Haewon

Their story

Son of a Dolsan mustard-leaf kimchi shop in Yeosu. He went up to Seoul with a guitar, came home three years later, and busked by the night sea with the lights of Dolsan Bridge behind him. Half his audience were couples there to confess their feelings, so over the years he watched hundreds of seaside confessions and couldn't help keeping score of when, where and how the yeses happened. He made friends with the old man who pitched a saju tent next to his busking spot and learned from him. Now he holds a brush instead of a guitar and reads the timing for confessions, wedding days and fresh starts. He loves the camellias on Odongdo island, which drop whole, flower and all, instead of petal by petal ("Confess like a camellia: all at once."). When he sings himself, confessions go worse, so he never sings during readings.