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Chapter Text

There is a tickle on his nose.

Something furry and tickly and it's making him almost sneeze but not quite, and it's really, really annoying, trying to sneeze but not sneezing.

Cale is annoyed at the something on his face, and groggily he opened his eyes, only to be met by something red.

Red and fluffy? Touching his face and making his nose tickle.

Before his mind could process the thing in his face, it suddenly opened it's eye, round and golden with a black slit on the middle, unblinking.

Cale Henituse screamed.

As he screamed the red thing also screamed, it's fur standing on end and - oh my god it has legs!

Cale screamed some more, scrambling backwards, his hand touched something that sent goosebumps on his arm, and when he whipped his head to look, there is a furry grey golden eyed thing there, arched back and hissing, hair standing on end.

Cale screamed even more, his surprise had turned into terror, and then there was a black thing in front of him with wings and it's screaming and it's approaching him and he's surrounded and he probably hit his head on the headboard in an attempt to flee be there's nowhere to go—

The door slammed open, and there Cale saw an alarmed Ron, eyes wide, holding something silver in his hand.

Cale Henituse promptly burst into tears.

Chapter Text

The day started out peaceful.

It was foggy that day, the early morning sun not yet warm enough to dispel the chill, but there is already a gaggle of activity as the villa awakes.

Beacrox was entering the kitchen, a basket of fresh ingredients ingredients in tow, followed by 3 of the wolf children with more ingredients in hand. They were setting them down on the table as Ron comes in to help.

Choi Han was at the training field with Lock, doing laps and getting in some early morning training.

The other wolf children were doing some other stuff, like sweeping the front yard or feeding the chickens. They've been adamant on wanting to help around, and slowly they had found different things they wanted to do.

Rosalyn was in her lab. Whether she had gotten there early in the morning or had never left since last night is anyone's guess.

Usually, the dragon and cat trio will soon wake up themselves and run around the place, and then much, much later their red haired young master.

They'd then have breakfast together, sitting on the long table with Beacrox's excellent food in between them, talking about anything and everything, until they'd go about on their day once again. 

This has been the peaceful routine these past few days, and no one really thought it'd be any different today.

When the scream pierced into the silence, everyone instantly went into battle mode.

The screaming was from the Cale's room. Ron, Choi Han, and Rosalyn rushed to the source of the noise, while Beacrox and Lock went and gathered the wolf children, alert in case of enemy attack.

Ron was the first one to arrive, having been closest to Cale's room since he was going there anyway.

Rosalyn arrived shortly after, almost skidding to a stop in front of the opened door, wand at the ready.

Choi Han just burst into the room through the balcony, jumping directly from the courtyard, tucked and rolled before standing up with his sword out, ready for anything.

The "Cale-nim!" and "Young master Cale!" died in their lips at the sight that greeted them.

It was... Well, a bed full of crying children.

Cale had firmly latched himself to Ron, face over the butler's shoulders, hiccuping between sobs and streams of tears running down his face, wailing his heart out as Ron run circles on his back and whispering words of comfort.

Raon was splayed on the bed, also crying, trying to say something but all that's coming out of his mouth were gargles of words.

On and hong were squished together in a tangle of fur and tears, also wailing, their cries a mixture of cat and human noises.

It took almost an hour to calm all the children down, with the kittens in Rosalyn arms and Raon in Choi Han's.

Beacrox had come in at one point. He left the room with a shocked expression that never really disappered even when he started cooking breakfast.

"Mi... Miss Rosalyn, are you alright?"

Crown Prince Alberu's voice through video communication devise cracked a bit. Rosalyn had called him suddenly so early in the morning, and when the orb connected, Rosalyn had just stared at him for a good solid 5 minutes. Whatever he saw in Rosalyn's face scared him.

"Well, your highness..." Rosalyn laughed a bit, a high pitched laugh devoid of humor that almost sound crazed. She still looked shocked. "It's... It's about Young master Cale"

Alberu could feel a headeache brewing immediately. He clasped his hands together, bracing himself. The look on Rosalyn's face is really scaring him now.

"What about Cale?"

"He's a child, your highness."

"...what?"

"He turned into a child"

"...what??"

"He's so small"

What???

Chapter Text

Elsewhere in another place, in another time:

A much younger Ron stood frozen by the side of his puppy young master's bed.

Last night he had tucked in a 5 year old red-headed boy.

The boy currently sleeping in the bed is definitely not a 5 year old.

The sleeping boy looks like the young master Cale, albeit older. Much older. Probably in the late teens, perhaps?

The boy stirred, and when he caught sight of the butler, the boy flinched.

"What the fuck?" the boy let slip, voice still groggy from sleep "Ron??"

"Good morning, young master"

Ron looked for all the world like a butler used to seeing his master suddenly aging overnight, but internally he was freaked out.

Luckily, Ron was a profesional. Just last week he had managed to stop the young master from accidentally burning down the whole west wing and eating the explosives. He still hadn't figured out where the toddler got the dynamites, but compared to that, this was a piece of cake.

"What the fuck?" this older Cale said again, standing up the bed, opening the window curtains, closing it, looking around the room, opening the closet, closing it, then approached a dresser with a mirror on it and stared at himself for a solid 5 minutes, all the while repeating "What the fuck?" Over and over again like a mantra.

Finally, be rubbed his face, then ran his hand through his hair, before sighing.

"Haaaaaa....I need a drink"

Ron raised an eyebrow. This young master looks young, but sounded like an old man. Cale was a happy and energetic child, surely he did not grow up like this?

"Ron, how old am I? During this time, I mean"

"...5 years old, young master"

"FUCK!"

Cale then sat back on the bed and buried his face in his hands, groaning. Ron was about to say something when Cale suddenly just stood up, hands in the air in surrender, a look of absolute annoyance in his face.

"No. I refuse everything about this!" Cale started walking back and forth the room. 

"This is a dream! Yes! Just a dream! If I go back to sleep maybe I'll wake up back in my office, surrounded by the godforsaken paperwork, and all will be well."

Cale paused, stared at the ceiling, then ran to the balcony and with as much venom as he could screamed at the sky "This better be a dream you shitty god!" then crawled under the covers and resolutely closed his eyes.

Ron was ignored, but he just stood there, observing everything. When the crease on this older young master's forehead had disappeared and his breathing evened out, Ron made a decision.

A gleaming dagger slid out his sleeves, and Ron silently approached the bed.

Chapter Text

Somewhere, in another place, in the current time:

"Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh"

A certain team member was crying. He was on his knees, and in his embrace stood a very confused black-haired boy, eyes wide and frozen stiff.

Assistant Leader Kim Min-ah hit him in the head. "Stop wailing Jang Sejong! You're scaring him!"

"But Kim Min-ah-ssi, the team leader! The team leader! Sob"

Everyone in the office looked at the boy being crushed by the hug.

"The team leader is so tiny! Waaaaa~"

Everyone had been worried when Team Leader Kim Rok Soo did not show up in the office that morning.

It reminded them of that time when their Team Leader didn't show up like this before, and just suddenly changed when he got back.

Kim Min Ah had wondered if she should go visit their Team Leader's home again when Support Agent Jung So Hoon gasped, getting everyone's attention.

He had approached the Team Leader's table to put down some documents down when he noticed a small foot poking out the side of the table. When he looked that's where he found it.

On the Team Leader Kim Rok Soo's office chair a child is sleeping peacefully.

"He looks.... he looks like Team Leader..." Agent Jung's voice trembled slightly, and shock rippled throughout the office as everyone came closer to look.

Did the Team Leader have a child??!!

The child stirred, eyes wide and pupils shaking when he noticed the people staring at him.

Very, very slowly the child that looked like their Team Leader sat up and got out the chair, not once breaking eye contact with them, and very stiffly tried to walk out the office.

He looked confused but determined, as if waking up in a strange place is just a normal occurrence, but everyone could also tell that the child is anxious.

Everyone stood still, their instinct telling them that if they made sudden movements the child would bolt, so they continue to watch this very bizarre and slow escape.

Then, Agent Cha had a thought.

"Team Leader Kim Rok Soo-nim..?"

The child looked back recognising his name, and that was when the newbie Jang Sejong broke down, hugging the now confirmed child Team Leader Kim Rok Soo.

Jang Sejong continued to wail as everyone tried to tend to their now child Team Leader, ignoring the crying man.

After all it was a well known fact that Jang Sejong's weakness were cute things, and well, this Team Leader-nim is very cute.

Chapter Text

Elsewhere, in another place, in another time:

Cale Henituse stood in a dim room surrounded by broken glass bottles. He had woken up in a cold dark room, covered only in a flimsy blanket.

He could hear the T.V. and a snoring man through the crack on the door.

He looked at his hand, up his sleeves and inside his shirt.

He was peppered in scars.

He maneuvered his way to the door, avoiding the broken glass even though he's wearing thick boots, opting to avoid as much noise as possible. 

A familiar man was sleeping in the sofa, snoring, hand still holding a beer. He ignored the drunkard and proceeded to head to the door when the newscaster mentioned today's date and weather forecast.

The only thing he has to say about that is "Fuck".

Chapter Text

Present Tme; Super Rock Villa:

Cale's eyes were puffy, and he's still hiccuping a bit. He's in Ron's lap, staring at the wall, a glass of water in his hands, and no energy whatsoever.

"Drink your water now, young master" Ron urged, helping the boy lift the glass on his lips, and he downed it immediately. He was very thirsty.

"No monsters?" Cale asked again, looking up at Ron's face, trying to look for reassurance there.

"No monsters." Ron assured, still giving his young master a pat on the back.

It was probably the most frightening morning in Cale Henituse's life.

He had woken up to see nothing but red fur, only for a sudden round golden eye to appear right in front his face, and he had screamed in surprise.

His screaming got Hong so scared he also screamed, which also woke Ohn and Raon up, and anyone can tell you that being awoken by screams is a really scary thing to wake up to.

Suffice to say the sheer panic the screams and sudden wakefulness caused had driven all rational thought away, and all that was left was 4 really spooked children screaming their head off, before bursting into tears because who wouldn't? It was scary!

Cale had launched himself into a very surprised Ron, a familiar face in this otherwise very unfamiliar place. He was so, so scared.

Cale had wanted his mama and papa, but they left to do some inspections, and he promised he would be good. Ron is here though, so it's ok. He had thought that monsters were about to eat him, but Ron said that there were no monsters, so there are no monsters, and Cale started to feel better.

"Are you hungry, young master?" Ron asked, and Cale nodded. He was hungry.

With his hand on Ron's, they went to the dining hall. Cale looked around as they walked, confused. This place is not his house. He was hungry though, and he's still a bit shocked, so he put the questions later.

Then came another shock when the food came.

Mouth agape and eyes wide, Cale pointed at Beacrox.

"Ron!!!" he lisped a bit, his butler's name almost sounding like 'Won!!!', earning a few chuckles from unseen spectators.

"Yes, young master?"

"Bo-hyung! Bo-hyung!" And Cale practically vibrated "HE'S A GIANT!!!!"

The excitement is palpable on the now very small young master, "Bo-hyung! How did you become so big??!"

Cale let go of Ron's hand, "You were this big yesterday!" he stretched out his hands to demonstrate, "but now you are this big!" he raised his hands above his head and tiptoed. When he felt like his demonstration was properly observed he lowered his hands and asked again "How did you grow so big Bo-hyung?"

"I ate my vegetables and drank milk" Beacrox deadpanned, unimpressed, and continued setting up the table.

Cale gasp. He was shocked. Shocked! It's what his mama always said! He didn't really believe her, but-

"I...! I will eat my vegetables!" He declared, earning an approving nod from Beacrox. The cousins always said he was a shorty. He'll show them! He'll grow big and stomp on them!

Cale then marched to the nearest seat, but before he could climb into one, he noticed movement by the window.

"There's someone watching us, Ron!"

"Do you want to meet them?"

"Are they servants?"

"No, young master. They are, hmm... friends, I suppose?"

"But Ron, I don't have friends"

At this, the servant and chef stilled. Had the young master always thought this?

"If you say they're friends though...." Cale's ears started turning red "... I'll believe you. Only because you said so Ron!" 

At this Ron sported his best benign smile "Then I'll ask them to come in"

"It's not because I wanted friends! It's only because you said they were!"

"Yes, yes. Of course young master"

Ron signaled, and slowly the eavesdroppers trickled in. 

First came Lock, and behind him his siblings peeking wide eyed at the now very small young master. If they had tails it'd be wagging. They were smitten.

