Chapter 39: Ms. Liu, let me take you out to dinner.

Liu Jimin looked at the man in front of her with curiosity. If she had heard correctly just now, Ming Yan had called her... a quail egg. How on earth did she look like a quail egg?!

"Ahem, a slip of the tongue, purely a slip of the tongue. Teacher Liu, please don't misunderstand." Ming Yan had been careless and accidentally blurted out the nickname he had been thinking of. He couldn't help it; he truly felt the nickname was incredibly fitting. Liu Jimin’s oval-shaped head really did look like a quail egg—big and round. Well, it wasn't that her head was actually big.

"Student Ming Yan, I think you should explain to me what you meant by 'quail egg'." Liu Jimin wasn't about to accept such a perfunctory answer; it was obvious Ming Yan was suppressing a laugh. He wasn't exactly an honest student. She decided to change how she addressed him; after all, she was the teacher now, and respecting one's teacher is a shared cultural value in both China and Korea.

Ming Yan looked sincere. "Teacher Liu, a quail egg is the egg of a quail, and it can also be understood as a type of food."

"You..." Liu Jimin realized she really had no way to deal with this student.

"Teacher Liu, I know a place nearby that makes exceptionally good quail eggs. Why don't I treat you to a meal later?" It was far too easy for Ming Yan to coax a sixteen-year-old girl. Children of that age weren't good at hiding their feelings; everything they thought was written all over their faces. The solution was right in the puzzle itself; the key was just having the patience to study it.

"That wouldn't be very appropriate." The girl was thin-skinned and felt a bit shy.

Ming Yan smiled. "Don't be shy. You’re the teacher, and I’m the student. It’s only natural for a student to treat their teacher to a meal."

Liu Jimin felt awkward accepting, but she also found it hard to refuse. In the end, she could only nod. As for the quail egg... it had long since been replaced by the topic of dinner without anyone noticing.

"Where was I just now?" Liu Jimin regained her focus, preparing to restart the lesson. "Oppa, do you remember?"

"You were talking about competitor etiquette." Taekwondo places great emphasis on etiquette; one must bow to the coach and the opponent after training and matches, a movement that is rarely omitted even in television dramas.

"Oh, I remember now. Next, let’s discuss punching posture." Liu Jimin was primarily responsible for explaining the basics, so she only needed to clarify the general framework. The actual training would come later.

"Got it." Ming Yan focused intently. He didn't take the basics lightly just because they were simple; details were often the most important part. He was playing the role of someone who dreamed of becoming a national Taekwondo athlete, and many of his habits should be subconscious—things someone unfamiliar with the sport wouldn't even think to do.

Liu Jimin demonstrated the basic punching techniques of Taekwondo, and the young girl carried herself with quite a bit of spirit. However, whenever Ming Yan looked at her, he couldn't help but think of a quail egg, which made him want to laugh, distracting him significantly from the task at hand. *Duang, duang, duang.* Ming Yan swore he didn't want to be a creepy older man, but reality didn't shift according to individual will. He could only say that Liu Jimin was truly gifted; she had quite the impressive figure for someone so young.

"Next are the legs. Taekwondo is a sport that uses a lot of leg movements." Liu Jimin explained quickly.

"Legs..." Liu Jimin paused and asked, "What’s wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Nothing." Ming Yan hid the fact that his left leg was injured. Otherwise, given his personality, he would have insisted on learning Taekwondo properly rather than just going through the motions. There was no helping it; his physical limitations meant that sometimes he simply couldn't exert force even if he wanted to. Fortunately, Kim Jisoo and Im Nayeon didn't know he was practicing Taekwondo, otherwise, who knew how they might react. Ming Yan remembered the flying kick Liu Jimin had demonstrated; he should be fine doing that much. A leg injury wasn't a disability, as long as he didn't actually enter a competition.

"Alright. Actually, the way legs are used in Taekwondo is similar to what I demonstrated earlier." Liu Jimin flicked her legs a few times. "Oppa, if you train seriously for a while, you should be able to do it." To some extent, it was much harder for an adult to practice Taekwondo than it was for a child. Children had the most plasticity.

"Then I’ll be troubling you, Teacher Liu."

"You're welcome."

As Ming Yan warmed up, he listened to Liu Jimin explain some of the key points of the basic movements. As the saying goes, men and women working together makes the work easier. Although Ming Yan was drenched in sweat, he was mentally quite pleased. "Huff... huff... Teacher Liu, do you think I'm doing okay?"

"Oppa, you're already quite impressive for your first time, but there is still a lot of room for improvement."

"I didn't hurt you just now, did I?"

"It hurt a little." Liu Jimin flexed her wrists. She had underestimated the strength of an adult man. She had been eager to act as a sparring partner for Ming Yan, but after taking a couple of hits, she realized she couldn't quite handle it. It was truly difficult for a slender girl to withstand the impact of a strong man.

"Alright, I'll go change my clothes, and then I'll treat you to that meal." Ming Yan wiped the sweat away and said with a smile, "The quail eggs at that shop really do taste good."

"Thank you, Oppa." Liu Jimin was actually a bit curious now. Just how good could quail eggs be?

The Taekwondo studio had complete facilities. Ming Yan took a shower, changed his clothes, put his Taekwondo uniform in the locker, and came out to wait for Liu Jimin. A girl's pace was always just a bit slower.

"Teacher Liu..."

"Oppa, you can just call me by my name." Liu Jimin’s face flushed slightly as she stopped Ming Yan from calling her "teacher"—it felt strange to keep using that title once they were out of the studio.

Ming Yan led the young girl to the parking spot. "Then, may I call you Jimin?"

"Yes."

"Jimin, is someone coming to pick you up later? Should I give your parents a heads-up?" Ming Yan had gained experience in looking after kids, even though Liu Jimin was different from Kim Minjeong or Kim Chaewon.

"Oppa, I’m sixteen, not a child." Liu Jimin was very dissatisfied with Ming Yan’s attempt to ask for her parents' permission. "I always take the bus home after training ends."

"Alright then, let's go. Get in the car."

"Is that place very far?"

Ming Yan smiled. "It's right nearby. Don't tell me you're worried I'll kidnap you."

Liu Jimin thought the smile on this oppa's face was extremely annoying. After rolling her eyes in secret, she climbed into the car. She hadn't expected that their accidental meeting at the company would lead to such a connection. The wonder of fate lay in its unpredictability.

"Jimin, do you have any dietary restrictions?" Ming Yan asked while driving.

"I don't eat dried pollack, radish soup, or cilantro."

Doesn't eat cilantro...