Everybody Lives in a Dreamland

Sayang had wisely decided that Quinn should begin her cooking lessons with something simple.

Apparently, the cookie recipe was not simple.

In fact, when Quinn asked about it, Sayang planted her hands firmly on her hips and shook her head.

“Absolutely not. Not until you prove to me you can cook without assistance.”

Quinn looked devastated.

“Then… what am I going to cook?”

Sayang beamed.

“We’re making a quiche.”

Jarel froze. Of all the things she could have chosen.

But he wisely kept his mouth shut. The two women in the room scared him far more than he cared to admit. Instead, he decided to simply let Sayang discover what it was like to live with a human who was part wolf and part demon.

Sayang began laying out ingredients while narrating the process, assuming Quinn knew the bare minimum.

She was correct.

“Here’s the pastry. It was frozen, but I defrosted it in preparation for today. We’ll use your eggs. And I believe this is the spice drawer… yes, it is.”

Jarel found himself unconsciously theorizing about how she knew the layout of his kitchen so well. Had she been sneaking around while he slept? Or did she have cameras hidden somewhere?

He hated that both were plausible.

The fridge door opened.

“And finally,” Sayang announced, “the best ingredient.”

A plastic container snapped shut. The fridge door closed. Sayang held up a yellow brick like a trophy.

“Cheese.”

Jarel glanced at Quinn just in time to see her entire demeanor change.

Her eyes locked onto the block.

Her mouth parted slightly.

She stopped blinking.

Her body went rigid, perfectly still, while only her head and eyes tracked the prize like a predator stalking prey.

Sayang didn’t notice.

She placed the cheese on a chopping board and stepped away.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

She handed Quinn a metal mixing bowl.

Quinn didn’t even glance at it, but her hands accepted it automatically as the rest of her body remained focused on the cheese.

Sayang pointed at the eggs.

“Crack a few of those into the bowl, please. I’ll prepare some vegetables.”

Quinn nodded.

Jarel once again chose not to question the strange choice of breakfast food - a realization that arrived in his mind much later than it probably should have.

He chuckled quietly to himself.

Quinn would never truly understand just how lazy she was making him.

Meanwhile, she did exactly what she’d been told.

Perfectly.

She cracked eggs with mechanical precision that professional chefs would envy. Each shell split exactly where it should, the yolk slipping neatly into the bowl as if guided by invisible hands.

But her eyes never left the cheese.

She stared at it while adding milk.

She stared at it while whisking the mixture.

Sayang somehow still hadn’t noticed.

Not until Quinn picked the chopped onions out of her hands and put them in the microwave for her.

“Oh! Dearie, you’ve gone ahead all by yourself.”

Quinn simply nodded.

Sayang smiled.

“In that case, I’ll grate the cheese for you.”

Jarel watched the scene unfold with growing fascination.

It felt less like a cooking lesson and more like a nature documentary.

A predator observing prey.

Perfectly still.

Patient.

Waiting for the exact moment to strike.

Sayang retrieved a grater, the metal surface gleaming like a blade. She unwrapped the cheese - Quinn’s first time seeing it exposed like that.

The aroma intensified immediately.

Sayang pressed the block against the grater.

And then it happened.

Jarel only noticed because he’d been watching Quinn so closely.

For a fraction of a second - far faster than a normal blink - Quinn’s outline blurred.

The cheese vanished.

It didn’t appear in Quinn’s hands.

It didn’t fall to the floor.

It simply ceased to exist.

Quinn herself hadn’t visibly moved.

Sayang blinked.

“The cheese is gone.”

Slowly, she turned toward Quinn, an unsettling edge creeping into her voice.

“What did you do with the cheese, dearie?”

How Sayang had identified the culprit instantly was beyond Jarel.

Quinn crossed her arms defensively.

“I don’t know.”

For a demon who struggled to hide her emotions, she suddenly had an excellent poker face.

Steady.

Blank.

If Jarel hadn’t seen what happened, he might have believed her.

But he already knew how this would end.

Sayang’s voice turned cold.

