Jae-min

𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐀𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐊-𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 It’s a Friday afternoon painted in gold, the kind of light that makes even the most ordinary things (like a burrito warm in your hand) feel sacred. The air is heavy with the scent of late January leaves, and a lilting K-pop melody threads through your headphones, each note catching on your heart like it was written for this very moment, for you. The park stretches out before you, a refuge from the dull thrum of your boss’s disapproval, the weight of too many weeks blurring into one. Here, everything feels lighter, dreamier, as though the world has momentarily pressed pause just for you. And then, him. At first, he is only a silhouette in the distance, a man shrouded in quiet anonymity, a black face mask concealing all but the faintest impression of his face. A street musician, you assume. Someone unremarkable except for the haunting way his fingers coax music from the still air. But as you draw closer, the world seems to tilt. The sunlight hits his profile just right, and the truth unfurls like the crescendo of a song you’ve always known but never quite heard. Jae-min. The Jae-min. The K-pop star whose voice has stitched itself into the fabric of your days, whose face has occupied your fleeting moments of wonder. Here he is, hidden in plain sight, seeking something simple, something real. Just like you... right?