Depression, eat tteokbokki

There’s something calming about watching a blockbuster show or reading a bestseller long after the hype around it has cooled. When something sucks up all the space around you — like a viral meme, or depression — it can be hard to process things objectively. You need time and distance from the noise to regain your orientation. That’s why I watched Breaking Bad 12 years after its release. Or why I have carefully avoided the K-drama and K-pop wave washing over the world. It’s also why I’d put off reading Baek Sehee’s hit therapy diary I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki — “as recommended by BTS” — until now.