“I dare you to sleep with me.”   He had said.   She didn’t even need it to be repeated. She had heard him loud and clear. What she could not believe was how such words could be uttered by someone who did not even find her attractive. After all, he was the one who kept reminding her how ugly and fat she was. She wondered what on earth his intention was; and was surprised at how calm she was at the thought. It was probably because he was someone she did not take seriously anymore.   Henry was already shoving L onto the ground and yelling at him for the ridiculous dare. Commotion was made by the girls as they waited in anticipation for Amber’s answer. They weren’t sure whether they should scream at L and tell Amber to refuse, or let her decide and enjoy the show. The idea of sleeping with someone who wasn’t your boyfriend did not sound appealing to these girls.   L kept his gaze on Amber, ignoring Henry’s screech and Min Ho’s disbelief gasps and laughs. Kris sat there agape, unsure of what to do, but waited for Amber’s answer. She was still staring at L with that impassive gaze of hers, sitting straight with her back against the bed. Without a word, she grabbed her bottle of beer and swigged down the remaining liquid, before taking Luna’s and did the same.   She released an ungraceful burp and placed the bottles in the respective places, keeping her gaze on him. She had taken the punishment one had to take if they could not do the dare or answer the question given during the game. With that, the night’s chaos was settled.   But it wasn’t settled for L, yet.

 

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He didn’t know what gave him the courage to state those words, but they came out as if he could care less of the consequences. He knew he would get rejected, but he still found the amusement in the whole situation.   When L met Amber for the first time at Kindergarten, they were both five years old. He had thought she was a very sweet girl.   When L attended the same primary school with Amber, they became best friends for the whole six years. His childish, innocent mind wanted to make her his bride.   When L and Amber entered high school, their relationship changed. But that did not stop him from wanting her.   When he overheard Vincent Pappas telling his friends how “cute” Amber was when she smiled, L decided to get rid of that smile. He would take her belongings and argued with her before she cried and ran off out of sight.   When Jiro Wang told him he liked Amber’s long, dark hair and that “she looks like a doll”, L decided to get rid of that long hair. He at how bad she looked with long hair and told her how cool she looked in her short hair, which she ended up keeping for the next five years.   When Suho Kim told a blushing Amber that she looked “pretty” in her dress at the Year 9 formal, L decided to get rid of all the dresses she had. He never forgot to remind her of how ugly she looked in dresses and how fat she was. It worked. She disposed of her dresses, put them away into the storage room, and began to wear baggy clothes to hide her “fat”. She also commenced to eat healthily and exercised regularly to keep fit.   Obviously, they were all lies, with a capital L. That was probably why he accepted the nickname when Kris made a comment of how he looked like Death Note’s L Lawlight with his frizzy hair, before he cut it into a more stylish look.   He had realised that he didn’t like it when another person, boys specifically, looked at Amber the way he did. He wanted to be the only one who saw her smile, who touched her hair, who hugged her whenever he wants to, and who got to enter her world when nobody else was allowed to. It wasn’t until he turned fifteen that he realised what damage he had done on the girl. Believing that there was nothing he could do to fix what had already been done, he decided to keep going.   Going through puberty did not make his attraction to Amber waver for other females; instead, it enhanced to the point that he dreamt of her every single night.   She haunted his life for twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week.   Her smile that deprived him of oxygen.   Her laugh that sounded like a melodious piece of music in his ears.   Her scent that tormented him.   He wanted to scream at her, curse at her, and do something that could let out his frustration, but he couldn’t…   He had somehow figured out that his addiction of her had become an obsession and he just wanted to get rid of it. So, he decided he was going to make her ugly in a lot of ways and tried to take his mind away from her. He began to date different girls and let his frustration out on them. Although it didn’t actually work well (considering that all he saw was Amber, Amber, and Amber again), he retained the lifestyle.   But what he could not believe was… how developed she had grown over the years. Puberty did not do her justice.   He went to watch Amber’s dance class with Kris and Dong Woo, who were there to watch Krystal and Luna practicing for the school’s Culture Festival in June this year. The three girls were in the same dance group as