Chapter Text
✿
"Chung Myung!" He shouted, but there was no response. He'd been shouting so much that he was out of breath. But never stopped for even a minute to take a break.
He ran across the training grounds, growing more worried by the second. He shouted again, his voice becoming more hoarse with every one. "Chung Myung!"
"Just where did you go...!" He muttered.
Why did he always seem to be missing? How many times was he going to just disappear out of nowhere, without telling anyone? Was he planning on making a habit of this?
He tried his best to think of where a seven year old kid would go. He'd scoured through the entire sect, even the forest and mountain paths surrounding it.
He'd turned Mount Hua upside down, yet that rascal was nowhere to be found. No one's seen him since yesterday, either. The sky was darkening quickly, signaling that the sun was bound to set soon.
Where had he gone?
Chung Mun grabbed his head, becoming increasingly worried. He went through every terrible scenario. He hadn't ran into trouble somehow, did he?
At that moment, he found himself hoping that any trouble that occurred was trouble Chung Myung had caused. That's how worried he was!
Despite how shameless and troublesome he appeared, the rugged mountain terrain was still a dangerous area for a seven year old. What if he'd fallen off a cliff somewhere? Gotten lost? Or gotten eaten by a beast!
(There were no beasts that resided on Mount Hua.)
He continued shouting all over, straining his voice as he did so. He kept asking passing disciples if they'd seen him somewhere, but they just shook their heads and continued walking past. Even the second and first grade disciples seemed to be indifferent to the situation.
This baffled Chung Mun. He knew Chung Myung's personality was bad, and could easily cause people to dislike him. But to so easily dismiss a child who was missing? Weren't they a Taoist sect that practiced righteousness?
He quickly resumed his search, not giving a second thought to other's lack of compassion. He bit his lip, looking around in all the possible directions Chung Myung could have gone.
He was contemplating on whether to inform the Sect Leader when he noticed a familiar face. He immediately approached them.
"Master!" He caught up with Baek Oh, and finally let himself take a breath. "Have you seen Chung Myung anywhere? He didn't come back last night.." He quickly asked, feeling desperate.
Baek Oh turned around, furrowing his brows at the look on Chung Mun's face. "Ah, why are you running around shouting? You're gonna strain your voice that way. Don't you know that brat is probably up to no good, anyway?"
"Isn't that even more of a reason to find him?" Chung Mun looked exasperated. "If he's run into trouble, we should all be looking!"
Dismissively waving his hand, Baek Oh spoke, "You're overthinking it, Chung Mun-ah. He was locked up in the Repentance Chamber again." He groaned as if remembering something bad. "That brat really doesn't know when to stop..."
"The Repentance Chamber?" Chung Mun looked confused. "Why would he be in the Repentance Chamber?"
It wasn't the first time Chung Myung's been locked up in the Repentance Chamber. But after the first time, Chung Mun had sent a complaint to the Sect Leader - saying that it wasn't a suitable punishment for such a young child. And so, locking disciples of younger age away was prohibited.
But, he's been confined in there again?
"Well..." Baek Oh paused. "If it works, it works, right? It seems to be the one thing that'll keep him quiet." He turned to Chung Mun. "Let's enjoy this peace while it lasts, yes?"
Chung Mun wanted to try asking what he had done to be locked in there, but decided that wasn't what was important right now. No, no matter what Chung Myung might've did, a punishment like this surely wasn't right.
He immediately spun on his heel and ran towards the place where he knew Chung Myung would be.
❀❀❀
The sky behind him slowly started to darken as he ran towards the Plum Blossom Caves. He headed to the one he remembered Chung Myung being locked up in last, and sure enough - there was a disciple only a few years younger than himself guarding the entrance.
He looked on the verge of dozing off. Chung Mun approached him, and swiftly convinced him to leave - saying he'll handle the rest.
The young disciple looked unconvinced, but since he couldn't defy his Sahyung, he hesitantly nodded and left him alone to deal with Chung Myung.
Watching him leave, Chung Mun then turned his focus to the massive boulder blocking the entrance to the cave. He put his hands on it and channeled his inner strength, steadily pushing it aside.
Scrape...
The huge rock blocking the cave was now moved halfway to the side, making a large enough gap for a person to fit through.
Through that gap, the light of the setting sun shone through and illuminated the lone figure in the cave. Chung Mun momentarily stopped right before going in, taken aback by the sight.
.
There was Chung Myung, sitting and hugging his knees in the corner of the cave. He lifted his head to look up at Chung Mun with red-rimmed but glaring eyes, before that melted away as he recognized the person who was seemingly just as surprised as he was. He called softly, "Sahyung?"
