----- Chapter Thirteen -----

                It has only been roughly two weeks before the Temptation Perfume Collection decided to release the Pink version CF, featuring EXO-K and Park Shin Hye. The public was clearly caught off guard with this, surprising the media and gaining mixed reactions as well. The CF attracted a lot of fans, as well as non-fans and anti-fans.

Temptation Perfume Collection surprises fans with CF featuring Park Shin Hye and EXO-K

                The CF did not fail to make it into the news. As expected, there were negative feedbacks from crazy possessive EXO fangirls who did not hesitate to bash Park Shin Hye. But the CF had more pleasing reviews and gained praises than the hate.

                When EXO was informed about the sudden release of the CF, they couldn’t help but feel a little bit nervous. Of course, EXO-K felt tensed, just thinking of the reactions they will get from their fans. They also felt worried, because they just collaborated with a very well-known celebrity – Park Shin Hye – thinking that they might have not been as good as her in the CF. They never wanted to disappoint their fans, so they were really praying hard to receive good response from the public.

                [ +1134, -732 ] EXO fighting! Park Shin Hye so pretty >.<

                [ +1109, -845 ] They’re not only good in singing and dancing, they’re good actors as well!

                [ +1303, -389 ] Just how to be Park Shin Hye?

                “I’m glad they liked it,” Suho heaved a sigh of relief as the boys flocked around a laptop and scrolled for comments and reactions from fans and netizens regarding the CF. They kept on scrolling for more comments.

                [ +1234, -768 ] Baekhyun oppa still doesn’t look manly to me! xD

                “Yah! What was that?!” Baekhyun’s nostrils flared upon reading one of the comments about him. His face scowled and threw some tantrums at the commenter.

                “Haha, she was just being honest!” Chen laughed hysterically. The others did the same, earning another scowl from Baekhyun.

                “I couldn’t agree more,” Kai approved and chuckled at his own comment.

                Baekhyun glared at the younger. “Oh yeah? At least I didn’t look like a ert in there!”

                Kai’s face wrinkled in disapproval. “What?”

                “Aw, don’t look at me like that. I was not the one who said that,” Baekhyun mocked as he gestured Kai to look at the computer screen. The younger did so.

                [ +943, -934 ] Kai seriously looked like a ert. HAHA

                Kai was flustered at the statement. It was Baekhyun’s turn to laugh hysterically. Sehun tapped Kai’s shoulder, pretending to comfort him when in fact, he was laughing as well.

                [ +1234, -453 ] I thought they hired a child actor, but I realized it was just Kyungsoo.

                Chanyeol laughed uncontrollably as he repeatedly hit Kyungsoo’s back, teasing him. Kyungsoo’s face turned red due to anger and embarrassment as he glared holes into the K rapper. He shoved Chanyeol’s hand away before he walked out. Chanyeol stopped laughing and looked at the upset Kyungsoo.

                “Kyungsoo, wait!” He cried as he chased after him.

                “At least the comments are good,” Yixing suddenly said as he continued to read the other comments, before Minseok and Tao shook their heads in disagreement. “…Or maybe not,” Yixing took his words back as he read something really awful.

                [ +112, - 1734 ] Park Shin Hye is such a ! Go away from my oppas!

                [ +324, -1657 ] I hate Park Shin Hye.

                [ +325, -1235 ] EXO , like, seriously.

                [ +97, -1584 ] Park Shin Hye so pretty. But I wonder why they casted EXO…

                [ +89, -1678 ] I bet Shin Hye had a hard time working with those amateurs.

                [ +342, -198 ] Ladies and gentlemen, the ty side of Shin Hye!

                Their jaws dropped straight to the floor as they read those harsh comments by the netizens. Their words were sharp and disrespectful. They were somewhat maddened with those rude remarks.

                “I can’t believe them,” Sehun made a disgusted face before he walked out of the crowd and sat on a nearby couch.

                “What can we expect? There will always be anti-fans,” Tao added as he crossed his arms, making the others cringed at the thought.

                “Don’t mind them. At least there are fans who are happy with the CF,” Suho tried to counter it with positivism, and with that, the members just shrugged everything off and proceeded to do their own things.

