“Once upon a time, there was a boy named Shinji. He was living in a  very difficult time and place, a time when the male population was slowly decreasing and where the government was taking every male they found. There was only one way to avoid getting taken, to pay for your freedom. But Shinji didn’t have that kind of money. So here he was, living his life disguised as a girl. And so, to support both of  them, his big sister Sooji found a job. But the job was in the government,  that’s why she couldn’t take her little brother with her, it was just too dangerous for Shinji.”

“Noona, what are you saying?” Shinji cut her sister’s words. “You aren’t really leaving right? This is just one of your stories about us.”

Sooji looked at her confused brother with a sad smile on her face.

“Unfortunately, no.” she squeezed his hands. “Noona must really go because she found a job in the government.”

Shinji tried to raise his head which was resting on his sister’s lap, but was unable to when Sooji stopped him by placing her hand on his forehead.

After a little struggling, Shinji gave up trying and just said what he wanted while still laying down.

“I don’t want you to go noona, I don’t want you to leave me.”

She Shinji’s hair while saying “I don’t want to leave you either but I can’t keep on doing odd jobs right? I can’t guarantee you a safe future when I can’t even guarantee that we will have money tomorrow, right? So I must go and earn money, for you and for myself. For us, okay?”

When Shinji just shut his eyes as response, Sooji kissed his forehead and continued “Min Shinji, you’re 16 already so stop acting like a baby and listen to noona okay?”

Her words were sharp but her voice was still as soft as ever.

Finally, not having any other option, Shinji agreed.

“Okay…But noona, promise me one thing.”

“Which is..?”

“Don’t forget me.”

Sooji started laughing real hard.

“H-how t-the h-hell can I forget my baby brother, you dumb kid?” she said, while still trying to compose herself. “You’re my everything in this world.”

“Will you come to visit me?” Shinji asked after a while.

“As soon as I can.” Sooji smiled. “Be careful while I’m gone, okay?”

This time, Shinji laughed.

“Noona, not one soul would believe me even if I did say that I am actually a boy.”

“But still, be careful.” Sooji warned him, kissing his forehead again. “What would I do if they took you, huh?”

Sooji knew she was overreacting, Shinji was more beautiful than she herself, but she couldn’t help it. She was her big sister after all.

“What would I do if I couldn’t kiss those rosy cheeks ever again, couldn’t wash this beautiful black hair every again, couldn’t meet these big round eyes ever again, couldn’t pinch this cute small nose ever again, huh? What would I do if I couldn’t hear this sweet, angelic voice coming out from those thin lips ever again? I would definitely die, Shinji-ya. Because I am your big sister and that gives me all the right to overreact!” she said caressing every part of his brother’s face she mentioned.

Her eyes were teary now and Min Shinji wasn’t any different either.

“When are you leaving, noona?” Shinji said after a while, fighting back the tears.

“Tomorrow at dawn.” Sooji answered.

“Then  I’m staying up tonight to help you pack up!” Shinji declared, quickly getting up before Sooji could catch him and put him back down. “And you aren’t saying ‘no’!” he continued while running to Sooji’s room.

Seeing the determination in him, Sooji definitely couldn’t say ‘no’…

“Okay…” she smiled. “You can help me.”

She got up and followed her brother.

 

+++

 

“This is the last piece  I am taking.” Sooji declared, putting a black t-shirt in her backpack. “My other things can stay here. I will be coming back anyways.”

Shinji smiled sadly.

“It’s already dawn noona. So… it’s goodbye, huh?”

“Just for a short time,” Sooji hugged her brother. “but yeah… Come on, accompany me to the door.”

They got up and two minutes later, Shinji was alone at their home. The only things left from their parents…

“What now?” he muttered to himself. “What should I do now?”

He was hungry, he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s dinner at 6 pm but he was also dead tired and sleepy. And his sister was gone.

Deciding that it was better to sleep and be away from reality, he headed to his bed.

“Be careful noona, eh?” he mumbled before closing his eyes and drifting away to dreamland.

In his dreams, he reminisced the past.

~

“Noona, why are we here? Where’s mom? Where’s dad?” the five year old Shinji asked.

“Sssh… it’s ‘unnie’ now. Mom and dad will be gone for a long, long time and I don’t want you to be gone too, okay? So just call me ‘unnie’ from now on.” Sooji, who was fourteen at that time, answered her little brother, crying.

“Okay, unnie. I will call you unnie. Look! So don’t cry, okay? Shinji will cry too…”

Sooji wiped her tears and hugged little angel in front of her, the angel that didn’t know anything yet.

~

“Noona, I want to go to school!” Shinji had declared  at the age of twelve.

“It’s too dangerous Shinji-ya. Let’s just continue with the home education, hmm?” the twenty one year old university student Min Sooji replied.

“But you’re going to school too! Isn’t it fun? Do you have friends, you have friends right? Isn’t having friends fun?” Shinji protested.

Sooji became silent. Her little brother was lonely?

“You… are you lonely when I’m gone?” she asked the obvious after a while.

Shinji just nodded.

“You know it’s impossible for you to go to school, Shinji-ya. But let’s see what we can do about the friends part…” Sooji continued smiling.

~

 

+++

 

Thirty minutes after she had left her home and Shinji, Min Sooji was biting her nails out of worry at the back seat of a taxi.

Is Shinji okay? What is he doing now? Will he be fine alone? Are my co-worker’s good people? They wouldn’t bite right? Since they ain’t no dogs… What if they have bad personalities?.. Will I be able to find a friend there? Will Shinji be okay? I wonder how the kids there feel… will I have enough time to chat with all of them? Will I have that kind of permission?..

