The Dream I Didn’t Want to Wake Up From

A Seoul Stroll with Jin

Not outrageous. Not wild. Just real.

Real in the way your heart recognizes before your head can name it.

I had a dream I didn’t want to wake up from—and not for the usual reasons.

This one didn’t involve wild superpowers or red carpets.

Just… me and Jin from BTS. Wandering through a city. Laughing. Eating. Searching.

And somewhere along the way, I realized: this wasn’t just a dream.

It was a mirror. And maybe… a map.

Cafés, Confessions, and a Missing Phone

We met—somehow. I don’t remember how. One moment I was alone; the next, I was with Jin.

It felt like Seoul. We walked the streets, unbothered. No one recognized him. It was like the world gave us a secret window of time, and we stepped through it.

We slipped into a café for lunch. He paid.

Then another café for dessert. He paid again.

He insisted.

The whole thing felt like a date. He was warm, present, effortlessly funny. He gave the kind of “boyfriend energy” that made me feel seen and safe—like I didn’t have to be anyone else. Just me.

I remember thinking, Gosh, if ARMY only knew what he was really like…

But then I caught myself.

Of course not. He doesn’t belong to just me. Jin belongs to all of ARMY.

That thought stayed with me.

Later, we ended up in a buzzing, festival-like area—like a Korean Universal Studios. Lights, crowds, music. We ate again (apparently my dream self believes in meals as love languages). It was noisy and joyful and full of life.

And then—I realized I’d lost my phone.

Panic.

It wasn’t just about the phone. It held my ID, credit cards—my whole sense of being anchored. I told Jin. Without hesitation, he helped me retrace our steps. He didn’t flinch.

Eventually, though, he had to leave. “Meet me there,” he said. I nodded.

I found my phone. But I’d lost him.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:13

The Search That Didn’t End

I searched everywhere. Wandering through hotels, following tips from strangers. I even rang the wrong doorbell and ran away in awkward panic. It was part comedy, part quest.

But I never found him.

And then… I woke up.

An hour past my usual time. No alarm. No warning. Just a quiet, unwelcome return to reality.

And I was devastated.

Because I didn’t want to stop searching.

Not just for Jin.

For the feeling.

For what he represented.

For something I’ve quietly longed for in real life.

Soul Insights

1. We All Want to Be Chosen

Not just included. Chosen. Desired. Delighted in.

The dream revealed that I don’t just want to witness beauty—I want to be the one someone chooses to share it with. Without second-guessing. Without competing.

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu

2. Joy Can Feel Suspicious When We’re Used to Earning Love

I kept waiting for the catch. Why is he paying? Why is this so easy?

Sometimes, joy feels untrustworthy when we’ve spent our lives hustling for crumbs. But grace—like true joy—asks for nothing in return.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” — James 1:17

3. We Disqualify Ourselves Before Anyone Else Does

That line—He belongs to all of ARMY, not just me—hit deep. I’ve had that thought before in real life, in different forms:

“This isn’t for me.”

“I’m too late.”

“Other people get that kind of love, not me.”

But those are lies born of wounds—not truth spoken by love.

I’ve backed away from things I wanted just because I assumed I didn’t get to keep them. And I’m slowly learning to stop doing that.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” — Proverbs 13:12

4. The Real Fear Isn’t Being Alone. It’s Being Left Behind.

I didn’t panic until I realized he was gone. That I might have been too late. That I’d find the thing I lost (my phone), but not the person who mattered most.

That pattern echoes my life in quiet ways:

Almost success. Almost connection. Almost love.

So close… then gone.

5. Dreams Sometimes Speak in Symbols, Not Sentences

What if Jin wasn’t the point?

What if he was the symbol?

Of gentleness.

Of being seen.

Of being pursued.

Of a God who pays for your meal and helps you look for your phone—not because you earned it, but because you’re loved.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” — Rumi

What This Dream Left Me With…

I don’t think I’ll forget this dream. Not because it was about Jin.

Because it was about me. And maybe, about you too.

We all want someone to say, “Meet me there,” and mean it.

We all want to believe we’re not too late. That love won’t leave while we’re looking. That if we lose ourselves a little, someone will come find us.

Maybe Jin was just the symbol.

But the message?

You are not forgotten.

You are not invisible.

You are not too late.

And maybe the dream wasn’t done.

Maybe… it just needed me to wake up

to begin the real search.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” — Jeremiah 31:3

Soul Path Insights