Love Shot - Exo Mafia AU (1/4)

13

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Kim Yeo-Reom's Pov.
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Ri-Ya took me home, it was her home, but it was still a house that she told me to refer to as home.

It was a tall building, stacked high with dark, red bricks, ivy climbing the white pillars that decorated the structure. The windows were tinted and underneath them were flower boxes, somehow still full of plants despite the cool weather. There were also cars parked all over the place and people bustling about, each of them greeting Ri-Ya as we passed, most of them dressed in red. 

I let Oh-Rim know the situation as we arrived at the manor, making sure to apologise for my rash behaviour too before handing Ri-Ya's phone back to her, "There's a lot of people here."

Ri-Ya glanced back at me before stepping out of her car, "A lot of them live here or around here, they're coming to end their shifts for the day. Don't worry about them."

I glanced at her over the roof of the car as we exited it, "How many people live here in total?"

Ri-Ya hummed thoughtfully as she locked her car, putting the keys away in her back pocket and starting to make her way up the steps to the white, double entrance doors, "Technically, only Ma-Ra and I live here full time but a lot of gang members sleepover and spend their days here."

I hesitated slightly at the mention of my oldest sister's name and Ri-Ya noticed and paused, "Don't think on it too much, she hasn't changed much, still as prickly as ever, still as mature as a ninety-year-old."

I nodded slowly, a small smile lifting my face slightly, trailing behind Ri-Ya as we entered the building. 

The foyer was empty, but I could hear the sound of conversation nearby, from what appeared to a dining room, both male and female voices mixing into one.

"You can meet the outer circle gang later. For now, I'll take you to see Ma-Ra, she'll be offended if I distract you by something else before that," Ri-Ya tried to joke but she was clearly still nervous, looking back at me every few seconds.

The manor looked more expensive than any other building I'd ever been in my whole life. It had dark, burgundy wood panelled walls and polished marble floors, a staircase taking up half the hallway glittering under a shining chandelier. Paintings and portraits decked the walls too, unique and most of them dyed beige. 

 Ri-Ya led me up the stairs and down another long hallway, more scarcely lit up and with semi-circle carpets outside most doors. She stopped at the mahogany door at the very end, turning her back to me, "This is her office, she'll be working inside. I'll come in initially, but I'll leave right after to give you guys' time to reunite properly, okay?"

I nodded slowly, rubbing my hands down my jeans nervously as they turned clammy, "Okay."

She smiled encouragingly, placing her hand on the handle and giving the door a short knock.

"Come in." I decided her voice had changed a lot; it had become silkier and authoritative.

"Come on," Ri-Ya beckoned, gesturing with her head for me to follow her as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. She held it open for me and I shut the door behind me, hiding behind her as best as I could even though she was a good head shorter than me.

The room's walls were lined with messy bookshelves and boxes full of files and loose sheets. A singular blown-glass lamp shade covered a yellow bulb above out heads, shining down on the coffee table in the middle of the room, also swamped with books. Three leather chairs surrounded the table, and a leather sofa was pushed between two of the bookcases, slightly worn down in places. Finally, there was a dark wood desk at the top of the room, a computer buzzing on top of it. At the desk, in a black suit with her legs crossed, her eyes cast down to an open file, sat Kim Ma-Ra.