She walked up the hills, with a bucket of water in hand. Her footsteps were light on the pavement, so gentle in sound, that no one near could tell that someone was walking by their house. Seohyun was tired, and her back ached. She stopped one moment, and placed the bucket on the ground. She stretched her body, and arched her back. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead, and then fixed her bunches tighter. It wasn't a hot day in particular, but the sun was out, and the walk from home to the well always tired her out.

Just as she was about to pick up the bucket of water, a voice called out to her.

''Hey!''

Seohyun looked about, her bunches swishing to and fro and then smacking her in the face. A sound of laughter was heard, and Seohyun immediately blushed in embarassment. She felt like running away and crying, until a tall boy ran over to her.

''You need any help?''

Seohyun was blushing bright red from the humiliating episode of her bunches, but she grew more red as she noticed the young man. He was lanky and wearing a pair of dungarees, and had a cap covering his head. He was soft-spoken, and slim as a dime.

She shook her head as a response, and proceeded to walk away.

''Hey. I guess you don't know me, but I'm new to the neighbourhood and-'' he stepped in front of her all of a sudden, and then struck out a hand for her to shake, ''My name's Im Yoona.''

Seohyun was puzzled. What a feminine name for a boy.

''why are you dressed like that? are you a farmer?'' she asked, rather than shake the boy's hand. She was hesitant in continuing to talk to this stranger, but felt compelled to know the answer to her question.

''ah, yeah...my dad owns a ranch over there.'' he pointed beyond the horizon, far beyond the well, and much further from Seohyun's current destination. She remembered her family discussing the new farmers, but hadn't been paying too much attention at the time.

''Any way, what's your name?''

''I'm known as Seo Joo Hyun.''

Yoona nodded, ''pretty name for a pretty girl.'' he gave a friendly wink. After a short while of mentioning each other's family and such, Seohyun invited Yoona over to her house. The reason being - besides the fact that she needed help with the buckets - that Yoona was actually a great talker. There weren't many people her age around her area, and it did get pretty lonesome waiting for the week days to meet up with school friends. Most of her friends came from the city, and they never bothered to make the journey to come see her.

Yoona held the bucket of water as if he was holding a paperback novel. He had it in his hands, and against his chest, as he walked down the hill with Seohyun in tow. Yoona explained that he came from a place filled with agriculture, so he was used to his surroundings. He didn't have much of an idea what city people felt like and the things they did, besides what the dramas on tv showed.


As Seohyun arrived home, she entered the kitchen and placed one bucket on the kitchen table. Yoona followed her movement, and did the same. Her mother was washing some plates, and drying some, when she turned to greet her daughter. At first, she was in awe at the boy standing beside Seohyun.

''This is my friend, Im Yoona. The new neighbours.'' Seohyun quickly explained, and then her mother nodded in understanding.

''My, how handsome!''

Seohyun knew that her mother was already pairing her up with the new boy - as she was prone to do - and hurriedly notified her mother about the water.

''You can take your bath now.'' Mrs Seo said, and then smiled wide at Yoona. Seohyun, knowing what was coming next, told Yoona she'd see the boy around. Yoona said he'd like to talk again, some time.



For another week, Yoona and Seohyun were found walking from the well to her house, or sometimes milking the cows together. Yoona helped out with feeding the chickens, and even helping out in the kitchen with Mrs Seo.

It was a sight that got neighbours interested, and they soon came knocking on Mrs Seo's door. Seohyun hadn't known that people were talking, and by the time they did, Seohyun had paid visit to Yoona's home.

Yoona lived in a small cottage-like house, far from her ranch. Her house was made from red bricks, and there were lovely sunflowers growing in the back garden.

''Appa. I'm home!''

Mr Im sat by the kitchen table, chopping up some carrots on a cutting board. Seohyun knew that Yoona didn't have a mother, and she had heard that Yoona's father did majority of the cooking and cleaning instead. This was a foreign concept for Seohyun, who had been taught from an early age that women did the housework. Her eyes must have said a lot, as Yoona chuckled, ''oh, he loves cooking. he loved cooking even when umma was here.''

Mr Im looked up from the cutting board, having been so transfixed in his work. He peered closer at Seohyun and then peered at Yoona. He had a funny look on his face, and Seohyun watched as Yoona's friendliness disappeared. Yoona seemed as if he was speaking with Mr Im, just not verbally. It was the look that her parents gave to each other back at home, when they didn't want to talk about a subject not meant for kids.

