「MAFIA AU」(♧2)
Taehyun looked down at her, resisting the urge to take a step back, knowing that it would reveal how much her intimidation techniques were working on him. He stood his ground, staring back into her fiery stare with his slightly nervou...
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"Don't suffocate her, Rina."
Kai muttered to Rina, who was visibly a few seconds away from bombarding Jieun with ice-breaker questions. It was clear that she was little less than ecstatic about having another girl living with them.
Soobin had just explained the gist of the situation to Rina; Jieun's relation to Jake and why she needed their help.
As normal, Jieun couldn't have been less interested in socializing, eyes scanning the room for any signs as to where the computer room could potentially be waiting for her presence. Her goal was to find Enhypen, now that she had successfully infiltrated TXT's headquarters.
All entrances noticeable for her at that moment were a doorway leading to an open-plan kitchen, a hallway, a staircase, the door she had just entered though, and a door with a unique design of a rose visible in the window.
Jieun's eyes soon trailed back to the jittery girl she had just been introduced to, seeing an expectant expression ghosting her features, as if she was awaiting her answer to a question she had just asked; the last thing she said was a simple greeting.
Jieun forced a smile into her cheeks, stepping towards Rina with reluctantly wide arms.
"I look forward to getting to know you better."
Although Jieun's embrace was forced and almost robotic, Rina had felt too victorious to notice; Kai's whispers prior to their official introduction had predicted their first encounter to go much differently than the way it did.
Managing to miss the immaturely smug glares Rina was sending Kai's way, Jieun soon pulled away, the friendliness on her face almost straining against the cold expression she was fighting to keep at bay.
If I want to get what I need, I need to gain their trust. If I want to gain their trust, I need to try and get closer to them.
Be it because of her late enlightenment of this certain fact, or her conscience simply rejecting it to protect her individuality, that was the moment her mask came on, and it would have to stay on until she was finished with her mission.
"Can you take her to one of the guest rooms?"
Soobin asked Rina, the twinge of surprise from her noticeable change of attitude still audible in his tone.
"Oh- yeah, of course,"
Rina grabbed Jieun's wrist, for which Jieun had to suppress the discomfort of unsolicited physical contact.
"just come with me."
Jieun smiled and grabbed onto the single travel bag she had brought with, then allowing Rina to lead her towards the hallway she had seen earlier and through one of the few doors that waited to be discovered by her curious eyes.
The interior of the bedroom didn't seem fascinating enough for any of its features to be noted, except for the fact that there was a huge built-in fish tank above the headboard of the bed. It had blue LEDs along the inner corners, illuminating the scales of the single fish that floated in the water.
The unusuality of the specific piece of furniture was almost scary to Jieun, and she immediately wondered why someone who was strange enough to put it there wasn't inhabiting the room.
Rina, noticing the recipient of Jieun's attention, chuckled a little and pulled Jieun's bag off of the ground and onto the large bed in front of the tank.
"Two of TXT's past members used to live here... I guess they must have had strange taste."
As Rina was about to unzip Jieun's bag, she stopped her with an attempt at a friendly smile.
"I can unpack myself."
Retracting her hands from Jieun's luggage suddenly, Rina's smile faltered for just a second, having unfortunately picked up on the slight hint of hostility in her tone.
Noticing Rina's unsettled expression, Jieun quickly softened her gaze, lightening her voice and gently pulling her bag a little closer to herself.
"I'm sure you have better things to do. I wouldn't want to be a burden."
Rina's smile returned at Jieun's save, her eyes waning as she cooed.
"Aww~ you're too sweet~"
She started to make her way out of the room, facing away from Jieun, yet craning her neck at her as if she were an interesting movie. Narrowly avoiding hitting her body into the door frame, Rina gently grabbed the knob as she hovered in the doorway.
"Just come up and call me if you need help with anything. Good night, Jieun."
Rina shut the door after a final wave, leaving Jieun in a strange atmosphere of her own emotions, the friendly girl's words echoing around her head.
Good night?
She hadn't heard those words in so long, it was almost painfully nostalgic to hear from a mere acquaintance. It filled her mind with confusion, wondering why Rina was so friendly to her for no reason.
Jieun's eyes slunk back to the fish tank, allowing herself to properly take in the appearance of the small creature.
Although its body was small, it had large, magnificent fins that seemed to flow with the very matter of the water it was surrounded by, moving a with a little more vigor whenever it got a little too close to the filter.
It was almost therapeutic to watch the fiery being simply float about the glass container, moving around and about the coral palace that was reserved just for it.
So therapeutic that Jieun found herself staring for a lot longer than she thought she would.
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