And so on… she was worrying about everything that awaited her and her brother. In the end, she decided that she couldn’t do anything about her working conditions but she could do something for Shinji and she dialed a  very familiar number.

“Hey, major Lu! What’s up? How are the young soldiers?” she asked as soon as the other line picked up the call.

“Firstly, why are you so friendly today? And secondly, they are sleeping. Thank you for asking.” major Lu answered.

‘He didn’t begin with ‘do you know what time it is’. Hmm…’ Sooji thought.

“You weren’t sleeping?” she asked the other.

“Nope. Why? You wanted to wake me up?” major Lu replied in a playful tone.

“Thank God you were awake!” Sooji immediately said. She had tried to wake the other up just one time and she still had nightmares about it.

“What did you want, head researcher Min Sooji?” major Lu said after a little chuckling.

“Head researcher? Are you serious?” Min Sooji questioned the major.

“Yup! Very sure. You are one lucky , Min Sooji, to find a newly opened department. Congratulations!” the playful tone from a while ago was back.

“Hey! I’ve graduated from SNU Medical College with a perfect degree! They made the right choice by making me the head researcher!”

“Egoistic much?” the other teased, then adopted a serious tone. “Now, tell me what you wanted baby.”

“Don’t call me that..” Sooji groaned –to which the major responded with a laugh- and continued “Visit Shinji as soon as possible, ‘kay? I still can’t believe I’ve left the little kid alone at home…”

“Sure thing, I was planning the pay a visit this week anyway.” was the answer Sooji got.

“Thank you Lu Han. You’re the best.”

“I know.” Sooji could practically see the smirk in Lu Han’s face. “See you later, ma’am! The training starts in five hours and I didn’t get even two seconds of sleep.”

“I hope you don’t have any wet dreams, bye!” Sooji said, quickly hanging up.

That major, Lu Han, was Sooji’s most trusted friend and also knew about Shinji’s real gender. He liked  Shinji very much –though Sooji still wasn’t sure if it was romantic or not, so she was keeping an eye on the major.

He had learned about Shinji’s condition four years ago, when Shinji had confessed that he was very lonely and Sooji decided to give him a friend. And he was doing great, Sooji knew it would be like that from the start. Lu Han was a good kid.

He was also a major at the Military department – Sooji had originally wanted to join there- and was responsible of the young soldiers. He trained them, took care of their meals and even consoled them.

He was one of the few males that voluntarily joined the Military department, even though he had the money to pay for  his freedom. That was why he was free to do anything he wanted. He had met Sooji in middle school and they were inseparable since then.

“Good ol’ days…” Sooji muttered to herself and threw her head back, reminiscing the past at 4.30 in the morning. “Head researcher, huh?”

That was good, very good. She was now the head researcher of the newly opened Youth Health Department. And that meant she had plenty of time to talk with all the kids there.

 

+++

 

Shinji woke up to the sound of the front door opening.

Who was it? Did his sister finally come back?

“Finally!” he muttered. “It has been five damn days!”

He was sure that Min Sooji would scold him if she ever heard him use foul language. But then again, Min Shinji was always his sister’s little brother, so no way in this wicked universe would he use such language while being with her.

He heard his name being called, but it wasn’t her sister’s husky but soothing voice. For a moment, Shinji panicked then he recognized the voice.

“Lu Han hyung!” he sprinted towards the front door with a wide smile on his face. “How have you been?”

“Fine.” Lu Han answered as he hugged Shinji with one arm while ruffling the younger’s hair with the other. “And you, abandoned boy?”

“I’m not abandoned, dumb!” Shinji pouted, freeing himself from Lu Han’s arms.

“Because I’m here.” Lu Han grinned, to which Shinji responded with sticking out his tongue. “And little boy, you don’t know when your sister will come so I suggest you to stop with that foul language.”

“Oh please…” Shinji groaned, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you start too… I’ve said ‘idiot’ just once in front of noona and she’s been going on and on about fixing my language.”

“I know, she’s gone berserk on me, saying that I was the one who taught you those vulgar words.” Lu Han said, his grin still intact.

“Hyung,” Shinji began, leading the older boy to the living room. “Did noona say anything to you?”

“Uhm… She told me that I shouldn’t visit you while she’s here because she wanted to have some alone time with her dearest person. That woman loves you Shinji-ya.” Lu Han answered –and got wacked by the head at the word ‘love’. “Ouch… What was I saying… Oh yeah, and that she will visit you at the end of the week, which is just two days away.”

“You sure know a lot…” Shinji mumbled. “I’m actually jealous that you got to work with her at the same department and see her face everyday…”

“First, your sister isn’t in Military Department. Second, seeing her everyday would be a terrifying experience for me.”

“What do you mean she isn’t in the Military? Where’s she then?” Shinji questioned the older with knitted brows and a serious tone.

“You will be proud of your sister, she got the head researcher position at the Youth Health Department.” Lu Han gave the boy a sincere smile. Before Shinji could say anything, he continued “And no, you haven’t heard about the department before. It’s very very new. Like it was just established one month and a half ago.”

“What… is it for?..”

“Oh, the department’s job is to examine the newly taken in kids in any way possible and send them to the departments they’re the most suitable to. For example, if a kid is good in physical activities plus has no manner problems, he will be sent to me, the head of the young soldiers.”

“Or, if he had a good brain, he will be sent to the Science Department to study and try to find a way to save the male population.” Shinji continued in almost a whisper.

“Exactly!” Lu Han gave him double thumbs up. “But, there are some exceptions… You see, your sister holds now a big power in her hands. She has the right to decide whether the kid will be sent or not.”

