On early mornings in Seoul, the city feels completely different. Before traffic builds and cafés fill with students, you can hear the soft echo of delivery scooters and the rustle of street vendors setting up stalls.
There’s a special kind of calm that appears in Seoul during winter. The city stays busy, of course, but step inside a warm café in Gangnam, Hongdae, or even a tiny alleyway in Ikseon-dong, and everything slows down. The windows fog, the heaters hum quietly, and people wrap their hands around hot drinks like they’re holding onto little pieces of warmth.
