a/n this one is sad
tw: char death (tragedy)

Taemin enjoyed making snowmen ever since he was a kid. It wasn’t his most favorite thing about the snow but making a snowman held a special importance to him. He grew up and didn’t play in the snow anymore…but after the first snowfall every year, he spent an entire day making a big snowman in his yard, and watched it every day of winter from his window, leaning against the sill, drinking his coffee before he left for work.

It was because he had first met Minho when he had been making a snowman all those years ago…
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Their town was small and Minho didn’t belong there. He was from somewhere else, forced to live with his grandparents in this quaint place…for reasons he never mentioned.

Minho’s eyes carried kindness and his smile, warmth. He was too friendly…and maybe that was why Taemin, who was reserved by nature, couldn’t brush him off like he did with the others.

People usually left Taemin’s side because he took a while to open up- he was too cautious; his words too frank. He hardly had friends except for his cousins and he was fine with that. But despite how much Taemin ignored Minho, he was there every day, pestering him if he needed help with the snowman.

“Do you need help with that?”

But Taemin ignored him which resulted in Minho withdrawing and instead sit on the rocks nearby, watching him build the snowman with doleful eyes. Taemin gave in one day to his constant presence. He was a child then after all- naïve, beguiled by aberrances, and despite how much he denied it- in need of a friend.

Minho chattered away and Taemin remained silent at first, a little annoyed, trying to be patient but he lost himself in his stories, in his cheery voice. He began to join in the conversation, sometimes humor him, sometimes , sometimes order him around. Minho happily enjoyed every of their interaction, his eyes gleaming whenever Taemin initiated a gesture.

But there came some days that Minho didn’t come by and Taemin felt the air to be colder and vacant without his warm voice flitting against it. In one of those moments, he realized that one of the reserved spots of his heart, he had given it away to Minho.

Seasons passed and they grew, changed. Seasons passed and the bond their shared molded into something else, something they never acted upon, yet could feel it within. Something that made them confused at times, determined at others. Something that made them too afraid to express it, but gave them enough courage to capture moments through excuses at times.

Seasons changed and so did the distance they maintained- from a step to an inch. There came one winter when they held hands, claiming it to be too cold, but knowing in their hearts it was not. There came one winter when they lay in the snow, side by side, arms entangled, laughing at the weird shapes of the clouds. There came one winter when they shared the blanket, snuggled together, watching movies on a day too cold to be out.

The bond they shared had molded into something beautiful and warm, and now they were more determined than confused, more courageous than afraid, yet they spoke nothing of it…because it was evident in their eyes, in the warmth of the gestures given and returned.

Despite all that had changed, all that was yet to, there was one constant. The snowman they built together after the first snowfall of winter.

It was the ninth winter after they had met. Minho was extremely early that morning, sitting on the rocks in the cold, waiting for Taemin to come out of his house. Taemin happened to peek out when he woke and ran outside, dressing up untidily, his layers incompletely fastened, curious as to why Minho was so early and had chosen to sit in the cold instead of ringing the bell.

Minho smiled fondly watching him wade through the snow. He buttoned up Taemin’s jacket properly and wished him a good morning in his soft voice, a voice that had ch