“How many…” Shinji began but stopped midway.

Lu Han smiled at him and answered the unfinished question.

“Out of 54 kids, she just wanted one kid to stay with her.”

Shinji nodded but said nothing, Lu Han became silent too.

Then after ten minutes or so, Shinji said “Hyung, can you help me with my history homework? I want to finish it until noona returns.”

Lu Han happily agreed to that, commenting “I’m sure your tutor is a witch.”

“You know that my tutors are you and noona. I don’t know about noona but you’re a total witch!”

“But aren’t male witches called wizards?” Lu Han asked, a smile on his face.

“Details details…” Shinji rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Lu-witch hyung, you want some coffee? We have a loooong night ahead of us. That homework is like three hundred pages long and I have like three thousand questions.”

“The hell…” Lu Han muttered to himself while nodding to Shinji.

 

+++

 

“Yixing! Come help me here, okay?” Sooji said to the black haired boy.

It was the boy she decided to keep beside her.

“Y-yes, n-noona!” Yixing nodded and came to her as fast as he could.

“You take the records, okay?” Sooji smiled at him.

Again, the boy nodded and took the pencil and notebook from her.

While they were examining every boy that arrived here, Min Sooji’s co-workers just stood there watching and gossiping about the two.

“I heard that that Min Sooji threatened the actual head to step down from her position, that she was actually the vice-head.” one researcher said.

“And I heard that the boy beside her was actually her lover.” the other responded.

“Really?” the first one exclaimed. “What a e!”

“You thought the reason she didn’t take any other kid is because they aren’t good enough? No! she just wanted to be alone with her lover.”

“Oh my! Then what about that major?”

“Lu Han?”

“Yes yes! That boy!”

“Oh, he’s her lover too. But she just uses him for… you know. Since Yixing isn’t big enough yet.”

“Oh my oh my oh my! To think that she actually was such a !”

Of course, Sooji and Yixing were hearing every word those two said. But they just laughed at the absurdness of them and continued with their work.

“Yixing-ah, did you take proper notes? You know, I don’t like sloppy writings.”

“Y-yes, noona.”

Sooji smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair. This boy was so much like her own brother.

“Good work, Yixing-ah. Now go to your room, hmm?”

 

+++

 

Sooji was again sitting at the back seat’s of a taxi, this time headed to her home. She had missed her little brother, very much. It had been a bit more than a week since she had last seen his face.

Shinji was pretty well according to Lu Han but Sooji wouldn’t relax until she had seen it for herself.

To take her mind off of her little brother for a while, she opened the file in front of her. Inside it was the information about Yixing. She had written all of it herself. She wouldn’t trust Yixing in those gossipers’ hands.

 

 

Sooji looked at her hand written report on more time and sighed. It was too subjective. But a personal report couldn’t be all objective, right?

Furthermore, she hadn’t even written the real reason why she didn’t let go of Yixing: that boy reminded her of her own brother.

‘I should bring him with me the next time…’ she thought as the driver said “We’re here ma’am.”

She thanked the driver and paid her before getting out and getting her keys from her bag.

When she opened the door, she was welcomed by the chattering of two persons. And that meant…

“Major Lu! What the ing hell are you doing in my house when you know I will be coming, you dumb?!”

“Oh !” Lu Han cussed. “Sorry Soo, I was chatting with your brother and I forgot the time and…”

“Don’t ‘Sorry Soo’ me! How the damned curtains can you forget the time when I’ve installed at least thirty alarms on your phone?!”

“Umm… I might’ve had turned them off..?” Lu Han gave Sooji an apologetic smile.

Before Sooji was about to burst again, Shinji cut in saying “And you say where I’ve heard such vulgar words… Really, noona? Really?”

Major Lu mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him when Sooji turned around to come eye to eye with her brother.

“You say I’m the one who taught you all these? Me, your sister?”

Shinji raised his hands and shrugged “I didn’t say it, you did.”

Sooji immediately threw Yixing’s file towards Lu Han and grabbed Shinji by his ear.

“Let’s have a talk, little man.” She said, dragging him with her.

“Ouchouchouchouch!..” Shinji was yelping in pain behind his sister while trying to free his ear.

Meanwhile, major Lu was giving puzzled looks to the file in his hands. What the hell was inside it?

Giving in to his curiosity, Lu Han opened it and started reading.

When he was at the last note, he heard the siblings approaching. They were laughing together.

He quickly shut the file and said “Looks like you’ve made up.”

“Of course!” Sooji smiled proudly. “We’re inseparable after all!”

“By the way, don’t throw your things at me, Soo!” major Lu said, throwing the file back at Sooji.

“O-ooh…” Sooji’s eyes widened. “I didn’t even realize that I did something like that, sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Now, I’m going back. I don’t want to lose my head yet, I’m still so young!” Lu Han said, turning around and waving his hand before going out of sight.

“Goodbye, hyung!” Shinji shouted after him while Sooji muttered “Weird…” under her breath.

The Lu Han she knew wouldn’t go until Sooji literally threw him out. You know, like garbage…

Something was off.

Then, her gaze fell on the file in her hands.

 

+++

 

Indeed, something was off. Lu Han had went to ‘Yixing hunting’ instead of going back to his dorm.

He was now in front of the Youth Health Department’s building. He took in a deep breath and stepped inside.

His destination was the room beside Min Sooji’s, her assistant’s room.

When he arrived there, he came face to face with the assistant, Zhang Yixing.

Zhang Yixing was about to go past him when he grabbed the other’s forearm and said “W-wait! Are you Zhang Yixing?”

The younger boy nodded. “Yes?”

