After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

Gu Qinghan's office door wasn't closed properly.

When Zhu Xun Chuan pushed open the door, the cool air from the air conditioner, carrying the scent of citrus, hit his face. The blinds were drawn tightly shut, and the fluorescent lights were on halfway, casting an ambiguous, dim light over the entire office.

Gu Qinghan sat behind her desk.

I changed my outfit today. I wore a dark gray high-waisted pencil skirt, two fingers shorter than usual, with the hem ending just above my knee. On top, I wore a thin black knit top with a small V-neck. It wasn't deep, but the fabric clung to my body, clearly outlining my figure.

She had changed her silver-rimmed glasses. They were narrower than her usual ones, and the frames were pulled down low. When she looked at people from above the lenses, the corners of her eyes naturally turned upwards, giving her an imposing air, like a headmaster interrogating a criminal.

A bamboo ruler sits on the table.

Thirty centimeters long, with brass edging, and an antique feel.

Zhu Xunchuan's gaze lingered on the ruler for a second.

"close the door."

He shut it down.

"Lock it up."

"Teacher Gu, isn't that inappropriate? Let's not go."

"Lock."

He still didn't lock it.

Gu Qinghan did not offer him a seat.

She picked up the ruler and tapped it lightly on the table. A crisp, clean tap.

"The whole school has heard about what happened in the cafeteria."

Zhu Xunchuan stood at the door without moving.

"What is it?"

*Smack.* The ruler struck again.

"'Even if the King of Heaven himself came, she'd still be mine.'" Gu Qinghan's tone was flat, and as he read it, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly. "You're quite the talker, Zhu. Your modern literature studies are so-so, but you can spout sweet nothings off like a charm."

"That's a special case..."

"Special circumstances?" Gu Qinghan stood up.

The pencil skirt rippled into a taut curve as she stood up. She walked around the desk, her high heels clicking rhythmically on the floor.

I walked up to him and stopped.

The tip of the ruler touched his chest.

"During class this morning, Professor Fu read aloud the love poems you wrote in front of the whole class. What was your reaction? You sat still."

"What can I do? She's a professor..."

"Me too." The ruler slid down two inches. "After she finished reading it, she told you to go to the office, and you went without even bending your knees."

"She's a professor, I can't refuse..."

"You weren't this enthusiastic when you came to my office."

Gu Qinghan took a half step forward with the tip of her shoe.

The pointed toes of his high heels pressed against the floor between his feet. Then her calves pressed against him.

The fabric of the black stockings brushed against his trouser leg. From his ankle upwards, slowly, with a light but gentle friction, it pushed up two inches along the outside of his calf.

Zhu Xunchuan's calf tensed up.

Gu Qinghan glanced down at the position of her legs, then looked up again, her expression unchanged.

"What's wrong? Are your legs going weak?"

"Ms. Gu, if the academic affairs office sees what you did, you'll have to write a self-criticism."

"I do."

Zhu Xun Chuan took a breath and decided to use his life-saving skill.

"Teacher Gu."

"Um?"

"Your dress looks beautiful today."

Gu Qinghan stopped using the ruler.

"It's a little shorter than the last one, and the waistline is higher." Zhu Xun Chuan's gaze swept over her waistline frankly. "It goes well with this cardigan. The dark gray and black don't weigh down your skin tone; instead, they accentuate the lines of your neck."

Gu Qinghan's brow twitched slightly.

Stop changing the subject.

"I didn't move. I'm stating the facts." Zhu Xun Chuan took half a step forward, reducing the distance between them to less than twenty centimeters. "You changed your glasses."

"...Stop talking nonsense."

"Last week they were black-rimmed, today they're silver-rimmed. Silver-rimmed earrings make your face look smaller than black-rimmed ones, and they match your earrings perfectly today."

Gu Qinghan moved her finger on the ruler.

Her ears began to turn red.