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                “OMO,” Dara shivered at her own thoughts. She learned just an hour ago that the Pink version of the CF was released, and of course, her nervousness built up drastically upon the mixed reactions that it received from the public. Though there were a lot of negative reviews, a lot more people liked it. It was generally appreciated by the public well. Dara cringed. Would she be able to pull it off as well as Shin Hye did? Her train of thoughts stopped when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

                “Aish, Dara, you okay?” Bom asked, eyeing 2ne1’s 4D member who was stuck on the computer for over an hour already.

                Dara didn’t answer. She gave off a cute pout instead. Bom raised an eyebrow and shifted her attention to the computer.

                “Oh, I see.” Bom quickly grabbed a seat and sat on it next to Dara. Her eyes were still glued on the screen.

                “Look at those nasty comments!” Bom suddenly exclaimed, clueless of how it would make Dara more nervous and scared. It took a while before Bom realized what she just said, and she mentally slapped herself because of that.

                Bom cleared intentionally, hoping to get rid of the awkward silence. “B-but there’s more positive comments though!”

                Dara just sighed. She was sad because she knew Shin Hye is a really nice and sweet girl, and that she doesn’t deserve the hate. Dara on the other hand, had the inkling of how netizens would react on her CF with EXO. She knew she would get more hate. EXO is the most popular boy group as of now, which means they already have huge number of fangirls, which also means danger. She also knew of the fact that she had her own share of haters too. And the fact that the concept of her CF was, well, mature, it just added fuel to the fire. So, she concluded that she might need a little more strength to be able to pull it through.

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                Just hours after the Pink version CF was released, a lot – as in a lot - of pre-orders of the perfume came. The perfume company purposely intended not to release their products to the market yet, probably part of their marketing strategy. They knew they made a great decision in choosing the right advertisers for their new product.

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                A week after the incident, the company did not fail to surprise the public for the second time around. They finally released the second version of the CF – the Dark version. In a span of minutes – or even less – it went viral. It was all over the social networking sites. It did not take a while before it made it through the news. The virtual world literally went gaga over the CF. The whole world fell into chaos.

                It was not long before the news reached EXO’s ears. Fortunately, they were all at the dorm since they hadn’t had many schedules that day. So, they did not hesitate to watch the CF in the internet.

                Silence suddenly filled the atmosphere as the boys watched the video. Though the CF lasted only for a minute, it did not fail to get the members flabbergasted. There was not a second that their eyes left the computer screen. They were all engrossed to it. The provocative CF left their mouths hanging. It was too dark, too y to handle. For a short while, they were left speechless.

                “J-Just, what did I watch?” Tao stuttered, his face was crimson red. The members were too dumbfounded to even breathe, so there was no answer.

                Chanyeol felt his face hot at the sight of his Dara noona – no, Kris’s Dara noona, Chanyeol mentally corrected himself – being so effortlessly y and daring. It was too much to handle. He couldn’t clear his mind off the CF, as if it was constantly replaying in his brain. It was too much.

                Kris, on the other hand, silently cleared his throat. He knew how ridiculous he looked like, since he could feel heat on his cheeks. He uneasily made his eyes wander aimlessly, in attempt to get a hold of himself and break off from his trance.

                “R-replay?” Chen, who was the one manipulating the computer, asked, stuttering. The members nodded their heads violently. Luhan caught a glimpse of Kris, walking away from the crowd.

Kris knew he couldn’t handle a replay anymore, so he excused himself and made his way to the kitchen to drink some water – to calm him down.

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                “DARA-UNNIE!!” Minzy screamed her head off as she came rushing to her napping unnie. Her sudden yell made the other members alert and surprised.

                “Minji? What…is it?” Dara sleepily asked as she rubbed her eyes repeated after being woken up by their maknae. She slowly got up from the couch and sat.

                “Dara-unnie! OMG It’s so – OMG I don’t know what to say!” Minzy couldn’t make coherent sentences since giddiness took over her. She jumped repeatedly and squealed endlessly. Bom and CL couldn’t take it anymore, so they interfered.

                “Yah, Minji what is happening to you?!” CL asked as she grasped Minzy by the shoulder, in attempt to calm the younger.

                Bom expected that the maknae would not be able to give an answer in a state like that, so she went closer to her and grabbed the phone Minzy was holding. She scanned it, and her eyes widened in no time.

