✨ My NewJeans Story ✨

I had heard of NewJeans before. They were one of the few K-pop groups actively promoted in the Western media I followed at the time. I remember seeing their EP pop up on Pitchfork or something. But their music just wasn’t that special to me... yet!

Magical moment number one

What I am about to describe is THE moment I truly GOT INTO K-pop.

The first moment in my adult life — after picking up Korean again following a seven-year break — where I genuinely enjoyed a contemporary K-pop song.

It was a warm spring night in 2024. My husband and I were walking around the streets of Busan, drinking a few beers and tumbling from one bar into the next. Eventually, we ended up in an izakaya filled with locals and the nicest atmosphere.

People were talking. Eating seafood snacks. Drinking cold beer. It was just a great mood.

And suddenly — ETA came on.

I had heard the song so many times during that vacation and never really paid attention to it. But damn. At that moment, when those jarring horns hit my ears, it was so beautiful and tragic. I was smitten.

My face in that exact moment:

From that day on, I listened to ETA on repeat every day. (Every time I played it on Spotify, the app insisted on playing ILLIT's Magnetic right after — but that’s another story.)

I showed the ETA music video to my husband, my family, my friends.

My favorite moment in the music video is when Minji sits in the back of the car and sings, “that day you dressed up to the nines (너무 멋있는 옷을 입고 그날)”. Her eyes look so mysterious in that scene. In that moment, she reminded me of my vampire childhood friend.

The second magical moment

I met one of my best friends through NewJeans.

Magical.

Destiny.

That is all I will say here.