Today is the day of their school's Alumni Homecoming. Everyone in the room is very excited to see their friends after a very long time. They are all catching up with each other's lives while some are looking back on all the mischievousness they got up to in college. The excited chatter died down when a certain group entered the venue wearing elegant black dresses. You could hear whispers of admiration everywhere in the room. 

"They are still head turners."

"They all look as beautiful as ever. I can't believe they all still look the same." 

"The looks and the fortune seems to be on their side."

"I had a huge crush on each of them, really."

Everybody then settled down after the group's grand entrance. The five girls instantly struck up a conversation with each other as soon as they took their seats. After briefly talking about their careers, four girls noticed their quiet friend.

"Yah, Winter!" said Chaewon, trying to get their friend's attention.

Winter was nervously fidgeting in her seat while looking around the room she was asked to perform in today at their homecoming, which she couldn't help but agree to. She was used to performing in front of them before, but she realized they are all grown ups now, so she started to feel anxious.

"I'm sorry. I'm just nervous. It's been years, and it feels like I'm going to perform for the first time all over again. Also, the song I'm going to perform is different because I wrote it myself, and performing it now is just very nerve-wracking."

"I still don't know why you did not pursue being a singer. You have real talent and all." Everyone nodded in agreement. Ningning saw how seriously Winter took songwriting during their college days. She's also the second person who hears every song Winter composes, so she's really disappointed that her talent isn't shown to more people beyond just their friends. 

"Also, I haven't heard this song before now that I think about it. Why is that?"

Winter sips her wine nervously while looking at the four pairs of eyes staring at her. She's contemplating whether or not she's going to tell them the truth, but in the end, she chose to.

"Well, because the song is about--" 

She is interrupted when the emcee suddenly spoke, then welcomes the very famous and very successful person from their school and the inspiration for her song.

"Look who we have here, the organizer of this event, everyone, let's give a big round of applause for Ms. Karina Yu."

"--her." Winter whispers. Her friends looked at her in surprise. They know what happened between them in their college days years ago; the pushing and pulling, the messy breakup. 

"Ah, you mean the song was made when you were in college?" Yunjin asked.

"Uh... No, I wrote it 2 weeks ago." 

"WHAT??" The four exclaimed, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, including Karina. She looked at the group, and her eyes settled on Winter, who was also looking at her. She tried smiling at her, but Winter quickly moved her eyes back to her friends.  

"Keep it down, you guys!!" Winter said after they all stood up and bowed to everyone respectfully.

"We need the deets." Ningning, the youngest, said excitedly. She was the one who introduced Winter to Karina, so she was very excited to know about the two.

"What? Deets?" Yunjin asked while eating cookies from her bag. 

"Details! Where did you even get those? Nevermind, why am I even asking? Anyways, Winter spill." Chaewon said impatiently.

"Well, we bumped into each other two weeks ago. Then that was it. We haven't really had the chance to talk to each other since she was in a hurry."

"And that made you write a song? How? I thought you guys weren't serious?" Ningning asked.

Winter kept quiet, ignoring Ningning's question. She sipped her wine quietly while looking at Karina. She saw her talking and laughing with their batchmates, and it's like in the movies because Karina suddenly looked at her and threw her a smile. Before she got too caught up with Karina's smile, the emcee suddenly called her attention, signaling the start of her performance. She got up and went on stage with her guitar, scanning the crowd in anticipation. 

"Hello guys, it's been a while since I last sang in front of all of you. I'm really nervous because I'm performing something very special to me. Actually, this song is something I wrote after an encounter with someone very close to my heart. When we were in college, I was performing covers of famous artists, but now I'm going to perform something that I wrote myself. Something that was based on my own experience and feelings."

The lights dimmed after her speech, then Winter started strumming her guitar. She looked at the crowd and settled her eyes on Karina.

"Your hair's grown a little longer, your arms look a little stronger, your eyes just as I remember, your smile's just a little softer."  

**

Winter was sipping her coffee at the far end of her coffee shop, surveying the surroundings and mostly her customers, watching if everyone was happy with their service. She was about to leave when something, or rather someone, caught her eye. The girl was wearing a white sleeveless cropped top that showed her toned arms. Winter realized she was staring when she saw Karina looking at her with a soft smile forming on her lips while her eyes formed crescents. She continued studying the girl; nothing really changed except for the grown out hair that really suited her, Winter thought.

**

"And I, yeah, I never prepared for a moment like that, yeah, in a second it all came back, it all came back."

Winter can still remember how her breath got caught in when their eyes met that time in the coffee shop. Karina's eyes looked like they were telling her something only they know, something only they can understand, and those same eyes are looking at her now with so much emotion. Winter wants to avert her eyes elsewhere, but she needs to let Karina know how she felt.  

"'Cause after all these years I still feel everything when you are near, and it was just a quick "Hello", and you had to go, and you probably will never know, you're still the one I'm after all thes