Chapter Text
*knock knock*
“Come in.”
A glimpse of ginger head was seen opening the door, “Excuse me, My Lord.”
“Good morning, Hans. What’s up?”
“Is it okay if I take a day off next weekend, My Lord?”
“Oh! Ron told me about it. It’s your birthday, right?” Deruth commented as he went to reach something in his drawer.
Hans nodded as he replied, “Yes, My Lord.”
Deruth sat up once he seemed to find what he was looking for in the drawer, “Yes, that’s fine. Here, take it,” He said as he put a small pouch on the table.
Hans took and opened the pouch and he looked back and forth between Deruth and the pouch.
Deruth chuckled at Hans’ reaction, “Some pocket money for you. Have fun on your day off.”
“T- Thank you very much, My Lord!”
“Anything else?”
“No! Please excuse me, My Lord,” He said as he exited the room.
The night before.
“Uncle Ron, Hyung.”
The older two directed their attention to their youngest.
Hans, after fiddling with his thumbs for a bit, finally looked up to meet his family’s gaze, “I’d like to visit them.”
Them. The Molans didn’t need to ask who ‘them’ referred to: the people from Hans’ previous orphanage.
Ron stood up and headed towards one of the drawers. He took a file and gave it to Hans, “Here are the details about them. Their names, photos, and location, where they live and work now."
“Thank you, Uncle Ron."
"When are you planning to visit them?”
"On my birthday next weekend.”
“You’ll… come back… for dinner, right?” Beacrox, who had been quiet, asked as he anxiously waited for Hans’ reply.
Beacrox really wanted to ask if Hans would come back to them, not just for dinner, but to stay with them going forward. But he somehow couldn’t bring himself to ask that, fearing that Hans’ reply would be different from what he wanted to hear, especially with those people being his family in the past.
Ron went to pat his older son’s shoulder, trying to calm Beacrox.
Hans, completely oblivious to the underlying meaning behind Beacrox’s question, answered innocently, “Hm, yes. I’m planning to visit in the morning, so I think I’ll be back by dinner.”
Unable to contain his relief, Beacrox showed a slight smile as he stood up and went to grab a plate of dessert for them to eat.
“You should inform the Count tomorrow too, Hans.”
“Yes, Uncle Ron!” Hans smiled at Ron, though his smile felt a little forced.
Noticing his boy’s hesitancy, Ron reached out to him, “Anything troubling you?”
“I… was just thinking… What if they have forgotten me... I’d look so silly that I know their info and all, like a stalker…”
Ron patted Hans’ head as he smiled softly, “I don’t think they would. Just as much as you care about them, I think they’d be overjoyed seeing you after years,” He then ruffled Hans’ hair, “Have confidence, Hans. It’ll be okay.”
Beacrox then put the dessert on the table, “If, by a per million chance, you got caught in an awkward situation, just do your usual cat thing.”
Hans tilted his head, “Cat thing?”
“Ya, something like, ‘there’s a scary looking cat at my place’ or so,” Beacrox grinned sharply at Hans.
“HYUNG PLEASE FORGET ABOUT THAT ALREADY!” Hans screamed as he covered his boiling face.
“Never, especially because that scary cat is, APPARENTLY, me.”
“I ALREADY SAID SORRY, HYUNG!!”
Meanwhile, Ron was silently enjoying the dessert with his tea as he smiled warmly at his sons’ loving quarrel.
The day when Hans was planning to visit Luke and the others, his birthday, had finally come.
“Happy birthday, Hans!” Ron and Beacrox hugged and patted their boy on his birthday.
Hans smiled widely as he replied, “Thank you, Uncle Ron, Hyung!”
It had been years since he last had people wishing him a happy birthday that it gave him some warm bubbly feeling.
After they finished their breakfast, which was all Hans’ favourite food, Hans looked at the clock, “Oh whoops, it’s already late! I gotta go now!”
Hans quickly put on his shoes and headed towards the door.
“Well then, I’ll be off, Uncle Ron, Beacrox-hyung!”
“Wait!”
