Work Text:
I. Ouch!
Baby Cheonhee was seated on Jaegal's lap, happily munching on Jaegal’s white hair and humming. It was a peaceful day, and Jaegal was more than happy to have baby Cheonhee bouncing on his lap as he pored over papers and reports from Yooho.
As Jaegal Lin turned the page, though, his finger was accidentally sliced, making Jaegal Lin hiss in pain and furrow his brow.
It was a paper cut, and it was nothing to Jaegal Lin, really, but when baby Cheonhee heard his Master gasping in pain, his eyes immediately widened and he looked at Jaegal Lin anxiously.
Spitting out the white hair in his mouth, baby Cheonhee twisted and gently grasped Jaegal Lin's hand, pulling it closer towards him and frowning when he saw the blood oozing out.
“Mash-er….” Baby Cheonhee cried sadly, looking at Jaegal Lin dolefully.
“Is, it. Pain??” Cheonhee asked, looking at Jaegal Lin worriedly.
Jaegal Lin, on the other hand, was observing his disciple's reaction intently. With his strength, a mere paper cut was nothing and he could heal it within seconds, but seeing Cheonhee so worried about him made Jaegal strangely happy.
No matter whether his disciple was a baby or an adult, he would still worry about his Master. It was both adorable and heartwarming.
“Cheonhee, I'm okay,” Jaegal Lin said gently, ruffling his baby's hair.
He loved seeing how much his disciple care about him, but the last thing he wanted to do was make his baby cry, especially over this.
“Lie! Lie! Masht-er, lie! Bad!” Cheonhee scowled, glaring at Jaegal Lin with unshed tears.
Jaegal found it amusing and smiled, but baby Cheonhee seemed almost offended by the smile on his face, looking at him as if he had been betrayed.
“Mas,ter! Is, owkay to, cry,” Cheonhee said, patting Jaegal Lin's arm with one hand.
“It doesn't hurt, Hee,” Jaegal Lin repeated, ruffling Cheonhee's head fondly.
“Mashter, still, lie!” Baby Cheonhee whimpered.
Jaegal Lin chuckled at the accusation and was about to say more, when he saw baby Cheonhee bend down and blow gently on his wound.
“Hee?”
“No, more, pain!” Baby Cheonhee said sternly before blowing on the wound again.
Jaegal Lin's eyes were soft and warm as he planted a kiss on Cheonhee's head.
His baby was copying him, he realized.
Cheonhee in his baby form was rather clumsy. Much to Jaegal Lin's chagrin, no matter how much he baby-proofed the house, baby Cheonhee still bumped his head, his arm and his leg on various furniture. Sometimes it was a light bump and Cheonhee would hardly realize it, but other times, Cheonhee would whimper in pain and the area would soon bruise.
Whenever Cheonhee got hurt, of course Jaegal Lin's instinct was to comfort his baby… and what better way than to blow on the wound?
It seemed like Cheonhee was really copying him, Jaegal Lin chuckled. Cheonhee's head was swaying left to right as he blew gently on the wound, round cheeks puffed up like a squirrel.
Using his Qi, Jaegal Lin quickly let his wound heal, watching nonchalantly as his split skin began to seal again and was rejuvenated.
Jaegal Lin didn't think this was anything special, but baby Cheonhee was stupefied.
“Is, owkay?” Cheonhee asked, looking at Jaegal in confusion.
Jaegal bit back a laugh and nodded.
“Yes, it's okay now, Hee. I'm alright, see?”
“Mmm,” Baby Cheonhee nodded, gazing thoughtfully at the finger that was now smooth.
“Still, hurt?” Cheonhee asked again, looking back and forth between Jaegal Lin's face and his finger, trying to gauge Jaegal Lin's expressions in case he was in pain.
“No, Hee, not hurt anymore. Don't worry, okay?” Jaegal Lin asked softly.
Baby Cheonhee shook his head firmly.
