“Congratulations.” Sailom still seemed skeptical but at least a little relieved. “I expected many things, but not a job as a temporary assistant in a laboratory.” He frowned for a moment. “Or maybe...” Nick rolled his eyes. “What is it now?” His friend looked him straight in the eyes. “Maybe you will be the one who will be taking the organs- from others.” Nick let out a groan. “Stop with this organ trafficking stuff. You seem weirdly obsessed with it. Ah, by the way: Do you know a company with the name ‘Glanz'?’” “Glanz? Hmm.” “Yeah, I googled them. The website says it’s a family-owned company that wants to offer environmentally friendly products in terms of cleaning and care supplies for everyone. But I guess the company isn’t really family-owned anymore.” “Why?” “Because there is a board of Directors now that makes the decisions, I guess.” “Wow, you’re really well informed.” Sailom seemed a little bit too surprised for Nick’s taste. “Yeah, I met one of them.” “Who?” “A Director of the company.” His friend’s face went blank. “You met...a Director?” “Yeah, I just said that. She was pretty young, and her name was Parker, but the founding family of the company was named Miller. So, I guess she doesn’t belong to the family that owns this business. By the way, the CEO also had a different name.” Sailom seemingly needed a moment to collect himself. “Maybe she’s married?” “True. But I think I didn’t see a ring.” “Well, bro, I guess that’s your chance now.” A punch, a little harder than expected, was shared. “Oww! Bastard!”

On his way to the laboratory, Nick noticed how strangely excited he was. It was indeed an odd part-time to take on for someone who didn’t study in the science field. The Director had arranged that he would go there to work first on a trial basis and see how this Thursday went through. If everything went all right, the lab technician there would write out a contract with exact working hours and additional terms. But the pay was set. It was three times the hourly wage he got at the administration office. That was almost unbelievable. They explained it with the fact that it was a location that was rather hard to reach, public transport was not really an option, and the walk to the next bus stop would take over 45 minutes, which was rather inconvenient. Thank God Nick had his Scooter, his lifesaver. He remembered the enlightened facial expression Ms. Parker had when she heard about it.

When he reached his destination, Nick noticed that it looked more like one of those shady factories straight out of a movie than a laboratory for a famous company. In front of him was a stone wall, not high enough to hide everything, with a dilapidated old steel gate in the middle. As he cautiously opened the squeaky gate, he was met with the sight of a bare courtyard with a creepy-looking building at the end. For a busy laboratory, it seemed way too abandoned. The entrance was an unremarkable door on the right side. It had a faint light above it, which stood out since it already started to get dark. There was a bell, an intercom, and a camera. “Hello, I’m Nick Sanders. I’m here for the part-time job.” Nothing. Nick rang the bell again. Suddenly, a buzzer sound rang.

The heavy door swung open automatically. What followed was a very brightly lit corridor with another door at its end. As soon as Nick stepped before it, it opened automatically. He found himself in a weird garage. On his right were staircases leading both downwards and upwards and an elevator. The rest of the room was more like a big open space that reminded him more of a car repair shop than a laboratory.

“The lab is on the second floor.” Nick winced. A guy with a buzz cut and a grey hoodie stands right next to him. He looked more like someone used to physical labor than an employee of a laboratory. “Oh, okay.” “Follow me.” “Ah, yes.” They stepped into the elevator. Nick examined the guy next to him. He was a little bit taller, probably from Southeast Asia, and he looked tired and made no effort to introduce himself. The doors opened, and a small entrance with two hallways was in front of them. One led straight, and the other had a thick glass door at its entrance that led to the right. They stepped through the glass door, and for the first time, this building actually seemed like a research facility. Everything was overwhelmingly white. After the glass door, a second white door came right behind it. The buzzcut guy went to a keypad next to it and entered a code.

“He’s here.” At first, Nick couldn't really see who he was talking to. Then, a head peeked around one of the lab tables. “Ah, welcome.” The rest of the body followed a moment later. “I’m Naomi Long. The head of this laboratory. You can call me Naomi.” A beautiful woman with black hair and a white coat stood in front of him. She was tall, with a warm complexion. “Did you already introduce yourself?” The Asian guy next to him turned to Nick. “I’m Sunwoo. I work here as a facility manager.” “Ah, nice to meet you.” Nick grinned nervously. Even though it was probably not the biggest laboratory, it still seemed weird that he only met two people up until now. “And, where are the others?” Naomi seemed confused for a moment. “The others?” “The other workers?” “Oh. Today, it’s just us three.” Us three. Three people in the whole building. Well, it was already evening. The other employees were probably already done for today. “This is just a small research facility.” Naomi stood at a sink washing her hands. “There not many people around in general.” “Oh, I see.” “Today, we will show you around. You will primarily help Sunwoo with physical labor like carrying stuff and keeping things in order.” Physical labor and carrying. Nick was reminded of his last meeting with Charlotte. He really wasn’t the fittest guy. On the other hand, building some stamina was probably good for him. “Okay, good.” “Your working hours can differ from time to time. We sometimes receive orders at the last minute and have to work through the night, so we will need a larger workforce on these days. Therefore, the generous pay.” She smiled. But it didn’t really reach her eyes. Maybe she was just a little worn out because of the long workday. “Should we start the tour then?”