“I’m a good friend of Min Sooji.” Lu Han continued.

“So?” the other raised a brow.

It was written that Zhang Yixing was quite friendly on the file, so why wasn’t he like that now?

“I wanted to talk with you for a bit…” Lu Han said, biting the insides of his cheeks.

“Who are you again?” Zhang Yixing furrowed his brows.

“O-oooh… Sorry! My name is Lu Han, major at the Military Department!” Lu Han instinctively saluted.

Upon hearing the name, Zhang Yixing’s expression softened.

“Oh… You should’ve said that earlier…” he said, smiling a little. “I thought you were just one of those crazy people who try to approach me using noona’s name.”

‘Noona?’ Lu Han thought. Sooji would never ever let anyone aside from Shinji call her that, but he didn’t voice his thoughts.

Instead, he said “Sorry that I’ve made you anxious. I just happened to read your file toda-“

“You read my file?” Zhang Yixing wore that stone hard expression again. “Did Sooji noona give it to you?”

“No! yes! No! I mean, she ensured it to me for a while ‘cause she had an important meeting but she didn’t let me read it. Curiosity took over me and-“

“I understand.” Yixing’s expression had softened again. “So it wasn’t Sooji noona…”

‘What the..?’ Lu Han thought. ‘Does this kid have trust issues?’

It seemed so…

‘Oh!’

Then, it dawned upon him, the boy was abandoned by his parents at the age of eight. Of course he had some trust issues.

“What did you want to talk about?” the younger boy smiled. “I would be happy to help you, Hannie.”

“Hannie?” Lu Han questioned.

“Oh, sorry if you didn’t like it boy. By the way, you’re younger than me, right? You look younger.”

“Dude, I’m a ing major at the military. How old do you expect me to be? Fifteen?” Lu Han said, obviously annoyed.

“Actually, I thought you were fourteen, but it seems you’ve much older huh?” Yixing smiled sheepishly.

“I. Am. Twenty. Four!” Lu Han said to which Zhang Yixing froze in shock.

“No way in devil’s hole!”

“Forget it!” Lu Han turned away. “I won’t be talking with you after all, never ever!”

‘He sure acts childish for his profession and age…’ Yixing thought chuckling and watching Lu Han stomp away angrily. ‘But I really can’t believe he’s actually six years older than me…’

From far away, the gossiping researcher duo was watching the two.

“So, the ’s two lovers met, huh? And major Lu is aaaaangry…” one said with a smirk.

“And look at that kid Yixing’s face, he’s smiling triumphantly. I bet he said that he meant a lot more to Sooji and proved it.” the other replied.

Again, Yixing was hearing all of this –like hell, those women were practically shouting! He just shrugged and continued with what he was doing earlier: walking and checking all the reports he had written that day.

‘Noona wants them neat and clear, after all.’ he thought.

 

+++

 

“Oh God! What did I do?” Lu Han was panicking talking to himself. “I got mad and stomped away from the kid! That was so unlike me! Oh God! Now he will think that I am a brat!”

Then, something came to his mind.

“That kid called Soo ‘noona’! No one can call Soo ‘noona’! She doesn’t even let me, her friend of over ten years call her ‘noona’! Why does she let him?..”

He had to admit that he was a tad bit jealous but what really bothered him was the possibility of Sooji l-l-l-loving that boy!

‘No no no no no!’ he shook his head. ‘I won’t let her have him!’

What the..? shouldn’t that have been the other way around? Like… I won’t let him have her?

“Oh ?” he face palmed. “I’m now in real deep …”

He was beginning to like a boy who he had just met, and maybe… he was already liking him…

‘We don’t need gay couples at this day and age!’ he told himself, determined. ‘We need to mate with females and make as many male children as possible!’

Of course, that was his responsible soldier brain talking. But that didn’t mean that his heart would follow the brain’s rules.

“Oh …” he groaned. He needed someone to talk to right now.

‘I wish Sooji was here.’ he thought. ‘Even Shinji would be fine, even though I doubt he would have any good ideas… I want to talk with someone…’

Then, he saw Sooji approaching.

‘Thank God!’ he thought jumping on his feet and enveloping the older in a hug.

“Soo! You’re here!” he exclaimed happily.

“Yes yes, I’m here.” Sooji replied, trying to get the octopus’ tentacles off of herself. “But why are you here in front of the Youth Health Department huh?”

And major Lu began telling her everything from the start, from when he lost to his curiosity…

“…So, I think I love your assistant Soo… But that can’t be. No, that mustn’t be! At this time and age… Our responsibility is to make the male population grow again, not give them the red card!”

“Han…” Sooji took his hand in hers and caressed it like she did to his brother when he didn’t feel well. “Don’t worry about those things now, okay? All you have to worry is how Yixing feels about you. You’re still young, live your life while you can okay? You can worry about the hardships of life when they come upon you.”

Lu Han nodded.

“I… I will try.” he said.

“But you have to be careful, okay? Try not to get caught.”

Lu Han nodded again.

Then, he heard Sooji chuckle.

“And here I have been thinking that you were aiming for my little brother!” she was saying.

“What?!” the major’s eyes widened in shock. “Soo! Your sibling is my sibling, did you forget that? Didn’t we say that we three were siblings?!”

“Yeah yeah…” Sooji wiped away the few tears that had formed on the corners of her eyes. “But one can’t not suspect, you know?”

“You evil witch…” Lu Han growled.

“Anyway,” Sooji gave him a sincere smile. “I will try my best to find out what Yixing thought of you. And don’t worry that kid isn’t the type to mind first impressions, he’s very forgetful actually.”

And the major returned the smile to the head researcher.