Yoona showed Seohyun his room. It was plain, with a medium sized bed against a wall. On the window sill behind the bed, lay a couple of hard cover books. Seohyun was curious to know what kind of books Yoona read, and went over, picking one up. Yoona followed her, and peered over her shoulder.

''I read a lot. Have you read these?''

Seohyun recognized one, a famous book from America. It was entitled 'The Crucible'' by Arthur Miller. She remembered picking it up from her school library one afternoon, and then never getting around to actually reading it. Yoona claimed it was his favourite, but admitted it horrified him at the same time. They began to discuss their favourite writers, from korean ones to foreign ones, and then the topic changed to how much they wished to live in a city packed with more open-minded people, and before they knew it, sundown had commenced.

''I'll see you tomorrow, right?'' Yoona asked, and Seohyun agreed, but inside, she didn't want to leave. She wanted to talk to him more, and find out more about his life. It was a sudden movement, but Seohyun's lips met Yoona's, and Yoona slowly closed the bedroom door behind them. Seohyun rested against Yoona's body. Seohyun's heart was beating like a drum, and her eyes travelled from each eye of Yoona's, as if looking for answers to a question that had not been spoken of.

Seohyun waited for Yoona to kiss her back, but nothing happened for a long while. Seohyun let go, and Yoona grabbed a hold of her wrist. ''You'll come again, right?'' his smile was uneasy.
Seohyun felt giddy inside. He wanted to see her again - he wasn't holding back from the kiss. He was just nervous.

''Promise.''

''you better pinky promise that.'' Yoona joked, but Seohyun took it seriously, and held out her pinky. Yoona laughed out loud, bending over with tears in her eyes. Seohyun was miffed, but then Yoona straightened up and strongly held onto her pinky.
''Seohyun promises to meet me tomorrow.''
''Yes.''


All the way back home, all she thought of was Yoona, and how fun, friendly and lovable the boy was. Nothing at all like the other boys at her school - all they did was pick fights and tease the girls. But she had many questions about him and all the way home, and through the night in bed, she pondered about him, and him only.


The next day, Seohyun found her mother in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea and reading the local newspaper. Seohyun grabbed some freshly made oatmeal from the pan, and then sat opposite her mother.

''umma. has dad left?''

''Joo Hyun.''

Seohyun knew something was up, when her real name left her mother's mouth. Normally, around the house, they had been so used to referring to her as 'Seohyun', or even 'Seo', that when her real name was brought up, she knew it wasn't going to be good news. She wondered what had happened, and her mind could only flicker back to last night, and Yoona.

''What are your plans for today?''

Seohyun answered that she would help around the farm, and then would visit Yoona later on.

Her mother shook her head, ''I don't want you to meet them anymore.''

''The Ims? why?''  her heart began to beat faster than she had ever expected it could, and she was worried sick. Something was terribly wrong, and she had the urge to cry, like she always did.

''I don't want you to meet with people like that any more.''

''but why? I need a reason. Yoona's nice!''

''....they may be nice, but they're a little.........not our kind of people.''

''what do you mean? they came from the country like us! and, they own a ranch, and they're interested in agriculture like us!''

''I don't want to talk of it anymore, but I'm warning you to not go today. Any way, you've been spending too much time with that person!''

Seohyun began noticing the patterns in her mother's speech and the terms she was using. 'Them', 'They', 'that person'.

''umma, you are being cold. They are new here - and you don't know much about them. I've met them, and they're-'' Seo hyun gulped, and tried to focus on the subject, but her mind wandered, ''why do you hate him?''

''I don't hate her.''

Seo hyun froze.

''I just don't think people...like that, should play around like that with their body. I think it's kind of...weird, erted, and I don't want her to get you mixed up in those things.''

''...what are you trying to say?''


''Seo hyun...I wasn't sure, but I heard from the neighbours, and they told me that Im Yoona is a girl.''

Seo hyun scoffed, ''that's ridiculous! and you shouldn't listen to so much gossip!''

her mother continued to persuade her to forget about Im Yoona, but Seo hyun, once breakfast was over and went to retrieve the bucket of water and then left for Yoona's house. She ran all the way, daring not to stop for a second in case her mother came after her. She didn't care if the neighbours saw her, because she had too many questions.


She rapped on the door several times, before a confused Mr Im opened up, ''oh..it's Yoona's friend. How are-?''

''Is Yoona here?'' she peered around the back of him, her eyes scanning the hall behind.

''He's up in his room. You can come in if you desire so.''




-

Her heart thumped as she knocked on the door of Yoona's bedroom. She tried to calm herself down.