“ID?”.

“Ehh.. he uhm... he lost his ID during the move over here, he's already applied for a new one.” Jongin lied through his teeth.

“I'm afraid I have to get his records from his previous school, which is not possible without an ID, and a legal guardian has to enroll him, in order for him to be able to apply for a transfer to this school.” the school's administrative office secretary told them, ruining Jongin's plan. Jongin didn't know what to do. If Sehun couldn't attend school, Jongin wouldn't be able to either, and if Jongin didn't attend school, his father was going to have Ms. Marsh take over his life, micromanaging every last detail. Then it would be impossible to hide Sehun from the world. Jongin's heart did a panicked cartwheel. He had to do something. And that something had to work.

“His parents are volunteering with doctors without borders, they are somewhere in the Amazonian rainforest and we have no way of contacting them. He's my cousin, he's going to be staying with me for the next coming months, can't he just start now, and then when we hear from his parents next, we can get them to sign the papers and I promise I'll get them to you as fast as I can.” Jongin pleaded, lying his nicely shaped behind off, shaking the dust off his puppy eyes, making them big and irresistible.

“Sorry sweetie. These are the rules. There's nothing I can do. You will just have to wait to apply for a transfer until his parents come back, and until the new ID is ready.” she shook her head, friendly but firmly.

“Then what is he supposed to do? Just sit home and do nothing?” Jongin asked incredulously, getting desperate.

She looked at Sehun, who smiled innocently at her without really saying anything. Jongin could see her instantly melting into a puddle.

“Aigoo, then again, what harm could it do?.. Here, fill out this form sweetheart, you can start classes right away, but you won't be an official student until your parents sign the transfer papers. You have to promise to get your parents to sign them as soon as they possibly can, it's very important.” she insisted as she slammed a form in front of Sehun, trying to seem authoritative and intimidating when she was barely managing to stifle the giggles. “If you don't, you'll get me into a heap of trouble. Okay, dear?” she asked Sehun softly, looking him right in the eyes, her cheeks blushing.

Jongin didn't know whether he should sulk because Sehun's puppy eyes worked on her straight away, and not his, or if he should just be glad that they had worked at all, saving both of their butts, or if he should be annoyed that those cutest of all cute puppy eyes were charming somebody else than him. Jongin decided to go with all three options at the same time, making a complicated soup of emotions that was boiling over in his chest.

“But I can't get my parents to sign because I don't have parents.” Sehun answered in earnest, but luckily Jongin managed to cough loudly over the 'have parents' part, drowning out the sound of his voice. Making a mental note to ask Sehun what that was all about, wondering if Sehun grew up as an orphan, getting a shooting pain through his heart imagining Sehun all alone in the world, Jongin deferred his curiosity and focused on the task at hand, finishing Sehun's sentence for him.

“...because he doesn't have any way to contact them.” Jongin blurted out, covering Sehun's way too honest .

“Yes, yes, I know dear. That's why I'm telling you to get it when they contact you.” she handed Sehun a pen. Jongin swallowed a gasp. There was no way Sehun knew how to write Korean! How was Jongin going to get them out of this one. It would look really weird if he suddenly snatched the pen out of Sehun's hand, filling out the document for him. But a boy their age not knowing how to write would look even weirder. While Jongin was frantically weighing their options in his head, Sehun started filling out the form.

Oh! He could write just fine! Apparently that universal language apparatus thought of everything.

Jongin moved a step closer to Sehun, peeking at what Sehun had filled out already. He froze. Under nationality, Sehun had put 'Exorian'.

Jongin coughed, snatching the form from right under Sehun's nose, dramatically squishing the paper into a ball. “Eh, he made a spelling mistake. He's not the strongest in spelling. Could we please have another form? I'll just help him fill it out.” Jongin grinned awkwardly.