Myungsoo had been quiet for a full 10 minutes now. The only sound that he made was his footsteps and the   luggage that he was dragging. Haneul was frowning and looking at his back. She opened again, clearly not giving up.

                "Kim Myungsoo, aren't you going to answer me?" she asked. Her voice wasn't hostile. She was just bewildered at the things that he did. After breaking down to her that he told everyone they were in a relationship, he mentioned that morning that he did it not because the elderly were nagging him to be their son-in-laws. But it was also because a lot of young men from the festival apparently had asked for Haneul's number.

                "Did you say that I was your girlfriend because they asked for my number or because they were asking you to wed their daughters?" she said, catching up with him, walking on his left. Myungsoo turned for a glance, biting his lower lip and looked to the front again.

                "What if one of them was my potential husband?" she said, looking to the front as well, pouting. She caught Myungsoo turning with shocked face and silently laughed. "If you're not telling me anything, I will think that the reason you did it was because you didn't want them to know my number. I bet you didn't expect that I would be as popular as you were."

                She waited for a reaction but Myungsoo was still silent. So she kept walking while looking at him, frowning and pouting. Then he suddenly grabbed her right elbow and pulled her to his right. Haneul almost stumbled but he stabilised her and took her left hand. Still surprised, she found herself being pulled by him to walk. "What are you doing...?"

                Myungsoo didn't say anything but Haneul saw it as they were passing a little boy on the left side of the road. But it wasn't the boy that made her gripped back Myungsoo's hand; it was the little puppy that was sniffing the ground. She kept a wary look at it while they walked away and was still quiet for a distant. Then she slowly let go of Myungsoo's hand and he pulled away too. She was about to say something when he spoke.

                "If I had taken away your potential husband, I'll find you a good replacement," he said, with a small grin. Haneul gawked. "And I did it because it was the easiest way to make them all go away. Besides, you're my companion on this journey. I don't like sharing."

                "What? Am I yours now?" she asked, half-laughing.

                Myungsoo turned his face and blinked a few times with half-smile. "Well, I guess you are mine in a way."

                "What..." Haneul stopped walking, staring at his back in disbelieved.

                Myungsoo didn't turn and spoke with a cheerful voice, "If you stop walking, that puppy might come after you!"

                Haneul shrieked silently, too scared to even look behind and caught up with him again. She shot him a miserable look, even more so when she saw him smiling so widely. Although there was something stirring in her heart, she decided it was because she was nervous because of the puppy.

                "But where are we going...?" she asked, as they were passing through the paddy field which was flooded but still empty. Since it was spring soon, the farmers would start planting the seedlings. Haneul thought it was going to be beautiful when everything is green in the summer. She wished it was summer instead. The spring was stunning but she wasn't really keen about the chilled air. She wished it was a little warmer. She had enough cold back at home.

                "Let's meet the head of the village first," he said, and together they climbed up the hilly neighbourhood. Myungsoo stopped to greet some villagers, and they were kind enough to show them the directions. And even when they reached the head's house, they were still there, sitting on the porch as if it was their own house. The head, a smallish old man wearing a cap and blue fisherman's jacket, and glasses came out and looked at Haneul and Myungsoo in question. Myungsoo introduced themselves and the purpose of them coming there. The old man sat down.

                All the villagers started butting in when he had finished. It seemed that many were eager to have them to work at their fields, especially when Myungsoo said they won't be asking much except for a place to stay and meals. The head, who everyone called as Teacher Song, asked them be to quiet. "You, Jung, you already have your grandson to help you with the field. And where do you think you will accommodate these people, Kyung-ok? Even your daughter's room has turned into a room for cats now."

                Haneul felt cold sweat running through her back hearing that. Myungsoo did a quick glance and took a deep breath. If there weren't anything for them, they would have to leave to someplace else and they were quite exhausted from the Dr. Wang festival, although they did earn some money that would last them for a while. Teacher Song spoke again.

                "You are welcomed to stay at my house. My wife has gone to Seoul a few days ago because our daughter-in-law has just given birth, and I'd say you both came at the right time. I do need help at the barn and the field. And there are plenty of rooms for both of you and dont worry; although my wife is not here, we won't starve. We do have a lot of cooks here. So off with you lots and only come back if you are coming with food," he said, gesturing to the sulky villagers. They walked off making noises and Teacher Song came back to them.