Then, the thing that frequently visited his mind came back.

“Soo, why did you let Yixing call you ‘noona’?”

“That kid has some trust issues, as you have guessed.” Sooji began. “And letting him call me ‘noona’ was my way of gaining his trust. Of course, that alone wasn’t effective but it helped. Plus, he’s so cute while saying it!”

“No fangirling over my boo!” Lu Han wacked the older’s head.

“Yah! Major Lu, behave! I’m your elder!” Sooji shouted at him while rubbing the sore area. “Plus, he isn’t your boo yet!”

“He will be…” Lu Han smirked. “You just wait, he will be…”

‘I seriously hope so…’ both thought at the same time.

 

+++

 

“So, noona will bring someone with her the next time?” Shinji asked Lu Han for the nth time.

“Yes…” Lu Han sighed.

“And that person also call her ‘noona’?”

“Yes…”

“And you like him?”

“Yes… Shinji, can you please stop this? I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve asked those things.” Lu Han finally snapped.

“Okay, I will stop.” Shinji pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

But not after even three seconds, he asked “Does he know about my situation?”

“At least you’ve asked something new…” Lu Han mumbled before answering him. “No, not yet. But trust me when I say your sister’s intention is to tell it to him.”

Shinji’s pout just grew.

“When  will they come?” he asked.

“Hmm… another new question, that passes too.” Lu Han tried to joke but it was of no use. So he sighed and answered “In three days.”

“Okay.” Shinji nodded, the pout still intact- Lu Han had began to worry that it would be there permanently at this point. “Can you please go now, hyung? I need some time alone to let all this sink in.”

Shinji really needed that alone time, Lu Han knew it. Otherwise the younger wouldn’t want something like that from him.

“If you want…” he stood up from the couch and started walking towards the door.

“Till then, Shin.” he said and went out. “I hope you will be fine…”

He began walking to the Military Department’s building, which wasn’t too far away –just five kilometers away, not too far. He had a training scheduled for the 14-17 year olds in an hour.

“Gotta go and talk with Sooji before that!” he muttered to himself. He had to tell her what had happened.

Meanwhile, Shinji was struggling with himself at the living room.

“I should trust that kid too if noona trusts him.” was what he was saying one minute and the other minute he would say “But, how can I trust someone I’ve just been told about.”

He wouldn’t even remember that was how he had gotten known Lu Han. Suddenly.

After three long hours, he had decided on the first one: he would trust the kid.

‘Hyung.’ He corrected himself. The new kid was also older than him.

“Zhang Yixing, huh?” he muttered before closing his eyes.

 

+++

 

“How is Do Kyungsoo’s growth, Xing?” Sooji asked, her eyes on the report before her.

“Not too well, noona. He won’t be getting any taller or wider than he already is, I think.”

“Hmm… his mentality?”

“More stabile now. He isn’t having frequent nightmares anymore and is more peaceful.”

“It took us five months to make him relax, huh?..” Sooji muttered. “How are his test marks?”

“Pretty high, actually.” Yixing answered. “His worst subject is physics with 87 points.”

“Woa! Looks like the brain team has a new leader.” Sooji smiled. “What about-“

Her sentence cut by her phone’s ringing.

“Oh my!” she gasped. “We will be late! How many more reports do we have, Xing?”

“Umm… about seven or so.” Yixing answered, not too sure of himself.

“Oh, that’s good! Take them with you. We should leave quickly, I can’t make Shinji wait any longer!”

Yixing smiled  at the rushing figure in front of him and put the reports in his backpack.

“I’m ready noona!” he said.

“Really? Then let’s go!” Sooji grabbed his wrist hand pulled him after her.

They continued reading reports on their way there for a while but they were finished in a matter of twenty minutes. they still had a thirty minute long way ahead of them.

Sooji decided that it was the perfect time to do the thing she had promised to Han months ago: to find out about Yixing’s thoughts about Lu Han.

Sure, they had met a few more times after that firt time and had formed sort of a friendship but Sooji knew that wasn’t enough for Han, that he wanted something more than that.

So she asked Yixing “Say Xing, what do you think of Han?”

She definitely wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

“Major Lu?” Yixing raised an eyebrow –to which Sooji nodded. “I think he’s fun to be with and I actually feel very comfortable around him. Why did you ask, noona?”

“Why?” Sooji scratched her  temple then shrugged. “No reason. I was just bored.”

Believing her, Yixing nodded with a smile.

“Ugh and… I might like him a little bit, but that’s against the law right?” he silently muttered, but Sooji heard it and a smile formed on her face.

‘Yes!’ her inner voice screamed. ‘That was what I wanted!’

“The law might limit your actions and hold you back but there’s nothing that can hold back your feelings.” she smiled at the younger. “Promise me you will talk with Han. I’m sure he will be happy.”

The boy gnawed on his lips for a while before giving her a hesitant nod.

“Good boy.” Sooji’s smile grew bigger.

 

+++

 

Positive.

Since he had received that message from Sooji, Lu Han wasn’t able to sit. He was pacing back and forth at the living room of the Mins’ house.

“Ugh… hyung, my head’s spinning. Can you stop already?” Shinji groaned.

“I can’t Shin, I can’t! Soo messaged me! She says it’s positive! Positive! Oh God, it’s positive! It’s positive!”

“Okay okay! I understood, even the universe understood, it’s positive! Now sit the down Hannie hyung!”

“Hannie!” Lu Han continued with his overly excited talk. “That was what he had first called me!”

Then suddenly, his expression darkened and he said “And thought that I was fourteen…”

But that expression didn’t last long and he was back to his overly happy self in a matter of seconds. “He was soooo cute while saying it! ‘Hannie’! Hannie! Hannie!”

