"Ms. Yoon, here are the documents to be signed tonight. In addition, you have a meeting with the board members tomorrow morning and a luncheon with Mr. Chairman by 11am. The papers for approval will arrive at your tesk by tomorrow at 2pm, to be submitted before five." 

It was 10pm on an office night, yet only she and her assistant were the only ones in the office. They had just finished a meeting and had forms and contracts due early in the morning. It was another one of her exhausting, miserable nights.

"I got it. Cancel my reservation for the spa massage tonight, and tell the driver to fetch me a set of clothes." She sighed heavily as she pored over another stack of documents, feeling a headache forming. She had gotten very little sleep for the past few days because of the company's latest ventures, and she had wanted to take a break just for tonight. Besides, she had a date with long-separated friends, yet these forms were extremely crucial to seal the conglomerate's deal with a renowned international company. Looking at the fat pile of papers beside her desk, she shook her head in defeat. I'll probably get a rest by the time I'm old or dead.

The view outside her office window was a cold, dark night depraved of stars. Even though her office had a burning fireplace, the chill permeated into her bones. She could remember a night in her childhood where the stars were glittering and she was surrounded by the persons she held dearest to her heart. That memory was thirteen years ago, and she had almost forgotten that it ever happened. Oh, how time separates us.

She took out her phone and made a quick call. A deep, manly voice answered, sounding a bit tired. "This is Han Jumin speaking."

"Oppa, it's me." 

There was a sudden crash from the other line that sounded like glass breaking and a familiar meowing. "Elizabeth 3rd, get down from that table this instant, young lady." Jumin's stern voice echoed from the room, sounding a bit far. He returned a few moments later. "Eunhae, my apologies. My princess wasn't behaving very well." 

"What did you want to tell me?", he inquired. "I do not take business calls at night, but I'll make an exception for you." 

She smiled at Jumin's remark. It had been so long since she heard his voice, and she had sorely missed his companionship. She could just imagine him casually lounging on his velvet couch, with Elizabeth in one hand and a glass of wine on the other. Oh, how she missed drinking with Jumin on cold winter nights. It was a fond memory of their friendship, back when they were a bit younger, and time was not that much of a burden and their responsibiltiies were not as suffocating as they are now. How long had it been?

"Some urgent work suddenly came up. I don't think I'll be able to meet you and Jihyun for dinner." She sighed regretfully. "I'm sorry."

"That's unfortunate." he replied, sounding a bit disappointed himself. She had known Jumin since she was five and he seven, and she could pinpoint even the most subtle changes in his tone or the shifting of his emotions. Today he sounded a lot older, and unhappier than the last time they saw each other. "I'll be expecting you at next year's reunion, then." 

She could only agree halfheartedly. The two of them knew that another meeting would be close to impossible, seeing that the last time the three of them had gotten together was...was...

She couldn't even remember.

She only knew that it was a long time ago; she had seen a much, much older version of her dark-haired friend on a business magazine she read. He had turned into an excellent Executive Director, but she almost couldn't recognize the man illustrated in the magazine. He wasn't the same Jumin Han she had known when she was a child. He seemed so untouchable now, so detached to the people around him. She only remembered the intelligent gunmetal eyes that she had been so familiar with, but recently they were scathingly cold that she unconsiously shivered. What had happened during the years that we were apart?

The changes that three of them underwent on their own awakened her to a startling reality that they were not as close as they used to be. They were not the same children thirteen years ago, and they had missed so much on each other's lives that they were basically nothing more than...

Strangers.

The word felt foreign in . She didn't want to swallow this bitter pill that had been so strongly presented in front of her face, yet looking at the same nightless sky as Jumin yet wishing for the sky of thirteen years to appear before her, she realized that a lot of things had changed. The them of thirteen years ago had aged, and they were merely happy memories of their childhood. 

She couldn't help the flow of hot, salty tears pouring from her eyes as she bid goodbye to her friend. "I...I hope you live happily." 

Without me.

She hated the sound that the phone made, as if the end call notification had severed the last thread of connection between two close friends, and ended the part of their lives where their memories of a connection had mattered.

The sky was still the same shade of blue as it was a few minutes ago and the air still as warm as the fireplace could provide, yet she felt immeasurably colder. She felt colder, older; and for another night since thirteen years ago, she wished the three of them had never aged. 

With time, everything changes. And at some unfortunate times, these changes aren't for the better.

The most hurtful changes are the ones you don't notice; the connections that you stretch into nothingness, the threads of friendship that grow weary, and the realization that you are no longer a part of their life. What you remain is..

A memory.

The time that separates us is bittersweet.