There was another beat of silence before Chung Mun regained his senses and immediately ran over, dropping to the ground and wrapping his arms around the small child.
Chung Myung's tear-stained cheeks became visible with the intruding light, making Chung Mun's heart twist. He'd been alone in this dark cave for an entire day, just how scared had he been?
He pulled away to look at Chung Myung, and noticed how his expression had instantly changed into a happier one - his eyes gleaming with curiosity rather than tears, and how he had that proud smile on his face that appeared whenever he'd get praised by Chung Mun.
Chung Myung looked up at him about to speak when Chung Mun laughed and pat his head, ruffling his hair. "Was it scary?" He asked, a warm smile on his face.
Chung Myung's smile widened even more as he shook his head, replying, "I wasn't scared this time." Though the redness of his face and sniffly nose said otherwise. He quickly wiped his running nose, and tried his best to look unaffected.
Chung Mun sighed in relief. "Really, you had me running all over looking for you..." He mumbled, shaking his head. Then, he reached his arms out again, this time swooping Chung Myung up from the ground.
A surprised gasp came from Chung Myung as he was easily picked up and carried. He tried struggling, but Chung Mun swiftly walked out of the cave with him, ignoring the shouts directed right in his ear.
"Sahyung!" He shouted angrily, trying his best to make him release his grip, but it was no use. "I said, put me down!" Anger flared up in his eyes once again, but Chung Mun only suppressed a laugh.
His anger didn't seem to match his still chubby face, causing him to look more cute than intimidating.
How long had it been since he's held him like this? He remembers carrying him around quite often when he was even smaller. Why did he ever stop?
Ah, right. This little brat bit him whenever he tried doing so.
But there were no bites this time, so he proceeded to carry him back to their house in his arms. Well, he only needed one arm to support him. He was still just a small child, after all.
Chung Myung felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment, and yelled curses and shouts into his ears. But eventually he accepted it, laying his head on his Sahyung's shoulder - pouting.
.
To be honest, he didn't really mind being picked up like this by his Sahyung. But it's been so long that he couldn't help but feel awkward. He used to be carried around a lot, until one day he wasn't.
He had thought it was probably because he'd gotten too old or heavy. His Sahyung had always been pretty weak, anyway. So it wasn't a surprise.
(He doesn't remember the bites and scratches he'd leave on his Sahyung's arms. To him, it never happened.)
❀❀❀
By the time they reached the stairs below their house, the sun had already set and in its place the moon shone down, casting light onto the pathway up. Chung Mun quickly adjusted his grip on the small child in his arms before ascending the stairs.
Their house was secluded from the sect, and resided up on a cliff rather than down below with the other disciples. Perhaps it was because the elders feared that Chung Myung would terrorize the others if he lived any closer.
Yes, and that was also why Baek Oh - who was supposed to be living with them - never came home, preferring to sleep somewhere else. Wherever that was.
Though, it was most likely because he didn't want to deal with Chung Myung, instead dumping the responsibility of caring for him onto Chung Mun. Despite being their master and Mount Hua's top disciple - a candidate for next Sect Leader - Baek Oh seemed to skip out on his duties of teaching Chung Myung often.
Not like Chung Mun minded being the one to raise Chung Myung, actually. Despite all the trouble he caused and the pranks he pulled, this child was quite adorable.
It wasn't like his pranks had ever harmed anyone anyway, right? He didn't think he could do any damage even if he tried. He chuckled at the thought as he approached the front door.
Immediately, Chung Myung tried pushing him away again and this time, Chung Mun complied and set him down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Chung Myung darted for the front door, giggling as he then turned back to call, "You're gonna make dinner, right? Right!"
He ran inside before he got an answer, fully convinced that he'd have a meal waiting for him soon. Seeing the shamelessness of this brat, Chung Mun let out a laugh of disbelief. But he still followed him inside anyways - his feet headed towards the kitchen.
❀❀❀
Tap
A bowl was set on the table in front of the boy. His expectant smile instantly turned into a frown as he inspected the contents of it.
"...Sahyung, what is this?" Chung Myung slowly looked up, disappointed.
Chung Mun who was about to grab his chopsticks looked up in confusion. "Huh? It's just rice and ve--"
"Where's the meat!" Chung Myung slammed his chopsticks on the table in fury.
Chung Mun sighed. "Chung Myung, you know we're a Taoist sect. We can't have meat often." He pushed the bowl closer to Chung Myung. "Here, eat up!"
Chung Myung sulked, but still picked up his chopsticks and started to eat.
Surprisingly, he quickly scarfed it all down, not leaving even a single grain of rice left. Chung Mun watched curiously. Usually, he'd pick at the food with his chopsticks, especially avoiding the vegetables. But he ate it all this time?
