"Twenty Years Later: Remembering the Meteorfall That Destroyed Nubis City"
"Today marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic meteorfall that obliterated Nubis City, a catastrophe that shocked the world and claimed nearly 500,000 lives overnight. A tragedy that is likely to be recorded as the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century."
...
"For the context, on this date two decades ago, residents and officials alike were caught completely off guard when an asteroid named Eden, descended and struck the Nubis city, wiping it off the map within seconds. The impact left behind a massive crater, and to this day, the site is under strict government control and only opened to the public on rare occasions."
...
"Thousands of families and sympathizers gathered today near the memorial site to pay tribute to the victims, laying white flowers in remembrance of those lost and those left behind."
...
"Despite years passed, scientists have yet to determine the exact cause behind the asteroid's unexpected fall. Eden had been in a stable orbit for decades, showing no signs of deviating toward Earth. Investigations remain ongoing as experts continue to search for answers to one of the greatest astronomical mysteries in recent history."
...
Noah read the news in silence, his face looks somber.
From behind the kitchen counter, Audrey saw his expression, grinning. "What's with that frown? You know, frowning like that will just make you age faster. Not that I mind," she added with a playful giggle.
Without looking up or changing his expression, Noah replied calmly, "I'm watching a reel of horoscope predictions. You were born in early April, right? That makes you an Aries."
"Okay… and?"
He nodded solemnly. "It says tomorrow, Aries will fall into an extremely embarrassing situation."
"What?!" Audrey immediately dropped whatever she was doing and rushed to Noah's side.
As she got close, Noah casually tilted his phone toward her, the screen showing a paused video with a big play button. Instinctively, Audrey tapped it.
The video began playing.
"Never gonna give you up~"
"Never gonna let you down~"
Audrey froze.
Noah burst out laughing. "Haha! You just got rickrolled!"
Having lived with her his whole life, Noah knew Audrey like the back of his hand. Even though she tried to hide it, her obsession with horoscopes was no longer a secret to him. He'd caught her reading daily predictions more than once and could tell she took them more seriously than she liked to admit.
He'd been waiting for the perfect moment to pull a prank using this idea for some time.
'And today, the stars had finally aligned!'
Audrey's expression darkened like a storm cloud. For a second, she looked like she was about to bite his head off.
But then, to Noah's surprise, she managed to compose herself. Slowly, her expression relaxed. Then, a smile bloomed on her face.
A sweet smile...
"Brother?"
"Y-yes?" Noah replied tensely. For some reason, this calm, smiling version of Audrey felt ten times scarier than the angry one.
"It's almost 6 p.m. I think I should head to Mikasa's before it gets too late."
"W-wait, what about my dinner? And when are you coming back?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Audrey tilted her head, still smiling. "I'm sleeping over at Mikasa's tonight."
"What?!" Noah nearly jumped. "No, you didn't! I'm one hundred percent sure you never mentioned that!"
"Well, I'm mentioning it now. Anyway, I won't be back until tomorrow noon. So feel free to make your own dinner. I'm off to hit the shower~"
She turned toward her room, humming cheerfully as she went.
Noah sat there, dumbfounded. "Wait, Audrey! Come on, I was joking!"
But she was already gone.
Click!
He heard the sound of her door getting locked.
Noah immediately facepalmed himself.
'I've never regretted teasing her so much until now.'
But then he paused, sniffing the air, his expression changed slightly.
"What's that smell?"
Before his brain could fully process what was happening, Noah caught sight of smoke rising from the kitchen out of the corner of his eye.
"Shit! Did Audrey forget to turn off the stove?!"
Cursing under his breath, he wheeled himself as fast as he could into the kitchen.
Once there, he quickly turned off the burner and flung open the balcony door to let the smoke escape.
"Phew… luckily the smoke wasn't thick enough to trigger the smoke detector," he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead, only to groan dramatically a second later. "But the same can't be said for the meat..."
He stared into the pan and cried like a grieving parent who had just lost their kids. "My dinner! My beloved chicken breast!"
What was once a promising chicken breast now had two personalities. The top side looked golden, juicy, and delicious. But the moment he flipped it over, the horror revealed itself, pitch black, burnt to a crisp. A complete tragedy.
Click.
"Brother, I heard your cry just now. What happened?" Audrey's voice sounded particularly concerned from across the room.
"It's dead…" he said flatly.
"What?"
"The chicken breast. It couldn't be more dead..." he let out a loud and long sigh.
'This must be the karma biting me.'
There was a pause before she replied.
"…I don't get it. Anyway, can you please turn off the stove? I totally forgot about it."
"It's already off."
'So she didn't do it on purpose.'
Such thought just crossed his mind when a burst of laughter erupted from her direction.
"Hahaha! I couldn't hold it in any longer. Enjoy that burnt meat, stupid brother!"
"So you did do it on purpose! Damn it, Audrey! I swear, I'll get you back for this!"
"Ohh, I'm looking forward to it! But for now, I'm really looking forward to watching you eat that sad, burnt chicken," Audrey teased.
"What burnt chicken? I'll just cut off the charred part and eat the rest."
"Oh? That's actually a good idea."
Noah blinked. Something about the way she said that didn't sit right with him.
"Wait… why do you sound so-"
"Anyway! Since you're clearly doing fine, I'm going to take my shower now. Bye!"
Bang!
The door to her room slammed shut, leaving Noah swallowing the rest of his words.
"What's with her response just now?"
A suspicious thought crept into his mind. His eyes slowly drifted back to the chicken breast.
"Did she put something on the chicken? Was the burning just a distraction or a smokescreen to conceal her true goal?"
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became.
Noah grabbed a plate from the cupboard, slid the chicken breast onto it, and took out a knife and fork. He carefully cut off a small piece and brought it to his mouth.
The moment it touched his tongue, his world exploded.
A tidal wave of spiciness and saltiness assaulted his senses. His ears began to ring, his eyes watered uncontrollably, and his throat burned like fire. He stumbled to the sink, grabbed a glass, and chugged tap water like his life depended on it.
After a few seconds, the burning sensation started to fade, and he was back to normal, but his face was a mess, smeared with tears and snot.
"Bloody hell," he muttered hoarsely.
"What the hell did she put on that chicken? It tasted horrific. Ptui! Ptui!" He spit into the sink, trying to get the lingering burn off his tongue.
"She's learning fast. Unbelievable…" he shook his head. "In the past, she'd just get mad and yell when I pranked her. Now she's figuring out how to hit back."
"Fine. A one-sided battle is boring anyway. I won't hold back next time… just you wait!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
Then, he starts laughing in a way a mad villain usually does.
Except when he did it, he didn't look scary or cool, instead, he looked like a complete clown.
Dressed in cartoon pajamas, sitting in a wheelchair, and laughing maniacally in front of the kitchen sink.
His mood had been in turmoil after reading the news earlier. Now, he felt better after some laugh.