I tensed, then rolled my shoulders. Although I had continued studying my fake identity and trawling the undernet following popular you exploits (any info on Daiyu had been impossible to find), I had not dwelled on the actual fact of going in. The prospect of being immersed in a world totally unfamiliar and aberrant to me was daunting. But there was no turning back—I had to pull it off.

“It’s all set, then?” My voice sounded muffled behind my mask.

Lingyi nodded once.

We all smelled the mouthwatering scent of buns steaming in bamboo baskets and handmade noodles being stir-fried in a wok at the same time. The square entrance of the cafe, with its dark blue awning and verdant bamboo stalks and leaves planted on either side, greeted us as we walked in.

“To a good meal with good friends, then,” I said, flinging an arm over Lingyi and Arun’s shoulders, sounding more at ease than I felt.

It would be my last one out in public with them for a very long time.

CHΔPTER FIVE

Neon lights pulsed to the beat of the taitronica music the DJ was playing on his dais over the crowd. Large glass orbs hovered in midair above us, changing from neon green to blue to purple, then red, splintering the air with its colors. New Year’s Eve, and Taipei was in the midst of an especially cold and wet winter. You wouldn’t know it by looking at this crowd. The yous were dressed in their finest, from silver leather pants that glowed in the dark to gold and crimson dresses encrusted in jewels. Diamonds, rubies, and emeralds graced the earlobes and throats of many, while a few still chose to wear traditional gold and jade. The young women, mostly in their teens to early twenties, were in fine form this evening, baring shoulders and backs with plunging necklines strategically adhered to offer a glimpse of their perfectly shaped breasts. The dance floor was filled with flawless physiques and proportioned faces, because contrary to popular belief, money could buy you everything.

They also got you wings, black and leathery, spreading wide enough to knock people out of the way if the you wanted to, surgically embedded into their shoulder blades. There were variations, some choosing lighter colors—feathered wings, like swans, or transparent wings, gilded in silver and gold. The love for all things supernatural, fey, and demonic was the current rage among Taiwan’s youth, and the yous took it to the next level, surgically altering their physique, adding horns and tails, scaling their skin, be it mermaid or dragon. They were same-day walk-in alterations at the physique surgeons, the changes cast off in a week or two, replaced by some other trend.