They’re both only a few months past 7 years old when they became friends.

Jongin was molding and shaping another snowball when his mom calls him for dinner. He didn’t realize that the sky was beginning to turn dark, as he’s too busy playing snow with his fellow neighbors. Winter is always made to play outside, he thought.

He ran towards his mother who was waiting on the edge of the park and hugged her tight while she kissed his head.

“Jongin-ah, why don’t you call Sehunnie to come home together?”

“Sehunnie? Who’s Sehun?”

His mother motioned towards a little boy left on the park, his hands still fumbling with the snow, alone.

“His family just moved in to Mr. Byun’s house this morning,” she exclaimed.

“Mr. Byun’s house? Doesn’t that mean that he’s our neighbor?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking you to call him over, kkamjong.”

“Umma, stop calling me kkamjong,” he pouted, but then re-entered the park and approached the crouching little boy.

“Hey,” he calls, and the boy looked up.

“I’m Jongin, and you’re my neighbor now,” he stretched his hand, “therefore, we should be friends, just like how Baekhyun-hyung did, and let’s go home together.”

“Baekhyun?”

“Your house was his house,” he shoved his hands back into his pockets. “Come on, Sehunnie, my hands are freezing.”

Sehun looked reluctant, but upon seeing Jongin’s mother who he recognized as his neighbor auntie, he stood up and followed them home.

The next day, Sehun’s family invited Jongin’s family for dinner.

Sehun’s house has the exact settings as Jongin’s house, except for its different furniture, paint and wallpaper. It’s dominated with the color baby blue, even the dining table was covered with a white-and-blue-striped tablecloth.

Jongin thought he had just had the best galbi jjim in the entire province, if not South Korea—even better than his mom’s. The rice cakes also tasted the best, and Mrs. Oh—Sehun’s family name is Oh—made them all by herself. Sehun must be lucky to have a mother who cooks really well, Jongin thought.

It was when the dinner ends and Mr. Oh had taken three bottles of soju out of the cupboard that they ushered Jongin and Sehun to play in Sehun’s bedroom upstairs. Jongin was beyond amazed when he saw Sehun’s room—the walls were covered with light blue wallpaper with white furnitures—and bunches of airplane miniature here and there, even some of them hanging from the ceiling.

“Oh my God, airplanes!” Jongin squealed like a little girl, reaching to one of the miniature on the shelf.

“Isn’t this the newest model? Oh God, I’d die to have this. You’re so cool! So you like airplanes too?”

“I—I love them,” Sehun exclaimed, “do you like them too?”

Jongin jumped excitedly to see a fighter aircraft miniature on the other side of the room.

“I love love love them! I’d always wanted to be an air force fighter pilot when I grow up. They’re like—ultra cool.”

Sehun’s face lightened up. “I’d love to be one, too! They would go whoosh whoosh whoosh.”

Jongin was reluctant to leave Sehun’s house that night, but they promised each other to play together again tomorrow in the park.

Being friends with Sehun is fun, Jongin thought, and much more fun than being friends with Baekhyun because Baekhyun hates airplanes. They played together everyday during the winter holiday, building snowmen, throwing snowballs at each other, even pulling each other around on the frozen pond at the park, pretending they’re professional ice skater. Sehun accompanied Jongin when he gave some flowers as an early Christmas gift to the girl he had a crush on, Jung Soo Jung, who always came everyday to play at the park, too. (He even told Sehun that the flowers were actually stolen from his mother’s vase and he ended up scolded and not allowed to eat the dessert that night.)

When Jongin celebrated his 8^th birthday on January, Sehun gifted him a F-15C Eagle aircraft model—one of the best fighter aircraft existing. Jongin literally squealed and jumped and hugged Sehun too tightly to allow the latter to breathe. His mother invited some kids around the block to have a little party in Kim’s household that night where they enjoyed the cake Mrs. Kim made by herself—even Soo Jung was invited. Jongin blushed like a tomato when the girl said happy birthday to him and gave him a birthday present—and Sehun elbowed him in the ribs, warning him not to be too obvious. Jongin swore he saw Soo Jung blushed slightly, but Sehun had started to go pale and looking faint that finally Jongin’s father had to take him back home at the middle of the party.

Sehun didn’t show up to play snow with him the next day. Mrs. Oh said that he’s not feeling really well, and he’s going to play with Jongin again once he’s healthy.

Almost a week passed and Sehun hadn’t show up at the park, while the winter holiday was almost over. Jongin was lying awake on his bed that night, unable to sleep while playing silently with the airplane model Sehun had gifted to him, when he heard some shuffling from outside.

He got up to peek through his bedroom window that was directly facing his front yard and surroundings—and he saw Mrs. Oh running from her front door, car keys in her hand and opened the car passenger door hurriedly while Mr. Oh was following behind, also running while carrying Sehun’s little body in his arms. He put Sehun gently on the back seat while Mrs. Oh was locking the door, and seconds later, the car was already rushing through the darkness of the night.

Jongin frowned at that sight and his grip on the aircraft model tightened.

The winter holiday ended and Jongin was back to school. Sehun mentioned that he had moved to Jongin’s school and was going to start attending once the winter holiday ends, but Jongin didn’t see Sehun anywhere at the school. He asked his mom frequently about him, but his mother would always answer,

“Sehun is not feeling well, kkamjong honey. Now, why don’t you start doing your homework?”

Jongin did wonder why it’s taking so long for Sehun to get well. He’s only absent for a week when he caught a fever and after that he’s all running and jumping all over the place just like usual. He’d always take time to peek at the Oh’s household by the time he went home from school, but the house looked deserted and sad now.

