On the other side of the mysterious door, YUnjae found herself in rather different scenery. It was a garden. Trees grew in abundance and there were all sorts of fruits hanging off each one. Flowers of different kinds blossomed among the green blades of grass. Somewhere she could hear a trickle of water. The air was friendly and a lot cleaner, one could feel that after living for years in the city. It was the paradise Yunjae had once hoped to see. But there was no one there. In the silence of the garden one could easily hear if there was another person with them.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Yunjae called out boldly. Silence answered her. She began feeling really scared. The door she had come through had disappeared like the one she first went through. But Changjo was waiting for her. Here, it felt like she was the only person living.

“Changjo-yah! Changjo-yah!” Yunjae yelled, as if Changjo could hear her.

Suddenly, a rustle came from one of the trees. This frightened Yunjae so much that she fell on the ground and just sobbed in fear.

“Hey, don’t cry. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Yunjae slowly looked up. Her vision was a bit blurry because of her tears, but she made out that a boy was standing in front of her. She wiped her tears on her sleeve and took another look at the boy.

He wasn’t nearly as tall as Changjo, but he’s still taller than her (about half a head). He was also wearing white clothes. But what makes him different was the little trinkets weaved among the strands of his hair. There were short strings of beads that adorned his hair.

“Hey, are you ok now?” The boy asked worriedly.

Yunjae nodded. “Who are you?”

“I’m Ricky. I guess I’m your next station. You’ve met Changjo, haven’t you?” said Ricky.

Yunjae nodded.

“So I guess you know what there is to be done?”

Yunjae nodded again.

Ricky’s brows knitted together in a confused frown. “It’s ok to talk, you know.”

“Oh, right, well… So that’s all I have to do in this world? Go to different stations and answer riddles to go on?”

“That’s the easy way of putting it,” replied Ricky.

“Ok, what’s your riddle?”

Ricky took a deep breath.

“He was eight and you were six. What was the game you played with sticks?”

Yunjae thought for a while.

“Wait… He was eight and I was six? How can that be? We’re three years apart!”

Ricky only smiled at her as if he knew something that she didn’t. It was true, more or less.

Yunjae went to think again. When was he still eight when I was already six?

Then it hit her like it did in Changjo’s station.

“I remember now. I just had my birthday. It was July then. Oppa doesn’t celebrate his birthday until October,” said Yunjae.

Ricky raised his eyebrows at her encouragingly.

“My birthday… My sixth birthday…”

--flashback—

“Yunjae-yah!” Hyukjae called his little sister from across the yard. He was hiding something behind his back.

“Yes, oppa?” said Yunjae as she jogged up to Hyuk.

“I’m bored, Yunjae-yah,” Hyuk started.

“Me too… Mummy’s taking ages preparing the cake,” said Yunjae wistfully.

Hyukjae’s eyes lit up. “You wanna play?”

“What do we play?”

He extended his hands towards her. He was holding a bunch of straight wooden sticks bound by a straw string.

“Sticks? Pick-up sticks?” asked Yunjae.

Hyukjae laughed. “No. I call it Building Sticks. It’s like building blocks, only we use sticks.”

“How do we play?” asked Yunjae, intrigued.

“I’ll give you some sticks”—he handed Yunjae her own bunch--“and keep another. First one to create something, like a door, wins. You up for it?”

“How do they stick together?”

“They’re made up of magnets, so they stick to each other.”

“Ok, let’s play.”

--end of flaskback—

“Yunjae-yah, you’re zoning out,” said Ricky, pulling Yunjae out of her flashback.

“Yeah… I… I remember now… We used to play ‘Building Sticks’,” she said. was quavering.

“Hey, are you ok?” asked Ricky. He came over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Yunjae found herself sobbing. “It’s… It’s just… I miss oppa…”

On any other day, Yunjae would not be caught dead saying those words. She’d cough up even before she said ‘I’. But now, with him not around, she suddenly felt empty and alone. She suddenly realized how much she depended on her older brother.

“Hey, you’ll get him back, alright? That’s what we’re here for,” said Ricky.

Yunjae wiped her tears. “Ok… Anyway, the game was Building Sticks.”

“Very good. Now, you have to create your next door using those sticks.”

Yunjae looked to where Ricky pointed and found sticks, or rather, logs, stacked up on one side of the garden. She didn’t have to wonder where they came from. They were like Changjo’s keys.

The pieces of wood were about two arms long (not, of course, if you were Changjo) and about one hand wide (if you had hands like Yunjae).

“How do I that?” asked Yunjae.

Ricky furrowed his brows at her again. “Didn’t your brother teach you how?”

Yunjae wracked her brains again. “Oh, right. I remember.”

She went to the pile and set to work. About an hour later, she shook Ricky awake.

“I’m done.”

Ricky went to look. The door Yunjae made was like a cabin’s door. She even put up and neat doorframe.

“Wow, I’m guessing you won the game,” commented Ricky.

That made Yunjae smile. “I always did.”

Aish, Yunjae-yah, you won again!

“Ok then, go on to your next task. See you again sometime!” said Ricky. He opened the door for her like some coachman.

“Thanks, Ricky-ssi,” said Yunjae. She smiled at Ricky before disappearing yet again in the bright light from the other side of the door.