Then came Choi Han, face blank and out of it, with Raon hiding on his back, peeking at his small human.

Then Rosalyn with her hands over her mouth mumbling "so small" in a small voice only those with keen ears could hear, the kittens on her shoulders, tapping their paws in excitement, the spook earlier that morning already forgotten.

Then came the crown prince, and Ron was not sure when exactly he had arrived, but he had the biggest and brightest smile he had ever seen. Seeing him Beacrox just scoffed and went to get an additional set of plates.

Suddenly embarrassed that there were more people than he had anticipated, Cale clutched onto Ron's coat, and half hid behind his legs.

He was a good boy though, and good boys introduce themselves to the guests. Steeling his nerve, he took a deep breath, and as loudly as he can-

"My...my name is Cale Henituse! I am... I am 4 years old! Nice...! Nice to meet you!"

Cale then proceeded to bury his face behind Ron's knees, his face almost the same shade of red as his hair.

He heard several noises, one that sounded like a squeal, some "oh my gods" and "my heart!" but also whispered "so cute!"

When he heard some flapping, he peeked and almost stumbled in surprise at the reptilian face in front of him.

Black scales, chubby cheeks, and large eyes a vivid blue, Cale's mind is half afraid and half fascinated, because he kept thinking "so cute!" but also "it's the monster this morning!"

"I am the great and mighty dragon Raon Miru! I am 6 years old! Nice to meet you little human!"

And before Cale could process this, because DRAGON, two furballs bounded to him, and Cale realizes that the furry monsters this morning were kittens, but then

"My name is Ohn! I'm 12yrs old. Nice to meet you too!"

"I'm Hong! I'm 9yrs old! Let's be friends nya~"

The kittens talk!

"That's right little human! Let's be friends!"

"We'll play lots, nya!"

"It's gonna be fun, nya!"

His jaw dropped. Cale is so shocked right now. He felt so many exciting feelings and his little heart could only handle so much.

He had wanted to say, "It's a dragon!!! That's awesome!!! And the cats are talking!!! That's so cool!!! And they want to be friends with me!!! And I want to be their friend!!! Let's play!!! Right now!!!"

Cale was excited. Cale was happy. Cale was also a bit scared because he hadn't had friends his age before. He was amazed, and nervous, and frankly too overwhelmed, and he's had a really eventful morning that Cale thinks he can't handle anything shocking anymore.

Grasping his butler's coat like a lifeline, his heart swelling with excitement he felt like he'd burst, the only thing Cale could say was "RON!!!" while looking back and forth to Ron and the children.

Seeing their confused faces and a bit frustrated that they don't understand his jumbled up feelings, Cale once again started to cry.

This of course, caused a second wave of panic that morning.

It was an eventful day in super rock villa.

Chapter Text

At the sight of the crying little Cale, all hell broke loose.

The children immediately crowded the redhead boy, trying to calm him down.

Raon fluttered around Cale nervously, with the kittens rubbing themselves on his legs, while Lock desperately tried to herd his siblings back from drowning Cale in wave of hugs and pats of comfort. He was having a hard time as well, the instict to protect family going full force with every sound of Cale's sob.

"Please don't cry! It's alright!"

"We're here young master! Are you scared? Please don't be scared!" 

"Please give the young master a bit of space guys! Don't crowd him too much!"

"Did we scare you, nya? Don't cry nya!"

"D-d don't cry little human! I'll destroy everything that's scaring you little human!"

"Youngest, that's not helpful, nya~"

Ron had crouched down beside Cale, patting his back for the second time this morning, half distressed and half amused. He had started to remember that his puppy young master had been quite a crybaby at this age.

Choi Han on the other hand was waving his arms around, not knowing what to do. He wanted to help calm Cale down but his way is blocked by children.

Rosalyn was holding a communication orb, her fight or flight response and lack of sleep triggering a solution of: call the most knowledgeable person you know for help.

Alberu on the other hand was saying something about giving Cale golden plaques if he stopped crying? Pretty please? You like golden plaques right?

And Beacrox is just at the kitchen door about to wheel the food in and glaring at everyone.

Just as the other children were about to cry, the room suddenly erupted in a plume of gold dust.

Eruhaben was in the room and all heads swivelled to look at him. There was silence, and then -

Hic.

"Well, that solved the crying."

Hic.

"Even a miniature version is still quite troublesome I see"

Hic.

The sea of children parted as Eruhaben approached the little Cale, where he promptly patted the boy's head.

"There, no more hiccups. Are you alright now, little one?"

Cale looked at the ancient dragon, wide eyed, and nodded his head, too stunned to speak.

"Breakfast then, yes? Unlucky ba- child like you needs all your nutrients to grow big and and strong"

The golden dragon then used flight magic on Cale and sat him down on the head of the table, relishing at the sparkling eyes as the little redhead openly gaped at him.

"You made the human stop crying! You are great and mighty Goldie Gramps!"

"Of course."

Chapter Text

Little Cale is busy having breakfast, meanwhile around the same time in the Past...

The moment he felt the murderous intent Kim Rok Soo whipped the blanket, catching the silver dagger as he rolled out of the bed and into the floor.

Ron let out an impressed hum, and the two lock eyes, seperated only by the bed between them.

"Really? Ron? Attacking a sleeping man?" Rok Soo sneered, leaping out of the way as Ron threw out another dagger where it sank deeply into the wall.

"Who are you and what did you do to the young master?" Ron asked, cool as can be, throwing another dagger that Rok Soo narrowly missed.

"I'm Cale Henituse." Rok Soo answered easily, taking hold of a picture book off a dresser, holding it up like a shield, "I don't know what happened to the younger me, but..." he ducked, and a few strands of cut red hair floated down the floor.

"...we probably switched places."

Ron narrowed his eyes on him, but Rok Soo just confidently shrugged, catching another dagger using the picture book and collecting the blade for himself.

"You don't have to believe me, but if you'd let me explain without trying to kill me every 5 seconds that would be wonderful"

In response Ron just threw another dagger at him, and Rok Soo is starting to get annoyed.

The body he's in is young, but it lacked the muscles and strength he had accumulated over the years. In this body he's fast, but it won't take long for Ron to overpower him.

He had to think. Distract Ron somehow. He can't get his bearings if he's busy trying not to get killed.

He'll think about how to get back once he survives this encounter.

"Don't worry, young master Cale" Ron said the the last words like a jeer, "You won't be killed." Ron then threw another dagger, and as it was deflected Ron then lunged, narrowingly missing the Rok Soo who had rolled out into the balcony.

"Yet."

Rok Soo shrugged, trying to ignore the sleeve on his shirt that's now cut, acting nonchalant despite the narrow miss.

Despite the attitude Rok Soo is starting to get nervous. Ron is one tenatious bastard, and nothing could really faze him. If he could at least just get out of this room...

A smile formed on his lips as Rok Soo thought of a great idea.

He knows Ron the most after all, and there really is only one thing that could shake the old man up.

"You wound my heart, Ron" Rok Soo dramatically said, a hand on his chest, stepping slowly back until his back grazed the balcony's railing,

"I didn't want to say anything because it might affect the future, but is this really how you treat your future son-in-law?"

There was a large crash, and both Ron and Rok Soo's attention were redirected to the room's door where a teenage Beacrox stood, eyes wide and hand frozen in place, the tray he's been holding now on the floor along with what Rok Soo assumes as little Cale's morning hot chocolate.

He did not expect for Beacrox to arrive, but all the better! It just means it'll make Ron more distracted and easily —

Ron whipped his head back to Rok Soo, and the time traveling, dimension-hopping regressor immediately regrets teasing the old man.

Ron Molan looks absolutely murderous.

Ok, maybe he miscalculated a little and that Ron doesn't do well with the implications of marrying off his son.

Survival instincts kick in and Rok Soo holds the dagger he got earlier in front of him, just in time to parry Ron's slash at him.

"I was joking!" Rok Soo panickly explained, the blades inches from his face, arms straining against so much strength. He's fought in wars and defeated monsters, but facing a furious Ron brought fear to Rok Soo in a way he thought he was no longer capable of.

With a grunt Rok Soo managed to deflect the blades away from his face, the knives sparking at the force of it hitting the railings. He then slowly backed away, knife in defensive position in front of him, getting closer to the corner, never taking his eyes off of Ron who is slowly walking towards him.

Ah. He messed up. 

"I don't care for your excuses you fiend" Ron sneered, and Rok Soo had to chuckle at that, finding the expression amusing against the usually benign face.

Gods, he missed this old bastard.

"Believe me Ron," Rok Soo says cooly, glancing at Beacrox who had approached them too, a butcher knife in hand and a disgusted look on his face,

He missed this bastard too, but he needs to get out of here now. 

"Your son was never interested in me that way anyway, right? Bo-hyung~"

Rok Soo deliberately said the last words as sultry as possible, knowing full well it will elicit an angry response from the youth.

Beacrox screamed and threw the butcher knife at him before Ron could stop his son.

It missed, and Rok Soo gave a laugh. An older Beacrox wouldn't have been easily fooled, but a hormonal teenager? Easy.

The distraction was enough for Rok Soo to turn around and leap off the balcony, ready to run and leap off the low wall on the east garden....

....only he didn't know there are people below and Kim Rok Soo promptly fell into the arms of none other the Count himself, Deruth Henituse.

They both fell into the ground, with Rok Soo recovering faster and standing up, looming over his fallen father.

"Aahh Fuck" Rok Soo couldn't help but curse.

Looking down at his father, a surprised face that looked way younger than the ones in his memories, Rok Soo immediately realised what this scene looked like.

An unknown intruder holding a knife fell down from the young master's room and attacked the Count in broad daylight.

Rok Soo curses again when several swords were pointed at his neck, and he slowly lifts his arms in the air, letting the knife fall to the ground as a gesture of surrender.

As the knights hurried to subdue him, Rok Soo resolved that he will definitely, DEFINITELY, beat the shit out of one particular shitty meddling god.

Especially when a certain red-haired Countess comes into view.

Chapter Text

The moment Countess Jour Henituse laid her eyes on the supposed intruder that attacked her husband in plain sight, she immediately knew it was her son.

"CALE???" She exclaimed, petite hands over her mouth as she observed the redhaired man lying face down on ground, hands bound behind his back.

Hearing this Deruth immediately remembered where exactly the intruder came from and began to panic.

"Cale? OH NO CALE! HE CAME FROM CALE'S ROOM OH NO JOUR OUR SON —"

Jour wacks her husband on the shoulders to shush him, pointing at the intruder on the ground.

 "No! Dear! That's our son! That's Cale!"

Everyone looked at the figure on the ground. Red hair in the exact shade of red as Jour's, simple and yet extravagant clothing, reddish brown eyes like Deruth and a piercing gaze like the late grandfather Henituse.

If you remove the baby fat and stubby limbs, the intruder looks exactly like a grown up version of the young master Cale.

There was a moment of silence before Count Deruth, the two butlers, the 4 Henituse knights, the maid holding the Countess's things, and the gardener trimming a rosebush, suddenly errupted into a cacophony of confusion, questions, and shocked expressions.

"Honey what's going on—"

"He looks like the young master—?"

"My lord he has a knife—"

"Your son was five Countess—!"

"That's impossible your —"

They were like a bunch of chickens running around in panic, flapping their arms or clutching their heads in confusion.

Amidst all the chaos Jour calmly approached her son, her eyes glinting with a golden ring, crouching down the ground by her son's head, smiling her most brilliant smile.

"Cale, mama's home! Did you miss me?"

(This is also the moment Ron and Beacrox arrived, observing in the sidelines. The youth has a bread knife in his hand. He was not impressed with everyone's reactions.)

Instead of answering her, Cale rolled to his back and flipped himself up, dusting himself off and extending an arm towards her to aide her to stand up as well.

("Hey! Didn't I tie your hands in your back?" A random knight in the background exclaimed, but no one paid attention to him.)

"Did you buy me some peaches? I haven't had those in a while" her son says instead, and Jour took his hand and she stood up, smiling all the way.

This Cale is taller than her now, and Jour teared up a little at the thought that last week Cale is still small enough to be carried.

"Of course! Mama promised to buy you some didn't I?" Jour said all sweetly, looking over to her husband who had dropped his jaw on the floor.

"What did I tell you dear? He's our baby!" Jour excitedly says, hugging Cale's arm, "Our baby Cale is all grown up now!"

"I am not a baby" her Cale deadpanned. Jour ignored him, flashing a smile at her husband.

"Isn't our baby a cutie dear?"

