Part 1Wallpaper Boy

I used a photo of my ex-boyfriend as my desktop wallpaper.

My advisor saw it and paused.

"You know him?"

Without thinking, I blurted out, "That's my boyfriend."

The next day, my advisor enthusiastically invited me over for dinner.

When the door opened, I stood face-to-face with Max Jiang.

"Son, I brought your girlfriend home."

I looked for a crack in the wall to crawl into.

I was the one who dumped him back then...

* * *

After submitting my thesis revisions based on my advisor's feedback, I happily slept the day away.

I just woke up when I got a call from my advisor, Professor Zhong. "Can you come over now?"

My phone showed seven missed calls.

I didn't dare refuse, so I grabbed my laptop and rushed to his office.

The sea of red track changes on my paper made my heart bleed.

Professor Zhong kept sighing, and my heart grew colder and colder.

While I was zoning out, he accidentally minimized the document.

A photo of a guy appeared on the screen.

The tenderness in his eyes was palpable.

Classic girlfriend POV.

I took the photo. The guy was Max Jiang.

My ex-boyfriend.

I couldn't bring myself to delete it and had secretly set it as my wallpaper.

Professor Zhong paused for two seconds, then casually asked, "You know him?"

"I don't mean anything by it, just heard young people use photos of people they know as wallpaper, got curious."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

I was stunned.

Because I often used "my boyfriend" as an excuse for not being on campus sometimes.

But the professor had never seen him.

After a while, he got suspicious.

My brain short-circuited, and I rubbed my nose. "Professor... you guessed right."

He gave a meaningful "Oh."

He didn't react much, but he seemed to become friendlier.

The next day on my way to the cafeteria, I got another call from Professor Zhong.

His tone was completely different, cheerful and laughing.

"Zoe, haven't eaten yet, right?"

I was confused. "No, Professor."

"Your teacher's wife made a big feast today, come over for dinner?"

I slammed on the brakes, almost nose-diving into the roadside bushes.

I was terrified. "No thanks, Professor, you guys eat..."

"She got up early to buy groceries, she's been excited all morning. She made chili shrimp, crab cakes, braised ribs..."

Great, successfully triggered my appetite.

I ignored the weirdness of it all.

When a professor invites you warmly, how can a student refuse?

Eat first, deal with everything else later.

"Professor, send me the address, I'm on my way."