It was Wednesday, and Mai stood in her white dress and golden shoes that she had received from Lin. She had put on her pearl earrings and a small matte pink lily in her hair, surprisingly matching her outfit. She wore a very thin layer of makeup and didn't care much for makeup in general.

"He said it was an early birthday gift. Does that mean I should also give him a belated one since his birthday was in April?" she muttered.

She put on the thin white summer coat and took the bus into town. She noticed people looking at her, and men sending her flirtatious glances, but it scared her more than it embarrassed her. She was reminded of her sister's words, 'everyone wants you when you're taken, but when you're single, no one does.'

At the entrance to Nen Nord's main building, the Diamond, Mai showed her access card that she had received from Lin.

The Diamond was huge, with large glass windows all around. There was a large oval black stone counter where many people were busy serving customers or taking phone calls. The floor was made of light wood, and people whispered to each other, with only the sound of footsteps echoing softly. The air was fresh, and the ceiling was so high that Mai didn't dare to guess its height. Everyone was dressed nicely, and all the employees had the same logos on their badges, with their names also printed on them.

Mai walked up to the counter, but since no one served her, she first thought it was because of her dress, which stood out in color among all the dark colors inside. She placed the access card on the counter, but suddenly a young woman came over and stood to her left. She laid a card out, and a clerk immediately came over to her.

"Lady Xiang. Welcome back. It's lovely to see you again. How was your trip to Dubai?" the clerk asked.

Lady Xiang smiled kindly and replied in a soft voice, "It was fine. But there is more freedom here. Is Lin here today?"

Mai's ears perked up suddenly, and she turned her head to see a stunning woman with long thick black hair down to her waist. She wore a knee-length red short-sleeved tight-fitting dress that showed off her voluptuous figure, and in front, the two bumps screamed 'look at me.'

"I'll just check if Mr. Lin is at work today," said the clerk, walking away.

She dialed a number and held her hand up to the receiver while speaking softly into it, occasionally casting a glance at Xiang.

Lin had said he would be at the audition for the L-2 project, so for a moment, Mai thought Xiang might also be going there. There was already Sophie, so she didn't want any more competitors.

The clerk returned to them and said, "He's at lunch, Lady Xiang."

Mai, still being ignored, took out her phone and texted Lin.

Mai: "There's a Lady Xiang here who is very young and beautiful in a dress with big boobs. Is she also auditioning? I thought it was only Sophie who was supposed to come. You didn't say anything about others coming today. That's unfair." She ended with a pouting face emoji.

Seconds later, she received a message from Lin.

Lin: "Aunt Xiang? Fuck. Wait there."

Huh? What does he mean?

Mai waited, noticing that Lady Xiang still hadn't left, as if she was waiting for something too.

Suddenly, a young man approached them, looking at Xiang and said, "Lady Xiang. Only employees are allowed here, so I must ask you to leave now. It's an order from Mr. Lin. You know his rules. So you can leave on your own or we can assist you." His voice was flat and cold.

Xiang furrowed her brows and suddenly looked at Mai, who felt her heart skip a beat. Damn.

Xiang pointed at her and said, "Who's this bimbo? This isn't a brothel." Her voice was cold and piercing, but everyone heard it.

They looked at her and then at Mai, who suddenly felt a cold sweat all over. She chose to remain silent. Lin promised to handle it. I trust him.

The man suddenly looked at her and his eyes fell on her card on the counter still lying there. He picked up the card and quickly checked it.

"You must be the miss who was supposed to participate in the new project. Please follow me this way," he said, pointing towards a large corridor and started walking.

Mai didn't hesitate, so she quickly followed him without looking back. She could already imagine Lady Xiang's expression.

Xiang furrowed her brows and bit into her blood-red fake nail, which broke.

She looked at the clerk and asked, "What kind of project is this? Are you hiring women for it?"

"We unfortunately cannot disclose that as it hasn't been announced yet," replied the clerk, saying goodbye and returning to her work.

After the man left, no one else came to help Xiang even though she was still lingering.

She took out her phone and texted her secretary.

Xiang: "What kind of project?"

Secretary: "I'm sorry, what, my lady?"

Xiang: "What kind of project? Answer me, damn it."

A few minutes passed before the secretary replied.

Secretary: "Apparently, it's a secret project with two women participating. One blonde and one dark-haired. That's all I know."

Xiang wasn't foolish.

"Lin was on a date recently, and I still haven't found that bitch. And now there are 2 new ones I need to eliminate," she muttered, biting into another fake nail that snapped.

>>> <<<

Mai stood in a waiting room by herself, feeling uneasy. That woman. Does she have access in here? What if a man comes and assaults me? She had seen too many movies and crime shows on TV.

