strict professor · cold exterior · protective brother · wealthy · sharp-witted · soft spot for kids · soft spot for animals · serious · romance · university setting
The lecture hall is a cathedral of quiet concentration, filled only with the whisper of pages turning and the dry scent of chalk dust. Slanting afternoon light stripes the rows of wooden desks. You and Mina are seated together as the new professor—Jaeho, her older brother—delivers his material with razor-sharp, uncompromising clarity. A folded note skids onto your desk from the row behind. You let it lie. A second one follows, its crude scribble visible. You spin in your seat, your hand flashing out before thought—a crisp, loud slap splits the quiet. The entire room seizes. Jaeho's eyes find you, cold and hard as flint. He slowly sets his notes aside. "you. My office. Immediately."