‘Positive.’ Shinji thought. He was positive that Lu Han had totally lost it this time.

“You might not understand how I feel right now Shinji-ya, but believe me, one day you will! And that day will be the best day of your life!”

“Oh God, please, I don’t want to understand it!” Shinji muttered, closing his eyes tightly.

That was when the front door cracked open and Lu Han froze on the spot.

‘Finally!’ Shinji thought. ‘The mental stopped moving.’

“We’re here!” his sister shouted, closing the door. “Shinji come here and introduce yourself to Xing!”

Shinji slowly got up and went to the door. When he spotted her sister and ‘Xing’, he stopped walking, bowed and said “Hello, my name’s Min Shinji and I am Min Sooji’s younger si-“

Sooji cut in and said “Brother.” Smiling to the both of them. “Xing-ah, Min Shinji is my brother.”

The wide eyed Yixing turned to Shinji to look at him from head to toe. When he was finished all he could say was “But I see a girl here…”

Shinji innerly groaned.

“Hyung!” he called Lu Han. “That boy who thought you were fourteen thought I was a girl!”

Lu Han came running. “What?! No one calls my brother a girl!” he shouted but froze again when he made eye contact with Yixing.

Positive was the only thing he could think about right now.

“Now now… calm yo’ huh? Everyone thinks that you’re fourteen and that you’re a girl. I thought we were long ago over these matter guys.” Sooji said standing between them with her hands raised to her sides.

Then she grabbed Shinji’s wrist and pulled him beside her.

“Now, I will take Shinji with me to have alone time with him at my room and you go sit in the living room. Han, make Xing believe that Shinji’s a  boy.” She said walking to her room.

Before she closed the door, she mouthed “Good luck.” to Lu Han.

Then she turned to her brother and asked “So, how are your studies Shinji-ya?”

“Pretty good, though I still have some problems with History…” Shinji answered.

“Your life alone in here?”

“Also good, since you’re visiting me almost every week and hyung practically doesn’t go out of this house.”

“What?! That prick is camping in my house?” Sooji said with fake anger –to which Shinji laughed.

“I missed you, noona.” He confessed after a while. “The house’s not the same without your foul mouth or with your snoring at night.”

“Yah! I don’t snore!” Sooji furrowed her brows.

“You do.” Shinji firmly said. “So I’ve decided that I will come with you too. Take me as your assistant, noona. You know I can do it.”

Sooji frowned at that.

“I don’t want you to be forced into things you don’t want…” she said. “Though Han acts like he always does what he wants, even he is forced to participate in some experiments. Your life here might be hard Shinji-ya, but trust me, the life at the government will be even harder.”

“I know.” Shinji nodded. “But I don’t care. Leave the paperwork to me, I will go and change the gender on my ID (yes, he was registered as female). You just have to take me in as your assistant.

Sooji sighed at her brother’s stubbornness but nodded anyway, though unwillingly…

‘The gossip duo will be busier, huh..?’ she thought.

Meanwhile, Lu Han and Zhang Yixing were cuddling at Mins’ living room. Their talk had just taken about three minutes or so –it began with Han’s ‘I like you’s and ended with Yixing’s ‘I like you too’s- and they were now a couple.

So when the Min siblings went to the living room and saw the scene, they booth thought ‘Oh wow…such speed.’ while Sooji asked Lu Han “Hey, you dumb major! Did you do what you were told  huh?”

Which was answered by Lu Han with a bored “Yeah yeah…” then he turned to Yixing and asked “You believe that Shinji’s a boy now, right Yixing?”

“Y-yes…”

Sooji rolled her eyes, they had totally not talked about Shinji!

‘Well, my intention was to make them talk about themselves anyway…’ she thought.

“Yah, newlyweds!” she yelled at the couple who were  now back to cuddling. “Stop that for a minute and listen to me.”

When she was finally sure that she got all their attention and no one draw circles on the other’s back, she resumed talking.

“You will be taken to the head of Military if you’re caught, that’s why be very very  very careful, you two. I can’t do anything for you two once you’re in  front of her. And she would be probably harsher on you two since you already have assigned life p-“

Sooji suddenly stopped. That was secret information that was meant only for the department heads, all those assignments were top secret.

‘’ she thought. ‘Someone, kill me.’

“Was that… what you meant by being forced to some things..?” Shinji questioned his sister.

The Han and Xing couple were still just staring at Sooji.

She nodded to her brother then turned back to the two.

“Sorry, that was secret info. I can’t continue with that.” She explained. “You two can meet here. Since the house will be empty from now on.”

“What do you mean, empty?” the major furrowed his brows.

“Shinji decided that he would join the government.” Sooji said, trying to stay as composed as possible. But her voice had cracked anyway.

Major Lu turned to the youngest boy with a questioning look.

“Is that true, Shin?”

The boy just nodded. A determined look was residing on his face.

After a long silence, Shinji turned to his sister and said “Then, I will be going noona. See you at the Youth Health Department.”

Sooji bit on her lower lip and nodded.

A moment later, Shinji was out and Sooji’s lip was bleeding.

 

+++

 

“Xing, bring me Min Shinji’s file please.” Min Sooji said to her assistant as she headed to her room.

“Okay, noona!” Yixing answered immediately and grabbed the file to quickly catch up with her.

The second they went inside her room, she took the file away from him and opened it.

“Xing, pen.” she told her assistant, not looking away from the reports in front of her.

When the boy brought her her pen, she commented with a smile “He did an excellent job. His physical examinations, mental health reports and even his test marks! They’re all perfect. No one would judge me if I told them I wanted him as my assistant.”

