"What do you mean?" Lucian couldn't help asking.
Yenji sniffed the air around them. "I don't think she's an Earthling. Her scent is weird, totally different from yours."
"You can really tell just by smell?" Lucian was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected her nose to be that sharp.
"Of course I can. Now hurry up and worship your Empress," Yenji said, hands on her hips, full queen mode. "You and Ben smell a little different, but overall it's basically the same."
"But…" she added in a quieter voice, "that old woman in the bed makes me feel really uncomfortable. She stinks."
Lucian looked at Yenji again, a bit impressed, then grinned. "Guess those instant noodles I fed you last night weren't wasted."
"Hehe… so when are you rewarding me with another cup?" Yenji blinked, looking up at him expectantly.
Lucian tossed the towel aside and patted her slim shoulder. "Forget one cup. I'll reward you with a whole case."
"Really?! How many cups are in a case?!" Yenji nearly bounced in place, drool threatening at the corner of her mouth.
"Usually twelve. Don't worry, when you finish them I'll buy you more," Lucian said.
"Oh yeah! Little Lucian, you're the best! I love you so much!"
Yenji threw herself into his arms, rose onto her tiptoes, and kissed him hard on the lips.
In an instant, a sweet, fragrant breath washed over him like a wave.
Lucian instinctively tried to push her away, but in human form he was no match for her strength. His hands were pinned in her grip.
My first kiss… gone at eighteen!
Lucian howled inside his own head.
After a long moment, Yenji's cheeks flushed. She finally let him go, wearing a satisfied smile.
Lucian wiped the corner of his mouth and sighed softly. "That was my first kiss. I didn't think you'd just steal it like that."
"It was mine too…" Yenji's eyes sparkled as she stared at him, a little dazed.
"Alright, alright." Lucian held up a hand. "Even if I promised to buy you instant noodles, you can't eat too much, got it?"
"Why?"
"Because eating too much will make you get 'heatiness,'" Lucian explained.
"What's 'heatiness'?"
"It means you can get sick, like coughing or breaking out."
"Breaking out… with what? What's that?" Yenji scratched her head. "I don't think I've ever had that."
Lucian gave a helpless smile and decided not to keep explaining. He turned and headed back toward the bedroom.
"Hey, wait for me." Yenji followed with long strides, her soft hair swaying behind her.
...
Outside the bedroom, Grandpa Max and the others were standing by the door, which was now shut.
"Grandpa, why are you all out here?" Lucian asked as he returned.
"Vera said she wanted to rest for a bit, so we left the room and let her recover on her own," Grandpa Max replied.
Lucian looked at the closed door but didn't say much. He simply led the confused group back into the living room.
Then he told them about the dry towel, what Yenji had sensed, and his own suspicions.
Grandpa Max looked shocked. "You're saying the one lying in bed might not be Vera at all, but one of those blob aliens from before?"
"Yeah. It's very possible," Lucian said with a nod.
"Oh!" Gwen slapped her thigh, suddenly getting it. "It's afraid of water, so it didn't dare wet the towel. Then it put it on its forehead to fake being sick. Oh my gosh, I'm a genius!"
"Oh yeah, Miss Know-It-All?" Ben lowered his eyes and glanced at her. "Then explain Alice."
"Why did Alice call Grandpa and say Aunt Vera was seriously ill? Where is she now? Why isn't she with her aunt?"
"And she said Vera was in really bad shape," Grandpa Max added, stroking his chin. "But what we saw didn't match that at all. Vera looked fine. Like it was just a small cold…"
"Pretty obvious," Lucian said. "Alice wanted to lure us here."
"You're so smart, little brother," Yenji said, squeezing in beside Lucian with a soft laugh.
Ding-dong!
A crisp doorbell rang outside.
Everyone stiffened. The air suddenly felt wrong. They'd just been talking about blob aliens, and now someone was at the door. If a monster rushed in…
"I'll answer it," Lucian said, walking over.
Yenji immediately followed, determined to play bodyguard.
Creak.
The door opened.
Lucian's eyes narrowed.
A young woman in hip-hop clothes stood quietly outside, pretty as a picture. In her hands was a large cake.
It was Alice, Mayor Smith's daughter.
She was attractive, sure, but compared to Yenji, it wasn't even close.
If Lucian had to rate them, Alice was maybe a 6.5. Yenji was easily above a 9. Looks, figure, everything. She could crush top celebrities and leave internet influencers in the dust.
"Alice?" Lucian greeted her with a polite smile.
Alice's eyes widened as she recognized him. "Oh, it's you, Lucian! You got here so fast. Are Ben and the others inside?"
"They are. All of them. Come in," Lucian said.
He led her in. Alice carried the bright red strawberry cake into the living room and set it on the table.
After greeting Grandpa Max and the others, she smiled shyly and pointed at the cake. "Grandpa Max, and Lucian… I made this strawberry cake for you. I thought you'd arrive this afternoon and wanted it to be a surprise. Since you're here early, we can just eat it now."
Yenji sniffed the air, lightly tugged Lucian's sleeve, and leaned in to whisper something into his ear.
The moment Lucian heard it, he stood up, grabbed the cake off the table, and hurled it straight at Alice's face.
Smack!
The bright red cake splattered across her face and burst apart. Cream and strawberries flew everywhere, raining down onto the cold floor.
Everyone stood there stunned, but what happened next made their jaws drop even further.
Several blood-red snot worms were crawling across Alice's pretty face…