[M] Chapter 24 (1/1)

Mr. Son had been waiting for this letter for a whole week, anxiously rifling through the mail whenever it was posted through their door in hope that it would be this one. However, now that he had it in his hands, he suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to open it. This was the letter that decided the fate of so many young children. The letter that held so much importance in just its few words. The man took a deep breath and hoped for the best as he tore the envelope away from the letter. His eyes scanned the unnecessary detail at the top until they landed on exactly what he had been wanting to see. Mr. Son’s face lit up into the hugest smile he had ever smiled.“I actually own it.. I own the orphanage..” he said breathlessly, unable to believe that his plan had worked. He immediately ran into the kitchen where he knew his wife, Haneul, Narsha and Taecyeon were baking cakes, the letter gripped tightly in his hand.“Honey, I thought I told you about thundering about the house.” Mrs. Son teased, seeing her husband panting slightly from the running. Her gaze flickered to the letter of obvious importance in his hand and her eyes widened. “Is that..?” she began, her voice trailing off. She had been informed by her husband of his plans a few weeks ago and was just as anxious for the letter as he was. Mr. Son nodded. Narsha and the children looked confused.“What is it eomma?” Narsha asked. Mrs. Son ignored her and kept looking at her husband.“Is it good news?” she questioned quietly. Mr. Son nodded, grinning. Mrs. Son gasped and smiled widely. “Well, I’ll go and get Gikwanggie and Woonie! We have to tell everybody together! Oh, and contact the Yangs as soon as possible; I’m sure Seungho would love to hear this!”Taecyeon, Haneul and Narsha looked at each other, completely confused. Mrs. Son was too excited to notice and threw off her apron, rushing out of the room to locate her son and his lover. The woman found the two cuddling up on the sofa, faces incredibly close as they were clearly about to kiss, but she grabbed them by the arms and dragged them to the kitchen without a single explanation as to why she was doing it.“Eomma! You nearly gave us heart attacks!” Dongwoon said reproachfully, slipping his arm around Gikwang’s waist and pulling him in close so he could rest his chin on his fluffy hair. The shorter man just frowned, puffing his lips out even more as he tried to figure out what was going on.“Why did you bring us in here?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. Mrs. Son beamed, her cheeks flushed with the happy news. Mr. Son went to hold her hand.“Well, I have some extraordinarily good news.”      The man began cheerfully. Everybody’s ears pricked up in interest, all eyes on him. “For some while now I have been striking up deals with the owners of the orphanage so that I could eventually buy it out myself. This letter,” he held up the now slightly scrunched piece of paper. “Says that my offer has been accepted! The orphanage is now mine to run and take charge of!” he announced, earning gasps all round. Narsha squealed and hugged Taecyeon before twirling Haneul around.“Are you serious?” she asked, dazed. Mr and Mrs Son nodded. Narsha’s eyes filled with tears of joy and she hugged the children close. “Appa.. thank you.. thank you so much..” she gushed. Mr. Son shook his head modestly and explained to her that if it wasn’t for her, Taecyeon and Gikwang coming in the first place, the lives of all those children couldn’t have been changed like they would be from now on.Gikwang was speechless, his heart warm and his emotions on fire. His mouth was open in shock for a good five minutes until Dongwoon gently shut it and kissed him on the lips teasingly. He shook his head in pure disbelief, eyes wider than they ever had been.“Appa.. this is.. this is amazing.. I-I don’t even know what to say.” He stuttered, leaning against Dongwoon for support as his head started to feel light. The taller man grinned, leaning in for another few quick kisses in celebration.“You know, Doojoon would be really amazed by this, too.” He said softly. Gikwang nodded. “Father, you’re incredible.” He added.“Does this mean all the children there can be happy now?” Haneul piped up. Gikwang beckoned for her to come and give him a cuddle and she ran over, throwing her arms around her dad.“It certainly means we can start to make things better, yes, princess.” Dongwoon answered while Gikwang buried his face in his daughter’s back and tried not to cry from the overwhelming happiness. Haneul smiled brightly and hugged Gikwang harder.“Angel appa will be so pleased~” she chirped. Gikwang let go of her and kissed her cheek, nodding. He then paused for a second, clearly deep in thought. He looked at Mr. Son.