                “Wow, your CF was just released!” She announced.

                Dara’s eyes grew wide as she hastily got herself off the couch and snatched the phone away from Bom.

                “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed.

                The girls flocked around Dara excitedly and they watched the CF together.

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                “HOW CAN DARA-NOONA BE SO PERFECT?!” Baekhyun squeaked loudly after they watched the CF for a thousandth time.

                The boys couldn’t stop blabbering about how beautiful Dara was and how lucky EXO-M was to get so intimate with her. They got too loud and too carried away to even stop. Kris, on the other hand, was just silently sitting on the couch, trying to distract himself from the images of Dara flashing on his head as he played uninterestedly with his phone. Chanyeol joined the others in fanboying Dara as well, and he mentally kept telling himself how lucky Kris is to have Dara’s heart.

                “.”

                The lads turned their attention to the cursing member – who happened to be Chen who was still stuck on the computer screen.

                “What’s wrong hyung?” Yixing asked. Chen turned around through his wheeled office-like chair to face the others.

                “Okay, so this might not be good, but…”

                “Just spill it out already!” The others cried.

                “Thereactionsarenotgoodlikereallyreallynotgood.” Chen muttered so swiftly in one breath that the others did not get it first. But when they did, they flocked around the computer in no time.

                “OH NO.”

                [ +134, -6423 ] DARA GO TO HELL.

                [ +354, -2344 ] I want this commercial banned!

                [ +546, -3784 ] WHAT DID I JUST WATCH? WHY EXO?!

                The boys were horrified with all the nasty comments from the netizens – and it pained them more that Dara was the one receiving so much hate.

                [ +454, -3535 ] Never thought Dara could be this ty.

                [ +645, -3499 ] GET LOST DARA!! LEAVE EXO ALONE!

                [ +1455, -546 ] How could they do this to EXO?! This CF is too mature for them!

                [ +234, -4586 ] First, Lee Minho, then SHINee, and now, EXO?! .

                [ +243, -4532 ] Get your filthy hands off my oppas!

                EXO’s faces fell upon the rude comments about Dara. Their jaws clenched in anger – most especially Chanyeol’s and Kris’s. Their faces were red – now because of wrath.

                “I swear I’m gonna hunt those haters and rip their heads off,” Sehun hissed. Anger was clear in his tone of voice.

                The members couldn’t help but curse at the bashers. It killed them, thinking it was their fault that Dara was being bashed this badly. They all ranted, but of course, it was Chanyeol who had made the most.

                Luhan was angry. They all knew Dara doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. She was way too kind to be hated. She was an angel. Luhan couldn’t dare to read any more hate comments that he just looked away, only to witness a furious Kris.

                One look and you’ll dare not to go near Kris in that state. He was extremely angry. His face might not display usual gestures when mad – such as gritted teeth – but his glare was more than enough to show his anger. His glare was different. It was so intimidating, so overwhelming, so scary. Luhan never saw Kris like that. Luhan trembled just by looking at him, even his knees started to buckle. He had never been so intimidated or scared by someone. One thing he knew for sure – don’t mess with a furious Kris, ‘cause if you did, you’re digging your own grave.

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                Dara’s hands trembled as she read the responses of the public regarding her CF with EXO. Her eyes began to well up with tears.

                [ +564, -3345 ] GET YOUR HANDS OF LUHAN!! HOW COULD YOU!!

                [ +355, -4556 ] Get away from Kris oppa, !

                .

                [ +244, -3455 ] Kris oppa don’t hug her! She’s a !

                [ +324, -3464 ] Stop getting so touchy with oppas!

                [ +434, -636 ] I feel bad for EXO-M.

                [ +342, -3456 ] . Get lost. Lowlife.

                . Lowlife. Dara flinched at the dirty words the netizens called her. She was hurt. But she knew that was going to happen anyway. It was to be expected. She already knew this would happen, and yet she couldn’t hold her tears back. She let them flow through her cheeks – and she expected that as well.

                Good thing her members entered the dressing room and immediately spotted a crying Dara. Without hesitations, they rushed to her side and comforted her lovingly. They already knew why she was crying. Bom discovered all the hate because it was trending on twitter - #DarkTemptation and another was #DaraEXO - while CL discovered it on Instagram.

