In the band's living room, Qiu Qiu had pushed the coffee table and sofa to one side to allow for some fancy footwork.  In the studio, the girls would stand behind Qiu Qiu and watch her in a mirror. Since they had no mirror access in the makeshift rehearsal space, Qiu Qiu faced Niu Nai so they could watch each other’s moves.

The steps they were working on were relatively new. Qiu Qiu rotated her hips and stepped back on a beat she clapped out. Niu Nai copied her, while Qiu Qiu stood still and continued clapping the rhythm.

"Okay, not bad! Again, but add this shoulder roll."

Niu Nai followed the instructions. Qiu Qiu added a heel spin to the end of the sequence and watched her student reproduce it. It was nearly perfect except for the hip rotation. She guided Niu Nai's hands to her waist, and placed her own palms against Niu Nai's hips.

"Again," Qiu Qiu instructed.

Niu Nai pushed off against her instructor, who repeated, "Again. Slower. Feel my hips."

Niu Nai felt her hips alright. She forced herself not to daydream. She couldn't fantasize about her trainer, especially not when they were alone like this. She pressed her lips shut, and squinted.

"Again! Two, three, four..." Qiu Qiu called out.

Niu Nai screwed up her eyebrows trying to focus. Qiu Qiu noticed the default Niu Nai face and laughed, "Hey, relax. Let's take a break. You look like you're intensely into this but don't give yourself a hernia."

"Nah. I'm okay, let's continue," Niu Nai insisted, not moving her hands from Qiu Qiu's narrow waist.

"Okay then," Qiu Qiu dropped her gaze from her student's serious eyebrows, down to her hips. "Again!"

Niu Nai strained to be more attentive to the moves, and less so to her teacher's physique. It was so difficult for her to do dance steps, relax her face muscles and keep her hands on Qiu Qiu's waist without drifting into some nonsensical romance scenario. She squeezed her eyebrows together and misstepped.

"Careful. Again." Luckily, Qiu Qiu was being pretty patient.

In the end, Niu Nai was proud of herself. She had gotten through the two hours of her first torture lesson. She was thankful she wouldn't be having her lesson with Zi Lun for another two days. This left her ample time to unwind, and to get in as many cold showers as she could.