"Handsome uncle, over here!" a young boy yelled in his native language and waved his hand from afar. He was around the age of seven as he was rescued around the age of five. Long Shen turned his head smiled at the young boy. The boy looked thrilled, much happier than his life his real parents.
"Catch me, handsome uncle!" the boy started running around, alongside the other kids who were laughing as Long Shen chased them around. They were playing tag, with Long Shen as the handsome big bad wolf, chasing a bunch of small sheep who were running around him, trying not to get caught.
Long Shen had long legs, so he could easily catch them, but he intentionally slowed down so the kids could have more time before he caught them one by one.
"Ouch!" Long Shen froze when he saw a kid fell to the ground. He hurriedly helped the kid by crouching and pulled the kid up. Turned out, the kid had grazed his knee quite severely. The kid sobbed, but not knowing what to do because he got used to being abused by his parents, so whenever he got hurt, all he did was hold his tears.
"You can cry. It's okay. You can cry when you get hurt," Long Shen pacified the kid, and the kid sobbed in Long Shen's arm.
Long Shen wasn't good at doing this because his boyfriend, Bai Yunyu, had a more gentle nature than him. And he was the one who took care of the kids' emotional distress. But he was so busy taking care of the younger ones, so Long Shen had to take care of the older ones, at least the ones above the age of seven.
Bai Yunyu noticed the situation and sighed. He was carrying a four years old girl who was resting on his shoulder. The girl had a horrible burn scar on her face, which was caused by her abusive parents.
Yunyu had to ask the police to take the girl, especially after the girl's dad poured boiling hot water on her face, scarring her skin, which made her look similar to Bai Yunyu.
"What happened?" Yunyu asked.
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "He fell and grazed his knee," Long Shen replied as he was feeling guilty. "Sorry, I can't take care of them'¦"
Yunyu smiled and patted the kid's head, "It's not your fault. Take him to the infirmary. The nurse will treat him."
Long Shen carried the boy and took him to the infirmary. After he made sure that the kid got treated, he returned to the wide garden covered with lush trees and saw his beloved Bai Yunyu sitting on the bench with the kids sitting on the ground. He was preparing some food for their small picnic.
Long Shen's heart beat faster. Whenever he saw Yunyu and his sincere smile, it melted him immediately. It reminded him so much of heaven that he so longed for. He might not deserve it for all things that he did, but Yunyu was willing to give him a chance to prove that he was a changed man.
Long Shen took a temporary break from the entertainment industry and followed Yunyu to stay in Bali. They ran a shelter for abused children and orphans. This shelter was a branch of the orphanage where Yunyu resided before.
In this shelter, they took care of kids who had severe care of abusive parents or was abandoned by their parents because of disability. There was one who got poured with boiling hot water, the one whose back got ironed, and the one with only one eye, or one leg, et cetera.
It was the shelter for those deemed imperfect by society and would be severely bullied, just like Bai Yunyu.
Bai Yunyu didn't have much money, but he used all his money to take care of these children, and with Long Shen around, they didn't have to worry about money anymore.
Long Shen wouldn't lie that he was a bit shocked when a bunch of kids suddenly surrounded and hogged him, they looked hideous in society standard, but because Long Shen already fell in love with Yunyu, he didn't see any of them as hideous.
Because Long Shen understood that beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
Bai Yunyu might not be beautiful by society standard, but he was damn beautiful in Long Shen's heart.
Yes, Yunyu's request was for Long Shen to join him in taking care of these kids and the sickly elderly. It was more like charity work, which Long Shen was foreign for before he fell in love with Yunyu.
At most, all he would do was just sending money, not directly taking care of them.
---
"You take care of these kids'¦ alone?"
"Well, I paid some local nurses to help me, but I can't pay them anymore, so I have to take care of them alone," Yunyu said truthfully. "Mr. Long Shen, if you want my forgiveness, then you must prove yourself. Help me taking care of them, then I will decide."
"Because when I grew up, everyone bullies me, and nobody really wants to take care of me, the unfortunate. I don't want it to happen to these kids. This is the only thing I can do. It may not be much compared to your donation, but I'm doing this wholeheartedly."
---
That scene penetrated deep within Long Shen's conscience. He didn't know someone who didn't turn into a bad guy after being mistreated so unfairly in his life.
They were both orphans, but Long Shen always got the best treatment because of his natural talent in many things, alongside his obviously handsome face, which only became even more handsome as he grew up.
Meanwhile, Bai Yunyu was always the same old Yunyu, who was mediocre in anything and had a horrendous face. He was constantly bullied, but in the end, Yunyu was the one who grew up to be a saint, not him.
He was a jerk, an arrogant jerk who was unbothered at someone else's suffering because he was busy with life, busy with his own achievement. He even went as far as bullying one unfortunate soul just to fill his ego.
And now, karma bit him, and he fell in love so hard with the same person he mocked as ugly.
Long Shen's conscience was hurting whenever he remembered how horrible he was to Yunyu. That's why he tried his best to compensate for all the suffering he made. Even though he knew that Yunyu never forgot his abuse, at least Long Shen could balance it with his good deeds, right?
Long Shen approached them with a smile and sat on the ground with the kids, listening to Yunyu telling the story of Beauty and the Beast while cutting up some fruit for them to share.
The kids slowly approached Long Shen and hogged him. Some rested on his arm, some sat on his lap, and one even climbed up to sat on his shoulder.
But Long Shen was unbothered. He patted one kid sitting on his lap and continued listening to Yunyu's storytelling.
"'¦ And that's when the beauty finally fell in love with the beast. The beauty's true kiss transformed the beast back into his human form. They embraced each other in harmony and soon held a grand wedding of their own."
"Then, what's next, dad?" one girl asked. Some kids already called Yunyu as dad, though they still called Long Shen as 'uncle' since they were a lot closer to Yunyu.
"What's next? They live happily ever after, of course."
"In a castle?" the girl asked again.
"They don't like living in the castle. It's boring. They like playing with kids, so they live a simple life, taking care of the children like you all," Yunyu laughed. He glanced at Long Shen with a mirthful smile on his face.
"Isn't that right, Mr. beauty?"
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