𝐉𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐊-𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍 ✩•̩̩͙*˚＊· ───
𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 (ɴᴏᴜɴ) . ᴛʜᴇ ғᴇᴀʀ ᴏғ ᴛʀᴜsᴛɪɴɢ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ.
─── The most dangerous game of power in South Korea has no rules or limitations, except for those created by each individual player's ima...
The tour didn't last nearly as long as Yoori had thought that it would. Not because Eun-byeol refused to show her around properly, but because there wasn't much to explore in the first place.
Hera Palace was home to Korea's richest families that consisted of wealthy businesspersons who spent most of their time at work, and their children who spent most of their time studying or practicing prestigious hobbies like instruments or singing. With almost all of their time being dedicated to either work or study, none of the tenants had much time left over to spend on leisure. This meant that there were barely any rooms built for entertainment purposes aside from the multiple gardens, the gym, and the community room. There was also the pool area, but the girls were leaving it till last because that was where the Hera Club kids were supposed to be gathering that day to hang out.
Out of all of the places that she was taken to, Yoori showed the highest level of interest in the indoor garden located on the 35th floor. The glittering gold ornaments and white marble walls decorating every inch of Hera Palace didn't interest her half as much as the pond of koi fish and exotic flowerbeds did.
While Eun-byeol glanced around the place with a bored expression on her face, Yoori scanned every flower and tree carefully, drinking her surroundings in like a thirsty person would gulp down water in a dessert. After exploring for a couple of minutes, she crouched down and took one of her gloves off so that she could stick her hand into the pond. She then watched as the koi fish fled away from it before hesitantly swimming back to inspect it curiously, tilting her head slightly at then.
Though her expression remained stoic and her gaze remained cold, something in Yoori's aura shifted in that garden. She appeared calmer, less tense, and somehow softer than before. It was as though the garden transformed her from a porcelain figurine into a little dolly made from fabric. There, surrounded by nature and silence, she seemed to be at peace.
But that didn't last long.
Yoori pulled her hand out of the water and straightened up, shaking her hand in an attempt to dry it as she walked away from the pond before wearing her glove again. The soft atmosphere around her disappeared as her aura shifted back to the sharp, cold, and closed-off one that it had been before.
The girls promptly moved on from the garden with Eun-byeol leading the way through the endless corridors while making the occasional comment about who lived on what floor and what sort of relationship that family had with theirs. Essentially, the younger girl briefed the newcomer on the family's allies and enemies in a roundabout way, making sure that their topic of conversation wasn't too obvious to the tenants that passed them by. Meanwhile, Yoori listened without interrupting, only occasionally humming to show that she was listening.
