•We Met•

Fingers lacing into her parents' hair, curving around their skulls,  Jiyeon felt unexceptionally weak all of a sudden. As though, her soul no longer belong to this half-dead body. She was tempted to escape from this nightmare. Maybe dive into the deep dark ocean around the house and never come back up for air. For a second she couldn't breath. Death, she yearned for.

Despite the acute conscious of the revenge she was obliged to carry out, she just couldn't steel herself against this miserable affair. Dealing with solitary was not in her repertoire. The laughter that was always loading the atmosphere, the soothing warmth her parents would generously furnish, those three pleasant words that would keep vibrating her ear drum all day long, Jiyeon missed every bit of those. She couldn't even force herself to imagine what her life would be without her parents who had strived to keep her alive and ended up dying under the absurd rule.

The silence was tense and voltaic until the door broke open, once again. Jiyeon snapped her head up in horror. Other than fear, nothing was in her expression. She was afraid that the Reaper would come back once more and might remorselessly take her parents away from her. Her parents who are deadly cold and are no longer alive. To her dismay, it was a 5 feet tall woman, clad under a piece of black cloak, which added the heavy blows that her heart was pounding in. Another Reaper, she thought, shakily pushing herself closer to her parents cold body.

Sparkling droplets sliding down her smooth skin, nerves jolting unpleasantly, Jiyeon managed to summoned her courage. "Shove off. You've already killed them. What more do you want?" There was a glint of tears in her eyes. "My life? Well, take it. There's no point living without my parents anyways." Her normally calm and pleasant demeanor was gone to the point where she could no longer be herself, anymore.

The dark figure reached Jiyeon in two strides, raking through her hair that was completely disarrayed lying around her shoulder. Delirious with shock, Jiyeon lifted her head up, completely forgot when to blink her eyes. A smile made its way to the woman's lips. "Follow me if you wish to avenge the murder of your parents." Her voice wasn't as horrifying as Jiyeon expected. In fact, it was a voice of opulent sweetness.

"Who are you? And, why are you helping me to get my revenge?" Jiyeon asked scrupulously, expecting for an answer that would convince her to string along. At a split second, she notice a weathering of sadness around her hazel green eyes. It added her appetence to take her revenge, somehow.

After a moment's thought, she finally parted her lips to answer Jiyeon's long-awaited question. "Evangeline, who was once released by your merciful father. I would have been dead if it wasn't for him cutting me some slack." Evangeline felt her chest tighten to a point where it was arduous to breath. "I had been observing him through my crystal ball ever since he liberated me. Yet, I was too late to save him from death." Her voice slowly faded.

A moment of silence passed. Jiyeon held Evangeline's hand, giving it a little squeeze. She could feel her pulse beating at the front of . "Please, show me how to kill the Reaper who took my parents' life." She took a glance at them, feeling her heart being tore into tiny piece of fragments. Stung, she shut her eyes and immediately return her attention to Evangeline.

Evangeline gave her a brief nod. "Take my hand," she said, extending her arm out. Jiyeon didn't know if she should believe this stranger right in front of her but that was her only chance she had got. The only chance to repay the vicious Reaper who had torn her family apart, the only chance she could ease the moil that was gnawing at her, the only thing that could convince her to stay breathing. Hand slightly trembling, she landed it on Evangeline's hand. 

They stepped out of the house Jiyeon once loved the most but now, it had become her greatest nightmare. They passed through the dark forest. There weren't a streak of moonlight through the trees that were held up high. Darkness was all she saw, an eerie silence was all she heard, fear is all she felt. An owl abruptly flew pass. It was meant to be appalling but Jiyeon was actually relieve that they weren't the only living organisms here.

Evangeline gave the hut's door a little push, led Jiyeon to a room where only books exist. To be more precise, spell books. Jiyeon looked around the room. There were piles of books disorderly stacked on the floor, several pieces of parchments on the ground, spider webs stationed at the ceilings. The cold breeze was gone when Evangeline shut the door, tight, which captivated Jiyeon's wariness.

Evangeline tardily reached her hand out, completely focusing on it. "Dolusky peetch," she said as a crystal ball gradually materialized on her palm. If this had happened before Jiyeon's parents' death, she would have been amused. Closing her eyes momentarily, Evangeline moved her left hand above the crystal ball that just magically appeared. "Shone under the majestic moonlight, may Hell emerge."

The image of Hell promptly appeared at the crystal ball the moment she casted her spells. There were different people in black cloaks walking around. Reapers, she supposed as they wore the exact same garment as H. Just then, something significant caught her eyes. The letter 'H' that was engraved on one of the Reapers' arm. Her gaze tracked his arms before returning to Evangeline with dilated eyes.

