WARNING! 

This chapter has 18+ traumatizing content.

 

On the wide street on the way to Lin's apartment, Mai suddenly saw a group of drunken middle-aged men walking towards her. They were talking loudly, laughing, and had beer bellies. Tattoos adorned their arms, and they were wearing tank tops. They smelled, and Mai now noticed the many taverns, bars, and pubs around. Previously, she had come from the other side where there were only shops with a peaceful atmosphere. From this side, there was loud noise from people partying, glasses clinking, and some stood outside bars chatting while enjoying a smoke.

One of the men had a bottle of tequila in his right hand, which he sipped from occasionally. They headed straight towards Mai, who thought they would pass her.

But suddenly they stopped, and one of them, with stubble, asked, "Hey there, beautiful. Care to join us for a drink?"

His breath reeked of strong alcohol mixed with sweat, worsened by the heat.

Mai furrowed her brow and didn't reply but tried to move aside. However, another man suddenly stood in her way, blocking her. Seriously?

She tried to go to her left, but another man also stood there, blocking her path. She backed away, but suddenly felt a sixth man standing behind her. She suddenly felt him grab her right buttock.

Her heart skipped a beat as she exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?"

She wanted to turn around, but a man in front of her approached and grabbed her right arm. One with dark unkempt stubble leaned in close to her face and licked his lips.

"You're Asian. So you must love getting fucked hard. We know a good spot where we won't be disturbed," he said, and she smelled his foul, rotten breath.

She opened her mouth, but suddenly felt something cold and sharp poking her back, making her stop.

"If you scream, it'll go straight through. It's freshly sharpened today," whispered the man behind her.

As Mai's heart threatened to burst from her chest, she slowly followed them away from the street. They reached another street leading to where prostitutes hung out.

Not today. Not today.

Mai didn't have pockets in her dress. Fuck my choice of clothes.

"Can I put on lipstick if I'm going to get really dolled up for you? There are many of you I have to get through, so I might as well make an effort, right?" she said, forcing a fake sweet smile on her lips, which immediately charmed the men.

They stopped and looked at her.

"How naughty. We're already speaking the same language. So you're into gangbangs. That's even hotter," said one man wearing a black leather jacket, licking his lips as he rubbed his right hand on his groin where there was a bulge.

Mai, still feeling the knife poking her back, cautiously opened her bag and with a quick finger movement found her coin, which she flipped once in the air in front of her. It pinged loudly, and seconds before the coin landed in her hand, she looked at the man in front of her. Die!

Charm.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed loudly when she saw the text, but those words only turned on the men even more.

"Yeah, we'll fuck you good and thorough until you can't walk anymore," commented one of the men, and they slowly started moving towards a black door with a logo of a half-naked, slim woman wearing a G-string bending over towards her feet.

The door drew closer and closer to them, and with no help in sight, Mai couldn't wait any longer.

Sensei, forgive me.

How was it done again?

She twisted her right wrist, twisted the man's wrist, who stood on her right, and with all her energy, she delivered a back kick with her right foot, feeling her heel hit something soft. She pressed hard, and the pointed heel dug into the man's groin. He let out a loud sound and reflexively dropped the knife, clutching his groin. He fell on his buttocks as he rolled around.

The man in front of Mai swung his right fist at her, which she grabbed with her left wrist, twisting it quickly. His wrist twisted, and he grunted. She quickly pulled him towards her, took a step forward with her left foot, and despite the man's two-meter height, he suddenly fell forward and landed face-first on the asphalt.

He turned around with a bloody nose and shouted, "You bitch. I'll ruin you down there."

Mai felt another man coming up behind her, so she kicked backward again, and her heel hit him. He landed in an area where there was vomit. She turned around, held her palms in front of her, and waved her right hand twice towards her as a signal that he could bring it on. The man grunted and looked up at her, now with a whitish-green substance on the left side of his face.

"I'll take her first right now. The rest of you wait or join after," he said loudly and quickly got to his feet.

