Despite what Dean Zhao feared the most and what Teacher Shen believed to be true, there was no real animosity between Li Zhen and Xu Jinli. In fact, their relationship could even be called friendly. In the year they shared as fellow students, the contact between them grew from barely nodding acquaintances to random project partners and, later on, occasional confidants. And in those warm, sultry late summer nights, drenched in the comforting smell of the osmanthus trees that lined the entire campus, there was even the brief taste of something else. However, that had long faded away like a fragile fragment of a dream, easily forgettable as morning sunlight gently brushed upon sleepy eyelids.

In those circumstances, the first meeting between them in so many years was bound to resemble a mellow fire more than the devastating explosion others imagined. There were no bright fireworks, no heavy sparks, and definitely no gunpowder smell spreading in the hallway. Instead, tender orange slowly consumed dry wood, like a fireplace protecting small embers in the middle of winter.

Calm and unassuming, but with a warmth that was hard to ignore, reaching the depths of your soul.

A few days after Li Zhen's first meeting with Dean Zhao, he finally found enough time to check out the studio that the university granted him. And yet, on his way to the Sculpting Department, his feet took a surprising, sharp turn, finding themselves walking down the corridors inside the Drama wing. Maybe it was muscle memory, or maybe it was the smell of stage make-up in the air that was clouding his brain, but as he turned the corner, Li Zhen couldn't help but notice how small the halls seemed now. Shorter in height and more crowded than he remembered, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that pushed on the top of his head, like a looming beast waiting to swallow him whole. However, the sound was just the same. A cacophony of voices, musical instruments, and faint whispers coming from behind closed doors, making one think of ghosts in broad daylight... but not the type you should be afraid of, but the ones you should be afraid of becoming. And underneath all that strange composition of disembodied sounds, a current that was oh-so-familiar gently drifted from ahead.

As Li Zhen walked, caught in memories of the past, a faint chant drifted from a cracked studio door. Inside, the lights were dimmed as someone played a simple piano tune on a loop, accompanied by the rhythmic tap of high-heeled shoes.

Tap... tap... tap...

And with every step, that faint sound hit his eardrums harder and harder, seemingly synchronising with the beat of his heart.

....................

In the life of a student, there was nothing worse than morning classes. Or maybe it was, if those said classes also happened to be on Monday mornings... And to complete the tragedy, those Monday morning classes should also be with the teacher you're most afraid of, someone you feared both meeting and disappointing.

For Yoyo, it was such a morning. At twenty, weekends were reserved for hanging out with friends, partying, and drinking until the sky lit up, so... what kind of demon would force students to drag their tired bodies to a performance acting class at seven in the morning, only to recite Chekhov?!

Not to mention, it was Xu Jinli's class, ah!

Last night, the poor girl barely managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, waking up with a jolt like a freshly resurrected zombie. And now, here she was, trying her best to remember a monologue she never fully learned to begin with, under extreme duress... As for the rest of her classmates, they were gathered around her in a circle, watching her mouth move with rapt attention. They were supposed to perform some sort of sadistic and brutal exercise where they had to react to what she was saying, but only by using their eyes and nothing more. And to make matters worse, Teacher Xu was busy murdering the piano keys in the corner, playing a torturous tune that only aided in disturbing her concentration and her classmates' composure.

"What's got into him? What did I say? He told us himself beforehand - it was an amusing skit! That's how I took it - as a skit! Now it turns out to be some great work of art!" (Part of a monologue from The Seagull (Russian: Ча́йка, romanized: Cháyka), a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. It belongs to the character Irina Arkadina, a fading actress.)

"Come on, Little Miss", Xu Jinli's silky voice sounded from the corner of the room. "You're grieving a dream here, not reading out the weather report."

"Oh, for heaven's sake! So he got up all this performance and perfumed the air with sulphur not to amuse us but to give us all an object-lesson in the art of writing and acting! Really, it's becoming a bore!" Rolling her eyes to greet God in heaven, Yoyo continued to spit the lines she barely remembered.

Tap, tap, tap... The piano also continued to scream in the corner, sounding less like music and more like nails dragging over cold asphalt.

"...Do you think he wants to torture us?" One student barely turned his head to whisper in his friend's ear.

"I don't know, man, but my leg itches like hell!" his friend complained back, trying to secretly scratch himself with his heel. But as usual, Xu Jinly not only had eyes in the back of his head, but in every corner of the room as well. Pressing yet another doomed note, he eerily whispered, without even turning his head: "Yang Yang and Baby Lu, you're out. Come keep me company in the corner."