“Noona.” Yixing began. “May I ask, how many assistants can you have at one time?”

Sooji knew what Yixing was trying to say.

“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “You will be here too, I’m not letting you go anywhere. Every researcher can have two assistants while the head and vice-head can have three. We have more work, after all. So don’t worry, I won’t be giving you to anyone. Especially not to those gossiping heads.”

“Did you hear their new gossip, noona?” Yixing smiled. “They say that you broke up with Hannie and me because you’ve found someone younger and-“

“Let me guess, and that boy was Shinji?” Sooji laughed. “Don’t they all know that I was given about three hundred warnings because I hid him for 16 years? I even went in front of the council because of the matter.”

“Thank god, you’re still here in this position.” Yixing smiled at her.

“Of course I will be! Even if I did something like that, Shinji is now here with us and plus, they all know that there’s no one else that can do this job.” Sooji replied with a cheeky grin.

Then both of them composed their serious selves and Sooji continued talking.

“I will write my report now, Xing. Go meet with your lover.”

Yixing blushed a bit at that and nodded saying “Then, I’m going.  Take care, noona.”

“That kid’s too cute.” Sooji said to herself after Yixing went out.

It didn’t take her long to write the report and soon, she was reading another file. A file that was written TOP SECRET on its cover. The file that contained the partner assignments of every male over the age of 17.

She was looking at the names written next to Han and Yixing’s.

Lu Han: Min Sooji

Zhang Yixing: Bae Min

Bae Min was also from the Youth Health Department. She was a good, young girl and would always have a smile on. Sooji liked her.

‘I wonder what her reaction would be if she knew the truth?’ she thought. But she knew the answer to that. Even if the girl was a good person, she wouldn’t do even one thing against the rules. Telling her that Han and Xing were dating was out of question.

She closed the file before she started thinking about the name next to Han’s and went out of her room.

“Let’s talk with the kids for a while.” she said to herself with a small smile.

 

+++

 

Min Shinji was very excited. It was his first day of officially being the assistant of his sister. Though he had been helping her sister since his first week there, being officially assigned to the job felt different.

‘Now, no one can separate us.’ he thought. ‘Even the government.’

His first official order came soon.

“Shinji-ya, you talk with the kids under seven and Xing will be taking care of the kids between eight and twelve. I’m going to the older ones.” Sooji said and they all went to the kids’ rooms.

As the head and her assistants, they were mostly doing the consolation and paperwork. But there were also times that they had to go and examine the kids personally.

‘Thank God,’ Shinji thought. ‘We don’t have to examine the kids today.’

He had hated that, even if his examiner was mostly Sooji or Yixing, and he was sure the other kids –especially the younger ones- hated it too. So he didn’t want to be there during the physical examination.

He went to talk with the first kid.

“Oh Sehun?” Shinji smiled at the seven year old boy.

The boy smiled back.

“How are you today, hmm?” he continued.

“Thehun ith fine! How ith hyung?!” the boy replied happily –he had a slight lisp- while sitting himself on his bed and patting the space beside him for Shinji to sit there.

Shinji quickly sat down and took the little boy on his lap.

“Hyung is fine too!” he said, copying the boy’s excitement. “Did you make any friends here?”

Oh Sehun had a problem with interacting with other people. According to Sooji, he had even been refusing to talk anyone or even look at anyone’s face before Shinji came here.

“Yeth!” the boy said. “Hyung ith my friend!”

“Yeah, I’m your friend.” Shinji took the boy’s hands. “But don’t you have any other friends Sehun-ah?”

“No, they’re bad people. Otherth are bad people. They will hurt Thehun.” The seven year old violently shook his head.

Sehun was beaten up every day by every family member before he came here. Just because he was a boy. Sooji had met with his  parents a while ago, taking Shinji along with her, and they had said that they had already given a son to the government before and that was why they didn’t want to have another son, but there he was, Oh Sehun, their second son. They had said that they hated their son for being a male without hesitation –making the Min siblings shiver- and that they expressed their hatred with their fists and kicks –yeah, kicks.

Shinji seriously pitied the young boy. So he had decided that he would be his family. And Sehun also accepting him was just wonderful!

“No one here can hurt my Sehun.” he said. “I won’t let them. So talk to them okay?”

“No! Thehun won’t talk!”

Again, a day of failure…

“Okay…” Shinji sighed. “See you later, Sehun-ah! I will come again today.”

 

+++

 

Today was the day. Today, it was Han’s 25^th birthday. Today, it was Han and Xing’s 8^th month together. Today was the day Lu Han would be told about his partner.

Today was the day Sooji had dreaded so much.

It had been a bit more than a year since she had began working at the Youth Health Department. Shinji was now 17 and Xing was 19. She herself was 26. But no matter how much time she had spent here at the government or no matter how old she had gotten, she wouldn’t be able to prepare herself to a day such as this one.

Both she and Lu Han were summoned by the council and there they were, in front of the council room waiting to be called inside.

And they were called in.

Sooji knew what exactly would happen.

And it happened.

The council had told Lu Han that his partner was Min Sooji and that they shall marry as soon as possible and ‘produce’ as many male kids as they could.

Lu Han had protested to that saying that Sooji was like her older sister and that this was just a nonsense arrangement.

The council had shut him up saying that the rules were rules and that she was the best match for him.

Then the moment Sooji had actually dreaded came.

Lu Han had shouted that he already had a lover that he loved just too much and that he couldn’t do that to him.

And when the council had asked who it was, he had proudly shouted his lover’s name: Zhang Yixing.

The shocked council had then told Sooji to go out and wait there.

