México || 세훈

11 | once

11 | once

Florencia cried silently on the way to the SM dorm building. But her fingers gave her away, as she typed furiously into her phone. She was currently in the middle of ranting to her mother that she had been attacked by some crazy EXO fangirl. Sehun sat by her side in the back seat of the car, a small space in between them felt miles wide, and he tried to give her some space as she verbally obliterated the person who had attacked her, in complaints to her mother.

The ride back was longer than he remembered, but maybe that was because the other times were happier ones with his group members. He thought back with melancholy to the time he and the guys, when there were eleven of them left, went to get Yena at the airport before she could return to China. They had been so caught up in preventing her from leaving that they forgot Kyungsoo at the airport. When they returned for him, the EXO vocalist was furious. But the other members got a good laugh out of it.

He sighed, keeping his gaze out the window until they made it to the building, parking out front as a swarm of reporters surrounded them. All of them snapped loads of pictures and shoved microphones in their faces. 

Florencia had always been used to the public life, especially as a former Miss Universe, but this was too overwhelming, even for her. The degree to which fans and the press sought out the idols was crazy. When Sehun noticed her deer in headlights look, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, shielding her with his body as he led them into the building. People shouted things at them in both English and Korean, but neither of them responded to any of it.

They only stopped in their stride when they were safely inside the building, with guards standing at the doors, not letting anyone else in.

Sehun pulled his arm from around her and continued down the small path that led to the elevator. His manager walked ahead as well, and gestured for Florencia to follow. The three of them entered the elevator and Sehun hit the number 6 for the sixth floor in the building. It was the top floor, which had been given to their most recent group to debut, until Red Velvet debuted in August of that year. They were currently sharing the floor with the soloists of SM, but there were rumors that the company was looking into buying out another apartment building, one with more space and more floors, to accommodate their growing line up of idols.

The elevator reached the sixth floor with a ding and the three stepped out. Immediately, Sehun picked up the pace and was down the hallway within seconds, disappearing into one of the rooms which Florencia assumed belonged to him.

As they continued walking at a leisured pace, Florencia asked the manager, "What is this place?" The hallway seemed empty, but further down the hall she could hear the loud sounds of a television--a video game to be exact.  

The manager explained to her in English. "This is SM Entertainment's dorm building. The idols live here, and this is EXO's floor."

Suddenly flustered, thinking she was going to be living in a dorm floor full of handsome boys, Florencia made her opposing to it quite clear. "I signed a contract that stipulated I would be getting an apartment, as well as a monthly stipend, and all my other expenses paid for. This is not what I was promised." Though she was protesting, a part of her mind couldn't bear but to think that maybe this arrangement wasn't all bad.

"We'll keep our promise." He assured her. "You'll just be here for a few days, until we can find you an apartment in the surrounding area. Since all of this was decided on such short notice, we weren't able to get you an apartment in time before your arrival."

Florencia nodded happily, satisfied with that answer.

They reached the door to the last room in that hall. Florencia was confused to find a bulletin board with pictures pinned all over it. Some pictures included the boys she saw perform in Mexico City, but there were also seven new faces included in the pictures, twelve boys and one girl in the tacked on photographs. Hanging from one of the pins was a key. The manager grabbed it and handed it to her.