16 | dieciseis
The next morning, Florencia had been called out of her Korean classes by her manager. He had informed as he walked to his office that the company had another business offer that she might be interested in. She sat at the desk, across from him, and he immediately began to explain what exactly the company was trying to do. "So we've noticed how you and your sister have a youtube channel, and though you don't post very often, we saw that you got a steady amount of views."
The twenty year old nodded in agreement. Her younger sister Acacia was the youtube star. Florencia had only made a channel to post occasional videos, but her main concern and focus was her acting career and her modelling career. But by now she knew SM Entertainment well. They knew that they were always looking for new ways to rake in money, even if their idols didn't want to be involved in whatever it was. Florencia already knew what was coming, and she knew she didn't want to be a part of it. She already had a lot on her plate and the last thing she wanted was to commit to something she wasn't interested in.
"We want to give you a web show." He informed her with excitement. Though that excitement did not reach the former Miss Universe. "It will be sponsored and produced by the company, and it will be called Kkot's Diary. You will be required to carry around a camera at all hours and on Saturday afternoons, our team will edit and decide what will be broadcast. How's that sound?"
He looked to her for a reaction, but her face was unreadable. For a moment, the first thought that popped into her mind was, You wanna know how that sounds? It sounds like shit, to be honest, and I don't wanna do this. I didn't want to go on that stupid diet. I didn't want to move to Korea. I wanna go back home to Mexico where I was truly happy and wasn't made to feel insecure about myself. But it took all of her willpower not to say anything. The company practically owned her for the next few months and she had to do everything they asked of her. Her mother--who was also her manager--thought it was a good idea to expand her career over Asia. But it seemed that she hadn't understood just how much sacrifice her daughter would have to make.
She heaved a sigh. "Do I have a choice, really?"
A hand went up to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. It was due to the lack of food she had been started on that morning. Florencia's breakfast consisted of one apple and two egg whites. She was starving, she was tired, and she was dizzy. But her doctor had informed her that the first few days would be the hardest because she had to train her body to take in less food.
Her manager didn't respond, and that alone gave her an answer. It was like the saying she knew in her native language. A person who kept quiet didn't have to speak because sometimes the answer was obvious. Florencia grew a bit irritated, also being due to her lack of food intake. But she didn't think it was necessary to drag her out of her Korean class to tell her that. They could have just sprung it on her and it wouldn't have made a difference.
For her first video, she was given a sheet with instructions. She was to film a How Well Does My Boyfriend Know Me? segment in which she would ask Sehun questions. He had given her another two sheets for the next week's videos in advance. One was My Boyfriend Does My Make-Up, while the week three video would be My Boyfriend vs. My Sister--Who Knows Me Best? Florencia rolled her eyes at the fact that they were putting Sehun in every video, probably to gain more views. In addition to that, she was required to film her entire week, but it would all be pointless because the fans would only get to see about five percent of the footage.
She left the office and made her way back to her study session with the papers in hand when she ran into the girls of Red Velvet. She had been looking down at her feet, touching her forehead again dizzily when she collided into their leader.
Irene.
"Sorry." Florencia mumbled, looking up at the Red Velvet member.
"Are you okay, Kkot unnie?" Joy wondered with concern, seeing that she didn't look well.
"Mhm." Florencia barely had any energy to respond with a nod. She continued weakly, "Its just that my manager asked me to go on a diet, and I'm just not used to eating only an apple and egg whites for breakfast."
Back in Mexico, her nutritionist would allow her to eat fruit and yogurt, a cup of cereal, and a glass of orange juice for breakfast. That was a complete meal for her. But her nutritionist in Korea had informed her that it was too much food and that it was the reason her legs were so fat, as she bluntly put it.
Joy nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, it takes some getting used to. You'll feel better in a few days."
Suddenly remembering the events of the previous night, Florencia clutched Irene's arm, more out of fear that she would trip over her own feet and fall face first, than and attempt to force her to talk to her. "I need to talk to you about something very important, Irene. Will you please follow me?" She asked.
Irene eyed her with suspicion, but agreed to go with her. She asked the other girls to go on without her and they said goodbye to Florencia. The two girls walked down towards an empty hallway near a back exit, with Irene leading Florencia. They stopped when they knew they were alone and out of earshot. She let go of the supermodel and Florencia leaned against the wall for balance. Irene crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Florencia to speak. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Florencia started with a tired sigh. "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. It wasn't right of me to dangle my relationship in your face."
The leader of Red Velvet rolled her eyes. "That sounds like bullshit to me. You tried to make out with him in front of me because you wanted to make your point. He's yours, I get it. But at one point, he was mine. I had wrapped around my finger." She said with venom seeping through her words, showing her pinky as a visual representation. "If I really wanted to, I could have him with me like this." She snapped her fingers.
Florencia immediately felt her tiredness fade and her blood boiled underneath her skin. She wanted so badly to retaliate with a comment of her own. But she remembered that she had promised Sehun she would get along with Irene. She was at least going to make the effort, and if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be because she hadn't tried it.
