The next morning at Iron Tiger was worse than the first.
The coaches had decided "yesterday's effort was just the warm-up."
Today, they doubled the laps, tripled the push-ups, and added something they called the "Tiger Crawl," which was basically moving across the mat like an exhausted lizard.
By the time the final bell rang, Soon Hae's legs were wobbling like overcooked noodles. She grabbed her bag and staggered toward the door and nearly bumped into someone standing in the hallway.
---
He was leaning casually against the wall, one foot crossed over the other. A black sports mask covered the lower half of his face, and his hoodie hung loose over his frame.
It took her a moment, but then she recognized him.
"You!" she blurted. "You're the guy who"
" Came to your restaurant?" he finished smoothly, his eyes crinkling into a smirk.
She crossed her arms. "You didn't even apologize to me, you sounded so rude like I'm always clumsy."
"Oops never knew you weren't...," he said. "But you almost killed me with your glares."
Her ears warmed. "…I wasn't glaring. I was… projecting and warming up."
---
He chuckled and pushed off the wall. " And you're the scholarship rookie who dances in the ring."
She groaned. "Does everyone know about that?"
"Pretty much," he said with zero sympathy. "But your footwork isn't terrible. It's just… not boxing footwork."
"That's comforting," she muttered.
He studied her for a moment, then tilted his head. "You want help?"
She blinked. "Help?"
"I train here sometimes. I've got free time in the afternoons. I can show you some basics stuff they won't teach you in the group drills."
Her pride bristled. "I don't need special treatment"
"It's not special treatment," he said with a shrug. "It's survival, If you keep flailing like that, you're going to get chewed up in sparring."
She hesitated. He wasn't wrong. Yesterday's fall into the ropes replayed in her mind.
"…Fine," she said finally. "But only because I don't want to die."
He grinned under the mask. "Good. First lesson: eat something. You're going to need fuel."
The name is Ming Tian
---
They ended up at a street food stall just outside the academy. Steam curled from bubbling pots of tteokbokki and odeng broth. The smell made Soon Hae's stomach growl loudly enough for Ming tian to notice.
"Sounds like you're starving," he said, ordering two servings before she could protest.
The vendor handed over paper cups of odeng skewers and a plate piled high with fiery red tteokbokki.
"Careful," Ming Tian warned as she bit into a rice cake. "That's..."
She coughed, eyes watering. "spicy. I know."
---
They ate leaning against the stall's counter, the afternoon breeze carrying the distant shouts of kids playing in the alley.
"So," Ming Tian said, "why boxing?"
She hesitated. "My mom was a boxer, A good one but She… died in a shipwreck years ago. I guess I just… want to be like her Or at least not be a complete embarrassment when I say I'm her daughter."
His eyes softened. "That's a better reason than most people I've met here."
"What about you?" she asked. "Why are you hiding behind a mask?"
He smirked. "Because I like to keep people guessing. Makes them underestimate me."
---
By the time they finished eating, her soreness hadn't gone away, but something else had replaced the heaviness in her chest the sense that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't alone in this fight.
As they walked back toward the harbor, Ming Tian said casually, "Tomorrow. After training Meet me at the side entrance. I'll show you something your coaches won't."
She nodded, curiosity sparking.
Whatever it was, she had a feeling it was going to hurt… but in the good way.
---