It was my first winter in Germany — I was 18 at the time.

One evening, a friend introduced me to someone.
They said their name. I nodded slightly — and that was it.

Under a dim streetlight, with a few snowflakes drifting down,
I completely forgot to introduce myself.

There was a brief silence.
Not awkward, not intentional — just… empty.

It wasn’t until later that my friend mentioned it,
and I realized how it might have come across.

Cold, perhaps. Or distant.

I didn’t mean to be.

But I’ve come to understand that first impressions are often shaped in moments like that —
quiet, fleeting, and impossible to replay.

Some memories don’t fade.
They just wait until midnight.