She sucked in a deep breath to calm herself, and said in a soft voice. "I'm not gonna fight with you over what's mine. Whatever you guys had is in the past, and he's clearly over it. I just want to get along because I know he appreciates you."
"He did more than just appreciate me." Irene informed her with a snicker.
"I can see that you just want to start problems and I'm not about that life." Florencia stated with what looked like a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, but on the inside her anger was bubbling nearly to the brink of exploding. Even so, she was still able to keep her cool. "I'm going to leave now. I'm really sorry you can't get over him, and I hope you can find someone else who will make you happy."
She went about her normal schedule for the day, and when she got back to her apartment, she texted Sehun to come over. Before going to her apartment, he had gone to the mall to pick up some Mexican food from a place that Narda had recommended when he asked her if there were any good places that served that type of food in the area. The doorbell rang and Florencia opened the door.
Instantly the smell of carne asada tacos wafted into her apartment and made her knees go weak. Her mouth watered and she wanted so badly to eat whatever was in that bag. But she had already eaten dinner. For lunch she had a salad with a tiny piece of chicken and no dressing, while for lunch she had been only allowed to eat a sweet potato. She was still hungry, but at least--she thought with the tiniest hint of optimism--she felt lighter already.
The super model leaned in to greet him with a kiss on the cheek, losing her balance only slightly and he caught her by wrapping an arm around her waist.
"You okay?" He wondered with concern. "You look a little pale."
She quickly reassured him with a nod of her head. "Yeah, just a bit tired. But manager wanted us to film something for my new youtube web show."
"Lets have dinner together, and then we can film." He offered with a smile.
Florencia refused, shaking her head. She bit her lip nervously. "Sorry, Hunnie. I already had dinner."
He pouted playfully. "Aw, you gonna leave me hanging?"
She took the bag from him first and then grabbed him by the hand, their fingers intertwining with one another. At first it felt strange and awkward, since they never really acted as a couple behind closed doors like they were doing then. But they quickly grew accustomed to the feeling of holding hands. She led him to the table and unpacked all the food. He had been like an expert, getting ten tacos, all kinds of salsas, condiments, and even drinks. Florencia felt her stomach grumble, begging to be fed.
Once everything was set up at the table, she informed him, "You can eat and I'll just keep you company."
He was reluctant and tried once again to convince her to eat with him, but she wouldn't budge. He eventually got tired of asking her to eat and sat at the table to eat by himself. All the while, Flroencia watched him hungrily, craving the homestyle Mexican food. Sehun wasn't entirely fond of the food, he had just gotten it to make her feel at home.
They sat together and she placed her elbows on the table, her head in her hands, inhaling the wonderful scent of food. He ate quickly and then she led him to her bedroom where everything was set up. It had been arranged by Acacia, who knew everything there was to know about being a youtube star. She had set up the camera and lights to give them better lighting. When everything was ready, Florencia got out her set of note cards which she had filled with questions during her lunch break at the SM building.
"Hello everyone." She waved at the camera with a friendly smile. "My name is Florencia Orizaba, but you can call me Florizaba or Kkot, whichever is easier for you." Gesturing to the boy sitting beside her on the bed, she introduced him, not that he needed an introduction. "This is my boyfriend Sehun, which I'm sure you all know by now since I know most of you are probably watching this because of him."
Sehun waved at the camera, and then turned his attention to Florencia. She was his focus point since he normally felt awkward looking right at the camera.
"Today I'm going to be asking him questions about my life and if he gets them wrong, there will be a punishment." She grinned towards the camera, pulling out something that looked like a pack of gum from her pocket. "These are very popular in my country." She informed the audience, matter of factly.
"Wait." Sehun was suddenly nervous. "No one said anything about a punishment."
"I'm sure I mentioned it, amor." She lied, knowing well that she hadn't mentioned anything.
He shook his head, swearing that she didn't mention it.
"It won't hurt." She assured him with a scoff, pulling on the piece of fake bubble gum herself. She felt the shock in her hand, but kept her hand there and didn't flinch away. From a young age, she and her sister had taught themselves to endure the shock that came from the toy, making it seem as though it didn't hurt when it actually did. "You'll just have to pull on this and it will administer you an electric shock. Simple."
The mankae of EXO gulped. "I'm nervous now."
"First question," She looked down at her stack of index cards. "What is the name of my hometown?"
Sehun pondered for a moment, before he realized he was screwed for most likely the entirety of the segment. "Shit." He muttered under his breath.
-
so i added a bit of humor to the end of this first chapter. i hope you all enjoy it. now im going to hop in the shower and then go to the bank to get a replacement debit card. i lost the one i had and they had sent me one in the mail.
but when i tried to activate it, it didn't work. so now i have to go there to solve this problem. otherwise imma have to wait six days before i can use my money and i wanna buy stuff NOW.
thank you all for reading and supporitng me. have a wonderful day!
-clary