14 | catorce

All through the photo shoot Florencia felt out of place. She was the only Mexican idol in a room full of Korean pop stars. She had also become subconscious when the photographer--who didn't know her name and didn't even bother to learn it--kept calling her chubby and pointing to her each time he wanted her to move somewhere. She tried to ignore it at first and didn't respond to the nickname, but he had gone as far as to stopping everything, walking up to her, and grabbing her by the arm. "I'm talking to you, yeoja." He told her in somewhat broken English.

Even so, she was placed smack dab in the middle of everyone in the shoot and the commercial that was filmed, to showcase the fact that they had expanded into including a new idol who was non-Korean and even non-Asian. Florencia tried to be professional about it--she had been called fat before, sometimes the press in her country could be ruthless when she gained some weight--but it was more difficult to ignore it and pretend it didn't bother her. She was in a new country, all by herself and she didn't want to let anything intimidate her. But she knew beauty standards were different and that being different would get her signaled out.

After a couple of hours everyone was released, but Florencia was stopped by one of the managers. It was the manager that had been assigned to her while she was in Korea. He gestured for her to follow him and they went off to the side where there was a small woman with round shaped glasses adorning her face. Her hair was jet black and cut into a bob. She was wearing a white lab coat and she smiled slightly as he introduced them. 

"Kkot, this is Dr. Lee." He gestured to the small woman standing in front of them. "The agency has decided to bring in a doctor to help you with your problem."

Florencia immediately shot him a look.

She had gotten a physical exam done as soon as she joined SM Entertainment and they had informed her that she was in excellent health. Now she was being told she needed a doctor to help with her problem. It didn't make any sense to her.

"What problem?" The twenty year old wondered, her face contorting in confusion. And even then, she was still beautiful, her green eyes bright but scrunched up as she tried to put together what he was trying to tell her. 

"Your weight problem." Her manager informed her simply.

Florencia couldn't help but scoff at that. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know I had a weight problem."

She was five feet and three inches tall. When dieting for beauty pageants, she and her team had looked up the ideal weight for her height. For a person of small frame, her ideal target weight was anywhere from one hundred and eleven pounds to one hundred and twenty four. Anything less than that would have made her underweight. Florencia weighed a hundred and twelve pounds and had gained about two pounds after arriving in Korea. Even then she was on the thinner side of the ideal weight for a woman her height. But the other SM girls were about her height and appeared even thinner.

The managers wanted her to weigh the same so that she wouldn't look heavier standing next to them in photoshoots. "That's exactly why we brought in a professional." The manager explained. "The ideal weight for a woman your height in Korea is ninety seven pounds. That means you are seventeen pounds over weight. That's a whole dress size."

"But I'm not even Korean." Florencia argued. She was outraged that she was basically being told that she needed to starve herself to be pretty and perfect. "Besides, I didn't win my Miss Universe title looking like a cadaver." We didn't win the title three times out of luck.

"Don't you want to look good for your boyfriend?" The manager tried to reason with her.

Yet another thing that made her blood boil.

"You want me to starve myself so my boyfriend will love me?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. She was quick to answer her own question. "If Sehun really loves me, he will love me for me, no matter what I weigh. And if he doesn't then I don't need him in my life."

While the argument went on, the doctor merely stood there. She had been brought in to advise on the dietary habits of one of SM's newest idols, not give her input on whether it was right or not. But seeing that Florencia was not cooperating, the doctor tried to convince her. "I'm a medical professional and I wouldn't let you starve yourself. We'd just change your eating habits and chart your exercise and progress on a chart."

"You have to do it." The manager said, giving up on trying to convince her. Now he was taking the other way, forcing her. "You and your mother signed that contract. You have to do what we ask of you as long as you're in Korea."

Florencia heaved a sigh of frustration. She couldn't deny that she had signed that contract and he was technically right. But she still didn't want to do it. "Fine. Let's do this." She ended up saying. In her mind she told herself that if she felt like she was hungry, she would ignore them and she would eat.

They went up to one of the offices where the doctor took her weight and her measurements. They had a scale in one of the fitness room and that was where they came up with their meal plan for Florencia. The doctor told her what she already knew, that most of her fat was in her legs and in her butt. She had suggested foods to avoid and exercises to try out at the gym. Then they came up with her daily meals.

Egg white omelet for breakfast. A cup of white rice, plain toast, and salad for lunch. If she really wanted meat, she was to have a tiny portion of it. For dinner she was to have a small piece of grilled fish and vegetables. In between meals she was allowed to have some fruit and a cup of plain yogurt to satiate her hunger. She wasn't allowed to have any sweets or fast food, and her manager had informed her that she couldn't even have traditional dishes from her country because of the amount of fats and oils found in them. Florencia's stomach churned just thinking about it. 

