Chapter Text
Halloween. Other than it being an event everyone celebrates, it was also a day that Hans would never forget. 10 years ago at Halloween marked the day when he first set foot into the Henituse mansion. As the sun shone and the wind blew, Hans sat down at the park, with 2 boxes by his side, while reminiscing over his first encounter with Beacrox and how it led to the Hans he currently was.
“Hey, why are you following me?” A brown-haired boy said as he looked back at the empty dark alley, or supposedly ‘looked as if it was an empty’ dark alley.
“I know you’re there,” he said as he walked towards one of the box stacks.
A ginger-haired boy came out looking shocked, “How did you know?”
“Your footsteps were very stealthy-”
“Of course! I’m one of the best pickpockets in this slum!” The ginger-haired boy proclaimed proudly, cutting off the brown-haired boy.
“Well, but your breathing exposed you. I suppose you don’t have much stamina because you’re still a kid.”
“Excuse me? I’m already 10! And you’re also a kid yourself!”
“Well, I’m at least older than you. And did you just expose yourself as a pickpocket?” The brown-haired boy asked still with the same stoic expression.
The ginger-haired boy covered his mouth and looked down, ‘Ugh me and my blabbermouth! Well, I’m already exposed anyway, whatever,’ he thought before looking back at the other boy, “I mean, what do you expect from kids living in slums? But don’t worry! I wasn’t planning to pickpocket from you! Bullying a kid is never my hobby!”
“Then why are you following me?”
The ginger-haired boy shyly averted his eyes before he finally answered, “Because the bread inside your bag also smells very nice… But don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on stealing those! I was just trying to remember the smell so I can imagine myself eating it when I eat whatever I’m eating once I get it.”
Hearing the ginger-haired boy’s statement, the brown-haired boy recalled the memory of him starving over bread before his father and he settled in the Henituse territory. He saw a resemblance of his younger self in the other boy, making him sympathize with him. He then took a loaf out and handed it over to the ginger-haired kid, “Here, for you.”
The ginger-haired boy’s eyes sparkled as the bread was put on his palms. “Thank you!” he said while seeing the brown-haired boy walking out of the alley.
The next day, the brown-haired boy walked down the same alley. This time, he saw the ginger-haired boy rush towards him and hand him a small cloth bag.
“For you!”
“What’s this?”
“Just open!”
Inside the small bag were some freshly-picked white flowers, “Mister looks very clean so I purposely picked some white flowers from the park there! It also smells nice!”
The brown-haired boy chuckled at how his first reason for choosing a white flower was because ‘he looks clean’, but then frowned upon realizing something.
“Hey, don’t call me mister, I’m only slightly older than you, kid.”
“Don’t call me kid! I’m already 10! Call me Hans! Then should I call you hyung?”
“Sure,” the brown-haired boy took out a loaf of the exact same bread and handed it to Hans.
“Thank you, hyung!”
The brown-haired kid then walked away.
Days after days of similar encounters, the two boys got closer and closer. Their interaction had grown from just a short standing bread-related conversation and to a longer conversation as they walked along the alley.
After weeks of getting closer to one another, Hans brought up the idea to sit down and enjoy the bread together. “I know you don’t like being dirty, so slum is a no, right? Let’s go to the park where I picked the flower from then!” Hans proposed to the other boy, and he agreed.
The next day, Hans was already waiting at the park, happily waving at the other boy as he arrived, with an adult man coming with him.
The brown-haired boy opened the picnic mat and started preparing some drinks, while the man accompanying him smiled amusedly.
“Ohh, is this the kitten you’ve been feeding lately, Beacrox?” The old man asked the brown-haired boy, Beacrox.
Beacrox thought for a bit then replied, “I guess he does look like a cat. Yes, he’s the one consuming the one missing bread from our grocery every day. Name is Hans.”
“Um, and this is?” Hans nervously asked.
“Oh ho, pardon my late introduction. My name is Ron Molan, Beacrox’s father. I’ve been wondering why for the past weeks my son looks so happ-”
*AHEM AHEM*
Beacrox faked a cough while sharply staring at his dad. Ron found this amusing as his son rarely showed any expression, and seeing this made Ron happy and warm himself.