                They were angry of course, but before doing anything else, they need to comfort their Ssantokki first.

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                Later that day, EXO’s manager came in the dorm without any warning. He called the boys for a short meeting regarding the controversial Dark Temptation CF. The boys immediately flocked over him, obviously interested on what their manager had to say.

                “Erm,” the manager intentionally cleared his throat – his eerie way to start a meeting. He scanned the members one by one before he proceeded.

                “As you can see, the Dark version…is…uh…not very much appreciated by the public.” He noticed the sudden change of the expressions of the boys. He uneasily straightened himself up before saying more. “And the management was informed of how the netizens are reacting negatively because of the CF.”

                “Quit beating around the bush, hyung.” Sehun nonchalantly remarked. The others did not bother his bratty remark that time, since they too wanted their manager to get straight to the point.

                The manager was supposed to scold Sehun playfully, but he refrained himself from doing so since they were too serious over the matter.

                “Okay. Chill. Anyways, the perfume company has been continually receiving blackmails and hate messages from the public. They were asked to ban the CF. And people were even telling them that they will not buy their products unless the CF is removed.” Groans and rants echoed in the dorm.

                “So?” Chanyeol asked, obviously pissed with the situation.

                The manager eyed him, before responding. “The perfume company also said that most of the hate messages they received were meant for Dara-ssi.”

                Curses echoed.

                “But contrary to that, they also received praises from fans and critics. The CF paved the way for the product to be known drastically. It has been garnering huge amount of attention from the mass media and thus, it had a great impact to the product and the market.” The manager paused for a while, before he flashed a small smile. “It can be considered as a successful marketing tactic.”

                With that, the manager earned himself scowls from the boys. They totally did not get the point on how it became ‘successful’. You see, Dara’s the one suffering a lot here. It’s she who’s getting all the hate. There’s nothing to smile about.

                “And what about Dara-noona?” Yixing spoke up with a worried and concerned look.

                “I’m pretty sure she’s fine. She’s a professional after all,” the manager assured. Kris couldn’t help but glare at him with clenched fists.

                “Fine? You sure hyung? I mean, she’s getting all the hate! You can’t expect her to be just alright with that!” It was unusual for the awfully calm Suho to snap like that. The manager was surprised with that. The boys, however, did not mind it since they were too upset that very moment.

                “Hyung, we should do something for her!” Tao cried. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

                “We should at least relea---“

              “No.” The manager firmly answered, earning glares from the EXO members. “It’s best to just ignore things like this.”

                The lads’ jaws hung open. They could not believe how insensitive the management is.

                “You’re kidding.” But the manager shook his head.

                “Things like this will just settle sooner or later. Let’s not make it worse by creating fuss.”

                That was what Chanyeol needed to pop a vein and lose his temper.

                “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” His voice erupted throughout the room as he clenched his fists and forcefully stood up in rage – earning everybody’s attention.

                “Chan—“ Baekhyun, who was sitting beside him, tried to calm him down as he reached for the taller’s hand – only to be shoved away.

                “Are you damn serious, hyung? Are you telling us to just shut up and watch as the people continue to insult and bash Dara-noona?!” The rage in his tone did not fade one bit. His eyes were digging holes on the manager.

                “Oi, calm down –“

                “And you’re telling me to calm down? That’s crap! I can’t just sit here and relax while there’s one person who suffers all of this!”

                The members kept mum, indicating that they totally agreed with Chanyeol’s every word.

                “Chanyeol. You don’t understand –“

                “What do you mean I don’t understand?! You should say that to yourself, hyung!” He gritted his teeth, his anger was unwavering. But since he still has respect for his hyung, he decided that it was enough. He walked out, not saying any more things, and shut the door of his room closed.

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                “Ignore things like this? What crap is that?!” Chanyeol angrily kicked the first thing his foot came across with. “Is he crazy? How could they stay so calm about this?!” He dropped himself on his bed and violently threw his pillow behind him for him to lean his back to. He couldn’t help but rant his thoughts out.

                “How insensitive and selfish of them! Just thinking about their products, not minding the hell Dara-noona is facing right now just for them! Arrgh!” He harshly pulled his hair out of frustration before he got his phone and scanned the internet for the current updates and comments about the viral CF.

