It's the middle of winter, which means it's cold outside, and the narrator is miserable. He's afraid of the cold, but he's also excited about going outside to paint in the cold weather. He asks the narrator if she's worried about him, and she says that she is. The narrator tells the narrator that he'll have to stay home for a few days, and then they'll go out to the woods to paint. They're going to a place called "ancient ju city" , which sounds cool, but the narrator doesn't like the idea of going there. He wants to know why the narrator's face is so unhappy, and he asks if there's anything else he hasn't told the narrator. He also asks if the narrator has anything to hide from him, since they're still friends and they've promised to be honest about each other.