Starting from the upper edge of the earlobe, the color gradually spreads downwards, and when it reaches the earlobe, the small silver stud stands out against the pink skin.

"You observe women very carefully." Her voice dropped half an octave.

"It's only when I'm looking at you that I feel this way."

The ruler smacked him on the shoulder with a "smack." It didn't hurt; the force was as light as a dragonfly skimming the water.

"Glib-tongued."

But she didn't back away.

She raised her chin to look at him, her eyes behind the silver-rimmed glasses holding a coldness, and something else entirely. She hid that something very well, but the distance was too great to conceal it.

Her left hand loosened from the ruler and rested on his shoulder.

She slowly closed her five fingers, pinching the fabric on his shoulder.

"Zhu Xunchuan."

"Um."

"You put your arm around Shen Tianxi's waist in the cafeteria."

"That's a protective maneuver..."

"You told the whole school that she was yours."

"Special context..."

Her fingers tightened, the tips digging into the muscles of his shoulder. It was no longer a gentle pressure.

"You stayed in Fu Xinghe's office for twenty-three minutes."

Accurate to the minute.

Zhu Xun Chuan decided to shut up.

Gu Qinghan's gaze fell on his lips.

It paused for a second.

She tiptoed slightly, the frame of her silver-rimmed glasses brushing against his chin. The lipstick on her lips had a very faint scent, a cool-toned rose-beige color, so close that he could see a faint crack on her lower lip.

Her breath fell on the corner of his mouth.

It's warm.

With a barely perceptible urgency.

Then......

dong dong dong.

knocking.

Three times. The rhythm is even.

Gu Qinghan froze.

Her lips were less than three centimeters away from his.

dong dong.

He knocked twice more. Not in a hurry, not slowly.

"Teacher Gu, I've come to return the lesson plan I borrowed this morning."

Fu Xinghe's voice came through the door. It was calm, detached, and devoid of any extraneous emotional fluctuations.

Gu Qinghan withdrew her hand from Zhu Xunchuan's shoulder. The movement was swift and decisive, as if nothing had happened.

She took a step back, tugged at the hem of her cardigan, adjusted her glasses, and walked back to sit down behind her desk.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Fu Xinghe stood at the door. He wasn't wearing a suit today; instead, he wore a cream-colored silk shirt, tucked into smoky gray wide-leg trousers. His hair was loosely pinned up, with a few stray strands falling beside his neck.

Her gaze first fell on Zhu Xun Chuan.

Then move it to Gu Qinghan's face.

Gu Qinghan's expression remained unchanged. However, she casually pushed the ruler on the table under the documents.

Fu Xinghe walked in and placed a lesson plan on the corner of his desk.

"I borrowed your teaching syllabus for 'The Cry' this morning, here you go."

"Just leave it there."

Fu Xinghe did not leave.

She turned around, leaned against the side of the desk, and rested her hands on the edge. Her gaze swept across Gu Qinghan's face and landed on Zhu Xunchuan.

"Zhu must have been quite busy at noon." Her tone was devoid of any emotion. "She came to my office in the morning, went to the cafeteria to hug me at noon, and then came to Teacher Gu's place to do the hard labor in the afternoon. A master of time management."

Gu Qinghan did not respond.

But she pinched the pen cap under the table with her fingers.

"Professor Fu," Gu Qinghan raised her eyes, her voice neither warm nor cold, "Our offices are so far apart, and you rushed to return the lesson plan after only one afternoon. Thank you for your hard work."

"On the way."

"Is it convenient to go from the fourth floor to the third floor?"

"It's just on the way."

The two stared at each other for two seconds.

The cold air blowing down from the air conditioner caused a strand of Gu Qinghan's hair to be blown up.

"Teacher Gu," Fu Xinghe tilted his head slightly, his amber eyes sweeping over Zhu Xunchuan, "taking up students' lunch break time, aren't you blurring the lines between public and private matters?"

"I discipline my own students; I don't need a specially appointed professor to worry about it."

