It was Christmastime. Snowy, the weather outside. As I sat at the edge of my bed, I looked out the window and watched the snow fall down on the ground,some would land on the roof. The pitter patter sounds made by them echoed that made by my heart due to utter excitement to go out and enjoy the Articesque weather. It was very cold usually when it snowed here, enough to give one hypothermia if not dressed properly. Normally when we go out in the chilly climate, we had layers upon layers of sheep wool on our bodies to keep our temperatures up. 

Seeing the blanket of snow that covered the green, green grass of home that I once frolicked upon and picked countless daisies only to see them wilt a few unattended days later; I reckoned it was time for me to put on the sweater grandma knitted for me when she was still living and feel the freezing snow bite my face. Excitedly yet quietly, I ran down the stairs and stealthily opened the door with such gentle movements that couldn't wake even the lightest sleeper in the house. Once outside, I closed the doorbehind me and freely ran to the snow, feeling all its coldness on my face and somehow allowing my sweater to absorb some of it. 

"Hey, you up so early?" came a voice from behind. I knew whose voice it was and when I whipped around, there I saw Kyuhyun standing right next to our bush.

"It's not that early anymore you know." I told him, bending down to touch the snow, feel its coldness on the pam of my hands and in between my fingers. I tried to make a snowball to throw at him but I felt a cold surge of breeze past my cheek and some particles of snow on my face and hair which kind of set me back a little, enough to topple me over and sit me down on the snow. He had already made one and thrown it my way.

"You're evil." I howled at him with half laughter. He cackled and grinned and was about to make another one when I grabbed a bunch of snow, not balled up and threw it at him. It barely shook him. 

"Still a weakling, sport. How old you now?" he asked as he extended his hand to help me up. I took it and got up.

"I'm turning 10." said I as we molded another ball of snow. It was my turn to get revenge on him as I threw the snowball in his face. Kyuhyun coughed up a bit and laughed as we chased around in the cold, white blanket. 

We were children. He was around two years older than me and came from a middle-class family. His father left them when he and his brother were 3 and 4 respectively and had since been going along just fine without him. His mother had been working as a saleslady, or so she told him. His little brother Julius Cho was a brillant student at  the pre-school he was first enrolled in and continued to impress them with his stellar academic performance. 

"You wanna go in the house and have some hot chocolate?" he asked me. Of course, I could never say no to hot chocolate. It was one of the best tasting things ever, especially when made by his mother. 

"Sure. I'll race you!" I told him. We both got on our speeding heels, braving the thickness of the snow and though it was dragging and enveloping our legs, we still managed to get them up and race to the doormat  of the Cho residence. 

Kyuhyun, as always with his long legs and agile body, was able to get there before me, jumping up and down iwth his hands in the air as a sign of victory.

"Okay, okay you win. I get it." I said mock-sorely. I wasn't really all that sore about it, I would still be getting hot chocolate anyway. Kyuhyun opened the door for me and both of us entered and felt the sudden change in temperature that felt so good on the skin and on the insides of the body.

"Mom's turned the heater on. Good." Kyuhyun kicked off his boots and so did I. Mrs. Cho came out with two mugs of hot chocolate, her holiday specailty. Me and Kyuhyun grabbed the cups and I was in awe of him, a master at sipping  hot beverages while I only took minute sips, slightly burning my tongue with every taste of the liquid.

"How's your holiday going so far, Seohyun?" asked Mrs. Cho. I looked up at her and smiled, a grin almost.

"It's going good. We'll be having a great buffet tonight. Would you like to join us?" I asked, looking at Kyuhyun and her hopefully.

"Oh we'd love to." Mrs. Cho said with a grateful smile, one that looked as if they hadn't eaten in days. Had they not eaten in days? "But we'll be leaving tonight to visit some relatives in a distant city. I'm sorry to not be able to make it, honey." she said. In my eyes and ears, she was honest. I wasn't to discover the truth until several days later. 

"That's quite alright, ma'am." I said with all due courtesy. Me and Kyuhyun resumed to drinking our hot chocolate, concentrating on our drinks deeply. 

"This si somet reasure your mother makes." I told him. Kyuhyun shrugged and smiled, unmindingly sipping the chocolate. Once we had finnished our cups to the last drop, we placed them on the tray and walked back outside the house to frolic in the snow some more.

"Hey Seo." Kyuhyun said as we were at the doorstep.

"Yeah?" I spun around, the cool winter breeze streaking my cheeks.

"Wanna spy on people from your treehouse?" he asked. This was one of our favorite things to do.

"Sure!!" I said excitedly. The two of us walked briskly to our acacia tree which stood in between my and his house. 

Spying on people and laughing at others' mistakes, tacky habits, and words they say when they were alone was a pasttime of ours, one that really cracked both of us up. 

Little did we know that we were about to witness something...something else.