After speaking with her team about the man and his message for over an hour, Bomi had walked out of the conference room with a massive headache. She wanted badly to swallow a painkiller and take a nap, but couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. The image of the man unreluctantly popping that cyanide pill and convulsing until he died had stained Bomi’s mind. She couldn’t stomach the thought of taking a pill right now, even if it was meant to help her. She also couldn’t sleep with her mind swimming with messy, incoherent thoughts.

The man had mentioned that someone had found Bomi and that she would be hearing from them soon. It wasn’t possible to rest easily after receiving that deeply disturbing message. Naeun had promised that she would tell her father of this, and they would begin an investigation right away, but there was nothing much they could do at the moment. The man had simply made a threat, and they didn’t know if and when it would be fulfilled. The only thing they could do right now was stay alert and wait, but Bomi couldn’t be alone with her thoughts right now.

So she was going to do what she always did: run.

When Bomi returned to her room, she changed into workout clothes and running shoes and was out the door within five minutes. She was halfway to the gym when someone called her name from behind her.

It was Chorong. She was wearing a tight tank-top and leggings, and her hair was tied into a high ponytail. Bomi took one look at the leader’s appearance and knew right away that Chorong was also on her way to work out.

“Are you going to run?” Chorong asked.

“Yes,” Bomi answered. “Are you headed to the gym too?”

“No, not the gym,” Chorong replied. She grabbed Bomi’s wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction. “Come with me.”

“To where?”

“The training room.”

“Why?”

“You said you’d like to spar with me sometime, didn’t you?” Chorong said. “Let’s go.”

Chorong turned around and walked away, her ponytail swaying behind her like a pendulum. Bomi just stared after her in shock and disbelief. Chorong disappeared around the corner, and Bomi murmured something to herself before she set off after the older woman.

When Bomi arrived in the training room, Chorong was already waiting on the sparring mat with two blunted swords in her hands. She tossed one of them to Bomi. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to spar with or without weapons.”

“I’m fine with swords,” Bomi said.

“No knives?”

“I can do without them,” Bomi replied. She took her position across from Chorong on the mat. “Why are you doing this?”

“You said you wanted to spar with me.”

“I know, but why now?”

“Does there have to be a perfect time to spar?”

“You’re impossible,” Bomi groaned.

“I try,” Chorong grinned ruefully. She slipped out a coin from her leggings’ pocket. “When the coin lands, we start.”

Bomi held her sword out in front of her and nodded. Chorong flipped the coin up, and the moment it touched the mat, Chorong disappeared in front of Bomi.

At least that’s what it looked like. The leader had moved so quickly that Bomi had barely seen her move. Bomi just barely dodged Chorong’s blade. She swiveled on her heel and initiated a retaliation, but Chorong was too fast. Their blades clashed together, and for the slightest of seconds, they held their positions and stared at each other.

Bomi had thought that she had already seen all of Chorong’s changes, but the expression Chorong was wearing now was completely different from anything Bomi had ever seen before. She looked deadly serious, yet at the same time electrified. As Chorong pulled her sword back and prepared another attack, Bomi thought that she had never seen Chorong more alive.

Bomi blocked Chorong’s attack and rolled out of the way. She attempted a scissor kick to Chorong’s ankles, but the leader easily evaded it.

When Eunji fought with a sword, she danced with her blade, gliding and slicing through the air like the blade was simply an extension of her arm. But when Chorong fought, she became the sword. Wherever her blade went, her body followed in one movement to the point where it was difficult to differentiate which part was Chorong and which part was the weapon. Even her hair moved in harmony with her sword. It was as though Chorong had been made to fight.

Bomi thought that it was deadly―and utterly beautiful.

Eunji’s swordsmanship was beautiful too, but Chorong’s was completely unique and captivating. Bomi had never seen anything like it, but that was probably because she had never sparred against Chorong before. Now that Bomi was experiencing what everyone in Chorong’s class had experienced, Bomi knew why Chorong had earned her reputation as the All-Star Student.

Chorong aimed a strike to Bomi’s side, and Bomi immediately blocked it with her own sword. Bomi grabbed Chorong's wrist with her free hand, and Chorong did the same. They remained in a tight lock, trying to overpower and disarm the other. Chorong’s face was bright red and strained with effort as she tried to push against Bomi’s strength, and Bomi was pretty sure that she looked the same as she tried to return the effort.

