chaelisa prologues: you switch from vodka, lime, and soda

so monochrome & so lukewarm (every park bench screams your name)

A/N: I'm moving 'so monochrome & so lukewarm' in this collection because I will have a different upcoming series to write after 'amga.' Yeah, I'm that writer who has so many ideas in my head and I keep changing my mind so let me keep this story here for now.

The title is in reference to Bloc Party's 'I Still Remember' btw.

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Gently pulling her black necktie from side to side until the back end came out, Lisa Manoban entered the private hospital room she visited weekly for the last two years, without any skip. But that night, to her surprise, someone she was not expecting to be inside the room was inside it.

"What are you doing here?!" Eyebrows creased, Rosé Park regarded Lisa like a trespasser—No—like the person I thought would have some decency to stay out of my and my family's life forever, but it appeared Lisa had the audacity to outstay her welcome.

"I should be the one asking," Lisa said, tilting her head to the side.

Rosé's jaw fell and her inability to speak was out of great shock. Lisa did not only take advantage of her dad's kindness, the word asshole was invented for the likes of Lisa—No—Lisa was the reason that word was even invented! "Uh, excuse me?"

The air of superiority in the tone made Lisa grimace, she drew in a breath between her teeth. "I just don't get how you just pop up in here without any warning. You're like an undreamed-of upheaval."

"'An undreamed-of upheaval'?" Rosé did not hide her incredulity at what Lisa randomly spat. The poetical form of speech sounded like a bad rap to her ears.

Lisa grinned at the repetition of her words. "Like it?"

Seething inwardly, Rosé's eyes followed the woman moving across the room, placing her helmet on the TV console table, and going to the small kitchen to press the electric kettle on. She could tell that Lisa was a regular visitor with the way she seemed comfortable moving around, knowing where the chopsticks and coasters were kept.

Lisa had her back on Rosé as she leaned into the kitchen counter edge while waiting for the water to boil. That room was huge but at that moment, it appeared small in quietness. A quiet that was not tranquil but perilous. All because of the intimidating presence of the woman who hated her since her dad, Mason Park, took her in when her parents died in a car accident along Banpo Bridge two years ago.

"Why are you here, Manoban?"

The sudden closeness of the voice made Lisa turn around abruptly, thinking Rosé was blindsiding her. She almost heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the unexpected visitor was just standing up from her seat beside the hospital bed, pulling at her mini-skirt without anything sharp on her hands. She said, "Why do you want to know?"

"Who knows what you're up to?" Rosé's arms were crossed over her chest as the sound of her heels clicked against the tiled floor upon her approach. She fixed Lisa a resolute stare, already finding clues on that deceptive face.

Under the kitchen light, it occurred to Lisa how contrasting they were—she was in a classic black suit and slacks, matched with a white cotton dress shirt inside while Rosé was in an oversized white suit and mini skirt—and how perhaps their colors did not match their personalities at all. If Rosé's long, blonde hair was arranged in a neat updo, her mass of raven hair was an inglorious mess.

Rosé berated, "What if you're plotting the most wicked thing just to destroy me?"

Lisa chuckled, opening the cupboard where she kept a stash of Ottogi Cheese Ramen—both the stir-fry and soup kind. "Why would I destroy you?"