Even if you aren’t good at math, please answer this question: What is 0 times 1? 0, right? That is exactly what the world is: a zero. In this world of zero, you need to find the one for you. The adults around you always talk about how you can’t possibly be in love because you’re a child. You roll your eyes and scoff behind their backs. It’s simple. They give you all of the love and attention in the world. Each kiss feels like an angel’s wing brushing against you. Just being in their general vicinity makes you feel like you can take over the world. Nobody has ever made you feel so.. Comfortable. You feel like you actually matter. You find yourself thinking about them 24/7. Nothing matters to you except the approval of your significant other. You unconsciously change yourself to fit their needs. You’re so desperate for someone to understand the pain you’re going through. The chance that you’ll experience being loved by them is your only reason to live. But, zero times one is still zero. In the song “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) feat. Seori”, TOMORROW X TOGETHER speaks about this message through a story of desperation and adolescence. 

TOMORROW X TOGETHER is a youthful boy band who brings an energetic spin on what we define as the Korean pop genre. Just as their name suggests, the members have come together under one dream in hopes of building a better tomorrow. With an impressive 10 million Spotify listeners and 38 awards since their debut in 2019, TXT can confidently be described as not your typical K-Pop group. Their heartfelt lyrics and punk rock aesthetic have touched the hearts of millions of people worldwide. On May 31st 2021, they released an emotional song that changed the way people viewed K-pop and storytelling. 

The story starts off with a boy playing a game while his parents yell at each other in the background. The boy, who is named Yeonjun, is living in an unstable household. He is essentially all alone and feels like there is no light to his darkness. After playing the video game for a few minutes, he frustratedly throws down his controller. He gets up and steals his parent’s car keys. His friends are happily waiting for him by the car, dapping him up and patting him on the back. They all pile into Yeonjun’s parent’s car and rock out to music loudly, not having a care in the world while driving to seemingly nowhere. It is highly implied that none of what’s happening is real, and that these are his imaginary friends. Later in the video, Yeonjun is seen dancing two times in his room: once by himself and once with all of his “friends”, all of them still wearing the same clothes which means this happened on the same day. Yeonjun is a traumatized kid who uses his imagination in order to find comfort in his solitude. Deep in this warped reality, according to the lyrics, he meets a girl who changes his perception of life itself. 

 Yeonjun sees no reason to live because his life has been deprived of any reason to do so. Huening Kai sings, “I was fine to die/I’m a loser in this game”. Before he met his one and only, he was ready to die without a regret for his previous life. He becomes obsessed with the girl and doesn’t want to imagine a world without her.  Taehyun sings, “Please use me like a drug (I know I love you)”. This can be interpreted in two different ways. Drugs are commonly used as a type of medicine; a way to heal someone. Drugs are also most infamously known as something that causes horrible addiction because they boost serotonin levels. Yeonjun wants the girl to use him so she can get addicted and never leave him, because she’s the only one keeping him alive. Without her, Yeonjun feels as cold as ice: “Frigid air starts to thaw/In this world of zero/I found warmth that’s you”. In this world where everyone seems to hate them, this girl is the only one who can melt away Yeonjun’s cold persona and thaw out his frozen heart.

“0X1=LOVESONG” has shown that your first love can truly change your life. It offers a refreshing perspective compared to how the general public discusses teens. This song reminds us that it’s okay to feel like a loser and not live up to society’s standards of normalcy. The raw emotion of the members throughout the song also made it more relatable and feel like we are currently experiencing the story through Yeonjun’s point of view.