“And since he’s going out for a meetup today, I thought I’d drop by for a bit as I’m heading out, especially when he woke up earlier today to prepare the picni-”
*AHEM AHEM*
Ron chuckled and continued, “Anyway, I’m just here to say hi, so I’ll take my leave now. Have fun, you two.”
Ron then walked away with Hans still looking shocked at Ron. It was then Beacrox who snapped Hans out of his daydream.
“Hey, you gonna sit?” while tapping at the picnic mat.
“Ah! Yes, Beacrox-hyung!” Hans happily called the brown-haired boy’s name upon learning his name today.
Beacrox handed Hans a cup as he sat down. Hot chocolate. Hans' eyes sparkled at the cup before taking a gulp at it and sparkled even more upon tasting the sweet and bitter mix of the warm drink. Beacrox smiled at Hans’ childlike expression despite him saying that he’s not one. He handed him the usual bread, and the two then chatted as they enjoyed the wind breeze and the warm sun.
Beacrox stretched his hand to pat Hans’ head with Hans happily snuggling his head on Beacrox’s palm while proudly exclaiming, “I know hyung loves cleanliness so I washed my hair before coming here!”
‘Just how much of a cleanfreak does he see me as?’ Beacrox thought while being completely oblivious of how true Hans’ impression was.
As he continued caressing Hans’ head, Hans suddenly flinched when Beacrox hit a spot at the corner of Hans’ forehead. He took a closer look at that spot and saw a bruise.
“How did you get this?”
“Oh, I just haven’t been pickpocketing and the so-called boss of the slum hit me because I didn’t give him any ‘income’, that’s it. I told you that I was one of the best pickpockets, right?” Hans replied looking smug.
Beacrox, on the other hand, frowned at that statement. “Why do you have to give him money?”
“Well, he claimed that all the spaces in the slum are his, so if I want to live there, I need to ‘work’, so pickpocketing per say.”
“That’s absurd. And you, why haven’t you been doing that?”
“I only pickpocket for necessity. I already get bread from hyung every day so I don’t feel the need to do it anymore. I don’t steal for fun or to be rich!”
Beacrox recalled the first encounter he had with Hans, where Hans was adamant that he wouldn't steal from kids even though, technically speaking, they were the easiest target. He then started frowning more thinking if he should just take Hans to the mansion. But before he said anything, Hans changed the topic.
“By the way, hyung, isn’t tomorrow Halloween? Do you want to carve a stone together?”
“...huh? Stone?”
“Hyung, do you think I have money to buy a pumpkin?” Hans chuckled as he looked at his dumbfounded hyung.
“Ah… I see. Makes sense… I guess?”
“So, is that a yes?” Hans’ eyes sparkled as he looked at Beacrox.
“Sure,” Beacrox nodded while thinking of what he could bring to carve a stone.
“Then let’s meet up here tomorrow, same time!” Hans happily exclaimed as he stood up and extended his hand to Beacrox.
“Ok,” Beacrox responded while grabbing that hand as he stood up.
“Well then, see you tomorrow, Beacrox-hyung!” Hans happily waved as he walked away. Beacrox replied with a small wave.
The day after, Beacrox headed towards the park bringing some knives with him for them to do some stone carving. He expected Hans to be waiting at the park with some big stones ready to be carved and softly chuckled imagining that. However, contrary to his expectation, Hans was nowhere to be seen.
Beacrox waited. 5, 10, 20, and now 30 minutes. Hans still hadn’t arrived. Beacrox recalled what Hans told him yesterday, about how he got hit for not giving money to the alley boss. Surrounded by uneasiness, Beacrox rushed towards the alley where he first met Hans, holding the knives he had prepared the night before to be sharp enough for stone-carving.
Arriving at a corner of the alley, Beacrox saw Hans on the ground surrounded by adults. Hans saw Beacrox and quickly rushed over to him while blocking Beacrox from the adults.
“Don’t touch him or I will never forgive you!”
