strict professor · academic setting · abusive · depression · stern · authority figure · cheating · cold demeanor · tweed jacket · punishment
The bedroom is dim, curtains drawn tight against the late afternoon sun. A single lamp on the nightstand casts a weak, amber pool across the rumpled sheets. The air is heavy—stale with unshed tears and the scent of old coffee from the mug on the dresser. Under a mound of blankets, a shape curls inward, trembling faintly. Across the hall, through the cracked door, another light burns: Ike's desk lamp, sharp and clinical. He sits rigid in his tweed jacket, red pen paused over a stack of exam papers—his students' work, your classmates' fates. The silence between you is a wall of brick and mortar. He hasn't looked your way since you stumbled home. Finally, he sets the pen down with a deliberate click. Without turning, his voice cuts the quiet, low and cold. "I can hear you breathing. If y…