The room was stifling.

Lisa didn't know whether it was because they had rushed back to the hotel in complete silence or because Director Choi was looking— no... staring at her. She knew he was even when she had her eyes on the carpeted floor. The feeling of self-consciousness started creeping into her system as she sat on the bed and he stood across from her. 

It was his soft yet deep voice that cut through the silence.

"Aren't you going to ask me anything?" 

She looked up and saw him slightly leaning on the wall— a pensive look on his face. Her answer was a small shake of her head which immediately made his thick brows furrow. He straightened up and took the few steps in between them to stand directly in front of her.

"You're not going to ask me about what happened?" His voice sounded a bit higher— unbelieving, incredulous. That someone was not curious how he managed to take down two guys in less than 10 seconds. 

Lisa had to crane her neck higher to look at his face from this distance.

"You did what you had to do. If someone I know gets hurt or disrespected, I'd do the same..." She paused as thought of her friend, Sorn, on the night she had met the man in front of her. "I did once."

There was a shift in his expression and it resembled a mixture of wonder and amusement... as if he was thinking 'This is unbelievable.. but I like it.'. Lisa couldn't help the sudden warmth that appeared on her cheeks.

"It's part of my training." He crouched down and gently took her right forearm— inspecting the obvious redness on her skin. The tips of his fingers barely grazed her skin but the contact made her shiver. "Does it hurt?"

"Not really." 

Looking at him crouched in front of her made the tingling in her stomach appear. It didn't help that his handsome face looked so serious as he assessed a forming bruise. Lisa stayed very still as he gently prodded her skin—focusing her attention on his eyelashes, the line of his nose, and down to his lips. All of a sudden, he encircled her wrist with his fingers.

"You seem so fragile." The way he said it made the corners of her lips pull up. 

"I'm really not." 

"Looks can be deceiving indeed." He didn't let go of her wrist as he looked up at her with a slight smirk. "You were incredible earlier."

She knew he noticed the sudden flush on her face by the way his smirk grew. 

"Not as incredible as you. You were so quick and you didn't even attack those guys." She remembered how he was able to defend himself without throwing a punch or a kick. He had held one guy by the throat but that was to destabilize the attacker.

"And you're still not going to ask me how I was able to do it?" 

He was challenging her but Lisa already had an idea of what might be the truth.

"You were very knowledgeable about mixed martial arts during our conversation earlier. And you talked about your intensive training when you were younger which made me think you learned through that. And you're also probably into boxing..." She rotated her wrist until she could see his knuckles. Director Choi looked at his own hand holding her wrist and his lower lip jutted out. The scrapes she had noticed when she did his hair at work were almost healed and a few dry scabs were just waiting to fall off on their own. 

"Injuries happen sometimes."

"Please be more careful." She lightly touched the pinkish skin around a scab with her left finger. She then noticed the crescent-shaped scar below the knuckle of his index finger. It was quite large and the traces of stitches were visible. 

Tracing the scar with a finger, she softly asked, "What happened to this?" 

"I accidentally cut it against a broken piece of glass." 

Her eyes grew large when they met his. "Glass?"

"It was from a few years ago." He smiled as he shook his head once. "I accidentally shattered a window and cut it. I didn't even notice until moments later when I felt the blood trickle down my fingers." 

Lisa instantly cringed as she imagined what kind of scenario it was for him to break a window. There was another long scar on his middle finger but she didn't ask about it anymore. She didn't know what to say next and it was then she realized that they were still touching each other so casually. With an awkward chuckle, she pulled back and folded her legs on the bed. It was fleeting but she saw how his gaze went to her bare legs. 

"I haven't had any major injuries..." She started to ease the sudden tension that appeared. "But I once almost dislocated my sparring partner's shoulder." 

It was his turn to look surprised.

She tilted her head back and stated proudly, "I was able to take down a bulky six feet two guy." 

“Really?” The smirk that appeared on his face was enough to make her flustered once more. But it was nothing compared to the next two words he said.  

“Show me.” 

She was rendered speechless for a moment. He stood up and shrugged off his blazer—placing it on the bed she was occupying. The way he folded the long sleeves of his white shirt was so deliberate.

"C'mon." He beckoned towards the empty space in their hotel room and his curious yet imposing look made her feel little.

Lisa stood up from the bed and consciously fiddled with the hems of her jean shorts. 

"It was a self-defense class." Her voice came out shaky as the reality of what was about to happen hit her. 

"Ready?" 

As soon as she nodded, he moved in an incredible speed and she felt a sudden pressure against . He had an arm locked around her neck— not too tight but just enough for her to feel alarmed and the adrenaline kicked in. She quickly maneuvered sideways and flung herself away from him but he already knew what she was going to do. The next thing she realized, her back was against the wall and his hand on . She quickly hit his arm with more force than necessary that he hunched beside her... allowing her to lock an arm on the back of his head and around his neck. He struggled a little before she lightly kneed him on the abdomen.

"Good." She heard him say before she landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud.

He was kneeling above her and did not miss a second as he bent down as if to kiss her. Her arms shot up to push at his chest and his brows went up. She had pushed too hard and was about to apologize when his hands were suddenly around her neck.

Without missing a beat, she gripped his right wrist with her right hand and did the same with the other. She forcefully raised her hips up high and pulled back down as hard as she could in a crunch until he was bent over her. Moving to her right, she put her left foot on his hip and did the same thing in reverse. In a split second, she pushed herself away from him using her legs and his face landed just below her belly. When he tried to pull away, she stretched her arms and swiftly grabbed his wrists. It was then that she put her legs in between their arms and started kicking the air near his face. 

A proud smile graced his features as she let go of his wrists. 

"There's another quicker technique if you're being held down like that." 

"Yeah?" Her face perked up as he lied down on the floor.

"Get above me."

The sudden authoritative voice surprised her and she quickly did as she was told— bringing her knees on each side of his waist as he encircled her hips with his legs.

"When you're being choked..." He placed her hands on his neck. His gaze never faltered as he instructed her while doing the movements. "Place your right hand on the attacker's right forearm... and your left should be steady on the attacker's left shoulder. Close to the neck."

She nodded as she felt the side of his left hand slightly dig onto her neck. 

"Then you twist to your right while pushing the attacker to the left." He pushed her shoulder and neck with his left hand while the other pulled her right arm. "As you push, lift your left leg over the attacker's head until you're in a sitting position."

He did just that and she felt herself go down the carpet once more—her neck and torso enclosed below his legs. He was perpendicular to her as he gently pulled her right arm. She was about to chuckle at the speed he did that when she realized something was against her arm he was pulling. 

"Pull the arm with as much force as you can while kicking the face and the lower region at the same time." It was a good thing he couldn't see her red face in that position. There was no way she would tell him her arm was pressed against his lower region. 

A memory suddenly occurred and she was transported back into another hotel room... of him lying on the bed with an obvious tent in his pants. That was right after he gave her a choice to leave or stay. Director Choi sat up and made her lie down. Again, another memory from that night flashed... of him above he