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Comfortably so in her loungewear, Hana sat on her bed resting against her headboard. She could not sleep no matter how hard she tried.
It wasn't because she was nervous, or at least that's what she tried telling herself. She ultimately decided she would try another time to fall asleep, so she slowly stood and was going to walk to the light switch.
That was until a some firm knocks resonated from the door she stood nearly in front of. Skeptically, she opened the door, to be met with a taller figure. He was wearing a tank top and sweatpants, and Hana could notice his arms. His burns from the night they'd met had slowly been healing, though still undeniably there.
He wore the memories like sleeves, memories of himself rushing back inside the blazing warehouse to find the Hana who he'd only really known less than twenty minutes prior. That day was semi-permanently torched into his skin.
Hana's burns, on the other hand, would take longer to heal. Unlike Jisung who'd worn flame resistant clothing, she had on a cheap jacket that painfully melted into her skin and clung to her even after the fact.
Jisung looked into her eyes for a moment, then gazing down to her arms that made the two so similar, then back up to her eyes once more. "Is there any way I can convince you not to do this?" Though his voice was calm, there was the smallest tinge of frustration.
And almost instantly, she knew what he was referring to. "My mind is made." She was now curious what else he was there to talk to her about. This was the first time he'd approached her out of the blue like such.
"See me at the training room in ten minutes--someone should probably teach you self defense." He walked off.
Was this a pattern? She thought, as she noticed how frequently he'd leave without letting her get another word in.
When she entered the training room in a punctual ten minutes as Jisung asked, he was nowhere to be seen. She let her eyes scan the room, and she took notice of nothing in particular. Her surroundings were that of typical gym equipment and machines. She didn't bother changing into something rather athletic, as she assumed it would be a short meet up. She justified it by saying that normally in scenarios of self defense, you won't be wearing athletic clothes on the ready.
But in this moment of distraction, Hana was taken by surprise when she was placed into a firm headlock, pulling her against a body behind her.
Responding to this immediate threat, she began thrashing her upper body around and pried at the arms around her with her hands, attempting to free herself. This didn't work. Her mind began thinking of the worst possible scenario, and her heart pounded against her interiors, as if to put a hole straight through her chest.
"First rule is to never let your guard down." The deep voice from right near her was familiar, familiar enough to put her startled state somewhat at ease. That asshole, Jisung.
Hana shifted about in his hold, wrongly assuming he'd let her go, but he only held on tighter.
"Secondly, never panic. Always assess the situation before exerting physical response." Even now, his voice was calm as ever, like a lifeline, grounding her in the moment despite the chaos of her thoughts.
Hana clamped down her eyes, a mixture of nervousness and confusion clouding her. "Okay, you can let me go now." She forced a smile to herself, her voice releasing as a strain due to the pressure on her frame.
Jisung on the other hand had the patience of a rock, the unserious response of Hana had pulled the corners of his lips into a small amused smile that she couldn't see.
"This is a self-defense lesson, not debate club." He said, and Hana could hear the smugness in his tone. "Give it your best shot."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Hana sprang, well rather shifted, into action. She planted her feet firmly on the ground and focused on her breathing, trying to steady her nerves which seemed to rise and fall. Her mission was to possibly throw him off balance, which she attempted by unpredictably thrashing around, however, that seemed to move him very little.
Huffing a sigh, she focused her weight toward the upper half of her body, above the hips, straining to bring the two down. Until it paid off--the twisting of her body and her premeditated exertion of momentum bringing the two bodies slowly stumbling to the ground, and she could feel the grasp of his arms around her weaken.
Much to her satisfaction, they toppled over to the floor, and with Jisung's hold on her having weakened, she was able to turn her body around to face him. And in this instant, he was underneath her, with her being between his parted knees.
Their eyes locked, and Hana felt a rush of conflicting emotions yet somehow experienced a sense of exhilaration of her small victory. Jisung, on the other hand, remained underneath her on his back with his head and neck elevated from the ground. But as she began observing, she noticed the glint of amusement in his eyes and the know-it-all grin on his face, and she realized he had let her win, on purpose.
Before she could react, Jisung shifted from beneath her, grabbing her by the forearms and somehow flipping them over so that he was now on top, his free hand underneath the back of her head to assure that it wouldn't collide with the hard flooring beneath them.
They locked eyes once more, and Hana realized there was something that drew her in like a moth to light. And despite her initial triumph, she found herself at his mercy once again, underneath him with nowhere to go.
Releasing himself from the situation, he pushed himself up to stand, offering a hand for Hana to do the same, making Hana question how he could be so gentleman-like after something that just happened, though she was far from complaining.
"You're not ready for tomorrow, at all." Jisung said, and to Hana it felt like a scolding. If such an event, the gala, required this much training, is it really worth it to go anymore?
Or was this part of his game; was he trying to make it seem unworthy so she would back out?
After they moved on and performed a quick basic set of warmup exercises, the two moved to a different area and Jisung began demonstrating various self-defense techniques, like showing the woman how to block punches, break free of holds, and use her surroundings to her advantage. The lesson continued, and Hana could observe herself growing more confident in the skill, though slowly.
His patience amazed her. Judging him by his exterior only, she'd assume the opposite of him. But there he was, taking the time to thoroughly teach and guide her through each technique with a calm and steady hand. She admired the way he conducted himself and her.
Jisung wasn't the most encouraging, however. If anything, he was more critical of her, but only in her best interest. It just motivated her to keep pushing herself, which eventually the both saw improvement--until she attempted to execute a complex defensive move.
She misjudged her footing and stumbled, unable to catch herself and losing her balance completely. With a yelp, she fell to the ground landing awkwardly on her side with a sharp intake of breath as an acute pain shot through her.
For a moment, she lay there feeling defeated and embarrassed by her mistake. Slowly, she glanced up at Jisung expecting to see frustration or disappointment in his eyes as he stood above her. But on the almost contrary, he showed no emotion.
"Get up," firmly he said, cutting through her self-doubt. "you're not gonna learn anything by just laying there."
Hana pushed herself up to her feet despite the pain, with the aid of Jisung.
"You can't afford to doubt yourself, not in a high stakes environment like the one tomorrow." Once again his words struck her like a scold. "If you appear intimidated or unsure of yourself, you'll look weak in front of our allies and adversaries alike, and in some cases maybe even like a target."
Swallowing her pride, she met eyes with Jisung. Nodding at his words, she let out a quiet and unsure, "okay," letting him continue.
The lesson ended shortly after a few more teaching moments, and it was safe to say Jisung wasn't entirely confident in Hana, and nor was she in her own self. He cut her the slack that it wasn't something that could be learned overnight.