"Reaper H, I see," Evangeline said to Jiyeon's unspoken words. She looked intently at Jiyeon. "Look, I need you to read the spell with all the hatred and excruciation that had been lodged inside you while picturing H. You enmity is much more stronger than mine and only you, can kill him." With a mere wiggle of her index finger, a book that was laid right underneath the mountains of books flitted to her. She grabbed it and flipped to a page where the spell was at. Slowly, she showed it to Jiyeon.

Jiyeon felt her chest tighten envisioning how her parents died. It seemed to be a peaceful death but she was utterly sure it was all just a facade. Her family was complete before they died. She could have spent the rest of life happily although poverty was in the way. She knew she could, given the fact her parents persuade her to use her second name. Her breath shortened. The lump broke, and her chest and throat filled with heat as she forced herself to say it.

"Azento nocturne reticulum!" 

Noises were instantly heard from the crystal ball. The most prominent remark that caught Jiyeon's ear was when people saying, "Reaper H is... dead." She turned to the direction, taking in every details - Reaper H was dead on the ground. The rest of the Reapers were surrounding him, muttering and whispering.

A throbbing awareness lingered right beneath Jiyeon's skin. She did it. After another cursory glance at the crystal ball, she swirled to Evangeline, hoping she could answer the question that had been haunting her. "Evangeline, there is this Death Note Reaper H mentioned earlier. What is it, exactly?"

Seeing Jiyeon's austere face, Evangeline couldn't really hide the top secret of Hell. She resolved to tell Jiyeon about that lethal weapon of Reapers. "That was what Reapers used to take people's life. They write their name on it." Jiyeon continued unconsciously, "And whoever's name was written would be dead..."

"Seo Yul, don't make me repeat what I've said. Stop those creditors from creating such a fuss here or get the hell out of here. They're always here for your dad's debt! Look what they've done to the walls!" Jiyeon's neighbour kept shouting while banging her rusty door. Just another strike, the door will probably fall off.

A frown pucker Jiyeon's forehead. She reached up and tuck her hair behind her ears. "I don't give a to what they've done. It's all my god damn father's debt and it has nothing to do with me. Any noise heard from you, and breathing will be the last thing you ever do. You get me?"

After she had her revenge, she was adopted by her stepfather. She didn't expect him to love her as much as her father did but she then realized she should have expected less. Love was too much of an expectation. Every day, she had to endure the pain her stepfather brings. She was abused, ually harassed, which was what shaped her to who she was today. Cold-blooded and despicable.

Again, she felt like crying but tears just wouldn't fall off. They were all dried up, maybe. Too much of crying and what she was lack of now was tears. And love. Jiyeon was tempted to escape from this living grievance but it was impossible. Her stepfather would somehow found her out and dragged her back home despite her resistance. Each time of escape, she would be abused harder. It had gotten to the point where she had given up on evading.

Bang. Her door was knocked on again. Miffed, she stood up on her heels and stomped to the door. Jiyeon opened the door and yelled, "Which part of 'any noise heard from you, and breathing will be the last thing you ever do' do you not understand?" 

"I beg your pardon." A guy's voice was heard from the door way. Jiyeon was too late to regret what she had done. He was slim and dark in a long sweater and casual jeans. He had coal-black eyes, which were very restless and very piercing. His hand looked unnaturally white, almost bloodless. Still, he was stunning.

A frown pulled Jiyeon's forehead into crinkles. "My dad's not here! What do you want from me?" she demanded, dragging a hand through her hair with a scrubbing motion, causing the short, dark strands to stand up in wild dishevelment. She held the door knob, ready to close the door anytime.

A smile made its way to his lips. "I'm L." He reached out his hand to have a handshake with Jiyeon but she ignored it icily. Though she was actually relieve that it was not a debtor. She rolled her eyes. "I obviously did not ing ask for your name."

He abruptly made his way into Jiyeon's house, eyes roaming around the living room, leaving her standing there alone, overwhelmed. There was nothing, except for a couch and the ancient clock that was hung on the wall. "I see you've got an empty room here, Seo Yul," he swirled around. The smile was plastered on his face. "And I'm here for that."

Jiyeon was about to reject that but L suddenly added, "I'll pay you double."

"Deal," Jiyeon uttered, without a second of hesitation. She needed the money to pay for her stepfather's debt. She had enough with the life she was living. She wanted a change, though it seemed like a mirage she longed for. "What's your full name?"

"L."

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A friend of mine, PureBride just came up with a new fanfic, Life of The Background Noise and I'm a co-author of it. Please click on it and shower us some love. Thanks. <3