~ * ~

I glanced over at Mackenzie. "Do you not have to work?"

She tossed a smile up at me, shaking her head. "Nope. I took vacation time until this Monday, in order to make sure everything with your move goes well," she assured me.

The girls had already left an hour after breakfast, out to spend their summer fun. Now it was just Mackenzie and I, sitting down on the living room couch at 9:23 a.m. "Ah, I see." I glanced down at the couch, patting the soft cushions. "If it really will cause you trouble, I do not mind sleeping here. But I would like you to know I'm sorry if I have somehow made you feel inadequate."

Her cheeks flushed lightly and she peered up at me through her lashes. "Was it that obvious?"

I wondered how easy it was to embarrass a woman. Was the reddening of their cheeks, a 'blush', supposed to be some sort of unconscious mate attraction? Was that why makeup even had a type called blush? If so, what was it about red cheeks that the evolution of the Homo sapien had thought important enough to keep?

I couldn't understand it. Worse, I was stuck in a house with three females who seemed to blush with nearly every word I said. What exactly about my words was embarrassing?

"Not at all," I confessed. "I only knew because Granny called me this morning to check up on me. She made sure to lecture me on how I was shaming you. I apologize for that."

Mackenzie quickly raised her hands up, shaking them and her head in a way that told me to stop. "No, no. Really. It's fine. Honestly, I wasn't prepared for you at all. Silly of me. I'm supposed to be the adult in this situation, but you seem much more put together than I can ever hope to be," she sighed heavily.

"Moving past this, where will I be sleeping?" I pressed for a firm answer.

She closed her eyes, head tilted to the side slightly. "Um...With Selena," she breathed out, eyes popping open to stare directly into mine.

I blinked, studying her face. "Is that so?"

"You promised you wouldn't get in my way!" She was quick to remind me, looking panicked.

Thinking about it for half a second, I slowly nodded. "You are correct, Mackenzie. I did indeed promise that. So, how do you plan to do this?" I asked, bored.

"I need you to help me rearrange Selena's room. First, we'll take apart her bedframe, then move it out into the living room. Then we'll take apart my bed frame, clean up her room and rearrange the furniture. After that, we'll place my queen bed in her room and her twin in my room."

I nodded my head again. "I see, and your excuse to her will be?"

"Maria's room is only half the size of Selena's. There is no way we'd be able to fit another twin bed in there, let alone the queen. I have a large body pillow we'll use to split up the bed...Seok, I'm trusting and depending on you not to let anything happen, alright?" She stared directly into my eyes, her gaze hard. "I know I'm the one literally throwing you two together, but I don't want my girls to have to go through the same difficulties I did."

"You mean with teenage pregnancy?" I asked to make sure. When she nodded tightly, looking weary, I simply blinked. "Do not worry, Mackenzie. I feel no real physical attraction towards Selena. There is a little," I admitted since I saw no reason to lie. "But it's less than the amount it would take for me to feel interested," I assured her.

"You're so blunt," she sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "But maybe I feel a little relieved. You're so...distant, I almost didn't think you could even feel horny," she chuckled lightly.

"I can," I explained, "I simply ignore it when it happens. Worry not. If anything does end up happening, it will be Selena who is the instigator."

She burst out into a sudden laugh, reaching up to wipe at her eyes. "Oh, that would definitely be something to see!" she wheezed.

"...You wish to watch as Selena hypothetically strips me down and starts to seduce me in order to have sexual intercourse?" I inquired.

"Ew! God no! Not at all!" she stared at me like I was insane. "Why would you—? Ugh, Seok, I think you need to learn what a figure of speech is."

I blinked, pulling up the information. "Figure of speech, noun: a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect," I quoted from memory. Blinking a second time, I realized what Mackenzie was talking about. "Ah, I see. You were using 'that would definitely be something to see' as a figure of speech."

"Sarcasm, Seok. It's a beautiful thing I hope you find one of these days," Mackenzie said in a solemn voice, her expression sorrowful.

