paler than usual and... you're sweating. Is the room too warm?" His face was already rather pale but it was especially pale today, contrasting with his strikingly bright red hair that frames his face. His neck was glistening, coated with sweat, wetting the tips of his hair that stuck onto his neck.
"...Yes. I'm fine." He was lucky that he didn't have a sore throat that would oust him for his blatant lie.
"...Cale-nim."
"I'm not lying to you. I'm really fine. I just need to rest a little longer."
"..."
If only his Cale-nim was not such a good actor.
"I will go and get your cold water."
"Thanks."
Once Choi Han left the room, Cale closed his eyes and pulled up a Record.
***
"Rok Soo-ya! Stay in bed!"
"We told you not to use Record for so long!"
Lee Soo Hyuk placed a cold compress on his forehead while Choi Jung Soo covered his body in a thick blanket. All sources of information were confiscated from him to prevent him from using his ability while having a fever.
"But... it was important."
"No it bloody wasn't! You could always review it some other day, you blockhead!" Lee Soo Hyuk pressed Kim Rok Soo's forehead with his pointer finger, hoping that what he said gets through his thick skull.
"That's the point of paper and electronics. You could have taken your time! Aigoo... This stubborn dongsaeng of mine."
"We were born on the same-"
"Sh! You rest now!" Choi Jung Soo shoved an oral thermometer into Kim Rok Soo's mouth. The latter stared at the former in bewilderment, his head hurting too much to process everything that was going on despite his usual skilfulness with analysis.
The thermometer soon sounded and stick was removed. "See! 40 degrees celsius! Go to sleep before we strap you to bed you damn workaholic!"
"Rok Soo-ya, you don't need to try so hard for this shitty company. Just do it in moderation, alright? You guys are more important than working for those shitty higher ups."
"Haaa...I know." He wants a peaceful slacker life so of course he knows how to take care of himself. He was not doing this for the higher ups, it was more for the sake of his future retirement!
"I'll help you apply for sick leave so don't worry about a thing." His team leader got up and left for the living room in their unit to inform their upper management. Despite being part of the vanguard, their team wasn't provided individual housings and they had to see out a home on their own because of the "shortage" in units...That and the fact that they often did things their own way without consulting headquarters. Because of that bias, it would take a miracle for any leave of absence to be approved. "I'll make sure that you get it."
"Hear that?" Choi Jung Soo emphasised on what Lee Soo Hyuk said as he cleared the glass of water and medicine that they had gotten for Kim Rok Soo earlier. "Just sit still and recover slowly, alright?"
"...Fine." He managed to mumble out and finally closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
***
Cale let out a small laugh. They definitely didn't expect him to have Recorded the time he got a fever. Not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things. He had managed to recover within 2 days and returned to work...Not without strict regulations by his two hyungs not that he would admit.
"Humaaaaaaaaan! Are you okay!? Which bastard made you become like this!? I'll beat the shit out of them!"
Cale frowned at Raon's obscene language use. He was a fast learner, perhaps too fast. "I'm fine, Raon." He patted the black dragon's head, followed by the two cats that hopped onto his bed. Purring, they curled up next to his hand, attempting to share their warmth with it.
"Haaaa... They were seriously concerned about you, you know." Eruhaben pulled out the water basin and kept it floating before dunking the cloth he brought into the water. He then wrung the water out, folded it into a rectangle before placing it on Cale's forehead. (A/N: Whether he uses magic or not to do this is up to you to decide 👀)
"Oh? Did I wake you?"
"More importantly! You told your powers to 'shut up', right!? What did they tell you? Is your plate melting again?" Hong mewed urgently.
'Did Raon tell...? Nevermind that.' His head was hurting with Raon and Hong's cries.
"Hush. You're hurting him with your loud voices." On, the ever reliable older sister, consoled her two younger siblings. Cale thought of rewarding her after his fever passes.
"No, my plate is fine. I just have a fever and a headache. It's nothing much."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You better not lie, Human! If you do, I'll... I'll destroy the world!"
"How could I lie to you? For now, just stay a distance away from me. I don't want you all to catch a fever."
""Okay~!"" The children obediently backed off and stood near Ron.
Speaking of, Cale looked at the grey haired man and sighed a breath of relief. There was no lemon tea in sight and Choi Han was getting him his cold water. There was no way he'll get lemon tea today.
"Oh? Young Master, were you expected I come with lemon tea?" Ron smiled widely at Cale, who responded with a look of disgust.
"No. It's because I had sent Choi Han to get me a glass of cold water. I didn't want to drink 2 beverages the moment I wake up.
"I see." His smiled remained. "Then I shall excuse myself since there is nothing much left to be done. I will bring you lunch when it is ready." Ron bowed towards the group and headed towards the door, only to be greeted by the raven haired swordsman.
Staring at each other for a few seconds, Choi Han slanted his body to one side and entered the room, cold water in hand.
"Cale-nim, your water"
Cale received the cup and finished it in one gulp. It felt nice drinking something that doesn't include lemon in the morning for once. He could also feel his body getting slightly cooler, though the cold water added to the coldness of his hands and feet.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine now, I'll get some rest on my own. You can return to whatever you were doing."
"What I'm doing," Eruhaben pulled out a few herbs from his spatial pouch and a pestle and mortar. "Is making you medicine." The gold dragon began his work.
