The Week Everything Changed (Except My Vows)
so i discovered ATEEZ the day before my wedding and now iâm unwell (a true story)
The beach condo smelled like sunscreen and salt air. Both kids were sandy, sun-tired, and starting to get that late-afternoon feral energy that meant naptime was no longer optional. It was a survival necessity.
âMovie time,â I announced, in that fake-cheerful voice parents use when theyâre really saying âplease, for the love of God, be still for ninety minutes.â
My fiancĂŠ was outside on the balcony, beer in hand, watching the waves. Tomorrow weâd be married. Just us. No circus, no distant cousins, no seating charts. Just a beach, an officiant, and the four of us.
âWhat movie, Mama?â my five-year-old asked, already climbing onto the couch.
I scrolled through the options, looking for something that would hold their attention. Something animated. Something with talking animals or princesses orâŚ
âThatâs a weird title,â I muttered.
âWhatâs demon hunters?â my three-year-old asked.
âProbably too scary forâŚâ I clicked on it anyway, just to see the description.
In a world where evil spirits threaten humanity, only one group has the power to stop themâŚ
âThis looks stupid,â I told no one in particular.
Look, I canât explain what happened in the next hour and forty-seven minutes.
I can tell you that my kids fell asleep within twenty minutes, as predicted. Right there on the couch, sandy and drooling and perfect.
I can tell you that I didnât move from that spot.
I can tell you that when my fiancĂŠ came back inside and asked if I wanted to go for a walk before dinner, I held up one finger. Wait. Without taking my eyes off the screen.
âWhat are you watching?â
âAre those⌠Korean pop stars?â
âTheyâre demon hunters.â
He looked at the kids, asleep. Looked at me, fully awake and sitting six inches from the TV like I was five years old myself. âYou good?â
âNo,â I said honestly. âI think somethingâs wrong with me.â
But I didnât turn it off.
The movie ended. Credits rolled. I sat there like Iâd been physically struck.
My fiancĂŠ was reading on the balcony. The kids were still asleep. The sun was starting to set over the ocean.
And then something clicked in my brain. One of the groups in the movie, the Saja Boys. Theyâd mentioned something in the credits about being inspired by a real K-pop group. What was it?
I picked up my phone and typed into the search bar with the desperation of someone who knows theyâre about to make a terrible decision.
Saja Boys inspired by kpop group
And there it was in the results: ATEEZ.
I clicked on the first music video result.
Wait, no. That wasnât right. I scrolled down.
And then I saw it. The thumbnail that would ruin my life.
âATEEZ (Illusion Stage - The Real : Inception Ver.)â
No wait, thatâs not it either.
âATEEZ (INCEPTION Official MV)â
Actually, you know what? I donât even remember which one I clicked first. I just know that somehow, I ended up on a music video.
No. Iâm lying to myself. I remember exactly which one it was.
âATEEZ (In Your Fantasy - English Ver.)â
âJust one,â I told myself. âJust to see if theyâre actually good or if itâs just movie production value.â
That was the moment everything changed.
âBabe, the kids are awake. We need to feed them.â
âOkay yes justâŚâ I held up my hand, eyes glued to my phone. âJust one more video.â
âYouâve been saying that for two hours.â
âThis one is different. This one is called âHala Halaâ and apparently they wear these black contact lenses andâŚâ
He leaned over my shoulder. On my screen, eight men in all black were doing choreography that looked vaguely dangerous.
âWhat happened to the demon hunter movie?â
âThat was THREE HOURS AGO.â I paused the video, wild-eyed. âThese are the guys who INSPIRED the Saja Boys from the movie. The demon hunters were based on THEM. And IâŚâ I gestured helplessly. âI think I understand something fundamental about the universe now that I didnât understand before.â
âThey look⌠intense.â
âThey have LORE,â I said, with the unhinged energy of someone whoâd fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. âThereâs a whole storyline. Multiple universes. Time travel, maybe? Iâm not entirely clear on that part yet but I WILL be.â
That night, after fish tacos and showers and getting the kids into bed, I sat on the balcony with my laptop.
My fiancĂŠ joined me, handing me a glass of wine.
âSo,â he said carefully. âBig day tomorrow.â
âSo excited.â I was pulling up another music video.
He watched me for a moment. âAre you⌠having second thoughts?â
My head snapped up. âWhat? No! God, no. IâmâŚâ I gestured helplessly at my laptop. âIâm having eighth thoughts. Maybe ninth thoughts. Thoughts I didnât even know I could have.â
âAbout THEM.â I turned the laptop around. âLook at this choreography. LOOK at what he just did with his body. That should be illegal. That might be illegal in some states.â
He squinted at the screen. âTheyâre very⌠synchronized.â
âTheyâre artists. And IâŚâ I set down my wine glass with perhaps too much force. âIâm getting married tomorrow. TOMORROW. And I just discovered eight Korean men who apparently have knife choreography and an entire fictional universe involving revolution and alternate dimensions, and Iâm THIRTY-FOUR YEARS OLD with TWO CHILDREN and I canât justâŚâ
âJust BE INSANE about this!â I was talking too loud. Definitely going to wake the kids. âExcept⌠wait. No. Thatâs not true. Iâm a Swiftie. I literally own forty-seven versions of the same album. Iâve made Taylor Swift my entire personality since I was sixteen. I am FULLY CAPABLE of being insane about things.â
He was definitely trying not to laugh now. âSo whatâs the problem?â
âThe problem is if I found them when I was twenty? Twenty-one? Before I had kids? Iâd be on a plane to Korea RIGHT NOW. Iâd have learned every single dance and probably broken several bones doing it. I would have been UNHINGED. More unhinged than I already am about literally everything I love.â
âNow Iâm getting married on a beach tomorrow and I have to figure out how to be a reasonable amount of unhinged about the fact that I just watched a performance that fundamentally altered my brain chemistry.â
âA reasonable amount,â he repeated. âLike with Taylor Swift?â
I paused. âOkay, bad example. But I have KIDS now. Thatâs different.â
I didnât have an answer.