"...Is this sarcasm now?" I asked, studying her face closely. "I cannot tell. Why do people not simply say what they mean?"

"When you're always literal, it makes it seem like you have no personality," Mackenzie explained, wearing a soft smile. "Maybe you should try to work on that. I think you and sarcasm could have a truly beautiful relationship, Seok," she nodded her head firmly.

I tilted my head to the side slightly, parts of my hair falling into my eyes. "Do you?"

"God, you're adorable!" she suddenly burst out. "You're like a puppy," she squealed. "If Selena could see you right now!" she lamented in annoyance. "She'd totally fall for you."

I reached up to brush the unruly hair out of my eyes. "What makes you say so?"

"You just have to learn how to be expressive, Seok. Add some more emotion into the mix and less robot. Just try it out and see what happens," she pressed.

I eyed her, thinking.

This is a trap. It must be. I will not fall for it. I am not adorable. I am tall, masculine, and cold. I am not a puppy.

"I will think upon it. More than likely I will not act upon it," I made sure to let her know. "That sounds like trying. For me, trying is both boring and too much of a pain. I have never seen the point to bother trying. I simply do it if I want to, or do not if I feel that way."

She let out a long sigh. "Well...at least you'll think about it," she murmured in a tone which said she was trying to reassure herself.

"Should we not begin this diabolical plan of yours in order for Selena and I to sleep in the same bed?" I asked evenly, turning to look toward the hallway.

She winced, ducking her head. "When you say it like that, it sounds really...lewd," she grumbled.

I returned my gaze to her face. "Is it not so, at least a little?"

She began muttering under her breath, letting out annoyed little huffs and grunts. She spoke too softly and too quickly for me to actually catch her words. Even as she kept muttering, she rose to her feet and led the way into Selena's room.

"Here!" she swung the door open with more force than necessary. "This'll be your room from now on," she waved her hand out to indicate the entire room. "Jesus, what am I getting myself into? Selena's going to flip..." she groaned.

The entire floor was light grey carpet. The room was mainly done in dark teal and white, with accents of orange and black. The south, east, and west-facing walls all had thick alternating teal and white stripes as the wallpaper. The north wall, which the headboard of the bed was against, as well as right next to the bedroom door, was a solid teal color. Thin, stark-white trees were growing out of the bottom part of the wall, stretching out with sparsely growing white leaves on their branches.

Perched on or flying through some of the branches and the trees were small, solid-orange finches. Against the far east wall was a white bookcase that also doubled as a shelf, the sections cut in odd, playful shapes. But when they'd designed this room, they'd measured the dimensions very carefully. Sitting on the edge of the white bookcase that was pressed right into the north wall was one lone orange finch, readying itself to take flight and join the others.

Another thing that had been measured just exactly was a small white bedside drawer with two sections with another orange finch that appeared to be perching on it. The only thing on top of the bedside table at this moment was a small lamp. The stand was gold, which went straight up before making a 90-degree angle and lifting up into the lampshade proper. The shade was a very thin and short cylinder shape, white with lots of orange and grey circles within circles, like a busier form of polka dots.

The bed itself was a twin, with matching pillows and comforter to the rest of the room. The east wall had the bookcase, as well as a long white dresser with orange knobs on the handles and black trim along the edges. Thinking about it, the dresser was honestly big enough that Selena and I would be able to share it without too many problems. Especially with how few belongings I had. The south wall was mainly the large window looking out over the front porch, but it was also a reading nook.

Built-in shelves held even more books on either side of the window seat and there were two large built-in drawers under the seat, which itself was as long as the window. Thick, comfortable white cushions made up the seat, along with some more black and teal pillows and a white and orange throw. Tied-back black and white polka dot curtains to either side of the seat would help block out the sunlight if no one was currently there.

The majority of the west wall was made up of two white, movable panels that opened up into the long closet space.

Selena really does love to read, doesn't she?