"Tools?" I asked as I lowered down on one knee by the bed. Scanning the frame, shoving up the coverings that hung over the side, I saw the places where I would require a screwdriver. "You are right. This bed frame is cheaply made. It would not be able to handle anyone above the weight of two hundred and fifty pounds. If Selena and Maria tried to share a room together on one of these twins, their combined weight would quickly destroy this frame."

"Um, yeah, I suppose," Mackenzie mused thoughtfully. "Oh, right, tools. I'll be right back!" she rushed out of the room. Seven seconds later, a little breathless, she skidded to a stop by my side. She's brought the entire bag. "Uh, what do you need? I'm not all that good with tools-"

Reaching out, I took the tool bag from her. "I can handle this." Turning back to the bed, I rose to my feet. Stretching out, I very quickly removed the bedding from the twin mattress. I tossed the pillows carelessly in a random corner and bundled up the sheets and comforter into a pile on the floor. With the mattress free of all the annoying bits, I picked it up by the width, lifting it easily. "Lighter than I thought," I observed aloud.

Mackenzie quickly rushed to get out of my way and simultaneously clear a path. As I passed her by, turning around the corner of the hallway, I heard her bemused mutter. "I guess I'll just start a load in the wash then."

Carrying the mattress into the living room I leaned it against the back of the couch. Behind me, I could hear Mackenzie muttering again. Turning, I saw she was struggling with carrying all the blankets and sheets at once. Shaking my head, I moved to the laundry room door. "You're so tiny. How do you manage to efficiently care for your household?"

She shot me a glare, sticking her tongue out. "You don't have to be mean just because you're a giant, Seok. Not all of us were blessed with extreme amounts of height or strength. How did you get so strong anyway? Do you lift weights?"

"If you consider a bale of hay at roughly 40 to 75 pounds as a 'weight', then yes I do." I already had the foot of the bedframe unattached, moving to the head.

"By yourself?!" Mackenzie's startled voice, though I didn't look up from the small screw. I did not want to possibly lose the screws.

"Not at first, no, I could not. But over the years I’ve built up enough muscle mass and stamina to hold out comfortably." I continued to explain, still working on the frame. "It wasn't until I was twelve that I could lift the bales though. While on the ranch, it’s pretty common to have to chuck hay bales."

"Holy crap! You lived at a ranch?"

"I worked at a ranch from the age of seven to the age of nearly seventeen." Lifting up the four separate pieces of the bed, I stacked them all in my arms. Moving by Mackenzie, I took them into the living room as well. She trailed behind, her expression telling me she was digesting my words.

"Wait...what about Mat?" she asked in a rush. "Didn't you live with him?"

Lowering the bed frame pieces to the floor, I turned to face her. "I lived with Mathew between the age of zero and up until my seventh birthday. On my seventh birthday, we flew out to a ranch in Montana. There I followed Mathew to the large ranch house and met an elderly woman who introduced herself as Ruth McGuire. She was very surprised to see me and Mathew, but she seemed happy. Mathew quickly introduced the woman as my grandmother. She smiled and insisted that I should call her 'granny'."

Mackenzie started to interrupt, but I raised a hand to let her know I was not finished. "It was at this point that an older man came into the house. Within a few moments, he began screaming at Mathew to leave, to get out of his sight. Mathew tried to get some words in, but this new man refused to allow him to. Mathew stared at the man, Granny, and then myself. He tossed me a very faint smile before turning on his heel and leaving."

Mackenzie let out a gasp, raising her hands to cover her mouth. "No, he wouldn't-!"

"The man then turned his ire to me and that was the first time I was introduced to the man who is Granny's husband. It was also the first time I ever heard the term 'gook'. The man, Franklin McGuire, insisted that I get out as well. He threatened to toss me out on the streets. I then pointed out that the ranch house was located in the middle of the country, which meant there were no streets. He replied by striking me across the face hard enough for me to lose consciousness. When I woke up next, it was night time and I was inside the loft of a barn.

