Sebastian was still a little dazed from the discovery.
"It wasn't that he had never encountered situations like this before. The world was vast, and strange combinations of people and stories existed everywhere."
But twins?
"And in this particular situation, where one was genuinely female and the other was trans?"
It was simply… new to him.
The thought lingered quietly in his mind like a small pebble dropped into still water, creating gentle ripples that refused to disappear.
is gaze drifted back to the framed photograph on the nearby wall."
The older sister stared calmly from within the picture frame. Her expression was serene, almost gentle, as though she had been caught mid-moment before a quiet smile.
For a moment, Sebastian frowned slightly.
If he didn't already know the truth, he might have believed they were triplets.
They were that similar.
Same eyes. Same facial structure. Same calm presence.
It was strangely adorable.
Sebastian shook his head lightly, trying to clear the lingering thoughts
Still… he had learned something new today.
A small thing perhaps, but the kind that widened a person's understanding of the world.
There was no need to dwell on it too deeply.
Some thoughts were better left floating quietly in the back of the mind.
His gaze wandered across the room and settled on David.
David, meanwhile, was completely unconcerned with philosophical reflections or social discoveries.
He was simply eating cookies.
Happily.
Carelessly.
Without a single worry in the world.
The sight made Sebastian smile faintly.
He reached forward and picked up a cookie himself, letting it rest on his tongue before biting down slowly.
Chocolate melted softly against his teeth.
Sweet.
Warm.
Comforting.
"Wow…" Sebastian murmured under his breath.
Then he blinked.
"Damn… scrumptious."
He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the flavor properly.
These were undeniably better than his own baking attempts.
A faint nutty undertone brushed across his tongue.
Tahini.
Yes—that was it.
It added a creamy richness that almost reminded him of peanut butter.
Sebastian finished the cookie with genuine appreciation.
Without hesitation he reached for another one.
This time he bit down more eagerly, rolling the cookie across his tongue to enjoy the flavor even more.
And then—
His expression froze.
Instead of creamy sweetness—a sharp sting exploded across his tongue
His throat burned.
His tongue itched.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Pepper.
A lot of pepper.
Too much pepper.
But Sebastian forced himself to remain calm.
After all, he was a guest.
And it would be incredibly rude to spit it out.
"Did you like it?"
Amanda's voice chimed brightly beside him.
Sebastian slowly turned.
Amanda was leaning toward him with sparkling eyes, her expression glowing with excitement like a child waiting to see if her science experiment had exploded.
His face paled slightly.
Inside his mind, chaos erupted.
Part of him desperately wanted to spit the cookie out.
Another part insisted that would be incredibly rude.
A third part wondered if he had just stepped into a culinary ambush.
He glanced at David.
David was happily munching away.
Again.
Without a single complaint.
Sebastian stared.
How?
How was he doing that?
Were his cookies filled with random surprises like some twisted version of Easter eggs?
Why was David getting the good ones while he was being assaulted with culinary disasters?
Sebastian swallowed carefully.
"Good indeed," he said with a carefully arranged smile. "May I have the honor of knowing what ingredients you used?"
Amanda squealed happily.
Actually squealed.
Then she plopped down beside him with energetic enthusiasm.
"Well! It's still in the trial phase," she said excitedly. "So I expected a few… little errors!"
Her smile somehow became even brighter.
Sebastian's expression slowly twisted into something comical.
A few errors?
In his mind he muttered:
How about letting the cook taste it first?
He had always believed that was common sense.
Amanda continued happily, completely oblivious to his internal suffering.
"So, I added sea salt flakes!" she explained cheerfully.
"If you taste another, you'll notice the contrast from the first cookie! I think it enhances the flavor!"
Sebastian nodded politely.
Yes.
Technically speaking… it did.
In fact, the idea itself was quite interesting.
He mentally noted it for the future.
Maybe he could try something similar and surprise his aunt on her birthday.
"Then I added bacon bits!" Amanda continued.
"And black pepper!"
"And cornflakes!"
"That's why this batch looks a little bigger!"
Sebastian nodded again.
He had already memorized the visual differences.
Purely for survival purposes.
"Try another!" Amanda said excitedly. "I'd love your opinion! David said you cook a lot!"
Sebastian looked up.
David nodded enthusiastically.
Crumbs surrounded his mouth like edible confetti.
Well…
If David liked them that much, Sebastian supposed he could suffer a little more.
"Yes, I'd love to," Sebastian said politely.
"But David should also join. I wouldn't want him to miss such a delicacy."
Amanda beamed.
Sebastian picked up another cookie and attempted to break it in half.
However, she immediately stopped him.
"Oh! Not that one!"
She handed him another cookie instead.
"This one!"
Sebastian stared at it.
It looked identical.
His expression slowly fell.
A bead of cold sweat slid down his back.
Avoiding disaster suddenly seemed impossible.
