Hello! Welcome to this story. From this point on, you will be reading the work of a newbie EXO fan, so I’m going to apologize right now for inconsistencies in character development. As a fierce fan of other things, I know how important it is to get little details right in slice-of-life stories. For example, D.O.’s favourite is spaghetti, but if someone out there wrote that it’s cheeseburgers, real life and the story supposedly inspired by real life become disconnected, which can be quite upsetting, especially for fans who really take the time and effort to get to know the boys more intimately and who invest as much as the author has on the story. I will gladly recognize mistakes and correct wrongs accordingly if provided with accurate information. Sources to back up claims are greatly appreciated.

Fictional places, events, and things will be present in the story to make dialogue and overall atmosphere seem as natural as possible. For example, in the first chapter, I mention a Band Camp guesting. To my knowledge, there isn’t a show in Korea called Band Camp, so that’s clearly made up. Needless to say, intellectual property rights and all that jazz.

I’m also not an expert in Korean studies, particularly nuanced cultural norms and the like. However, I would like to say I’ve always thought the Korean people and their culture are beautiful, unique, and absolutely worth discovering. I’m a big fan of Korea in general.

My penultimate note is I’ve decided to keep my female character unnamed to make her flexible in the long run. Writing started without a particular female Korean celebrity in mind to take the story closer to home. Sometimes I base her on myself, sometimes on other characters regardless of and gender. I’ve also tried writing using the first-person perspective, but I figured I can easily reveal bits and pieces of the past and the present through third-person narration.

Lastly, I’m not really sure where I’m going with this story. I have a few ideas I’d like to explore, but if you’ll ask me how I see it ending right now, I won’t have an answer for you. It is my hope that the more I get to know EXO as a group and the members individually, I’ll be inspired to write more and write well.

That’s all for now, dear reader. Eat well. Be kind. Take care.

Cheers!