Hans looked back and a basket of picnic snacks was shoved to his face, “Here take it.”
Hans’ eyes sparkled at the neatly organized basket, “Whoa! These look so tasty! Thank you, Hyung!”
Beacrox softly smiled as he patted the ginger’s head, “Don’t finish it yourself before you reach your destination.”
“So mean! I’m not that much of a glutton!”
“Sure sure,” Beacrox continued to pat Hans as he continued, “Hey, you’ll really come back for dinner, right?”
Hearing Beacrox asking that same question several times, Hans looked up and tilted his head, “Yes? I’ll try to be home by 7, but if Uncle Ron and Hyung are hungry, you can eat fi-”
“We’ll wait for you, you dummy!”
Hans chuckled, “Then this Hans shall be a good boy and come back on time for dinner.”
“Have a safe trip, Hans,” Ron and Beacrox waved at Hans.
“Byee!”
To his self a year ago, walking around the town would be something unthinkable. But today under the broad daylight, he was walking slowly, step by step, along the crowded street. No more long hair bang covering his eyes, not even a hoodie covering his head. He was now free.
Hans now reached the end of the road and was standing in front of a two-story building.
‘*gulp* Okay, let’s do this!’
He reached out his hand to almost press the bell, yet hesitated that he pulled his hand back.
A little girl saw him from the side, “You can press that! If you press, it’ll go riiing !”
“Ah, yes.”
“I can help you press!” The girl quickly jumped in front of him.
“Wait…”
*riiing*
The girl had pressed the bell, leaving Hans standing with his blank face.
“Who’s that?” The voice from inside the house replied.
Hans panicked, not knowing what to reply that he ended up mumbling, “Umm… it’s… me…”
“It’s Hana!” The girl cheerfully replied.
“Oh Hana, wait a bit, I’ll open the door.”
Not long after, the door was opened by a green-haired lady, “Hello, Hana! Welcome!” She crouched as she opened the door, as if she expected to see the girl at eye level, totally not expecting another person standing by the door.
“Thank you, Mai-unnie! Also guess what? Hana helped this big brother press the bell!”
“Oh! Good girl, Hana!” She said as she patted the girl’s head.
“Okay, Hana gonna play with the others, byee!” The girl said as she ran inside the house.
The green-haired lady, Mai, smiled as she waved at Hana, then stood up to see the other individual by the door, “Well, sorry about that. So how can I help you…”
The moment she properly looked at the young man’s face, her emerald eyes turned wide open at the face she saw. A face she hadn’t seen for years, one she would never forget, one she hoped to see every single day.
“Hans… Hyung…?”
Hans flinched when Mai called his name as he tried to brainstorm how to reply, yet right before he replied, Mai went to grab his hands, touch his arms, face, and hair.
“Is this real? Am I dreaming? EVERYONE COME!!”
“Mai-unnie, why so loud?” A blue-haired girl wearing an apron came out. She looked towards the door and dropped her bowl. Luckily, it was a plastic bowl, so although there was a mess that the dough spilled, it was nothing dangerous.
“What happened, Dia?” A blonde boy came to see the girl.
The boy saw that the blue-haired girl made no reaction and kept her eyes holed at the door, making them glanced at the door and widened their eyes.
“Hans… hyung?”
The hallway turned silent as the 4 individuals stared at one another.
“What’s with the commotion?” A black-haired man around his 40s came and broke the silence.
The 2 girls and boy looked at him and pointed at the door.
The man looked at the door and his eyes widened, seeing a ginger-haired figure looking at him with eyes as wide as his.
“Luke… hyung?”
The man, Luke, quickly approached him and almost tripped on his cane.
Seeing the falling man, Hans swiftly moved in to support the man, “Are… you okay?”
As Hans supported him, Luke brought his hand to caress Hans’ face, and suddenly went to pinch his cheek.
“OUCH! What are you doing, Hyung?!”
“I was trying to see if this is real.”
