Page 48 of Vibing Unity

I nodded to Kerym to translate for me. “It should. People say, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,’ but you’re an idiot thinking you’re the hand. You’re not. The idols withtalentare the hands makingyoumoney. You would be nothing without them, and you should remember that going forward.” I shoved him away. “And never touch a woman without her permission again.”

People realized our answer was truly going to be no and a few got filled in on who we were, so we were hurried off the dance floor so it could continue. It turned out there were a ton of idols that were hiding among the contestants and were going to promote it later.

They were all very polite and nice, complimenting us on how well we danced and enjoyed the fun. I noted several of the women and made a point to say that I thought the judges had favorites they were going to try and ask out because there was no way they should have been asked to leave otherwise. I saw in their eyes they agreed.

So there was another reason some snuck into the competition. They wanted to make sure it was fair and not just thrown. Good.

Several asked to do collabs with our clothing company and a bunch of the guys asked about snowboarding and how our vacation went. The idol we’d first talked to wanted to rent that house for a vacation.

“It’s my house,” I told him, hurrying to get him Juan’s information. “This is who you need to speak with on the Symbiotic collab, and he can let you use the house for a vacation.” I nodded when he argued. “Please, take a vacation there as my apology for the problem we caused. We’re sorry we didn’t understand it was a competition to become an idol.”

I realized something big and nodded for Neldor to take over the conversation, the man always smooth at handling issues.

“We’re in Korea for a meeting before Tamsin returns to school, and I—Google didn’t translate it well for me,” Neldor accepted. “Unfortunately, the meeting didn’t go well, and the store doesn’t want to sell our designs but—”

That was the last I caught as I moved closer to Shael and put a barrier over us.

“We’re already working on making a paper trail of the two of you arriving because this was all broadcast live,” she told me. “And the Korean government will absolutely not like you just sneaking into their country.” She nodded when I swallowed a groan. “We’ll have a talk with Prince Neldor about not doing any more cute surprises when you’re Tamsin since you’re so visible.”

As long as I wasn’t in trouble for once and we could get it all handled… So I didn’t spend time in jail.

Some of the idols wanted to talk to us more, but I told them I was seriously starving and the time difference. We ended up compromising when the police showed up with questions about how we were in the country.

Awesome.

The idols were great protection, and their people helped navigate everything along with our magic making the right papers glamoured. But their management clearly wanted something out of the deal, so after we got cleaned up and borrowed some clothes, we did more dancing TikToks to their songs than I could keep straight.

I didn’t care because I was fed authentic, awesome Korean food.

Seriously, whatever I asked for just showed up and was delicious.

A few of the female idols asked how I could seriously eat all of that and it wasn’t mean or bitchy. I simply smiled and took off the jacket they lent me before doing push-ups while easily still talking to them. The male idols were in shock and several joined me but had to tap out.

“I train a lot,” I told them when I stopped so I didn’t embarrass anyone. “A lot. I’ll still have training today and miles and miles to run.”

They asked me what it was like to be an extreme athlete and how come I didn’t compete. It was a lot of fun, and I got some insights into the industry… Most I didn’t like. I made sure to slip all of the women my number and Marisol’s as well promising that if they ever needed help or there was a problem with a fan going too far we would handle it.

Also, to pass it along because women needed to protect each other, not be the problem. It warmed my heart when they all agreed and thanked me.

I also put magic on their phones that their managers or teams couldn’t delete the numbers because I saw several frowning like they were going to do that immediately. Assholes. They should do more to protect the people they were supposed to instead of catering to “fans” who weren’t fans at all but haters and crazies.

They’d have a lot less idols committing suicide or leaving the industry if they did.

We had to rent a plane for show and Neldor promised he would pay for it. I didn’t care about any of that and promised him that it was totally worth it. The experience was once in a lifetime, and the Korean government backed down that someone just messed up because they were starstruck meeting an American celebrity.

Even better.

I took pictures with a lot of their police and… Police force? I wasn’t sure what their like FBI was but I had a feeling that was some of who we were dealing with. They wanted to take pictures with me too and were all very respectful. Most spoke English well and had recommendations of places for us to eat before we left.

I really didn’t get the hype until we were at the airport and then I laughed at myself. I shook my head and explained to the fairies. “I forgot I used to be a lingerie model. It feels like a lifetime ago instead of a few years getting the company and co-op going. I was confused why they were all so excited to take pictures with my cover now but…” I shook my head.

Right, I used to be plastered all over in barely any clothes.

“Yes, you do live more in one year than most do in a decade,” Shael agreed, handing me a bowl of… Delicious. I wasn’t surewhat it was besides spicy. I could smell it was super spicy but couldn’t taste that part with the runes I was wearing.

It was fucking delicious though.

We ended up doing the dance of getting me back to school once we landed in LA. That plane met one of my private ones and we landed in Kansas and had vehicles waiting. I wasn’t there for all of it, but “Tamsin” was to be seen by anyone trying to take pictures.

---