"Damn..." The two students he mentioned by name left the circle feeling dejected, while their classmates continued to make faces at poor Yoyo, making her want to fall to her knees and bury her head in shame.

"Let him write as his fancy takes him and his talent allows, just so long as he leaves me alone..." her tired voice continued to bounce off the studio's walls, like a restless soul looking everywhere for a path towards salvation.

The only silver lining of that hellish Monday morning class was that Teacher Xu had a soft spot for that particular rooftop studio. Maybe it was the floor-to-ceiling windows that made him feel like a free bird drifting through the skies, or the warm sunlight that comforted his frigid body, but since he started teaching, most of his classes had been held in that classroom. And yet, if he were to be completely honest with himself for once, it was probably the scent of the osmanthus trees outside that intrigued him. From the open terrace of the studio, he could smell it all year round, finding solace in the calm fragrance that covered him like a comforting embrace.

Luckily for everyone, it was a beloved location for students as well, making those unbearable classes slightly easier to digest. As her torture finally came to an end, Yoyo turned her head towards her teacher, awaiting his divine punishment.

Accompanied by the last, struggling screech of the piano, Xu Jinli got up and approached the trembling little cubs. That morning, he was dressed in a loose white shirt, paired with flowy dance pants. His tall and slender frame moved as graciously as a gust of wind, with the only sound being the rhythmic tap of his heels as he stepped on the wooden floors. Behind him, the scent of sugary cherry liquor drifted in waves from the back of his slender neck, making everyone feel slightly drunk under his presence. However, it could have been worse. After all, Xu Jinli never fully let out his pheromones as he constantly wore a thick black collar around his neck, a proud testament to his Omega status.

"If it wasn't for that sound, I could have sworn he's gliding through the air or something..." One of his students mumbled under his breath.

"Shh... do you miss getting punished?!" his friend gently jabbed him with an elbow. After all, gossiping about Xu Jinli right in front of him was no laughing matter. The last student who dared to do it had to perform an entire play by himself during the morning gathering, forced to change from character to character and embarrass both his ancestors and a couple of his future generations in the process.

Inside the studio, the windows were half-draped in gauze, with light streaming through like mist in a temple. Slightly more awake now, Yoyo finally managed to properly open her eyes, staring at Teacher Xu like a baby deer.

"What now, Little Miss? Do you expect a trophy for your performance?" Xu Jinli asked, barely containing his wicked grin.

"N-no... That's not what I meant..." Yoyo stammered while her face quickly turned red. Being on the receiving end of Teacher Xu's smile was something that could easily kill a person. Thankfully, she was just a little Beta, so it was only his face that she had to guard against, with his pheromones having zero effect on her. Otherwise, she might have had to run away and hide in her dorm for five to seven days, buried deeply in her bed...

...And God above knew she wouldn't have been the first one to do so.

"Good. You need to practice more if you want to be praised." Xu Jinli continued to tease her. In fact, he was quite fond of the little girl. Despite studying to become an actress, Yoyo was obviously more interested in costume design than appearing on the stage herself. Every day, her magical closet gave birth to endless outfits, making the coquettish Teacher Xu eager to employ her as his personal stylist. Even at that god forsaken hour in the morning, Yoyo still looked like she stepped out of the latest teen fashion magazine, dressed in a frilly plaid skirt, paired with a little, cropped blazer decorated with lace bows. Even her soft, bubble-gum dyed hair looked like a pink cloud, making Teacher Xu's palm itch to pet her.

"Ahh... too bad I'm no longer in the entertainment industry," he thought. "You're stuck here with boring old me; otherwise, I could have taken you to fly..."

But despite his appreciation for the girl's style, he was first and foremost her teacher, so feedback still needed to be given. "You did well remembering the full text," he continued. "However, by the midpoint, your pretty eyes glazed over like a porcelain doll. You even scared me for a second. I thought someone entered the studio and stole your heart."

"Teacher Xu! Who else could be more bewitching than you?" Hearing his mild reaction, the rest of the students started acting like little demons once more, eager to climb on top of his head.

Damn right! Even Yoyo agreed with the sentiment. Teacher Xu was indeed bewitching, even frightfully so. Every year, countless people fell for his charms, but the walls that surrounded his heart were taller than the Himalayas. No matter how hard some tried, his eyes remained like cold silver mirrors: shiny and reflective enough to bounce back all the feelings you poured into them, but ultimately, they were just two pieces of cold glass...

...Dark and completely soulless.

And yet, many more were still eager to try.