When the boy sees the girl at the brook he soon notices that she is the granddaughter of Mr. Kim. She puts her hands in the brook and is dabbling in the water. It looks like she has never seen a brook in Seoul and has been playing with water for a few days now. She played with water at the bottom of the brook until yesterday but she is sitting in the middle of the stepping-stones today. He just waits until she moves aside. Luckily there is a man who is passing by and she gets out of the way.

The next day, he comes to the brook a little bit late. She is washing her face from the middle of the stepping-stones. Her arms with rolled up pink sweater sleeves, and neck are very white. They look like they are shinning. She is looking at her face in the clear brook and trying to hold something in the brook. She may be trying to get a little fish. Like yesterday she may get out of the way if there is a man. She is picking something from the water. It is a pebble. She stands up and runs across the stepping-stones. When she crosses the brook she turns back and cries to him. " Hey, you." She throws the pebble at him. He is so surprised and his heart is beating so fast. She runs to fields of reeds fluttering her long hair. She disappears for a while. He stands on tiptoes to catch sight of her. She shows up hugging a bunch of reed flowers. Beautiful shafts of sunlight are particularly shining about her head. He stays there until she disappears. Suddenly he looks at the pebble that she threw to him. It has dried. He picks it up and puts it into his pocket.

He comes to the brook a little bit late. He can't find her. He thinks it is lucky. However, it is strange that she hasn't shown up for three days running and he feels empty deep in his heart. Now he has a new habit of fingering the pebble that she threw to him.

One day, he sits in the middle of the stepping-stones and is dabbling in the water. He washes his face and watches the reflection of his face in the water. His sunburned face appears in the clean brook. He thinks himself so ugly. He keeps erasing his face reflected in the water. Suddenly he is so surprised that he stands up immediately. She is coming here. He thinks that she may have watched him from behind. He starts running. He misses his foothold in the water and falls over a big stone. He abruptly stands up and runs faster. He hopes that there is a place he can hide near here but there aren't any fields of reeds this way, only the sands. An unpleasant liquid is running to his lips. It is a nosebleed. He just runs wiping his nose with one hand. He feels like she is calling him from the back, "hey, hey".

It is Saturday. When he arrives at the brook she sits in the middle of the stepping-stones and dabbles in the water. He hasn't seen her for a few days. He takes a big breath and starts passing the stepping-stones ignoring her. This time he walks very carefully so as not to miss his step. She says " Hi". He pretends he doesn't hear her. She asks, " Do you know what this is called?" He goes to her involuntarily. He sees her clear black eyes. He can't breath. He quickly looks down at the thing she is holding. " Silk shellfish." She smiles and says. " It's a pretty name." They start walking together. She stops and points to a mountain. "Have you ever been to the mountain?" He looks at the mountain, which is covered in flowers. "No."

"Why don't we go there? I am so bored. Unlike Seoul there is nothing I can do here in the country." He takes a look at the mountain one more time. " It is far though." She says with a decisive tone of voice. "I can walk for a long time and when I was in Seoul I took a long walk to go on a picnic." He thinks, 'Her eyes are blaming me saying you are timid and afraid.' His heart is beating so fast. They start walking again. When they pass by rice fields they find a scarecrow. They go to it and she says. " It looks funny." He shakes it and remembers that his mom asked him to come home early to watch his rice fields. She laughs and shouts. " It looks like it is dancing." She joins him to shake it. He finds out that her face dimples with a smile. There is another scarecrow over there. She runs to it and shakes it. He runs following her and decides not to think of mom's favor.

They arrive at some radish fields. They look delicious. She says, "I wish I could have one." He picks up two good-looking radishes and gives one of them to her. He shows her how to eat it. She follows his way to bite it but she throws it away and says, " It is still unripe and hot." He says more loudly. " I can't eat it. It tastes funny." He throws it further. He often has a radish when he comes here with his friends. It is one of his favorite snacks.

The mountain is coming closer to them. The trees are burning with red and golden leaves and the hills are painted with rainbow colors. She runs around and cries " Beautiful! Beautiful!" This time he doesn't follow her. He is busy picking flowers. He chooses only fresh flowers and makes a nice bunch of flowers. He gives it to her shyly. Her dimples are smiling again.

They find a wide rock under a big tree and sit on it. He feels dizzy for a while. He thinks that it is because of the smell of flowers. She points out some purple flowers on the little slope. " What is that called? It reminds me of my school in Seoul. There were similar flowers in the flower garden at school. I miss my friends in Seoul." She stands up and goes over to the flowers. She tries to pick them up but they are not to be broken off easily. She struggles and falls down. He runs to her and stretches his hand to her. He regrets not picking them himself for her. Her knee is bleeding. He brings his lips to her knee and sucks it. She doesn't stop him.

