With the knowledge that Kyungsoo is still out there somewhere, Jongin resumes his search for his best friend with a renewed vigor. He’s still sad about Sunyoung’s sudden departure from his life, but he plows on. He has a goal in mind and he’s not going to stop until he reaches some sort of conclusion.

Unfortunately, Chief Wu has come to trust him more and more – he still doesn’t know about Jongin’s illegal activities around the precinct – so he’s giving Jongin more and more work to do. This means that his time to research Kyungsoo’s disappearance is fairly limited.

He’s sitting at his desk one afternoon, looking through any and all records he can get ahold of. He’s supposed to be working on some reports for the Chief, but he figures he can take ten or fifteen minutes here and there to rifle through anything that might be slightly important.

He’s still sitting hunched over his computer when the door bangs open suddenly. Jongin jumps a foot in the air and quickly exits out of his browser, leaving nothing but his word document on his screen, but it’s only Luhan.

Luhan waggles his eyebrows. “You seem especially suspicious today, Jonginnie.”

Jongin groans and cards long fingers through his hair. “You’re one to talk. You still haven’t told me why you and Sehun were together so late that night you came to my apartment.”

Luhan sniffs disdainfully. “We were just working on Kyungsoo’s case,” he says, which is apparently the answer he and Sehun had rehearsed together. “That’s all.”

Jongin smirks but doesn’t press the matter. His friends’ love lives are none of his business; he figures they’ll tell him eventually. “Did you need something, or were you just stopping by to scare the out of me?”

Luhan chuckles. “I’ve got an assignment for you from the Chief.”

Jongin groans. “Another one? I’m swamped with the he’s already given me.”

“Heaven forbid you actually work while you’re at your job,” Luhan teases, tossing the folder down. “A kid got picked up for shoplifting earlier today with no identification, and he refuses to give his name. Chief thinks he might be adopted, so he wants you to look through some local adoption agencies and see if you get a match.”

Jongin runs his fingers through his hair again, making it stick up at all sorts of od angles. “Great. Guess this means I’ll be here all night.”

Luhan is sympathetic. “I’ll bring you a coffee later,” he promises, and then he’s gone.

So Jongin slogs through the remainder of the report he’s been neglecting and then uses the username and passcode the Chief had given him to sign into the account of the area’s main adoption agency. All he’s got is a picture of the kid – making a ridiculous face, no less – to match against the photos in the database. He hopes Luhan hurries with his coffee, because he really is going to be here all ing night.

He’s looking through photographs of the adoptees from the last few decades when he stops on one that looks alarmingly familiar. The photograph shows a baby, no more than a few months old, red-faced and wailing. According to the label under the photograph, which is easily as old as Jongin,  the baby is unnamed.

Jongin knows it’s silly. There’s absolutely nothing that ties the baby in this photograph to Kyungsoo. Except those eyes. Something about the baby’s eyes make him instinctively think of his long lost best friend.

But that’s ridiculous. Kyungsoo wasn’t adopted. He and Jongin had been friends for most of their lives. If there had been something so important in Kyungsoo’s past, he definitely would’ve told Jongin. Right?

He’s still sitting there, staring at the photograph of the nameless baby in the adoption agency’s database, when Luhan returns with the coffee he’d promised.

“Did you find the kid?” he asks, coming round the desk to set the coffee down. Then he frowns. “Unless this kid is a hell of a lot older than he looks, you’re barking up the wrong tree, buddy.”

But Jongin ignores the comment. “Lu,” he says, jabbing his finger at the photograph. “Does this baby look familiar to you?”

Luhan peers at it closely, but then shakes his head. “Sorry, but it looks like any other baby I’ve ever seen.”

“It doesn’t look like, I dunno, maybe Kyungsoo?” Jongin presses uncertainly.

Luhan purses his lips. “I mean, I guess I can maybe see it. Is this Kyungsoo? I didn’t know he was adopted. It never said anything in the case files about it.”

“If it’s him, I never knew about it,” Jongin mumbles, concerned.

“If you didn’t know about it, then it’s probably not him,” Luhan assures him. “I mean, that’s something pretty important. I doubt he’d have kept it from you.”

Jongin wants to agree with Luhan, but there’s just something about this picture that he can’t seem to shake. “I need to know for sure,” he says. “You’ll help me, right? It shouldn’t be too hard to confirm if the baby in this picture is Kyungsoo, right?”

Luhan hesitates, but then he gives in. They’ve already done a hell of a lot of illegal things to get to this point, so what’s a few more? “Fine,” he gives in. “I’ll talk to Sehun and Chanyeol. And Victoria. She’ll probably be useful. You know how she can do anything if she sets her mind to it.”

Jongin sighs in relief. “Thanks. You guys are really good friends.”

Luhan smirks. “I know.” 

Okay, I know this is a suuuuper short chapter

BUT

you didn't have to wait forever and a day for it, so there's that at least!

So is the baby in the picture Kyungsoo? You'll just have to wait to find out ;)

And guys?

I'm getting married in 3 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days!! Like holy crap!! I can't even believe it!