MENACE | JENLISA

Chapter 1

The hum of the dorm room's mini-fridge was the only sound breaking the midnight silence, save for the rhythmic clatter of Jennie's keyboard.

She sat cross-legged in her desk chair, hair swept up in a claw clip, wearing blue-light glasses that reflected lines of color-coded spreadsheet.

Her desk was a war zone of academic precision: highlighted printouts of university network policies, a pristine notebook filled with timeline entries, and a cold cup of chamomile tea she'd forgotten to drink two hours ago.

"Babe," a soft, raspy voice called from the bed.

Jennie didn't look up, her fingers flying across the keys. "I'm almost done, Lili."

A soft rustle of sheets followed, and then long arms slid around Jennie's shoulders from behind. Lisa buried her face into the crook of Jennie's neck, breathing in the familiar lavender scent of her lotion.

She was clad in one of Jennie's oversized pastel sweaters.

"It's 11:30," Lisa murmured, her lips pressing a soft, warm kiss against Jennie's jawline. "You've been staring at those audio wave files for three hours. Come to bed."

Jennie let out a frustrated sigh, leaning her head back against Lisa's chest. "I can't. This... menace is driving me insane. He went live again last Sunday at 2:00 AM. He leaked the entire syllabus curve for the macroeconomics department and called out Dean Park's parking violations."

Lisa's arms tightened just a fraction around Jennie's waist. "I mean... Dean Park does park his BMW across two handicapped spots," she noted reasonably, resting her chin on Jennie's shoulder.

"That's not the point!" Jennie turned her head, her face inches from Lisa's. "It's an absolute breach of institutional integrity! The journalism department is getting blamed for security leaks, the council is working sixty-hour weeks trying to patch communication breaches, and whoever is running this stream is sitting back, hiding behind some high-tech voice scrambler, completely unbothered!"

Lisa winced softly, reaching up to gently smooth down a stray lock of Jennie's dark hair. 

"Sounds like a real jerk," she offered sympathetically. "A total weirdo."

"Exactly," Jennie muttered, turning back to her screen with renewed venom. "A digital terrorist who has nothing better to do on a Sunday night than sabotage my peace of mind."

Lisa sighed, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of Jennie's head before stepping back. "Well, don't let the terrorist ruin your night. I'm heading out."

Jennie paused, looking up as Lisa pulled her sneakers out of the closet. "Right. Your shift." Her sharp expression instantly softened into something sweet and concerned. "Are you going to be okay? The humanities wing is so cold at night."

"I'll be fine," Lisa smiled, pulling an oversized black hoodie over her head. "It's just hours of putting returned books back on shelves and sweeping the study carrels. But extra pay is worth it."

Jennie stood up, walking over to the door to adjust the collar of Lisa's hoodie. She cupped Lisa's cheek, running a tender thumb across her cheekbone. "Don't push yourself too hard. You already worked four hours at the reference desk today."

"I have a lot of energy, Jen. You know that," Lisa chuckled softly, leaning down to steal a kiss from Jennie's lips. "Go to sleep soon, okay? I'll be back before your morning alarm."

"Be careful walking across the quad," Jennie reminded her, standing on her tiptoes to kiss her one more time. "I love you."

"Love you more, Boss," Lisa winked, slipping out the door and into the quiet hallway.

The door clicked shut.

Jennie sighed.

Lisa was always so grounded, so calm, so completely removed from the stress of campus politics.

With a feeling of warmth in her chest, Jennie shut down her laptop, brushed her teeth, and crawled into bed, pulling Lisa's pillow against her chest.

At 6:05 AM, the dorm room door unlocked quietly.

Jennie stirred under the heavy duvet as the mattress dipped.

A pair of cold hands slid around her waist, and a long body pulled itself flush against her back.

Lisa tucked her face into Jennie's hair, letting out a long, contented exhale that smelled faintly of library-vending-machine coffee.

"Mmm... you're back," Jennie mumbled softly, turning around in Lisa's arms to rest her forehead against Lisa's collarbone. "How was it?"

"Boring," Lisa whispered, her fingers softly stroking Jennie's spine. "Just me, four walls, and three hundred sociology journals that needed alphabetical ordering."

"Sounds exhausting," Jennie murmured, her voice thick with sleep as she wrapped an arm over Lisa's waist, sinking deeper into the warmth of her girlfriend's hold. "Did you at least get to rest?"

"A little," Lisa murmured softly, kissing Jennie's temple. "Go back to sleep, baby. It's early."

Jennie drifted off.

Precisely one hour and fifty-five minutes later, her phone exploded.

The piercing alert tone of the Student Council emergency group chat's notifications has flooded her phone. Jennie bolted upright in bed, her heart hammering against her ribs as she grabbed her phone off the nightstand.

Her screen was a wall of red-flagged notifications:

[ 🗨 STUDENT COUNCIL OFFICERS ]

@park_chaeyoung: Did everyone see the 2:15 AM broadcast???

Jennie threw off the covers, her face flushing with rage.

"UNBELIEVABLE!" she roared, pacing across the hardwood floor in her pajamas, clutching her phone. "AGAIN! AT TWO IN THE MORNING!"

On the bed, Lisa slowly blinked her eyes open, yawning lazily as she pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"What's wrong, babe?" she asked, her voice raspy from sleep as she reached over to hand Jennie a glass of water from the nightstand. "Did something happen?"

"THAT UNHINGED ANARCHIST HAPPENED!" Jennie fumed, taking the glass and pacing toward her desk. "They leaked the sociology rubric! They were live for forty-five minutes from somewhere, mocking the administration and ruining my entire week before it even starts!"

Lisa sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and looking at Jennie softly.

"Babe, sit down," she said, holding out a hand. "Drink your water. Don't let some stupid internet idiot get your blood pressure up like this on a Monday morning. Come here, let me rub your shoulders."

Jennie looked at Lisa—so sweet, so caring, so utterly untouched by the chaos of the world—and let out a shaky breath, sitting on the edge of the mattress to let Lisa wrap a arm around her waist.

"I just don't understand how someone can be so reckless," Jennie whispered stressed, resting her head on Lisa's shoulder while Lisa gently stroked her arm. "They have no respect for rules."

"People are crazy, Jen," Lisa agreed softly, kissing Jennie's hair. "Absolute weirdos out there. Now come on, let me make you some toast."

[@author] ↓
I decided to offer a lighter environment along the REDLINE. 
This one will be a lot shorter, paced and literally as I said, lighter.
I hope you'll like it.