[CONTENTID1]Chapter 6[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2][/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The heavy rain hardly seemed to be dying down any time soon, and Jiae could only stand in the sheltered foyer of her school, looking at the rain with an exasperated expression. Today was one of those days where she had not felt the need to bring an umbrella, and just as her luck would have it, the relentless rain showed no signs of stopping any time soon. It was late in the evening, way past the usual time school ended as she had stayed back to study, meaning that there was no one whom she could call for help left in the school. Just as she decided she was going to get drenched anyway, a familiar voice caused her to stop in her tracks.

“Bad weather, isn’t it?”

“…L, hey,” Jiae greeted. “Yeah, I just checked the forecast and apparently this rain isn’t letting up any time soon.”

“Huh.” A contemplative expression replaced his initial bored one, as he stared at her empty hands.

“Don’t you have an umbrella?”

“Unfortunately, I forgot to bring one…”

L’s gaze moved from Jiae’s empty hands to her dejected face, before making up his mind and fishing through his bag to produce an – unsurprisingly, black – umbrella.

“Here.”

The girl could only stare wide-eyed at his offer, raising both her hands to refuse him fervently.

“Oh, no, I can’t just take this! You’ll be drenched without one!”

“Who said I was going to give it to you?” he asked, the corners of his lips curving up into a smile at Jiae’s increasingly bewildered face. “We can share it.”

Without giving her a chance to hesitate, he opened the fairly large umbrella, raising it over both their heads. With a tilt of his head, he began walking towards the rain, and Jiae had to hurry forwards in case she missed him.

Despite how uncertain and awkward Jiae was feeling, L seemed completely at ease, naturally positioning the umbrella so that it covered both their bodies as much as possible.

“You seem comfortable,” she started, wanting to cease the lack of conversation. “Looks like you’ve shared an umbrella with unsuspecting girls loads of times.”

His lips parted into a short laugh, showing off his pearly white teeth – which was an extreme rarity, and it was the first time she had ever seen L present something akin to a laugh.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased.

“…You’re… surprisingly playful,” Jiae tried, careful in case she offended him. “I guess Moonsoo’s mischievousness runs in the family.”

This time, L broke out into actual laughter, bowing his head as he free hand came up to cover his face. “…I’m just bad with strangers.”

“So… you mean we’re friends, now?” L glanced at Jiae’s failure to suppress her hopefulness with a smirk, shaking his head in reply.

“I’d say… acquaintances.”

“Acquaintances, huh? Well, that’s not too bad, at least I’ve gotten past the wall of ice around your black heart.”

“…Black heart, really?”

“You can’t blame me for your own reclusion... Besides, your favourite colour’s black, isn’t it?”

“Very creative, Jiae, very creative…”

She giggled as he shook his head in mock exasperation. Both Jiae and L were feeling increasingly comfortable with each other, their conversations naturally progressing into lighthearted banter. The brunette decided to get the chance to delve deeper into the mysteries of her new neighbour, mustering up her courage to ask something she thought could possibly be a sensitive topic.

"So… Why do you choose