Heart and Seoul Travel Log Day 4: I do believe your galaxy

It was the height of Covid when I came upon this interview of BTS in Rolling Stone. It was one of their better interviews, I think, and of the seven, it was Namjoon’s that I was drawn to because there was a part in it where he speaks about the unnoticed, the ordinary, and even the forgotten carrying entire universes within. That each of us, even rocks, has the potential for growth and the capability to shine. The irony is, we don’t realize or recognize it until it is too late.

Believe it or not, I carried his words like a mantra the entire lockdown and it saw me through until the restrictions were lifted in 2022.

Fast forward to Festa 2025 where I found myself and ARMY Daughter at Café Far Ben in Seongsu. We ditched the Festa celebrations to bask in one of the galaxies of Kim Kyung Min, the sister Namjoon believes to have galaxies inside her. Sitting there, I realized, maybe it takes one galaxy to recognize another.

I’m glad we came back on a quieter day, when there were fewer people and space to breathe. Namjoon’s sister wasn’t there, which, in its own way, made it even more meaningful.

We were there to seek and share quiet moments of our own and yet, bound by togetherness. I was there to give respect and express gratitude. ARMY Daughter was there to stand by me. We were there for each other.

We were a mother and daughter, on our artist’s date: me, watercolor painting; Zoe, reading, taking pictures, and journaling. The café, on that day, exuded an energy of openness and calm. As if the very walls knew they were made to hold softness, silence, and the creative shaping of stories— our own galaxies soon to shine. When darkness comes to envelope us again, we have an array of stars to catch or look upon with love and hope. Being in the dark would be less frightening.

Apobangpo! Purple and true!

#bangtanpilgrimage #festa2025 #seoulsearching