“Do you own the orphanage right this second?”“According to this official document, I most definitely do.” Mr. Son answered, still not able to stop smiling. Gikwang’s face lit up.“C-could we go there now?  Those children have lived their whole lives in that hell. They’ve been worked half to death for over eight years now and have lost what little they did have along the way. I really need to see them and tell them it’s going to be ok..” Mr. Son nodded at him, his pleading expression impossible to resist.“Excellent idea. We need to go and sort out all the files there and change a few major things anyway. That Seunghyun man needs to be made redundant immediately. Plus, we need Seungho’s file for the adoption to be legal; we can sort all of that out, too.” He mused. Gikwang nodded frantically.“So we can go now? I don’t want to keep them waiting for even one more second.”“Yes, no time like right now. I’ll just be a minute, I need to go and collect all the right papers to prove that I’m the new owner to the current staff. No doubt they’ve been told, but they wouldn’t let anyone into the institution without proof.” Mr. Son explained before making to leave the room. Gikwang gave him a grateful smile and squeezed Dongwoon’s hand.“You go and make those children proud, Kiki baby.” Narsha said warmly. Taecyeon wiped his watery eyes.“Will I get to see them soon?” he asked, trembling slightly. Gikwang nodded.“Of course you will, Taec. I wouldn’t ever stop you from seeing them, they were your best friends and your brothers for your earliest years. You can see them all again just as soon as we’ve sorted out how we’re going to change things. I’m sure they’re all wanting to see you too.” He left out the fact that they were angry and jealous of him just in case the good news would change their minds. Plus, he couldn’t crush the boy’s feelings. Taecyeon sniffed and smiled.Haneul nudged Gikwang, urging him to get going. The man chuckled at his daughter. “In a hurry for me to go?” he teased. Haneul nodded.“Go help them! No child should have to live like that, da.” She said seriously. He gave his daughter a kiss on the top of her head and tickled her neck affectionately before cupping Dongwoon’s cheek and pulling him in for yet another kiss, this time lasting slightly longer than all the others they had shared that day. Haneul pulled a face, scrunching up her nose. “Stop kissing! It’s so gross!” she whined. Everybody laughed and Dongwoon stuck his tongue out at her.“Not daddy’s fault your da is so irresistible.” He said, batting his eyelashes comically. Haneul swatted at him playfully but smiled. Gikwang shook his head, laughing, before flicking Dongwoon’s cheek.“Right, I’ll be off. Wish me luck! Though I already feel like the luckiest man alive. Everything is turning out just like a dream..” he murmured the last part before smiling and patting his lover on the butt and turning on his heel to go and get his coat so he and Mr. Son could head out. Mr. Son and Gikwang reached the orphanage in the early afternoon. Suddenly the bleak, daunting building seemed to be shone down on by a new light. It was like opportunity had transformed the place into looking a lot less scary, despite what Gikwang knew went on there. At least he knew that under the Sons’ ownership, things were going to look a lot brighter. The two men looked at each other and smiled before pulling open the institution’s door, ready to start changing things.The first thing they did when they were inside was head straight to Seunghyun’s office. What needed to happen before anything else was that man getting fired, they could sort out the staff later on. Mr. Son knocked on the door to the office politely, even though he didn’t have to as the new owner of the building. After hearing Seunghyun’s invitation for them to enter the room, they did so and stood in front of his desk, not bothering to take a seat. Seunghyun sent Gikwang a chilling glare and raised his eyebrows at the older man beside him.“Which violent bastard did you bring this time, Gikwang?” he snarled, resting his chin on his palm and looking severely bored. Mr. Son coughed and smiled, standing up straighter.“The one that now owns this institution, actually.” He said sweetly, no sign of anger on his face at all. Seunghyun’s jaw dropped and his elbow slipped on the desk, causing him to smack his face on the wooden surface. Gikwang chuckled and stared straight at the man who could no longer ruin his life or the lives of any other child. Mr. Son brandished the papers and Seunghyun jumped to his feet, snatching the document and scanning over the text. He had known the place had just been bought out, but to lose his power to the likes of Lee Gikwang was a huge blow to his pride.