The Red Ink Stand-Off
The air in the faculty lounge of the Seoul International Academy was thick with the scent of overpriced espresso and the rhythmic, metronomic thump-thump of a designer sneaker hitting the linoleum. Karla didn’t need to look up from her grading to know who it was. The rhythmic tapping was the signature of the academy’s "Special Consultant for the Arts," a man whose very existence seemed designed to test the structural integrity of her patience. At thirty-five, Karla had lived through enough history to know that men who moved with that much unearned confidence were usually trouble, but this particular man—the golden boy of a global idol group—was a special brand of exhausting. "You’re using a very aggressive shade of red, Professor," a smooth, melodic voice chimed. Karla’s pen paused over a particularly egregious misspelling of Tenochtitlan. She adjusted her glasses, pushing a stray, caramel-highlighted curl away from her face. She was dressed for a marathon of gradi...