Five shining snowflakes

18.12.2017

It was five days before Christmas. The green, red, silver, and gold Christmas decorations adorned every shop; the air was filled with cinnamon, gingerbread, and roasted chestnut scents, and, last but not least, Christmas songs could be heard from every corner of the street.

In this joyful atmosphere, everyone was in a hurry to buy their presents: it was easy to see people looking at the store windows, or on their mobile phones looking for the best Amazon deals.

SHINee's members were no less: even with their full schedules, they managed to find the perfect gift for their loved ones.

That 18th December 2017 seemed like any other day before Christmas, but oh... nothing could be more wrong. SHINee got to realize it when a call from Jonghyun's sister came.

"Sodam, what's wrong?"

"O-oppa... He... he's–"

The world collapsed with a few words from a sobbing and shaking voice.

That night the sky became painfully bright.

That night a star returned to the sky.

5 years later

Another cold morning came. The sky was cloudy, and it seemed to be almost ready to snow. The temperature dropped in the last two days and it became harder even to do anything outside without freezing, but that day was special. The most special one and nothing or nobody could stop them from doing what they needed to do.

It was their secret.

It became a tradition.

It has been for the last five years.

"Geez, it's freezing outside," said a delicate and shacked voice. Lee Jinki was trembling at low temperatures. He got in the car and closed the door, then he rubbed his hands covered in black gloves together trying to warm up a bit.

"Yeah, today is minus three degrees. One degree less than yesterday," said the driver's voice, lower than the previous one, while looking at the written temperature on the touchscreen of the car.

"I feel it. Kibum is not going to love it."

"Nah, I think he'll say something more like 'It'll help my skin and my pores'..." and the lower voice arose mimicking a higher one. That made Jinki chuckle.

"Don't let Kibum hear you imitating him like this, or you'll be dead meat."

"He loves me. He'll do nothing."

"Whatever, we need to hurry: we need to pass by Kibum's house and by Taemin's military camp."

Choi Minho sighed "I feel like an uber driver."

"You're not," Jinki said giggling while fastening his seat belt "You're not getting paid". Minho smiled and simply gave up. He started the engine ready for the next stop.

They reached Kibum's house at 7.13 am, two minutes before the agreed time. Minho parked near the sidewalk, turned off the car engine, and waited. He heard Jinki calling their bandmate a few minutes before they arrived to tell him they were nearby.

"He said he would be ready when we arrived," Jinki said switching look from his phone to the front door of the building and vice versa.

"And did you believe him?" asked Minho in a playful and surprised tone. Jinki didn't answer knowing he was being an idiot: Kibum was always late when he had to go out. They waited a little longer but the flaming charisma had enough.