That was hardly anything to eat. 

-

That very same night, the members of EXO decided to eat out after practices. Sehun had invited Florencia only for appearances, but the super model refused. She was supposed to be starting her new diet that night and wouldn't be allowed to eat anything at the restaurant. She would only ruin the mood. She informed Sehun that she would be staying home and he didn't question it. If Florencia stayed home, she could take care of Vivi, which was his main priority.

He did notice her mood had dropped drastically since he saw her in the morning. But he didn't think to ask. He and Florencia weren't really that close. It was all a show for their fake relationship.

He went across the street to the dorms to meet the other members who were ready to go. One of his group mates instantly noticed that he had arrived empty handed and asked the question. "Where's Kkot, Sehunnie?" Jongdae asked, not seeing the beautiful foreign girl accompanying the maknae of their group.

Sehun gave a shrug of his shoulders. "She said she was tired after the photo shoot and wanted to get some rest."

Baekhyun then offered some information that he had about Florencia from earlier that day. "Taeyeon told me that after the shoot, they pulled Kkot-ah off to the side and they spoke with a doctor." He spoke in English so that Narda could understand, since she was in the room, invited by Chanyeol. Though Taeyeon was a selfish and mean person in her heart, Baekhyun knew that she genuinely wanted to be Florencia's friend and had been worried when she saw the doctor speaking to her. 

Sehun felt guilty for a moment. He had seen her looking so down when he saw her at the apartment, but he didn't even think to ask her what was wrong. He feared now that there might be something serious going on and she might need his support.

"Is she sick?" Her two closest friends in Korea asked in unison, one in Korean and the other in English. It was Narda and Jongdae.

"I don't know." Sehun informed them.

"Why didn't you ask her?" Jongdae pressed with concern.

"She didn't look like she was sick." Sehun tried to reason with him, and in turn lessen the burden of guilt that he felt.

The EXO vocalist wasn't satisfied with the answer, but said nothing more about it. Instead he left the room and made his way out of the building. The apartment where Florencia lived was right across the street and he arrived at her door, knocking gently despite his urgency to see her and know what was wrong. 

Florencia came to the door after a few seconds, surprised to see him there. She had talked to Jongdae a few times since arriving in Korea, and he was one of the people who she had most connected with. The other was Narda Gutierrez. They had quickly become good friends.

"Kkot," He greeted her, slightly breathless from having gone down the six flights of stairs from the dorms, walked across the street, and then climbed about another six floors to get to her apartment. "Sehunnie said you didn't want to come to dinner with us, and then Baekhyun hyung told us that Taeyeon said a doctor met up with you at the SM building today. Are you feeling okay?"

She had been taken aback by his concern for her. Not even Sehun--who was her supposed boyfriend--had seemed to be worried when he saw her upset like that. 

She nodded her head slowly. "I'm fine, Jong."

When they had first met, she had taken to calling him Hong because in her native language the letter J made the H sound. When he explained to her politely that it wasn't pronounced that way, she had changed her pronunciation to the Spanish Yong, which sounded almost the same as the Korean way of saying it.

"Then what's wrong?" He asked, confused.

She bit down on her lower lip, hesitant. When she finally spoke, she blurted out, "Do you think I'm fat?"

He watched her with confusion, yet didn't even hesitate to answer her question. "Of course not. I think you have a pretty face, beautiful eyes, and a great body." Not to mention, the thought popped into his head, I've seen you in a swim suit. When the members of EXO K had been in Mexico, Baekhyun had been like the FBI and looked up information on Florencia Orizaba. When they returned to Korea without Sehun, Baekhyun went around the dorms showing everyone what Sehun's girlfriend looked like.

The picture he had chosen was from the Miss Universe competition--the swim suit round. 

All of the members thought their maknae was lucky to get a woman like that. She was cute, but at the same time she was beautiful.

A smile flashed across her face. "Thanks, Jong. I needed that."

"Lets go get some dinner then." He offered his hand for her to take, his lips turned into a smile. "I'm sure Sehunnie would really like to see you there."

Florencia eyed his hand for a second before taking it.

I'm sure he wouldn't, she thought to herself.

-

i havent posted in this story in a really long time. so i thought i would upload a chapter. i know how things are looking between jongdae and florencia, but its totally platonic. its only a friendship. for now. if i later decide that it would being an extra dose of drama to the story, it might flourish into more.

so maybe sehun can hurry up and step up his game. 

thank you all so much for reading and supporting my stories. it means a lot to me. have a wonderful day everyone!

-clary