Just how hungry was he?
The expression of amusement on his face slowly turned into one of concern. When Chung Myung raised his bowl for another serving, he easily complied, filling his bowl to the top.
While watching yet another bowl of vegetables somehow be inhaled by this little kid, Chung Mun spoke up, voicing a question that he should've asked earlier.
"Myung-ah." The boy across from him paused and looked up, his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk's.
"..What?" His words were muffled, his mouth still filled with food.
"Why were you locked up in the Repentance Chamber for an entire day?" Chung Mun asked, though he had an idea as to what had happened.
Chung Myung swallowed, before hesitantly speaking. "...It wasn't my fault!"
Chung Mun raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't your fault? What wasn't?"
Chung Myung's eyes darted around the room, attempting to avoid looking into his Sahyung's eyes. When Chung Mun's eyes continued to bore into him, he finally responded with anger, "That guy! He put all the blame on me, and dragged me in there! It's not fair, Sahyung!"
Chung Myung looked as if he'd been wronged, and was about to continue his rant until he was interrupted.
Chung Mun put his hand in front of the boy's face. "Calm down, Myung-ah. Take another breath."
Chung Myung's anger-flushed face slowly turned back to normal as he took three deep breaths to regulate his emotions - just as Chung Mun had always instructed him to do whenever he felt angry and had the urge to scream and destroy stuff.
It was one of the many techniques Chung Mun had been trying to teach Chung Myung whenever he needed to release his stress.
They've been working on trying to find an outlet for all these strong emotions, but they weren't effective enough and instead often caused Chung Myung to get even more upset - which caused even more trouble.
But it seemed that the breathing exercises he'd painstakingly taught him had finally worked this time.
Chung Mun waited for Chung Myung to take a few breaths and calm down before asking again, "What were you blamed for? Who blamed you?" But the answer to the latter question seemed obvious.
Hadn't he seen that person's reaction to when asked about Chung Myung's whereabouts?
Chung Myung with a calmer face begrudgingly said, "..For..." He looked away again, and spoke quieter. "Making a mess of the dining hall." He'd practically whispered the last part.
"A mess?" Chung Mun - with excellent hearing - questioned.
"..I threw my plate at them, and then everyone started throwing stuff. So..." He started trailing off.
Chung Mun looked baffled. His Sajae had started a food fight yesterday? No...how come he didn't hear anything about that? He sighed, before asking again. "Why did you?"
Trying to justify himself, he raised his voice a little as he turned back to Chung Mun. "They were asking for it! They were all like, 'Did your parents not teach you manners?' 'What kinda parents leave their son on a mountain??' And stuff! It was so annoying! Tryna get a reaction from me..." He clenched his fist as his anger flared up again.
Chung Mun held his forehead, before sighing again. He more or less understands the situation now. And after listening to Chung Myung, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at him. "Alright. So, was it Baek Oh who reprimanded and punished you?"
Slam!
Small hands hit the table. "Yes, Sahyung! That guy always has it out for me! Even though I didn't start it, he still dragged me away!"
Chung Mun couldn't bring himself to say aloud that Chung Myung did indeed start the food fight. But even if he'd started it, it was hard to be upset with him when finding out the entire story. He couldn't entirely say that he was in the wrong.
'And also...' The one who was in the wrong the most in this situation was clearly Baek Oh. Punishing disciples by locking them away in the Repentance Chamber was now exclusively used for older disciples, much less a child who hasn't yet reached even ten years of age.
This wasn't a matter that could be brushed away so easily. Scaring young children like this wasn't in line with the teachings of the sect, and did more harm than good for their development.
Even if it's his master, he'll have to go to the Sect Leader about this.
While he was in thought about what actions he would take next, Chung Myung was yelling his mouth off as he ranted about the injustices he'd faced. Chung Mun suddenly raised his arm, reaching over.
"Why do I--OW! Sahyung!" Chung Myung glared at Chung Mun who was pinching his cheek. But Chung Mun only laughed at his irritated face.
"Settle down, Myung-ah. You have food all over your face." He offered a napkin, and Chung Myung quickly snatched it, pulling away from his grip and roughly wiping his mouth.
He then shouted, "You'll avenge me, won't you Sahyung? They'll get locked up next, right!?" There was an expectant look in his eyes as he looked at his Sahyung.
"Something like that. Now, are you done eating?"
The boy eagerly shook his head, before lifting his bowl for another serving. Chung Mun gave a weary smile. Really, just how much could one kid eat...
But, he still refilled his bowl. For the fourth time that night.
.
.
.