Deruth Henituse, Count of the Henituse territory, head of the house of the golden turtles, arguably the richest man alive in Roan kingdom, took one long look at the man in his wife's side.

He's almost a carbon copy of his beloved Jour.

The image of his son waving at them goodbye just last week was replaced of the image of this adult version in front of him, and an odd swirling feeling hit Deruth like speeding carriage.

His son is all grown up now.

His baby son is now an adult, and he didn't get to see him grow up.

Overwhelmed, Deruth burst into tears.

Kim Rok Soo was not having a good day.

He had planned a quiet exit, not for the whole county to known of his presence. He's sure that rumors would fly out left and right. By tomorrow morning the palace would've probably heard of his existence.

He doesn't know what effect this will have on the timeline. He doesn't even want to think about it.

Kim Rok Soo could feel the beginnings of a headache.

On his right is a younger version of his dead mother, cooing and fussing and telling him how he's such a cutie now that he's all grown up!

On his left is the much younger version of his father, a crying mess, trying to ask what happened to him and also how he just carried him to bed last week and now he can't anymore and he is so, so sad about it.

He could also feel a set eyes boring a hole through him, no doubt from Ron and Beacrox who had decided to just observe for now.

Rok Soo stifled another curse. It's lucky that he remembered the peaches. Whenever his parents left he used to ask them to get him some peaches. It should give him credibility for now.

He's safe from Ron at least.

"I'm hungry" he says, nonchalant in the face of this absurdity.

His parent's cooing and fussing immediately turn into concern, and they all scramble to order breakfast be prepared and escorted him to the dining room while the servants run ahead to follow orders.

Rok Soo started thinking up on what to do. He'll need to communicate with the God of Death somehow.

Before that though...

Rok Soo produced a handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to Deruth, and then carefully removed himself from his parent's hold.

"Father, please stop crying. Mother, it's difficult to walk with you clinging to me like this"

"Oh Cale!" Deruth cried some more, burying his face on the hankerchief, and Rok Soo leaned away from him, trying not to get snot on his clothes.

His mother is saying something but Rok Soo ignored her, carefully removing her hand on his arms and walking ahead.

Jour pouted at him but didn't protest and instead went by her husbands side, whacking his shoulders, all cheerful again.

"Deru dear! This must be what they call a rebellious phase right? Oh how exciting! Our son is a cute rebel! I wonder if he has a girlfriend already? Cale sweetie, do you have a girlfriend?"

*Gasp!* "Our little Cale with a girlfriend? Then marriage! Are we gonna have grandchildren honey? We must meet this girlfriend at once! Son introduce us to this girlfriend of yours!"

What the actual fuck??

Before he could think, Rok Soo felt his hand slap his forehead, stopping in his tracks to turn around to his parents, biting his tongue to stop the litany of curses that threaten to leave it.

"Mother. Father." He started, his voice clipped as he composed himself, "Please don't jump to conclusions. First let's eat, then we'll have a long talk after this yes?"

Rok Soo doesn't know how he is even going to begin explaining things to them, but for now he'll eat. Maybe have a cup of wine. Or two. Maybe even a whole bottle. Or a dozen bottles. He did miss the Henituse wine after all.

He shakes his head, running a hand to his hair, calming himself down. He should control his emotions better, not get swept up with this absurdity.

"Of course, son" Jour replied and Deruth nodded, tears now gone. Their expression soften as they look at him, eyes full of love.

Rok Soo tried not to be affected by it. They're dead afterall. To him. This is nothing more than a past. No need to be sentimental. Maybe.

"Right. That's settled then." With a cough Rok Soo turns around, quickening his pace while trying to ignore the rush of emotions in his heart, blinking his suddenly moist eyes.

He missed his parents. He just didn't really realized that he missed them this much, almost too much.

"Young master Cale" Ron did a small bow as he opened the door of the dining room for him, a picture of a perfect servant save for the sharp gaze he gave Rok Soo's way.

"Ron" Rok Soo acknowledged, giving him a look that basically says: "Later. I'll talk to you after I speak with my parents"

Ron understood like Rok Soo expected, and he can't help the smile that graced his lips. As expected of Ron. He knows him the best afterall.

For old time's sake, and because Rok Soo is in a melancholic mood, he flashed Ron his infamous trashy smile and gave him the order he had always given him for years.

"Ron, get me a bottle of wine. A strong one."

Roksu watched in satisfaction as Ron slightly flinched, an odd expression on his face. This Ron does not know anything about him yet, but he can tell the gears turning on the old man's head, trying to connect the child young master he served and older young master in front of him.

Ron is consistent though, and he only bowed and gave a "Of course, young master" before turning to leave.

"I prefer sweet reds by the way!" Rok Soo called, snickering a bit as he entered the dining room.

He can tell it's going to be a long day. He might as well have some fun, right?

And maybe if he still has a tiny bit of a grudge against the Molans...

Kim Rok Soo smiled as he remembers something funny. 

He's gonna need a lot of lemons.

"What's wrong, son?" Deruth asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Rok Soo had stopped short when he entered the dining room.

He had automatically approached the other end of the table before noticing the table setting.

Three sets of plates gathered on one end. The head of the table for his father. On the right for his mother. On the left Rok Soo assumes was for him.

The place where Bassen used to sit.

Whatever stunt the God of Death pulled this time was seriously bad for his heart. He's going to give him a beating. He remembers Jung Soo mentioning something about a fear of brooms. He's going to make sure to bring the sturdiest broom he can find and beat that motherfucker of a god with it.

Rok Soo had been trying so fucking hard to regulate his emotions all morning.

"Haa fuck this" he murmured under his breath. He can't believe he'd come undone by the sight of plates of all things.

"Cale sweetie, is everything al—"

Abruptly Rok Soo turns around, gathers his parents into his arms and hugs them as tightly as he could, burying his face on their shoulders.

Fuck it. He misses them so much. Damn the timeline. He's a regressor anyway. If he can't regress to hug his parents again, what use is a time based ability anyway?

His mother and father had gone quiet, and for a hearbeat Rok Soo thought they were offended.

He flinched when he felt soft hands on his hair, followed by firm hands patting his back.

"You miss us that much, Cale?" his mother asked, her voice gentle and yet jovial. Rok Soo had forgotten what she sounded like. He has forgotten most of everything about his mother.

"It's Rok Soo now, actually" Rok Soo corrects, ignoring the cracking of his voice.

"Rok Soo? Is that a name you chose for yourself?" His father, asking at the heart of the matter as usual. He had forgotten how perceptive his father can get. He may have made a lot of mistakes, but his father never forgot what's important.

"Yes." Rok Soo confirms, head still down, avoiding looking at anyone, "Don't ask why yet. Let me enjoy this."

Jour chuckles, wrapping Rok Soo in a hug and Deruth followed suit. They must be so confused, but Rok Soo appreciates that they do not rush him.

"So then... Rok soo," his mother's gentle tone. She had started patting his head again. Deruth hugs them a bit more tighter.

"My little boy. It must have been hard. You were lonely weren't you?"

At that Rok Soo could not hold it in any longer.

He could not say anything other than an affirming "Mhm" and a nod.

It really has been hard. He really was lonely. He is ok now but it does not erase the years of loneliness he had to go through.

His face is wet but it's fine. He wipes his eyes and inhales, savoring this moment.

Rok Soo is hugging his parents and they're here. They are real. They are alive.

Later they're gonna have a long, long talk, but right now all that matters is that he is right here, right now in the arms of his mother and father who loves him so.

He misses this. He misses them. He misses his family so, so much.

Sensing a gaze, Rok Soo looks up and sees Ron standing patiently by the door, holding his wine.

The wine is a brand he prefers.

Rok Soo couldn't help but grin. 

"Give me that" he orders, finally letting go of his parents to uncork the wine with practiced ease, chugging half of it in one go much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

"Sorry about that, your son turned out to be an alcoholic" Rok Soo explains, voice still cracking a bit, wiping the corner of his lips in his sleeves, face starting to flush.

He looks at the questioning face of his parents, then at Ron, then at Beacrox hiding by the door and still glaring daggers at him.

He smiles again, enjoying the sight of his family, the taste of wine on his lips, before heading to his spot on the table.

"Ok let's eat!" Rok Soo declares, sitting down, excited to eat Henituse food again.

Deruth coughs, trying to mask his surprise and confusion before following him with Jour in his arms.

Ron gave him a stare before leaving, off to do his duties.

"It seems we will have a lot to talk about" Jour comments, a smile on her lips and a glint in her eyes.

The food arrives as they all settle down. 

The original Henituse family has a lot of things to sort out, but it could wait.

For now, breakfast.

Chapter Text

"Would you like some candy?" Agent Ko Seo Joon smiled as he offered, handing a candy to the now shrunken Team Leader.

Kim Rok Soo eyed him suspiciously but also gingerly accepted the candy. He is not about to turn down free stuff after all, and besides, he's always wanted to eat this kind of candy.

"Would you like cutting out the star? If you can do it I'll give you a prize!" Agent Ko said, handing him a needle as well. 

Rok Soo reluctantly received it too. He doesn't really care about the prize, but the game looked fun when he saw his classmates doing it.

"I'm not a kid" he grumbled, and Agent Ko just smiled at him. Rok Soo did not notice his happily swaying feet betrayed his true feelings.

They are currently in a room with a table and a chair in the middle. Rok Soo sat on one side while Agent Ko sat on the other side. Behind the Agent is a huge mirror that takes up most of the wall.

"So, Rok Soo-nim, can you tell me the last thing you remember before you woke up here?" Agent Ko asked when Rok Soo was starting to earnestly trace the pattern on the candy.

Rok Soo pondered this a bit, unsure if he has to answer them. This person that introduced himself as Agent Ko gave him a candy though so he must be nice, right?

"I don't know how I got here..." he started, "I just went to sleep in my uncles house and then I woke up here." 

"Is that so?"

"Hmm. It was really cold when I went to sleep. Uncle gets mad when I turn on the heater. It's nice and warm here though!"

The candy snapped with an audible crack, and Rok Soo beamed as he lifted the perfectly cut out candy in the air, proud of his achievement.

Agent Ko clapped and Rok Soo shyly bowed his head. When he peeked at Agent Ko there is a juice box in front of him.

"I told you I'd give you a reward, remember?" Agent Ko reminded him with a smile, and Rok Soo shyly smiled back.

"Th—thank you, aunty!" 

Meanwhile, while all this is going on, behind the mirror stood Asst. Leader Kim Min-ah and Team 2 Leader Park Kyung Ho observing everything.

"You mean to tell me, that is Team Leader Kim?" Team Leader Park asked again for the the third time that morning.

"Yes, sir. We are currently looking through recent logs and records of monsters or anomalies that the Team Leader could have encountered that could have done this, but so far we don't have any clue on what caused this anomaly" Asst. Kim Min-ah replied, eyes not straying away from the child behind the mirror.

"First he keeps saying he wants to quit, and now he turned into a child. Your Team Leader sure is a handful." Team Leader Park says as he patted Min-ah's shoulders, the latter only sighing. "Don't worry, I'll handle Team 1's mission for the time being and I'll try to keep this incident from Director Ma as much as possible. Tell Team Leader Kim if he's an adult again that he owes me a drink though."

And with that Team Leader Park Kyung Ho leaves, giving Min-ah a good luck wave as he exits the door.

Min-ah massages her temples, trying to stave off a stress induced headache.

They haven't even dealt with the Team Leader's apparent memory loss either and now this??

Min-ah heads to the interrogation room door, opening the door as she plastered a smile on her face so she won't scare the child.

Agent Ko Seo Joon has an ability that detects lies from the truth, and they let her interview the little Team Leader for a bit to fully determine if he wasn't a monster in disguise.

"Roksu-nim! Min-ah aunty is back! Did you have fun?" Min-ah glanced at Agent Ko who gave discreet "ok" sign, while Roksu gets up from his seat to give her a respectful greeting. "My, aren't you a very respectful boy. Here, hold my hand. Let's go back to the office for now ok?"

They walk back hand in hand, and Min-ah silently thanked the heavens that this child is indeed the Team Leader.

She smiled, thinking of all the information she could get out of the child. They'll finally see a bit of the Team Leader's mysterious past, and who knows? Maybe she can get a few blackmail material to use against the Team Leader when he's being a headache.

It's only right. Team Leader Kim Rok Soo trained them really well after all.

Kim Rok Soo is having a dilemma.

The people from the strange place are very nice, but after he saw Agent Ko gave an "ok" sign when she thought he wasn't looking, Rok Soo is now 100% sure that he's been kidnapped by the mafia.

