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Hyunsik and Katie had been best friends with each other when they were younger, but as they became adults and went their separate ways, they slowly lost contact with one another. One day, they see each other again, on the day of the first snow.

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“What are you looking at?” Min asked as she looked over Katie’s shoulder.

           “Oh, this?” Katie asked holding up a piece of paper. “I found it when I was doing some cleaning today.”

            “What is it, though?” Min wondered.

            “It’s some stupid contract,” Katie said with a smile as she remembered the time that the contract was made.

            “I’m asking you what’s in the contract though,” Min said as she attempted to take the contract from Katie, but Katie was faster and was able to keep it out of Min’s touch. “Well, someone’s protective of it.”

            “You could say,” Katie said with a chuckle. “It’s a precious memory.”

            “Hmm, so what is it?”

            “Alright, I’ll tell you,” Katie said as she got tired of Min constantly asking about it. “It’s a contract with Hyunsik, one of my childhood friends, that says at the first snow of every year we’ll meet.”

            “Really? That’s so cute,” Min said with a wide smile. “Have you guys met on each first snow?”

            “No, not really,” Katie said shaking her head. “Once we graduated, we kind of lost touch with one another. I haven’t seen him for a while…”

            “Still, though, I think it’s a really cute contract, but why did you want to meet on the first snow of each year?”

            “Because somehow we were always together on the first snow of every year,” Katie said explaining how the contract came about. “From when we were little up until we graduated we just always found ourselves together when the first snow came. I guess it’s because we always hung out with one another.”

            “And you guys never dated?”

            “No, how could we?” Katie asked. “We were best friends.”

            “Best friends can easily date because they know each other better than anyone else.”

            “That may be true, but we never did.”

            “So, do you think you would fall in love with him if you saw him now?”

            “What in the world are you talking about?” Katie asked as she attempted to shrug off the statement. “There’s no chance that I would meet him again.”

            “Hey, you never know,” Min said getting up from the couch. “You just moved back into the neighborhood, a lot of things could happen.”

            “I guess that’s true,” Katie said with a chuckle as she placed the contract on the table. “Anyway, I’m hungry, let’s get some food.”

            “Right behind you,” Min said with a smile.

            The weeks passed as Katie got adjusted to her new house. She was recently offered a position at a nearby company after spending a couple of years overseas working for a different branch of the same company. It had been a while since she was back in Korea and somehow it all felt brand-new.

            “When are you getting off of work?” Min wondered over the phone as she and Katie talked to one another during Katie’s lunch break.

            “Not until tonight. I have to stay late, actually, for a project. Why?” Katie wondered.

            “Just wondering,” Min said in a sing-song voice.

            “Why do I think you’re up to no good?”

            “Who says I’m up to no good? Anyway, I have to go now. See you later,” Min said before hanging up the phone.

            “Strange…” Katie muttered to herself as she stared at her phone after Min hung up. She wondered why Min would be so curious about what time she was done, but Katie didn’t have any extra time to think about the reasons behind it since she was busy thinking about the proposal that her group had to create.

            The rest of the workday went by with nothing in particular ever happening. As the clock reached seven at night, Katie and her group figured that it was time to wrap things up and they would be able to finish things up the following day. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, right?” Katie asked as she packed up the papers.

            “Of course,” one of her coworkers, Minhyuk, said with a smile. “Katie, do you want me to take you home?”

            “No thanks,” Katie said with a polite smile. “I have some quick errands to run.”

            “Okay then, at least let me walk you out.”

            “Sure,” Katie said as she finished packing her bag and she and Minhyuk left the building together. “It sure has gotten cold, hasn’t it?” Katie asked looking around.

            “I heard it was supposed to snow today. Looks like it hasn’t yet,” Minhyuk said as he looked around. “It would be the first snow of the season.”

            “The first snow,” Katie said repeating after him and remembering the contract that she showed Min.

            “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you home?” Minhyuk asked as they reached his car, to which Katie nodded her head. “Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Katie said as she smiled and waved to Minhyuk as he drove away.

            Once Minhyuk was out of sight, Katie began walking in the opposite direction to go to the store to pick up some groceries for her apartment. “What should I make for dinner…” Katie wondered to herself as she entered the store and began walking around. She always liked to be prepared for what she wanted to cook since her job would sometimes require her to work long hours. “Hmm…I guess spaghetti is quick and simple… Maybe I’ll invite my parents over for dinner one day…”

            “I don’t think your parents like spaghetti, though…if I remember correctly, they like meat, right?”

            “Excuse me? How do you know what my parents…like,” Katie said as she turned around. “Hyunsik…”

            “I wondered how long it would take you to recognize me,” Hyunsik said with a large smile.

            “How…what…when did you come back?” Katie asked in surprise as she looked Hyunsik up and down.

            “I could say the same thing for you,” Hyunsik joked. “I just came back to visit for the holidays. What about you? Are you visiting?”

            “I’m actually living here. My parents moved to the countryside. Didn’t your parents tell you?”

            “I guess they forgot. Did you walk here?” Hyunsik curiously asked as he saw that Katie’s hands were red.

            “Yeah,” Katie said as she looked down at her hands.

            “Do you want me to give you a ride home?”

            “No, you don’t have to—”

            “I insist. That way we can catch up with one another, let’s go,” Hyunsik said with a smile as he began leading the way, to which Katie followed behind him.

            Quickly the two of them finished their shopping and left together to go into Hyunsik’s car. “I guess he was right,” Katie muttered as she looked up at the sky.

            “Who? Your boyfriend?” Hyunsik asked as he looked at Katie.

            “No, I don’t have a boyfriend. A coworker, he said it was supposed to snow today.”

            “Huh?” Hyunsik asked as he looked out the window and saw snow gently falling to the ground. “I guess it really is snowing. It brings back a lot of memories. How long has it been since we were together on the first snow?”

            “Years,” Katie said as she attempted to remember the last time, but wasn’t able to.

            “So, let’s make a new promise with one another.”

            “What type of promise?”

            “I don’t know,” Hyunsik said, “a promise that we won’t lose contact with one another now. A promise that it’ll be a new beginning for the both of us, alright?”

            “Alright,” Katie said nodding her head.

            “Cool, now let’s get you home so we don’t freeze our butts off out here.”