                [ +231, -3253 ] Get away from my oppas!

                “You’re the one who should get away from us!” Chanyeol thought as he scanned for more comments.

                [ +324, -3464 ] Stop getting so touchy with oppas!

                “I would never want Dara-noona to get touchy with you either.” He scoffed.

                [ +342, -3456 ] . Get lost. Lowlife.

               This time, Chanyeol popped another vein. . Get lost. Lowlife. Those words were definitely hitting below the belt. “WANT ME TO KILL YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE?!” He lost it again.

                He ranted for another couple of minutes before he somehow calmed himself down and proceeded scrolling. A set of comments abruptly caught his eyes.

                [ +355, -4556 ] Get away from Kris oppa, !

                [ +234, -3456 ] KRIS IS MINE!

                [ +344, -3443 ] Kyaaah! Don’t get so near to Chen oppa!! I HATE YOU DARA

                [ +244, -3455 ] Kris oppa don’t hug her! She’s a !

                [ +564, -3345 ] GET YOUR HANDS OF LUHAN!! HOW COULD YOU!!

                [ +268, -2587 ] Why does Kris need to be so close with that woman?!

                [ +245, -3567 ] Dara, you will never look good with my Kris oppa, or any other EXO oppas!

                Chanyeol did not know why but he suddenly felt heat flaring up his chest. Upon reading more of the hate comments, he realized most of them were from Kris stans – probably because Kris got the most scenes with Dara and that he had the most skinship with her. With that, his stomach flipped.

                “Kris this, Kris that. What’s so good about Kris anyway?” He bit his tongue realizing what he just said. Did he just badmouth Kris? Since when did he become so bitter with the M leader? Was he perhaps, jealous? But before his confusions lead him to nowhere, he got back to the comments and they never failed to anger him up. He hated the fact that it was because of Kris – Kris stans rather, but for some odd reasons, Chanyeol wanted to blame Kris for everything – that Dara’s being bashed this badly. And what pissed him the most was how Kris was acting like it was nothing. Chanyeol knew for sure – more like he suspected - that Kris was aware that his fans were the ones badmouthing Dara, and yet he managed to stay so calm about it. He was becoming more and more pissed with that.

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                “What did he say?” Chaerin asked right after Dara put her phone down. The girls were all sitting comfortable on the couches while Dara was talking to CEO Yang Hyunsuk over the phone a while ago. It unexpectedly took quite a long time before the conversation ended. And the girls were dying to know what their CEO had to say to their poor Dara.

                “He just told me to ignore the bashers,” she said with a shaky voice, forcing a fake smile. The girls felt really sorry for their member, but they couldn’t do anything. They just gave Dara their warmest and most comforting hugs.

                “I’m fine now. He told me everything’s going to be fine and that I should trust him.” She successfully held back her tears as she remembered how gentle YG sounded like when he’s comforting her over the phone a moment ago.

                “Never thought he has this father-like side too,” Bom joked, trying to ease the atmosphere.

                Dara couldn’t deny how she felt relieved after her talk with their CEO. She was thankful to have such a wonderful boss by their side, most especially at times like this.

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                Kris was still very much upset with their management. He thought that they were being unfair with Dara. He totally agreed with everything that Chanyeol had said. It pained him to see all those nasty names people are calling her. It angered him to know that he couldn’t do anything about it. He wanted to protect Dara, but he had no idea how to do so.

                His train of thoughts was interrupted by a sudden knock on his door.

                “Chanyeol?” Kris was surprised to see his fellow giant at his doorstep. “What’s up?”

                Kris definitely saw uneasiness and hesitations in Chanyeol’s eyes. But Chanyeol managed to give off a small smile at his hyung.

                “Yo, Kris-hyung,” he tried to sound a bit jolly, but Kris knew him too well that he knew he was faking it.

                “Come in,” Kris gave way for him to enter. Chanyeol went in without further adieu. Kris eyed him before he felt something weird in him. He felt that Chanyeol had something serious he wanted to tell him. And Kris shuddered at that thought.

----- End of Chapter -----

SORRY FOR THE HARSH WORDS USED. I LOVE DARA SO MUCH.