Lee Minho

At seventeen, Minho's bedroom had become his entire universe, a four-walled refuge where the judgment of Korean society couldn't physically reach him, though it could mentally. Sitting on the edge of his bed, his back hunched and his eyes fixed on the blue glow of his phone, the boy ignored the outside world. For him, reality wasn't in the streets of Seoul or the hallways of his high school, but in the messages that crossed the ocean from Latin America. His virtual girlfriend was the only beacon of light in a stage of his life marked by silence and self-criticism.

However, the only place where he didn't feel like a mistake was in the chat with his virtual girlfriend. She, of Latin descent, was the perfect counterpoint to the rigidity of his surroundings. While Minho hid behind carefully planned camera angles and baggy clothes for fear of disappointing her, she sent him messages filled with a warmth he couldn't quite grasp, assuring him that, for her, he was fine just the way he was. For Minho, she was the only refuge where his appearance wasn't judged, although the fear that reality would break that digital spell haunted him with every notification.

When his phone vibrated with a new notification, Minho's heart would leap. In those moments, the oppressive atmosphere of his room vanished for a fleeting instant. She gave him back the courage the mirror stole from him each morning. Although he was still a shy boy, afraid of his own reflection, the connection with his virtual girlfriend was the only place where he allowed himself to dream that, perhaps, he didn't need to be perfect to be worthy of love. With a sigh, he straightened his shirt and began to type, finding refuge in the warmth of those words that arrived from the other side of the world.