At the same time, they exerted one last push of effort, and both of their swords were ripped from their hands. They clattered off to the side, and Bomi and Chorong watched breathlessly as they skittered away from them. They turned back to each other at the same time, and from the look in Chorong’s eyes, Bomi knew what was going to happen next.

Chorong dug her fist towards Bomi’s belly, but Bomi easily blocked it and sidestepped away. Neither of them tried to recover their swords; they just transitioned into a fistfight. They weren’t wearing any gloves or protective gear, but that didn’t deter Chorong from still putting her all into her attacks. The leader didn’t cushion her blows, and neither did Bomi.

There wasn’t much need for protective gear, anyways. Neither of them were landing many of their punches, because whenever one punched, the other dodged. It wasn’t that they were getting tired or because their aims were off; it was because both of them moved so quickly and wisely.

Eventually, Bomi managed to knock Chorong off of her feet. The leader fell to the mat, but she rolled out of the way before Bomi could trap her. With her body still on the mat, Chorong ensnared Bomi’s leg with her own and pulled Bomi into a tight lock. Suddenly, their fight had taken to the mat.

They struggled against each other on the mat. They had learned jiu jitsu back in the academy, and evidently, they both retained those skills. Chorong trapped Bomi in a tight hold, and Bomi gritted her teeth and pushed back, breaking free from the leader. It didn’t take long for Chorong to find a way to trap Bomi again, this time with both her arms wrapped tightly over Bomi’s shoulders and her legs hugging around Bomi’s hips and pressing down on her pelvis.

Chorong pressed down with her feet, applying pressure on Bomi’s hips, and Bomi let out an unintentional shout. Bomi tried to break free, but Chorong tightened her body around Bomi’s. Chorong’s entire body was pressed so firmly against Bomi that Bomi could feel Chorong’s heavy breathing against her back. She could feel Chorong’s warmth and slick sweat clinging to her body and her lips tightly meshed to Bomi’s head. Hair fell over Bomi’s face, but Bomi couldn’t tell if it was her own hair or Chorong’s.

Ultimately, Bomi couldn’t take it anymore and tapped the mat three times. Immediately, Chorong released Bomi, and Bomi leaned away, choking and gasping for air. She was vaguely aware of Chorong panting heavily and trying to catch her own breath behind her.

Bomi rolled flat onto her back and splayed out her arms and legs as she tried to recover. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chorong shift towards her side. The leader peered over Bomi. “Are you alright?”

“We fought in three different styles, and you managed to best me in all of them,” Bomi gasped.

“Not all of them,” Chorong said. “You were the one who knocked me down to the mat.”

“Fair enough,” replied Bomi. “You still won, though.”

“You’re a good fighter, Bomi.”

“You’re better. I fought you in three different styles, and now I know how you earned your coveted title back in the academy.” Bomi pulled up her shirt’s collar and dabbed at her sweat. “Who would've thought that someone as small as you could be so good at jiu jitsu.”

“I’m full of surprises, I guess,” shrugged Chorong.  She stood and went to retrieve towels from the nearby rack. When she returned, she dropped a towel on Bomi’s chest and set a water bottle down next to her head.

Bomi sat up and thanked Chorong. She gladly took the water bottle and drained half of it in one go. Chorong watched her carefully, and when Bomi lowered the water bottle, Chorong asked, “Do you feel better now?”

“Yes, I can breathe a lot better when I don’t have someone choking the life out of me.”

“No, about the other thing,” Chorong clarified. “What you were going to run for.”

“Oh,” Bomi said. She capped the bottle and put it down. With a jolt, she realized that during the whole spar, she hadn’t thought once about that man and the message. But then again, she had been a bit preoccupied marveling at Chorong’s magnificent skills while at the same time being choked by her magnificent skills. Suddenly, Bomi knew why Chorong had wanted to spar with her in the first place. 

“I do,” Bomi answered. “Thank you, Unnie.”

“From now on, I don’t want you to just run your heart away when you have something bothering you. I want you to face your issues head-on.” Chorong held out her hand towards Bomi. “Face them, Bomi. Face your demons.”