"A note, along with a bowl of long-chilled soup and some bread rest close by. The note, from Granny, explained that she had convinced Franklin to allow me to stay. But I had to work for my room and board and I was never allowed to step foot inside the actual home of the McGuire family. To this day, I have never stepped foot inside since my seventh birthday, but that is beside the point. Mathew came by the ranch out of nowhere three days before my seventeenth birthday. He insisted that I leave with him. I, as well as Granny, protested. Franklin told Mathew to remove both of our selves from his sight. So, I was given little choice but to leave with Mathew."

Mackenzie looked close to tears again. "Why do you cry so often?" I asked around a long exhale. "Am I truly so pitiful to you that you must burst into tears or blush with every sentence I speak? At this rate, you'll get grey hairs before the end of the year, Mackenzie."

That seemed to snap her out of the daze she'd been in. She sucked in a deep breath, staring up at me for several moments. Slowly, she smiled. "Seok, I'm glad you're here."

Ignoring her comment, I turned my back to her. "Can you please get your bedroom situated so that we can finish this? I am sure there are things in there you would rather I not see," I reminded her the whole purpose of all this work.

Her cheeks flushed and I exhaled. Yep...

"I-I'll be right back," she whispered as she quickly passed by me.

Leaning against the twin mattress, I closed my eyes. My arms ached a little, but it was an ache I was used to. Hard work had become something I welcomed. It allowed me to get out of my own head for a time, falling into a half-trance state with the rhythm of my work.

Once Mackenzie was done, she poked her head out around the doorway. "I'm going to go ahead and start the wash with all of Selena's bed linens first. Once they're done, I'll get mine as well."

"Alright." I opened my eyes and moved into the master bedroom. I took in the entire room with a single glance.

The walls were baby blue with white trim at the bottom and top, accented by a white ceiling and white carpet. Close to the door was a small, black wood dresser. Right past that, still on the right wall, was a matched bed-side shelf that had a few books stacked, as well as a small vase with very short-cut dark pink roses. Right beside it was the queen bed itself, which had the same black wood headboard against the wall. This bed had a white comforter, with three large white pillows against the headboard. 

Above the bed was four picture frames that made up different pieces of the same picture; some vague, bright pink flower that was slightly blurry for effect. As well, to either side of the headboard, were two white hanging lamps. Along the far north wall was another, larger black wood dresser. Two small mirrors in dark pink frames hung above this dresser. Next to that was the north window with white lace curtains, as well as more of the same on the west wall's window. In the far north-west corner of the room, between the windows, was a comfortable little armchair in fuchsia, with a dark black narrow bookshelf. The shelves, just like in Selena's room, were filled with books.

Truly, this entire family seemed to love to read. Though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Close to the bedroom door on the south wall was another door I assumed led to the closet and master bathroom.

Focusing on my task instead of how Mackenzie chose to decorate her private space, I moved to the empty bed. I quickly tossed aside all the coverings and pillows. Taking down the bed frame, it required two trips to move the frame into the living room. Once I had the frame out of the way, I peered into the laundry room. "Might you come and help me move the queen mattress?"

"Sure thing!" Mackenzie smiled brightly. She summoned forth a hair tie from her jean pockets and quickly pulled her heavy curls up into a messy bun.

"We'll lean it up against the hallway wall," I decided.

"Then we'll start cleaning up, right?" she glanced up at me. She seemed to have no qualms against letting me take the lead of our little endeavor.

"Yes," I confirmed and that's what we did. In a single hour, we'd rearranged everything to fit the queen bed into the center of its new home, against the wall with the white trees. While we were doing that, Mackenzie also finished up the laundry. Two hours after we got everything situated, the sheets and blankets were clean. She quickly got to work putting them back on their respective beds and I helped.

When we were completely done, she let out a long, tired sigh. "That was some morning activity."

I was leaning against the kitchen island, tipping back a long drag of cold water. The ice refreshed my dry throat and I let out a short breath of relief. "Mackenzie," I started, getting straight to the point. "I plan to get a job."