                "Are you two married?" he asked, opening the door for them. Haneul and Myungsoo looked at one another. She held her breath.

                "Not yet..." he said, shyly and scratched his nose.

                Not yet?!

                Haneul was ready to have another questioning session but Teacher Song continued talking, "Well then, she can sleep in the guest room and you can sleep in my son's room or in the living room, whichever you prefer."

                "Yes, thank you very much."

                "The bathroom is behind there and it seemed that you had quite a bit of journey, so let's just call it a day for today. For dinner, I will ask Madam Hwang to get us some food from her restaurant."

                Myungsoo brightened up at the mention of food and Haneul wanted to scoff but her own stomach growled. Defeated, she took her luggage and walked to the room that Teacher Song had pointed earlier. Everything was rather traditional in the house, so they didn't have beds, but futon. And the floor was heated so it felt nice. But after spending days of sleeping in the bath house next to Myungsoo, having a room all to herself felt odd. She sat down, and crossed her legs, looking around and finally sprawled on the floor. She began to recall each moment that Myungsoo was being weird. It seemed that he enjoyed introducing her as his girlfriend?

                "Haneul, do you want to take a bath first?" Myungsoo's voice rang from outside. She jumped, her heart thumping loudly.

                "Oh... oh."

                "Then you go in first."

                "Oh..."

                She waited until she heard him walking away before grabbing clothes to change into and her towel. She then went out and headed towards the bathroom, which was spacious and clean, and surprisingly had a bathtub and water heater. She couldn't deny she was expecting Myungsoo to be controlling the fire from outside for her bath though at the thought of mixing him and bath together suddenly made her felt shy. She filled the tub with warm water, soaked in and sighed in relief. Then she hugged her knees and thought of Myungsoo again.

                "Weird..."

                Was he trying to protect her from that puppy earlier? Although she had never even told him that she was scared of other animals apart from cats... Then how did he know? Haneul sighed. She wanted to ask but was scared that she would embarrass herself. What if that wasn't the case. She really couldn't read his mind...

                After bathing, she waited in the living room. Teacher Song was nowhere to be seen and the house was quiet. Haneul was too tired to be thinking of it before, but it was amazing that they could stay at people's house like this. Even the other villagers weren't hesitating to shelter and provide them with work and meals. Was it because of Myungsoo, she wondered. His handsome face looked trustable? If she was travelling alone, there was no way she would do any of this...

                Myungsoo appeared from his room and lied down in the middle of the living room like a starfish, near where Haneul was sitting. "Ah, so fresh," he sighed, like an old man and closed his eyes. Haneul stared at him.

                "That was fast..." she said, "You were in there for barely 5 minutes..."

                "Really? It felt like hours."

                Haneul narrowed her eyes. "Did you even wash your hair?"

                "Of course". His voice was confident, further making her uncertain. Then he rolled onto his tummy and continued lying like that. "Aren't you going to lie down? It's very warm, the floor."

                "No thanks..." she said, watching him. After a moment, she spoke again, "Did you do this before? Staying at people's houses? Working for them?"

                "You can say that... But it was lesser before. I mean, I only need to find money every other week since I only needed to feed myself. But now I have another mouth to feed. And a woman has a lot of necessities."

                "What do you mean?"

                "Well, like makeup, clothes... sanitary pads?" he said, bluntly.

                Haneul frowned, her ears turning red. "You don't have to worry about those. I don't really care for makeup at the moment and I have enough clothing."

                "But you still have to buy sanitary pads."

                Haneul wanted to smack him, really. But he was correct so she couldn't. "But why are you saying as if you're the only one making money? I am working too... Another mouth to feed? Am I your wife or something?"

                "Well, you're my responsibility..."

                Haneul further blushed but it seemed that he didn't notice. He sat up and held his tummy while pouting. "I'm hungry..." Then he lied down again, and rolled around, saying I'm hungry repeatedly. Haneul didn't know what to make of that. But he kept on whining and rolling,