And in the distance, where Sehun could’ve sworn no one was standing just a minute ago, stood a lonely boy, grey and fuzzy with distance.

And snow began to fall.

Oh Sehun wasn't a curious boy by nature. But there was something about this other child, something that drew Sehun in like a magnet. It wasn't long before Sehun had made his way out, his woolly beanie pulled low over his forehead causing silvery strands to stick up as straight as sign posts at the back of his head, his gloves abandoned because it was too hard to put on quickly, and his boots on the wrong way. 
Sehun stomped through the fresh snow till the grey figure grew close enough for color to show that he (yes, he was a boy, even though he had long curly hair - don't ask how Sehun knowed. He just did.) was wearing bright blue shorts and a yellow skinny.

Sehun opened his mouth to say: "Can't you feel cold?" But the boy beat him to it. 

"You got funny legs!" He pointed and laughed, making Sehun look down at his stumpy legs and the neon-bright green boots attached to it. He had worn it wrong, he realized, again. No wonder it had been hard to stomp through the snow....

"I just worn them wrongly, okay!" Sehun grumbled, quickly switching the boots around so that the right leg went into the right boot (a messy job to do when you're standing in fresh snow) "And beside," Sehun said quickly, not wanting to let it go without a smart comeback, "You look like a girl with your silly long hair."

The moment the words were out of Sehun's mouth, the boy stopped laughing and stared at him. Maybe this was the point Sehun should've reconsidered being so determined the boy was a boy and not a girl despite his hair, but nothing was gonna change Sehun's mind like that. (Yes, he could be stubborn over silly things.)

But then the boy spoke:
"How did you know?"

"Huh?"

"How did you know I was a boy and not a girl despite my hair?"

Oh Sehun shrugged. “Just knowed." He said as if the answer was the simplest thing on the planet. 

And the boy who was a boy for sure broke into a smile and announced: “You're my bestfriendforlife!"

The deal was sealed.

~
 

Oh Sehun didn't even question it. The moment the boy said they were bestfriendsforlife, he took his word as truth, even though they didn't know each other's names - that simply wasn't important enough.

So when he went home and announced:
“I made a bestfriendforlife today."

And Mummy said:
“Ohh~ good boy. What's his name?"

Sehun didn't know what to say….

He then decided the next day, the first question he should ask his long haired bestfriendforlife was, "what's-your-name-because-Mummy-wants-to-know?" But of course that wasn't how it went (because, you know, that question just wasn't important enough)

When Sehun saw the long haired boy approach the same spot under the same tree he found him yesterday, dressed in the same bright-blue shorts and yellow skinny, the first question that popped into his mind was the same one he thought yesterday:
“Can't you feel cold?"

Sehun's long haired bestfriendforlife looked at him for a long while, as if in deep thought, and finally said, “The cold never bothered me anyway~"

Soon enough, the two were found hand in hand, making their way back to Sehun's house to find warmer clothes for the one whom 'the cold never bothered', busily singing (very flatly, mind you) a mash of (messy) Frozen medleys. They were at "Do you wanna build a snowman?"~ when they reached the front door and rapped thrice, smartly, to let Mummy know they were back.

"Mummy, do you have any old clothes that are too big for you that will fit me? Warm clothes?" Sehun added.

“I don't need-" the other boy began, but Sehun cut him off with a quick "Never mind."

"Well?" He looked at the silently watching Mummy.

“For whom, sweetie~" she asked.

Sehun nodded in the other's direction. "Him, of course. My bestfriendforlife," he said while wondering if Mummy was blind, because though he'd said 'the cold never bothers him anyway', the cold did seem to be bothering him. His hands were turning into a blue quite similar to the shade his shorts were.

“And what's his name?"

Sehun tsked. Always this unimportant question. “What's your name?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

The boy laughed. "Kai. Can I come in?”

“Sure." Sehun said, pulling him in, “C'mon."

“Sehunnie~" Mummy had the sugar-sweet-stern voice. “I asked 'What's his name?'."

"You heard him~" Sehun whined. “He said Kai. Now give. Give the warm clothe."

~

The steaming mug of coffee did little to ease Mrs. Oh's mind. She took a sip, burnt her lip, but didn't seem to notice. 

Sehun had run out as soon as she'd given the red sweater. He hadn't even put up a fuss about giving someone else his clothes - and he usually threw temper tantrums when he outgrew and had to give away his favourite sweaters.

But.....
She took a deep breath - 

....This was good, right? Sehun was finally smiling, finally lively. He'd always been a closed up boy, hardly ever speaking a word to anyone, and it was so..... hard.

Then that neighborhood boy had come along -what was his name?- Suho, and put a smile on her little boy. Slowly but surely, Sehun began to crawl out of his shell. He made friends. He was happy.

But then their group had disbanded around last year. No one knew why. And Sehun just wouldn't smile after that.

....So, Mrs. Oh supposed, this 'Kai' was a good thing after all......

But still.
She looked out into the snowy yard where she could see Sehun running around in circles, throwing snowballs in every direction. That red sweater she'd handed over to Sehun yesterday had disappeared from the house. She had no clue where Sehun (who wasn't all that good at hide and seek) could've hidden it. 

It didn't add up. 
Or rather, it did, but the idea was too disturbing for Mrs. Oh to accept.

A snowball broke into powder against the window pane, and Sehun's shrill voice followed soon after. "Missed me again, you missed me again!"
 

What was she to do?

{End of part two: “The First Snow"}

~