“We, as the new owners, actually want to get started on changing things right now. First things first, you’re fired. Collect your belongings, we want you out by the end of the day- preferably sooner. Like, this minute.” The young man ordered, enjoying this a little too much. Mr. Son nudged him slightly to let him know he shouldn’t overdo it. Seunghyun’s mouth opened and closed like a fish for a few moments as he stood speechless in front of the short man he would always consider a child. He gave one last stone-cold scowl before turning his back on them and walking back to his desk to start making a move, humiliated beyond belief.“This doesn’t mean you’ve won.” Seunghyun hissed as he shoved everything he owned angrily into a box he had found in the corner of the room. Gikwang laughed, a sound that would have been cute to anyone but Seunghyun.“What is there to win? This isn’t a game, Seunghyun,” he made a point of missing out his honorific. “Only children play games.” The previous master growled in his throat and pushed past Gikwang, thundering out of the building. Mr. Son grinned when he was out of sight.“Well, that went smoother than I expected!” he noted, pleased. “What did he mean by ‘violent bastard’ though?” his eyebrows knitted together. Gikwang gulped, thinking back to when Dongwoon punched the man in the face. He didn’t want to get his lover into any problems with his father, so he just smiled and waved it away.“Let’s go and see to the staff!” he diverted, steering his almost-father-in-law in the direction of the washing room, where they would start rounding the maids up. Mr. Son forgot all about what he was talking about previously and went along with the plan.Mr. Son and Gikwang went into the institution kitchens and washing rooms, rounding up all the maids. They led the confused women into the dining room, where there would be enough space to have a professional conversation, after some coaxing and reassurance that they were in fact in charge now. Gikwang already knew by name the maids that he was going to make redundant from Seungho’s constant complaining and the fact that some of them had been there since even he was a child.“So, you’re probably all wondering why we gathered you in here.” Mr. Son began confidently. The women mumbled to each other. “Well, as you know the institution has been bought out by me and I am now the new owner. Gikwang here was one of the children who lived here and we have decided to change a few things. Seunghyun no longer works here and we now need to make changes to the rest of the staff.” He finished, gently pushing Gikwang in front of him so he could fire the maids he felt made the children’s lives harder.“In the new and improved orphanage that Mr. Son will run, there will be no room for people who have been anything but kindly to those children.” Gikwang said sharply, casting a pointed look in Hyuna and Sojin’s direction. “Would the following people please hang your aprons up and make your exit; Hyuna, Sojin, Hara, Eunji, Yoona, Yuri and Hyosung. I hope you’ll think twice in your next job before making people’s lives even harder than they have to be.” The girls who had their names called out gasped and looked at Gikwang reproachfully. They each left, realising that the young man was serious, moodily walking out of the room, untying their apron strings as they went.Mr. Son turned to Gikwang after kindly telling the remaining maids to take a well-deserved break from duties. He smiled at the young man. “I was thinking, since you know better than anyone how this place works, why don’t you work here, too? The children would love it and that way you could make sure everything goes right and nobody is mistreated. I was going to Narsha, too. Even Seungho when he’s a little older. Would you be interested?” he asked.“That would be perfect.. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that straight away. I would love that!  Narsha would, too!” Gikwang replied excitedly, his eyes happy crescents. “That does remind me, I need to go and talk to them! They must be working now.”“I’m so glad you like the idea! I really think it would be the best thing for them. Yes, go and speak to them. I think you should do it alone, though, seeing as you are the one with the relationship with them. They’ll want to hear this from you, if anything. I’ll make a start on the files, ok? Take as much time as you want.” Mr. Son urged. Gikwang smiled gratefully and sped off to the work room to inform the children of what was happening.   A/N: tests all doneeee~~ currently writing some other things too :) i hope when BEAST have their comeback more people will read about them again~ in the meantime, lots of love <3