He picked up the knife and charged towards Mai, who in defense grabbed his fist and tried to pull it towards her, but suddenly he turned sideways, and she lost her balance. She landed hard on her back and felt the cold asphalt, gritting her teeth, grunting. The man immediately pounced on her and stabbed the knife into her left arm.

Mai felt a searing pain and screamed loudly as she struck and kicked out at him. He smelled rotten. She hit him in the head, but he was incredibly heavy. He quickly pulled up her dress. She hit him as hard as she could with all her energy and her fists worked overtime on his head. Her arm was bleeding profusely, flowing down her and onto her dress, which was smeared across the man's face. He tossed the knife aside, and as he pulled down his pants, Mai's eyes widened. Fuck! Fuck! She tried to scream, but suddenly she felt a smoke-stinking cloth being wrapped around her mouth from behind. Her heart raced loudly, and as the man was about to penetrate her, she felt the tears welling up. Lin! Help me! She closed her eyes as she felt the warm tears on her cheeks. It smelled. No, it stank of decay. Her arm was bleeding, but it hurt elsewhere.

Is this fate? Fuck fate!

"There's not much gentlemanly behavior in threatening a young woman like this," Said a deep male voice suddenly.

Mai quickly opened her eyes and saw a large group of young men dressed in black suits with black ties in front of her. They all had dark hair and dark eyes, were tall, slim, and had well-built bodies. The attackers didn't have time to respond before they were attacked by the men in suits. They were quickly beaten to a pulp without being able to utter a single sound.

Mai laid her head on the asphalt and looked at the dark sky where she glimpsed a blinking star as she heard the sounds of bones breaking and other disturbing noises. But she didn't care.

If a fat man or whatever saves me now, I'll be happy.

Suddenly, a young man's face leaned over her, looking down at her. His tie hung down, almost touching her nose, and his dark eyes and dark hair matched the tie. He loosened the cloth around her mouth, and she coughed and sat up.

"Thank you," she said in a low, hoarse voice.

The man tore off a piece of his shirt, quickly wrapping it around her arm, and said in a low voice, "Can you walk? You'll bleed out if you stay here."

With his help, Mai got to her feet, but as she took a step, her legs shook, and she lost her balance. The man immediately grabbed her and supported her.

"We won't get far at this pace," he said.

"I'm..." started Mai.

But suddenly, she felt a light slap on her back, and reflexively her back leaned. The man grabbed her and carried her in a bridal style. She closed her arms around his neck and could smell his scent.

It was mild and pleasant, smelling fresh like nature.

Her arm tingled and stung. Suddenly, blood seeped through the shirt wrapped around it. Mai gritted her teeth and immediately pulled her arm back. Damn, it hurts. She didn't know how fast or how long they walked, but suddenly they stopped, and she was carried into a bright room with a large cot. She was promptly treated with anesthesia.

After her arm had been wrapped with the last bandages, Mai looked at the male doctor and asked, "When will it heal completely? I'm afraid of getting a scar."

"It may take a few months to see results, but it depends on your body," he replied, leaving her alone with the man who had saved her.

He sat on a chair and stared at her.

"Thank you for your help. Should I pay for the treatment? How much will it be? I don't like owing people money or favors," she said, hopping down and her bare feet felt the cold floor.

"It doesn't cost anything. Just take me out on a date," he replied.

Dates were harmless because dates could also just be an arrangement with a friend.

"Do you always ask girls out on dates who have just been attacked?" Mai asked as she walked over to her bag and took out her phone to write down his number.

When she saw Lin had spammed her with calls, she furrowed her brows.

Oops. I forgot our appointment. Will he believe me?

It was close to midnight, and he had to work tomorrow. She didn't expect him to see the message until tomorrow, but she still chose to take a picture of her arm, the man with the his permission, and attached it to a message.

Mai: "Got attacked by creepy beer-bellied men. One threatened me with a knife and another... doesn't matter. I'm safe. Sleep well."

She was about to send the message but thought it sounded too strange. It sounded like a story anyone could make up. And there was also Photoshop.

"What's wrong?" the man suddenly asked.

