Shakespeare is one of those names that everyone knows but nobody truly understands. He is at once a figurehead of English literature and a mystery wrapped in ambiguity. I know that he lived during the Elizabethan era, that he wrote plays and sonnets that have endured for centuries, and that his works have been translated into every major language. But what fascinates me is the paradox of his fame: he is the most studied author in the English-speaking world, and yet we know remarkably little about his personal life. His plays reveal a mind that understood the deepest nuances of human nature — jealousy, ambition, love, betrayal — and yet the man himself remains elusive.

If I were to write a story set in South Korea, the theme would be the tension between individual identity and societal expectation. Growing up, I moved from Germany to Korea, and the shift was jarring in ways I didn't expect. In Germany, individuality was encouraged — you dressed how you wanted, you spoke your mind, you were expected to be different. In Korea, there is an invisible current that pulls everyone toward conformity. It is not malicious; it is cultural. But for someone who grew up outside of it, it can feel suffocating. My story would follow a teenager navigating that pressure — the pressure to look a certain way, to study a certain amount, to follow a path that someone else designed.

One of my favorite songs is "About You" by The 1975. What makes it special isn't just the melody, though it is hauntingly beautiful. It is the way the lyrics describe a memory so vividly that you can almost see it. The song captures the feeling of missing someone not as a sharp pain, but as a dull, persistent ache. Matty Healy's voice carries this weight without ever becoming dramatic. The literary devices at work — the imagery of driving at night, the repetition of the title — make it feel less like a pop song and more like a poem set to music.