He holds her hands and says. "There is a calf over there." He leads her to the calf. It is a small calf. He pretends to stroke its back and jumps up on the calf's back. The calf is bouncing and going crazy. Her pale face, pink sweater, blue skirt, and flowers in her arms are going round and round. Her dimples are smiling again and she laughs. He feels dizzy but he doesn't get off. He is proud of himself that he makes her smile again. " What are you doing here?" A farmer is passing by. He is afraid he might be blamed for hurting the calf but the farmer is looking at her and doesn't blame them both. He says, " There may be a shower soon so hurry home." They hold hands and start running. Suddenly it gets black, cloudy and windy. It rains. They are big raindrops. Her lips are getting blue and her little shoulders are shaking. He takes off his jacket and covers her shoulders.

He runs around to find a place to avoid the rain. He finds a big rock. He lets her sit inside while he sits outside. He gets a very wet. She asks him to sit inside closer to her. He doesn't listen to her and he doesn't want to ruin her flowers. She tells him that she doesn't care about the flowers anymore. They don't say anything but watch the rain. He thinks everything is so beautiful around here. The rain stops and the sun is shinning again. They walk home. When they get to the brook the water has risen a lot. They can't find the stepping-stones. He turns his back to her and she rides on his back. When the water gets to her thigh she cries and holds his neck tightly. He looks at the sky and it is so blue.

He hasn't seen her since they went to the mountain together. He runs to the brook everyday after school. He has looked around the schoolyard during the break and stolen a glance at her classroom. However, he hasn't found her. That day, he comes to the brook fingering the pebble as usual. He doubts his eyes. She is sitting on the middle of the stepping-stones. His heart is beating so fast that he can't breath. She looks at him and her dimples are smiling at him. " I have been sick."

He notices that her face is pale. " Because of the shower that day?"
She nods. " Do you feel better today?"
" Not really…."
" You should stay in bed."

" I feel cooped up and I want to have some fresh air. Anyway, I had such a wonderful time with you the other day. You know what? I got a stain on my pink sweater and it hasn't wiped away. Do you know where it came from?" He just looks at it. Her dimples are smiling again. "I figured it out. When I rode on your back that day, it's the dye from your back." He feels that his face is getting red-hot.

She gets something out of her pocket. They are some jujubes. " Taste some jujubes. I got them from my grandfather's garden. They are very sweet."
He stretches out his hands and says, " They are very big."
" I am going to move to another town right after Thanksgiving."
He has already heard from his parents' conversation that they talk of her father going bankrupt in Seoul and that he has a lot of debt. It seems they may even have to give away their house.
" I don't want to move." Her eyes look so sad.

On the way home he keeps thinking that she is moving out of town. He is having some jujube, but he doesn't know how sweet the jujube is. This night he goes nut picking in his neighbor's field. He climbs a walnut tree and shakes the branch he has marked in his mind with a stick. The falling sound is so loud that he is afraid someone may catch him. However, he wishes big walnuts to fall and shakes harder. He realizes for the first time he is so strong. On the way home he walks only in the shade, away from the moonlight. He appreciates the shade at first. He rubs some walnuts in his pocket, forgetting it can cause itching. He only thinks he wants her to taste these walnuts. However, he forgot to tell her at the brook that he would like to see her again before she moves out of town. He mutters to himself, 'I am stupid. I am so stupid.'

On Thanksgiving, when he returns from school, his father gets formally dressed, and holds a chicken. He asks his father " Where are you going?" His father doesn't answer his question and just keeps talking to his mother. " Do you think this chicken is okay?"
" I think so. It is not that big but it looks very healthy."
This time he asks his mother. " Where is he going?"
" He is going to see Mr. Kim. He wants to say good-bye before they move."
" Hey, father! Bring that big chicken. It is a lot bigger!!!" He almost shouts.
His father looks at him strangely and laughs. " This chicken looks a lot healthier."
He is so shy that he runs to the stables.

On Thanksgiving Day, he spends most of his time at the brook and goes up the hill to look down at her house several times. His pocket is filled with lots walnuts. He feels choked up. At night he keeps thinking whether he should stop by her house tomorrow or not. He falls asleep for a while. When he wakes up he can hear his parents talking. " Oh! What a pity! I can't believe it! Mr. Kim's son went bankrupt and had to sell all his property and then his only granddaughter died today. She has been ill for a week but he couldn't afford to take her to hospital. Poor girl! She was so pretty. Right before she died she held her grandfather and left a strange last wish. She wanted to be buried wearing her pink sweater as it is."

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