And now, Sooji was doing exactly that: waiting.

She was waiting for the worst to happen. She was waiting for an execution order; for Lu Han, for Zhang Yixing and herself.

Why she too? Because she was sick of waiting.

If Lu Han didn’t go out of that room with his head up and a smile on his face, she would barge into the room and tell the council members it was her idea to let them see each other.

She had proofs. They were meeting in her house and she was arranging Yixing’s schedule according to the major’s. The council would believe her.

‘Maybe,’ she thought. ‘The only one sentenced to death will be me.’

She was sure Lu Han would take good care of Shinji.

She would be going in in ten seconds.

She got up and…

Suddenly, the door flung open. Lu Han was going out with his head up and a smile on his face.

Her face lightened up and she threw her arms around the boy.

“Everything’s okay, right?”

“Totally!” Lu Han returned the hug.

“What did you say? What did you do? I thought you would die..!”

Lu Han shrugged letting go of Sooji and asked “You remember the case of the missing reports about me?”

Sooji also let go of him and nodded.

“It happens that they weren’t actually missing.” Lu Han continued, taking out a few papers from his jacket’s inner pocket.

“You stole them? Why?!” Sooji almost yelled.

“These are the reports that prove that I’m unproductive. It thought that if someone saw these, I would be immediately thrown out. And the person who wrote this getting fired showed that the luck was on my side.” Han grinned.

Sooji grinned back but then, her face fell.

“But… what about Yixing?” she asked.

The major’s grin got bigger.

“That issue… Let me tell you that there’s a very very very soft hearted member at the council…”

Apparently, the youngest member of the council had a soft spot for these romantic relationships and she had changed sides the moment she read the missing records.

“She said ‘Oh! The world won’t end just because of one male, just let them be!’ “Lu Han was telling. “Though she was the youngest, all the others seemed to be listening to her, it was weird actually but I don’t care about this or that as long as she’s on our side.”

Sooji had listened to what happened without opening even once.

“Then, what about Bae Min?” she asked after Lu Han finished his sentence.

“Oh… that girl will most probably be partnered with someone else. She was ugh… how old was she?”

“She’s 17, our youngest researcher.”

“Oh… then she might be partnered with one of the ones turning 17 this year.”

“Which also includes Shinji…” Sooji sighed.

Lu Han nodded and said “By the way, I didn’t know the government had such a thing going on. I had been thinking everyone was falling in love with one another and…”

“Top secret.” Sooji just said. “Now come on, we have to give the good news to Xing!”

 

+++

 

In the end, Xing and Han’s relationship went public and no one seemed to have any objections –well, except from those two gossiping parrots.

“So the both of them were just using Sooji to cover their relationship? Poor girl…” they were saying, making a 180 degrees turn from what they have been before.

Bae Min became Shinji’s appointed partner and Sooji had started to think that this was actually very good. Min and Shinji were getting along very well and she could tell that Shinji was starting to like her.

And she, she didn’t get any other partner –probably because the only males available were the 17 year old and the council wouldn’t allow more than five ages difference.

“I will grow old alone…” Sooji pretended to be sad but was actually happy. Being single meant being free!

Do Kyungsoo was at the last stages of finishing a new kind of medicine and Sooji was occasionally helping him.

Oh Sehun was still having trouble with interacting with other people but he was at least responding to others now.

Shinji went to Oh Sehun’s room which he shared with other two kids.

“Sehun-ah! How are you today?”

“Thehun ith happy! He became friendth with Min noona!”

“Oh really?!” Sehun happily responded.

“Here she cometh! Min noona cometh!”

“Let’s say welcome okay?” Shinji suggested, smiling to the boy.

“Okay!”

And the two of them greeted the girl coming with a warm “Welcome!”

Sooji hid herself behind the wall, outside of Oh Sehun’s room. A smile was playing on her lips. Who would’ve thought that the happiness Shinji had ever wanted would be here inside the walls of the government, Shinji’s biggest enemy for sixteen years.

She started walking.

“Wooah! Spying on your own brother now, huh?” she heard someone shout from behind her.

“Oh please…” she rolled her eyes, turning around. “Now don’t make me remind you the times when you were spying on Xing, major Lu.”

Yixing, who was behind the annoying Lu Han, turned his head to look into his lover’s eyes  and asked “Really?” with a smirk.

Han blushed while Sooji answered instead of him.

“Yup! There was even a time when he didn’t talk about anything but the color of your boxers!”

She loved teasing her childhood friend.

“C-can we please go now, babe?” Han stuttered pulling Yixing away from Sooji.

She watched as they walked away with a grin on her face. She seriously laughed teasing her childhood friend.

Everything was fine, everything would be fine in the future too.

Then, her phone rang. It was Kyungsoo.

“Sooji-nim! I did it! I did it! It worked! The cure worked! The Y chromosome got taller at the kids I’ve injected it!”

Sooji smiled, didn’t she say everything would be fine?

At the fall of year 2094, the cure for stopping male extinction was invented.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As you could see, the first part was very dramatic. So I had thought that this story would be angsty, but with the help of Lu Han and Sooji it was much lighter in the end.

I have only two regrets:

First is that though my original purpose was to write a male OC centered fic, I didn't. Instead, it was Sooji centered -because writing about her was much more fun.

Second, the ending. I'm still thinking if I should change it. But then, it seems like no matter how many times I will rewrite it, the ending would be the same.

 

I'm hoping you've liked it anyway. :)

And sorry that I've made Lu unproductive! *bows 90 degrees* 

 

Please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts about the story!

Love y'all, (hopefully) see you in another fanfiction! ^^