“NO! Hee, will, worry!!” Baby Cheonhee declared, sniffling and earnestly staring at Jaegal Lin's finger.
Jaegal Lin didn't quite know what to say to that — how could he express the fact that his love for his disciple was growing more and more with each passing day?
“Muah!” Baby Cheonhee planted a kiss on Jaegal Lin's finger, making the man melt.
“Cheonhee….”
“So! Not, hurt, any-more!” Cheonhee said, smiling sweetly.
Jaegal Lin hugged his baby tightly.
“Yes, it doesn't hurt anymore,” Jaegal Lin affirmed.
II. Pat-pat
Jaegal Lin groaned and stretched his arms. He was a strong martial artist, yes, but after doing multiple surgeries back to back, even he was tired.
And yet, he wasn't allowed to rest — he still had several tasks to do, and until he finished them, he had to stay awake.
Baby Cheonhee was on Jaegal Lin's table, seated comfortably on a cushion and playing with a jade pendant that Jaegal Lin had handed to him.
Baby Cheonhee, though, noticed Jaegal Lin's fatigue and immediately frowned, clearly displeased.
“Mash-er,” baby Cheonhee called out.
Jaegal Lin didn't hear him, and Cheonhee called a second time.
“Mash,ter!”
“Hm?” Jaegal Lin's gaze snapped to Cheonhee.
“Sorry, baby,” Jaegal Lin said coughing a little and rubbing Cheonhee's head habitually. Baby Cheonhee seemed pleased, nuzzling against Jaegal Lin's hand and smiling.
“You like head pats, huh,” Jaegal Lin mused, taking in Cheonhee's satisfied expression.
Jaegal Lin knew that his disciple secretly loved his head pats. Adult Cheonhee would never say it aloud or actively ask for it, but baby Cheonhee had no reservations and wouldn't bother to hide how much he loved it, going so far as to actively nuzzle against his hand.
Feeling refreshed, Jaegal Lin was about to continue his work when baby Cheonhee stopped him, grabbing his hand.
“Baby, I need this hand to work,” Jaegal said gently, gazing deeply at his baby disciple.
Cheonhee, though, shook his head.
“Hee, wanna, give, Mashter too!!” Baby Cheonhee said excitedly.
Jaegal Lin raised a questioning brow, and baby Cheonhee beckoned for him to get closer.
As Jaegal Lin bent down, his eyes widened in surprise as he felt a small warmth stroking his head.
Was it…?
Just as he thought, it was baby Cheonhee who had put his tiny hand on Jaegal's head, gently stroking and patting it just like how Jaegal did it to Cheonhee.
“Mashter likey?” Cheonhee asked, looking at Jaegal Lin expectantly.
Jaegal Lin grabbed Cheonhee's other hand and squeezed it fondly.
“Yes, yes I do,” he replied, a smile on his face.
III. Like Master like disciple
Baby Cheonhee and Jaegal Lin were getting ready for bed.
As usual, Jaegal Lin had finished dressing Cheonhee first, and he smirked proudly at the sight of his disciple in his cotton pajamas, warm and fluffy.
Baby Cheonhee sat obediently, waiting as Jaegal Lin changed his robes into his nightwear behind a folding screen. As he waited, though, baby Cheonhee noticed something lying on the bed.
Cheonhee's small eyes widened and his mouth opened in an ‘O’, tentatively glancing in his Master's direction before reaching out to take the item.
Baby Cheonhee grinned, touching and feeling the weight of the object in his hands. Baby Cheonhee tilted his head and thought of his Master's usual movements, giggling to himself before copying it as best as he could….
And so when Jaegal Lin stepped out of the folding screen, he was greeted with the sight of baby Cheonhee holding his fan with one hand, clumsily waving it like how Jaegal Lin usually did. When baby Cheonhee saw Jaegal Lin, he grinned sweetly and closed the fan with a snap.
