While Mei was in the bathroom, I took it upon myself to wash her wet clothes by hand. I could have used the laundry machine, but I didn't want to raise my parents' hydro bill—no matter how little that would've been. Mei was my guest, so it was my responsibility.
On top of that, if even one detergent pod went missing from the box, I was sure Mom wouldn't fail to notice, and I knew for a fact that she wouldn't take 'it just disappeared' for an answer.
So, to erase any evidence that Mei had ever been here, I was stuck washing her clothes by hand.
My house had two washrooms, and my parents' washroom had a bathtub, so there was no need for the two of us to fight over a washroom.
I had already set aside my own clothes for her to wear, so there was nothing for her to worry about.
As for the problem with her undergarments—because I wasn't going to wash that—I made her bring them into the shower with her and handle them on her own.
Once I finished washing her clothes, I put them into the dryer, but I didn't start it yet since I still needed to wait for her to bring her parts out.
Now that that was done, there was one more thing I needed to take care of.
I walked to the nearby storage closet in the middle of the hallway, where my Mom kept whatever she deemed would be useful. She was kind of a hoarder, but in situations like these, it was a helpful trait.
I rummaged through the shelves for a bit until I found a roll of bandages.
With nothing else to do, I went back to my room and sat at my desk.
I glanced at my monitor, which displayed a black, powered-off screen.
I had been playing the game with Sora earlier, but with Mei now here, I'd explained to him that something had come up and left the call. He was extremely understanding about it, so it was fine.
The problem was, I couldn't hop back on the game, since there was a chance he'd see me online and know that I'd lied. So, I opted to read some sort of CEO-mafia boss thing that Lily recommended to me.
I couldn't get that far into it, though, as a couple of seconds later, the door to my room opened.
"Pardon the intrusion," a gentle voice said, cutting through the silence.
I looked up from my phone. The moment my eyes met hers, it felt like my heart had stopped for a moment, but I shook that feeling away.
Mei stood in the doorway, currently wiping her hair dry. She wore a large, oversized shirt with graffiti prints Lily had done for me and a pair of cozy sweatpants.
Seeing Mei wearing something like this was strange enough. What was even stranger was the indescribable warmth that crept up my neck at the thought that the clothes she was wearing were mine—but I shook that off, too.
"Hey," Mei said, snapping me out of it. "Is it okay if I sit on your bed? I'm kind of tired."
I responded with a simple shrug. "I don't care. You don't have to ask—just do whatever you want."
She let out a soft giggle as she helped herself onto the mattress.
She was still in the middle of drying her hair when her hands suddenly stopped. She looked at the towel, then at me, her eyes softening slightly.
I couldn't help but shift in my seat—though only slightly.
"What is it?" I asked, my tone flat.
Without saying anything, she extended her towel to me. I blinked, staring at it in confusion.
"Stop playing dumb," she said, her voice dropping. "Just hurry up and dry my hair."
I froze for a moment, then let out a small laugh. "You got me. Give me a second."
I set my phone onto the desk, then carefully climbed onto the bed.
My bed was queen-sized, which was more than enough space for me, but for two people, it was somewhat cramped.
Mei didn't seem to care, though, as she handed me the towel, then turned around, leaning back into my chest. I pulled her closer, making the most of the space, then began methodically drying her hair.
"Wow," she said, almost shocked. "I thought you'd just ruffle the towel all over my head. You actually know the steps for drying long hair."
I pushed out a scoff. "I have a little sister. I used to be forced to dry her hair as a kid when my Mom and Dad couldn't. If I can't do this much, then I'm just an incompetent Older Brother."
Mei's shoulders shook as she let out a quiet laugh. "Hehe. There you go again, talking about your sister."
She turned around, her one eye catching mine. "You know… your voice always brightens up whenever you do. You really love her, don't you?"
I scoffed again, this time offended. "Don't be stupid. I tolerate her—if anything. My life would be so much easier if I were an only child."
Mei's face inched closer to me, a playful grin tugging at her lips. "You don't have to lie. There's no need to be ashamed of loving a family member."
"You don't get it," I said, half seriously. "It's a sibling's pride to hate on your sibling even if you… care about them. At least for me, I'd rather die than admit that."
She looked at me with genuine curiosity. "Oh? Is that how that works? Well, I wouldn't know. I'm an only child, after all."
"Yeah," I said, grabbing her chin and twisting her head away from me. "So butt out of my business, you privileged only child. Come talk to me when you know the pain of sharing a remote control."
Mei lightly thunked her head into my nose in protest. "Whatever you say."
A comfortable silence settled over the room as I continued drying her hair.
After a while, Mei let out a deep exhale, and she asked one more question. Her voice was devoid of the earlier playfulness—dropping into something colder, more monotone, more detached. It was eerily similar to mine, but all the more different.
"Say… who do you love more? Me—or your sister?"
My hands stopped.
Mei slowly leaned back, turned around until she was facing me, then sat on my lap. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, drawing me closer.
I didn't look away for even a second.
"Be honest," she whispered, smiling. "I won't get mad or anything. I just want to know."
I let out a loud sigh as I held her waist. "You're asking a stupid question," I said, my voice the same pitch as hers. "I already told you—I don't love my sister. But the same can't be said about you."
To show my sincerity, I leaned in closer and gave her a small kiss.
After a couple of seconds, I pulled back and fixed a sarcastic grin on my face, lightly slapping her with the towel.
"Anyway, enough about that. Let me do my damn job. Turn around."
Mei placed a finger against her cheek with a light "hmm" as if deep in thought, then shook her head. "No—I don't think so. I think you can dry it like this."
My brows furrowed as I stared at her, unamused. "Uh, excuse me? How am I supposed to do that?"
"I don't know. That isn't my problem to solve. Just 'do your damn job.'"
Without giving me another chance to protest, she pulled me into a tight hug, waiting for me to continue.
I rolled my eyes.
Whatever. I'll figure it out.
While it took longer than it should have, I eventually got her hair dry enough to leave the rest to air-dry.
Once I finished, I gently pushed her off of me and reached for the desk. She didn't pout or look sad. Instead, her gaze sharpened, her expression questioning. "What are you doing?"
"Give me a moment. We aren't done yet."
I grabbed the roll of bandages and turned back to Mei. I inched forward, but she scooted back, hiding her arms behind her back.
I let out a slow breath.
"Don't be stubborn. You're bleeding, aren't you? You already know how I do things. I won't ask, and I'll barely even look. Just let me 'do my damn job.' Besides—it's not like I haven't seen them before."
Mei lingered for a moment before she slowly reached her hand toward mine, holding onto it tight.
"No—it isn't that I didn't want to show you. There's no point in hiding it, since it's you. It was just an instinct. After all, it's not every day that I show them. Much less have someone treat them. So please... don't get the wrong idea."
She lowered her head, her hair hiding her face.
I didn't think there was anything to feel guilty or worry about, but that didn't mean she felt the same.
Without wasting another moment, I put a smile on my face—the same bright, childish one that Dad always wore. One that was incredibly obnoxious, yet made you want to laugh—and leaned in closer to her.
"Hey," I said, brushing her hair to the side and lifting her face, revealing her trembling eyes. "I didn't take it the wrong way, so don't worry. It's going to sound harsh, but I didn't even care. You get what I mean, though—probably."
That got a giggle from Mei. "Hehe. Yeah, I get it."
We both shared a laugh. When the laughter died down, we remained still for a moment, gazing at each other.
I didn't say anything. I just let her move at her own pace.
Slowly, her arms emerged from behind her, revealing her wrists.