The adults laughed at that exclamation and mocked Hans, “What can a kid like you do? All we need is one kick to take you down. Doesn’t your stomach hurt right now?”
“Hey, did they kick you?” Beacrox frowned at Hans, while Hans just clumsily smiled at him as he apologized, “Sorry, hyung, I was late to our meetup. Let’s find an opening and run away from here so we can do our stone carving!”
“Can you even run? Doesn’t it hurt?”
“If there’s a will, there’s a way!”
Beacrox sighed and gently pulled Hans behind him. He took out the knives he had sharpened the night before.
“So, which one of you would like to fight me? Just to let you know, even if knives aren’t my primary weapon, I’m not bad at using them. I might as well use these sharpened knives to carve your faces with my dongsaeng.”
Hans’ eyes were wide open at that statement while the other adults laughed at Beacrox. One of them threw him a fist while Beacrox easily evaded it while slicing 2 scars onto each of his arms. The other men then came to assist yet Beacrox as well beat them up, without killing them, of course.
“Don’t bother me and my dongsaeng from today onwards. Never show your faces in front of us anymore,” Beacrox said while coldly looking at the fallen adults, whose eyes were mixed with hatred and horror.
Beacrox turned back and looked at Hans, “Hey, you ok?”
Hans looked at Beacrox and said, “Yes… are you okay, hyung?”
Beacrox scoffed at that question, “Didn’t you see that I was the one beating those into pulp, unlike what happened to a certain someone?”
Hans chuckled, “That’s true, my hyung is very strong. Right, my hyung?”
Beacrox sighed as he noticed how he must’ve called Hans his dongsaeng, making this guy so smug about calling him his hyung. He then puffed off the dust on Hans’ shirt and took his hand, “Let’s go to the park as we previously planned.”
The 2 boys went to the park. Hans went to find some big round rocks while Beacrox was cleaning the knives he used to fight. Deep inside his heart, Beacrox was worried if Hans would reject him after he showed Hans such a horrifying view. However, that doubt was washed away when he saw Hans running towards him with a bright smile on his face carrying several rocks in his hands.
The two boys sat facing one another. Beacrox handed Hans a cleaned knife while Hans gave Beacrox some stones he collected.
“I’m gonna carve a scary-looking cat on this stone!” Hans told Beacrox his plan.
“Are cats even scary?”
“Hyung, are all Halloween costumes scary? Not all, right? You just pretend that they are scary! So we should do the same with cats,” Hans explained with his smug face.
“Sure,” Beacrox responded while smiling softly, before he asked Hans a question, “Hey, are you not afraid of me?”
“Hm? Because of what just happened? Not really. Just thought you’re strong. It’s like how you showed no reaction when I told you I pickpocket, you see? Same concept, you do things for a reason, so why should I be scared?”
Hans looked at Beacrox and gave him the brightest smile. Beacrox smiled back and continued carving his stone. Hours had passed as the two boys continued carving stones while having light conversations.
“Hey, do you want to come with me?” Beacrox asked Hans, not wanting to repeat the same mistake as how he failed to ask Hans about it yesterday.
“Eh?” Hans confusedly looked at Beacrox.
“Come work at the Henituse mansion with me. I’m a chef apprentice there. My father and I can ask the lord to employ you, so you don’t have to go back to the slum and get beaten up.”
“You’re inviting a pickpocket to the mansion?”
“Former pickpocket. Didn’t you say that you steal out of necessity and are no longer doing that?”
“Well yes, but that’s my word about my action? I don’t even have proof.”
“I trust my dongsaeng,” Beacrox looked away as he said that.
Hans looked at Beacrox, at how his ears were slightly red when he looked away. Hans chuckled at how adorable his hyung was and replied, “I swear that I will never steal anything inside the mansion. So could you please take me there, hyung?”
Beacrox nodded and started ruffling Hans’ hair, “Let’s go,” he said as he took Hans’ hand and led him towards the mansion.
Arriving at the mansion, Beacrox told Ron about the circumstances and Ron welcomed Hans with a warm smile.
“Now get into the shower,” Beacrox said as he dragged Hans into the bathroom.
“Why is hyung coming in too? I can shower myself?”