“Hehe, Mash-ter,” baby Cheonhee said, smiling at Jaegal Lin.
Jaegal Lin felt like he had been attacked with cuteness.
“Hee, do you like the fan?” Jaegal Lin asked, moving closer to his baby.
Cheonhee nodded eagerly.
“Jus, like, Mash-er!” Baby Cheonhee cooed, seeming pleased with himself.
Jaegal clutched his chest and patted Cheonhee's head as he imagined it: Jaegal Lin, holding his fan elegantly with one hand and baby Cheonhee in his embrace, holding a fan also. The two of them together, both of them in similar poses as they dominated the medical field—!!
Jaegal Lin, the White Dragon Godly Doctor, and little Cheonhee, the little White Dragon—!!!
“Hee, stay here first,” Jaegal said, making up his mind.
He opened his bedroom door and beckoned for a person to come over, giving them instructions. Once he was done, Jaegal Lin closed the door and turned brightly to Cheonhee.
“Baby, don’t worry, I’ve prepared everything for you, okay?”
Cheonhee tilted his head in confusion and Jaegal Lin gave a mysterious smile.
“Wat is it, Mash-ter?” baby Cheonhee asked.
“You’ll see, baby,” Jaegal Lin smiled.
The next day, baby Cheonhee woke up and was greeted with a small present from Jaegal Lin.
It was a small, custom-made fan that resembled Jaegal Lin’s own fan. The fan itself was obviously made with baby Cheonhee in mind; it was light and fit his hand perfectly.
When Cheonhee saw the fan, his eyes immediately lit up and he opened it, fanning himself and trying to be as elegant as Jaegal Lin. Jaegal Lin thought his baby was more cute than elegant, but he didn’t say anything and simply observed his delighted baby.
“Do you like it, Hee?” Jaegal Lin asked.
Baby Cheonhee nodded, cooing and hugging Jaegal Lin.
“Thank, you, Masher!!” Cheonhee cried happily.
Jaegal Lin grinned.
“My pleasure, Hee.”
That day, Jaegal Lin walked around the clinic holding his fan on one hand and carrying baby Cheonhee with the other. Cheonhee himself was holding a mini fan, trying to fan himself and move just like Jaegal Lin.
Whenever they passed by someone and they stopped walking, Jaegal Lin and baby Cheonhee would snap their fans close, the two of them like mirrors of each other. (Granted, baby Cheonhee’s movements were sometimes slower or a little awkward, but all in all he looked just like Jaegal Lin).
Jaegal Lin couldn’t stop the corner of his lips from rising when he heard the various clinic members muttering about the two of them.
“Oh my,” they said, “They’re exactly the same! Like Master like disciple… How adorable!”
Yes, Jaegal Lin smirked.
Like Master like disciple indeed.
IV. Stupid
Jaegal Lin knew that his disciple was obedient, well-behaved, and always looked up to him. Baby Cheonhee, especially, liked to observe him as he handled matters in the clinic.
All this time, Jaegal Lin didn’t see a problem with this — he enjoyed how his disciple looked at him whenever he completed his tasks, and he loved seeing how baby Cheonhee’s eyes filled with awe and admiration as he looked at him.
One day, as Jaegal Lin sat in his study, poring over documents as baby Cheonhee played beside him, Yooho knocked on the door and told him there was a problem.
One of the clinic members had accidentally misdiagnosed a patient and given them the wrong dosage of pills. The patient had ended up in critical condition, getting close to dying, and it was only thanks to another clinic member’s timely actions that the patient was safe now.
Jaegal Lin felt a headache coming as he listened to Yooho’s words.
How could this happen? These damned insects — he knew that most humans were stupid, but to have someone from his clinic act this unprofessional was a blow to his image and the name of his clinic.
“Call that person in,” Jaegal Lin said, sighing as he gestured to Yooho.
His right-hand man bowed and left the room, returning with a trembling clinic member in tow.
