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“Cheonhee,” Jaegal Lin called, smile turning wider when his disciple replied sleepily.
“Hm? Mash,ter?” Baby Cheonhee rubbed his eyes before flopping down on the bed, laying flat like a starfish.
It was late at night, and Jaegal Lin was getting ready for bed. Before that, though, he had a surprise for Cheonhee, one that he had commissioned three days ago and was finally ready.
Crawling into bed, Jaegal Lin hid one hand behind his back, fiddling with the object and petting Cheonhee’s hair with his other hand.
“Hee,” He began, “I have a surprise for you.”
Cheonhee was already struggling to keep his eyes open — it had been a long day, after all, but at the mention of a surprise, Cheonhee’s eyes flew open and he giggled, albeit rather sluggishly.
“Suw-pwise?” Baby Cheonhee echoed, making grabby hands in Jaegal’s direction.
“Yes, baby,” Jaegal nodded, but then he had a sneaky idea.
“Hmm… but… to make the surprise appear, you’ll have to let Master pinch your cheeks ten times,” Jaegal teased.
Baby Cheonhee pouted at his words.
“Bad! Bad, Mash-ter,” Baby Cheonhee grumbled, swatting away Jaegal’s hand that was inching closer to his cheeks.
“How can you say that?” Jaegal Lin made a faux gasp, and baby Cheonhee eyed him slowly.
“Mash-ter, Hee! Not, fool…” Baby Cheonhee whined, grabbing Jaegal’s hand and moving it to rest on top of his head instead of his cheeks.
Baby Cheonhee’s strength was nothing, of course, but Jaegal happily allowed his baby to move his hand as he pleased, smiling when baby Cheonhee seemed to purr under his hands.
“Alright alright,” Jaegal said soothingly, “Master shouldn’t have teased you. Come on, I’ll show you the surprise.”
Baby Cheonhee’s eyes fluttered open and he looked expectantly at Jaegal Lin.
Still smiling, Jaegal Lin moved his hand from behind his back, revealing the item in his hand.
A dragon doll.
The doll was neither too big nor too small, and it was the perfect size for Cheonhee to hug in his sleep. The shape and style had been designed by Jaegal himself, and the doll was made out of the best materials, soft, smooth, and of course, perfectly safe for a baby.
“It’s a dragon, Hee,” Jaegal Lin explained, watching as Cheonhee touched and petted the doll.
“Ish, white! Like… Mash-ter!” Baby Cheonhee declared, turning to look at Jaegal for confirmation.
Jaegal nodded almost immediately. “Yes, it’s white, just like Master…. You see, this doll is special, Hee… It’s a representation of Master. When Master isn’t there with you, you can just hug this doll, okay? It will protect you and keep you warm on my behalf…”
“Do you understand, Hee?” Jaegal Lin asked looking at Cheonhee’s eyes seriously.
Jin Cheonhee nodded solemnly.
“Hee, knows, Mass-ter!” Cheonhee grinned, hugging the doll.
“Good,” Jaegal Lin pressed a kiss on Cheonhee’s forehead. “Do you like it, Hee?”
“Yesh~” baby Cheonhee nodded, rolling over to his side and giving Jaegal Lin a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank, you, Mash-ter!” Cheonhee’s well-behaved face made Jaegal want to squeeze his cheeks even more, but he resisted the urge.
“Goodnight, Hee,” Jaegal Lin whispered instead, laying down on the bed and using his Qi to switch off the lights in the room.
“Nighty night, Mash-ter,” baby Cheonhee’s voice grew softer and softer at the end.
Well, Jaegal Lin chuckled. Cheonhee was, indeed, tired….
As he lay in bed, though, Jaegal felt like something was missing.
Strange.
He turned his body around, gently, of course, so as not to shake the bed and wake Cheonhee.
Something was missing, that feeling was right…. why was he so restless…?
Jaegal Lin came face to face with Cheonhee’s sleeping face, and realization dawned on him.
…Cheonhee wasn’t hugging him to sleep.
That familiar weight and warmth on his arm, sometimes on his chest, was nowhere to be found.
This was weird, far too weird.
Ever since he allowed Cheonhee to sleep with him on his bed instead of a separate cot, Cheonhee had clung to him every night, and if Cheonhee couldn’t find him, Cheonhee would be restless and couldn’t sleep well….
So now, why was his baby sleeping so soundly?!
Jaegal Lin sat up slowly and peered at his disciple.
Cheonhee was fast asleep, hugging the dragon doll he just gave.
“…”
Jaegal Lin felt irritation rise in his heart.
…He was the one who gave the doll, so he had no reason to be angry, he told himself.
Baby Cheonhee, unaware of Jaegal Lin’s tumultuous heart, hugged the doll tighter and murmured a ‘Mashter’, nuzzling the doll and smiling softly.
