Spectrum of Red. [LISRENE]

10

In the chemistry lab, Tzuyu was focused on the titration, her brow furrowed as she carefully dripped the potassium permanganate into the solution. Meanwhile, Sana sat next to her, watching her intently.

"Hey, Tzu,"

Sana called out, pouting.

"Is my lipstick still perfect?"

Without looking up, Tzuyu hummed in response,

“Mhm, sure.”

Sana, unimpressed with the lack of attention, grabbed Tzuyu’s chin and turned her face towards her.

“Look at me when I’m asking about important things!”

Tzuyu sighed, finally meeting Sana’s eyes.

"It needs a retouch."

Sana gasped dramatically and reached for her makeup bag. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the beaker of pink potassium permanganate and, out of pure curiosity, dipped her finger in it.

Before Sana could do anything else, Tzuyu grabbed her hand, her eyes wide.

“Sana! Are you crazy? You can’t put potassium permanganate on your lips just because it’s pink!”

Sana blinked, confused.

“I wasn’t going to put it on my lips! I’m not dumb,”

She huffed defensively.

“I was just curious!”

Tzuyu shook her head, cleaning Sana's finger with the sleeve of her lab coat.

"Curious or not, I’d rather you not turn your face purple for a week."

Sana crossed her arms, pouting.

“You don’t have to be so bossy just because you’re smart and ahead of the kids of your age, you know. I’m still older than you! You should respect me!”

Tzuyu sighed, knowing exactly where this was going.

“Sorry, Sana,”

She said, flicking her forehead gently, which earned a cute whine from Sana.

Before the bickering could continue, their teacher’s voice rang out from across the room.

“Manoban and Minatozaki! What are you two doing? Out! Out of the lab, both of you!”

Sana opened her mouth to argue, but Tzuyu, already knowing what would happen, quickly clamped her hand over Sana’s mouth and dragged her out of the lab.

“Sorry, teacher,”

She muttered as she pulled a struggling Sana out the door.

At lunchtime, the group gathered around their usual table: Momo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, and Sana, who were still pouting from earlier.

Dahyun leaned over and raised an eyebrow.

"Let me guess… you two got kicked out of the lab again?"

Tzuyu nodded tiredly, not even bothering to explain. The others chuckled, clearly used to this routine.

Momo smirked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Props to you, Tzuyu. I don’t know how you manage to keep up with her every day.”

As if on cue, Sana clung to Tzuyu’s arm.

“She loves me too much, that’s why,”

Sana said with a smug smile.