"Catherine, what did the counselor say to you?" asked Ethel.

Catherine said, "Nothing. We had a cup of tea."

​​

"That's it?"

"Yes. That's it."

Ethel said as she rubbed against her jaw, "That can't be. Our counselor is notoriously mean."

Catherine recalled what happened in the counselor's office earlier. It was certainly amusing to see the counselor opened her mouth and didn't say anything quite a few times. She was in the office for ten minutes. The counselor gave her a cup of tea. Then they both sat there, sipping tea, silently.

Finally, the counselor said, "The school advocates free relationships. So we won't make an effort to interfere with you and Professor Sean. But we still have a good reputation. It's best to keep this a low profile."

Instead of abusing Catherine, the counselor merely suggested subtly that she kept her relationship with Sean to themselves. After all, if this leads to any trouble, the school, Sean, and Catherine would all be affected.

Catherine nodded, and the counselor asked her to leave.

Catherine assumed the department authority couldn't interfere because of who Sean was. Besides, they were dating as grown-ups. But their social stations were too special not to cause any disturbance.

Neither Catherine nor Sean thought about announcing their relationship during college. So she took off the wedding ring before she came. If Sean didn't take the teaching job at Kings College, her relationship with Sean could be kept a secret for a long time.

However, since their relationship was out, Catherine decided to own it.

"Did Elliot come to see you?" asked Ethel.

"Yeah," Catherine answered.

Anna picked up their conversation and said, "What did he say?"

"He wanted to know if the rumor is true," Catherine said.

"What did you say?" asked Anna.

"I told him the truth. Actually, I could've told him earlier, so he would give up on me. All he did was causing trouble for himself. And this has to be a blow."Catherine said. She supposed she wouldn't see Elliot recently.

"Stop acting like you are more sophisticated than us. You sound like Professor Sean."Ethel said.

Anna said with a sullen look, "Elliot must feel awful."

"He'll be okay eventually. Besides, we haven't known each other that long, how deep could his feelings be about me? He just thinks it's interesting to ask me out."Catherine said.

But Anna thought otherwise. The way Elliot looked at Catherine was full of passion. He couldn't hide it even if he tried to. So others would notice it.

"Hey, we have calculus this afternoon," Ethel said.

Catherine has laid back on her bed for the noon break.

Since Catherine and Sean's pictures were posted, no matter where Catherine went, may it be on the road, cafe, or library, she turned into the center of attention. They would point at her as whispering like she was a witch.

"It's Professor Sean's class," Ethel said.

As the four arrived at the classroom, it was full.

When they saw Catherine, they started checking her up with various looks, from picky looks, jealous looks, despising looks, and admiring looks.

If every look was a blade, Catherine would be face thousands of incoming stabs, leaving her body in a disastrous state riddled with gaping wounds.

"Catherine," Cecil said and clenched her clothes firmly out of fear.

Ethel teased, "Hey, thanks to Catherine, we are the center of attention too."

They made way to them, and Catherine came into the classroom and sat down with her friends.

Since Sean stressed his rules, observing students no longer hogged any seats. They could only sit down when there were spare ones.

"It's such a crowd. I feel a bit terrified."Ethel said.

"Well, thanks to me, more and more will know your girls. Are you happy?" asked Catherine.

"Of course I am."

Catherine rolled her eyes.

The second Sean arrived, he saw the crowd in the classroom. He frowned slightly and walked in.

The classroom suddenly turned livelier. So many students exchanged looks between Sean and Catherine.

Catherine held back the urge to laugh, thinking the possibility they might have cross-eyes.

"How could you laugh?" Ethel pinched Catherine gently.

"Why can't I?" asked Catherine.

"Nothing bothers you, right?" Ethel said.

Sean gazed at his students coldly," The class begins now."

Catherine turned the book to the page she would learn in the class and paid attention to Sean's lecture.

Sean focused on teaching, and students paid attention to listening. But they were secretly looking forward to Sean and Catherine's interactions.

Unfortunately, Sean didn't ask for any volunteers to answer questions.

He spent half the time lecturing, and the other half was left to students. He never spent all the time lecturing. He did his part teaching, and how well one grasped was not his job.

Perhaps they knew how strict Sean was, no one would make a fuss at his class. They didn't have the guts.

Sean started walking around the classroom, which he barely did. Normally, he would stay on the stage, looking at either his book or phones.

He approached Catherine.

The audience got excited as their eyes were burning with the urge to find out gossip.

"Is it difficult?"

Catherine couldn't help trembling since Sean asked so suddenly.

"A little," Catherine answered.

"Which part baffles you?" asked Sean.

"How to solve the integration?" asked Catherine.

Sean bent over to reach out to her. Catherine handed over the pen to Sean. He grabbed the pen and wrote down the solution on the empty paper. Then he explained to her part by part in great details.

Catherine nodded and occasionally hummed to show understanding.

"Do you get it?"

"Yes."

"Try this one."

Catherine took over the pen, which was still warm. Then she wrote down the solution as she smelt his fresh breath. She felt itchy and rubbed her nose.

"Is that it?"

"Yes. You've got it."

Catherine smiled, and her eyes were sparkling, "You're good at teaching."

"Good girl."

Sean rubbed Catherine's hair.

Then Catherine heard gasps. Sean must forget they were in the classroom. Or he wouldn't call her a "good girl" and patted her head.

Ethel pretended she saw nothing as she was disgusted by their public display of affection. She wished single people's feelings like hers would be taken into account once in a while.