The Candy Disaster and the Price of Deceit
"Mmm..." I groaned, setting down the magic wand. The plan to squeeze lemon juice had been a good one, but I couldn't squeeze it properly. Finely crushed bits of lemon floated atop the juice, which wafted a refreshing, tart aroma. I fished the soggy, deflated lemon out of the bowl. The scent of the tart liquid dripping from it made my mouth water.
How much of this am I supposed to put in...? Holding the bowl of lemon juice, I fell into deep thought. It didn't look exactly like the lemon juice I'd seen in the video, but since it was 100% pure juice squeezed straight from a lemon, wouldn't it be even better than what the recipe called for?
As I was pondering this, the electric kettle began to bubble and boil. Pure white steam billowed from the spout, filling the room with the sweet scent of sugar. Licking my lips, I popped open the lid of the kettle.
"Jeff. It said to add the lemon juice when the water boils."
"Right..." Urged on by Rain, I poured every last drop of the lemon juice into the kettle. The bubbling water instantly cooled the moment the cold lemon juice hit it. The tart fragrance of the lemon juice and the sweetness of the sugar water blended into a truly delicious aroma.
"Aren't you going to add the starch syrup?"
"Oh, right."
The recipe had called for the starch syrup before the lemon juice, but to me, it didn't seem like it would make much of a difference. I squeezed the starch syrup over the sugar water now mixed with lemon juice. The thick, sticky liquid oozed out. The sweet scent wafting from the kettle grew even richer.
"All done." I closed the lid of the kettle and pressed the power button once more. Now, all we had to do was wait for it to boil.
We sat huddled together in front of the kettle, waiting for the water to boil. The kettle heated up, letting out a low, rising hum. Eventually, a bubbling sound began to echo from within.
But then, the kettle started acting strange. The lid rattled violently, and the entire body shook in a frenzy. Nothing about this looked normal. Panicking, I reached out to turn off the power, but the spout suddenly began spewing white foam. The bubbling, overflowing liquid was incredibly sticky. The candy syrup was boiling over. Streaming down the sides of the kettle, the sticky goo immediately began spreading across the floor.
Shine, Rain, and I backed away in sheer panic. As the kettle coated the floor in a glistening layer of sugar water, Amy's face flashed in my mind. I needed to move quickly and turn off the kettle, but the loud, violent rattling made me hesitate to reach out. In the end, I channeled my power and shot a small bolt of lightning toward the kettle.
Crackle! The tiny spark at the tip of my finger shot out in a straight line and struck the kettle. The kettle was enveloped in a faint blue light, and then the glowing power button went dark.
Our candy-making plan was an absolute disaster. The sticky goo stretching across the floor could hardly be called candy.
"What do we do...?" I brought my hands to my mouth and bit my fingernails. We had made a total mess of the room. If Amy found out, we were dead meat. And that wasn't the only problem. We had actually broken Amy's kettle. It was the kettle she used every single day. This wasn't going to end with a simple, playful smack on the head. My head was already starting to throb.
"Ugh..."
"W-We're going to get in so much trouble with Amy!" Rain flapped her arms, running back and forth in circles. Her pale face showed she was clearly imagining the impending doom. But then, mid-panic, Rain suddenly froze as if she had just remembered something.
"Move!" She suddenly thrust her hands out into the air. At her command, the sugar water pooled on the floor began to twitch. Right. I had forgotten. Rain was an awakened with the power to manipulate water. But perhaps because it wasn't pure water, the spilled sugar water only sluggishly squirmed, failing to make any major movements.
"Nnnngh!" Rain's face turned beet red. Her shoulders trembled, and her fingertips shook. It was clear how much concentration this was taking. Perhaps thanks to her desperate efforts, the sluggish sugar water slowly began to move.
"Go back in!" Rain screamed desperately. Shine and I could only watch and cheer her on.
"You can do it, Rain!"
"Only you can do this, Rain!"
The sugar water squirmed and surged. The sticky liquid that had coated the entire floor began to gather in one spot, eventually taking the shape of a miniature water dragon—similar to the one Rain had summoned before. The tiny, wriggling sugar dragon glided slowly through the air and slithered right back into the kettle's spout.
"Ugh..." Immediately after, Rain collapsed, completely exhausted. I reached out to support her and gently laid her down on the floor. Her face was drenched in sweat. Just how hard had she pushed herself? I gently wiped her cheeks.
"Rain, are you okay...?"
"Yeah..." Rain could only offer a weak smile.
Thanks to Rain's sacrifice, the floor was perfectly clean. But the kettle was still the problem. I carefully rested Rain's head down and approached the kettle. Click, click. I pressed the power button, but as expected, it didn't work. This time, I popped the lid open and peered inside. There was a faint burnt smell and black scorch marks. The hardening sugar water clung stickily to the kettle's interior.
Clutching the kettle to my chest, I looked around frantically. There was no telling when Amy would return. I had to hide this thing before she caught us. I scurried around the room in a panic.
"Shine. Where is a place Amy rarely goes...?"
"I don't know."
