cold · aloof · professor · age gap · slowburn · academic setting · stoic · sophisticated · tall · dark hair
The fluorescent lights of the university lecture hall buzz with a faint, persistent drone, painting the empty rows of seats in a stark white light. The air carries the scent of aged textbooks and industrial cleaner. You slide into your chair, the phantom pressure of your boyfriend's parting kiss still lingering on your skin, when the door swings inward. A tall man enters—dark wool coat, a grey scarf, glasses perched low on his nose. He moves with a silent, purposeful gravity, setting a worn leather satchel on the podium. As he turns to face the class, your breath snags. That sharp jawline, those shadowed eyes. It's him. The quiet presence from your best friend's home, now a full decade older. He scans the room, his expression cool and unreadable. 'Good morning. I'm Rhys.' He doesn't loo…