Chuntao, a Chinese American triathlete who works in admin for an insurance company, is used to dating snobby men who like her because she is sad and Asian. Her last boyfriend, who she refers to as Ex, was a rich white man whose family owned a boat. Chuntao's coworker Angela calls Ex "Fuckbag" and tells Chuntao that she needs to date good men. She then sets her up on a date with a man she knows from church named Gabe Dove. Gabe Dove meets Chuntao at a bar on her side of town and immediately likes her. She thinks that Gabe Dove is boring and looks like her cousins because he is Asian (from Burma), but she wants to have sex. They go back to Gabe Dove's apartment and sleep together; Chuntao thinks it is boring. He convinces her to stay and they have sex together the next morning, which Chuntao thinks is fun. Then, they go get donuts. Chuntao and Gabe Dove begin sleeping together each weekend. He always wants to go on dates, and she usually has fun, but she mostly is in it for the sex. Gabe Dove suggests that they go on a double date with Angela, but Chuntao does not want to do so. One night, when they are sleeping together, she tells Gabe to punch her. Gabe does not want to and seems concerned by such a request. Chuntao insists, and he tells her he will, but not now. Chuntao starts to feel like she is getting better. She feels good mentally and physically and one day decides to swim across the whole river. She is excited to tell Gabe Dove when she meets him, but he looks sad, though he is happy for her. Gabe tells her that he does not think their relationship is working out because Chuntao is selfish, scared, and immature, to which she replies that he is boring and not good in bed. Gabe Dove tells Chuntao that this is the punch she has been waiting for. Years later, Chuntao checks out a copy of a Chinese history book. The book mentions Myanmar, which is now called Burma, where Gabe Dove is from. Chuntao carries the book with her, the word Burma etched in her mind, and thinks about how she once asked Gabe what he knew about pain. He replied, "You'll see."