Mei sighed as she picked up toy after toy, left in the playroom long after the twins had been sent to bed. In some ways, she was glad she was the only one at the house, because it meant no one saw the mess and fired her, but it was also extremely lonely. She smiled to herself as she picked up a little toy panda and placed it carefully in the cupboard, brushing her hands on her jeans as she stood up in the finally tidy room.

 

Walking into her own little room, above the garage, Mei eyed the letters left on the coffee table warily. She made herself a mug of hot chocolate and sat on the edge of her sofa, reading the letters for the tenth time since they'd arrived that morning. Her almond shaped eyes skimmed the words, and she barely noticed the car pulling into the garage beneath her, or the unfamiliar voice that spoke into their phone. Mei opened up her laptop and sent two emails; one to her parents and one to the only other special person she had, telling them about the letters. She didn't even hear the door opening and closing, and heavy footsteps travelling down the corridor as she showered and got into bed, the words printed on the letters floating around her head.

 

“Sujin? Sumin?” Mei called as she poked her head into the twins' room the next morning. It was seven in the morning, and the twins' friend's mother was supposed to be picking them up at eight for a day out. No response came and Mei stepped into the room and opened the curtains, expecting surprised squeals. Instead it was Mei who was surprised, because the twins weren't there.

 

“Sujin! Sumin!” Mei yelled down the corridor, getting more and more stressed as the minutes ticked by. “Sumin? Sujin? Where are you?”

Mei was starting to panic after checking all the rooms the twins usually hid in, and was checking every single door in the house. Suddenly she heard voices from the end of the corridor and she sprinted to a door she'd never used before.

 

“Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!” Mei cried after closing the door. Sujin and Sumin were in the room, but so was another man, covered in nothing but his duvet.

“Who was that?” she heard the man ask.

“Meiti- Meita- Meito-” Sujin stuttered.

“Meitiao,” Mei called from outside. “Mei for short.”

“You're from China?” the man asked, suddenly speaking in Mandarin.

“Y-Yes,” Mei nodded, though he couldn't see her. “I'm from Guangzhou.”

“I'm Kris,” the man told her. “I'll introduce myself later... when I'm wearing some clothes.”

“Ah...Okay...” Mei agreed. “Sujin, Sumin, you need to get ready!”

 

Mei didn't bump into Kris after she'd sent Sujin and Sumin off with their friend. She spent the day cleaning the twins' room and tidying the house, before returning to her own room. She'd barely sat down before there was a knock on the door.

“It's open,” she yelled lazily. The door opened and she sat up hastily as Kris walked in.

 

“I'm so sorry about earlier,” Mei cried, jumping up and bowing to Kris. “I was just really worried about the twins and-”

“Why didn't you just knock?” Kris interrupted.

“Hm?” Mei pressed her lips together, suddenly confused.

“Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd knocked? Then we wouldn't be in this awkward situation,” Kris said, closing the door behind him.

“I'm really sorry,” Mei apologised again. “Usually there's no one in that room.”

“Maybe if you'd paid attention to what was happening around you, we wouldn't have had this problem.” Kris sounded like a teacher.

“I'm very sorry,” Mei carried on apologising.

“You're really dumb, aren't you?” Kris sighed, almost laughing, switching to Mandarin.

“Excuse me?!” Mei was appalled.

 

“Listen. I can tell we're not going to get along well...” Kris started, walking towards Mei, making her back towards the wall. “But I'll try to be pleasant, unless you give me a reason not to.”

Mei stared up at Kris, who carried on moving towards her.

“And if you do anything to hurt or upset the twins...” Kris placed a hand on the wall, centimetres from Mei's face. “I won't be happy.”

Kris stared at Mei for a few seconds, and Mei refused to break his gaze. As soon as he moved his hand away Mei let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and watched Kris cross the room and slam the door as he left.

 

Kris had gone out somewhere before the twins returned, and as Mei sat with them at dinner, she kept her eyes locked on the door, ready to defend herself against his sharp Mandarin tongue. He didn't return until late though, and Mei was already back in her room after putting the twins to bed when she heard his car pull into the garage.

 

“Sure, you can come a stay. A whole week? I don't mind, but the dumb babysitter might.”

Mei's ears pricked up as Kris passed her room, deliberately raising his voice when he insulted her. She poked her tongue out at the door before turning away and padding into her bedroom.

 

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woah why can't i change the size of anything

anyway yes!! chapter one i hope you all like it~