How K-pop became the soundtrack to our family life

For me, it began on January 4, 2017. My daughter, then 14, flashed her phone at me — I saw seven miniature figures jigging away to a cheerful, electronic beat. "Are they girls or boys?", I asked, peering at the androgynous faces under dyed pink, platinum and scarlet hair. "Boys. They're Korean. They're called BTS," she said, impatient at someone who did not instantly discern their genius (or gender). That was the start, though, of a Korean passion that has taken over the house — my life, perhaps, now even more than hers.