It had been a week since Sungyeol heard from L. He was beginning doubt his credibilty. That is, until he recieved a call from him the night before. The other male had explained that capturing Taeyeon's attention would take longer than expected; he had other business to tend to in addition to their hastily made deal. Frankly speaking, Sungyeol was a bit irked by the fact that his issue with Taeyeon was't what L was mainly focusing on.

 The choding was lying on the bed watching sappy Korean dramas - face masked with boredom - when L called again.

 "Hey," he heard the guru's voice crackle with static on the other end. "Can I come over for some drinks today?" L sounded so exhausted and worn out over the phone that Sungyeol felt a bit guilty for wanting to rush him. After all, the other did mention that he accepted many different odd jobs to earn more money.

 "That's fine, but you're getting the drinks."

 "See you later then," was the other's reply before hanging up.

 It was quite odd but Sungyeol felt very excited. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't have many friends to spend fine weekend afternoons with. Thinking about it, Taeyeon was the only person he usually spent time with outside of work. Recently, she was getting busier and busier with different modelling gigs and the two of them spent very little time together. His large, two-story apartment gradually seemed much bigger and emptier than it should. From the shiny and expensive furniture to small trinkets that he kept since childhood, Sungyeol suddenly felt out of place in his own home.

 "How bothersome," he muttered. It was a warm Saturday afternoon and he had planned on taking a long nap. Instead, Sungyeol found himself running around the apartment. An ahjumma usually cleaned for him once a week but she only worked on Mondays so it would be another two days before she stops by again. His living room was currently cluttered with papers, candy wrappers, and empty plastic ramen cups. Work had been so busy that week that he barely had a good sleep or a proper meal.

 Sungyeol couldn't remember the last time he cleaned anything so thoroughly. He barely even knew where the cleaning supplies were and what they were used for. The last time he tried cleaning the windows with wet tissues, things didn't end very well. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to let his guest sit in such a messy room even if it meant missing his nap time.

_______________________________

 Two Hours Later

 The red-head was sprawled on the large, black leather sofa in his spacious living room when the doorbell rang. He had somehow managed to fall asleep with half his body hanging off of the cushion. The sound of the the bell was more defeaning than usual as it resonated through his clean apartment, causing Sungyeol to groan and mumble as he dragged himself towards the front door.

 "You're drooling," was L's first comment when seeing the half-awake boy.

 Blushing slightly, Sungyeol rubbed his face to wake himself up. "Come on in," he said, closing the wooden door and leading the guru into the interior of the gigantic apartment.

 L glanced around before completely relaxing onto the sofa. "Nice house," he commented, flashing a smile that immediately lit up his usually mysterious expression.

 The choding thanked him. Stifling a yawn as a large grocery bag full of cool beer, pocky, and chocolate flavored wafers was shoved into his arms. "Sorry, I wanted to get bulgogi for you but the shop I usually go to was closed today," L apologized sheepishly.

 "Don't worry about it." Sungyeol couldn't help but let his lips tug up into a slight smile. "I was planning on cooking us jjajang noodles anyways."

 "Woah, really?" L seemed to be gazing at him in awe. "I haven't had that in a while."

 "You have to help me cut the vegetables, set the table, and wash the dishes."

 "Okay, okay, mom." 

 The dullness of the apartment immediately disappeared after the two began their cooking. Sungyeol failed to mention that he rarely cooked and almost burned the kitchen down after making the noodles catch on fire. L took over the task of actually using the stove. Comedic arguing could be heard even by the neighbors.

 "No you can't peel the onion like that!"

 "What?"

 "Ah, seriously, look at what you did! You peeled off half of the actual onion."

 "I did exactly what you're doing right now, what do you mean?!"

 Somehow after several arguments over how to hold a knife, the noodles were prepared and ready to serve with a side of gamjajorim. L set the table as Sungyeol brought over the large bowls of jjajang noodles. They were both so famished that not a single word was spoken for the first five minutes. The same sense of similarity settled in to fill the silence.

 "Sorry." L lifted his head slightly to see the other boy watching him. "I was supposed to cook but you ended up doing everything."

 The brunette's confused expression broke into a reassuring smile. Sungyeol thought he had a very nice smile. "Don't worry about it," he replied, "at least we didn't set this entire building on fire."

 Quietness took over again.

 "I'll be meeting up with Taeyeon next week," L said as they were washing the dishes.

 "She doesn't get back from Beijing until the 28th though." It was surprising how quickly his girlfriend became famous. Her pictures could be found on billboards and magazines all the way in the United States.

 "I know, that's why I'm going to meet her there."

 "What?!" Sungyeol stared at the guru with wide eyes.

 The red-head could see the mysterious glint reappear in L's eyes. "The real game is only starting now, Yeollie." The guru finished drying the dishes and organizing them on the rack. The taller male seemed to be at a loss for words. He didn't know how serious L was taking the deal. For some reason, he felt a bit guilty for making the other boy go through so much trouble.

 "It's fine if you wait until she comes back," he mumbled as they headed back to the living room, each with a cold beer in their hand.

 L smirked slightly. "What? Are you going to miss me?"

 Smacking the other on the shoulder, Sungyeol rolled his eyes and plopped onto the sofa. "Don't count on it." It was quite surprising how the two males became such close friends in the short period of time. Still, he felt that L knew more about him than he knew about L. There was still that wall that Sungyeol couldn't break down.

 For a moment the only sound in the room was the crunching of wafers.

 "What's it like being in charge of such a big company at our age?" L asked, glancing over at the red-head.

 He was immediately given a reply. "."

 Snorting, the guru shifted in the couch opposite to Sungyeol. "Why? You're probably bringing in loads of cash everyday."

 Of course, that was true. His salary was higher than 90% of men the same age as him. "There's no fun to it." That was true too. Money was essential, yes, but he would give anything to earn it another way.

 Taking a sip of alchohol, L furrowed his brows slightly. "We should definitely switch jobs."

 "I wish."

 "You know, when I was younger, I wanted to be a fire fighter like my dad."

 Sungyeol looked over at L and chuckled. "What happened with that?"

 The brunette frowned, taking a swig from his third beer bottle. "He died," he explained. "My dad died in an explosion when I was ten."

 Both of them didn't know what to say and Sungyeol immediately felt guilty for laughing.

 L rarely talked about his fa