The doctor looked at me for a while before nodding and turning to Aaron.

“It’s alright, young master,” He reported. “She only needs a bit of good sleep and lots of food.” Aaron nodded.

“Thank you, doctor,” He said. The doctor nodded and left the room. All was left was me and Aaron. Min Pei had left to unpack the rest of her bags.*

I shuffled uneasily.

“You ran away in the morning, saying you’d rather live free than locked up here,” Aaron said, blowing his fringe and then looking at me, smirking. “So how come you’re back? And so soon? Miss me that much?” I quickly turned my head the other way.

“As if, jerk!” I said. “I came back to see Mei Mei!” I froze. Mei Mei…She wasn’t mad at me was she? Noticing the sudden change of atmosphere, Aaron asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Where’s Mei Mei?” I asked. “Is she…still okay?” Aaron shrugged and took out a little phone. Ugh. Those annoying little things he used to contact the maids with.

“Hello?” He said as he spoke into the phone. “Yep, she’s back. Would you mind visiting her?” He nodded and then snapped the phone shut.

“By the way,” He said, looking curious. “What were you about to say before you fainted? It was something like, ‘Yaaaaaan!! You-!’ and then you collapsed.” I scratched my head. I couldn’t actually remember.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But at least you people still heard me.” Suddenly, the door flew open and Mei Mei was there, puffing and panting. She eyed me carefully. Boy, did she look dangerous right now. If looks could kill, I’d probably be dead right now. She ran forward and I prepared myself in case I was hit or something. But she hugged me instead and cried like a baby.

“GUI!!!” She blubbered. “HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME ALL BY MYSELF HERE? YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS TO MMBMFLPLUMBD?” The rest of her sentence was cut off with more blubbering. I lowered my head. It was going to be hard if I tried to escape again. Maybe I should stay. Just for Mei Mei. I patted her arm.

“Its okay, it’s okay,” I said. “I’m so sorry, but I’m back now! There’s nothing you need to worry about.” Mei Mei continued crying and laughing. Boy, this kid was strange. We continued hugging each other until suddenly a loud noise came from no where.

“GRRRRLLLL!!”

Everyone looked around. I raised my hand slowly with embarrassment.

“That was my stomach,” I said. Mei Mei jumped up.

“Ah! W-We should get you some food!” She said. She looked at Aaron.

“Master Aaron! May I?”

“Of course, Mei Mei,” Aaron replied. Mei Mei nodded and skittered out of the room. I sighed and then looked sharply across to Aaron.

“Hey,” I said. Aaron half smirked, half smiled.

“What is it now?”

“You reported that I was dead from jumping off your roof, trying to steal from your house,”

“I know,”

“How could you!? My reputation as a thief is ruined!!”

“But you’re supposed to be dead,”

“Still!! It’s an embarrassing way to die!! The headlines of the newspaper; World’s Greatest Thief Dies Jumping Off A Roof, that’s a bit too stupid, isn’t it??”

“It could happen one day,”

“I’ve jumped off your roof before, I didn’t get hurt.”

“Oh really? When?”

“…In my dream.”

“Then that doesn’t count.”

“You’re really irritating, you know that?” Aaron looked away.

“What’s it like to be free?” He asked, looking distant. I looked at him for a while. Why did he seem so sad?

“Fun,” I said. “There’s no one to tell you what to do, and you can go anywhere you want.” He continued looking distant.

“Really?”

“Uh-huh, and the city is especially great! There’s a nice little tailors shop in the corner of the city. A lady called Miss Zhuo works there. The store never gets much customers but the clothes are especially good.” I stopped and then looked across to Aaron, who was still looking distant.

“You’ve never actually gone outside?” I asked. Aaron stretched his arms and leaned his elbows onto a desk.

“I have,” He replied. “I just haven’t gone out much. We usually go around the city every Christmas in the car.” I nodded. I already knew that.

“Why don’t you just try going outside for once?” I asked. “You did when you rescued me back inside, despite your sickness.” Aaron looked across at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He said. “I did not rescue you back inside, a security guard came and rescued you.” I frowned. Min Pei didn’t say that.

Aaron sneezed and then shivered a little. He did come and save me, didn’t he? A small smile formed my face.

“Oh,” I said, pretending not to know. “If you didn’t rescue me before, how come you’ve caught a cold? And this easily?” Aaron sniffed.

“Got it in the morning,” He said and then smirked. “Oh? Are you worrying about me now?” Dammit. He got me there. I quickly turned my head away.

“No!” I retorted. “Who would-would w-worry about you?”

Then, Mei Mei came in, carrying bowls of rice. She skittered over to me and placed a tray over my bed and placed the rice on it. She then skittered over to Aaron.

“Young master,” She said. “Here is yours as well!” Aaron waved a hand.

“Nah, it’s okay,” He said. “I don’t need to eat right now.” Mei Mei frowned.

“But since Gui Gui ran away, you didn’t eat much at all you know!” She said. “All the other maids made this bowl of rice especially good for you, you know!” I looked down at my bowl of rice. I hope it wasn’t poisoned.

“Alright,” Aaron said at last, taking the bowl of rice. Mei Mei then got her own bowl and sat down on one of the beds.

“Sorry!” She said. “Since Gui ran away, I couldn’t eat much either!! C-Can I, young master?” Boy, if Mei Mei had a tail, it would be wagging rapidly.

“Of course,” Aaron replied. We were about to start eating until Min Pei burst into the room, carrying some spices and chopped up meat and vegetables* with her own bowl of rice.

“Hold it!” She cried. “Invite me to eat, too! I’ve just come back everyone!! Don’t just ditch me!” We laughed and I patted a spot near my bed, signalling that Min Pei could sit there. She plopped herself down and carefully put the spices and other chopped up foods onto a desk.

“Don’t just eat plain rice!” She said. “Take some bokchoy*or some meat or something!” I nodded and we all leaned over to take something from the other plates. I smiled.

This feeling. It was definitely a family feeling.

~~

Author’s Note:

*The part where it says Min Pei unpacks her bags…Yeah, she’s supposed to be back from America and she’s decided to live with her big brother for the time being!

*Bokchoy is like…an Asian veggie. Yeah, I can’t explain, sorry. Google it! :D

One more thing! To the readers that read Love and Money, umm, I’ve decided to put it on hold for a while…Sorry! X(