"I wasn't worried." Fu Xinghe's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile. "I was just reminding you that some things, if you hold on too tightly, can easily break."

The air felt as if it were covered with a thin layer of ice.

Gu Qinghan took off her glasses and placed them on the table. She interlaced her fingers and rested them on her chin, looking up at Fu Xinghe. When she wasn't wearing her glasses, her features were softer than usual, but at this moment, there was no softness in her eyes at all.

"Professor Fu, don't worry. I know what I'm doing, whether it breaks or not."

Her gaze shifted to Zhu Xun Chuan, then back.

"But you, on your very first day of class, read a student's love letter aloud in front of everyone. Does the academic affairs office know about this?"

Fu Xinghe's expression finally changed slightly.

It's subtle. Not awkward, but a calm that quickly recovers after being touched on.

"That's classroom interaction."

"Reading love letters during class interaction?"

"Literary appreciation requires authentic texts."

Neither of them spoke loudly. But Zhu Xun Chuan, standing in the middle, felt like a piece of meat on a chopping board, with two knives vying for the right to cut him.

"Um... teachers," he raised his hand, "I have classes this afternoon..."

"What's your hurry?" Gu Qinghan and Fu Xinghe spoke at the same time.

Then the two looked at each other.

The air froze for 0.5 seconds.

Zhu Xun Chuan withdrew his raised hand.

Fu Xinghe looked away first. She straightened up, straightened her shirt cuffs, and took two steps toward the door.

She paused as she passed Zhu Xun Chuan.

She didn't look at him. But her voice was very low.

"Send me the first draft of that paper to my email tonight."

After saying that, he left.

The figure in the silk shirt disappeared through the doorway, and the sound of footsteps fading into the distance echoed in the corridor.

There were only two people left in the office again.

Gu Qinghan put her glasses back on, opened the drawer, and took out a stack of papers.

"Continue proofreading. Sit down."

"Teacher Gu..."

"Call me 'sister'."

"...Sister Qinghan."

"Sit down and get to work." She lowered her head and flipped through her thesis, her voice muffled. "You're not allowed to go anywhere."

Zhu Xunchuan sat down.

He picked up a red pen and began proofreading. The office fell silent again. Only the scratching sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper could be heard.

About thirty seconds passed.

Gu Qinghan did not look up.

I didn't like the way she looked at you just now.

The voice was very soft. So soft it sounded like talking to oneself.

Zhu Xun Chuan paused for a moment.

"And about the cafeteria incident." She turned a page of her paper. "Next time, before you put your arm around someone's waist, let me know first."

"Does this also need to be reported?"

"Your research is under my supervision. I am your advisor, and everything about you is under my control."

Zhu Xun Chuan couldn't help but chuckle.

Gu Qinghan poked a dot on the paper with the tip of her pen.

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing. I think Qinghan looks quite cute when she's jealous."

Snapped.

He pulled the ruler from under the documents and slammed it on the table.

"Say it again?"

"I said... after you've finished proofreading this page, turn to the next page."

Gu Qinghan stared at him for two seconds.

Then he put the ruler back in the drawer.

A sliver of sunlight peeked through the gap in the blinds, landing squarely on her hand resting on the table. Her index finger tapped the surface lightly, almost unconsciously.

The rhythm is about as fast as my heartbeat.

It was quiet for about ten minutes.

Zhu Xunchuan's phone vibrated in his pocket.

He ignored it.

Another tremor.

It shook five times in a row.

He took it out and glanced at it.

The nickname is "Bodyguard A".

A message.

"Mr. Zhu, Miss's car is downstairs at the Faculty of Arts. She said she wants you to come down and keep her company during her afternoon nap. She didn't sleep well at noon and is in a bad mood. You'd better hurry."

The second one appeared a dozen seconds later.

"She was peeling an apple with a butterfly knife. But I don't think she was actually trying to peel the apple."