Work Text:
Ilay cradled his child in his arms, shushing him softly in a futile attempt to lull him back to sleep. Hyeon Jin unfortunately must’ve interpreted this as him wanting to play, giggling loudly after a stream of incomprehensible babble spilled out from his mouth.
“I hope that was baby talk for sleep,” Ilay muttered to himself, feeling his own eyes grow heavy with it.
He hadn’t slept a wink in the last 48 hours.
Having been a mercenary for a solid chunk of his life, he was partially indifferent to lack of sleep—often going days on end with little to no rest at all. His body had been trained to remain diligent and responsive even in the most exhausting of moments. However, something it hadn’t been trained for was a little fawn who had an endless bout of energy to dispel.
Hyeon Jin suddenly frowned in reply, whipping his small arm out in the direction of the bed, as if pointing to the man who lay there, wrapped up in the layers of silk sheets. Tilting his head up at Ilay, he babbled a few more words of baby nonsense before puffing out his reddened cheeks.
It was as if he were saying, why is appa asleep? Can’t he come hold me?
“Your appa is very tired,” Ilay whispered, bringing the baby closer to him where he could press a kiss to both of his eyes. “Just like how you should be. If you sleep now, you can see him faster.”
Seemingly pleased with this explanation, the baby retracted his arm and clasped his hands together politely against his chest. He let out a soft noise, like something between a coo and a sigh, as he curled up closer to Ilay’s natural warmth.
Hyeon Jin was a very cold baby who sought out warmth—whether it be from his parents or from the flames crackling away in the fireplace. Usually this meant he was prone to sickness, with the first time causing Taeui to rush both of them to the doctors in a flurry of panic. It also meant that he would often only fall asleep when Ilay was holding him.
He gazed up at Ilay with those wide, abyssal eyes that seemed to glisten under the moon’s pale beams of light. They were set with such intensity that it had Ilay pausing for a moment to observe his son’s expression. He was adorable no matter what, considering those freckles adorning his cheeks, his long lashes and flushed skin, but there was something in particular about how he watched the room and the people within it that was appealing to Ilay.
And with that curious shift of his head, Ilay could only assume he was asking, Sleep now?
“Yes, bambi. Let’s sleep now.”
Crossing over to the opposite side of the bedroom, Ilay settled himself in the armchair beside the bed, holding his son close to him. From there, his own gaze trailed up, following the gentle outline of his mate’s figure hugged tightly by the blankets he was cocooned in. Judging from the gaunt look on his face every morning, Taeui hadn’t slept well either, much too occupied with caring for their baby.
He sighed quietly, more as an instinctive reset of his breathing to slow it down than in resignation. He loved his son; there was no denying it, but there were times when he wasn’t certain if his love was enough to compensate for the sheer toll it took on Taeui. It was of the utmost importance that the panther remain healthy and happy.
Ilay was sure he was one of those descriptors, but not so sure about the other.
Even so, it was more than amusing when he would spring up at about noon, exclaiming, “I slept in again?!” as though Ilay hadn’t purposefully reorganised his entire day to ensure Taeui could sleep as long as he pleased. From feeding to sleeping to entertaining, Ilay had covered all bases, now thoroughly educated in the art of parenting.
For the most part, at least. Their son made the task quite easy.
He was a silent child outside of being with his parents. Never smiled or laughed or cried. He simply watched the room. Observing. Analysing, even. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t a merry little dear, who didn’t know what it meant to be cheerful—he was incredibly endearing—but it was more like he found more amusement in being around other people than in regular toys or games.
Not that he wouldn’t play; he would play, he would play with Ilay’s tail as if it were a toy, begrudgingly so. Occasionally, Ilay would find a stray ribbon wrapped around it. Other times, Hyeon Jin would sleep on it like some sort of pillow. He also, though much more unfortunately, adored playing with Taeui’s acquaintance. Whatever his name was.
The rabbit fellow.
Ilay wouldn’t blame anyone for succumbing to the will of those wide eyes, but it was horrid that he found so much joy in playing with that Kwon guy. More so disdainful was it that his fate had aligned once more to meet his own irritating classmates, who were mated to Taeui’s acquaintances. What it meant was they ended up seeing each other a lot more often than Ilay would’ve preferred.
Specifically speaking, it was Bogdanov he would’ve wanted to have never run into again. Sergeyev was bearable, at the very least, with his own son being somewhat pleasant to be around. But even Bogdanov’s daughter was the damn spitting image of him, complete with that incorrigible smile. The only saving grace for her was that his son seemed to like her, and his son had an excellent eye for people with digestible personalities.
