10. HE LOST HIS MIND

René didn’t have a teaching schedule on campus today, but the Head of Department asked him to come to talk about something. The painter, despite being lazy, didn't have any other choice than to comply with the request.

The famous painter predicted something bad would be happening, and it turned out his prediction was accurate.

The Head of the Department asked him to revise the plan of lecture activities that he had made and submitted to the department’s administration. The Head of the Department said that several activities were not relevant to the current conditions, and there was also a change in the student assessment system on their campus, which the painter missed in the document.

As a result, René was required to revise the lecture plan he had made. There was no prior notification about the revision, so René did not bring his laptop to campus today. Fortunately, the campus staff let him use the computer belonging to the department administration, which was not being used at that time.

Another lucky thing was that he always backed up his files in the cloud storage, so he could use the files anytime he needed.

It didn’t take long for the painter to complete his task. He had made some edits, and now it was time to print out the new course plan. Without any significant problems, several papers with black ink came out of the printer one by one.

All obligations related to administration in the world of education were really tiring, and this also applied to the teaching profession. That's why René rejected the offer when he was proposed to become a full-time lecturer in the university. He preferred to be a painter who was free and not bound by rules.

Everything was completed, and now the painter stretched his slightly sore hands. He should have gone straight home and rested, but he didn’t do that immediately. What he did next was a prank. The naughty idea came from nowhere, but he was so eager to execute it.

The computer he was using was a computer belonging to the department’s administrative officer, and of course, there was information about the students' grades on the computer. For some reason, he suddenly became curious about the grades of a certain student.

“He said his grades were unsatisfactory, so he decided to re-take the class, right? Let’s see how bad the kid’s grades are.”

While muttering softly, René started to open the grades documents on the computer one by one, until finally, he found the grade on behalf of Alain Kim for the Drawing and Sketching class.

The painter’s sharp eyes widened after seeing the row of student’s grades. After a while, he finally smirked. “You dared to lie to me, you little liar?”

---

“Well, for the material on the flow of painting, it seems this is enough for today,” René said with authority as he started to turn off his laptop. “For the next class, your task is to explain what style of painting suits your soul. You can use any media for presentation. The important thing is I want to see your point of view on a style that is suitable for you, and you have to explain why you choose that style. This is an individual assignment.”

The students groaned after their lecturer finished explaining their next assignment. It was their third lecture, and finally, the handsome painter gave them an assignment.

After completing his responsibility, René finally closed the day’s lecture and let the students leave the room. While he still hadn’t moved from the desk in front of the class, his eagle eyes monitoring the prey that had not left the classroom until now.

And when the target started walking and arrived in front of him to bid goodbye, René launched his attack.

“Alain Kim, I want to talk with you about something. Just the two of us.”

It seemed a bit weird when the painter had to emphasize the last five words that came out of his thick lips. It seemed that the thickening of the last words had something to do with the existence of Brielle Park, who had been with Alain since earlier.

It felt like a déjà vu when the girl once again became a ‘third-wheel' between the two handsome men. She looked awkward once again, and she was also reluctant to leave the two men.

But, René’s intimidating aura seemed to be able to subdue Brielle’s rebel side. The girl finally nodded at her best friend before she excused herself.

The girl’s departure left two men of different ages in the room. They stood opposite each other. Their heights were not much different, so they didn't need to look up nor look down at each other

“What else do you want to talk about, Mr. Huang?”

At first, René wanted to confront the younger man for his dishonest attitude. Yeah, when he was working with the revision on campus a few days ago, he found out that the student had lied to him regarding his reason for re-taking his class.

But, Alain’s innocent eyes, which weren’t the least bit intimidated by the intimidation he yielded, instead gave a different sensation in his chest.

That feeling again. Again, the tightness in his chest was the next thing he felt. The feeling that came along with the pounding in his heart. The feeling was foreign but familiar at the same time.

The painter knew that he couldn’t confront the student related to that matter now, but he still had to confront another thing with the student.

“Follow me.”

It was an absolute order before he impudently grabbed Alain’s arm and led him out of the classroom, not forgetting to snatch his black backpack first.

“H-Hey! Why are you dragging me all of a sudden, Mr. Huang?”

“Shut up and just follow me! Don’t protest too much!”

René realized that what he was doing right now must have confused his clueless student. Moreover, he automatically spoke informally to the younger ones after Brielle left them.

He was out of character. René totally had lost his mind.