It is only when he arrives at the window that he realizes time is a fabrication only to him; he notes the dents on the wooden frame, observes the aging of the willow tree, and peeks upon her face, where her smile is all the same except for the kiss of the wear of time.
The same clock from before daunts him, every click a reminder that they do not exist in the same scape; that time has estranged them back to strangers once more.
He nears the frame, fingers grappling with the edges with an attempt to remain in place. Every time she looks away, he peers upon her, again and again, with a kind of tenderness that could murder. He probes the way age sits upon her features, how it has not been kind to her hands, and how rough it has been to her skin. Caught up in the act, he soon notices her, staring right back, with him, an open book for her to read.
He doesn’t mean to catch her eye but it is his heart that keeps him from disappearing away from her gaze. He only meets her glance, eyes asking for her to come to the window once more, as they had done the first time, when her heart was as young as her curiosity, begging to be answered, pleading to find something worth more than the four walls enclosing her in this place she called home. His hands pry the window open, just enough for his voice to pass through.
Then carefully, he calls, “Jieun.”
-- and gives up everything in just the spoken syllables of her name, the one thing that has stood against the test of time.
(I know you wanted to wake up, but that doesn’t mean you miss the dreaming.)