“You got kicked in your stomach. I’m gonna make sure that those wounds are properly cleaned and treated afterwards.”
“I can do that myself too!”
“Better have another pair of eyes and hands working on that.”
“I’m not a kid!”
“Yes yes, 10 years old, yes,” Beacrox said as he took off Hans’ clothes and poured warm water to clean Hans.
“Hey! Let me know before you start pouring water! I was shocked!”
“Which bath doesn’t involve water? What did you even expect?”
“Hyung so mean!!”
Sounds of water splashes and the boys’ arguments echoed around the bathroom, similar to that when a cat was forced into a bath.
Ron could hear the boys’ chattery argument from the outside. He had heard many stories about Hans from Beacrox, and he was thankful that Hans could bring out that chattery self of his son. The Molan was a family of assassins whose house got annihilated by an unknown organization. Losing his mom at an early age, Beacrox lost his cheerfulness and barely expressed his emotion to others, until the day he met Hans. Ron was glad to see this side of his quiet son treating another boy whom he considered his younger brother. Not wanting to disturb their bonding moment, Ron put the clothes for Hans to change to outside of the bathroom and walked away.
After the shower, the 2 boys went to the kitchen, where Ron was waiting for them with a light meal prepared.
“Eat this, then we shall talk about how the count can employ you,” Ron softly said while gently ruffling Hans’ hair.
Hans ate the meal with small teardrops falling from his cheeks, ‘It’s so tasty! It’s so warm! ’, he thought, considering how this was the most normal meal he had ever had that he could recall. Being too focused on eating, he didn’t notice the other 2 staring at him warmly.
Now that they had finished eating, they started discussing what Hans could do.
“Hyung said that he’s a chef apprentice, so maybe I can be one as well!”
“Have you ever cooked?” Beacrox looked at Hans with a huge frown on his face.
“Teach me, right now!”
“Well, we can try making a simple meal, maybe a soup?” Ron suggested.
“Ok, let’s think of what soup to make.”
“What about pumpkin soup? There’s definitely a lot of pumpkins because it’s Halloween, right? And also, it’s more fun to make a soup of my hair colour!” Hans looked at the father-son duo with his sparkly eyes.
“Well, that’s true. Let’s do it then,” Beacrox agreed and prepared the pot while Ron went to grab some pumpkins. Beacrox walked Hans through how to make the soup with Hans following his instruction.
An hour later.
“Hans, why did you want to make pumpkin soup again?” Beacrox stared horrifiedly at the soup Hans just finished.
Hans answered, while averting his eyes, “Because… it has the same colour… as my hair…”
“And why does it turn out to be the same colour as my hair??”
“Um… maybe… because I was thinking of you when I made it? Teehee~”
“HUH?!”
Ron chuckled at the boys’ argument before stepping into the conversation, “So I guess an apprentice chef is a no then.”
“Father, if he somehow miraculously ends up in the kitchen, please assign someone else to teach him how to cook, far away from my workstation,” Beacrox replied while still looking horrified at the dark-brown-coloured-supposedly pumpkin soup.
“Hyung so mean! Though, I also think I’ll pass on cooking,” Hans replied while shyly looking at his hyung-hair-coloured pumpkin soup.
“Let’s start with being a steward then. I can teach you the basics personally since I’m the butler here,” Ron replied as he patted Hans’ head.
“Okay!” Hans replied energetically.
The two of them then went to see the count to get his permission. Ron proposed to let Hans sleep in the same room as his son since there was an extra bed in his room. The count agreed and ordered to have steward uniforms and some casual clothes to be made for Hans.
Ron and Hans then went back to Beacrox’s room, where he had been waiting with the empty bed properly tidied up, as if he had expected his newly acquired brother to stay in his room. Ron briefed Hans on the plan for tomorrow and left the brothers’ room.
The boys then head to their beds while having small chats about what was discussed with the count. Hans fell asleep in the middle of their conversation. Beacrox got off his bed and headed towards Hans. He smiled at his little brother’s sleeping face, ruffled his hair softly, and fixed his blanket before going back to his own bed. That night was the first time Hans had ever slept comfortably.