“Don’t you usually pinch your own cheeks instead of oth-”
Before Hans finished his sentence, he could feel the man hugging him. His hands were trembling as his hug tightened, “Hans… it’s you…”
Hans was frozen, not sure how to react. He knew who he’d be meeting today, and he thought he had prepared himself. However, when he actually saw them, his previous family , he was at a loss of words, not knowing what to say, or what to do.
“Hans… you’re alive…” Luke said as he continued to hug Hans while caressing his head.
Hans could feel warm liquid falling down his eyes as his hand started reaching Luke’s back, “That’s… my line… You’re alive, Hyung…”
As the two hugged, the other 3 approached them and joined the hugging pile.
“I MISS YOU, HYUNG!!”
“HYUUUNG!!”
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!”
Cries after cries could be heard in the hallway. At some point, Mai started hitting Hans as she cried about their last encounter.
“YOU LIAR, HYUNG! BIG FAT LIAR!”
“I’m… sorry…”
Suddenly, a group of children appeared from what seemed like a living room.
“Who’s the big fat liar?”
“We should punish them!”
“Who made Hyungs and Unnies cry?”
The individuals who were crying blankly stared at the children. They chuckled at the very child-like heroic remarks as they wiped their tears.
“Sorry sorry, that was a joke,” Luke said, trying to clear the misunderstanding.
“AH! The cake dough…” she said as she looked at the defeated dough on the floor.
The children all visibly looked dejected, “No cake?”
Hans then quickly waved the basket he brought, “What about… cookies?”
“Cookiiieees?” The children’s eyes sparkled at the basket.
“Eh? Is this okay?” Dia asked Hans.
Hans nodded, “I brought it for everyone. Luke-hyung, Mai, Dia, and Wales should try too, and the children too. It’s tasty.”
“Well, let’s get inside first.”
Mai nodded at Luke as she went to close the door while Dia and Wales went to clean the floor. Hans walked inside the house with Luke, who could walk steadily with his crane’s support.
Luke noticed Hans’ curious stare at his legs. He smiled as he tapped Hans’ shoulder, “I believe we have a lot to catch up on.”
Dia split the cookies Hans brought into 2 plates. She put one on the living room table for the children and brought the other plate to the dining room, where the others were.
“So, how are you, Hans?” Luke asked as Mai brewed some tea for the 5 of them, just like how it was back when they were small.
“I’m good.”
“It has been so long and that’s all you say?”
Hans looked down, not sure about what to reply, when Mai put a cup in front of him.
“Just so you know, I’m still mad about what Hyung did that day,” Mai pouted with his glassy eyes.
Dia and Wales followed through as they nodded.
“I’m… sorry… that was the best I could think of to keep us all alive…”
“Don’t you know how scared we were back then as we drifted to the river?” Mai started crying as her voice got louder.
Luke went to pat Mai’s shoulder to calm her down. While the other 2 kids looked down trying to hold their tears.
“I’m sorry, for putting you through so much trouble.”
“Do you think we were angry about the trouble? No! We were scared that we would never see you anymore! Even after Luke-hyung found us, we still spent days, weeks, months, crying over what happened!”
“We miss you, Hyung…” Dia added as Wales nodded, both had started crying.
“I… miss you too… Sorry…”
The three then launched themselves to Hans, giving him the tightest hugs as they cried. Hans, unable to hold his own tears anymore, his tears fell as he hugged them back.
Luke then joined the hug, enveloping them all in his warm embrace. “I’m glad that we could all gather together as a family again.”
They all smiled as they started talking about their experiences for the past year. About how they built the orphanage and work in it, hoping that one day Hans would visit them, about how they still send out a “missing person” request every year on Hans’ birthday, and about how they always celebrate everyone’s birthday, including Hans’.
“Wait, so the destroyed dough was…” Hans asked as he pointed towards himself.
Dia nodded at Hans’ sentence.
Hans put on a dramatic gasp, “NOOO MY CAKE!!”
“I mean… it’s Hyung’s fault that it fell in the first place.”
“How mean!”
“Well enough about us, how about you, Hyung? How have you been?” Wales asked.
“Took you long enough to find us huh?” Dia added teasingly.
Hans just let out a small smile responding to the younger two’s remarks.