By the time Sehun showed up again, it’s April, and he invited Jongin over to celebrate his birthday.

But he’s not the same Sehun he’d ever known, Jongin thought. The Sehun he knew was cheerful, all smiles and playful, but by the time Jongin came over to his house, Sehun was all pale, weak, only sitting on the couch and wearing a weird wool cap all the time.

“Sehunnie, why are you wearing that weird cap? You look stupid wearing it.”

“It’s called a beanie, you punk,” he exclaimed and hit Jongin playfully, but that’s all. Jongin went home feeling sad that day, thinking the Sehun he’d always like had gone.

It’s Sunday afternoon and Jongin was cuddling against his mother, his father on the other side of the couch, watching television when his mother’s phone rang. She motioned for Jongin to move so she could get up and pick the phone up, so Jongin lazily moved towards his father.

By the time Mrs. Kim came back, her eyes were all watery and her hands clutched her cellphone tightly.

“Is it…?” Jongin’s father asked, softly almost as if he’s whispering, but his wife nodded while biting her lower lip. Jongin looked at both of them, entirely confused.

“Jongin… come on, let’s go upstairs and change. We’re going to see Sehun.”

Jongin thought his mother said that they’re going to see Sehun, but she’s taking him to a building with white walls, white floors and white everything with a weird smell that he didn’t like. A lot of people in there were wearing the same white outfit, and Jongin thought maybe this is a sort of school, where you wear the same uniform.

His mother took him along hallways, elevator, and then hallways again until they stopped in front of a wooden door. She knocked on the door softly, but then opened the door by herself.

Jongin spotted Mrs. Oh first. Her hair looked slightly messy, not beautifully curled like it’s used to be—her eyes red and her cheeks streaked with tears.

“Thank you so much for coming, Mrs. Kim,” she said while slightly bowing, “thank you so much.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Oh,” Jongin’s mother said as she handed her a basket of fruit she had brought along, “This is for you.”

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Kim—“ she started to sob, “now—may I go outside for a while—“

“Sure, sure. Take your time.” Mrs. Kim patted her shoulder as she wobbled to the door.

“There, Jongin. Sehunnie is missing you so much,”

He looked reluctant and threw a glance towards his mother, but then he walked forward, nearing the weird bed in the corner of the room.

“Sehunnie, where did your hair go?” Jongin whispered, because Sehun’s stupid cap was placed on the bedside table, and there’s no any single strand of hair left on his head—because Sehunnie is bald—but the latter kept his eyes closed.

There were bunches of wires and tubes connected into Sehun’s arms and chest and a couple of weird monitors were making weird bleeping sounds beside the bed, and Sehun’s face was covered with another weird, transparent mask.

“Sehunnie, you know what? You look like an air force fighter pilot with that mask,” Jongin chuckled while Mrs. Kim couldn’t hold her tears back anymore and she let them slide freely on both her cheeks.

“Here,” Jongin pulled a box covered in blue paper with blue ribbon onto the bed.

“This is your birthday present. Sorry I didn’t give it to you on April, I haven’t had the time to buy it yet. I shouldn’t be saying this, but… it’s a fighter pilot figurine,”

“You have had every aircraft miniature that I managed to find, Sehunnie. Maybe a fighter pilot figurine will do. We’re going to be the greatest fighter pilots ever, okay? We’re going to apply for the academy together. And then we’re going to go,” Jongin paused to lift the box up and motioned them like they’re airplanes, “whoosh whoosh whoosh, just like what you’ve always said,”

Jongin put the box down when again, Sehun didn’t respond.

“That night, we’ve promised to play together tomorrow, right, Sehunnie? When I said ‘tomorrow’, it means the next tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, and the day after that again, until forever, Sehunnie. And you promised me back…”

“Right, Sehunnie…?”

++

“Pilot Kim, the aircraft is ready.”

“Stop calling me ‘pilot Kim’, Soojung-ah. How about… jagiya?”

Soojung elbows Jongin on the ribs until the latter winces in pain, but the girl walks away swiftly from her boyfriend without saying anything.

“Hey, I know you’re one of the strongest woman crew here, but stop elbowing me!”

“Stop whining, Kim Jongin, try stopping me.”

Twenty-three-year-old Kim Jongin snorts, but as annoying as his girlfriend can ever be, she’s still the most amazing woman he’d ever met after his own mother.

He put on the uniform he’s required to wear before boarding into the aircraft, and as he does so, his eyes catches a F-15C Eagle aircraft model placed on the desk where he always work everyday. He smiles, then his gaze rolls to one of the collection of photos he put on his desk—a picture of little Kim Jongin with a small-eyed and pale-skinned, thin boy—but he has the eye smile everyone would melt for.

“Do you mind to join the ride, Pilot Oh Sehun?”

++

Mrs. Kim looked at the caller ID and quickly picked it up while walking away from the living room.

“Hello, Mrs. Oh?”

“Mrs. Kim,” she sobbed, “I’m sorry for disturbing you—but—but, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, Mrs. Oh, sure. What is it? What happened?”

“Sehunnie—“ she paused, “Sehunnie. The cancer cells had spread to almost all parts of his brain, Mrs. Kim,” she sobbed again, “I’m sorry for not saying this earlier, but—can you—can you bring Jongin here, Mrs. Kim? Sehunnie said he really misses Jongin so much…”

“The doctors—the doctors said he won’t be able to make it through the night…”

++

Oh Sehun passed away at May 23^rd, 2002 at the age of 8 from advanced brain cancer.

++

*galbi jjim is korean braised ribs, which is a common food to be served in a Korean housewarming party.