#eruhaben nim please save krs

[noxiousgrace]

I need more self indulgent cale & eruhaben fics in my life 😔

---

(set after part 1 of the novel, canon divergence, spoilers ahead)

I'm writing this at 5 am, don't mind the inaccuracies i haven't re-read part 1 fully yet

> cale telling the truth about his transmigration to eruhaben <

----- part 1/? -------

'This ability is more of a curse, than a blessing, for fucks sake. Is a good nights rest too much to fucking much to ask for?' Cale lamented, a few seconds after waking up.

inside of his room in the super rock villa, he sat up to rest against the headboard of his bed.

He didn't say anything after waking up, silently munching on the assortment of fruit placed conveniently next to his bed, his gaze focused on nothing.

Eruhaben: "good morning."

Cale flinched, but replied almost immediately: "good morning, eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "..."

Cale:"..."

...

Eruhaben: "so, you're just gonna refuse to talk about it?" He asked, a single eyebrow raised in accusation.

Cale glanced at him from the corner of his eye, debating on what would end this conversation the fastest.

Eruhaben, all too familiar with his tactics, continued speaking: "the kids aren't the only ones worried about you. I think these last 2 years have been more than enough for you to realise you can rely on us, no?" His voice held a slowly rising feeling of irritation.

Cale, his eyebrow raised and voice almost drowning in confusion, replied: "where is this coming from, eruhaben-nim?"

The ancient dragon didn't reply to the ignorant human. gathering his thoughts so that he could, by some miracle, verbally beat some sense into this dense bastard.

The bastard in question had been talking in his sleep, every night for the last week, which wouldn't have been much of a problem if the words coming out of his mouth weren't so unnerving.

They weren't even in a language that eruhaben could understand, the dragon had questioned choi han, after noticing the swordsmans discomfort to cales newly acquired habit.

"the language is korean" was the only explanation the elder managed to get out of him.

Tsk, the easiest way was to just question the source of concern directly.

Eruhaben: "how the hell do you know korean? Choi han is the only person from his hometown as far as we know."

Cales expression remained stoic, the sweat gathering behind his ears was the only sign of discomfort eruhaben could see.

After a few beats of silence, cale seemed to have reached the end of his internal war, and sighed: "it's better if i just tell you the truth, please keep this a secret between the two of us."

The dragon nodded, his unease only growing with Cales anxious attitude: "I promise."

Cale, at his wits end, spat out the truth: "I'm a transmigrator. I was born in choi hans hometown, which is called korea by the way, and ended up here soon after i turned 36."

Eruhaben didn't reply immediately, processing the information. Eventually, he found the explanation sensible, and asked: "I see, what does that have to do with your sleep talking?"

Cale: "my ability, record, has been acting on it's own and replaying everything I've recorded so far."

Eruhaben nodded, hiding the rising confusion and concern inside him: "i understand. I'll make something that'll help you sleep easier."

Cale: "thank you"

---

There weren't any further problems since then, but eruhaben was known for his curiosity, so he continued to question cale anyway.

The questions themselves weren't too invasive, mostly asking about the korean lifestyle and culture. Nothing pertaining to cales backstory specifically.

Until now, of course.

Eruhaben: "what was your family like? "

Cale: "I don't remember. "

Eruhaben: "what? "

Cale hesitated, he knew it was disrespectful to not even remember the face of the person who gave birth to him, but it wasn't entirely his fault. he just didn't know how eruhaben would react to it.

Well, he's already in this deep, no reason to stop telling the truth now.

Cale: "I don't remember them. "

Eruhaben was stunned, he gave cale a once-over, this kid seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, so the dragon had assumed the parents worked hard for that to be so.

Eruhaben, with a sense of foreboding, asked anyway: "how come?"

Cale: "they died when i was young, it's been a long time since then, i hardly remember anything from my childhood."

Eruhaben, with a heart pinched by guilt, answered: "that's okay."

Cale simply nodded, unaffected.

The dragon didn't ask any more questions for a while after that.

----

Cale: "eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "what?"

Cale: "you've been staring at me a lot lately. Do you need anything?"

Eruhaben: "tsk. I'm just worried about you."

Cale: "oh?"

Eruhaben, never one to shy away from a problem for too long: "what happened to you after your parents died?"

Cale, not entirely expecting the blunt question: "i lived with my uncle."

Eruhaben, relieved, answered back: "i see, he must've raised you well then. I'm glad you weren't alone."

Cale: "No."

Eruhaben: "No?"

Cale snorted: "that piece of shit doesn't deserve any praise, eruhaben-nim."

Eruhaben: "what do you mean by tha-?"

Cale simply turned around and left, preferring disrespecting eruhaben to opening about this specific part of his life.

The dragon stared at the receding back for a while, his previous relief reduced to dust.

----

[noxiousgrace]

Whatever we currently know about his trauma, is most definitely isn't all of it 😭

He's such an unreliable narrator when it comes to his own struggles, it's actually crazy

I mean this screenshot alone doesn't even cover the amount of horrifying things we have learnt about his past so far

I'm gonna kill his fuckass uncle for abusing him istg

Like how badly do you have to treat a kid for a tenacious ass person like krs to give up 😭 it's insane

And the fact that the uncle remains as his biggest indignity even after living in a literal apocalypse for 15-16 years??? Insane.

Around chapter 530-540, duke Fredo mentioned that the white star's true appearance is definitely of someone who has lived a thousand years, especially his gaze. But Cale knows exactly that it is HIS FACE (as in KRS) that the white star has the exact moment he saw him.

I think it is safe to say that whatever the fuck happened in Earth is so traumatizing that Cale with 36 years as Rok Soo looks like a tired (maniac) and dead soul

[noxiousgrace]

When you think about it krs hasn't left the battlefield in almost 18 years (15 years for the cataclysm and 2+ years as cale henituse)

Sure the breaks he's taking in tcf are great and all but the looming threat of an upcoming battle has not left this mans psyche in almost 2 decades

The time he spent as team leader and cale henituse combined

And in p2 he's still running around fighting 😭 oml

His perseverance is amazing

Get this guy into retirement ASAAAPPPPP

[noxiousgrace]

Sometimes i stay up late thinking about the times cale had to face his biggest fears in illusions

First time during the wind island test, where he was all alone

I was crying on my knees during those chapters, the fact he kept forgetting what was written in that damn book B R O K E M E.

And the second time during the hallucination elisneh, or whatever her name is, put him in.

The fact that he's scared his newfound family is all just an elaborate dream, honestly twists my heart in directions i didn't even know existed

And how during the sadness test krs just followed a stranger (choi han) to his home cuz that was better than going back to his uncle, bro.

I want to kill everyone who had a hand in fucking up this poor mans life