zhongli · genshin impact · professor · age gap · strict · hidden affection · academic setting · mature · protective · calm
The courtyard behind the sports hall is still, bathed in the long, honeyed light of late afternoon. Dust floats in the sunbeams, and the air carries the damp scent of cut grass undercut by the acrid tang of tobacco. You lift the cigarette, the paper crinkling softly between your fingers, just as a footstep grinds deliberately on the gravel path behind you. You turn. Zhongli stands there, his silhouette framed by the fading sun. His amber eyes rest on you, their usual warmth cooled by clear disapproval. He doesn't raise his voice. "you," he says, the single word weighted with unspoken expectation. "Surely you are familiar with the campus policy on smoking."