Did uncle sell him? Probably. The mafia people are probably only being nice to him right now so he won't run away.

Rok Soo has seen it in the T.V. before. The mafia kidnaps kids to sell their organs to the black market.

Maybe they'll chop him up to pieces and use the parts they can't sell to feed the pet piranhas of the bad guys!!!

Rok Soo shakes his head. Nope! He can't allow that. He needs to run away! He can't miss school either!

"Are you hungry, Team Leader-nim?" The man called Jang Sejong asked, crouching down and smiling at him.

Rok Soo nodded. He doesn't understand why this hyung keeps calling him "Team Leader" though. Is it a mafia codename thing or something?

"Sorry, but we have to do some medical check up on you first before you can eat. Hang in there, ok?"

Rok Soo's eyes shook at Jang Sejong's words. Oh no. Are they are doing a check up to see if he's healthy and then sell his organs!?

Sensing his distress Jang Sejong patted his head, "Don't worry! It won't hurt! It will be quick too. You'll be done in no time at all!"

"My! My organs are not good!" Rok Soo tried to explain, a bit desperate. If his organs are in a bad condition then they can't sell it, right?

Jang Sejong just looks at him in surprise, "Is that so? Then the check up can determine if you need medicine, ok?" 

Rok Soo wanted to protest, but when Jang Sejong added, "They'll give you a candy too after!" he found himself reluctantly following along.

The check up wasn't too bad. The elderly doctor attending to him was very gentle and kind.

They made him pee in a cup though, which is weird, and the goop they put on his stomach to scan his insides were very cold, but other than that the check-up went really well.

It didn't hurt, like Sejong-hyung said! Rok Soo was starting to like this nice hyung. Maybe the mafia people aren't so bad?

"Now young man, can you give me your arm? I'll need to draw out a blood sample. It might hurt like an insect bite, but I'll do it quickly so don't be scared, ok?"

Rok Soo's eyes shook. Sejong-hyung is a liar and should not be believed at any cost, and the mafia people are going to harvest his organs.

Rok Soo firmly kept his arms close to his chest, backing slowly and bumping into Jang Sejong, who gently but firmly held him in place.

"It's fine Team Leader-nim, I'll be here with you ok? It will be very quick, right Doctor?" Sejong tried to reassure, gently guiding his hand out so the doctor could get blood from it.

Rok Soo wanted to run, but he noticed that there are nurses everywhere, watching him.

He really can't escape, can he?

Feeling betrayed and resigning to his fate, Rok Soo closed his eyes, biting at his lip as he braces for the pain, letting out a sob when he felt the needle in his forearm, unaware that he's currently wearing a really pitiful expression that had everyone in the medical wing clutching their chest in heartache.

Jang Sejong had hugged him at this point, patting his head reassuringly and possibly also crying, apologising to him again and again.

And just like that it was over and a bandaid with apple prints on it was placed on his forearm, and he was given way more candy than could fit in his hands.

Rok Soo still feels upset though, sadly sucking on a lollipop while Jang Sejong half dragged him back to the office with a lot of apologies.

"Please don't be upset anymore Team Leader-nim! It won't happen again, ok? Ah! Although you might get a shot or two, but I promise that's it!"

"Liar!" Rok Soo wanted to say but held himself back. What if the mafia people would get mad with him and feed him to crocodiles instead? Rok Soo doesn't want that.

They round the corner just in time to see the Scouting Team arrive, covered head to toe in monster blood and grime.

Rok Soo stops in his tracks.

It is important to remember that Kim Rok Soo doesn't know they're Scouts. He doesn't know that there are monsters or that he's in the future. He doesn't know that when one of the scouts waved and smiled at him it meant "Hello kid! Didn't know there's a kid here, better make a good impression!".

What Rok Soo sees instead are the scary mafia men covered in blood, decked with weapons, smiling at him as if to say: "You're next!", and that they're going in his direction.

The lollipop falls in the ground, and the moment Jang Sejong's hold slackened to greet the incoming people, Kim Rok Soo runs.

Chapter Text

In quick succession this is what happened:

Little Kim Rok Soo runs.

Jung Sejong, surprised (and still lacking training) yelled "Team Leader-nim, NO!" before chasing after the child.

The scouts, a group of 5-6 people, recognizing that the child is important, decided to also chase after the kid with full intention of keeping him away from harm.

So, imagine if you will, all this in little Kim Rok Soo's perspective.

Kim Rok Soo, 8 years old, has lived a hard life. He wakes up one day in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by strangers, convinced himself that he's been sold off by his uncle to dangerous people, and was then interrogated and then stabbed with needles, and now is being chased by men covered in blood and a hyung that had lied to him.

Suffice to say Kim Rok Soo has never ran so fast or so desperately in his short life.

His running led him to a series of stairs and carpeted floors, up until he barged into a particularly fancy office where he then hid under a table, heart pumping so fast and breath ragged.

Rok Soo is scared. He's so scared. Now that he up and run away he's sure that the mafia people would not be nice to him anymore. He is going to die.

Little Kim Rok Soo doesn't want to die.

So little Kim Rok Soo hides, and hopes, that he won't be found, closing his eyes maybe and hiding under the table. 

It was at that moment that a hand suddenly grabbed at him, yanking him out from under the table.

"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" The ajhussi who caught him demanded, looking so scary as he looked down at him, a scowl in his face.

It was the last straw.

Scared and overwhelmed, Little Kim Rok Soo burst into tears.

Assistant Leader Kim Min-ah stood sternly in front of the kneeling newbie Jung Sejong and the members of the scouting unit.

"You lost the Team Leader?" She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying her best to stave off her temper and a headache, "You? All grown men who fights monsters on a daily, couldn't catch a child?"

Everyone bowed their heads lower, looking down guiltily. After some self reflection they had realized their mistake.

For a child like that, even if that child is the infamous Kim Rok Soo, being suddenly transported into an unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers must have been a really terrifying experience. What's more is that this Kim Rok Soo came from the time before the cataclysm. If the child somehow managed to leave the company building everything would be very different from the world he knows, and it would be very dangerous for him.

Of course everyone present realize this too, that was why they felt even more guilty.

"If you know then it's fine" Kim Min-ah sighed. What is done is done. They can't do anything about that anymore. They just have to do what needs to be done now, "If you know then get up and start searching. I'll deal with the higher ups somehow."

Kim Min-ah groaned her frustration as she feels a headache coming but got to work. They had already issued an alert to everyone on the building to watch out for a child, and the team already set up a search team to systematically comb the entire building, and even had emergency measures already in place in case the little Team Leader somehow managed to escape the building or got hurt.

They're the Team 1 after all, they should at least be this level effecient.

All that though went out the window as the door to their office was slammed opened.

There by the door is Director Ma looking absolutely smug followed closely by Team Leader Park Kyung Ho looking distressed as if he's been trying to say something but is not being heard.

In Director Ma's arms is the little Kim Rok Soo, eyes red rimmed with tears, wiping his face in his sleeves.

"This is the room you came from yes?" Director Ma gleefully asked, and little Kim Rok Soo nodded.

Oh no. Kim Min-ah could feel her head throb. As the Assistant Team Leader it naturally falls on her to be in command whenever the Team Leader is not present, but she could feel the last of her sanity straining.

Even as a child, it seems that their Team Leader already has a knack for getting into trouble.

Everyone in the room naturally had their guard up. The Team 1 just know that the Director is here to cause trouble. He always had a vendetta against their Team Leader after all.

It's worse now though because he has the helpless Team Leader held captive.

"Like I was saying Director—" Team Leader Park Kyung Ho tries to say again but Director Ma cuts him off.

"Bring Team Leader Kim here!" Director Ma suddenly loudly says, a smirk on his face and a triumphant smile on his lips.

"Do you know how dangerous it is to bring children here? That's endangerment of a civilian you know? This is a serious offense! I wouldn't expect a disrespectful punk like him to understand...."

Director Ma continued to rant and it became clear to everyone very quickly that the Director doesn't know the identity of the child in his arms.

Beside him Team Leader Park Kyung Ho just facepalmed.

The members of Team 1 all looked at each other, wondering what to do in this situation. One agent decides to record what's happening in her phone.

Agent Cha nervously glanced at Assistant Leader Kim Min-ah who looked like she's on the verge snapping from stress.

Rookie Jang Sejong puts his hand over his ears when he hears Assistant Leader Kim Min-ah take a deep breath, having a hunch that what will happen next will hurt his sensitive ears.

"Director Ma!" Kim Min-ah loudly interrupts, almost shouts, hand on her hip and a disrespectful look on her face.

Everyone flinched, and Jang Sejong patted himself in the back for his foresight.

Director Ma sputters, clearly offended, but Kim Min-ah didn't give him time to retort. She's had a stressful morning. She's had enough.

"The Team Leader is already here" she says, turning to look at the child on the Director's arms, smiling,

"You're holding him, Director Ma."

The entire room was silent as Director Ma swerved his head slowly to look at the child in his arms.

"Aigoo, he didn't even ask the Team Leader's name before taking him? Isn't that kidnapping?" Agent Jung So Hoon commented in a loud whisper and Agent Cha elbows him.

"Kim Rok Soo?" Director Ma asks, voice trembling.

"Yes, ajhussi?" Little Kim Rok Soo answers innocently.

Everyone watched in amusement as Director Ma's face contorted into the five stages of grief. It was no secret that Director Ma is hostile to Kim Rok Soo, but it's also a well known fact that ever since the birth of his grandchildren that Director Ma has become weak to kids.

"Are you ok, ajhussi?" Little Kim Rok Soo softly asks, his cute little face looking worried, and Director Ma looked liked he'd been stabbed in the heart.

"Ajhussi? Are you hurt?"

Scratch that, Director Ma looked like he'd been stabbed in the heart multiple times.

It must have hurt to know that your greatest work nemesis could also be this devastatingly cute.

Everyone held their breath as Director Ma seem to collect himself, not sure how he will react, that is until he suddenly just starts laughing, much to everyone's horror.

"GET MY GRANDCHILD BREAKFAST! WE'RE EATING IN MY OFFICE!" 

Director Ma suddenly shouted, slightly looking crazed, before cooing and fussing over little Kim Rok Soo who just looked confused, walking away like he didn't just go there to pick a fight in the first place.

The office is silent as everyone was stunned speechless, trying to comprehend what just happened.

This is probably the strangest thing they've faced all week.

"Ah." Team Leader Park Kyung Ho suddenly says in completely flat voice, looking so done,

"He's lost it."

Chapter Text

Cale Henituse leans on the railings outside the apartment he just exited, hands clenched around the cold metal bar, looking at the surrounding area.

He blinks, breathing purposefully, trying to calm his beating heart as he took in the sights around him. 

Cale turns back, looks at the number and the surname "Kim" on the nameplate beside the door. He turns away again. He curses. Ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Curses again.

Damn it! 

The man inside was definitely his uncle. The building he is in was definitely the apartment complex he used to live in. The middle aged lady with curlers on her hair walking downstairs was definitely their next door neighbor who sometimes gives him tteokbokki.

Cale feels a little dizzy. There's no denying it now. He's in Seoul in the past, and although he hasn't seen a mirror yet, judging by the clothes and what he could see of himself, he suspects he looks like his future self as Kim Rok Soo.

Cale could deny it all he wants, but this is definitely real. The sooner he accepts his current situation the sooner he can move on and figure out what to do.

How did he get here? The last thing he remembers is going to sleep in the villa in Harris Village. Did he switch places with the younger Kim Rok Soo? Then why does he look like the adult Kim Rok Soo? This is definitely that bastard god's fault.

Cale sighed again and starts inspecting his clothes looking for anything useful. The things he usually had in his pockets were there, but the most important were a knife, some money, a chocolate flavored nutrient bar that he ate, and a cellphone.

The money is useless because the future's money is very different from the currency of the past (where he is). The cellphone is useless too, with no cell reception or internet connection. He did manage to see himself with the camera though.

Cale runs his hand through his hair. It seemed like Roksu grew his hair out from the usual clean cut he used to have. His face looked smoother too, somehow? And he has an earing on his left ear?

His clothing is unusual too. Although he's wearing the company issued cargo pants and combat boots, his top is a skintight black turtleneck shirt. Most of his arms are exposed, showing off his arms as well as fingerless gloves. There's a small pack strapped on his thigh (where he got the nutri bar), an additional belt on his waist that he doesn't know the purpose of, a necklace, and most baffingly, shoulder straps connected to a belt strapped across his chest.

