From the golden days of long ago
The ones you'll never forget
In a shoebox filled with memories

Jinwoo took out a box from the shelves and sat on the floor as nostalgia rushed through him. He slowly took the items, one by one, out of the box that was filled with memories of him and Seunghoon. The box contained letters, photos and variety of things from phone cases, toys, accessories to band shirts with their design already worn out.

Jinwoo remembers all the late night talks they had and all the secrets they shared from the glow in the dark stars and planet stickers that used to be on the ceiling of Seunghoon’s bedroom. Jinwoo remembers the cuddles, the moments they would secretly hold hands and the memories of Seunghoon stealing kisses when no one was looking. Jinwoo reminisced every little moments he had with Seunghoon and it all comes back to the moment where it all began.

At a leisurely pace, Jinwoo collected the scattered polaroid photos and handwritten letters inside the box and piled them into his hands. He quickly scanned the photos which were mostly photos of them together, from dates, trips abroad, schedules they had in the past or just random shots whenever they got some alone time. Majority of the letters were written by Jinwoo, they were his unspoken confessions to Seunghoon that were never delivered. Well not until Seunghoon, who was already his boyfriend at that time, accidentally found the letters. Jinwoo recalls the endless teases he received from Seunghoon after that, “hyung you’re adorable, so you think my is cute eh?” “and my cheeks are like marshmallow you want to bite?” and on their anniversary that year Seunghoon gave him a long handwritten letter in response to his letters.

Jinwoo smiles from the memory as he places the letters aside and took out a DVD that had a cinema ticket taped in the front of the case. It was the very first movie he watched with Seunghoon in a movie theatre, which was also the time when Seunghoon held his hand for the first time. Jinwoo remembers how cold Seunghoon’s hand was, and neither of them could focus on the movie they were watching. A year later, Seunghoon bought the DVD of the movie as they finally watched it in their home’s couch with the comfort of each other.

Underneath the items there was a black shoebox, a very special shoebox. It contained small items they gave to each other in the past. Jinwoo can spot Seunghoon’s broken ring that was too precious to be thrown away. Seunghoon always wore the ring on his ring finger unlike Jinwoo who hangs it on a chain and wears it as a necklace. Seunghoon purchased the ring at a dollar store when they were still friends but the ring ended up as their couple ring instead. Jinwoo recalls Seunghoon’s devastated face when his ring broke from rust, Seunghoon was so depressed that Jinwoo had to buy rings which was almost as expensive as his sphynx cats. They ended up fighting because Seunghoon kept on insisting that he was the one who should buy the rings and not Jinwoo. They fought over the smallest of things but their arguments always end with their legs laced together under the warm sheets of Seunghoon's bed.

Another item that was inside the shoebox was a small toy that he bought in Japan and gave it to Seunghoon on his birthday. The toy was a character from one of Seunghoon’s favorite movie and Jinwoo instantly bought the toy for him when he encountered it a street shop in Japan, Tororo, was the character’s name. Seunghoon was very fond of the toy since he really loves the movie, My Neighbor Totoro, so much. He bragged to everyone that he received a very precious item from his hyung.

The item inside the shoebox that really got Jinwoo’s attention was a clear cassette tape that had “for Kim Jinwoo” written on the front. It was a mixtape Seunghoon gave to him on their 5th anniversary. It contains songs that reminds Seunghoon of Jinwoo, he giggled when he remembers how cheesy Seunghoon could be sometimes. Jinwoo took out a dusty cassette player from under the bed and tested his luck if it still works.

“Is this thing recording?”

Luck was on Jinwoo’s side as hears Seunghoon’s voice coming from the cassette player and music started playing.

♫ Venus by Sleeping at Last

I convinced myself that I would never find you,
When suddenly I saw you.
At first I thought you were a constellation.
I made a map of your stars, then I had a revelation:
You’re as beautiful as endless,
You’re the universe I’m helpless in.

“Remember the first time we met? I can never forget that moment.