Hae-rim sat in her office and watched Jackson put the students for that evening's self-defense class through some simple warm-up exercises.  She knew that she'd have to go out and start the class soon, but she just wasn't ready to start.

"Because you're waiting for Ji Suyeon, and you need to stop it," she scolded herself.  And she was right; she just hated to admit it.  But the fact was that with all the events going on in her life, with all the secrets she had to keep, there wasn't room for a relationship.  It might not even be safe for anyone she was in a relationship with.  "Why does it have to be a relationship?" she asked herself.  "Maybe it could just be a little fling.  I'm still allowed to have fun, right?"  But as soon as she'd had this thought, she knew that it was wrong - Si Juyeon didn't seem like the sort of woman who could be just a short-term fling, and that's one of the things she found interesting about her.  

The clock on her desk clicked over to 7:00 with a soft click.

"Time to start class," she said to herself.  She stood up, smoothed out her uniform, and turned toward the door.  Just then, a movement out in the dojo caught her eye:  The door was opening and someone was coming in.  She stopped to see who it was, at the same time scolding herself for hoping it was Ji Suyeon.  But when she saw that it was Suyeon, a smile spread across her face.  She headed out into the dojo just in time to catch the tail end of Suyeon apologizing to Jackson for being late to the class.

"Well, you only missed the warm-up," she said, capturing Suyeon's attention.  "Jackson, go suit up."  

As Jackson left the room, Hae-rim gathered all the students around her and started into her standard pre-class spiel.  "I want you all to remember that one class isn't going to turn you into a martial artist.  And even if it did, the first rule of self defense is to not let yourself get into a situation where you might need to defend yourself.  Always be aware of your surroundings, and if you see something that strikes you as wrong, put yourself on guard against it."  She noticed that Suyeon was staring intently at her, as if trying to memorize the speech.

Just then she heard Jackson come into the room behind her, and the students looked up to see what they noise was.  She didn't have to turn around to know what they were seeing - she and Jackson taught this class at least once a month.  Jackson would be in the attacker simulation suit, which means he would look like the offspring of a bear and sumo wrestler, covered in mashmallows.  Smiling at her students, she said "This is our attacker simulation suit.  Jackson will be playing the role of the attacker in all of our exercises tonight, and this suit means you can attack him with your full strength, so you'll know what your full strength feels like and you won't be tempted to pull your punches in an actual survival situation.  Now, let's get started.  I need a volunteer to go first - all right, you in the red shirt.  What you need to do is. . ."

They went through scenarios where the attacker approached from the front, from the side, from behind, while they were at an ATM, while they were getting into a car - basically every scenario she had been able to think of.  The class went well until close to the end.  Suyeon was doing a scenario where she was supposed to push Jackson in the chest as hard as she could, then turn and run in the opposite direction as fast as she could.  It looked like a textbook execution until Suyeon ran into one of the pillars holding up the ceilding of the dojo (and Hae-rim's apartment above that).  She fell backwards, apparently unconscious.  Hae-rim rushed over to check on her.  She was still breathing, but she wouldn't open her eyes.

"Okay, class is over," Hae-rim called out.  "Jackson, make sure we've got everyone's contact info so we can reschedule the rest of the training."  Then she pulled out her phone and dialed emergency services.  "Hello, this is Jung Hae-rim at Jung Taekwondo.  One of my students ran into a pillar and knocked herself out.  We need an ambulance."  She made sure the operator had the correct address, then sat down by Suyeon, holding her hand, waiting for the ambulance to show up.

Two hours in and the Mayor's Gala was going smoothly.  The cake had been set up, waiting for the mayor and his wife to cut it later in the night.  And petit fours were flying out of the staging area as quickly as Seo-jeong could get them onto trays and hand the trays of waiters and waitresses.  She was working intently when she heard a familiar voi