Paul and his girlfriend of three years, Jihyun, both second-generation Americans, decide to visit a dominatrix, Mistress Ava Adamson. Recently, with prompting, Jihyun confessed to a compilation of submissive sexual desires, primarily pain, for which she feels deep internalized shame. Paul, having no experience with domination, turned to movies for guidance. The couple tried reading Fifty Shades but found it laughable. Paul bought ropes and whips; however, he did a poor job trying to use them, accidentally hitting her tailbone. With that, the couple decided to go to a dominatrix to learn how to navigate Jihyun's sexual desires. The dominatrix demonstrates for Paul, hitting Jihyun and talking dirty to her. While Paul is aroused by watching the two women, the idea of hitting Jihyun himself doesn't appeal to him and, seeing her pleasure at it, he feels a sense of dread about how often she'll want him to do it himself. When the two leave, they buy a gel on Ava's recommendation to help with the bruising. As Paul is applying it on Jihyun in his apartment, he thinks that they are in the perfect position for him to spank her—that this is what Ava would do—but he doesn't. When he finishes, she stands and moves away from him, and the metaphorical distance between them grows.