As Yuri closed the gate, she walked acoss the opposite side of Eunmi Ahjumma's house, where there was a five-barred gate. She opened the gate and let Soo Hyuk through before closing it again. They were now walking along a narrow lane that was no more than a rutted cart-track. Soo Hyuk looked at the surrounding but the only thing there was a high hedge of grass on either side. They were walking over the deep sun-baked mud tracks of the lane and Soo Hyuk mentally noted to himself that he had to watch where he puts his feet if he didn't want to twist his ankle. They finally came to a small green gate half-buried in the hedge on the right and almost hidden by the over hanging branches. Yuri paused with one hand on the gate and said, " There it is. Thats where I live."   Soo Hyuk saw a narrow dirt-path leading to a tiny shack. It looked like a fishermen's shack. It had a grey slate roof and one small chimney and there were also two little windows at the front.   Yuri, with one hand on the gate which she had not yet opened, turned to Soo Hyuk and said "You're the first stranger to ever see my house, so don't expect so much and please, don't tell anyone where I live." Seeing Soo Hyuk staring at her house made her feel embarrassed. She quickly pushed open the gate and walked up the path with him right behind her."Would you like a drink, Soo Hyuk-sshi?"   The boy hesitated, shy rather than unsure.   " Honestly, I won't mind. I mean you are technically my first guest" She smiled, reassuring him. Yuri was expecting him to decline since his friends weren't here and he would feel uncomfortable being alone with her. Instead of doing so, he slightly nodded his head. She was delighted and amazed by this unexpected turn of events. She opened the door and invited him in.   It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the interior of the hut.The hut wasn’t built like any usual korean house.There were only two rooms: a tiny sitting room at the front facing Eunmi ahjumma's house and an equally small kitchen. Flattened, colourless rugs covered the floor boards, and the chipped remnants of a once-fine set of china sat neatly on the wooden shelf above a closed cupboard in the kitchen. Two smallish front windows opened on to let the cool breeze inside the house. Across the room, a narrow staircase led to a shallow pitched cramped space right beneath the roof, which Soo Hyuk assumed was the sleeping loft. Beneath the stairs, another cupboard closed with a wooden latch. The low, banked fire in the iron stove gave enough heat to make the hut feel warm and comforting.   "Please sit"   Soo Hyuk was observing the inside of the house with such concentration, he didn't hear her offer to sit down. But she didn't realised he didn't hear her so she continued pouring water from a large metal tin into a kettle and placed it on one of the hotplates. Soo Hyuk looked around the small yet tidy hut for any signs of an adult living here with her. The floor was free of sand. The worn cotton rugs were clean. A large pyramid of wood was stacked right beside the stove.   Not a detail out of place, Soo Hyuk thought.   Yuri returned to the sitting area to find Soo Hyuk still standing, looking around. The slight clatter of the plate as she placed the teapot and cup on the table broke his concentration from the house and slowly turned his gaze to Yuri. She smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down. He sat down gingerly on the wooden stool, praying it won't break apart.   "I added sugar and milk, if thats okay" Yuri explained, hoping it would do for him. She released a sigh of relief when he nodded slightly with a smile. When he reached for the cup, Yuri took that as a sign for you to start searching for the can opener. As Yuri ran up to her sleeping loft to start her search, Soo Hyuk raised the cup and gulped a hot mouthful. The hot tea running down his throat caused him to start coughing violently. He squeezed his knee to prevent him from banging the table. Yuri ran back down, after hearing his coughing fit to get a bottle of water from the cupboard beneath the stairs and gave it to Soo Hyuk. He took it and took huge gulps of water, soothing his throat while she rubbed his back.   "Are you okay?" Waving his hand and nodding, trying to tell her he was okay. Even after his coughing subsided, she kept rubbing his back, wanting his cough to stop totally. A chuckle escaped Soo Hyuk's mouth.   “Yuri-sshi" Yuri jerked her gaze from the tea set and looked at his blond hair, since he wasn't facing her.   "You can stop rubbing my back" Another chuckle from Soo Hyuk. Realising his coughing has stopped, she jerked her hands away from him, feeling embarrassed. Soo Hyuk stood up abruptly, causing her to stumble backwards.   “Isn’t that the can opener?" He asked, pointing. Yuri tilted her head to the side to see. And true enough, the can opener sat inside the wooden cupboard beneath the stairs. When she went to grab the object, Yuri spotted a box of hazelnut pepero sitting next to it. She grabbed both of the thing