A Little Bit in Love

With the Idea of Him

Sometimes, it’s not about romance. It’s about how someone, from far away, can still remind you of who you want to be.

I think I have a crush on Shawn Mendes.

Not in the way that wants to touch or take—

but the way you fall for a moment.

A sound that wakes you up,

A softness that doesn’t even belong to you.

He sings like someone who’s still learning 

what it means to feel deeply,

but dares to try anyway.

There’s a boyish ache in his voice,

a golden falsetto that stretches toward something just out of reach,

and maybe that’s why I like him—

because I know that feeling too.

I watch him on stage,

and it’s not just his talent,

or his face,

or the way he wears kindness like skin.

It’s the quiet confidence.

The stillness in his chaos.

The way he makes being vulnerable look like a kind of strength.

I admire people who let themselves be seen.

Who risk being soft in a world that rewards hard edges.

And maybe, if I’m honest,

this little crush is less about him

and more about what he reflects back at me—

hope, light, and something I haven’t quite named yet.

A reminder that beauty doesn’t always shout.

Sometimes, it just sings.

“I don’t need to be near him to feel it. Some people shine so gently, they reach you anyway.” 

—Vanessa Liu