Spectrum of Red. [LISRENE]

11

Lisa was in her room, staring intently at the cup with Irene’s photo on it. Her mind drifted back to the grocery store encounter and the washroom.

She thought with a blush creeping up. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Tzuyu’s voice followed.

“I’m coming in!”

Tzuyu said as she opened the door without waiting for an answer.

Startled, Lisa quickly placed the cup on the table. Tzuyu’s sharp eyes immediately caught sight of it.

“That’s Irene Unnie,”

Tzuyu said matter-of-factly.

Lisa nodded.

“Yeah”

Tzuyu asked curiously.

“Why do you still have this?”

Lisa cleared her throat, scrambling for an excuse.

“Oh, this? It's, uh... a souvenir from the Red Room.”

Tzuyu nodded as if that made perfect sense.

“Alright then. Anyway, your colleagues are here, and they’re having a girl’s sleepover. They’re calling you.”

Lisa sighed in relief at the change of subject.

“Right. Let’s go.”

They walked out to find Jisoo, Jeongyeon, and Jennie sitting on the couch, already deep in conversation about the new case at work. After a few minutes of casual talk, Jennie’s attention shifted to Tzuyu’s lips, almost fully recovered from the punch she'd taken, though a small scar remained.

“Hey, what happened to the person who punched you?”

Jennie asked, her tone concerned.

Jisoo snorted, while Lisa couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, you should’ve seen the poor boy,”

Jisoo chimed in, grinning.

“He looked like a tree after a typhoon.”

Tzuyu crossed her arms proudly.

“I punched him hard.”

Jennie raised a brow.

“Why?”

Tzuyu shrugged like it was no big deal.

“He touched my best friend.”

Jennie gave her an approving look, her voice dripping with sass.

“That's my girl.”

Lisa groaned, shaking her head.

“Don’t encourage her, Jen”

Jennie shot a glare at Lisa, then smiled sweetly at Tzuyu, who was basking in the attention.

“Why not? She’s got great instincts.”

Lisa whined dramatically.

“It’s hard raising kids.”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

“I’m not a kid. I’m 15.”

Jisoo, ever the opportunist, pounced on the moment.

“And you already have a girlfriend!”

Jennie gasped in fake shock.

“Tzuyu, you didn’t tell me!”

Tzuyu’s face turned bright red, and she shook her head vigorously.

“Sana is just my friend!”

Jeongyeon grinned mischievously.