“Give me the cheese, demon.”

Something broke.

Quinn’s expression collapsed. The tension drained from her face, replaced by raw despair. The dangerous spark in her eyes vanished completely.

It was like watching the life leave her body.

Her knees buckled.

And she collapsed onto the floor.

He was up in an instant, dashing to the kitchen, his chest tight with fear.

Quinn lay flat on the tiles. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and steady.

Unconscious.

Jarel let out a breath of relief.

Then he noticed something strange.

Sayang was standing nearby, casually weighing something in her hand.

The block of cheese.

She hummed thoughtfully.

“I wonder what could’ve come over her.”

Jarel stared at the old woman. He was beginning to seriously question whether he was living in a simulation.

“What did you do to her?”

Sayang placed a hand against her cheek, beaming innocently.

“I used a spell on her!”

He blinked.

“Jinxia?”

A horrified look crossed her face.

Then, to Jarel’s absolute astonishment, she changed.

It wasn’t just a shift in expression.

Her entire body transformed.

She grew taller. Younger. Prettier. Her clothes reshaped themselves into something far more revealing - and far more expensive. Jewelry appeared in flashes of light. Finally, her grey hair shimmered and reformed into a carefully styled blonde.

Jinxia looked furious.

“How the Hell did you know?”

He hadn’t.

He’d been asking if Jinxia had taught Sayang the spell.

But now that the reveal had happened, he decided to roll with it.

“Y-you missed my blatant lie,” he said quickly. “Sayang wouldn’t.”

Jinxia grit her teeth.

And then Jarel heard something that nearly made him jump out of his skin.

A laugh.

Right behind him.

He spun around.

Sayang was standing there.

He blinked.

“Aunty?”

The new Sayang grinned.

“Did you like my little joke, dear?”

He nodded.

“It was really good.”

She frowned.

Without warning, she brought a rolled-up newspaper - which Jarel hadn’t even noticed she was holding - down on his head.

“Liar.”

He groaned and rubbed his head, though it hadn’t really hurt.

“But why?”

She smiled again.

“A simple precaution.”

She pointed at Quinn, who was still lying unconscious on the floor.

“I noticed yesterday that she has a… fondness for cheese. So I decided that, just to be safe, I would have Jinxia investigate.”

They both turned toward Jinxia.

She held up her hands, one of them still gripping the cheese.

“Don’t look at me.”

Sayang frowned.

“Did you fail, dearest?”

Jinxia nodded, suddenly looking sheepish - an expression Jarel hadn’t known she was capable of.

“I couldn’t sense anything spiritual behind it.”

But Jarel had more pressing concerns.

“What did you do to her?”

Jinxia shrugged.

“Temporarily incapacitated her. She’ll wake up in about a minute.”

Relief flooded him.

But another question forced its way out.

“And… how did she not notice it was you?”

Jinxia laughed.

“Experience. I’ve been around much longer than she has.”

She nudged the unconscious demon lightly with her foot.

“In Hell, she’s a lower-ranking demon at best - even if she represents a deadly sin. In this form, she’s no better than an imp.”

Jarel blinked.

“How do you even determine that?”

“It’s based on the quantity and severity of each sin being used. Greed is far more prominent, so I’m far more powerful.”

Jarel nodded slowly.

He had already decided he wasn’t going to try to understand that any further.

He glanced between the two conspirators.

“So… what now?”

Sayang pointed at Quinn.

“I suppose we find her.”

Jarel looked back down at the floor.

Only to discover that Quinn’s body was gone.

Before he could even speak, Jinxia hummed thoughtfully.

“She took the cheese too.”

And she had.

The block was gone, Jinxia’s fingers still curled as if she were holding it.

Panic surged through Jarel.

“What’s going on?”

Jinxia sighed.

Sayang remained silent.

Jarel glanced between them until Sayang finally spoke.

“Who’s going to tell him?”

Jinxia stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. Her expression turned so solemn she could have easily been delivering corporate training material.

“Jarel,” she said gravely.

“Your demon has gone feral.”