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“These are the lab rooms. The equipment here is handled only by my assistant Martin and me. Even though I’m sure you are aware, I have to say it. Please refrain from touching anything here except if Martin or I directly ask you to do it.” Nick nodded. It all seemed faintly familiar from his days back in the science glasses in school. The equipment seemed modern and well-kept.” “This room over there is only reachable with a passcode, like this one. The hazardous substances are stored there. You won’t need to enter, so you won’t get the code.” “That’s a relief.” She chuckled. “There is also a place where the substances are disposed of, but this is also none of your tasks. If Sunwoo ever needs help with it, he will instruct you personally then.” Sunwoo, whose expression didn't show anything up to this point, seemed to grit his teeth for a moment. “These three rooms are storage rooms.” She pointed at the three doors in the smaller hallway. “Two for laboratory equipment and the last one for cleaning supplies. And the fourth room is the toilet.”They stepped into every room but didn’t stay there for long. “Now, down to the first floor.”

“This area is primarily for logistics. Vehicles with supplies come and go, and we store larger containers and tanks down here.” Now that he had fought about it, the actual workspace for lab work seemed to be the smallest part of this place. “There is another building at the end of this yard. It’s only for old files and all the other paperwork that isn’t related to research. Ah, and the room over there has tools and bigger cleaning supplies.” She pointed at a small one that wasn’t visible from the entrance. It was hidden behind the staircases and the elevator- Nick only noticed it at that moment since it seemed inconspicuous from the big hall they were standing in. “And the basement.” Naomi squinted her eyes for a second. “The basement is for the generator and all the technical systems for this building. It’s a little dangerous down there, so please only go if Sunwoo asks you to go with him.” “Yeah, sure.” “Why don’t we go up to the third floor now.”

The third floor only had one long corridor. It looked a little bit like the administrative office Nick had worked in back at university. “Here is my office, a little kitchen, a break room, and a meeting room. Not that we ever really need that.”, she mumbled the last sentence as if she were talking to herself. They stepped into every room except for her office. “Ah, and this door is for the only other toilet.” Her tone seemed a little bit bitter. Everything seemed pretty dimly light but tidy. “Why don’t we sit down in the break room for a bit and get to know each other better.”

Nick had noticed it from the beginning. Naomi came off as relaxed and friendly, but she seemed a little tense. Sunwoo, on the other hand, didn’t even try to cover his discomfort with the situation. Were they annoyed that the Director had placed a student like him -who had absolutely no idea about research facilities- to work there as a part-timer? It would make sense. He also didn’t quite get why Ms. Parker seemed this place to be the most fitting, maybe because of the strange work hours and the generous pay that came with it. The break room had one big sofa, two armchairs, a wooden table with several chairs, and a sideboard with a coffee machine, cups, and several tea sorts on it. On a closer look, the furniture inside seemed rather high-quality. Even the coffee machine was expensive. “So Nick, you go to SKY University, right?” Naomi sat down in one of the armchairs; Nick sat on the sofa while Sunwoo leaned against the table. “Yeah, right. I actually study economics.” “Really? I went to SKY University, too.” She smiled, but it faded a moment later as if she remembered something. “Oh, really, that’s nice.” Nice became more and more nervous. Naomi’s smile came back. “It’s a good university. Ingrim studied there, too.” “Oh, wow.” He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Sunwoo didn’t try to take part in the conversation. He only looked at them with an unreadable gaze. “I’ve met Ingrim there, and this is pretty much how I ended up with this job.” The way he got the job was seemingly not a problem." Uncomfortable silence followed. Shouldn't they go back down again? Didn't Nick have to do some actual work to see if he qualified as a part-timer there? "Say, Nick,”, asked Naomi with a sudden change of tone in her voice. “Why do you think Saint wanted you to take this job?”

“What?” Saint? “Wait, I don’t quite get it. The barkeeper wanted me to take this job?” He blurted that out without thinking. He probably shouldn’t have referred to Saint as ‘the barkeeper.’ This was taking a bizarre turn. “Oh yeah, he recommended you to the Ingrim. He said you would be a good fit.” Nick felt how his muscles tensed. Did the barkeeper recommend that he work in this laboratory? Then, one of the company's Board members made it happen because he wanted it. What kind of relationship did these people have? Naomi also kept referring to the Director by her first name. “I didn’t know that. I thought he was a friend of the Director's, and she arranged for me to work here since I need a well-paying job, even if the working hours are a bit odd.” That might have been a little too straightforward. “Only the working hours?” It was the first time Sunwoo participated in the whole ordeal. Nick flinched. “What?” Sunwoo only looked back at him with a slightly raised eyebrow instead of answering. “Well, the Director and Saint are good friends." Naomi cut in. "She trusts his intuition. After he met you, he told her about you.” That didn’t really explain much. “Oh.” Nick had used this word in the last few minutes way too often for his taste. But there wasn’t really much else he could think of. “Well, we had a pretty long conversation at a bar. But it was only one evening, so...” He looked at his hands to avoid seeing the reaction of his counterparts. Silence again. “Well, he must thought of something." Sunwoo moved from his position near the table closer to Naomi and Nick. "Maybe your conversation was more intense than you remember." To be fair, Nick couldn't remember a big chuck of it. He nervously stroked his fingers. "Maybe I told him that I admire people with good stamina. In physical labor, I mean." Not convincing. "Yeah. That could be it." What? They definitely didn't believe him. “Why don’t we start with a 2-month contract? We estimated how many hours we’ll need extra help and put that down. We can always adjust the numbers later. The salary is already set, right?” He looked at Nick. “Yes.” “Fine, then. I tell HR to write a contract.” Naomi rose from the armchair. "Why don't you two go down and pack up for the day?" Her friendly demeanor from the beginning was back, but it felt a little off now since it didn’t seem genuine anymore. "See you, you adjust to the work, and if it's something-" She looked directly into his eyes for a short moment. "For building a good stamina."