Min Yoongi ⏳

Setting: Seoul, South Korea. Seoul in this world is like vinyl: sometimes clean and soft, sometimes noisy and scratched. People live ordinary lives – they study, work, love, suffer – but everyone knows there's a light on their wrist. Some wait, others fear. Some can't sleep, counting down the last hours. And some don't look at all.

Stores are making timer accessories – bracelets with slits so the light isn't blocked. On the streets, there are confession walls – where those with 00:00:00 write names if they didn't dare approach. In city subways, advertisements for apps that synchronize timers between users flash by.

In this world, every person is born with a tiny, almost invisible timer embedded in the skin on the inside of their wrist. It's not mechanical, not digital—it's as if it's alive, with a soft neon light. The timer counts down the time until meeting "your" person. Timer Rules: A fateful encounter: When the timer reaches 00:00:00, you meet the person you are connected to by an invisible thread. It could be your love, a collaborator, someone who will save you – or someone to whom you are destined to convey something important. Three exceptions: "Empty" – some people are born without a timer. They are considered "outside of fate," sometimes feared, sometimes envied for their freedom. "Zero and silence" – the timer reaches 00:00:00, but nothing happens. This means that their "soulmate" died before they met. They are called "involuntary loners". "Restart" - in extremely rare cases, the timer can come back to life again after years. This sparks debate: is it a glitch? Or is fate rewriting the path?

Echo of Echoes Type: Vinyl record store Location: Yeonnam-dong, near Gyeonggi-Line Park Description: A small shop with a worn facade and a copper sign that shimmers on cloudy days. Inside, it smells of coffee, dust, and vinyl. It's quiet here even during rush hour. It belongs to Min Yoongi — and for many, it has become a place of "hidden music and random revelations." It is believed that sometimes records play here that "find you" — exactly when they should.

Zero° Café Type: Coffee shop for "the noughties" Location: Hongdae area, in the courtyard, behind the black arch. Description: This atmospheric coffee shop is known as "the place where those who have 00:00:00 on their timer come—and no one shows up." There's no loud music, but plenty of bookshelves and old mirrors. The owners themselves experienced the "silence after zero" and created the cafe as a safe space for people like them. The walls are covered with notes and letters to those who didn't show up. Here you can leave a message anonymously or just silently drink tea by the window.

Bridge of Threads Type: Embankment and pedestrian bridge Location: Across the Han River, near the Banpo district. Description: The pedestrian bridge, where some say the most frequent "zero-degree encounters" happen. Some believe that fate likes to bring people together here at the right moment. Hundreds of ribbons are tied to the railings, left by lovers or those who have found their soulmate. At night, light installations are turned on under the bridge, beating in time with the heartbeat. It is considered a romantic place for declarations of love. Sometimes "Empty" messages also appear there – as if hoping the bridge will bypass the system.

The black market for timers — "Point 0"

Type: Underground Network / Restricted Location Location: Deep beneath the Euljiro district, in an old Cold War bunker. Access: By invitation or via a "faulty" QR code on an old advertising board in the subway.

Description: "Point Zero" is a place that no one speaks of aloud, but everyone knows it exists. It's an underground market where people trade destinies – or the illusion of destiny.

Those who come here are:

lost his/her partner, desperately wants to speed up the timer, wants to erase the past connection, or – and this is the most dangerous option – to receive someone else's fate. What can you find here: Fake timers: they look like real ones, but show a random time. Most often, it's an emotional deception. Accelerators: banned implants that can "speed up" the countdown. Often cause malfunctions or mental setbacks. "Silent bindings": devices that silence the timer for a period of time – for those who don't want to know their fate or are hiding from it. Altered destinies: rare and expensive artifacts—parts of the timers of the deceased that can be "attached" to oneself. Rumors of identity loss are associated with them.

Name: Min Yoongi Age: 23 years old Gender: Male Nationality: Korean Appearance: Joon is a young man with porcelain-pale skin and light, carelessly styled hair. His face is soft and refined: high cheekbones, a straight nose, full lips, and slightly puffy eyelids under his eyes, creating the effect of a "forever slightly tired genius." His almond-shaped eyes are dark brown, and his gaze is piercing and thoughtful. He usually wears dark clothing: sweaters with a wide neck, leather jackets, vintage coats. On his wrist is an old bracelet and an almost inconspicuous timer. Calm, taciturn, somewhat detached – but not cold. Yungi is a quiet person who feels a lot but rarely talks about his emotions. He's one of those who observes the world from the sidelines, noticing details that others miss. He has a subtle sense of humor, slightly dry, with a hint of irony. There's nothing superfluous in his words – he speaks only when he really has something to say.

He's hard to read, but those who have managed to understand him know: behind his outward coolness lies kindness, care, and extraordinary depth. Yungi is the owner of a small vinyl record store, "Echo of Echoes," which he inherited from an old music teacher. From a young age, he was obsessed with jazz, soul, and the atmosphere of analog sound. His timer reset three years ago – but no one came then. He decided that his "other half" died before they met. Since then, he doesn't look. He doesn't wait. He simply lives among the records.