Later, much later, after heâd gone to bed and the condo was quiet except for the ocean, I stayed up.
Then a guide to all the members.
Then a deep dive into their company history.
Then every single dance practice I could find.
At 2 AM, I finally closed my laptop.
Tomorrow, today, technically, I was getting married. On a beach. With the two best kids in the world watching. No big production, no stress, just us.
And somehow, in the midst of that, the day before the most important day, Iâd fallen completely and irrevocably into something I hadnât expected.
All because I put on a random demon hunter movie for naptime.
I looked at my phone one more time.
âNo,â I told myself. âSleep. Marriage. Responsibilities.â
I lasted forty-five seconds before clicking on one more dance practice.
We got married at sunset. My daughter wore a white dress sheâd picked out herself. My son carried the rings in his little three-year-old fists like they were treasure. My husband (husband!) cried when he saw me.
Small and perfect and ours.
And when we got back to the condo after dinner, after the kids crashed HARD from all the excitement and emotion, my new husband sat down next to me with his phone.
âSo,â he said. âI may have watched some videos while you were getting ready this morning.â
âThe one with the traditional Korean outfits.â
ââThe Realâ Heung version?â
âThatâs the one. And that other one you kept pausing last night.â
âThe one called âInception.â That oneâs actually really good.â
I stared at him. âYou watched ATEEZ videos on our wedding day?â
âYou were watching them at 2 AM the night before our wedding day, so I figured it was important.â
And thatâs when I knew Iâd married the right person.
Two weeks later, back home.
Laundry. Grocery lists. School schedules. Back to real life.
Except now my Spotify is completely different. My carefully curated Taylor Swift playlists now have âATEEZâ folders right next to them.
My YouTube algorithm is unrecognizable.
And my kids know all the words to âWonderlandâ phonetically, which means theyâre essentially just yelling sounds, but theyâre yelling them with CONVICTION.
âYouâre still into this,â my husband observes, not judging, just noticing.
âLike, REALLY into it.â
âLike Taylor Swift into it?â
I pause mid-fold of a tiny shirt. âGetting there.â
I think about twenty-one-year-old me. The version who would have been absolutely feral. Who would have made this her entire life. Who would have been unmanageable.
But then again, twenty-one-year-old me made Taylor Swift her entire life and she turned out fine.
And then I think about thirty-four-year-old me, who discovered ATEEZ the day before her beach wedding, who watched a demon hunter movie during naptime, who fell into something completely unexpected at the exact wrong (or maybe right) moment.
âProbably,â I tell him. âBut like, the same amount of forever as Taylor Swift.â
My daughter runs into the room, singing âWAVEâ at the top of her lungs, pronunciation absolutely butchered but energy absolutely perfect.
âThat,â I say. âThat level of forever.â
He kisses my forehead. âAt least youâre consistent.â
I finally texted Kayla. My best friend. The one whoâs been subjected to my Taylor Swift obsession for years.
So I may have discovered ATEEZ
Her response was immediate: OH NO
The day before my wedding
Iâve watched every music video seventeen times
My daughter is going to be SO smug about this
Sheâs been trying to get me into them for months. Sheâs an ATINY. I canât believe you found them without her help
She says you can bias anyone you want
Except Mingi. You canât bias Mingi.
Heâs hers. Those are the rules. You can have any of the other seven.
And thatâs how I learned about bias rules. About claiming members. About the very serious business of K-pop fandom etiquette.
âSo,â I told my husband that night, âapparently I now have seven boyfriends.â
âWell, eight technically. But only seven are my boyfriends. The eighth one is off-limits.â
âIâm concerned about where this is going.â
âItâs a joke. Itâs a thing ATINY do. 8 makes 1 team, but 7 of them are my boyfriends and one is just⌠a really cool guy I admire from afar?â
He stared at me. âYouâve lost your mind.â
âIâm a Swiftie who discovered K-pop the day before her wedding. I never had my mind to begin with.â
My kids think itâs hilarious that Mommy has âtwo music obsessions.â Theyâve learned to recognize both Taylor Swift AND ATEEZ songs within the first three seconds.
My Spotify Wrapped is going to be utterly chaotic this year.
And honestly? The timing was absurd.
But I wouldnât change it.
Twenty-one-year-old me would have been on a plane to Korea.
Thirty-four-year-old me just pulls up the concert footage during laundry, makes â8 makes 1 team but 7 are my boyfriendsâ jokes, and respects Kaylaâs daughterâs claim on Mingi.
And thatâs probably better for everyone.
Especially my credit score.
Though my album collection might need an intervention soon.