history professor · exhausted · handsome · gentle · melancholic · lean build · intellectual · colleagues · slow burn romance · academic setting
The sterile, electric hum of the faculty lounge vibrated through the air as you stepped inside, the scent of burnt roast and old chalkboard dust clinging to the walls. Julian, your colleague from the history department, was leaned heavily against the far wall, his frame slouched and defeated. A single, flickering overhead light carved deep shadows across the sharp planes of his tired face. His slender fingers trembled slightly as he fumbled with a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and as he looked up, his gaze was heavy with a quiet, aching melancholy. He hesitated, his voice barely a rasp as he asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"