“So you don't like it?” Sehun threw himself on a chair, pouting dramatically.

“I had it made special.” he added, looking really disappointed.

The bubbly excitement Jongin had felt through the bond had turned into melancholy.

“I... I do like it... you're very sweet to give me a gift... it's just that... counterfeiting money is illegal and you could get into a whole lot of trouble, and I just don't want anything to happen to you. I care about you.” Jongin said sweetly, Sehun's shoulder.

“Oh, I didn't know that.” Sehun hung his head.

“I know, it's not your fault. I should have just come with you. It's my fault.” Jongin sighed.

“How much did it cost?” Jongin asked hesitantly, barely getting the words out. Somehow he doubted that Sehun had gotten it for cheap. It looked like the real thing.

“I don't know, I just handed the lady at the store loads of those green ones, until she said it was enough.” Sehun shrugged, not really getting what all the fuss was about, it was only paper after all.

Oh crap.

Jongin tried not to panic, he needed to be able to think rationally. He had to have some kind of a story to tell the cops when they came a-knocking. Or, should they just take the spaceship and run? Ah, man, the spaceship was broken. He had forgotten for a moment. They were stuck here and after one afternoon without supervision, Sehun had turned into a big time criminal. It was only a matter of time before he ended on the Korea's Most Wanted list.

“Hand me one of those replica bills, will you.” Jongin stretched out his hand.

Sehun emptied his pocket, handing him a crumpled ball of over a hundred bills.

.

Jongin took one and examined it closely.

Huh. He couldn't really see any difference from the real thing. He was no expert, but this was a damn good replica. It would have fooled him. He checked the water mark and the security thread. It looked legit.

“And how did you do this again?” Jongin couldn't wrap his head around this.

Sehun fished out a little square box from his pocket. “With the replicator.”.

Jongin took it and peered his eyes as he closely examined every angle of it. Nope. He just saw a small, black box.

“Can you show me how it works? Does it only replicate money or can you do other things as well?” Jongin asked, curious but cautious.

“Depends on the material. It's not good with live tissue, but most other common chemical compounds it can replicate. But this one is just a portable version, so the object can't be too big or complicated.” Sehun didn't really see what was so mind-blowing about a tiny little replicator. Everyone probably had them on Exor.

“Okay, mmm... try a spoon!” Jongin jumped up and fetched a spoon.

Sehun held the box over the spoon, and blue rays shot out of it and it started scanning the spoon from top to bottom. When it was done, it whirred and shook for a short while and then, as if out of nowhere, an identical spoon appeared next to the original one.

Jongin blinked.

What had he just witnessed?

Hmm.. so if that black box actually did perfectly replicate whatever it scanned, the money wasn't really counterfeit, it was just... copied. And if nobody could tell the difference.... then they could maybe...

No!

No! What was he thinking! Jongin shook his head. It was wrong!

Ah. His heart panged. The serial number. It copied the same serial number, so the money Sehun had all had the exact same serial number. . There was no way no one was going to notice that.

Jongin's heart started beating like crazy. So it wasn't if, but when, it would be discovered, and then the cops would definitely be after them.

Although, they had no way to trace it to them, did they?

And the bills were so perfectly copied that they looked exactly like the real thing. So they would never believe that some lowly criminal would be able to do that, let alone a couple of teenagers. No, they had to think that it was an internal issue. Either a machine malfunction or someone corrupt on the inside. Yeah. They were safe, Jongin concluded, but they'd better not rock the boat anymore than it had already been rocked.

Jongin made Sehun swear that he would never ever do anything like that ever again. Money was off limits. He promised that he would give Sehun enough money to buy snacks and small stuff like that, so there was no need to make any more.

Sehun promised, but Jongin got the feeling he had his fingers crossed behind his back.

Poor Sehun. He had just wanted to do something nice for him, but Jongin had ended up scolding him a lot. It was for his own safety, but still, Jongin felt bad. Sehun's spirit was broken and he just poked his snack listlessly.

Jongin sat beside him and put his arm around him.

“Thanks for my gift. I absolutely love it.” Jongin gave him a genuine smile.

“Really? You want to put it on?” Sehun's spirit reinflated like a balloon that had only needed some fresh air pumped into it.

Jongin nodded.

Sehun jumped to his feet and grabbed the necklace. He was going to put it on him. How sweet.

Jongin stretched his neck up, like that would make it easier to put on a necklace. But he waited and waited and nothing happened. He turned back and there stood Sehun with his eyebrows in a fierce V-shape, battling with the clutch on the necklace like it was his arch enemy. It was an epic battle and Sehun looked like he was losing.

“Give it here, silly.” Jongin chuckled. He opened the clutch with ease and was going to put the necklace on himself when Sehun stopped him.

“I want to be the one to put it on you!” Sehun frowned.

“Okay, okay.. here.” Jongin handed him the necklace.

Jongin was going to turn around so Sehun could put it on him, but before he had the chance, Sehun leaned in from the front. Sliding the necklace around Jongin's neck whilst half-hugging him, Sehun peeked his head over his shoulder to see what he was doing while he fastened the clutch at the back of Jongin's neck.

It took Sehun a while to figure out how the clutch worked, and while he did, his neck was so close to Jongin's face. Jongin just stood there, frozen, with Sehun standing half an inch from him, leaning over his shoulder. His gut tingled as a thousand small butterflies playfully fluttered around in his stomach. Sehun smelled so good. He didn't know how it was possible to smell so good. Jongin couldn't get enough. He wanted to bridge that remaining half an inch and hug Sehun intimately. He wondered how it would feel to kiss Sehun's neck. He had such a long, manly neck. And it smelled so nice. Jongin just wanted to snuggle up to it.

“There!” Sehun exclaimed proudly as the clutch admitted defeat and let out a tiny 'click' sound. Jongin was almost disappointed that it hadn't taken longer. And when Sehun backed up, it felt weirdly lonely. It was just better to have Sehun as close to him as humanly possible. The further Sehun stood from him, the more frustrated he got. Jongin had it bad, and it was getting worse by the minute. He didn't want to think about where this would all end, this bond business was no joke.

Sehun took both of Jongin's hands in his, calming Jongin's frustrated heart.

“Everyone in the class has a mark like us now, but you are the only one who has a necklace like this. You are special.” Sehun crookedly grinned with his whole face.

They locked eyes.

Jongin's knees were getting weak, having a tougher time supporting his weight than usual.

“You know... I'm really starting to like you.” Jongin said in a low, soft voice.

“I know.” Sehun giggled with a smug smirk stuck to his lips.

Ugh, that babo!

Jongin couldn't take it any longer. He pulled Sehun in, kissing him softly on the lips.

______________________________________

A/N: Challenge COMPLETED!!

Oh, wow, I can't believe it, 30 days straight of posting every day haha, it's been insane hahaha >.< ...and a lot of fun as well! Haha :)

Thank you everyone for keeping me company through this challenge and taking interest in my story ♥

So obviously, the story isn't over yet, but I'm going to take a few days off after this intense challenge haha, and then the plan is to update every even-numbered day until it is finished :)