In the middle of that deserted park- all covered by a thick blanket of pure white snow-, the only touch of color was given by a tiny figure crouched on the ground and his green-colored mittens discarded on the side.

“Do you need help with that?” Taemin heard someone ask him, interrupting that stilling silence he had slowly gotten used to.

He frowned at this unexpected interruption- he was in the middle of an important task, after all-, before finally raising his head to acknowledge the new comer.

“Hi, I’m Minho.” said a slightly older boy with a smile, waving a bit his hand in a greeting. Taemin took in his big eyes and slightly chapped lips – still too startled to think about what to do-, before finally smiling back and offering his name, as well as an enthusiastic hand wave back- his chubby fingers slightly trembling from the cold.

After all that was the first boy he had met at the park that day and this fact alone made him suitable enough to be his playmate for that time around.

It had snowed so much the night before and his mother had told him he would be the only kid there, but that hadn’t been enough to convince him to stay at home with aunty and uncle. 
It had been the first time he had woken up to see an immense white meadow from his room’s window: he couldn’t let this chance pass, right? - he had enthusiastically mused grabbing his boots, right before getting out.

“What are you doing?” the older boy’s voice brought him out of his thoughts then, “Are you building a snowman?” he kept going on and with a slight nod he pointed out to the small snow mound the younger was working on.

“Jinki” Taemin stated, “his name is Jinki. I already have his nose.” he proudly pointed out showing a big carrot he had asked his mother the permission to take. He heard the other chuckling softly at his cute antics, while crouching down right next to him.

“And can I help you making Jinki…?”

“Taemin” the little one finally offered his name – eyes now sparkling and mouth smiling at the idea of making a new friend (and an older one, for that matter).

Ever since he had gotten up, he had known that was going to be a great day and his assumptions just got confirmed, when the other crouched next to him and started to mold snow as well. Another bubble of excitement escaped out of his chest in the form of a happy laughter, just like a weird speck of pride crossed his mind at the sight of his new acquaintance and of the warm smile his mommy and the other’s mother had thrown at him from the bench they were sat on.

It was with that final encouragement that they finally forgot their surroundings put themselves to work- both pair of eyes concentrated on the white expanse right in front of them.

Maybe it was because they were both little, or maybe because playing with snow would forever be a funny activity, that it didn’t take long for them to loosen up and chit chat animatedly about everything and nothing.

Minho particularly liked the way the younger blabbered on and on about Jinki, as if the snowman was an old friend of his: with every fact Taemin shared with him, he felt more and more like the snowman was actually alive and playing with them – and being kids it was easy to let their fantasy go and imagine the weirdest things.

“Jinki has the prettiest smile.” the little boy would say and the elder would immediately reply back.

“Really?”

“Yup he does. And he’s good at singing, he told me so himself. Right, Jinki?”

They would both take a look at their creation, as if it – he – was actually confirming all the nonsense they came up with, and seemed very satisfied with the mute reply every time.

“See? Told you so!”

The time ticked by like that- every minute marked by playful giggles and meticulous instructions given by the younger (“Is it okay like this?” “nope, it should be a bit more round. And have you seen my stick? He can’t have one arm only!”).

It took long for them to give life to Jinki – so long they could swear the whole day had passed-, but in the end there it was, soft and white, with a black shining smile made of little stones – the prettiest out there, just like Taemin had stated.

“Now we need to put the nose.” said the boy, looking for the carrot he had previously shown to Minho. Jinki was slightly taller than him (given that his new-acquired friend had been the one placing the head on him), so Taemin had to stand on his tippy-toes in order to try and reach the middle of that round, chubby face of snow; and even like that, it seemed like the task was proving to be unexpectedly complicated.

Minho took in the distressed look of his companion –his furrowed brows and plump pout- and decided to finally step in with a kind, warm smile.

“I’ll do it for you.” he said, reveling in the pure joy Taemin rewarded him with. There they stayed, contemplating their finished friend and complimenting each other for the wonderful work – because, c’mon, they had done such a wonderful job with that body!
That was until they heard their mothers calling them from afar, uttering those words every kid dreaded when they were having fun playing in the open air.

“I don’t want to go” Taemin lamented – his eyes somehow getting glassy and bigger in the span of a few instants. That cute pout had already found its way back on his face and Minho would have probably giggled, if only he wasn’t suddenly preoccupied with finding a way to calm his younger friend down before he could start crying.

“We can see each other tomorrow, Minnie. I’ll come here and wait for you, I promise.”

“…Jinki is scared of the dark, though. Don’t want to leave him here alone.” came the disgruntled mumble a few seconds after. The elder couldn’t help but smile a bit, looking around him for a few moments before reverting his attention back to the other.

“See that streetlight?” he pointed at a spot a few steps from them, “They will turn it on at night, so Jinki won’t be in the dark.”

Taemin seemed to contemplate the fact for a little while, as if searching for any trace of lie on that smiling face in front of him, all the while not minding how his mother was starting to get impatient.

“…and we will meet tomorrow?”

“Yup.”

“You must promise!” came the stern warning, barely leaving Minho the time to breathe after his previous answer.

“I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Taemin insisted with narrowed eyes and this time the elder really couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He soon regained his composure, though, to show his already precious friend that he meant it and was actually very serious about what he had said. 
He then solemnly intertwined their fingers and uttered “I promise”.

Minho was very satisfied with the smile he received, right before the toddler run away to his mom. It was such a nice feeling to see his new friend quirk his lips up in that little display of joy and, though he couldn’t really understand why, it made him want to imitate the gesture. Just like Jinki himself was doing.

Though, with a last look at their snowman friend, Minho couldn’t refrain himself from thinking that Taemin was the one who had the prettiest smile, after all.