Luke suddenly chimed into the conversation, “Hey, it’s almost lunch time. What about you three go prepare for lunch while I catch up with Hans in the backyard?”
Mai nodded as she guided the other 2 to the kitchen.
“Well then, let’s get some fresh air?” Luke said as he smiled at Hans.
The two sat silently at the grass under a tree, until Luke broke the silence.
“Ask what you want.”
“Eh?” Hans tilted his head as he looked at Luke confusedly.
“We’ve been bombarding you with questions, so I’m letting you have the mic now.”
“Pfft- Wow so generous, Hyung,” Hans chuckled at Luke’s remark.
“Oh you just realized?” Luke replied with a smirk.
Hans then went silent, properly sorting his thoughts before he started speaking, “Hyung, were you… a part of Arms before?”
Luke smiled sadly at that question, “So you do know. Bringing you here for our 1-1 chat was right after all.”
“So the others don’t know?”
“No, they didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell them.”
Silence then enveloped the two for a while as they felt the wind breeze.
“I was sold to Arms when I was around 15 years old. Was brought to that exact cell. After some days, they started training me to work, and you know their type of work: assassination.”
Luke took a deep breath before continuing.
“I couldn’t even count how many people I’ve killed. Things started becoming just a routine, a means to stay alive. But things changed a little after 10 years when I was tasked to watch over children. And that was when I met you guys,” Luke then turned towards Hans.
“Their order was to ‘nurture the talent’, and, not gonna lie, I initially was going to follow their order. But that changed as years passed. I got to love again, the emotion that I thought had long died within me was released once again. I grew attached to you guys.”
Luke started clenching his fist as he continued, “I knew that they’d look for you, but I don’t want to let them use you. So I tried to prevent that. I tried to erase our tracks by moving here and there, got some potions and magic scrolls for emergencies, and taught you guys some code in case we’d ever need it, hoping that I’d never had to use it. Yet in the end, they found us.”
“That night, as I was guarding the house, they came. I went with them, hoping to negotiate, yet this was what happened,” Luke scoffed as he showed his right leg, where the area below his right knee was now a prosthetic leg.
Hans gasped hearing Luke’s story. Everything matched. Every single thing that Luke taught them now shed a different light.
Seeing how Hans’ eyes were fixated on his prosthetic leg, Luke hit Hans’ head.
“Hey, it’s fine now. I’m used to this, as you’ve seen. I’m not a senile old man yet,” Luke said as he chuckled.
“Well anyway, I was lucky that the cell building was still exactly like how I remembered it, so I could prepare everything: the code, the box, the magic spell. I stopped the bleeding on my leg and escaped through the river. I followed the flow for approximately 30 minutes and got out around that area, waiting for you guys to escape while hoping everything would go well, and you guys did escape… well… 3 of you…”
Luke had a sad smile as he looked at Hans, “Mai told me what happened. I quickly rushed to the building right after I calmed the three down, yet you were no longer there. You must’ve pulled some strings there huh?”
Hans stayed silent, neither confirming nor denying.
“I was mad at your decision, but I don’t have the right to - not when I was the one putting you in that situation. We know exactly why you did it, logically it makes sense, but not emotionally,” Luke then took a deep breath and bowed his head towards Hans, “I’m sorry, Hans. I’m so sorry.”
Hans was startled at the sudden apology that he panicked, “No no, it’s inevitable, Hyung! You also tried your best to avoid that. Please raise your head!”
Yet Luke remained in his position.
“There’s no way that was the end of everything, right? There must’ve been more, more sadness and pain, that I had indirectly inflicted on you. What happened after, what they did to you, everything must’ve been hard. I don’t think one apology is even enough, Hans.”
Hans saw Luke’s shoulder trembling as he continued to look down.
“It’s okay now, Hyung. I’m okay now.”
“You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Hans.”
“Yes, I wasn’t okay, but I’m okay now. Just like how you are okay with your leg now.”
Luke finally looked up and was greeted by Hans’ genuine smile.