The next day, Hans woke up feeling more energized than ever, ready to learn new things to do in the mansion. He went to have breakfast with Beacrox and Ron, and got some walk-through from Ron afterward, on the mansion layout and his expected duties.
“Butlers need to be adaptable, so you need to learn a lot of skills to broaden your choice of action,” Ron told Hans as he taught him multiple basic skills.
Hans would learn some physical work skills from Ron and other stewards in the morning, while at night, Beacrox would teach him how to read, write, count, and all other technical skills.
“So this is how you write this, got it?”
“Yes, hyung!” Hans replied as he copied the letters Beacrox wrote.
Once he was done copying the letters, Beacrox would check the writing to make sure they were correct and call it a night afterward.
This routine continued every night until Hans was familiar with all the basic knowledge he needed to know, and then the lesson was switched to weekday nights only.
At some point, Hans wondered where his hyung went on weekend nights, so one day, he decided to stealthily follow Beacrox, and they ended up at the underground training ground. That was when he discovered how Beacrox got so strong that he could beat up the alley bosses.
Beacrox was training with Ron. He attacked Ron with the wooden sword while Ron blocked those attacks with his daggers. The scene of the father-son duo was astonishing in Hans’ eyes.
“Ok, we’re good for today,” Ron said, making Beacrox halt his move and drop down to the ground as he tried to catch his breath.
Hans unconsciously clapped his hands. Beacrox looked surprised while Ron was just smiling as the little boy slowly came out from his hiding place.
“Uncle Ron and hyung are so cool! Can I also get this training?” He asked with sparkly eyes.
“Wha- since when were you there?” Beacrox asked shockingly.
“Oh ho, you didn’t notice? Though I do admit that Hans is very stealthy,” Ron replied as he was patting Hans’ head.
“Of course! I did tell you that I was one of the best pickpockets in that alley!” Hans proudly puffed his chest and turned back to Ron, “So so, Uncle Ron, can I also be trained to fight? I also want to be strong like hyung!”
“And why do you want to be strong?” Ron asked Hans.
“Because butlers need to be adaptable! In a dire situation, if I know how to fight, I can have more options on what action to take!” Hans replied, perfectly reciting what Ron taught him.
Ron had a proud smile on his face as he replied, “Very well. Come with Beacrox every time he comes to train.”
“Yay! Thank you, Uncle Ron!” Hans replied as he ran back to his room.
“It seems like Father has a soft spot on Hans,” Beacrox smiled slyly, looking at Ron.
“And who’s talking now,” Ron replied with an even more benign smile to Beacrox.
Both father and son chuckled as they followed the boy back to their room.
Years after years passed. Hans had grown into an esteemed steward excelling in multiple skills, ranging from basic martial arts to administrative skills. He was now the youngest deputy butler in the Henituse mansion, serving directly under Ron, his mentor.
While Hans remained professional and refrained from calling Ron “Uncle Ron” and Beacrox “hyung” during their duty times, Hans still called them with those familial titles outside of work. He enjoyed the head pat that Ron and Beacrox gave him from time to time.
Finally, it was Halloween this year, marking exactly 10 years since he set foot into the Henituse mansion. He wanted to celebrate this special moment with his family. So he invited them to meet up at the park where the three of them first assembled. He sat on a picnic mat he laid on the grass, enjoying the weather while waiting for the other 2 to come after their shift, with 2 boxes by his side.
Suddenly, two silhouettes approached him and blocked the sunlight coming into his eyes.
“You’re early as always,” Beacrox commented as he looked at Hans.
“Of course, I’m an excellent deputy butler so I gotta prepare everything before the guests arrive,” Hans replied with a bowing gesture, “Well now, please have a seat, esteemed guests.”
Ron and Beacrox smiled and sat down on the mat. Hans then gave out two glasses of hot chocolate and gestured a cheer, “HAPPY HANS O’WEEN!”
“... Happy what?” Beacrox stared at Hans.
“Hans O’Ween! They have Halloween for others, but we have Hans O’ween for us!”
“So you’re replacing Halloween with your eccentrically punned named day?”