What is this outfit? Cale has to admit that it is still surprisingly comfortable and easy to move in, but something so needlessly complicated doesn't appeal to him. How does Roksu have the time to wear all of these in the morning?

There was a squeak and Cale is brought out of his rumination. He looks over and sees a teenage girl, a high school student by the looks of it, staring at him intensely.

They sustained eye contact for a few second and Cale is suddenly hyperaware of the scars on his body and that the scars on his arms are clearly very visible now.

Cale hides his arms behind his back and let's out an accidental grunting noise that made the girl squeak again, hastily doing a polite bow before passing by him and scampering away.

Embarrased that he somehow scared the teen girl with his appearance Cale turns his back on the girl. There isn't anywhere to hide close by so he hopes that he won't look too scary from the back.

What he did not see is the teen sneaking a peek at him again, smiling and giggling to herself before flipping her phone open to tell her friends about the hot ajhussi she spotted in the apartment complex.

With the teen gone, Cale thinks through his options.

First, he needs money. Cale is confident that his family would find a way to get him back, but in the meantime he'll need money to eat and travel around. He kept tapping his fingers on the railing as he thought of a plan, but suddenly he pauses when he realizes something.

"I can play around."

He is currently in a body that technically doesn't exist in this point in time. He is also in the pre-apocalypse Korea. This Korea that he was too young and later too busy to just roam around in and enjoy living in.

Cale's eyes sparkled as he headed to the stairs of the building and climbed up to the rooftop.

"If I remember correctly, that place should be visible from here..."

Sure enough when Cale reaches the rooftop he saw what it is that he is looking for: the Lotte World Ferris Wheel.

When he was young Cale would sometimes hide from his uncle in the rooftop and he would watch the ferris wheel glitter in the night from afar. Cale had always wanted to ride it but he never got a chance to. When the apocalypse happened the ferris wheel was one of the first things that got destroyed. Several years later when the countries have become more stable, they were able to rebuild it but by then Cale had been too busy to even think about it. But now...

Cale pulls out the phone and takes a picture of the ferris wheel. A plan has formed in his mind.

Yes, Cale starts to smile, "It's worth a try."

If Raon were here he'd ask Cale if they're going to scam someone again.

Uncle Kim woke up from his drunken stupor from the loud banging at his door. He was woken up so suddenly that he jerked from the sofa, letting go of the half-empty bottle of beer in his hand and spilling the contents.

"Roksu! Get the damned door!" He screamed at his nephew. He then noticed that his nephew was not around when he saw the empty futon in the open bedroom door. When he saw this he started cursing again, promising to teach the boy a lesson later before grumpily heading to the door.

The loud banging still continued and Uncle Kim angrily opened the door, shouting out a "WHAT!?" before freezing in his tracks when he sees the tall buff and scarred man on his door glowering down at him.

What scared Uncle Kim though was not the big man, or the scars on his body, or the angry glare directed at him. 

No, what scared him is the face of his dead brother looking down at him. 

"Hyung!?" Shakily says, his drunken mind making him see his nephew's father, "But you died!"

The big man's pupil's shook for a moment before smiling down coldly at him.

"Oh I'm not dead" the big man speaks.

"But one of us here will be if you don't give me my money."

This sobers Uncle kim for a moment and he remembers the many loan sharks he's gotten in debt with to fuel his gambling. He doesn't remember this scary man with a face that looks like his dead brother, but it's highly likely that he's a collector sent to collect fees from him because he's late to paying.

Uncle Kim bows 90° and starts apologising.

"I'm so sorry sir! I'm going to pay! I swear I'm going to pay. I have this money opportunity later, if you could just wait until then...? I really swear I'm going to pay you!"

He had just withdrawn the last of the money in his nephew's bank account and plans to gamble with it later. It is a bit of a large sum and Uncle Kim was sure he'd win big this time. If only this man didn't show up!

"Ho? Is that so?" The man mused, and Uncle Kim looks up hopefully, but freezes and cowers in fear when he felt an intense pressure pushing down on him. The man then continued to speak.

"Let me be clear. I am only taking what I am owed. You understand, right? Just what I am owed."

The man then pats at his shoulder slowly and heavily.

"You value your life, right? So think very carefully."

The pressure eased and Uncle Kim nodded. He was sweaty all over and his heart is beating hard on his chest. He then hurriedly going inside to get the withdrawn money from the bank, although he had enough presence of mind to leave a few for his living expenses, and wordlessly and shakily handed the money to the man.

Uncle Kim didn't even protest while the man counts the money in front of him. He is sure that this man must be part of the mob. He had owed them quite a bit of money but he had managed to run away from them a few years back but now it looks like they have found him again.

"This should be enough for now." The man says and Uncle Kim bows again, being all nice and respectful.

He is angry though. It can't be help because the man is dangerous, but he really needed that money. He had bragged to his casino friends about it and he can't show up later empty handed. If only his nephew opened the door, he might have gotten away with it. Where is that brat anyway?

His thoughts was interrupted when the man spoke again.

"This is all well and good, but one last thing."

Uncle Kim looks up and sees the man smiling at him.

"This one is for your nephew."

Uncle Kim only had seconds to wonder before a fist connects to his face, instantly knocking him out cold.

"You piece of shit" Cale says, shaking his hand a bit to relieve the sting in his knuckles. He had punched his uncle as strong as he could, but seeing him get knocked out that easily is not as satisfying as he had hoped.

"This body is strong at least, so that's good."

Cale then gave his uncle a kick for good measure. In his memories his uncle has always been this big scary man, but now all he is is pathetic in Cale's eyes.

"But now I have money. I should buy something good to eat."

Cale smiles as he stashes the money in his pockets and the pack on his thigh. He's going to go and explore the pre-apocalypse Korea and eat all the food he never got to eat before. First though he headed to the group of gossiping aunties at the foot of the building.

"Thank you again for your help earlier ma'am." Cale gives them a respectful thanks, "I'm asking again, please take care of Kim Roksu when he gets back."

The gossiping aunties with their hair curlers and fans and bouncy dresses all blushed and fussed over Cale, touching his biceps and patting his cheeks and fluttering their lashes at him.

"You don't have to worry sir! We'll make sure that child would not go back to that horrible uncle of his!" One of them says, although instead of looking at Cale's eyes she is looking at the belt on his chest.

"That's right! We have also called the child protection service. They'll be here immediately as soon as little Roksu comes back." This Aunty assures him, getting cozy with his arms.

"Are you sure you can't stay though? We can wait for little Roksu together, make sure he gets to the right people. We can drink some tea, we'll cook you great meals!" Another Aunty says, and her words were met with agreement from the others.

Cale smiles at them, and one Aunty fanned herself harder, "I'm afraid I can't. I'll try and visit sometimes though, but I really should be going. Thank you again for your help."

The Aunties were reluctant to let him go but eventually they did, waving at him goodbye until he disappears in the corner street.

Cale looks at the ferris wheel again. He is thankful that there are many people who helped him even though he looks intimidating with his many scars. He can only hope that the Kim Roksu of this past would at least notice this kindness and live his life a little bit easier than he did.

A good smell takes Cale's attention and he headed to the stall selling delicious looking food.

Unknowingly with money that is rightfully his, Cale gets his first purchase of the day: a gilgeori sandwich.

Chapter Text

"Oh, these are good"

Cale Henituse is currently sitting on a bench outside an amusement park and waiting for it to open. In his hand he is holding a plastic bag with an assortment of street food and snacks, and he just finished eating a chicken skewer, chewing on it slowly and purposefully as he savored the taste.

'I should get a recipe for this. It is very different from the ones at home, and I'm sure Choi Han would be glad to eat some korean dishes again.'

Around Cale's feet are several other plastic bags filled with an assortment of snacks, wrapped sweets, and ingredients. He had spent that morning shopping around stores and stalls, buying anything he thought everyone might like.

Cale theorized that since he was able to use Kim Roksu's things, that must mean he could bring items when he time/world travels too. He is not entirely sure how it works, but if his theory is correct, then it is worth trying.

Besides, Cale is sure the children averaging 9 years old would love to try new foods too.

There were gochujang, kimchi, instant ramen, triangle gimbap, green onions, packed seaweed, soju, various sweets and children snacks, among many others.

Cale actually got carried away a bit, buying more than he could carry. He had grown used to just buying anything as he wished and storing all of it in a spatial dimension bag that when he went to the checkout lane he was mildly surprised by the amount of things he had to carry.

What surprised Cale even more though was the fact that he could carry all those groceries with ease. Roksu must've exercised more when he got this body since Cale could not remember being this strong and well-built when he was Kim Roksu. He does not see the point of exercising more than necessarily of course, but right now he is rather glad that Roksu's body is strong.

'Roksu must be healthy and doing well.'

Cale sipped on his boba tea (he never had some before and he was enjoying how sweet it is) as he thought of how to successfully bring all of his groceries back with him to the super rock villa.

He is sure that his family could bring him back, but it bothers him that he is in Roksu's body.

Did they switch places? Judging from the contents of his cellphone, this body had been occupied by Kim Roksu for a while now. That means that they somehow got switched, but it looks like things are more complicated than that.

Why did they switch? Why did he ended up in this time instead of the post apocalypse korea? More importantly, where did the younger him, the 8 year old Kim Roksu, go?

It is confusing and Cale feels like a headache is coming, so instead of thinking too much about it Cale decides to eat his next snack instead.

'I wonder how everyone is doing?'

Cale takes out Roksu's phone and smiles when he caught sight of his own reflection on the black smooth screen surface. It had been so long since he used a cellphone. Although Cale doesn't have any regrets, he sometimes misses the convenience of earth technology.

Opening the camera, Cale takes a picture of the boba. He also took a picture of the outside of the theme park. He had been taking pictures of food and places and things.

Cale plans to show this to Choi Han and the kids, and if Choi Han is comfortable with it, he will show their family too.

This will also be a good reference material for Roksu. Although the rebuilt Korea is different from the Korea before the cataclysm, a lot of things were modelled after the past. This should help Roksu with familiarising himself with the history and culture of Korea.

Finishing the boba tea, Cale notices the theme park opening for the day so he grabs his bags and resolutely went inside, determined to ride a ferris wheel before he goes home.

Cale sits comfortably inside the ferris wheel, although he tries not to move too much.

This was his first ride in a ferris wheel and he did not expect the carriage to sway a bit everytime he moves. It made him a little nervous, but also excited. From the fibreglass walls and windows, he starts to see all the city landscape as the carriage he's in slowly rises on top.

'It looks different'

Everything looks different from the post-cataclysm korea. That is to be expected though. Even if humanity had started rebuilding, many things were still lost or destroyed.

Cale takes out the phone again and takes pictures of the landscape. At first it was all blurry because Cale got nervous everytime the carriage would sway a bit, but eventually he managed to get good pictures. After that he just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery, sitting comfortably as the ferris wheel did it's turn.

Up and up until Cale is at the top seeing the entire city coming alive under the early morning sun. After he got over his nervousness the ride itself is rather pleasant. It is not as exciting as he thought it would be, but Cale rather liked how peaceful and relaxing it is.

Cale had ridden on the backs of whales, bone dragons, and wyverins. He had flown in the sky and traveled great great distances with magic. Still, there is something magical about being able to fulfill a childhood wish of riding a glass box attached to a rotating wheel.

It is not as exciting as his adventures back home, but there is a warmth in his chest he could not completely understand but welcomed anyway.

'This is nice. I'm glad I did this.'

When he got out, the young operator was waiting for him. The kid looked like a part-timer and Cale guessed that must be the case.

"D-did you enjoy the ride, sir?" The young operator asked. He was nervous but also polite. Cale smiled at him and patted his shoulders for a job well done.

In actuality, the ferris wheel was not supposed to run yet this early in the morning. Although the park is already open, most of the rides would not be operational yet until later. In fact, Cale was the only one inside the ferris wheel earlier.

However this part-timer let him get into the ride when he said he had never been in a ferris wheel before. He was scared, but he also let Cale go, saying that one rotation is ok and that the ride is better without so many people anyway. 

Cale gave the attendant some extra money. He just took a bundle of cash and handed it to the attendant, who was very surprised and scared at suddenly receiving money but also very happy.

"It is for a service well done" Cale says, and the attendant bowed down to him very gratefully, saying his thanks over and over.

'That feels great'

Cale had always wanted to give away cash like this, but he never got a chance to do it before. Now he has a lot of money that will soon be useless to him. Might as well give it away like a rich person.

'Alright. Where should I go next?'

