TXT One Shots [ Tomorrow X Together ]

Art of Realism [TAEGYU]

TW: excessive swearing, like, a lot of bad words bc Beomgyu here doesn't do sugarcoating.

The year is 2127, a hundred and seven years from 2020. Laptops are as thin as paper, yet as hard as metal. Calls from phones are obsolete; everyone had a high-quality hologram projector in their homes, and even in their bags for when they go to work. Robots can now clean the entire house, feed your dog, care for a baby, and even entertain you—they are sentient, and can even be considered a human's best friend.

These advancements in technology urged a young kid to wonder, "Why hasn't eomma thrown away this creepy, vintage, painting yet?"

Her nanny, a robot, heard her query. "Miss Jangmi would dismember me if I throw it. You know how much that painting means to her."

The robot's artificial eyes fixated on the painting, it was quite faded... but it was still clear to see the subject's pearl-like orbs and the flower that barely grazed the subject's nose.

"But she never bothered to tell me. Besides, I'm the one suffering from nightmares because of this portrait, nanny."

A certain woman in her 40s appeared and chuckled at her daughter's words. "Nightmares?" Jangmi put her arms around the child, pulling her close, giving her a squeeze.

"Why would your grandpa give you nightmares?"

"Grandpa? But... isn't Papi Beomgyu also my grandpa?" the child asked and Jangmi was confused for a moment. She had been too focused with her work to realize her child was growing up—a growing child who's conscience is matured enough to understand and appreciate a good 'ol love story. And, perhaps, old enough to change her mind-set on the concept of love—it isn't always only between a girl and a boy.

Love knows no gender, and maybe that's what made it intriguing and a tad bit overrated.

Jangmi gazed up at his adoptive father's portrait. Okay, it was a bit off-putting, especially to a child... it was about time her daughter know the painting's history. That way, the portrait on their wall wouldn't appear as haunting.

"I don't think I've ever told you about them yet, huh?"

"Nuh-uh."

"All right, all right. Settle down, let me get something," she said while placing her child onto the sofa, going to her room and taking out a dusty album labelled: Memories From 2020.

-

Choi Beomgyu, an art student. Kang Taehyun, a photography major. Both were inclined with the immortalization of ideas, sceneries, and memories.

Art was what brought them together or rather their duties and assignments, cramped into their busy schedules.

Beomgyu hitched a ride with his Yeonjun hyung. He figured the Namsan Tower would be a good enough subject for his mandatory project where they had to copy a scenery, preferably one that concerned an architectural structure.

"Jun-hyung," Beomgyu called out, he was already trying to heave the bunker's door open to no avail.

Apparently Yeonjun was too immersed with all the possibilities that his date with Soobin would bring. Yeonjun stared blankly at the tower, contemplating—no, daydreaming about Soobin. He still had his hands on his car's steering wheels, gazing at the tower with hearts in his eyes. Would he get a hug? A kiss? A necklace with their initials on it along with the word "forever"?

God, Beomgyu's friend was such a sap. Was this thing contagious? It seemed to be reducing his once hardworking hyung... into a lovey-dovey princess.

The clouds of imagination above his head disappeared when Beomgyu knocked onto his car door, causing him to jostle.

"Yeonjun-hyung, my things are at the back unlock the damn bunker already!"