Phantom: Rosé

Chapter 32

Lisa and I stare at the screen, our eyes wide. What could this video contain? Could this be the key to solving Rosé's murder? 

My mind buzzes with questions but it can do nothing but focus on the tape as in the video Irene retreats to sit in an armchair next to the couch Rosé, Lisa, and Hyeri sit on. 

"Why the hell are you filming this?" Rosé asks Irene, her expression clearly annoyed. 

"Come on, we're not juniors anymore. We've got one more year of high school and we're out!" 

Rosé rolls her eyes, pushing up the sleeves of her infamous white sweater. The sight almost sends a chill down my spine. 

"Rosé was put in school a year later than the rest of us," Lisa says. "So, she was a year older, but in the same grade. I don't really know why she started school late, though." 

I nod. That makes sense. Why would Rosé have turned eighteen in the middle of her junior year? It adds up now. 

As I study the screen, I see now what Nai was talking about when he said there was a sort of tension between Rosé and the people around her. It's seen in the way Lisa and Hyeri carry a conversation with Rosé sitting there between them, a drink in her hand. Or the way Irene sits in her armchair, smoking a cigarette as she usually is, sending Rosé a tentative glance every so often. 

I watch Rosé carefully. She seems like such an opposite to the Rosé I interact with. The sight of her sullenly sitting on the couch in this video combined with her bitter attitude towards her mother in the other video almost makes me glad I didn't know her. Was she like that all the time? In the first video of her and Lisa playing soccer when they were younger, she seemed so jubilant and excited. What happened to make her so sour and annoyed with everything? 

"Stop smoking," she snaps at Irene in the video. 

She takes a long drag from the cigarette. "No." 

She sets her drink down on the table, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, glaring at Irene.

"I said, stop smoking." 

"And I said no." She glares back at her. 

"Cut it out, guys," Hyeri says, reaching into the front pocket of her shirt and retrieving a pack of cards, much like I'd seen her do earlier tonight at this very party. In the video, she shuffles the cards, watching Irene and Rosé glare at each other. 

The tension between Irene and Rosé is almost tangible, even from watching it in a video. Rosé leans forward and slides the ashtray on the coffee table over to Irene and sits back in her seat. 

"Since you stole my necklace I think the least you can do is put out your cigarette." 

I stifle a gasp. Stole her necklace? 

Irene's eyes harden onscreen and she begrudgingly sits forward and stabs out her cigarette. She continues to glare at Rosé. 

"What necklace?" Lisa asks. 

"Nothing," Rosé says, picking up her drink and taking a long sip of it. 

"You could loosen up a bit, Rosé," Irene snaps. "It is the first day of summer and all." 

"I don't give two shits what day it is," she retorts. "You throwing this pointless party at my house no less doesn't make me less angry with you." 

"Calm down, Rosé," Hyeri says quietly. 

"It's not even a party," Irene says, rolling her eyes. "It's just a few of our friends." 

"It's still at my house without my prior knowledge. Damn it, Irene."