It would probably take a while for his family to get him. He might as well arrange a few things. Cale exits the theme park and goes to a bank, called a few numbers, got some documents, and then finally goes to a ramen shop.

Chapter Text

Present time, Super Rock Villa:

Little Cale Henituse eats his breakfast happily, swaying his feet and smiling a lot. There are food bits smeared around his lip, but his new cat friend Ohn-noona wiped them for him. His new dragon friend Raon would also pile meats on his plate, while his new cat friend Hong cut the meats into small pieces so he can eat them better.

Everyone is sitting on the table with him, talking and introducing themselves. He is very happy for having many, many new friends!

There's strong Choi Han, and smart Rosalyn, and brave Lock, and Goldie Gramps, and cookie Prince, and little wolf Lottie and Keilla and Caleb.....

"Little human, after we eat let's play tag!" Raon happily says, his wings fluttering at the prospect of being able to play with a tiny version of Cale.

"What is tag?" Little Cale asks, his cheeks looking full as he munched on a sausage, swaying his feet happily when Ohn wiped his face again.

"It's when we chase each other! It is very fun!" Hong excitedly supplied, and little Cale's eyes sparkled at the thought.

"Ok! Let's do that!" Little Cale declares, looking at every person in the table in the eye, daring anyone to oppose him.

"After we eat, everyone must join the tag!"

Little Cale raises a fork with a half bitten sausage above his head to emphasise his point, grinning when everyone expressed their agreement.

Satisfied, little Cale bites into his sausage.

And disappears.

For the third time that morning, panic and chaos reigns in the super rock villa.

Meanwhile, at the same time in the past in the Henituse Manor:

Kim Rok Soo eats his breakfast happily, cutting the tender and juicy steak with flourish and elegance of a dignified noble, closing his eyes as he savors an especially delicious piece of meat.

"This is so good" Rok Soo hums happily before looking over to where Vicross is, "It's not as good as the food you will make in the future, but it is still pretty good."

The teenage boy scowled and looked ready to jump him and stab him about fifty times, but Ron clamps a hand on his son's shoulder to keep him in place, just smiling benignly.

Rok Soo could tell that he is annoyed though, and he chuckles as he eats, very amused at the situation.

Oblivious to whatever is happening, Deruth makes conversation, observing his son.

"Son, you look so thin. Are you eating well?"

"That's right! You've grown into a real cutie, and I love that you grew out your hair, but you are so thin! You should eat more!" Jour added, motioning Deruth to add more food on Rok Soo's plate which his husband does.

"Don't worry, I am eating well" Rok Soo assures them.

"Are you sure? And you exercise and take care of yourself? You are so pale, don't just stay indoors all day!"

"Yes, yes. I'm taking good care of myself, mother."

Rok Soo smiles, liking how the word "mother" sounds. He'll have to visit a temple for the god of death to go home, but that can wait. Right now he can enjoy calling his mother, "mother" and his father, "father".

Seeing him smile, Jour and Deruth shares a fond look, and Deruth reaches over to tussle Rok Soo's hair.

"You've grown well" he says. There are many things they need to talk about, but for now they'll enjoy this breakfast with the future version of their son.

With a satisfied feeling, Rok Soo drinks his wine.

And disappears.

Jour screamed, Deruth stands and panics, and the young Vicross raised the knife he had been holding as goosebumps erupted all over his arms.

Only Ron had the presence of mind to stop and start looking for the young master.

At the same moment, in the present time in post-cataclysm Korea inside The Company:

Little Rok Soo eats his breakfast happily, swaying his feet as he eats his omurice, the sparkle in his eyes evident at the delicious food in his mouth.

"Thank you, ajhussi" he says again to Director Ma who pats his head affectionately and adds more meat on his bowl.

"What a polite child you are. Here, eat more. You're so thin! Children should eat more! Don't be shy, ok? This granpa will get you anything you want, just ask!"

They are currently in Director Ma's office eating breakfast, and the members of Team 1 had come and gone bringing take out as the Director orders for more and more food.

Little Rok Soo doesn't really understand what is happening. One moment he was in a scary situation, and the next he's being fed by a nice grandpa. He never had a granpa before, and he thought having one is really nice if they're all like this.

It beats having an uncle at least.

'The hyungs and noonas were really nice too. Maybe they're really not bad people who will sell his organs?'

Little Rok Soo notices that Director Ma is not eating, so he took out a bowl and added rice and some meat on it. He then hopped off his chair and handed it to the director.

"You should eat too, ajhussi" he says innocently, and took another bowl and did the same thing, this time handing it to Team Leader Park Kyung Ho who was standing behind the director.

"Everyone should eat. It is not nice being hungry." Little Rok Soo says, returning to his seat, continuing to eat and not noticing at all that Director Ma had teared up and Team Leader Kyung Ho staring at his bowl of rice with complicated feelings.

"Call me grandpa. From now on I will be your granpa" Director Ma says, dabbing his eyes with a napkin, and tearfully started eating as well, giving little Rok Soo more headpats.

Behind him Team Leader Kyung Ho sniffed, and wordlessly started eating as well.

It was at this moment that Jang Sejong arrived, bringing with him fried chicken and pausing at the door at the sight of the teary eyed Director Ma and an emotional Team 2 leader.

Deciding not to ask, Jang Sejong set the fried chicken down and Director Ma wordlessly took one and put it on little Rok Soo's plate.

"Thank you, gra... grandpa" Little Rok Soo shyly says, and the Director clutched at his heart before patting Rok Soo again, going "That's right, I'm your grandpa. I'm your grandpa" over and over again. 

Enjoying the headpats and satisfied of his current situation, Little Rok Soo bites into the fried chicken.

And disappears.

Director Ma shrieks, and the words "MY GRANDSON!!!" was heard in the entire Company.

In the same time, in Pre-Cataclysm Korea, in a certain Ramen shop in Seoul:

Cale Henituse eats his breakfast happily, slurping at his ramen with great enthusiasm, enjoying the deliocious flavors he has missed.

He has just came from the bank after depositing his remaining cash under little Kim Rok Soo's name, to be accessed by the time he turns 16 years old. The money itself is not much, just a few million won, but it will help Kim Rok Soo a lot when he leaves the orphanage at that age.

Cale has also arranged on how this information will be delivered to Rok Soo. He had wanted to give the money earlier, but if he did Rok Soo won't be able to access it himself. Instead, he bought clothes and items his past self would need in the orphanage. He wanted to do more, but for now this is the best option he has for his past self.

For now, Cale enjoys his ramen.

There are many things that bothers him in his situation, like how he can feel his Ancient Powers but not hear them. However, since he is stuck in this past he really doesn't have a lot of options on who or where to go to.

So now he eats, the souvenirs he got for his kids and family pooled around his feet, and waits for the time he gets to go home.

Satisfied that he has done what he could for his past self, Cale Henituse slurps at his ramen.

And disappears.

No one really noted his sudden absence. He had paid already, and he sat in a corner table no really notices.

All that's left is a steaming half-eaten ramen and several bags worth of food and ingredients.

"Aigoo, that punk, leaving behind all these things" A certain brown haired korean in dark jacket and cap approaches the table Cale vacated. His tone is complaining, but there is a grin on his face that belies his amusement.

He gathers the bags and exits the shop, finding a dark corner.

"I better get paid overtime for this" he says, before disappearing into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Pre-Cataclysm Korea, in a alleyway near a certain convenient store in Seoul:

Little Cale blinks, a bit disoriented at the sudden change in the scenery. In his hand he is still holding the fork with a piece of sausage in it and he takes a bite out of it as he does a turn, brows furrowing and lips forming a pout as he chewed when it became increasingly clear that he is in a very unfamiliar place.

First there are too many people. He's in a sidewalk of some sort and a lot of people are walking by him from either directions, dressed in strange and colorful clothing he hadn't seen before.

It is also loud. Little Cale jumped when there is a sudden honking noise, and when Cale whipped his head to look there are strange looking large boxes moving on their own. It scared Cale so he went the other way, but the houses and stores look very different too. They look like scary rectangular towers and some of them are so high, high up.

Everything here is so strange. It is so strange and scary. Cale wants to go home.

"Ron?" Cale calls, his voice wobbly and his eyes brimming with tears, "Ron where are you? I'm scared..."

Cale clutches at his clothes, turning this way and that, unsure where to go. He was just eating with his new friends and suddenly he is just here. Why is he here? He does not understand. Where is everyone?

"Rooon..." he tries again, and chooses a direction, walking aimlessly and jumping at every strange sound and sudden movements.

Eventually Cale reaches the end of a street. On the other side is a very large house and an open space with many trees and some benches. It looks like a garden. It is something familiar in this strange place. Cale tried to go there but stopped dead on his tracks when a very large and very fast box passed by him.

Cale stood there on the side of the road, afraid to cross. Several times there are people who crosses the street but little Cale is too scared to follow them. So he stood there in the sidewalk, holding his fork and trying to be brave, not knowing what to do.

Tears starts brimming around his eyes. Little Cale had never left his home before. He has never been alone before. Where was Ron? Where are his new friends? Little Cale wants his mama and papa. This place is too strange and scary and little Cale really, really wants to go home now.

There was a tap on his shoulders and Cale jumped. He turns around and he is met with a brown haired boy about 8 years old. There is a bandage on his cheeck and a smudge on dirt on his nose. On his back is a wooden sword.

"Do you want to cross the road?" The boy asks. Little Cale wipes his eyes on his sleeves and nods, lips trembling in an effort not to cry.The boy smiles. He is missing a tooth, but his smile is wide and cheerful and friendly. He held out a hand to little Cale.

"I'll help you! I'm crossing the road too!"

Little Cale beams and held the offered hand. The boy then taught him about the red man and the green man, and that they can cross the road when the green man is on. Cale listens to him attentively. Around them the pedestrian also listened to the children talking. One man that was about to jaywalk stopped and waited. Everyone in that sidewalk suddenly wanted to be a good example for the children.

"It's the green man!" Little Cale got excited when the green light turned on. As one, the pedestrians crossed the road and Cale shrieked in excitement, marveling how the big moving boxes all stopped to let them cross and reach the park on the other side of the road.

"We're in the other side!" Little Cale excitedly declared while jumping up and down. He then froze, remembering his manners, and turned to the brown haired boy to thank him.

"Thank you for helping me—" then Cale remembered he does not know the name of the brown haired boy so he just kinda stood there, a bit embarrassed, brows furrowed and pouting.

"You're a funny kid!" The boy laughed, "My name is Choi Jung Soo! I'm 8 years old!" 

Choi Jung Soo introduced himself and then pulled out his wooden sword and did a pose like he is a swordmaster in a historical drama, and then finished his introduction with a deepened voice for effect.

"Nice to meet you, little kid!"

He then straightened and beamed, waiting for the younger kid in front of him to introduce himself.

Little Cale gaped at Jung Soo for about 3 seconds before gathering himself, remembering his mama saying that he must always thank people that helped him.

"My name is Cale Henituse! I am 4 years old!" Having introduced himself before, Cale is not as nervous now, "Thank you for helping me Shoy June Sow!"

Choi Jung Soo blinked at him.

"It's Choi Jung Soo." He calmly explained.

"Choi June So?"

"No, close. It's Choi Jung Soo!"

"Choi Jung Soo!"

"Yes! You got it! You can just call me Jung Soo though!"

Jung Soo beamed, and Cale beamed back.

"Jung Soo!" Cale happily says, glad that he got it right. Then, feeling happy and thankful and generous but currently having nothing to give, Cale decides to give Jung Soo his fork.

"Here! It's yours now!" Cale thrusts the fork to Jung Soo who looks confused but takes the fork anyway, thanking Cale.

Then, Jung Soo remembers something.

"Ah!" Jung Soo looks at Cale who is looking up at him expectantly, and asks: 

"Cale, are you lost?"

Cale blinks at Jung Soo. Then, he looks around and remembers his earlier predicament. Once again, Cale starts tearing up much to Jung Soo's distress.

"D-don't cry! Uhm... uh..." Jung Soo frantically looks around as fat globs of tears start falling out of little Cale's eyes, his lips quivering as he starts to cry.

Not knowing what to do, Jung Soo offers him his sword.

"Here! You can hold my sword! Don't cry!"

Cale is still crying but still accepted the sword, hugging it to his chest for comfort. He is confused and upset but he is doing his best to stop crying, rubbing his eyes in his tiny fist and sniffling.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find your family" Jung Soo assures him, holding Cale's hand and leading him to the gymnasium where the Choi Sword Arts exhibition is currently being held, "My family is over there. We can ask mom and dad for help tp find your mom and dad!"

