8 | ocho
Sehun took the sandwiches to the studio with a serious expression on his face. Everyone there had been buzzing with excitement at the culmination of their hard work and all went silent when they saw his expression. Florencia was nowhere to be found. The EXO maknae walked past everyone and set the trays on a table which had been cleared for their celebration. No one said anything to him, and he announced to them in English, "Thank you everyone for being so nice and taking care of me. I have to return to Korea now." He bowed politely before he excused himself and went out the door.
Florencia was still there and tried to apologize, but EXO's manager warned her to stay away. Sehun wouldn't even acknowledge her. He couldn't believe that he had been attracted to her and she had used that to make a fool out of him.
A bitterness grew within him and he was glad it was all over.
He would finally return home.
In the car, his manager informed the others who had already arrived in Korea just a few hours earlier. Then he got on the phone to make arrangements for them to catch a flight to Korea. Sehun zoned out, thinking that he had been foolish for thinking that Florencia liked him. His manager was on the phone the entire time and when he hung up, he heaved a frustrated sigh. Snapping Sehun out of his thoughts, he informed him.
"Apparently the next direct flight to Seoul isn't until next morning. So we have to stay in Mexico another night." He said with disdain. On the way to Mexico, they had stopped in Los Angeles and caught a flight down to Mexico City. But now they wanted to return as soon as possible, and there wasn't even an option that made any stops. When he complained, the airport worker informed him that there weren't many people who traveled to South Korea from Mexico City, so the options were limited.
Sehun only heaved a sigh and threw his head back in his seat, closing his eyes.
The more he wanted to get out of there, the more difficult it was to leave.
Florencia left the studio once Sehun was gone. She wasn't in the mood to celebrate and she didn't have the courage to face everyone after what she did. Instead, she dropped the photographer's keys off at the reception desk in the lobby and was on her way.
She was silent the entire way back to the hotel and when her mother asked her what was wrong, she told her that it was nothing. But back at the hotel, her sisters pounced on her the moment she walked in past that door. "Florencia, oh my gosh, look at you!" Acacia gushed with excitement. With nothing to do all day, she had spent most of her time eating and scrolling through her social media. Shoving her phone in front of her sister's face, she continued, "Getting it from your boy! So how's your hot Asian boyfriend?"
Florencia pulled head head back to get a good look at the phone screen, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What are you talking ab--" She started, and stopped herself short when she saw an article written for TV Y Novelas, a Mexican gossip magazine about actors, singers, and models.
They were the home page article and there was even a photo attached.
Mexican super model and former Miss Universe Florencia Orizaba spotted on a date with EXO's Oh Sehun. The title claimed them to have gone on a date when they had just gone to pick u[ sandwiches for everyone. In only two hours since it had been written, and two hours since she had gone out to get food with him, the article had been read over a thousand times, shared almost three hundred times, and commented over nine hundred times. Florencia could already picture the hate she would get from his fans for that. She had seen it in other famous males. Whenever they had a love interest, many fans sprang into action, posting all kinds of hate comments in their social media accounts.
Florencia held her head in her hands and groaned.
Not only did she now have to find a way to apologize before he could return to his country, but she would have to deal with the dating rumors and the hate comments she would receive from them. She knew she had brought it all upon herself. Perhaps if she had been nicer, the two would have figured out a solution to their problem together.
-
Sehun sat around the hotel room all day, refusing to acknowledge the outside world, and that was before knowing about the rumors that were circulating about him and Florencia. It was early afternoon when he got a text from one of the other group members. They had arrived in Korea hours earlier and had probably gone to bed and were just waking up. No doubt they'd have heavy jet lag from the long travel.
The contact name on his phone gave away who was trying to reach him. Other maknae. Jongin.
other maknae: we're gone for 1 day & ur
already dating that girl ;)
other maknae: sneaky boy
sehun: mwo?
*a/n: that means what in korean*
other maknae: caught red handed kekeke
other maknae: allkpop.com/oh-sehun-spotted-on-date-with-florencia-orizaba
Sehun clicked on the link and immediately he was met with a picture of him and Florencia, from when they were out getting the sandwiches and bubble tea earlier that day. The pictures had been taken by the Mexican press and the article had been translated into Korean from a gossip magazine called TV Y Novelas. They claimed that the two of them had been seen together, and that they appeared to be more than just friendly with each other.
Allkpop added more fuel to the fire when they posted a screen shot of the people Sehun followed on Instagram. He only followed ten people. Group mates Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Tao, and Yixing. He also followed his group mates' girlfriends Park Sarang, and Park Mae. He followed Narda Gutierrez Lozano, who had been their house keeper over the summer and because close with all the EXO members. He followed Huang Chuyen, Tao's sister who pretended to be him for a year and was Lu Han's love interest. Nam Yumi was also on his list of followers; a girl who was Junmyeon's childhood friend, the heiress to Samsung Electronics, and had a crush on Yifan. He followed Lu Han and Wu Yi Fan at one point, but he had been forced by his agency to erase all contact with them. The last person he had followed most recently was Florencia Orizaba. The sole fact that they followed each other and liked each others' posts sent the media and fans alike into a frenzy.
-
It wasn't long before everyone in Korea saw the pictures as well. His managers saw the way Latin America was responding positively to a possible relationship between the two. In Korea, there were more negative reactions because of different factors. But in Latin America, and especially in Mexico, the fans were proud that a kpop idol from a popular group was interested in a girl like Florencia. She was rich, famous, and a beauty queen. But she was foreign, and that helped people relate to her, and it gave them hope that one day the same would happen to them with their favorite artist, even if they may be on the other side of the world.
