Chapter 18
Interview 02
A knocking sound came from the front door. Three men in formal suits stood outside.
Hearing the knock, Lucius immediately knew who they were. He opened the door and greeted them with a polite bow and a hand gesture, inviting them in.
"Welcome. Sorry for the inconvenience of making you come here so early in the morning. Please, come inside."
Before stepping in, the man in front smiled politely.
"No problem, it's our job. Are you Ms. Lucia, by any chance?"
Lucia nodded, remembering to keep her smile warm.
"Ah—yes. I'm Lucia… well, I go by Lucia now. Please, come in."
The man who seemed to be the leader gave a respectful bow.
"Thank you. I'm Park Minsoo, and these two are my colleagues."
They entered the house, carrying a large suitcase that looked about the size of a PC case. Whatever was inside was surely the equipment for collecting DNA samples.
Wasting no time, the agents got to work. While his colleagues began unpacking and setting up the tools, Park Minsoo approached Lucia.
"Miss Lucia, are your siblings present? Please call them over. We'll begin the procedure shortly."
Lucia nodded.
"Yes, they're here. I'll call them. Excuse me."
She walked toward the bedroom doors and opened one. To her surprise, Sophia and Eve were already up and standing by, waiting for her.
"Oh? Sister Sophia, Eve—you already heard?"
Both nodded. Sophia replied calmly, "Yes. They're here, right?"
Eve, however, looked visibly nervous. She rarely interacted with foreigners, and wasn't sure how to act.
"Sis—uh, Sister Lucia… What should I do? Just follow what they say? There's nothing complicated, right?"
Lucia gave a slightly awkward smile.
"Haha… Honestly, I don't know either. But I can ask them if you're worried. Still, I think we'll be fine—they seem really professional, and they don't look intimidating. So just relax, okay?"
She waved them forward. "Let's go. They should be done with the setup."
Following Lucia's lead, Sophia and Eve exited the bedroom. Eve shyly stuck close behind Sophia.
The agents were already prepared, wearing latex gloves and surgical masks. Seeing the three girls arrive, Park Minsoo gave a polite nod.
"Miss Lucia, the preparations are complete. We'll begin the procedure now. Since we have three agents and three of you, we can collect samples simultaneously."
Lucia led her sisters to sit on the carpeted floor. The agents followed and sat across from them.
"Alright, let's begin. First, we'll collect the saliva samples. There are two types," Park Minsoo explained.
"For the first, we'll do a cheek swab. We'll gently rub this specialized cotton swab inside your cheek."
Each agent raised a swab, then gestured for the girls to open their mouths.
'This is kind of awkward…' Lucia thought as the swab brushed inside her cheek.
After a few careful rubs, the agents put the cotton swabs onto clean glass disks to dry.
"The first saliva sample is done. Now for the second: the saliva tube."
Park Minsoo continued. "Please fill these glass tubes with your saliva. You only need to reach the first line here."
He pointed to the line near the bottom of the small tube—about five centimeters long and one and a half centimeters wide. It wasn't much.
The tubes were handed out, but the girls hesitated.
"Uhh… Sir?" Lucia asked. "Should I just spit into the tube? The opening's really small…"
Park Minsoo blinked, momentarily startled. Then he quickly bowed in apology.
"Ah! I'm sorry—I forgot to explain."
He rummaged through the suitcase, pulling out three individually wrapped glass straws.
"Please use these. You can spit into the straw and let the saliva flow into the tubes. Just be careful not to break them—these are durable, but they're designed for ordinary humans. If you exert too much strength…"
He trailed off, noticing the serious and thoughtful expressions on the girls' faces. The moment hung briefly in silence.
But the agents handed out the straws, and the siblings began collecting their saliva. The task went smoothly.
After wiping the tubes and adding a preserving agent, Park Minsoo moved on.
"Next is the hair sample. Please lean your head forward slightly."
Each of the girls complied, wanting to finish quickly—especially Eve, who needed to leave for school soon.
Once the hair was collected and sealed into separate containers, Park Minsoo asked,
"Now for the final sample. Before we begin, does anyone have a phobia of blood or needles?"
The siblings exchanged glances. Sophia answered calmly,
"Eve is a bit afraid of needles. Lucia and I are fine."
Park Minsoo furrowed his brow, clearly trying to think of the best way to handle Eve's situation. But before he could speak, Eve raised her voice, trying to be brave.
"I'm fine. I'll just close my eyes and get it over with. Please… just do it quickly so I don't feel anything."
