"Snow! Come back here," Minseok chased after his Labrador Retriever around his garden as he refused to come back into the house. 

"Snow, it's cold, come back," Minseok continued chiding his puppy, before he finally caught him and brought him back into the house. 

After giving Snow a warm shower and himself a short bath, he sensed his mother being awake by hearing footsteps on the stairs and thought that breakfast would be ready soon. 

"Umma, annyeong."

"Ah, Minseok annyeong."

"Merry Christmas umma," he said.

"Merry Christmas."

He waited at the table for breakfast after the greetings while Snow trotted around the house. Minseok scratched his head in confusion as Snow was usually not this jumpy. Afraid that Snow would have been unwell, he did a visual check on Snow but all was fine except for his unusual hyperactivity, despite his energetic character. 

After breakfast, Minseok decided to go for a walk with Snow, as suggested by his mother. While bringing him out, he was really uncontrollable as compared to usual and Minseok thanked himself for putting him on a leash that day. 

Just then, as they approached the nearby park, another dog that looked like a copy of Snow appeared and the two dogs started tackling, even while Snow was on leash. Minseok looked at the puppies in awe, dazzled about their uncanny resemblance to each other. If not for the bright red leash on Snow, he believed that he would've mixed the two up and would not even be able to recognise his own dog.

"I'm sorry! He's new," a tall guy with a brown beanie came over and carried the other puppy from the ground after looking at the two for a while. 

"Kris?" 

"Xiumin?" 

The two friends stared at each other for a while before giving a light hug, which happened to include Kris's new dog, and chatted about their lives. 

"I was shocked seeing your dog, really," Kris' eyes glistened in amazement, before he went on explaining how he had to gain a clearer view of the dogs before he could decipher which was his own.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Yes, Merry Christmas," Kris smiled. 

"And no, don't call me Xiumin," Minseok laughed. Kris complained that it was the name he gave him when they were both young and that he should cherish it. 

"So I'm done with the promise," Kris stated and patted his new dog. "He's the Golden Retriever, just turned a year old. I named him Snow."

Minseok widened his eyes in surprise. "Like minds think alike! I also named this puppy Snow," he said while ruffling his own puppy, and the two chuckled. 

"So we've fulfilled that childhood promise," Minseok smiled and Kris did likewise, nodding his head. "We said we would get a Labrador and Golden Retriever respectively and meet up with the dogs," he continued, remembering how the two had an encounter with puppies of such breed when they were younger. The two were fascinated at how dogs of both breed bear a resemblance to each other and thus they vowed to each have a puppy of each breed when they got older, promising themselves to live happily with the dogs, remain as best friends and bring the dogs to meet each other. The boys looked at the scenery before them at the park as they rested themselves on a bench, hugging their own puppies, smiling in reminiscence of their childhood days.

"By the way..." Kris suddenly spoke in a solemn tone which scared Minseok. 

"What is it?" Minseok began feeling anxious.

"I'm having cancer and I probably won't be able to last through this month. It's my last Christmas here," he said after a long silence. "My mom actually discouraged me from getting this dog but-"

"I'll take care of it. As a memory of you. I promise," Minseok immediately agreed. The two held a strong eye contact with each other. Kris looked into the promising eyes of his childhood best friend and felt relieved. "I'll miss you," he finally said after a long silence. 

Kris gave a short, bitter laugh. "Time flies... It's time to go, even when we've just met," he stated. 

"Well,  that's just how things happen...?" Xiumin replied, and sighed.

"What on earth man, Xiumin," Kris laughed and nudged Minseok at his arm. The two chuckled and continued chatting, reminiscing their childhood and friendship. Minseok turned to look at Kris's face and as he did so, he remembered all they had been through as children and started to cherish all the memories they had, one by one. He glanced at the two puppies. Two puppies which are alike, symbolising two friends which are alike. And as Minseok ruffled the back of the ear of the dog on his lap, he knew, he was going to miss his very best friend.

~~~
 

A week passed quickly as the friends continued keeping in touch by meeting each other almost every day, and Kris's health began to deteriorate tremendously which left him unable be out of the hospital at all. It was not long before it was time he said goodbye to his mother, his dog, and of course his very best friend.

"Thank you for taking over this puppy," Kris's mother said and handed the leash over to Minseok, sniffling as she wiped the falling tears with her other hand. 

"It's alright," Minseok said and nodded, "I promised him to." 

"Come on, Snow," he bent down and ruffled the puppy by the back of his ears. He then hugged it and carried it up, before bowing and saying their last greetings and leaving with the dog. 

THE END