“…”
Jaegal Lin felt like his heart had been pierced.
It’s alright, Jaegal told himself, Cheonhee just likes the doll because it represents me, that’s all… Tomorrow night he’ll be back to hugging me, I’m sure…
Yeah, Jaegal convinced himself, This is just a one-time thing…
The next day, though, Jaegal’s heart was shattered multiple times.
At breakfast, baby Cheonhee insisted on eating with the dragon doll in his lap, going so far as to feed the doll his breakfast.
Jaegal Lin felt like his eyes were hurting at the sight of Cheonhee holding the doll in his lap and feeding it a spoonful of his breakfast.
“…It’s a doll, Hee,” Jaegal had reminded, “It can’t eat…”
“Need! To! Eat!” Cheonhee insisted, frowning slightly. “Gwo, up, hell-thee!!”
“Healthy…” Jaegal Lin muttered under his breath. “Rather than feeding a doll, shouldn’t you feed your real Master instead?! I’m right here…”
“Mash-ter?” Baby Cheonhee asked, turning to Jaegal Lin.
Jaegal Lin gave a half-hearted smile.
“Nothing, Hee. Come on, just eat your breakfast…”
When Cheonhee was carried by Jaegal Lin, he didn’t put Jaegal’s hair into his mouth as usual. Instead, Cheonhee took the dragon doll’s tail into his mouth and nibbled on it joyfully.
Jaegal Lin, not feeling the familiar tug and pull on his hair, was mortified.
“You don’t like my hair anymore?!” Jaegal Lin was practically wailing now.
“Hee, like, dis,” Cheonhee said innocently, waving the doll; each word stabbing Jaegal Lin in the heart.
Jaegal Lin did not give up and waved his hair in front of Cheonhee.
“Look, baby, look!”
Baby Cheonhee simply giggled and continued chewing on the tail.
“…”
Jaegal Lin’s heart was in tatters.
During nap time, Cheonhee did not spare Jaegal Lin a glance and simply snuggled his dragon doll and fell into dreamland.
Jaegal Lin, who had been waiting with his outstretched arms for his baby to sleep on him: “…”
This dragon doll… was becoming an eyesore!!!
At lunch, Cheonhee looked Jaegal Lin straight in the eye and refused to eat without “Whitey”, his dragon doll.
Jaegal Lin’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
“Whitey? Whitey?! You gave that thing a name??” Jaegal Lin asked, trying to suppress the incredulity from his voice.
Cheonhee tilted his head in confusion.
“Yesh!” Cheonhee said with confidence. Seeing Jaegal’s expression, though, Cheonhee wilted.
“Is, Hee, bad?” Cheonhee asked hesitantly, and Jaegal Lin’s words were stuck in his throat.
“…N-no,” Jaegal Lin ended up saying.
Cheonhee beamed at his reply and made grabby hands again, asking for his doll.
Jaegal Lin handed the doll to his baby with gritted teeth.
He didn’t think that one day, he would be fighting a goddamned doll for attention from his precious disciple.
“This isn’t good,” Jaegal Lin decided.
He had to take drastic measures…. Should he get rid of the doll..? But would that make Cheonhee cry? Surely throwing away a doll that was taking too much of Cheonhee’s attention wasn’t too much, right…?
That night, as Jaegal Lin was preparing for bed, he heard Cheonhee quietly telling a bedtime story to the dragon doll — no, Whitey….
“And den, stab, stab. stab! Bad guy kill, pwincess. And den, pwince come! Save pwincess… stab. stab. stab! Bad guy, dead! Dee, end!” Baby Cheonhee let out a soft chuckle, and, from behind the folding screen, Jaegal watched as Cheonhee placed a kiss on the doll.
“Nighty, night, Whitey… Hee, and, Mash-ter! Will, pwo-tack you!” Cheonhee whispered, and Jaegal felt his heart melt.
Ah… his disciple was truly… very cute.
Jaegal Lin finished changing his clothes and crept into the bed. Cheonhee, still awake, turned to him and grinned.
“Mash-ter!”
“Yes, Hee?”
“Hug!!” Baby Cheonhee exclaimed, reaching out for Jaegal Lin.
Jaegal Lin did not need to be told twice. He scooped up his baby into his arms and hugged him, feeling satisfied at the familiar warmth in his embrace.
Baby Cheonhee yawned in his arms and snuggled closer.
“Mash-ter,” Cheonhee said softly.
“Hm?”
“Hee, likes Mash-ter de, most…”
Jaegal Lin smiled at that statement, his previous jealousy and anger fading little by little.
“…I know, Hee. I like you the most too.”
“Hmm,” Baby Cheonhee smiled sweetly.
That night, the master and disciple slept well, with baby Cheonhee hugging his Master as usual.