The man assigned to her smiled reassuringly. His voice was soft and calm.
"Don't worry, Miss. I'll be quick, gentle, and precise. You won't feel much. Try to focus your mind elsewhere—I promise I'll be done before you know it."
Leader Park Minsoo gave his colleagues a nod, signaling them to begin drawing blood. As they moved into position, he began drawing a sample from Lucia himself.
The process didn't take long. It was clear they had done this many times before—fast, precise, professional.
Once the samples were collected, the agents began packing up. Some of the samples were sealed inside the smaller suitcase, while the air-dried cotton swabs were placed separately in a brown paper bag for airflow while still protected from contamination. These were carefully stored in a larger suitcase.
With the first stage of the DNA collection complete, Team Leader Park Minsoo turned to Lucia and her sisters.
"Miss Lucia, our work here is finished. We'll deliver the samples as quickly as possible, so you don't have to worry about the deadline. Please wait for the results—likely by Friday evening, or maybe even sooner."
As the men began lifting their suitcases, Lucia and her sisters stood and followed them to the door.
Lucia bowed deeply, her expression sincere.
"Thank you for coming so early in the morning—and for being so considerate, especially knowing how tight our schedule was. I really appreciate your professionalism. Even though you just arrived last night, and probably haven't rested much, you still handled everything perfectly."
She smiled, hands clasped together respectfully.
"If fate allows it, maybe we'll meet again at the research center. Once again—thank you, Leader Park. Goodbye."
Almost overwhelmed by her heartfelt thanks, Park Minsoo and his colleagues smiled warmly and returned the bow.
After they left, Eve and Sophia remained silent. They didn't speak—not because they were indifferent, but because Lucia had already said everything they wanted to say. Repeating it might have sounded excessive or insincere.
With the agents gone and the samples now en route to the testing facility, Lucia had only one thing left to do—wait.
The test results were expected by Friday night at the latest.
Sophia and Eve quickly got ready to leave—there was barely enough time for Eve to make it to school. Sophia was already warming up the scooter engine. Moments later, the two of them zoomed off down the street, leaving Lucia alone in front of the house.
"Huft… finally done."
She stretched, then glanced up at the sky.
'Now I just need to wait for the results. I hope there's no error from… whatever the transformation changed in my body. I still don't fully understand what it did to me, aside from the obvious gender change.'
Lucius walked back into the house and resumed her morning routine, waiting for Sophia to return after dropping Eve off.
She wanted to begin her daily training with her wings, but didn't want anyone to see her half-naked body in the living room. So she waited.
About twenty minutes later, Sophia came home. She quickly changed out of her outdoor clothes, grabbed the coffee she had made earlier—which had already gone cold—and took a few quick sips.
Then, as usual, she moved like she was being chased by a lion—grabbing her bag, giving Lucia a quick goodbye, and rushing off to work.
Finally alone, Lucia could begin her training session.
She practiced for about two hours, stopping only when her mana was nearly exhausted. Over time, she had started noticing subtle changes in her body's capabilities. Her mana capacity seemed to be growing.
She could now summon and retract her wings eight times in a row—a marked improvement from the five she could manage just a week ago.
'Ahh… I really want to fly again… But I can't do it here. It'd attract way too much attention.'
Lucia sighed, glancing at the ceiling.
'Since the DNA test results and final interview will be finished by Saturday… maybe I can spend Sunday with Sister Sophia and Eve. A little celebration before I leave for good. Maybe Edward's villa? That could work as a kind of farewell party.'
She pulled out her phone and began typing a message to Edward, asking about his availability on Saturday night and Sunday.
Feeling a bit sticky from sweat, she headed for a shower. After that, she made herself some lunch, then sat down to plan something else that had been bugging her:
Her clothes.
If she wanted to function in the outside world with her wings, she needed outfits that accommodated them. Her old clothes were no longer an option—her new body simply didn't fit, it was loose in some places but tight on the other, well you know.
She browsed online marketplaces and finally found three outfits that looked promising. Feminine, yes—but not overly so. They had enough coverage and fabric flexibility that she could imagine modifying them to work with her wings.
Lucia ordered all three.
The next hurdle would be finding a tailor—someone she could trust to make custom modifications.
'I should probably ask Sister Sophia first. Maybe Edward will know someone too.'
She leaned back, letting the weight of the day settle into her shoulders.
Her journey could only truly begin once all the preparations were done—and more importantly, once she received acceptance from the M.P.T.A. Research Center.
Until then, all she could do was wait.