Chapter 2
What was one supposed to do upon finding out the person they’d had a one-night stand with was their professor?
At that moment, Kelly felt utter despair.
Melissa, still buzzing with excitement, looked down and noticed Kelly slumped over her desk like the world had ended. “What’s wrong, Kelly? You look like you just swallowed a pile of crap.”
Honestly? Kelly would’ve taken that over this.
“Melissa,” she croaked, almost in tears. “I’m done for. I’m absolutely, completely done for.”
“Why?” Melissa asked, confused.
Just then, a calm, clear voice echoed from the stage. “Settle down.”
His voice sounded just like that man’s from that night.
Kelly’s last shred of hope was crushed. It really was him. Even though it had been raspier that night, she’d recognize it anywhere.
The classroom went dead silent in an instant. It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
The man’s pleasant voice came through the microphone, filling every corner of the room. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Leon Butler, and I’ll be teaching you anatomy this semester.”
“Whoa!”
“Oh my god…”
As soon as his words fell, the room erupted into excited squeals.
At that moment, Kelly realized how her feelings at that time were different from those of others. She thought her eardrums might actually burst when Melissa started screaming like a fangirl beside her.
Leon raised his hand, and the students immediately quieted down. “Alright. Without further ado, let’s dive into a brief overview of the fundamentals of human anatomy.”
The projector screen flickered to life with a PowerPoint slide. Leon stood tall and poised, like a snow-dusted pine tree in winter—elegant, composed, and effortlessly drawing everyone’s attention.
“Anatomy is the scientific study of the structure of the human body. Through observation, microscopy, and imaging, we explore the shape, placement, relationships, and development of human organs and tissues…”
His voice was calm and steady as it filled the classroom, and every student listened as if it were the most important lecture of their lives. This was true for every student except Kelly, who squirmed in her seat, unable to focus on a single thing he said.
Melissa noticed how fidgety Kelly was and whispered in her ear, “What’s with you? Do you have hemorrhoids or something? Why are you squirming?”
Why was she so uncouth? Kelly, who had been huddled in her seat, too afraid to look up, finally straightened up, her back aching from the awkward position.
However, as soon as she lifted her head, her eyes locked with Leon’s. For a second, her mind went blank. Meanwhile, Leon paused mid-sentence, his eyes trained in her direction.
“What’s going on?”
“Why did the professor stop?”
The class murmured in confusion.
Melissa tugged on Kelly’s sleeve and whispered, “Is it just me, or is the professor looking straight at you?”
Kelly snapped out of it and pretended to look behind her. “No way! He’s probably looking at someone behind me. Maybe they were distracted in class and got caught,” she said with a strained smile.
Leon’s eyes flickered for a brief moment—almost imperceptibly—but he quickly composed himself and picked up where he left off. No one noticed how tightly he was gripping the laser pointer, his knuckles turning white.
Did he recognize her? Probably not… right? Kelly wasn’t sure, but she hoped the professor didn’t remember her.
“Please, please, please, God,” she prayed inwardly.
Just then, Leon’s voice sounded. “Alright, you there, in the third row from the back, fifth seat from the right—the young lady in the gray jacket. Can you answer the question I just asked?”
He was so precise, like he had the accuracy of pi down to the last decimal.
Kelly was caught off guard as everyone’s eyes turned to her in unison. When she looked up, she met Leon’s deep gaze. Was it too late to take off her gray jacket now?
Bewildered, she stood up.
With a gentle smile, Leon said, “Please answer the question I just asked.”
Kelly had no idea what the question was. She’d been completely out of it since the start of the class. Her mind was blank, so she asked, “W-What’s the question again?”
Snickers echoed around the room.
Leon seemed to have endless patience as he reiterated, “I asked about the most commonly used staining method for paraffin sections. We covered it just a few minutes ago.”
Kelly looked to Melissa for help. Melissa silently mouthed the answer, but she couldn’t make out a thing. Hence, she murmured, “I… don’t know.”
He looked at her calmly. “What’s your name?”
Oh no. Kelly had a feeling that the question was just an excuse. What he really wanted to find out was her name. She almost blurted out a fake name, but she chickened out.
“My name is Kelly Valencia,” she answered meekly.
A flicker of something unreadable crossed Leon’s eyes. “So, Kelly, is that right?”
She couldn’t even look him in the eye, and her scalp tingled with nerves.
“Spacing out in my very first class,” Leon said lightly. “Drop by my office after class.”
Kelly’s heart sank. “Yes, Professor Butler.”
Then, she sank back into her seat, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread.
“Don’t worry, Kelly. He seems super gentle. He definitely won’t do anything to you,” Melissa whispered, attempting to comfort her.
Kelly remained completely still.
Gentle? Hah, he’d been anything but that in bed.
Melissa added, “Besides, now you’ve got an excuse to talk to him alone. It’s a win-win situation!”
But Kelly didn’t want that; anyone who wanted that opportunity could take it instead.
The class finally came to an end. Leon packed up and walked out, leaving behind a room full of giddy students raving about how good looking he was and how dreamy his voice sounded.
In the past, Kelly would have been part of that buzz. But at that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to smile.
“Melissa,” Kelly called out, grabbing Melissa’s hand. “If anything happens to me… burn me a copy of the ending of The King of Pirates.”
With that, she turned and walked away with a determined look.
Melissa stared after her, dumbfounded. Kelly was just going to meet their professor. Why did it seem like she was going off to face certain death? The professor would just reprimand her; he wouldn’t eat her.
…
Kelly stood nervously outside Leon’s office. She raised her hand to knock on the door, only to drop it again. After a few moments of hesitation, she resolved herself.
Whatever. It was better to just get this over with. Besides, as long as she kept denying it, he couldn’t prove she was that woman from the other night.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Soon, Leon’s calm and soothing voice came from inside. “Come in.”
As she pushed the door open, her heart was pounding so loud it drowned out everything else.