'Is he a pharmacist right now?'
Since he also wanted his annoying headache to go away soon, he paid the dragon no mind and turned to Choi Han and the children.
"I'll be fine, Eruhaben-nim is here with me. Go on, you can go and train or whatever." He waved his hand at them, shooing them away.
"...I leave him in your care, Eruhaben-nim"
"Take good care of him, Gramps!"
"We want Cale to feel better soon nya!"
"Please take care of him nya."
"I will. Go on then."
Eruhaben waved the four of them goodbye and returned his focus to the medicine. Noticing that Cale continued to look at their direction even after they had left, he looked up.
"What is it?"
"...Nothing."
"It's just the two of us here. You can tell me"
"... I'm just happy that they're that concerned for me."
"Hasn't that been obvious all this time? Each time you coughed out blood or fainted on the battlefield."
"This and that are different." In his eyes, it truly was. To him, coughing blood intentionally felt more of a way to get attention which he absolutely detests. It was just a shame that his active powers all had a recoil when he uses them too much.
Eruhaben stared at the reddish brown eyes in front of him. Cale is in his early 20s but why do his eyes tell a different story? It told him that a long past, unknown and full of pain, was set behind those eyes, behind the face of the man who often smiles in the face of an enemy. Mischievously thinking of brilliant ways to scam, bluff and take down his opponents. He could not help but be taken in by those forlorn eyes, curious about what they have seen, what tragic past they hold.
Cale, on the other hand, thought about the nightmare that he had earlier. It prevented him from returning to sleep, needing some time to calm his emotions by bringing up his fond memories of a fever.
***
A cold, dark corner of a room, a house neglected.
Its occupants, living in fear of what is to come, for there was no stopping that monster that was human, a formerly loving husband, a shadow of his past self.
"Dear, please stop! He already has a fever!"
"Shut up! It's all because of this useless good for nothing kid! All he does is leech off of us! Hell, he fell sick because he wants us to pity him! Hah! I'm not falling for that you bastard!"
"Rok Soo already lost his parents, you can't treat a child like this, it's not his fault!"
"You don't know anything!" He pushed his wife away. "He killed my brother and his wife! He survived the damn crash without his own parents!"
His wife tearfully scrambled to stop her husband from hitting the child for any longer. How was it the child's fault when all he did was survive? When all he did was to live for his parents sake? Her mother's instinct kicked in, as a foster mother for her close friends' child, her heart ached, seeing the fragile, feverish child quietly taking the hits all without crying.
Had his tear already run out from that day?
"As if it wasn't enough taking my brother away!" He lands another kick. "You made me lose my job!" And another, despite his wife desperately restraining him. "And now you have a fever! How long more are you going to leech off me!?" He shouts, unconcerned whether his neighbours hear him or not. "I shouldn't have ever brought you in! No, you should never have been born!"
"Dear!" She tearfully restrains the man, eyes full of pity for the young Rok Soo.
"Don't listen to your uncle, okay? He's just a bit drunk. It will all be alright... I'll take care of it. Go to your room now, go on..."
The bruised child, face still red from his high fever, weakly nodded and trudged to his room, flopping on to his bed. His sheets were stained with drops of his blood, cuts that came from the attacks from his uncle. His body a canvas of blue-blacks, thin from being able to eat only the bare minimum that his uncle was willing to give him.
Still, not a single tear fell, nor a cry.
The young child did not dare to make a noise, only heavy breathing could be heard in his room, desperate for fresh air.
After all, what's the use of crying if it can't bring back the passed?
He was a strong child , too strong for his age. He lost and grieved while not knowing how to grieve and persisted to live.
What he thought would be a loving family for him at the start turned into a nightmare. His cursed fate led him to cause his uncle to lost his connections and thus his job. He turned to alcohol, becoming abusive and even turned to gambling. All because of his curse fault.
He felt like a damned leech.
His only way of escape,
Was drifting into dreams.
***
"I'm done making the medicine." Eruhaben spoke up after a long period of silence. "Take it and go to sleep. Unless you would like me to force you to."
"...I understand. Thank you, Eruhaben-nim." Cale gulped down the potion that the Ancient Dragon made. It was bitter, as expected of medicine, but at least it wasn't sour.
Eruhaben helped the young man lie back down in the bed, adjusting the pillows and pulled up his covers.
"I'm not a child, you know."
"In my eyes, you are. Come back when you're over a thousand years old, I might treat you as an adult then."
Cale gave a small chuckle, before staring up at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts once more.
"Really... Thanks for giving me the comfort that I..." His eyelids grew heavy and the remaining words were left unsaid.
"...'That I thought I lost.'" The gold dragon finished his sentence. He brushed aside the strands of red hair sticking to his neck, caressing his hair as you would do to a sick child. "Unlucky bastard. You always act like you were undeserving of comfort."
His mind flew back to the countless of times Cale stood at the forefront of a battlefield. Just how was a young man, who was born into nobility, able to cope with the horrors of war? Even when his companions tried to give him time to rest, to recover from the gruesome scene, he kept moving forward, not giving time to himself, as if he were trying to brush off their concern.
"It's time you accept our concern."
Though it took a fever after numerous battles to get there,
It was better late than never.