“It is as Hyung said. The years right after that were hard. And I also learned that skill that Arms taught you. I killed quite a lot too. Everything was colourless during those times.”
Hans smiled sadly as he recalled those moments, but before Luke let out another apology, Hans continued.
“But! It has been different the past year.”
Hans looked up to the sky as he shared his happy memories with his new family.
“I met people who accepted me, even after knowing that I was an assassin. Well, they are too,” Hans giggled and continued, “They taught me the world I’ve forgotten, gave me warmth, and took care of me, physically and mentally. They helped me escape from Arms, and even gave me a referral for my job!”
“Job?”
“Oh I forgot to mention, but I’m now a steward under the Henituse!” Hans boasted as he smiled proudly.
However, Luke was still too shocked to give any reaction.
“Eh? No reaction, so sad,” Hans faked a pout before he giggled.
“Well anyway, I now have a proper job I could be proud of and people I treasure and want to protect. The skills I’ve learned didn’t go to waste.”
Hans once again set his eyes on Luke’s eyes before he made his final statement, “That’s why, I’m okay now. Please don’t worry, Hyung!”
Luke felt that a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulder upon seeing Hans’ bright smile. ‘Ah, he has grown up,’ He thought as he let out a small smile, until he heard Hans’ next word.
“If you want me to make you feel worse, Hyung, let me tell you that I might currently earn more money than you do!” Hans said with his mischievous smile.
“Huh? You cocky boy!” Luke scoffed as he started laughing.
The two then continued their happy conversation until Mai called them for lunch.
The 5 of them chatted about their happy moments during lunch and continued all the way until the sun set.
“Well then, I think I should go now.”
Hans then stood up from his chair yet his motion was stopped halfway when Luke called him.
“Hey Hans.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to stay here? Come back and stay with us, just like how it was before.”
‘Hm?’
Hans thought that he had heard similar questions overlapping with Luke’s question, and he finally realized the reason.
‘Come back’. Those words were present in Beacrox’s question over and over again.
‘Ah. Is this why Beacrox-Hyung kept asking me about this?’
He thought about how his scary-faced hyung was actually anxious that he asked that question. ‘I was so dense that I didn't notice huh?’
The thought about leaving The Molans had never crossed his mind, because to him, The Molans were his new family, his precious family . That had been how he felt about them. But today, he confirmed that the feeling was mutual. As much as he wanted to be with The Molans, The Molans were comfortable with his presence, or even, they wanted his presence. That made him feel warm that he unconsciously let out a smile.
“Hyung?” Mai called him out of his thoughts.
“Ah sorry for zoning out. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to refuse that offer,” Hans said as he smiled and continued, “I now have my new family, whom I love and love me back, and so do you guys with the children.”
“You all are and will always be my family too, but my home is now with my new family. Sorry,” He said as he scratched the back of his head.
The three felt lonely to let him go, but they were glad that Hans was happy now.
“I’m glad that you have people you can call family now. Please introduce them to us someday.”
“Will do, Hyung. I’ll get Beacrox-hyung to bake more cookies next time.”
“Oh? He made this?! Please tell him that it’s so good, Hyung! And… Could you ask him if he could share his recipe?” Dia shyly asked.
“I will,” Hans said as he patted Dia’s head.
The 5 then hugged one more time that day, but this time it was the 4 of them circling Hans. Wales stood in front of Hans holding a candle.
“Hm?” Hans blinked his eyes.
“Well, the cake was smashed so please just accept this candle, Hyung!”
“Go make a wish!”
“We’ll protect you from evil spirits!”
The current and past memory of his birthdays overlapped as the four sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. It has been a long time, so long, since he got to celebrate his birthday with the others again. His heart felt warm and bubbly over the feeling of nostalgia.
Once the song ended, he blew the candle, and they all watched the smoke hit the ceiling.
“Happy birthday, Hans!”
“Happy birthday, Hyung!”
Hans brightly smiled at their greetings, “Thank you!”
“I hope you made your wish specific this time, Hans.”
Hans tilted his head at Luke’s comment, to which Luke elaborated, “Your wish over a decade ago was to celebrate your birthday with everyone in the future , right? Look at how long that takes to be fulfilled.”