Jaegal Lin eyed the offender and gave him a cold, hard stare.
“Explain,” Jaegal Lin said coldly.
The trembling man cowered even more under Jaegal Lin’s oppressive aura and began to recount everything that had happened, including how he misdiagnosed the patient, calculated the wrong dosage, and so on.
When the man finished his story, he didn’t even dare to lift his head and look at Jaegal Lin. Instead, he gazed at the floor, wincing every now and then.
Jaegal Lin felt irritated — this man had committed multiple mistakes, some of which could’ve cost the patient’s life, but most of all, this person had pretended not to know anything and didn’t even take accountability for his actions. If Yooho hadn’t investigated this incident thoroughly, no one would know how it ended up like this.
This person definitely had to be fired, Jaegal Lin decided.
He was about to open his mouth and rebuke the man when he heard a soft voice yelling angrily.
“Stupid!”
Jaegal Lin’s eyes widened and he turned to the source of the voice.
Baby Jin Cheonhee.
“Stu-pid, shtu, pid! Bad, bad! Insect, go, die!” Baby Cheonhee yelled, pointing a finger angrily at the man.
The three adults in the room were obviously stunned. Yooho was staring at Cheonhee with a raised eyebrow, the man had been so shocked that he lifted his head and was looking at Cheonhee with his mouth agape, and Jaegal Lin was also gawking at his baby.
“Hee…?” Jaegal Lin asked, making baby Cheonhee turn to him and smile sweetly.
“Mash-ter!” Cheonhee smiled, reaching for Jaegal Lin’s arm and patting it gently.
Jaegal Lin rubbed his disciple’s head and asked, “Where did that come from, hm? I’ve never heard you say something like that before.”
Baby Cheonhee tilted his head in confusion.
“Hee, is, wrong?” Baby Cheonhee asked, pouting a little.
Jaegal Lin quickly shook his head.
“Of course not, baby! You’re right, you’re always right! That stupid insect, I mean, that man deserves to be scolded. Master is just surprised that you know those words,” Jaegal explained.
“Oh,” Cheonhee said. “But, but Mash-ter say it, too!”
But Master said it too…? Jaegal Lin wondered.
Suddenly, Jaegal Lin had a flashback of the various times he scolded the clinic members or his subordinates who made a mistake.
“Are you stupid? It’s obviously something this simple and yet you messed it up,” Jaegal Lin had once said as he berated a subordinate who had done something wrong.
“I can’t believe there are people who would do something like this,” Jaegal Lin had confided to Yooho. “I know that they’re all insects — there’s no one good in this damn Murim, but can’t they at least use their brains?”
“Trash like him should just go die,” Jaegal Lin had once spat in anger.
“Twash, shud, jus, die!” In the present, baby Cheonhee said innocently, putting a finger in his mouth and using the other finger to point at the trembling man.
Jaegal Lin didn’t know whether he should feel horrified or proud. Thinking about it now, every time he got angry or was berating someone, baby Cheonhee was either held in his arms or somewhere in the room — he didn’t like being away from his baby too long, after all. But Jaegal Lin never thought that his baby would remember his words, much less copy them—!!
“Hee,” Jaegal Lin said, pulling Cheonhee’s finger out of his mouth and not minding the saliva.
“I know Master has said stuff like this many times, but don’t copy Master, okay?” Jaegal Lin said gently.
“Why?” Cheonhee asked, confusion on his face. “Hee, likey!!”
Jaegal Lin had a complex look in his eyes as he stroked Cheonhee’s hair.
“I know, Hee. And I know you love to copy everything that Master does, but I… I don’t want you to end up like me, okay?” Jaegal Lin said softly.
He had gone through hell and back, and he had been shaped by the cruelty and indifference of the Murim to be cold-hearted. Cheonhee, though, was unlike anyone else in the Murim. He was kind, genuinely so, and he cared about people.