The managers saw it as something positive as well. Domestic fans would forgive and accept it eventually, and they weren't even actually dating. But having them seen together was definitely helping to expand his fan base in Latin America. With only rumors floating around, fan pages dedicated to her were already pledging to support him too.
Even Florencia was benefiting from the rumor in one aspect. Just hours after the article was written, she got a call asking her to audition for one of Televisa's upcoming novelas La Malquerida, and she had also been asked to audition for Muchacha Italiana. She declined the second offer, knowing that her sister had auditioned and was really looking forward to be casted in the starring role. She got calls to appear in advertisements for snacks, drinks, and clothing. One of the last calls she got was to appear in a music video for Prince Royce. All requests happened in one day, just because she had been seen with Sehun.
Her mother made all the arrangements and they would have to remain in Mexico City for one more week before returning to their home town of Orizaba, Veracruz. Florencia wasn't in the mood for anything, she was still upset over Sehun.
But she was finally getting the big break she wanted.
For Sehun it had been the same. All kinds of Mexican brands wanted to see more of him if he was going to be Florencia Orizaba's boyfriend as they all thought. His manager was on the phone with several people, trying to book Sehun for commercials of all sorts. The manager promised that he would call them back to let them know, since he had to inform the higher ups in SM Entertainment and ask for their permission.
They agreed without a second thought and after making dozens more phone calls, his manager finally put the phone down and sighed. Looking to Sehun who was scrolling through instagram, he informed, "It looks like we have to stay in Mexico a week longer."
Sehun looked up from his phone screen in surprise. "What?"
"You just got offers to appear in commercials for Lala Yogurt, Barcel Chips, Coca Cola Mexico, Marinela pastry snacks, Sabritas chips, Forever XXI Mexico, Aeropostale Mexico, and Hollister Mexico." He explained, almost running out of breath and hoping he hadn't forgotten anything. He would have to jot them down to keep themselves on schedule over the next week. "They all saw you with Florencia and they think the two of you will be great visuals for their ads. You also got a call to audition for a telenovela called la mal-something, but I turned it down because that's a commitment of several months in Mexico and you don't have the time to travel back and forth like that. The company thinks this will be great for your career."
"The two of us--Florencia and me?" Sehun asked. When he manager shook his head in confirmation, Sehun vehemently shook his head. "I'm not doing this, I don't want anything to do with her. You saw what she did to me."
His manager tried to encourage him. "You have to be professional in this world. Just go, do what they ask you to do, and then we'll leave. You don't have to talk to her."
"But she might talk to me." Sehun pointed out.
"Then ignore her." His manager suggested simply. "Sehun, the company wants you to do this, so you don't have much of a choice."
The mankae heaved a sigh, accepting his fate. He could whine all he wanted about it, but he would still have to do it. It wasn't a decision he was allowed to make. He just had to sit there and obey. "When do I start?" He asked. The sooner he could start, the quicker he could get it over with and return to Korea. He had been in Mexico for about a week already and he felt like an entire year had gone by.
"Tomorrow. We want to get it all done as soon as possible." The manager explained. "You have eight commitments, so we'll do one per day, and two on one day."
-
Lala Yogurt. Barcel chips. Coca Cola Mexico. Marinela. Sabritas. Forever XXI. Aeropostale. Hollister. All brands that wanted her services. Eight commercials in seven days. She had never worked so hard in her life. And they wanted her to start tomorrow. Her first commitment was with Lala Yogurt. Her sisters had no more business to attend to in the capital and they returned to Orizaba by themselves. Florencia would remain for another week with her mother.
The very next morning Florencia got up early and went to the studio where the commercial would be filmed. As she got her hair done in her dressing room, she was handed a script of her lines which she needed to memorize, which were only about two.
It was a commercial about Lala drinkable yogurt, and she was supposed to try to negotiate with a little girl for it. I'll give you the moment I became Miss Universe, in exchange for that bottle of Lala yogurt, the script read and Florencia found herself cracking a smile. She remembered a similar commercial from three years back. When the under seventeen Mexican national team won the world cup. Three of them filmed a Lala commercial, her ex boyfriend was one of them. We'll trade you the moment we became world champions, if you give us that bottle of Lala yogurt. The line was almost the same, even three years later.
When her hair and make up were done, they put her in a dress that resembled the one she wore when she became Miss Universe. They put a crown on her head and a sash around her with the words Miss Universe 2012 on them.
Florencia walked out onto the set and almost fell over in surprise.
Already there, Sehun was being given directions on where to stand for the commercial. Florencia wiped her eyes, to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and even pinched herself. She couldn't believe that he was there. From what she had heard, he was supposed to be on his way to Korea by now. But he was still in Mexico.
Sehun had been dressed in his outfit from the Mama music video, after the writers of the commercial had done some research on him. His line for the ad was I'll trade you the moment I debuted with EXO, for that bottle of Lala yogurt. He was supposed to do it once in Spanish for their Mexican customer base, once in English for their American customer base, and once in Korean as a fan service requested by SM Entertainment.
Florencia sucked in a deep breath to calm her nerves and walked onto the set.
Having to face him in shame for what she did was her punishment.
-
i forgot to add sarang and mae to the ig post, but just pretend they're there bc it was hard work to edit that. also, pretend sehun actually follows people on ig since we all know he actually doesnt.
thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story. i hope you're enjoying it.
have a wonderful weekend and take care!
-clary xx