"Will he believe my story? You can fake so much these days," Mai replied.

"If he doesn't believe you, then he's not worth keeping," replied the man who introduced himself as Kazuma.

He was on a business trip in Europe, and Denmark was his last stop before heading home. He had gone out for a drink and noticed that she was in danger and chose to save her.

"So, you saved me because you were bored?" Mai asked, furrowing her brows.

Can all rich men fight? Is it because they get bored so easily?

Anya had once dated a wealthy man who had a black belt in karate. Maybe it's just a thing for rich men.

She sent the message to Lin, and only a few seconds passed before he called her.

"Where are you? Are you with Kazuma?" he shouted, and she had to pull the phone away from her ear.

"You know him?" she asked. "I don't know where I am, but if you know him..."

Suddenly, Kazuma took her phone from her and spoke into it, "I'm bringing her to you now, Lin."

"It better be now and not a second later," Lin replied in a cold tone.

Kazuma accompanied Mai alone to Lin, who immediately received her down by the main entrance. The two men exchanged some words with each other, but before Kazuma left, he reminded Mai of her earlier episode. With Lin's permission, she got Kazuma’s number, and he left.

Mai sat on the sofa with Lin with a blanket over them. On the table stood a small black teapot with two small Japanese teacups. Mai was tired and just stared at the teacups, blinking, and lost in her own thoughts.

What did I do wrong? Was it my choice of clothing?

Lin impatiently waited for her to say something. But it didn't happen.

When he had waited long enough, he broke the silence.

"You should have asked Mads to accompany you here. Then it wouldn't have happened," he said.

Mai looked at him, furrowed her brows, and said, "I didn't know I was going to be raped."

Now it was Lin who furrowed his brows. "You first wrote it was an assault, and now you're saying it was rape. Your story keeps changing."

Mai felt the tears welling up, and she sniffled, "I knew you wouldn't believe me. So it didn't matter what I wrote. You weren't there, so you didn't see him stab the knife into my arm. Afterward, he took off my dress and pulled down his pants."

She wiped her eyes with her right arm, but the tears didn't disappear. More poured out like a waterfall. She dared not look Lin in the eyes and looked back at the teacups. They had large yellow flowers resembling daffodils on them. So beautiful. He has good taste.

Suddenly, she felt Lin hug her tightly, and he said in a low voice, "I was thinking of you the whole time. You didn't write or call. I thought you had forgotten our appointment or that something else had happened to you. When I read your message, I was angry and upset at the same time because I wasn't with you when it happened. I'm sorry."

She looked at him and hugged him as she finished crying.

"It's not so bad. They didn't get to do anything. I thought there were only five men, but it turned out there were more. Who knows if there were even more," she said as Lin gently wiped her eyes.

"They did plenty. Your arm is proof," he said in a cold voice.

Mai was suddenly reminded of the man with vomit on his face.

"He smelled of tequila and someone else's vomit," she said and began telling everything that had happened, starting from the 'creampie' date with Mads.

When she finished telling her story, Lin said, "Take the day off tomorrow. I'll call your work if you don't want to. Let's visit the Silk Bears tomorrow so you know what to give to Dongmei and Ling."

She nodded, smiled, and kissed him. "I look forward to feeling their fur."

"Is that all you're interested in?" he asked, chuckling.

"No way. I look forward to spending time with you. I missed you today. Especially when I thought it was over. They said they would ruin me down there," said Mai, feeling a knot in her heart.

If I died, I wouldn't see Lin again.

Lin hugged her and said, "They're not here now, and Kazuma has taken care of them, so they can't bother you again. If you move in here, it'll be easier for me to keep an eye on you."

"It's nice being alone. I can walk around naked and fart without bothering anyone," She muttered.

"You can do that at my place too," He commented, unable to help but laugh.

"I can move some clothes and my everyday things I use, but I won't officially move in with you yet," said Mai, pouting, as she looked at her arm. "I'm going to have a huge scar there."

Lin mentioned that because she had taken L-2, it was possible that it would help her heal faster, but it was only a theory.

So Mai saw hope ahead.