Fine.
Since this was the case… he would just have to be honest.
He already had a strategy.
He would say the previous cookie had been good.
This one… not as much.
He attempted once again to split the cookie and give half to David.
However was stopped again.
"Nope!"
"Eat it whole!"
Then she turned happily toward David.
"David, take this one!"
Sebastian's shoulders sagged.
So much for sharing the misery.
Perhaps his mother had been right.
Never lie to acquaintances.
It weakens trust.
With quiet resignation, Sebastian bit down again.
He watched David carefully, waiting for the inevitable moment when David would experience the same disaster.
Instead—
David looked delighted.
Sebastian stared in disbelief.
Meanwhile the pepper struck again.
Harder this time.
His throat burned.
His tongue screamed.
Cough.
Cough.
Even his infamous "hot pepper soup" experiments had not been this brutal.
Unfortunately, Amanda noticed his expression.
Her smile faded.
"Is it… that bad?" she asked nervously.
Sebastian cursed internally.
He nodded slightly.
But he softened his tone.
"The previous one was better," he said gently. "Perhaps a small inconsistency in the batch."
Amanda thought for a moment.
"Okay!" she said brightly. "Try another!"
Sebastian immediately shook his head.
"Actually… may I try the one David had?"
David shrugged and handed it over.
Sebastian took a bite.
And instantly understood.
Perfect balance.
Soft chocolate.
Mild salt.
No pepper explosion.
Ah.
So David had been enjoying himself.
Sebastian sighed quietly.
Twice unlucky.
Third time the charm.
Though technically he had relied on David's luck.
Casinos would probably destroy him.
"It's good," Sebastian said thoughtfully.
"The other one simply had too much pepper. Just a pinch would work better."
"I think it would enhance the chocolate flavor."
For the next few minutes, Sebastian calmly explained several small improvements.
Amanda listened with sparkling enthusiasm.
Eventually, however—
A voice interrupted them.
"Are you three done?"
Ericka stood at the doorway upstairs.
Her voice was calm.
Smooth.
Almost languid.
But her eyes carried a sharp focus that instantly snapped the room into attention.
"We still have work to do."
The relaxed tone vanished.
Work mode.
Everyone immediately moved.
A few minutes later they entered the so-called gaming room.
Sebastian stopped in the doorway.
Then he blinked.
Gaming room?
This… was a room?
No.
This was practically a small arena.
Colored light strips traced the ceiling, slowly shifting between deep violet and cool blue. Screens covered entire sections of the wall, some paused on game scenes, others streaming endless lines of code or scrolling chats.
Controllers and headsets lined display shelves like trophies.
Machines hummed softly.
Cooling fans whispered like distant wind.
Massive gaming chairs sat like command thrones.
And at the center—
A huge circular table.
Laptops.
Notebooks.
Flash drives.
Mechanical keyboards.
Cables looping everywhere.
It looked less like a place to play games—and more like a workshop where digital worlds were quietly being built.
"Cool," David said with admiration. "Nice improvements."
Sebastian nodded slowly.
"This is seriously off the charts," he muttered.
"Money really does talk."
They placed the cookies on a separate side table.
A water dispenser stood nearby.
Next to it sat a juice station filled with colorful drinks.
Ericka began arranging drinks neatly on trays with quiet efficiency.
Amanda clearly enjoyed cooking.
But cleaning?
That was Ericka's territory.
Finally Amanda turned serious.
"Okay!" she said.
"First things first."
She handed Sebastian a document.
"Although you're David's friend, which requires some trust, we still can't take chances in testing human nature—so please sign this!
Sebastian glanced at it, It seemed she might be cheerful, but gullible—not so much.
He then shook his head.
"It's not that I don't want to," he said quickly when he noticed Ericka's gaze sharpen.
"But I'm in a slightly unstable situation right now."
""And—I'm underage.."
He added the words slowly. In truth, he hoped David had already mentioned it to them. The last thing he wanted was to be told to leave, his hopes crushed before he could even begin.
After all, he genuinely wanted to be involved in the game.
Ericka crossed her arms calmly.
"This qualifies as youth labor," she said.
"As long as you're over fourteen, it's allowed."
Then her voice softened slightly.
"But if you're uncomfortable, send it to your guardian."
"He noted that she had mentioned guardian instead of parents.
Sebastian considered the idea then nodded and took out his phone.
A phone call later…
His mother had accepted after much persuasion. however she had requested an additional legal clause which went as follows.
If any information was leaked an investigatiion will have to be carried ot, No immediate paymment made and if Sebastian was proven innocent, all legal fees would be covered by them.
Sebastian thought it was a bit excessive, but the twins agreed immediately.
Different priorities.
Once everything was signed, the discussion began. It lasted quite a while, and by the time Sebastian fully understood the issue, he could only describe it one way: seriously disturbing.