Suddenly, she heard a man behind her say, "Miss, are you lost?"

Her eyes widened, and she turned around. Without looking at his face, she ran towards him and hugged him. She smelled a mild floral scent and her body relax.

"Can I see you in the dress?" Lin asked, and she pulled back, looking at him.

He nodded with a satisfied smile, and his eyes fell on the lily in her hair.

"It symbolizes rebirth in some cultures. It looks beautiful on you, but you make it look beautiful," he said, smiling.

"You always speak as if an angel is singing. Can you sing too?" Mai asked, standing on her tiptoes, kissing him.

"Singing is a talent I didn't care for. Can you sing?" Lin replied.

She nodded, and he asked her to sing a song for him. She chose to sing her favorite song 'Tree of Life' and sang it for him as well as she could. What Mai didn't know was that there were cameras in all corners behind plants and lamps.

When she finished singing, Lin applauded and praised her, rewarding her with more kisses.

"You're the one who sings like an angel, not me. Come with me," he said, holding her hand, and they left the room.

"You've already passed the first audition," he suddenly said.

"Was it kissing you?" Mai asked, confused.

"No, it was showing a natural talent," he replied.

Mai mentioned that anyone could sing, but he said not everyone could sing with genuine emotions like she could. She didn't believe him, but because it came from him, the words sounded good in her ears.

Lin knocked on the door, and they entered. There were a bunch of men in suits around a rectangular table and a woman in a short white dress similar to the one Mai was wearing. But as she scanned it with her eyes, she noticed it was completely different. It had long sleeves, no lace, and was very revealing in the front, showing off the woman's sexy curves.

Mai sat opposite her and looked at the woman's face. She had closed her mouth so her rabbit teeth couldn't be seen. Hello Sophie. Clever thinking for once.

Lin had mentioned that Sophie had been selected because her uncle, a semi-known football player, had shares in Nen Nord. Mai wondered why the world was so small. I forgot Denmark is small.

Lin sat to her left and held her hands under the table where no one could see. It reassured her, and she looked at a young man standing by a projector that was illuminating in the background.

"You must be Miss M. This is Miss Sophie," said Cliff, looking at Mai and smiling.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard he referred to her as 'M'.

"I've read a bit about the project. You're extracting the gene from lobsters and need a test subject who has never taken L-1 before and is healthy. What else aren't you telling us?" she said.

Cliff smiled and said, "Miss, you get straight to the point. We speak the same language. We don't know if there are any side effects to taking L-2. We thought that because people had taken L-1, L-2 wouldn't have side effects, but some who took it had some, such as severe rash, and one got cancer."

"At least you're honest. I'm fine as long as you don't have to tap into my blood. I don't want needles," said Mai.

She had her coin in case she got cancer.

Lin gently squeezed her hand, and he cleared his throat.

"We won't use your blood. Just your body. You swallow a pill. If it doesn't work, you swallow another the next day," said Cliff.

He pointed to a large black box on the table in the middle that Mai hadn't noticed when she entered the room. He opened it, and two small white pills with a smooth surface emerged.

"Should we take them now?" asked Sophie, furrowing her brows.

She suddenly looked at Mai and exclaimed in a shrill voice, "It's you. You're the one who caused drama at Vera's Voq the other day."

"This isn't Vera's Voq. Are you blind or what? What does that have to do with this meeting?" asked Mai, furrowing her brows and squeezing her hand, which Lin immediately noticed.

"Nothing. I just wanted to bring to the attention of the gentlemen here what happened that day," said Sophie, who was about to explain what happened on that day, but Cliff stopped her.

"Miss M is right. What happened at Vera's Voq has nothing to do with us. It's irrelevant information. This is not school but a company for adults."

Sophie quickly shut her mouth and glared at Mai, who now had her focus on the pills. She didn't want to waste time. But when she saw the appearance of the pills, she suddenly didn't feel like taking them.

"I'm happy with my age. I don't want to get younger," she said.

"We only believe L-2 makes you 1 year younger," said Cliff.

Mai looked at him and said, "If I take one, Lin has to take one too."

She damn well wasn't going to get younger alone without him. She looked at him and pouted. In response, he smiled and shook his head.

"Okay. The lady has spoken." He pulled the box towards them and took both pills.

He gave one to Mai, and he took the other.

Mai nodded to him, and they both swallowed the pills at the same time.

Sophie's eyes widened, and she said, "That was my pill. She took it."

"Um..." Cliff was speechless.

He scratched his cheek and said, "Next time, mention that you're also in a project."

The other men burst into laughter, and some chuckled, having a brief chat afterward.

But not Sophie.