Hans let out a dramatic gasp and pretended to have been broken down by the statement, letting out a single dramatic tear, “So my hyung prefers looking at other pumpkins when you have this lovely pumpkin-haired dongsaeng?”
Beacrox horrifyingly looked at Hans and his dramatic act while Ron smiled proudly, knowing that his youngest purposely did that to creep his older son out.
“If hyung doesn’t want to celebrate Hans O’Ween then I’ll just celebrate it with Uncle Ron!” Hans took one of the boxes and handed it to Ron, “Happy Hans O’Ween, Uncle Ron! This is a present from me!”
“Oh ho, I wonder what’s in it. May I open it now?”
“Yes!”
“People don’t give out presents on Halloween, that’s Christmas,” Beacrox protested.
“I told you it’s Hans O’Ween!”
The two boys, well, physically adults but boys at heart supposedly, continued their quarrel until they noticed the shocked expression on Ron's face. Beacrox peeked into the box his father was staring at and saw a set of beautifully crafted sharp daggers. A pack of 10 custom order daggers. That was what Hans gifted Ron.
“Do you like it?”
Ron showed Hans his warmest smile as he softly patted his head, “A lot. Thank you, Hans. You know me well.”
Hans replied with a bright innocent smile, “Of course! I’m a very observant deputy butler that you trained after all!”
He then turned towards Beacrox and smirked, “So hyung, do you want to celebrate Hans O’Ween as well?”
Beacrox sighed resignedly and softly mumbled, “Happy Hans O’Ween.”
Hans smirked even wider hearing his stoic looking brother mumbling something so cheerful-sounding. He then took the other box and gave it to Beacrox, “Happy Hans O’Ween, hyung!”
Beacrox took the box and opened it. Under the wrapping was a limited edition cleaning device he had been eyeing for. He couldn’t even hide his emotion, letting his eyes sparkle at the item on his hands.
“Do you like it, hyung?”
“Yes… thank you,” Beacrox put the box down and ruffled Hans’ hair. Hans smiled widely and went to hug his hyung.
“But this is bad,” Ron suddenly commented, which brought the siblings attention to him. He then continued, “We didn’t prepare anything for Hans.”
“Uncle Ron took some time off his busy schedule for this picnic, while hyung made the food for us. That’s more than enough for me!” Hans then jumped to hug Ron, “Thank you for all the happiness for the past 10 years, Uncle Ron, hyung! Thank you for being my family!”
The atmosphere around the three was so warm that it would make a perfect family portrait. After finishing their hugging session, they proceeded to eat the meal Beacrox had prepared, containing everyone’s favorite food. They chatted as they ate. It was full of smiles and laughter, until Beacrox brought up one question.
“Where did you get the money to buy those gifts by the way? Weren’t those expensive?”
Hans slightly sweated as he replied, “I... decided to try something new.”
“Oh ho, having a lot of skills is important for a butler after all,” Ron replied.
“And look at him not sharing how exactly he got the money, so secretive,” Beacrox added.
Hans responded with a shy smile.
Happy Hans O’Ween!
Behind The Scene: How Hans Got His Money
Youngest deputy butler. Prodigy administrator. Jack of All Trades.
Hans was a talented individual who had multiple skills honed under his wing. Some could even call him a schemer seeing how adaptable he was to any situation and how he could choose the most suitable course of action depending on who he was facing.
However, this Hans appeared to have an innocent side.
“Looking for Temporary Bunny Servers”
That was the poster he saw which offered a payment of 5x regular part-time wages. His eyes twinkled, thinking ‘A pet shop looking for people to take care of bunnies? With payment 5x a normal wage? That’s such a great deal!’
Innocent pure Hans applied for the position and came to work at the assigned shift. Shocked at the uniform he was supposed to wear, he took some time to process and observe how the other ‘bunnies’ did their job.
‘Being adaptable is one virtue a butler must have!’ Hans told himself as he set foot into his workstation and did as the others did.
Adaptable as always, Hans earned the amount he was aiming for that one night and quit that part-time job that very night. He had learned a new skill: customer service in a bunny costume.