Chapter Four

"Mr. Adrian for the record," Adrian corrected Ethan immediately with a straight face.

"I— you—" Ethan was lost of words. He was never expecting such twist. That the stranger he had a one-night stand with was his lecturer, never would he have imagined such.

"You're late to my class and today is your first day in school," Adrian's voice came out quite cold and harsh, unlike the cold deep voice from last night that sent waves of endless pleasures.

"I—" Ethan swallowed. He was late because of him but how could he even say such?! "I'm sorry, sir." He bowed his head not out of respect but out of humiliation.

Unknown to him, Adrian frowned slightly.

"Take your seat."

"Yes sir," Ethan replied. He walked over to a seat at the back, his head was still lowered even after sitting down.

Then Adrian resumed the lecture.

Throughout the lecture, Ethan's head was lowered. His mind was racing with so many questions.

Why did he sleep with his lecturer of all people?

Why was Adrian acting indifferent? 

Does he no remember what happened last night or just pretending not to remember?

Why can't he get his mind off the last night's event?

Everything was still vivid, the touch, the kisses, the thrusts, the spoke words... Even his body still ached in places that made sitting quite a torture for him. Any yet, the cause of it was busy teaching, and acting indifferent to him.

Ethan sighed deeply. No matter what he does, he could not just bring himself to forget everything completely.

-----

The lecture ended after a couple of hours. Students left the hall one after the other except one.

After everyone might have gone, Ethan rose to his feet and approached Adrian who was marking their books.

"Hey..." He whispered. 

But Adrian did not react.

"Adrian, I'm talking to you!"

Adrian finally looked up, meeting his gaze.

"Mr. Adrian," he said calmly.

"Fine, Mr. Adrian," Ethan mumbled after a frustrated sigh

"What do you want?" Adrian asked him, and then went back to marking the books.

Ethan's eyes widened. 'Seriously?'

"Don't you remember me?" He asked.

"I do."

"Then why are you behaving indifferent towards me like I'm a stranger or something."

Adrian paused but didn't look up. "If not a stranger, what are you?" 

This question came as a shock to Ethan but he tried so much to control his burning heart.

"Last night..."

Adrian met his gaze instantly, making him stop mid-sentence.

"I was only helping you, that is all."

Adrian got up, parked his books and got ready to leave but Ethan immediately blocked his path.

"Are you being serious now?" Ethan's vove came out heavy and disappointed.

"About what?" Adrian asked, staring at him blankly.

"About us!" Ethan replied.

"There's nothing about us to talk about," Adrian said coldly and walked away.

Ethan stood there staring at Adrian until he was out of sight.

Ethan nodded his head and licked his lips, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips— he does it whenever he was truly frustrated.

"Fine," he mumbled, smirking. "You don't know me well enough."

----

At home, Ethan was having his dinner when his mother returned from work.

She dropped her bag and joined him on the table.

"Ethan, how was your first day in school?"

"It was great, Mom," Ethan replied.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes, her son has never replied her that way before, especially about school.

"Really?" She asked, making sure that she wasn't hearing wrongly.

"Yes, Mom."

"So are you going to school tomorrow?" She asked him, still narrowing her eyes.

"Of course, Mom!" Ethan said. "I can't miss tomorrow's lecture."

Evelyn gazed at her son, her surprise impossible to hide.

Ever since Ethan had enrolled at the university, convincing him to attend lectures had been a daily battle. There were days when he would leave the house dressed for school only to spend the entire afternoon at a café or a bookstore. Hearing him voluntarily mention tomorrow's lectures was enough to make her question whether she was dreaming.

She reached across the table and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.

Ethan frowned.

"Mom?"

"You don't have a fever..." She mumbled.

He let out an exasperated sigh and gently pushed her hand away.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mom," he grumbled.

"Then what happened?" she asked. "Did something at the university change?"

"Maybe," he said.

Evelyn studied him for a long moment. Although she couldn't figure out what had changed, she wasn't about to complain.

"If that is true," she said. " Then I am relieved."

Just then, Evelyn's driver walked in. A man with few strands of grey hair.

"Madam, a call from Mr. Donald," he said and handed her a phone.

She collected it and placed it on her ear.

"Hello?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"I'll be there soon."

She ended the call and stood up immediately.

"Sorry son, I do not think I'll have dinner with you tonight," she said To Ethan, looking sad.

"No problem, Mom," Ethan replied and smiled.

Though he smiled, Evelyn knew that he was just faking the smile. But then, there was nothing really she could do. The work was very important to her.

She gave Ethan a peck on the hair and then left with the driver.

After she was gone, Ethan sighed deeply.

"Work. Work. Work. All she ever does is work, she can't even spare a moment with her family," he grumbled.

He stared at the food before him, he suddenly lost appetite and stood up.

Just then, the cook walked in, a middle-aged woman.

"Young Master, your food..." She said glancing at his barely-touched food.

"I am okay, Sarah," Ethan told her.

"But you barely ate anything."

"Yeah, I had something to eat outside."

Sarah frowned immediately. She knew Ethan was lying because since he was little, he hated eating meals made outside or prepared by anyone except hers. It was so bad that eating his mother's food was difficult for him. That's because ever since he was little, it was she who had been taking care of him.

Noticing the frown on her face, Ethan rushed over and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sarah. I am not hungry, okay?"

Sarah sighed. "If you say so. Then I'll prepare some snacks for you then."

"You really shouldn't worry about it," Ethan said but Sarah refused.

"I insist."

Ethan shook his head. "Alright. I'll be in my room then."

Ethan returned to his room afterwards, after taking his bath, he picked his phone, and began to scroll through it.

Just then, a call came in and he picked it up.

"Boss, have you seen what I sent to you?" The caller asked.

"Haven't seen, let me check."

Ethan hung up and immediately opened the message sent to him, it was a video clip.

"The famous young male professor of Starlight University, Mr. Adrian Vale was caught molesting a female student."

Seeing the news headline, Ethan frowned.

He clicked on the video and in it, a male figure was seen harrassing a young lady, and the male figure looked exactly like Adrian."