“Ah!”
The room was full of laughter. His wish, his last birthday wish before Arms destroyed his hope, had finally been fulfilled. He was finally here, once again reuniting with his previous family.
Once they were done with their mini birthday celebration, Hans once again bid them farewell.
“Well then, see you again!”
And off he went. Back to his family.
“I’m home…”
Hans opened the door yet what greeted him was Beacrox blank face as he was seen to be decorating a cake, with a tiny bit of orange-coloured icing on his left cheek.
“You’re back… hours early… I thought you’d be back by 7?”
“I wouldn’t want to starve Uncle Ron and Hyung, so I came back by 5, but what is this? Is that my birthday cake?”
“Yea… I’m not done yet though.”
“Then, what are those 3 cakes?” Hans pointed at another 3 cakes at the counter.
“Well, those…”
“Ho ho~ Those are also your cakes, Hans. That boy was anxiously waiting for your return that he kept making mistakes,” Ron chimed with a warm smile, “Welcome back, Hans.”
“Father!!” Beacrox let out a betrayed look at Ron, which Ron returned with a mischievous smile.
Beacrox couldn’t deny Ron’s word because that was true. He was worried that Hans wouldn’t come back. Thoughts like ‘what if the cake I made turned out in vain?’ and similar ones kept haunting him that he kept losing focus. It was embarrassing for him.
“Were you worried that I wouldn’t come back, Hyung?”
Beacrox jolted at Hans’ question. He looked away, trying to avoid Hans’ gaze.
Hans, on the other hand, felt warm and guilty inside. He was happy to clearly witness how much Beacrox wanted his return. But to think that Beacrox would be so worried about him leaving them that he couldn’t focus, he felt bad for not noticing and not relieving his brother’s worry before he left in the morning.
Hans grabbed Beacrox’s face to look at him.
“Hyung! Uncle Ron and you ARE my family! And this place IS my home! Well, if you guys move, it’ll no longer be my home, but you get my point!” Hans said as he let go of his hand and scratched the back of his head, and continued, “Even if you guys got tired of me, I’ll always love you and think of you as my family. I’ll be persistent about that. Got it?”
Beacrox blinked his eyes at Hans’ comment. Soon after, once the words had finally registered in his brain, he let out a relieved face as he looked away and mumbled, “We won’t get tired of you, you know.”
Hans, with his trained assassin ears, giggled at his shy, scary-faced hyung’s remark and went to hug him, “I love you, Hyung!!”
Beacrox let out a small smile as he nodded, “Me too.”
“So now that it’s settled, please properly decorate my cakes, Hyung!”
“Huh? Cakes? Are you kidding me?”
“Why not? You already baked them anyway?”
“That’s my labour times 4, you brat!”
“I mean, Uncle Ron and I can also help! Right, Uncle Ron?”
“I can certainly carve the cake with my dagger,” Ron smiled as he showed his dagger.
“U- Uncle Ron, we’re using icing… not dagger…” Hans sweated as he tried to prevent Ron from carving whatever he had in mind to the cake.
“Ho ho, of course. I was joking, Hans.”
‘That didn’t sound like a joke, Uncle Ron!’
“Well anyway,” Ron went to pat Hans and Beacrox’s heads, “We can decide on the cakes later, but first of all, you boys need to clean up,” He said as he pointed at Beacrox’s cheeks with icing and Hans dirty hands.
The boys blinked at each other and laughed. They went to shower then straight to the kitchen. Beacrox continued decorating the cake he was working on, while Hans decorated one on his own. Ron passed on the cake decoration and decided to enjoy his tea.
Being so absorbed in his own decoration, Beacrox failed to notice how Hans’ cake was turning bizarre until he was done. His eyes opened wide and his face showed multiple folds of frowns seeing how the cake Hans was decorating looked more like a mountain of icing rather than a cake, with the cake being 25% actual cake and 75% icing.
“You. Are. Not. Touching. Any. Other. Cake!”
