━ 𝘁𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

nostalgia

Looking at the cardboard boxes stacked at one side of the almost-empty room, Y/N dusted her hands off before walking over to her shelf. She was moving to an apartment of her own and was packing up the last of her items to be sent to her new place. The packing was almost done except for the items lying on the shelf, items that had a special meaning to her. As she was packing up her music box and other trinkets, a row of neatly stacked books at the back of the shelf caught her eye.

As Y/N reached out for the stack, a hint of recognition flashed across her face when she realised those weren't books. In fact, they were albums from a group she used to love when she was a teenager.

Tomorrow × Together.

Seeing the albums after such a long time brought a small smile on her face, and many many memories she held close to her heart, for they were the ones who accompanied her throughout her teenage years.

She remembered the first time she saw the five teenage boys dancing and singing on the screen when she was watching television and had been mesmerised by how they were so skillfully executing every move and how they could still sing so well while doing so. Not to mention their facial expressions that brought the performance to a whole other level.

She had immediately went to search them up and was quickly sucked into a whole new world, feeling like she was understood by the relatable lyrics of the boy band, whom she later found out was called Tomorrow by Together, with five members, Choi Soobin, Choi Yeonjun, Choi Beomgyu, Kang Taehyun and Huening Kai. As she watched their content, she found a sort of peace within her, just watching them have fun and chase their dreams so fearlessly.

She started following their journey as a fan, looking forward to every new song they had and for the first time in a while, she felt that she wasn't alone. Even if those five boys didn't know of her existence, their impact on her was one that she would never forget. They were like her home, a place she could find solace in whenever she felt lost and sad or when she just needed a place to wind down, to relax after a long day at school. More often than not, she would find herself doing her homework with their lives playing in the background, accompanying her through the wee hours of the night.

Her ups and downs were spent with the five boys, and she would never have wanted it any other way. They had a special place in her heart that no one else could ever replace. They were not only her coping mechanism, they were so much more than that.

To her, they were like the friends she always wanted, ones that could make her laugh with their goofy antics, ones that could offer her comfort when she was low, ones that could make her feel like she was healed just by listening to them talk, regardless of the topic. They were also like her older brothers, giving advice and constant reminders to take care of herself that she found comforting.

Y/N knew deep down that it was because of these five boys, that she was able to get through those stressful and sleepless nights back in her teenage years of constant pressure to study hard and get into a good college. They were the ones who gave her the courage to pursue her dreams like they did, they were the ones who made her feel a small glimmer of hope that she was going to be okay in the end.

And she did turn out better than okay in the end, that lost and frightened teenage girl was now an intelligent and independent young woman who could provide for herself, who was ready to take on anything life would throw at her.

She eventually got busy with her university life and didn't have the time to follow the group's activities and, in a way, lost touch with them. However seeing their albums for the first time in a long while brought tears of joy to her eyes for it reminded her of how she got to where she was.

Y/N brushed the thin layer of dust that had gathered over time off one of the albums and took out the CD, and plugged in her CD player, a feeling of nostalgia hitting her as the songs she knew by heart started to play. For the rest of the afternoon, Y/N felt herself going back to nearly a decade ago, and had fun reliving the times where she would sing her lungs out to their songs at the very same spot she stood then.

While packing up the albums, she took extra care in bubble wrapping them, along with other fragile items before sealing them tightly and putting the box with all the others at the side to be picked up. A new chapter of her life was about to unfold, and maybe they would find their way into her life again.

Though she no longer needed them as a coping mechanism, she was thankful that these five boys had been a big part of her life, being the gentle but strong glow at the end of the dark and seemingly never ending tunnel she was trapped in, guiding her the whole way through.

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for my favourite boys, may we be together forever ༉‧₊˚.

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A/N: a short piece of writing but i was lowkey inspired by newjeans ditto and the whole growing out of the fandom thing and walking down the memory lane, it gave super nostalgic vibes