Red hurried back home, his heart skipping a beat when he saw his bedroom door wide open.
Especially when he caught sight of Litt’s back—it felt like half his soul had gone cold.
But the good news was, maybe she’d heard his footsteps and turned around just in time, so she probably hadn’t had the chance to look around too carefully… right?
Although he was just deceiving himself, Red could only cling to that thought for now.
Litt turned her head and saw Red, feeling a bit embarrassed as well.
After all, entering someone else’s bedroom without permission was already impolite enough.
What’s more, she’d subconsciously slipped the photo into her pocket just now.
Now, taking it out would be awkward, but not taking it out also felt a little off.
What should she do?
Litt’s mind spun wildly…
She thought of a good idea.
“I’m so sorry!”
Litt suddenly bowed more than ninety degrees, her voice filled with the utmost sincerity.
“I really didn’t mean to barge into your room! Honestly!!”
She slowly straightened up, her cheeks already flushed red, her gaze darting all over, unable to look Red in the eye.
“I… I just saw the door was open… thought you were inside… and wanted to… wanted to see if you needed any help with anything…”
The girl’s voice grew softer and softer, until it was barely audible.
At the moment she bowed, Red also noticed that the photo which had been on the table was already gone!
Crap.
In this situation, she must have seen it, right?
Just as Red was thinking how to explain, Litt made a move.
“I’ll go make dinner!”
She rushed out in a panic.
Red reached out, wanting to call after her, but it was already too late.
Dinner that night was wrapped in an inexplicable awkwardness.
Red kept trying to find a chance to speak, but never found the right moment; Litt stayed silent too, just eating her food with a red face.
Amid the silence, Red’s gaze swept over the girl before him, up and down.
The photo was probably in Litt’s pocket now, but there was a pressing question.
Should he take it back?
It seemed best not to, but there was a big risk: this incident might leave things awkward between him and Litt in the future.
But if he did take it back…
How would he even ask for it?
“Could you please return that private photo of Retia to me?”
Emmm…
That wouldn’t work at all.
Judging from Litt’s reaction back then, she must have already seen the contents of the photo.
So asking directly was out of the question—it’d make him look like a complete pervert.
The best way would be to find a good opportunity to get it back and explain things slowly afterward.
Red’s eyes swept up and down Litt, trying to figure out where she’d hidden the photo.
But his gaze made Litt’s whole body break out in goosebumps.
“Red… what’s wrong?”
The girl pressed her skirt down firmly, tightening her legs together.
“It’s nothing.”
Red shook his head.
He really had no idea when he could bring it up.
He couldn’t just wait until Litt was asleep and then sneak it back, could he?
That would be even weirder.
While Red was still thinking—
Litt, her hand clenching the photo at her side, slowly raised it up.
“Are… are you looking for this?”
She didn’t hand the photo to Red, but used it to cover her face, which was now burning hot and bright red, leaving only her watery eyes peeking out at Red from time to time.
“Um…”
“A photo of another girl…”
“…is it really that nice to look at?”
The edge of the photo was bent from Litt’s grip.
Clearly, she was feeling very shy about Retia’s photo as well.
Seeing Litt like this, Red was a bit dazed.
He opened his mouth to say something, but found he didn’t know what to say.
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, but even so, Litt still spoke.
“She used to be your Team member, right? Red, do you like her?”
Hearing that, Red instantly sat up straight.
Say anything you want, but liking Letia, that’s absolutely impossible.
Who in their right mind would have thoughts about that stinky-footed priest?
Red put both hands on Litt’s shoulders.
“Litt, look into my devout eyes. Do you think I’m the type to go into heat over a Monkey?”
“……”
Honestly, when Litt heard that, she really wanted to punch Red right in the face.
What do you mean, ‘go into heat over a Monkey’?
Do you even hear yourself?
But she had to keep up her persona, so she could only force a smile and say,
“It’s not right to talk bad about other girls, you know.”
“Sorry,” Red realized what he’d said was inappropriate, and quickly corrected himself, “Let me put it this way—my odds of going into heat over her are even less than over a Monkey.”
Are you even being polite?
“But… she does look pretty cute, doesn’t she?”
Litt was already used to this sort of self-praise.
“And if she really didn’t have feelings for you, how could she give you a photo like that?”
“It’s a long story…”
After briefly explaining the origin of the photo, Red felt completely exhausted.
“Anyway, that’s about it. In a sense, it’s a bribe from her. But honestly, even if I hadn’t gotten the photo, I probably would have helped her anyway.”
That was a lie.
Litt knew exactly what Red was like at the time—he’d totally let his lower half do the thinking.
Without that photo, even three thousand more jobs wouldn’t have tempted him.
If it had been Litt, she’d rather turn down the money than take on that job.
After all, it was seriously exhausting.
“So that’s how it was…”
With the way Litt gave Red a way out, and her willingness to completely believe in him, the explanation didn’t take much effort at all.
“What about the photo, Red? Do you still want it?”
“Uh…”
If he could, Red really did want it back.
But seeing Litt’s eyes, he just couldn’t bring himself to ask.
But at least the misunderstanding was cleared up.
“It’s fine, I don’t really care.”
Red said that, but inside his heart was bleeding.
Seeing Red’s reluctant, awkward expression, Litt couldn’t help it anymore and let out a soft laugh.
“All right, all right, it was given to you by Retia as a reward, after all. I’ll give it back.”
With that, Litt handed the photo back to him.
Red hadn’t expected this outcome at all.
He was stunned for a moment and was about to say something, when Litt spoke softly in a gentle voice.
“But… you’re not allowed to accept photos from other girls anymore, okay…”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Red nodded hurriedly, blurting out, “I promise I won’t accept any photos from anyone but Retia.”
“……”
“……”
“…Did I misunderstand something?”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
He just punched through all the layers by accident