Mai asked Lin in a low voice, "I don't want to get younger alone. Is that okay?"

He nodded and replied, "We'll stick together. Hand in hand."

"Excuse me, but what about my pill? My uncle said I should be in this project, and he's invested a lot in your company," Sophie suddenly said in a loud, shrill voice, which made everyone look at her but not Mai or Lin.

Cliff shrugged and said, "As you can see, there are no more so..."

"Then make some more. Otherwise, my uncle will withdraw from your company," Sophie interrupted in a cold, trembling voice.

Cliff furrowed his brows and said, "If it's about such a small detail, we don't need him in the company. We already have a very important person in Nen Nord." He suddenly looked over at Mai.

When Sophie followed his gaze, she thought they were resting on Lin, so she furrowed her brows and cleared her throat. She covered her mouth and coughed lightly.

"I apologize for my behavior. Of course, my uncle won't withdraw over such a small thing. I overreacted and apologize. I was scared, overwhelmed, and disappointed when I saw that my pill was taken by someone else," she said.

"There are no pills assigned to names. So it's first come, first served," said Gustaf, covering his mouth and coughing.

Sophie cautiously asked if they could make an extra pill for her and showed her interest in the L-2 project by throwing a lot of sweet words at them. She managed to charm a young guy who was new to the company to vouch for her, and after a short discussion, Cliff promised to make an extra pill for her. Sophie flirtatiously winked at the man and gave him a sweet smile, and coincidentally, Lin was sitting next to him and saw it. She thought he had also received her smile, so her fake smile turned into a genuine one, and Mai swore she saw flowers floating around her and almost dropped her jaw.

”You took the pill faster than I could explain anything about the project,” Cliff suddenly said, pressing a black button on the table.

Suddenly, a door opened, and a young man in a white lab coat with three colorful pens in his chest pocket stepped in.

When Mai saw the small black box in his hand, she furrowed her brows and tasted something sour.

She bit her lip and whispered, "Fuck. He said no needles."

Lin gently squeezed her hand under the table and whispered, "It's just a prick."

But a prick in Mai's dictionary hurt like hell.

"It better be just a prick and not a proper chunk of flesh," she whispered back.

She hadn't forgotten the one time she visited a dermatologist who had to check her back. After smearing some cool gel, he suddenly said he needed a bit of her skin for a test. She asked if it would hurt a lot, but he promised it wouldn't. When she got home, she saw a proper red mark under the bandage, and her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Since then, she didn't trust doctors' words.

"It only hurts a little. It's just a tiny prick. We're just taking a little blood."

No, you're draining several liters of blood from me.

Mai glared at the prick gadget the doctor held in his hand and felt a prickling sensation in her heart.

"It takes 2 hours for the pill to start taking effect, so we need your blood now before that happens so we can compare it tomorrow," Cliff said, nodding to the doctor who approached Mai first who held out her right index finger.

"Does it hurt? Don't lie to me," she said, staring at the prick gadget.

It bothered her she couldn't see the needle. Maybe it was better.

"Honestly, some people feel a little, while others feel it a lot. If you're very sensitive and easily bruise from a light touch, it's probably going to sting like hell," replied the doctor, adjusting his large black rectangular glasses.

He placed the prick gadget over Mai's finger and pressed down on the 'lid' where she couldn't see a button. She felt something small and sharp penetrate the skin, but suddenly it widened, and she felt her skin being pulled to the side. Blood flowed out accompanied by a terribly burning sensation. Mai clenched her teeth and furrowed her brow. This feels exactly like that time the dermatologist took a chunk out of me. Damn doctors.

The doctor took out another black box where the blood ran into, and a whole minute passed before he quickly took out some cotton with a white cloth which he swiftly wrapped around her finger.

"If you needed that much blood, couldn't it be from another place?" Mai asked as she saw the doctor move over to Lin and repeat the same process.

"The fingertip is rich in capillaries, which are small blood vessels close to the skin's surface. It makes it easier to get a drop of blood quickly and with minimal discomfort for the patient," the doctor replied immediately.

Lin pointed his finger towards Mai's face and said, "Now we match."

He chuckled, and all the men stared at him, exchanging glances, but none commented on it. Instead, they smiled and nodded to each other.

Sophie noticed their reactions and clenched her hands, nails digging into her skin.

She stood up, looked at Cliff, and said, "Remember the extra pill you promised. Bella's Bruun will be pleased to hear that I'm participating in your project."

Cliff furrowed his brows and said, "It's still confidential. You signed a confidentiality agreement, Miss Sophie."

Sophie grunted and forced a smile. She held her hands in front of her, bowed to them, said goodbye, and then slipped out, but before exiting the room she cast a glance at Mai.