I desperately racked my brain. A place Amy rarely went? There was no such thing. Amy always cleaned every single nook and cranny of this room. There were no blind spots to her. At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me.
"Baek-si!"
That's right. I had Baek-si. Baek-si was a plushie, but it had a massive storage space inside. The kettle looked like it would fit perfectly. I ran over to where Baek-si was sitting blankly and unzipped its back. Zzzzip— As the zipper slid down, instant coffee mix packets spilled out from inside, scattering across the floor. I reached inside Baek-si and pulled out every single packet of coffee mix. Patter, patter. A mountain of coffee mix packets piled up on the floor. Once I had emptied out all the coffee, I stuffed the kettle inside. Baek-si's body looked suspiciously bloated. But there was no other choice right now. I zipped Baek-si back up and piled smaller plushies on top of it.
And right at that moment...
The firmly shut front door rattled and began to swing wide open. I spun around in a panic to look at the entrance. Amy was walking into the room, looking exhausted. I cast a desperate look toward Shine for help. But she was nowhere to be found.
Shine? Shine? Where did you go?
As I stood there with my mouth agape, looking around in a daze, I noticed a suspicious bulge in the blanket on the bed. A few white threads peeking out from under the covers—that was definitely Shine's hair. Shine had hidden herself the very second Amy arrived.
"I'm home~" Amy murmured softly as she stepped inside. Walking across the living room as she always did, she suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.
"What is this...?" Her gaze slowly swept across the room. Once at Rain lying on the floor, once at me frozen in panic, and once at Shine hiding under the blanket on the bed.
"What were you three up to?"
No one could answer Amy's question. Amy looked at us, then approached me with a puzzled expression.
"Jeff?"
"Yes...?"
"Why is there coffee spilled everywhere?"
"Well, that's..."
Amy chuckled softly and patted my head.
"Did you want to drink some coffee?"
"Y-Yes."
Amy gave my head a gentle tap at my response and began picking up the scattered coffee mix packets. "Did I leave this many out?" Amy gathered an armful of coffee mix packets. The packets I had secretly pilfered and hoarded inside Baek-si were now going right back to where they belonged. Amy placed all the coffee mix packets on a high shelf well out of my reach.
"And what is this?"
Amy had spotted something else. It was the bowl containing the crushed lemon remains, Lucy's magic wand, and the leftover fruits.
"W-We were trying to make lemonade..."
Panicking, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. But once it was out, it actually sounded quite plausible.
"Lemonade?"
"Yes!"
Amy picked up the soggy remains of the lemon. "With this...?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Sugar, starch syrup... bananas, and peaches?" Amy murmured to herself as she picked up the untouched fruits and placed them on the table. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Since this wasn't much different from how messy the room usually got, Amy didn't seem to suspect anything.
"So, did you make the lemonade?"
"O-Oh... no?"
"I guess you failed?"
I nodded at Amy's words. It seemed like we had managed to slip past this crisis.
That night. Shine and I were in the middle of a sword fight on the bed using our dinosaur tails.
"Jeff. Shine. Have either of you seen the electric kettle?"
Shine and I froze. Our eyes met, pupils shaking wildly.
"N-No?"
"I haven't seen it."
Our tails went limp. Shine and I pulled the blanket over our heads to hide.
"Are you sure you haven't seen it?"
But it was a futile effort. Amy walked right up to the bed and yanked the blanket away. I pulled my dinosaur hood down tight and answered.
"I didn't see it."
"Me neither."
"Jeff. Shine."
The dinosaur hood covering my eyes was suddenly flipped back. Startled, I blinked, only to find Amy's face looming right in front of mine.
"Are you absolutely sure you didn't see it?"
I covered my eyes with both hands and nodded. Amy let out a soft sigh at my response. In the end, she began searching the room. Shine and I held hands, bracing ourselves for the impending terror.
After rummaging through various spots, Amy finally headed toward the pile of plushies. Her gaze remained locked onto Baek-si. Approaching Baek-si, Amy picked it up and began inspecting it. Something terrible was about to happen. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Zzzzip— The sound of a zipper echoed from Baek-si's back. Amy must have found it. The electric kettle hidden inside.
After a brief silence, Amy walked over and sat on the edge of the bed without a word. I slowly peeked through the fingers covering my face to gauge her expression.
"Jeff."
"Yes...?"
"Shine."
"Yeah..."
"You know what you did wrong, right?"
I swallowed hard and nodded. Amy looked down at me, then patted her lap.
"Come here, Jeff."
Though I hesitated, I slowly crept toward her. The moment I got close, Amy scooped me up and laid me face-down across her lap. My mind instantly filled with question marks.
"A-Amy?"
Panicking, I struggled to push myself up, but Amy held me down firmly, pinning me in place.
"W-Wait a second...!"
I squirmed and thrashed, but I couldn't budge. The dinosaur tail hanging limply over my bottom was gently lifted out of the way. Immediately after, Amy's other hand rose high into the air. My face contorted in sheer horror as I realized what was coming next.
Spank! Sparks flew before my eyes. My bottom burned as if it had been set on fire.