As much as Jaegal loved and wanted his disciple to follow in his footsteps, he didn’t want his disciple to become like him, cold and cynical and so apathetic to life.
Cheonhee was Cheonhee.
“Don’t, just don’t, okay, Hee?” Jaegal asked, coaxing his baby.
He wanted Cheonhee to stay true to himself.
Let him handle all the dark and bloody events — let him be the cold one, the one who berated and scolded others — his disciple was too kind for that.
“Hee, like, Mash-ter,” Cheonhee said sadly.
“I know, I know, baby, but don’t do that, okay? Let Master handle the bad guys,” Jaegal Lin said, smiling.
“Okey,” Baby Cheonhee said sadly.
Jaegal Lin sighed in relief.
In baby Cheonhee’s mind, though, he thought to himself, Hee will grow up quickly! So Hee can help Master scold the bad guys~~!
V. Cute
Jaegal Lin loved his disciple’s cheeks. It was utterly adorable, and pinching and squeezing baby Cheonhee’s cheeks became one of Jaegal Lin’s favorite hobbies. Baby Cheonhee didn’t like it at all, though, and every time Jaegal Lin squeezed his cheeks, poor baby Cheonhee would pout aggrievedly.
“No, no! Masher, no more!” baby Cheonhee whined as Jaegal Lin rubbed his cheek again.
The two of them had just woken up, and since today he didn’t have a busy schedule, Jaegal Lin felt like it was okay to lay around in bed for a while. Baby Cheonhee rubbed his eyes and pouted when he felt Jaegal Lin pinching his cheek yet again.
“Masher bad!” Cheonhee complained, looking sadly at Jaegal Lin.
“Sorry, Hee,” Jaegal Lin said apologetically, “You’re just too cute, you know?”
“No!” Cheonhee said, trying to swat Jaegal Lin’s hand away and failing.
“But you are!” Jaegal Lin said truthfully.
“Hee, not, want it!” Cheonhee pouted, glaring at Jaegal Lin and trying to seem threatening.
Jaegal Lin found it funnier than before and used both hands to rub both of Cheonhee’s cheeks.
“Cute, cute, cute!” Jaegal repeated, his hand not stopping its movements at all.
If Yooho were here, he would’ve definitely gotten second-hand embarrassment from how his Master was acting….
Baby Cheonhee knew that he couldn’t escape from his Master’s hands, so he simply pouted and crossed his arms.
Suddenly, Jin Cheonhee had an idea.
Reaching out with one hand, he managed to touch Jaegal Lin’s face, and then…
Pinch, pinch.
Jin Cheonhee was pinching his Master’s cheek almost vengefully.
Jaegal Lin was surprised when he felt the small hand squeezing his cheek. He let go of his disciple’s cheeks, but Cheonhee didn’t let go.
“Cute, cute!” baby Cheonhee said, grinning mischievously and making Jaegal Lin stunned.
“…Baby,” Jaegal Lin said, suppressing the urge to laugh.
“Yesh?” Baby Cheonhee asked, tilting his head innocently.
“Is this revenge?” Jaegal Lin asked, chuckling a little.
“Wat is, eevange?” Baby Cheonhee asked, blinking slowly.
Jaegal Lin let out a laugh.
His baby knew how to lie now!
“This here,” Jaegal Lin patted Cheonhee’s hand that was still tightly gripping his cheek. “Isn’t this revenge?”
“Hm?” Baby Cheonhee grinned.
“Hee, not, under-stan!” Baby Cheonhee said cheekily.
“Hee, jus, think! Mash-ter, cute!” Cheonhee declared.
Jaegal Lin shook his head, a smile on his lips.
“You’ve learned to be cheeky, hm?” Jaegal Lin chuckled, rubbing his disciple’s head fondly.
“Hee, learn from, Mashter!” Cheonhee said, finally letting go of Jaegal Lin’s cheek.
“Hmm, I see,” Jaegal Lin said. “Well, seems like we’ll be having a pinching session then.”