A slight scuffle caught Ilay’s wandering attention, and he glanced up to find Taeui having turned to face him, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He didn’t even have to look down to know the same smile was on his son’s face, but he still did, enjoying the silent contentment radiating from his two treasures.
“Hi, sweetie,” Taeui cooed, scooping up the small fawn curled around himself in one fluid movement. Hyeon Jin’s gangly legs were awkwardly pressed up along Taeui before he readjusted the fawn to be settled neatly in his hold. “Did you sleep well?”
A peculiar little noise escaped Hyeon Jin as the fawn leaned up and licked Taeui’s nose. It was rare to find his son in his animal form, and Taeui really couldn’t help but want to hug him and cuddle him close. He was simply too adorable—so small and quiet when he was curled up tightly in a ball of spots and chestnut fur.
“I bet your papa stayed up late again, didn’t he? What a dumb snow leopard, thinking I would never notice how so obviously exhausted he is,” Taeui said to him, delighted at how Hyeon Jin made a slight nodding gesture. “And look at that, the big scary killer man is nothing but a pile of nerves when he holds you.”
Now cheerily seated beneath the chilly rays of sun, Taeui allowed Hyeon Jin the freedom to move out of his arms, watching as he stumbled back before resuming his tightly furled position. Chuckling, Taeui plucked a flower from the patch beside him, toying with the supple petals.
“So silent about it all, that too. I would’ve never thought I would live to see this day,” he muttered to himself, recalling the numerous times he had caught Ilay awake at three or four am, trying to get Hyeon Jin to sleep off.
It was more than that. It was how he prepared everything for the both of them, serving Taeui a lavish breakfast every morning before going off to take care of Hyeon Jin. It was how he would sit down in the nursery, looking so darling and out of place amongst the delicate hues of sage and mahogany as he played with Hyeon Jin. It was even how he would hold Hyeon Jin up with one arm, browsing through aisles at the grocery stores. That was a bit cute, if Taeui had to admit.
No matter the snide remarks made by all of those around him, he was blessed to see what no one else saw—the gentle side to a man who wasn’t born with a single gentle gene in his body.
“Pa!” Exclaimed baby Hyeon Jin all of a sudden, causing Taeui to look down to find him having shifted back into his human form, where he sat there in his little cardigan and dungarees.
“Come here, Jinnie,” Taeui implored, holding out his arms. As the baby faithfully crawled into Taeui’s lap, he allowed himself a satisfied smile. His favourite part of this whole parenting ordeal was watching Ilay meticulously choose an outfit for their son every day. From onesies to sweaters to jackets to hats, Ilay had bought it all, and seemed to enjoy dressing up their baby.
Each morning Taeui would catch him rummaging through the drawers, muttering to himself about what kind of outfit his ‘bambi’ ought to wear. And though he hated to say it, Ilay put together some of the sweetest outfits he had seen on a child. It appeared that he took pride in it too, silently preening when someone complimented Hyeon Jin.
It was incredibly endearing.
It’s not like it mattered—Hyeon Jin was such a lovely baby that anything he would’ve worn would look wonderful on him. Which is why Taeui was a bit irked Ilay never let him dress him up.
Oh, but it was absolutely hilarious when he found Hyeon Jin snoozing away on Ilay’s tail. It would always be in the worst positions possible, that too. Once he had found Ilay stiff on the floor, having been putting together a new shelf when Hyeon Jin had apparently stumbled in and plopped down on his tail while he was attaching the base together, falling asleep before Ilay could get up.
Taeui was close to saying something to tease him if he hadn’t remembered the sheer amount of sacrifices Ilay had made for him. Instead, he had sat down as well, reading his book beside both of them.
“He makes me want to try using your tail as a pillow,” he had mused, gauging the thickness of the fur. “It does look soft…”
Unfortunately, Ilay had cast such a scathing look upon him then that he didn’t even try.
“Taeui, why don’t you take Hyeon Jin from him?” Leewon suggested, doubtfully glancing at Ilay’s utterly fatigued expression. His steps dragged where they would’ve flicked. His eyes were dull where they would’ve been sharp. His skin was paler than ever, the usual dusty pink absent from his cheeks.
“Ah, hyung, I want to, but Hyeon Jin won’t stay calm unless he's with Ilay. We’ve tried everything we can think of, but he’s been so anxious recently.”
Taeui bit his lip, nervously observing his mate, who had reserved himself to the quietest corner of the room. Damnnit, maybe they shouldn’t have come at all. He should’ve known better, taking into account Ilay’s exhaustion and Hyeon Jin’s recent spike in separation anxiety.
