▬ Chapter 3: Mr. Kim Sunggyu's Life ▬

Sungyeol has been pacing back and forth the living room — or more like trying to dodge around piles of clothing and food cartons — for a few hours now. He has been waiting for L to show up since he screamed his one-lettered name over and over again early that morning and whatever that NamWoo guy meant about Sunggyu having work to do has already escaped his mind. He didn’t even know where to go for that matter so it wouldn’t even have made a difference.

Sungyeol glanced at the wall clock for the nth time and his frustrations grew again.

“Where the heck is that Death Note kid?!” He gritted his teeth as he began to stomp towards the fridge. Waiting for L made him quite hungry. “I thought he was my godmother, I mean, godfather of death or something. Is he neglecting his duties as my guardian?”

Once he opened the fridge, he scanned for something edible to eat. However, there was nothing there except for bottles of soju and an opened can of tuna.

“Ew,” he scrunched his face in disgust. “How long has that can been open? The insides look all watery and made of guck.” He shut the fridge door and went on to scavenge elsewhere as Sunggyu’s stomach began to grumble.

Sungyeol eventually found a door which he thought led to the pantry. With hunger starting to overpower his senses, he opened the door with such vigor that he almost broke it. Figuratively, of course.

Having a mischievous glint in his eyes, he smirked, “Food, here I come— AHHH!” Sungyeol shrieked and tumbled backward. In front of him was an arm with blood trickling down its sides. The arm swung in front of him like one of those tricks that children play on adults whenever they open doors. As he took another step back, hand clutching his heart, he ended up slipping on the cold, waxed floor. This then led him to bump his hip on the counter and finally land on his arse with a thud.

“Ugh,” he moaned as he tried to get up. A pang of pain hit his hip and he clutched it. “Wait. The arm...” He glanced back to the entrance of the pantry but the arm was nowhere to be seen. “What the heck?” He slowly stood up with a grunt. “I was so sure I saw a—”

“’Sup,” a voice suddenly said. “Idiot.”

Sungyeol dramatically turned his head to where the voice came from at the intrusion from his thoughts. That’s when he finally saw the one person who he has been dying to see. However, the man continued to play with his notebook in hand and gave him an irritated poker-faced look.

“You—”

“Don’t you dare use that tone with me,” L sneered. He was sitting on top of the counter while his legs dangled from the edge. “I came here to rescue you and this is how you repay me?”

Sungyeol practically screamed at him in reply. “I called you dozens of times and you only appear now?!”

L snickered, “You really are an idiot. The watch, you punk. Remember that thing?”

“Watch?” Sungyeol instinctively looked at his left wrist where he always wraps around his watches. A familiar design ticked right back at him and he immediately remembered that it was the one L gave him before. The watch may look like just a plain old watch but behind the clock face was a day counter which marked Sungyeol’s given time — 1:100.

“Oh, that watch,” he rubbed the back of his neck and apologized for his outburst and misunderstanding. The pang of pain from his bottom resurfaced after he decided to sit on a chair. “Ow.”

“What happened to you?” The Death Note holder raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

Sungyeol sighed before he began to go on a speedy train of explanation. “There was this arm with blood all over and—”

“Oh?” L snickered. “You saw it, eh?”

“What?”

“That arm was a symbol,” he said matter-of-factly. “Which means that if you see that, someone like me will pop out. It’s kind of like a warning.”

“Of all the things that could appear, why does it have to be an arm with blood?! It’s freakin’ scary, man! I’m gonna have nightmares because of you!”

“Please, you’re dead.” L scoffed and pointed his notebook at him. “Nightmares don’t matter to you. Your only nightmare is when you can’t finish what you’re here for.”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes.

What an arrogant kid. If he’s going to keep messing with me, he shouldn’t mind me messing with him in return.

“What’s your name again?” He asked in an annoyed tone.

“L. It’s just one freaking letter and you can’t even memorize it?”

“For your information, there are twenty-five other letters,” he haughtily replied. “That’s still a lot.”

“Whatever.” Amalgamating the number of vexing people he has crossed paths with, L has already come to terms that everything people say to him will always be somewhat annoying. That’s why Sungyeol’s little acting didn’t bother him all that much. “Now, I’m in a hurry. What do you want?”

“Info.”

“Hmm?”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

“Ah,” L paused as he thought for a moment. “That actually depends on you.”

Silence filled the room as L just looked at him with a smirk while he crossed his arms confidently. His notebook was swishing back and forth as he let it freely dangle from one of his hands. If this was an anime, you would have seen those irritated, cruciform popping veins become visible on Sungyeol’s forehead right about now.

“Kim Sunggyu,” he finally said. “I need info on the man, for heaven’s sake.”

“Well then,” L smiled although Sungyeol believed it was a fake one. “You should’ve told me earlier.”

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Both were now walking outside as L gave some information about this man named Kim Sunggyu. Apparently, he was born in 1989 so he’s two years older than Sungyeol. He has been living alone for quite a while now after he ran away from home to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned musician; however, L mentioned that the dream hasn’t happened yet. Once he came to Seoul, he looked like a helpless child so he got targeted often until he met his current friends Woohyun and Howon.

“Were those the guys who came earlier?” L nodded without even looking at him. “Gee, thanks for answering me,” Sungyeol mumbled.

The Death Note holder flipped a page of his notebook and continued, “Nam Woohyun owns a restaurant while Lee Howon is a police officer.”

“How about Sunggyu? I mean, me?”

L tsked. “Can’t you wait?”

“Curio