Chanyeol and his sister were in the middle of a snowball fight with their cousins, Joonmyeon and Jongdae when Kris walked by. It could be fate or just general clumsiness on Chanyeol’s part, but one of his snowballs missed its intended target and flew over the hedge to hit the passing Kris.

Kris stopped dead in his track and looked down at his jacket where bits of snow clung. Then he looked up to see a chubby kid with glasses and bad haircut came running toward him.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you.” The chubby boy apologized.

Kris waved him off. “It’s okay.” He said in his accented Korea. He was about to resume his walking when the chubby boy held out his hand.

“My name is Chanyeol. What’s yours?”

Kris took the offered hand. “I’m Kris.”

Chanyeol then smiled. “Wanna join us? It’s loads of fun.”

Kris looked over Chanyeol’s shoulder and saw three other kids waiting by the hedge.

He shrugged. “Sure. I’ll just go and tell my mom first. I’ll come back later.”

Chanyeol smiled and nodded excitedly. “We’ll be waiting.”

That was 8 years ago. Now Chanyeol and Kris were both 18 years old attending the same high school.  Chanyeol had finally shed his baby fat and grown into tall and pretty boy. Kris was still his nonchalant self, with bushy eyebrows that made him looked angry all the time. They were an unlikely pair, but ever since that first snowball fight, Chanyeol and Kris had become inseparable.

When winter came, both boys revert back to their 10 years old and indulged in snowball fights. Yura, Chanyeol’s sister, didn’t join them anymore; she rather spent the holiday with his boyfriend. Joonmyeon also opted out, because he was busy with his college’s assignments (never mind that it was holiday). Luckily, Jongdae was still as playful as ever and faithfully joined in. Jongin and Sehun, the two brats who moved in into the house across the street also joined them.

Despite the odd number of participant, no one ever complained about splitting into teams. Chanyeol and Kris would always team up, so did Jongin and Sehun. That made Jongdae the only one who switched teams now and then.

All five played so well together. They laughed, they yelled, they shrieked and they all ended up soaking to the bones.  The fights mostly finished in a tie because they didn’t bother in keeping score, they just happily flung balls of snow one after another.

Mrs. Park always had mugs of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallow on top, along with towels and blankets waiting for them. All five boys would end their day watching movie or playing video games in the comfort of Mrs. Park Living room, huddling together under the blankets while sipping the delicious beverage.

Chanyeol would always end up dozing off on the floor, his head on Kris’ lap. Sehun would have his phone out and took pictures and videos of the snoring and slightly drooling Jongdae. Kris and Jongin would be the last two who actually watched the movie or played the video game.

And they were bliss, those carefree days.

That was 5 years ago. Now Chanyeol and Kris were busy college students. They didn’t have the energy or the time to indulge in snowball fights anymore. Their workload took a toll on them and more than once, Chanyeol would wail at his mountains of assignments.

But the hot chocolate with marshmallow on top and the warm blanket was still there. Chanyeol still dozed off with his head on Kris’ lap. But instead of watching movie in Mrs. Park’s living room, they were reviewing for their finals in their shared dorm room.

Another thing that stayed the same was the inseparable Chanyeol and Kris.

That was 7 years ago. Now Chanyeol and Kris were in their thirties. They each held respectable jobs, Chanyeol was an architect and Kris was a lawyer.

But when winter came, they revert to their 10 years old selves. They shed the suit and tie and wore matching ugly sweaters. They ran around in their huge backyard throwing snow balls at each other. They laughed, they yelled, they shrieked and they ended up soaking wet to the bones.

They weren’t on the same team anymore. Because whenever they have snowball fight,  Luhan would always chose Daddy Kris on his team while Baekhyun would always chose Papa Yeol on his.

Later when the kids had changed into dry clothing and tucked safely inside warm blankets, Chanyeol would watch with content smile on how his two children snuggling up to their Dad on the huge couch. Kris would have one arm draped over each child and he would alternately kiss the top of their head.

For Chanyeol, this was pure bliss.