"...and Ron too?" Cale asks, starting to get hopeful again.

"Uh... yeah!"

"Ok!"

The pair then walked towards the building. As they walked Jung Soo chatted with him about this and that, but Cale isn't really listening in favor of looking around the strange world he finds himself in. He doesn't really understand, but it's ok, he can go home and ask Ron about it later.

Then, while walking beside a glass wall, little Cale managed to catch their reflection. At first he doesn't understand what he is seeing, but when he realized it stopped him in his tracks and he gasps in surprise.

"My hair!" Cale gapes at his reflection, "It's not red!"

"Yes, it's not red," Jung Soo does not understand what got Cale so surprised, "your hair is black?"

"But it was red!" Cale tries to explain, getting a bit frustrated that he can't express himself properly, "and my face is not my face!"

Cale lets go of Jung Soo's hand and points at his reflection, "My hair is not red!" He tries again, "My hair is black now but it is red this morning!"

Seeing the confusion in Jung Soo's face, little Cale huffs. He tries to grab Jung Soo's hand so he can pull him closer to the glass wall and show him the reflection better, but as he did so he trips on his feet and he falls.

With a shout Jung Soo tries to catch him but to no avail.

There is nothing to catch.

Cale had disappeared.

A man with long black hair tied on a low ponytail and a cool aura watched the two kids from a distance.

"Aigoo... what a mess..." the man sighs.

The man slinks into the shadow of some trees and vanishes, leaving behind a very confused 8 year old who just lost a sword.

Chapter Text

Super Rock Villa, Present Time:

The super-rock villa is currently in a state of total chaos.

"The little human! The little human disappeared!" Raon was shouting, flying up from his seat. Beside him Hong's mouth is open in surprise, the meat in his mouth plopping down the table in a wet splat. Ohn was frozen in place, eyes wide and hand halfway up because she was about to wipe little Cale's cheek. 

Choi Han, Alver, and Rosalyn all stood up from their seat reflexively.

Rosalyn had her hand on her wand at the ready, eyes wide and trying to wrap her mind around seeing the little Cale just suddenly disappear. Choi Han has a hand on his sword. He is spooked but he had immediately taken the stance to fight or protect. Alver did not even notice that he had stood up. Already he is thinking of a plan of action on what to do and after a quick glance around, commanded the room, asking everyone to calm down.

"Miss Rosalyn, go call for Miss Kage and inform the palace that I'll be out longer. Choi Han start searching outside. I'll search inside. Everyone else, please tend to the children."

After Alver issued orders and confirmed with Eruhaben on what else to do, the trio left to go look for little Cale while the children remained in the kitchen.

Lark and Vicross tended to the wolf children in various stages of shock. Ron had his dagger out in a reflexive action when little Cale disappeared, looking darkly at the empty seat, but sheathed it again in order to comfort Ohn and Hong.

Eruhaben on the other hand spread his magic everywhere to search for little Cale while also alert in case this was an attack. He also stayed with the children. If there is danger then their first priority is to protect their youngest family members. He also is trying to hold back Raon from panicking and blowing everything up.

Just then they heard Choi Han shout and everyone rushed outside.

Kim Roksu blinks, a bit disoriented at the sudden change in location. In his hand he is still holding a wine bottle, the contents swishing around at the sudden movement.

"Seriously?" Roksu groans, hanging his head down to glare at his feet. His feet are wet. It seems like he landed on some fancy fountain and got his feet soaked, the water entering inside his boots. When he climbs out of the fountain each of his steps made a squelching noise that made him grimace.

"I can't even enjoy a fucking meal..." Roksu grumbles as he looks around. He is in some sort of a large underground brightly lit cave. In it is a beautiful villa that Roksu would have appreciated more if his feet aren't wet right now.

Roksu narrows his eyes, suspicious at the new location. He does not remember being in a place like this before, not even when he was still Cale Henituse. Although the place looks beautiful and peaceful, Roksu didn't let his guard down. He needs to be cautious. Afterall, who knows what this new place would bring?

While walking around Roksu inspected himself. His hair is red and long and tied in a low ponytail behind his back. His hands are scarred and calloused. He is wearing minimal armor over an old standard issue Rowoon soldier's uniform. No weapons too. He actually looks dirty and dishevelled, like he just got back from the frontlines.

In short, he looks like shit.

'Isn't this my appearance before the transmigration?'

A glance at his reflection on the glass surface of the wine bottle confirms his suspicion.

'I look like Cale...'

Tsk. Roksu clicks his tongue.

'Specifically, I look like me just before I died and became Kim Roksu.'

Roksu sighs again, getting really annoyed. First he gets sent back in time and worlds where he meets his mother and father again. Then, just as he was starting to relax, he is yanked around again, and this time he does not know where exactly he's at.

'At least I'm not in that twink of a body anymore...'

Roksu is at least grateful that he has some of his muscles back. They're not as impressive as his muscles as Roksu, but if there's an attack he can at least fight back properly.

For now, Roksu would start unraveling this mystery by exploring this new place.

Just as he reached a courtyard that looks like a training ground, Roksu hears a sound of something traveling fast towards him.

"hhhhuuuuuuUUUUUMMMAAAAANNNNN!!!!"

Roksu quickly turns to the source of the sound only to see a speeding black thing heading towards him. It was too fast to dodge, but as Roksu braces for the collision, pulling his arms up to protect himself, the black thing stops in front of him.

"...human?"

Roksu can now clearly see the being in front of him and his eyes shake.

'Is that a dragon!?'

Roksu is frozen in place.

Did he just end up in a dragon's lair!?

That's it. Roksu decided he's had enough. He is going to kill that bastard god. He is going to commit diecide. If he survives after tresspassing a dragon's lair, and he will survive, he is going to kill every single god responsible for this situation.

While Roksu is having these thoughts, the black dragon was looking at him curiously with the most beautiful blue eyes Roksu has ever seen, hovering in front of him with it's head tilted to the side like it's puzzled.

Judging from it's size this dragon looks like a child dragon. Probably even a baby. Roksu wonders if this is the first time this dragon has ever met a human. It seemed very excited to see one.

'I never thought dragons could be this cute'

Roksu decides that he should be very respectful to the tiny dragon even though it is a baby. Dragons are still dragon afterall, and even tiny ones are powerful enough that it could get Roksu killed.

He was about to greet the little dragon when a voice called out to him.

"CALE-NIM!"

Kim Roksu's eyes shook at the sight of the hero Choi Han flying towards him.

No, that's not right. Choi Han is not flying. Rather, he was falling from somewhere very high up.

And then, before Roksu could process what he is seeing, various people (and cats???) came running towards him, all calling a single name.

"Cale!" "Young master Cale!" "Cale-nya!"

Unconsciously Roksu took on a defensive stance, taking three steps back, a wary look on his face. Seeing this, the approaching hoard stopped in their tracks, with the adults noticing first the difference between the Cale that disappeared and the Cale that reappeared in front of them.

"Human! You smell weird!" Raon, who was puzzling over his human that feels a bit different from the human he knows, voiced out his thoughts.

Reflexively, Roksu answered.

"Yeah well, I haven't had a proper bath so that checks out."

2 dragons, 2 kittens, 1 swordmaster, 1 high mage, 1 Crown Prince, 1 assassin, 1 chef, and about 10-15 wolves all tilted their heads 45° in confusion.

Seeing this, Roksu felt goosebumps all over him as the dawning realization of where, or more exactly, when he is.

'Oh no' Roksu thinks, horrified, 'These must be Cale's allies.'

It seemed like Roksu and Cale switched places again. Judging from the familiar and not familiar faces, this must be the timeline after Roksu regressed, which means this is after the switch. 

Why is he here? He is not supposed to he here. What is happening? Did the deal he made break? How is he supposed to explain this? What's up with all the children??

Roksu could feel a headache coming. This is all so confusing.

SQUELCH.

Unconsciously, Roksu stepped back again, and his wet boots made a noise. The sound then snapped everyone out of their confused state, and suddenly it was chaos, the children crowding to him and asking questions.

"Human where did you go!?"

"Cale-nya why are you dressed like that?"

"Gasp! Is that muscles!?"

"Young master Cale can you play with us now?"

"You're stinky nya! Need a bath!"

"Human why is your face different but the same?"

"Mister Cale why are you tall again?"

The questions just kept coming and he was poked and prodded on by an alarming amount of children.

Seriously, what was Cale doing that he ended up with so many children???

Roksu looks around, trying to see past the children, and met the gazes of the adults who were looking at him coldly, probably already noticing how, even though he looked and sound like an older version of Cale, that he was definitely not the Cale they know.

There's the younger version of King Alver looking at him with suspicion. The curious looks of mage Rosalyn. The blank glare of Beacrox. The fidgety Lark looking back and forth between him and the adults. The imposing look of the elf with golden hair. Then the downright scary glower of Choi Han who is fidgeting with his sword.

Then there's Ron.

Ron is smiling benignly.

"Children, maybe we should give this young master some space..." Ron says to the kids, earning him a lot of grumbling pouting but the children complies, giving Cale a bit of space although they still hover close by.

"Young master, should we have a chat in private?"

Roksu did not miss the fact that Ron called him "young master" and not "young master Cale".

Yeah, NO.

Roksu does not want to deal with this.

Fuck this shit honestly. His feet are wet. He was not able to finish his breakfast. He changed appearance, timeline, and worlds before noon. Had a knives thrown at him. He looks like shit. He smells. He does not know why or how he got here, or what's happening in Korea.

His feet are wet.

Yup. Roksu does not want to deal with his.

With a straight face Roksu chugs the remainder of his wine, bringing a finger up to indicate a "just a minute" when someone was about to speak, making everyone wait until he's done.

"Bah! That's the stuff!" Roksu says, smiling as he wipes his chin before handing to the nearest person (Raon) the wine bottle, "Can you hold this for me? Thanks." which the little dragon confusedly accepts.

"Right!" Roksu grins, put his hands on his hips, and when everyone looks at him with confusion he uses that moment of distraction to turn around and hightail it out of there.

Roksu runs.

As a former soldier and a current team leader, Roksu is used to running. It is simply a survival skill you either get good at or you'd die, and Roksu is very good at running.

Still, in the end Roksu is only human. He has his limitations. Case in point:

"Stinky human, why are you running?" The little dragon is flying beside him, matching his speed with relative ease. Roksu's eye twitches at the nickname, but ignores it anyway.

At the corner of his eye he can see Choi Han chasing him without much effort, the bastard, and behind him he could feel several strong individuals also following closely, their malicious intent making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Because everyone is scary and I'm scared." 

Roksu answers the cute little dragon in a flat deadpan voice, although he's not entirely lying. He has seen first-hand how vicious the war heros could be and he will not be on the receiving end of it.

"But running away is useless!" 

The little dragon says cheerfully,

"Stinky human, you are already caught!"

"Wha — ack!?"

Roksu did not even have time to fully feel the goosebumps that crawled all over him at the ominous words before he was yanked up in the air and dangled upside down in a flurry of gold dust.

"Ah fuck..." Roksu can't help but curse.

Kim Roksu sat inside a mana bubble as the little dragon, who had introduced himself as the great and mighty Raon Miru who is 6 years old, dragged him towards the villa with a mana string like a dirty and disheveled balloon.

He had been caught embarrassingly easy.

Not that it's his fault. Compared to swordmasters, beast people, assassins, swordmasters, and literal dragons, he was merely a simple human.

Oh well, he tried. Might as well gather information while he's here. Maybe Cale's allies would have a better idea on what is happening.

Roksu shifted his sitting position, uncomfortable with his current state. It would be nice if he could take a bath and maybe get rid of this moist boot...

"Cale-nya! Cale-nya!"

The cute red cat who had introduced himself as Hong, started batting on the mana bubble to get his attention. He is sitting on Choi Han's shoulder, with the silver kitten Ohn sitting in the other shoulder, and he had been talking to Roksu about this and that for awhile now. 

(Roksu ignores the glower Choi Han has been giving him the whole time.)

"Cale-nya, are you really Cale-nya?"

Kim Roksu sighs. Such a simple question, and yet so complicated. He doesn't know if Cale's allies know about the transmigration, but by what he knows of the guy he probably didn't tell anyone, so he better be careful on what he says to the kitten here.

"Yes." Roksu answers in a tired tone, before remembering how the kids had introduced themselves to him, "I am the... tired and stinky Cale Henituse. I am 40 years old."

