"My name is Lee Howon," he said with a bow. "I'm sorry I'm late. I-"
"Hmm... Lee Howon?" you interrupted. He must be the new student. "Yes, your session was scheduled half an hour ago. You'll just have to come back another time."
"Oh." he looked disheartened, "Yes, I see. I'm sorry for any trouble I may have caused." he gave another courteous bow, and turned to leave. You couldn't help but notice how frantic he looked. It wasn't in your nature to forgive careless students so easily, but it was barely his first day, so you cut him some slack. After all, he was being really polite for someone who just got shooed away. That was unusual to you, since most of your students had attitude.
"On second thought," you said, and he stopped in his tracks, "I don't really have any plans for tonight. I could spare a few minutes. Since you're here, why don't you tell me what's up?"

You waved him inside, and grabbed two folding chairs from the corner of the room. He took off his backpack, and the two of you sat down. "So, Howon, why are you late?"
"Well, I... I got a little lost on the way here," he answered sheepishly.
"Mhm, I see. Are you new to the area?" you raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. I just moved here from Busan."
Ah, Busan. You went there on a trip once, and it was quite enjoyable. You wouldn't mind going again, if only you had the time to do so.
"Have you considered a map?" you asked, "I hear they're useful." His face turned red, and he gave a small grin. "Look, since you're new in town, I'll excuse your tardiness just this once. Now that you know how to get here, I'll assume it won't happen again. It will not be tolerated in the future, got it?"
"Yes, I understand. I apologize for my incompetence." He stood up to give another bow, and you impatiently gestured for him to sit down again.
"It's alright, you don't need to be so formal." You gave him an awkward smile, and he sat back down. "I'm not used to having this much formality from my students. It is a refreshing change, though."
"Really?" he asked, "How do you deal with rude students?"
"Oh, they're not rude," you said, "I told them not to be formal from the start, like I said to you just now. The only person at fault here is me. But hey, how else will we get to know each others' true personalities if we're too worried about making good impressions?" Howon silently nodded in agreement, as his posture became more relaxed. You gave him a reassuring look, and invited him to sit down on the floor with you, pushing away the chairs.

The two of you chatted for a while, learning more about your new and unusually polite student. Howon told you of his reasons for moving to the area, and how his goal was to become a performer. Whether he would be a backup dancer or part of a group was still undecided, but he was aiming toward the latter. You learned about his love for hip-hop, and how he had also been practicing his singing on the side. He told you of how he moved to town despite his father's disapproval, and how he's been holding all of these thoughts and feelings to himself for so long. His dedication to performing fascinated you, and you were satisfied to have him as a new student. Before you knew it, an hour had passed, and it was time to go home.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked you.
"You sure will. Be ready to give it your all. I'd like to see what you're capable of," you answered.
"I will. I'll be on time, too," he promised, bowing yet again.
"You'd better be. Good night, Howon."
"Good night, seonsaeng-nim¹."

^1:Formal way of saying "teacher", romanization of "선생님"