“Will you be there?”

There’s a lilt in Nako’s voice and Eunbi smiles as she hears it.

“Of course. I can’t wait to see you again.”

It’s been years. Nako hasn’t visited for a long time and the group simply went different ways. Years after graduating, each of them built a career, dated people, and settled somewhere else.

Eunbi misses all of them.

“Great. So far, everyone’s coming. It’ll be okay, right?”

At the question, Eunbi puts down the bottle she just found in her refrigerator.

“Yeah. I’m sure it’ll just be like old times.”

Eunbi never lies. Her heart beats fast in anticipation.

“See you on Friday, Eunbi!”

When the call ends, Eunbi puts down the phone on the counter.

Now in the silence of home, Eunbi reaches for the bottle and pours herself a glass of wine.

And another…

There’s a knock on her door. It’s midnight, and Eunbi knows whatever comes to her door beyond decent hours is nothing but trouble.

“Can we talk?”

The voice is familiar and her automatic response is to feel the beating of her heart, hurting and clenching in her chest. Sakura’s face is a little blurry, and Eunbi assumes it’s the prickling tears in her eyes.

Her hands shake as it itches to touch. Until now, she craves for the love that never had its time.

Eunbi then opens her arms, as always when it comes to her. She waits for Sakura to take a step closer.

But it’s suddenly chilly and Eunbi wakes up in her cold bedroom, a noisy tune playing to signal the morning waking hour.

Eunbi finds herself all alone.

She leaves her office at exactly 7PM. Normally she’d stay much later, actually finding comfort in working rather than staying home.

It’s still an hour early, and given the best condition, she’d arrive in half an hour.

But then, she can’t help but think fate likes seeing her in agony. There’s a minor road accident and a terrible traffic jam.

Sitting in the backseat of her car, she closes her eyes. The radio is on, as she would usually prefer. It’s playing an acoustic version of a song she recognizes.

Gave all this time

Music almost always calms her down.

Just to be let down.

But this time, the lyrics bury as her fingers dig against her thigh.

The car finally passes the bottleneck on the road, moving at a more steady pace now.

As she hums to the tune, Chaeyeon sends her a message asking where she was.

And that everyone’s there already, except for her.

Eunbi takes a deep breath and readies to see her again. She closes her eyes as the song comes to its end.

For all that we’re worth now

Not even pleading can save us

With steady steps, head held high, and a practiced smile, she enters the place. There’s already a crowd dancing in dim lights, getting lost in the music and maybe drowning in feelings, It’s still early and she senses that it would fill with more people in just a few hours more.

The lady from the front desk leads her to a private room where dinner and cocktails are being served. Not being together in years, Nako made sure to go big with this reunion.

Eunbi is greeted with nostalgia when she enters the room.

“Eunbiii!”

Nako greets her first, wrapping her in a warm hug she hasn’t had in a while. One by one they follow, and she hugs each of them. She teases the three youngest by pinching their cheeks. She’s always been protective of her friends, caring for them as if they’re her children.

She is transported back to college with just a bunch of university kids having fun at the end of the week.

The scene looks like it’s been pulled out straight from a movie. Her palms suddenly become sweaty and she rubs them shakily against her skirt. The yellow lights in the room seem to illuminate the face she’s been longing to see for months now.

“Hi Eunbi.”

Sakura still looks the same. Calm, timid, beautiful. She’s practically ethereal. Her hair is longer now, and it’s much lighter than Eunbi remembers.

Though craving for the touch, she had expected none. Together, they were never the touchy type, at least not in front of their friends. But Sakura hugged her just like the others, except her hands land just on her shoulders.

Before Eunbi can even wrap her arms around the taller woman, she is already letting go and going back to her seat. Eunbi follows and sits right next to Chaewon, stopping herself from taking glances at Sakura throughout dinner.

Dinner is filled with stories and laughter. Some of them tear up from happiness. Eunbi can almost feel the same way, except the memories linger far too heavy for it to be of joy.

After an hour, the women have found their way out the private room and into the dance floor. Just as she had predicted, more people joined the crowd this time.

Eunbi feels the need a drink. She can barely breathe when she was