Starlight on a Bright Night

(Switching to a different college professor premise. The original premise also featured a college professor, but it touched on a broad interpretation of a teacher-student relationship, and my editor said I couldn't write it. So I'm leaving both premises here and will see whether the platform's policies loosen up later. When I start writing, I'll choose between these two. The original premise is at the very bottom.)

Shen Yishan was a friend of Wen Qing's father and had also been her university professor for two years. He was ten years older than her. Wen Qing rarely saw him, and when she did, she would only greet him distantly: "Professor Shen."

Writing a book had left Wen Qing depressed. Her agent worried she wouldn't recover, so they arranged for her to see a psychologist. The doctor taught at C University and rarely held appointments at the hospital, so Wen Qing had to visit the university twice a month.

By some coincidence, she kept running into Shen Yishan there.

The most recent time was at Shen Yishan's apartment. Her back hurt so much it felt as if it might snap. She propped herself up on one elbow in his bed and watched him from the pillow, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window.

He was shirtless, wearing loose trousers. A cigarette between his fingers, he gazed out the open window, his expression distant.

When he saw that she was awake, he turned his head and smiled gently. "Does anything hurt?"

At first, Wen Qing had only thought of Shen Yishan as an elder and a teacher. They had never been close, and their relationship was respectful but distant. Even later, when Shen Yishan carried her to bed and kissed her deeply, she still didn't think their relationship could change.

They were consenting adults easing their loneliness. Nothing could be more normal, even if Shen Yishan was her father's friend and her former teacher.

It was just that, at the time, she didn't know Shen Yishan had been in love with her for years.

Gentle, reserved college professor vs. beautiful, disillusioned female author

Ten-year age gap

Bed first, love later. Bodies first, hearts later.

Male-lead fans, stay away.

[Original premise]

The first time Lin Fei heard the name Shen Nanjin was when she accidentally wandered into a tightly controlled physics conference. She and her roommate listened to the luminaries of the physics world discuss concepts that might as well have been astronomical figures to them. Their heads were spinning.

They exchanged a glance, then nodded determinedly. Bending low, they prepared to sneak out through the back door.

Afraid that the university administrators who recognized them might catch them, Lin Fei and her roommate hurried along. Just as they were about to slip out the back, she accidentally crashed into someone.

He was coming in through the door, and Lin Fei ran straight into his arms. Terrified, she broke into a cold sweat and lowered her head, apologizing over and over. He politely steadied her by the waist, said it was all right, and walked inside.

Lin Fei heard someone call out to him: "Nanjin, there you are at last!"

The next time Lin Fei met Shen Nanjin, her academic advisor had recommended her to tutor a friend's child in English.

The child's guardian was Shen Nanjin.

Lin Fei saw this eminent physicist face-to-face for the first time. He had thick brows, deep-set eyes, thin lips, and a straight nose. In the generally unremarkable-looking world of academia, Shen Nanjin was an exception. He didn't look like an academic at all, but more like a movie star.

Lin Fei respected scholarship, and she respected this renowned physicist even more. Whenever she went to tutor his nephew, she always greeted him respectfully: "Hello, Professor Shen."

Even though Professor Shen didn't teach at her university.

As time went by, the professor grew familiar with her. Now and then, he invited her to a meal or gave her a few concert tickets he couldn't use. What made Lin Fei feel most overwhelmed by his kindness was that Shen Nanjin would even offer to fix the formatting of her thesis, which gave her a terrible headache.

Lin Fei thought Shen Nanjin was simply kind, friendly, and approachable. Since she was good at tutoring his nephew, he was just offering whatever help he could as a thank-you.

Until he caught her kissing her boyfriend. His considerate gestures, always carefully measured, were like a summer downpour: they came without warning, vanished just as quickly, and stopped dead.

That night, Lin Fei couldn't help wondering:

Could Shen Nanjin be in love with her?

-

At first, Shen Nanjin had no improper intentions toward the young woman tutoring his nephew. But Lin Fei was beautiful, gentle, and thoughtful to a fault. After spending enough time together, the heart of a man who had been single for many years stirred.

His eyes no longer focused solely on scholarship. He began paying attention to Lin Fei's every move.

When it came to love, he believed in letting things take their natural course. He never asked about Lin Fei's private life or pried into her personal affairs. He simply followed his heart and offered her small kindnesses he knew she wouldn't turn away.

He had planned to wait until Lin Fei graduated from graduate school before telling her how he felt. But during a meeting at her university, he unexpectedly saw Lin Fei locked in a passionate embrace with a young man beneath a tree.

Her face was flushed from the kisses, her lips swollen, yet her arms were still wrapped tightly around the man's neck. Neither of them wanted to let go.

That day, Shen Nanjin learned that Lin Fei had been dating someone for two years.

From then on, reason took over. Shen Nanjin stopped all his acts of consideration and returned to a calm employer-employee relationship with Lin Fei.

When she came to tutor his nephew again and called him Professor Shen, he smiled and answered, then went off to his study to do his own work.

But no one knew that, whenever Shen Nanjin dreamed of Lin Fei kissing her boyfriend, the man kissing her until her lips were swollen and she was breathless, her eyes glistening, was him.

And what he did to Lin Fei went beyond kissing.

The professor is a proper professor. He didn't steal anyone's lover. He simply waited for his chance and took advantage of the situation.

Proper professor x model student

Strictly speaking, they aren't teacher and student. They attend different schools and study different subjects.

P.S. Nine-year age gap.

(The inspiration was simply that I wanted to eat this kind of meal, so I decided to cook it myself!)

Theme: Beautiful love