Now that TWS has graduated in their “Last Festival” music video and hung up their school uniforms, what does it mean to them to become adults? The trailer for TWS’s third mini album, “TRY WITH US,” paints a romanticized picture of entering your 20s by asking the viewer to “Try (adulting) With Us.” Becoming an adult can mean stepping into the subway with nothing but your earphones in and suddenly being transported to a stage where you’re the main character. It can mean cruising around on the road like in the movies, or pairing a suit with the perfect cologne. But for KYUNGMIN, once he’s finished dancing alone onstage and takes out his earphones, he’s whisked back to reality and off the stage for the cleaning crew. SHINYU’s flashy breakneck driving turns out to be nothing but a video game. And DOHOON, carefully picking out the perfect outfit and cologne, gives up with a sigh when he can’t find a matching tie. Becoming an adult doesn’t mean you can suddenly do all the things you couldn’t before—just like JIHOON didn’t know you need to fry things like jeon in oil and isn’t suddenly sage enough to whip up a bowl of pasta.

Stepping out of the literal uniformity of school clothes and everyone taking the same classes together means stepping into the adult world—one full of endless fill-in-the-blanks. For TWS, approaching and turning 20 is like “To another galaxy,” similar to what’s seen on the game handheld in the “‘TRY WITH US’ Concept Film : Try Ver.” And so, the boys embark on an adventure called their 20s—like YOUNGJAE giving skateboarding a try, or HANJIN snapping photos of everything he loves. The boys have come a long way since “Sparkling Blue,” their debut album, when they were so daunted by “first encounters” that they even planned out how to meet new people. Now the TWS members yell out, “One, two, three, countdown!” in the lead single off their latest album, “TRY WITH US.” They “don’t know this road” in “Random Play” but “just decide a time” and set out on an adventure. In “Freestyle”, they live “like nobody’s watching” and “like we don’t care.” In the TWS way of doing things, trial and error takes them to the next map or the next level of the game.

After getting a thrilling taste of their “first hooky” on their debut album, the boys are now in full adventure mode as they sing it loud and proud in “Now Playing”: “Better than I imagined / The first taste of this thrill.” At the same time, they sing about how what was truly “playing” was “all ours” with “the lights on late in my heart” The confidence in the group’s voices as the sing in “Random Play” that “the whole world’s our playground” is rooted in a truth revealed in “Lucky to be loved”: “You’re always by my side.” Previously, in “hey! hey!” off the album “SUMMER BEAT!,” TWS sang, “I’ll tell you how glad I am to have met you.” In “Lucky to be loved,” they promise, “As long as you’re with me there’s nothing to fear … and I’ll always be there for you.” JIHOON, who “want[ed] to dream” in his “FIRST TIME” video, sings about how “all my dreams are becoming clear” in “Lucky to be loved.” “TRY WITH US” is ultimately about coming to the realization that the adventures you undertake as you become an adult are what they are thanks to the people you’re with.

From here, the group conveys the adventure in their album through both energetic dance moves and delicate, youthful lyrics. You can see one aspect of the album in “Freestyle”—energetic rapping, youthful spirit—and another in “Lucky to be loved”: a low-key show of gratitude to close relations and an almost tearful confession that “as long as you’re with me there’s nothing to fear.” The duality of young adulthood is shown together in the lead single, “Countdown!,” beginning with a tender melody that breaks into a highly dynamic chorus. The song’s choreography rapidly evolves second by second, with the boys jumping into the air and pulling off a never-ending series of high-octane dance moves. The track is full of driving drums and thrilling electric guitar, with a beat in the chorus that just won’t quit, and despite all that, the group’s vocals are enough to periodically bring the song around to somewhere sentimental. Most notably, they seemingly move as one, leaping up high together for the “la la las” toward the end of the song. There’s no piercing melody to force an emotional response, just a truly cathartic moment—the kind found only on the boundary between teen life and adulthood when you yearn to soar.

The TWS members started an account, 247shared, to collectively document their individual journeys toward 20 and beyond. There, JIHOON wrote, “The more we do this, the more I hope we can stay together a long time.” In other words, “TRY WITH US” reinterprets TWS and their journey—one that’s only possible because they’re together. The choreography for “Countdown!” is full of the kind of soaring moves that emphasize the bold energy of these young adults, but it’s ultimately the shared glances between them that brings the song together. For TWS, this is how your 20s should be played. Uncertainty comes and goes, but they’ll always reach for the sky—with total faith in those who stand with them. And so, TWS’s “boyhood” plays on.