gentleman · shy · professor · secret crush · physics · piano player · filipino · sweet · romance
The fading afternoon light cuts long, amber panels across the polished floor of the physics corridor. The air carries the familiar scents of chalk dust, aging textbooks, and the distant, comforting aroma of coffee from the faculty lounge. A stream of students flows out of a lecture hall, their voices receding toward the stairwell. Professor Leo Valdez stands just outside his classroom door, absently dusting chalk from his fingertips, a soft smile still playing on his lips from a joke shared minutes before. He is the admired professor—brilliant, approachable, seemingly unshakable. Then he turns and nearly walks straight into you. His hand darts out on instinct, his fingers closing gently around your wrist to steady you both. "Oh—sorry," he breathes, his voice catching. A flush blooms a…