“After all, you’re adorable, Hee.”
Jaegal Lin brought up his hand to pinch Cheonhee’s cheek, and Cheonhee quickly pinched Jaegal Lin’s cheek first, giggling as if he had just won the ‘competition’.
That day, Jaegal Lin’s cheeks were flushed red for the entire day.
Of course, no one in the clinic dared to ask why….
+1 Tasty Hair
While Jaegal Lin loved pinching his baby's cheeks (especially when they puffed up like a squirrel’s), baby Cheonhee loved biting and nibbling on his Master's hair.
It was a strange obsession, really, and Jaegal could not understand why Cheonhee liked it so much.
At first he thought it was because Cheonhee was teething, but when he checked baby Cheonhee's gums for any sign of tooth growth, there was none. Baby Cheonhee wasn't cranky either, and Jaegal knew that babies who were teething would usually have sore, painful gums.
Cheonhee's gums were fine.
When Jaegal placed anything else in front of Cheonhee for him to nibble on, baby Cheonhee would only look at it with mild amusement before returning to chew on Jaegal's hair — and he only wanted Jaegal Lin's hair, no one else's.
Jaegal Lin felt honored. (See? His baby loved him the most! Even if his baby wanted to chew on hair, it would be his hair, not anyone else's!).
Since Cheonhee's love of his hair was unexplainable but harmless, Jaegal Lin decided to let his baby continue his actions. In any case, Jaegal's hair was always pristine and he washed it regularly.
One day, though, Jaegal had an idea.
Baby Cheonhee was in his embrace, sleepily nibbling on his hair and humming now and then. Baby Cheonhee's head rested on Jaegal Lin's shoulder, his pudgy arms wrapped around Jaegal.
With a glint in his eye, Jaegal Lin bent down, took a handful of Cheonhee's hair into his mouth, and started chewing.
Baby Cheonhee's eyes had widened when he felt the unfamiliar sensation on his head, and he was so shocked that he had spat out Jaegal Lin's hair, allowing some drool to slide down his chin.
“Masher?!” Baby Cheonhee exclaimed, trying to move his head and hands to reach the back of his head.
“Mm?” Jaegal Lin asked, still chewing.
The texture was… weird, and honestly the hair was poking his mouth a little, making Jaegal Lin wince. He was fine; he was, after all, a martial artist, but seeing how rough the texture was (and this was a baby's hair!), Jaegal wondered if his hair would hurt his baby's delicate mouth.
“Masher!” Baby Cheonhee said, wriggling and trying to shake him away.
Jaegal Lin released the hair in his mouth (he just wanted to try it and see why Cheonhee liked it so much), and Cheonhee reached for his hair.
“Masher,” Cheonhee said sadly, waving his hand in front of Jaegal Lin.
“Ish wet!” Cheonhee cried almost mournfully.
Jaegal let out a laugh and wiped Cheonhee's hair with his sleeve.
“There you go, Hee,” he said gently.
Baby Cheonhee pouted, and Jaegal clicked his tongue.
“You're upset when Master does this, but you always nibble on my hair,” Jaegal Lin pointed out.
“Ish diffent,” Cheonhee stuck out his bottom lip.
“Hee, hair. No yummy! Mash-ter hair, yummy!”
Jaegal Lin shook his head.
“Nonsense,” he said chidingly, but the softness in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
“Alright alright, Hee, don't be angry,” Jaegal Lin coaxed, hugging his baby.
“Hmph!” Baby Cheonhee huffed and shot him a glare.
Jaegal Lin chuckled in amusement and made a note to himself to ask Yooho to find some hair products for himself later.
If even he found baby Cheonhee's hair a little prickly for his mouth, surely his hair (which was tougher since he was an adult) was prickling baby Cheonhee's mouth also.
How could he let that happen?
Hopefully Yooho would be able to find some sort of hair softener as soon as possible….