“Harder… harder… harder”, Daniel asserted. I was completely breathless. I couldn’t go on any longer. “Come on babe, harder”, Daniel encouraged, “You need to punch harder”, he held his padded hand up. “I told you that you can’t hurt me… just hit as hard as you can”. “But then doesn’t that defeat the point of everything? If I can’t hurt you, then I can’t hurt The Fallen”. “I’m much stronger than most of them… the only reason they are so successful in their attacks is because of their numbers. One on one, they wouldn’t stand a chance against me”, Daniel smirked.

“I can’t wait for my powers to kick in… it’s hard training with human strength”, I punched his hand again. He didn’t even move an inch. It was almost like I was punching a cushioned wall. A few days ago, we had worked on kicks. I had practiced on a bag until Daniel decided I should try kicking an actual person. I ended up hurting my ankle when I made contact with him. Since then we concluded that it was better for me to practice on padded surfaces instead of his actual body.

The physical training was actually going really well. Daniel was a good instructor who was patient and insanely skilled. He made our lessons more fun than tiresome. I was starting to feel like I might just be able to protect myself after all. Every time I punched or kicked the bag, I imagined Jisung and Jinyoung’s faces. The next time I saw them, I was not going to be a damsel in distress; I was going to be a bad Triphilim.

After gathering all the strength I had left, I threw another punch, but Daniel grabbed my hand and turned me around, pulling me against him. “Are other fallen angels going to have me in this position as well?”, I teased. “Any guy, angel or human, who even thinks of getting you in this position, will die before they get the chance”, he moved his hand inside my t-shirt and I shuddered by his touch on my tummy. What was he trying to do; apart from escalating my heartbeat? There was something intimate and sensual about your boyfriend teaching you self-defense. Most of the time, I needed to remind myself to concentrate on what Daniel was trying to show me, instead of Daniel himself.