“But it’ll still be tasty regardles-”
“No. Get. Out.”
“I got rejected by Hyung,” Hans fake cried as he went to Ron who gave him a head pat, making Beacrox sighed as he brainstormed how to fix the cake. Being an expert in kitchen-work, Beacrox somehow managed to finish decorating the cake before their dinner time.
Hans’ eyes sparkled in awe seeing Beacrox’s craftwork on his four cakes .
Once they finished their dinner, Beacrox took one of the cakes and brought it in front of Hans. He was about to put some candles on it yet Hans stopped him before he did.
“Wait…”
Once he got Ron and Beacrox’s attention, Hans continued his sentence, “Do you mind… adding something on the cake writing?”
Right now it has ‘Happy Birthday, Hans’ written on it, so the two were confused, but Beacrox replied anyway, “What do you want to add?”
Hans hesitated a bit before he started speaking, “Would you mind… adding ‘Molan’ at the end?”
The two blinked their eyes Hans' words, not expecting Hans to ask that, but once they processed the request, they smiled at the boy.
“Of course, Hans,” Ron said as he patted the boy’s back.
Beacrox wordlessly, while a wide smile showed on his face as he turned his back, went to grab his gel icing and wrote their last name at the end of the boy’s name.
Hans smiled sheepishly reading the writing on the cake now: Happy Birthday, Hans Molan.
Once the cake was finalized, the candles were added and lit. They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to their youngest, and gave him hugs as he blew the candle. Together, they watched the smoke reach the ceiling, as they had heard about the birthday lore Hans told Cale before, and once it did, they tightened their hugs as they wished him a happy birthday.
“Happy Birthday, Hans Molan.”
“Hehe, thank you, Uncle Ron, Hyung. I love you both, so much!”
Ron then took out a box from his pocket and gave it to Hans, “Here, for you.”
Hans opened the box and saw a fountain pen with a beautifully carved letter “H” on it.
“Thank you, Uncle Ron!” He said as he gave Ron a tight hug, with Ron returning the hug warmly.
“What’s from Hyung?” Hans looked back towards Beacrox, which earned a frown from Beacrox.
“I already baked you FOUR cakes and you want more?”
“But you do have something, no?” Hans put on his puppy eyes at Beacrox.
Beacrox massaged his temple as he sighed, though his lips also twitched into a subtle smile. He took out a pouch from his pocket and threw it to Hans.
Hans giggled as he opened the pouch, which made his eyes sparkle. It was a sleep eye-mask with cat motifs on it, though there was something bugging him.
“Hyung, I get why you gave me a sleep eye mask, and I do want it. I also get why you chose one with cat motifs, and I do love it. But… Why does the cat’s face…”
“Look scary? Of course, because I technically am your scary-faced hyung, so it’s easier for you to remember who that gift is from,” Beacrox replied with a mischievous smirk.
“HYUNG! Just… forget about that already…” Hans went to softly hit Beacrox, while Beacrox shielded himself with his hands.
And, as if he was already used to the adorable childish quarrel, Ron calmly sipped his tea as he watched his two sons warmly.
That night was Hans' happiest birthday. He once lost his light, but has now regained it, and he shall keep this candle lit, forever.
Epilogue: Cale's Gift
The next morning, Hans was attacked by a human missile the moment he stepped into the Henituse mansion.
"Happy birthday, Hyung!"
"Young Master Cale, what if I fall down from your attack?"
"Then we fall together? Simple!"
Cale giggled at Hans while Hans stroked his hair.
"Here's my birthday present for Hyung!"
Cale gave Hans a pouch and once he opened it, he saw one of the ribbons that he gifted Cale.
"Isn't this what I gifted you?"
"Well, technically that was the only thing that I own that I think would suit you! Once I grow up and earn my own money, I'll get you something more exquisite than this! Wait for it, Hyung!" Cale gave Hans his widest smile.
Hans, chuckling at the boy's logic, ruffled the boy's hair as he warmly replied, "I will be waiting. Thank you, Young Master Cale."
The next day, Hans tied his hair with the ribbon Cale gifted him.