FROM CHICAGO TO KCON: ZOMBIE’S ADVENTURES IN L.A. – DAY 3

Being cursed to spend my entire week in L.A. running on Central Time, I woke up at an ungodly hour Friday morning and couldn’t go back to sleep so I did what any zombie in my position would do, I got up, got dressed and headed to the hotel lobby to grab a cup of coffee and call my family. I figured that since I hadn’t talked to them in a couple of days, it would probably be a good idea to at least let them know I hadn’t died. (A fear every single member of my family had while I was away. Crazy people!) With the obligatory phone calls out of the way, it was time to check in with the world and what did I happen to stumble across but pictures of VIXX at the airport in Seoul, posted during my brief hours of sleep. Naturally the fangirl in my couldn’t resist looking up flight arrival times and lo and behold, there were two flights scheduled to arrive at LAX within a half hour of each other and I knew VIXX was on one of them. Being the die-hard Starlight that I am, I couldn’t suppress the wails of my inner fangirl as I thought of VIXX arriving in L.A. without me there to greet them. I mean, ‘cmon! It’s not every day you get to be in the same place at the same time as your ultimate bias group and my entire week in L.A. seemed to be embracing the theme of “YOLO” (and I still can’t believe how many times Tanya and I “YOLO”ed ourselves while we were there… It’s almost embarrassing, really) so I did the only thing a self-respecting fangirl in my position would do. I tried to come up with a way to get myself to the airport to welcome VIXX when they arrived.

Now there’s something funny you should know about Tanya, she’s not a fangirly fangirl and she doesn’t believe in waiting for idols to arrive at airports because she thinks it’s an invasion of their privacy, or something along those lines, so I knew that I’d never in a million years convince her to take me to the airport so I could seize this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see VIXX up close and welcome them to the U.S. with a happy, “Hello.” (Which I do get, by the way, and typically I wouldn’t bother with the insanity of the airport just to catch a five second glimpse of a band as they rush by but this was VIXX and the Starlight in my just wouldn’t shut up because how many times in my life am I actually going to see them, really?) So feeling slightly guilty for letting my inner fangirl out in full force, I did the only thing I could do… I texted my lovely friend Sue (aka mamafangirl, aka @SueMarue), casually asked her what she was up to and almost immediately she knew what I was thinking. In just over an hour the two of us were standing in the international terminal at LAX, happily chatting about our plans for the day and squeeing over the possibility of seeing VIXX at any moment. (And I have to take this moment to thank the amazingly wonderful Tanya who graciously dropped me off at the airport with nothing more than a scathing look of disappointment and a roll of her eyes when I finally mustered up the courage to ask her help me out with my crazy fangirl plan… Oh, and full credit and honor to those who took these lovely pictures of VIXX at the airport in Seoul. They are wonderful and I thank you for sharing them with the world!)

Fate, however, is a funny thing and has a way of messing with the best-laid plans. You see, while Sue and I were squeeing over VIXX, a growing number of fangirls gathered around us and it didn’t take long to realize there was more than one band arriving that day. While Sue and I were there to catch a glimpse of VIXX, it seemed like the entire rest of the world was there to welcome BTS back to L.A. which wasn’t a bad thing but it did make vying for a prime position a bit more difficult. Still, we managed to lay claim to a small space and eventually BTS made their entrance, much to the delight of a squealing mass of fangirls.
I will admit, it was fun seeing BTS work their way through the crowd, with smiles on their faces and an occasional nod to their adoring fans but it was so much easier to breathe once the ARMY dispersed. Sadly, my encounters with K-Pop idols ended there that day. While BTS kept the masses enthralled, VIXX quietly slipped out a different exit and I totally missed my chance to see them. *sigh* I’m still sad I didn’t get to see VIXX at the airport but I suppose it’s the universe’s way of getting back at me for letting my fangirl side run wild. (Maybe the universe is trying to tell me I’m too old to let my inner fangirl run unchecked…)

Though disappointed I didn’t get to see VIXX, I did get to see BTS and even better, I got to spend the entire rest of the day with Sue and her lovely daughter and I really don’t think there’s a better way to forget your disappointment in not seeing your ultimate bias group than by shopping with your soul sister, squeeing together over VIXX and eating more delicious food than any one person should eat in a lifetime. (Oh my goodness, I still can’t get over the passion fruit macaroon I ate… It was absolutely divine! Again, I heard the angels singing…) Sue, being the sweetheart that she is, absolutely spoiled me that day, showering me with gifts of VIXX (including a poster of Leo that nearly made me fall over when I first saw it) and taking me to all of the best shops in K-Town. I spent the entire rest of the day feeling so incredibly special, which, if I’m perfectly honest, isn’t a feeling I’m used to but boy, was it nice!

In the midst of all of our eating and shopping and squeeing over ALL of our biases (though mostly VIXX), Sue, her daughter and I somehow managed to get all of the final little details of the Starlight meet up dinner Sue and I had been planning with other members of VIXX Galaxy (for months), squared away.  With just enough time to put the finishing touches on things, we headed to Bud Namu KBBQ, to meet up with the handful of fellow KCON-bound Starlights that were willing to spend an evening with a bunch of VIXX crazed unnies. Having seen over half of the Starlights at the airport earlier that day, it didn’t take long for all of us at the meetup to find something to talk about and before you knew it, all of us were chatting away like we were all old friends. With dinner came all kinds of silly games, like “Name that Member” and VIXX trivia and everyone left that evening with some sort of VIXX prize, a new friend and a whole lot of memories.

After dinner and a whole lot of chatting with new friends, it was time to head back to the hotel and attempt to get some much-needed sleep. Of course that didn’t really happen but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right? After spending an entire day apart, Tanya and I had a lot to catch up on as she had spent the day picking up Michael (aka Mr. Popo) from the airport and hanging out with him and the rest of her L.A. friends in K-Town before going to a YouTubers dinner with Mr. Popo and a bunch of other KCON special guests. Being the incredible multi-taskers that we are, Tanya and I were able to fill each other in on our day while simultaneously squeeing over albums, drooling over a VIXX Box (courtesy of the amazing Tanya who loves me more than I deserve) and putting the finishing touches on our cosplay. (I know, we’re so talented.) It goes without saying that it was another ridiculously late night but we had fun and sleep wasn’t really ever much of an option for us anyway. Something about KCON happening the next day and the fact that we were both supposed to appear in front of who knows how many people and say things that both entertained and intrigued our audiences without making ourselves look stupid… You know, no big deal… (HA!)