Ugh. Introducing himself as Cale feels like a lie now, somehow, although it is technically true, especially in front of these children.

He is so going to kill the God of Death.

Ohn, Hong and Raon gasps, while Choi Han narrowed his eyes. The adults listening in were also surprised with the information, although they did not show it in their faces.

"But that is so old!" Ohn exclaimed.

"Very old! Like grandpa Ron!" Hong adds.

"Why are you very old now, stinky human?!" Raon demands. 

Roksu's eyes twitch at the kid's words. He is not that old! He is in his prime! His prime! These kids don't know what they are talking about!

Still, he smiles. It won't do to antagonize the children. They're children, after all. That's just how they are. Besides, this is a good opportunity.

The kids, seeing the smile on his face that is very similar to the smile of the Cale they know, perks up.

"40 years old is not old." Roksu says, looking at the back of Beacrox who is walking in front of them. The chef, in turn, suddenly had goosebumps.

"For example, Bo-hyung should be around 40 years old too. Does he look old like Ron? Of course not, right?"

The kids nod in agreement, thinking it all made sense. This Cale is very similar to their Cale, and he knows about the little Cale's nickname for Beacrox. He should be the real deal, right?

But Roksu is not done talking. Oh he's not. If he can't mess with the Molans in the past, why not do so now?

"Also, If you want me to prove myself to be Cale Henituse, I can do so easily. I know things only the real Cale would know. For example, did you know that Bo-hyung really like being called Bo-hyung? If you call him that, his ears will turn red and he'll give you a lot of treats!"

Hearing this, Beacrox promptly stopped in his tracks and turned to face them, blurting out a:

"That is not true!"

However, the children's eyes sparkle.

"It's true!" Raon gasps, pointing at the embarrased chef's red ears, and that prompted the children to chant "Bo-hyung! Bo-hyung!" much to Beacrox's horror and amusement by everyone else.

However,

"Bo-hyung?"

Another voice piped up, familiar and unfamilar at the same time. They all turn towards the villa, eyes shaking as a boy, about 8 years old, peeked out the doorway.

"Uhm, you're Bo-hyung, right?" The boys eyes then scanned the crowd, eyes lighting up in recognition when he saw the old assassin.

"Ah! You're Ron!"

In the doorway of the Super Rock Villa another Cale Henituse has appeared.

Chapter Text

In the Past, the Henituse Estate, a few hours ago:

Little Roksu blinks, a bit disoriented at the sudden change in location. In his hand is a piece of fried chicken that he took another bite to as he slowly spins, observing his surroundings.

He is in a corridor of sorts. A long, beautiful corridor that is stark contrast to the white office building he was just in.

Walking around, little Roksu starts exploring the new place he suddenly found himself in, eating his fried chicken as he walks. 

Marble floors. High walls, and tiled ceilings depicting a mosaic of the sky; Large, beautiful paintings in gilded gold frames; Tall, intricate vases with beautiful fresh flowers arranged to perfection; Shining armor with a turtle crest standing still and tall; Woven tapestries depicting vineyards and more golden turtles; Chandeliers and lamps made of sparkling crystals that glitter in the hallways; Windows large and bright, with heavy curtains on each side framing the view of a beautiful garden outside.

Little Roksu's eyes glittered at all the beautiful things around him. He nibbles at his fried chicken as he walks around, amazed at everything he sees, and only wondering how he got there when he ran out of chicken.

He thought about it. One moment he was eating breakfast with Grandpa Ma, the next he is here.

Is it a dream?

It feels too real to be a dream though, but everything is too pretty and expensive to be real either.

He saw on the TV once that pinching yourself is a way to check if you are in a dream. If you feel the pain, then it is real. If not, then you are in a dream.

Little Roksu doesn't like feeling pain but...

Should he pinch his cheek to check?

Lifting his hand to pinch his cheek, little Roksu caught sight of his arm and froze.

What is he wearing???

He looks down on himself, turning this way and that to see more of his body. He is wearing a some kind of fancy looking long sleeved blue and white shirt and shorts with a lot of shiny buttons and way too many ruffles. On his feet are long socks and shiny shoes to match, also with ruffles and shiny buttons.

In short, he looks very fancy.

Roksu's brows furrowed, very confused. He is definitely in a dream, no doubt about it now, but why this dream?

Little Kim Roksu squints at the corridor, trying to decide if he even wants to wake up from this dream, before shrugging and continuing on his exploration.

Whatever. If this is a dream, he might as well enjoy it. No use thinking about it too deeply. 

It's not like the clothes are uncomfortable anyway. In fact, they are very comfortable. It is a bit too fancy for his taste, but he was never one to care what he wore to begin with as long as it's decent.

Rounding a corner, Little Roksu's exploration was cut short when he bumped into something he didn't see because he was looking somewhere else.

He staggers back, rubbing his nose, and then,

CRASH!

Flinching at the sudden loud noise, little Roksu's eyes shake when he sees what caused it.

A large and tall ornate vase toppled to the ground and broke into dozens of pieces.

Oh no.

Little Roksu pales slightly at what he's done. That vase looks very expensive. Is he going to end up paying for it? But it was an accident! He didn't mean it!

"Young master...?"

All of a sudden there is a voice behind him. Little Roksu whips around and sees a person suddenly just there, goosebumps erupting all over his body in fright at the sight of the suddenly appearing man.

Did he appear because of the broken vase? He suddenly just showed up! Is he a dream guardian? Little Roksu is scared. Is the man going to take him away to be punished?

Reflexively, Roksu shouts the first thing that came to mind to defend himself.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean it!"

The man blinks at him, looking a bit surprised by his outburst, but he smiles, trying to appear reassuring.

However, seeing the benign smile, Little Roksu's instincts went haywire. Instead of being reassured, to him it looked like the man was smiling at him like a tiger that cornered his prey.

'I am the prey' Little Roksu thought.

Naturally, he runs.

Where is going? Little Roksu has no clue. He just needs to get away.

So he runs and runs and runs.

He just runs until he has to stop, leaning on a wall to catch his breath.

Roksu looks around warily, calming down when he doesn't see anyone. He doesn't hear any footsteps either. Maybe he's safe now?

"Are we done playing chase now, young master Cale?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!"

Out of nowhere the man is suddenly beside him again, causing Little Roksu to scream and reflexively throw the thing he had been holding in his hand all this time.

A single fried chicken leg bone sails through the air towards Ron, who expertly avoided it by stepping to the side.

But then...

Smack!

Beacrox, who was behind his father, was not quick enough and the bone hit him squarely in the forehead before falling and clattering on the ground.

Three pairs of eyes blinked in unison, all looking at the chicken bone on the floor.

The silence stretched as little Roksu looked on with horror at what he's done, Ron just there smiling, and Beacrox standing there and simmering in teen hormonal rage he is barely keeping in check by reminding himself that the young master in front of him is currently just a child.

Finally,

"...sorry..."

Little Roksu squeaks, inching closer, tiptoeing with his arm stretched, barely reaching as he wiped the grease off of Beacrox's reddening forehead with his hand.

All it did though was spread the oil from the fried chicken all over the teen's forehead.

Beacrox's eye twitched.

Ron puts a hand on his son's shoulder, keeping him from doing anything rash.

Little Roksu slowly backs away, feeling really bad for the random hyung but also determined to escape, if only to get away from the awkwardness.

However,

"Found you~!"

Before he can escape, little Roksu is suddenly lifted up in the air and comes face to face with a beautiful woman with long red hair, smiling cheerfully at him.

"Oh? You are smaller than last time but bigger than you are supposed to be!"

The woman giggles, and little Roksu was so confused he lets himself be carried away.

"That there, is Ron. He might be scary, but you can rely on him for anything. He will take care of you."

The woman, who had introduced herself as Jour Henituse, is currently teaching little Roksu about the different people he should be familiar with while they have a little snack break in the garden.

After the whole broken vase and fried chicken ordeal, little Roksu got kidnapped by Jour who turned out to be a really nice person.

"You must be Roksu" Jour had said to him as he was carried away, her eyes glowing gold for a moment, "Nice to meet you!"

"You know me?" Little Roksu had asked, surprised at being recognised.

"Of course I know you!" Jour had then smiled at him so prettily, "I'm your mom!"

Little Roksu didn't really believe her, but he felt at ease with her after that.

She then proceeded to explain to little Roksu that right now, he is Cale Henituse.

"As long as you look like this, you are Cale Henituse. Aren't you a cutie?"

Jour had then led him to a floor length mirror, and little Roksu had gasped at what he saw. The face that stared at him was unfamiliar, but Roksu does not hate it.

"This is Cale Henituse. That is your name. That name belongs to you just as much as the name Kim Roksu, but in this form, everyone will know you as Cale."

After that Jour basically carried him to the gardens while telling him things about being Cale Henituse.

It was a little bit overwhelming, but little Roksu decides to just accept it. No use overthinking about things when the cookies are delicious, and it doesn't hurt to just listen to Miss Jour talk.

"...and that is Ron's son, Beacrox. You call him Bo-hyung. He may look grumpy all the time but he's a good kid. Hmm... that's about it. Any questions?"

Little Roksu munches on his cookie. He doesn't really have any questions, having remembered everything Miss Jour has said. Not that it mattered. He's not going to be here for long anyway.

However...

"This is a weird dream."

Roksu voices out his thoughts. He had been believing this was a dream. How else could he explain it? Suddenly transported here in a fantastical looking place with a different face and a different name. He was not able to check too, if this was really a dream, and he's not sure if he wants to know.

Beside him Jour's eyes glow a golden ring, then it softens, and she pats Roksu's hair gently.

"It is."

Jour agrees, and when Roksu looks up to her, she adds:

"It is a special dream."

She then takes out a hankerchief, wiping Roksu's face gently to remove the cookie crumbs off his face. Roksu startles a bit at the action, not used to such gestures, but ultimately let her be.

Jour then continued talking.

"And since this is a special dream, I suggest you enjoy it at it's fullest. You have fun being Cale Henituse. You can do whatever you want!"

Little Roksu thought about it, before nodding. Miss Jour's advice sounds good. He can't think of any downsides of having fun inside a dream.

"Then! How about we go meet your dad? He's being weepy because he was dragged away to do work. He should perk up once he sees you!"

They got up, dusting crumbs off their clothes, and little Roksu deliberately ignoring the "dad" part of what Miss Jour just said. He can't quite wrap his head around having another set of parents in a dream world just yet.

As they are about to leave the picnic, Roksu remembers something.

"So I'm not in trouble for breaking the vase?"

Miss Jour just laughs, like she finds the whole thing amusing, and Roksu huffs. He was really worried, you know!

"Of course not! It was an accident, and no one here is going to scold you for it. It was just a vase anyway. We can just replace it anytime!"

Little Roksu persks up at her words. It was good to know he doesn't have to pay for the vase. Although...

Remembering the hyung he hit with the chicken bone (Bo-hyung, was it?), Roksu feels he should apologize properly to him. Although he didn't mean to hit him with the bone, it still happened, and Roksu feels bad about it.

Scanning the selection of snacks on the picnic spread, little Roksu's eyes landed on a cookie jar. He pics it up, carrying it carefully, determined to use it as a peace offering of sorts to give to Bo-hyung.

Having chosen his gift, Roksu turns towards Miss Jour and, seeing her waiting for him patiently, hurries to her.

But in his haste, little Roksu trips.

And disappears.

Super Rock Villa, Present Time:

Everyone who went to get the adult Cale stared at the small Cale in front of them, their eyes shaking.

There are two Cales.

Two!!! Cales!!!

A big one and a small one!!!

Little Kim Roksu, however, was not that surprised. Although he only knew Ron and Beacrox in this new place, he was getting a bit too used to appearing on random places now to be too surprised. He scans the crowd, trying to familiarise the new faces in front of him.

Similarly, Kim Roksu was not that surprised either, although for a different reason. Seeing as he was thrown into different timelines and worlds twice now, it also makes sense that another version of him would be in the same situation. He did not expect a tiny version of him, sure, but at this point he really is not surprised by this anymore.

Just then, little Roksu locks eyes with the redhead inside the mana balloon, and he gasps.

"You're Cale Henituse!"

Little Roksu blurts out, recognising the face, then tilts his head to the side, brows furrowing in confusion,

"Huh? But... you're old?"

Roksu's eye twitched.

"I'm not that old!"

Roksu defends his honor, but no one was listening because everyone got over their shock and had rushed towards the small Cale to see if he's ok.

Kim Roksu sighs, slumping inside his mana bubble prison, just tired of everything.

'I want a bath and more wine...'