Leewon and Taekjoo exchanged concerned glances, both opening their mouths to say something if it hadn’t been for Taeui jumping up and briskly crossing the room to his mate. Letting out something of a sigh, Leewon sipped his drink, watching the couple closely. He didn’t know much about Rick, and nor did he want to know more, but it was always rather surprising to see his eyes soften into a fond crease unnervingly close to love when they found Taeui.
“How is he doing?” Taeui asked, stroking the taupe strands of Hyeon Jin’s wavy hair.
“The same,” Rick replied, unable to resist a chuckle when Taeui clicked his tongue, moving his hand up to pet Ilay’s hair. Ugh, god. He knew it was technically wrong to be disgusted, but that was a bit much.
”Ridiculous as ever,” Taekjoo muttered, hiding the affectionate glint in his eyes as he rolled them. “First he chains himself to a psychopath, and then he treats him like some obedient kitten.”
I don’t know if any of us are in a place to judge, Leewon thought faintly, scanning the room for his own mate. Caesar was conversing with a few people he didn’t recognise, with the only other familiar face being their son in his arms. As soon as he had locked eyes with Leewon, though, he immediately scrambled out of Caesar’s robust hold, making his way over to Leewon.
“Appa!” He jubilantly cried out, clambering up and onto his lap. His tail whisked about behind him, sweeping over Leewon’s thighs. Leewon would never know what it would be like to be Rick. He was a perplexing enigma that was more disturbing than Caesar. All that he did know was that he too would’ve sacrificed his nights of sleep for his child. No amount of exhaustion would cause him to ever give up.
Niko settled himself happily into Leewon's hold, turning around to switch his focus to Leewon's point of gaze. From his peripheral vision, Taekjoo spared them a glance, too, and presumably was about to make yet another quip if it hadn't been for the blonde ball of energy throwing herself into his arms with no prior warning. He let out a groan from the hit to the chest before ruffling her hair.
"Daddy said to keep you company," she chirped, somehow standing up on Taekjoo's lap, pulling at his locks. With that blank look on his face, he was more than just exasperated, meaning it was an excellent opportunity to keep his eyes set on Taeui, praying not that he be dragged into anything the way he was last time. Now, with his mind registering the optical information his brain was receiving, he realised that Taeui and Rick were walking over to them.
Leewon cleared his throat, adjusting his son in his lap, who curiously observed them as well. Even Anastasia and Taekjoo had stopped their antics to raise an identical eyebrow at the approaching presence.
"We'll be taking our leave now, hyung," Taeui informed, massaging his temples. Rick, who normally would've 'intervened' with those cold eyes and piercing stare, remained quiet, sure enough, and lingered behind Taeui. He didn't bother looking at any of them; his focus was distantly trained outside the window. If Leewon had to guess, he was thinking about how long it would be until he could be alone once again with Taeui.
He smiled at Taeui, shooing him off with a gesture of his hand, saying, "Yes, I would've figured. Thank you for coming; it was well appreciated. I hope you can both rest up tonight. See you later, Taeui."
Taeui nodded before walking away, ushering Ilay out of the door.
"Damn, we should've placed bets about how fast they would leave," Taekjoo remarked in an almost forlorn manner.
"Bad, appa!" Anastasia cried out, pulling at his hair. Leewon was rather concerned with the little girl's strength and how even Taekjoo, of all people, was wincing in pain. Sometimes he was extremely grateful that his child was excitable at most, and that was about it.
Niko smiled up at him, as if reading his mind, before leaning over to take a sip of water from the glass unattended beside him.
Out of all the children he had seen so far, Hyeon Jin had to take the title of most unnerving. There was something inherently horrifying about how he would stare at the people around him, watching their every move with calculated precision. He was an adorable child; he couldn't deny that—he had seen him play with Taekjoo, and it was honestly one of the sweetest sights Leewon had witnessed, always clinging to him and seeming close to tears whenever he let go. But despite all that, despite him being so similar to Taeui, Rick's genes were ever-present, forcing Leewon's affection to dampen a bit in fear.
Although, looking back now at how Rick was so soft with the baby, carrying him as if he was a treasure to behold, well, Leewon wasn't about to deny his....character development? Something like that.
In fact, he swore he had once caught him humming to Hyeon Jin to soothe him while he was crying.
Leewon couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine at the thought, tempted to delude himself into thinking that had been a hallucination. When the weight of gloved hands settled on his shoulders, he put aside that train of thought for another night, opting to focus on his mate behind him and their child in his arms for the rest of the night.