Seduce the Professor? Bet.

Staring at the stunningly cold man in front of him, Everett Klein could only wish he had taken more time to dress up appropriately. He could almost hear his own heartbeat amongst the chatters in the lecture hall as beads of sweat rolled down his flushed cheeks.

Now, how did Everett end up in such an embarrassing situation? A confident, attractive man like him, with those blonde locks and striking blue eyes, would surely not mess up this badly. But here he was, gaping like a goldfish at a young man perhaps even more beautiful than him.

To explain this disaster, we must rewind to the day before…

Snow clung to Everett's coat, dragging his already tired feet with each step, as if chaining him to the past.

He hated winter, as he had a complex past with it—especially Christmas with its bright lights and noisy carols. He hated them all. When people gather around the warmth of a fireplace, Everett would stare at his own reflection, wondering where his life had gone wrong and why his heart had been abandoned in the cold.

He had spent this Christmas alone once again.

But when you look at a cheery, handsome guy like him, there is no way you would guess he held on to such hate, such grief.

Everett was waiting at the metro station gates, waiting for someone special.

Someone who has been with him his whole life, yet barely has any time for him. A person he loved so dearly, and the only person he would be happy to spend the holidays with. She had promised time and time again to visit him on Christmas, but could only squeeze in a visit on the last day of the holidays.

"Have you been starving yourself again?"

A deep, lively voice popped up from behind, startling Everett so much he tumbled to the ground. He cussed quietly in Valken and felt a light smack on his head.

A bag of food was shoved in his face, and standing in front of him was the woman he was waiting for.

"Frieda," Everett grumbled, picking himself up from the ground.

"Goodness, look how skinny you are! Are those Loxians not feeding you?" Despite her kind words, Frieda took a large bite out of Everett's sandwich.

"Ugh, I hate winter, it reminds me of the old times…" Frieda sighed, reaching out her hand to feel a snowflake. "I'll be going back to Valkenhaven next week. You can take care of yourself, right?"

Everett frowned; it hadn't been long since Frieda had returned home. "You're going back to see mama again?"

"You know she's getting old now. We're all getting old, waiting for you to graduate." She joked, "I have to go back to take care of her. Mama is waiting for you to come back. And she doesn't even know that you've dropped out for a while, so you'd better graduate soon, or she might start suspecting things."

Everett furrowed his eyebrows when Frieda mentioned his dropout.

"Here, your allowance." Frieda took a stack of cash from her wallet. "Your big sis worked day and night for this, so spend it carefully."

"You speak to me as if I am a crazy gambler," Everett smirked, remembering the last time he went to a casino. He eyed the stack of cash, then back at his sister. "But no. You can keep it. I have enough to survive for the next month or so."

Everett felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and cash was shoved into his hands. Before he could react, Frieda had left, waving goodbye. "Just remember to pay me back when you finally get a job."

Everett stared at where Frieda had left for a good few minutes, until he snapped back into reality and picked up his phone, which had been ringing for a while.

"Evieeee!" A girl squealed, her voice squeaky like a middle schooler's. "Where are you? We've been waiting since forever!"

Everett cleared his throat, changing from a sombre voice to his usual playful tone. "I'm coming, I'm coming, Zukki. Just had to deal with some minor family things."

"Be quick!" Mizuki giggled, and a deeper, feminine voice rang out in the background. "Mizuki! Buy me a drink!" "No—" The phone was hung up quickly.

Everett sighed. Despite being first-year university students, his two female friends still act quite childishly. Wiping away the frown on his face, he slid the money into his pocket and headed for the station's exit.

Everett had been invited to Ellesmere Bar-Cafe by his friends on the last day of the holidays. What a horrible date to pick. They had lectures early in the morning.

"Evieee! We missed you!" As soon as Everett stepped into the lively bar, his friend Stella lunged on top of him.

The two of them tumbled onto the ground and received a loud yelp from the barista next to them. "Whoa, whoa, there, miss!" She exclaimed, swiftly snatching the glass of wine away from the drunken Stella.

The barista had a beautifully curved body, visible even under a well-covered uniform. Her eyes gleamed a light blue, reflecting the bar's warm lighting. Everything about her screamed a familiar elegance, but with an added touch of youth and allure.

With a snap of her fingers, Everett was awoken from his daydream of the attractive barista.

"Missy, you must teach me how to build a harem!" The barista teased, her eyes sparkled with such playfulness and curiosity only found in a cat. "First, your cold boyfriend, then the warm blondie, the other cute missy back there, and now this clumsy blondie!"

As if on cue, Stella's "boyfriend" appeared behind them.

"Miss Laurent, I assure you, we are not dating." The stern-faced "boyfriend", Jing Wei, picked Stella up into his arms.

"Don't be shy! Call me Emi. And look at how you're carrying the missy!" Emi snorted as she helped Everett up to his feet. "As if you're just friends."

"What an energetic barista." Everett smirked, "Wanna bet if I can get her number?"

"And a hot one too..hehe," Stella mumbled.

Mizuki's cheeks were bright red, showing her drunkenness, as she pointed her wobbly finger at Everett and giggled, "The late one pays for all the drinks!"

Everett opened his mouth to rebuke, but then hesitated. He clutched the allowance money his sister gave him, just enough to pay for simple meals and rent.

Jing Wei, as if sensing his unease, suggested to the group, "It's okay. I can pay."

Kevin, who has been laughing all this time in the background, spoke up, "Let's split the bill. Evie hasn't drunk anything after all. Only the three of us drank. It wouldn't be fair for him to pay for everything." Kevin, who can hold his liquor quite well, was also looking a bit queasy.

"Well, the late-comer still has to pay the price!" Mizuki insisted, her cheeks flushing. "Hmm…how about a dare?"

Everett smiled, "If it makes you happy, I'm all up for a challenge."

"Well then…" Mizuki grinned, signalling that she's up to no good. She pointed her finger right at Everett. Stella and Kevin were waiting impatiently, and Jing Wei was sighing as if he already knew what would happen.

"I dare you to seduce the new literature professor!"

Stella cheered, and Kevin giggled. Jing Wei continued sighing as Everett immediately agreed to the dare. It was better than paying for everything. Unbeknownst to the group, a young lady in the corner was listening with a smile. Emi, the barista, has also overheard the conversation.

"I guess this year won't be as boring as the last." Emi's eyes gleamed like a cat securing its prey.

"I heard he was a really famous academic who won tons of awards!"

"I heard he was an old, grumpy man!" Stella stated, visualising an old man with her fingers.

"What? I thought you set me up with a woman!" Everett exclaimed, suddenly in deep despair. "Even though I am quite good at this game–" He leaned towards Stella, caressing her chin. "But an old, possibly married man would be a bit of a stretch, no?

"But if he's a pretty woman, then it wouldn't be a challenge for you!" Mizuki's eyes gleamed in glee. He should've known better before he agreed.

"You could always play this out as a social media challenge. I bet your followers would love it." Kevin chuckled. When he dropped out, Everett had been posting about different challenges on social media, gaining quite a fanbase.

"It's alright if you don't want to." Jing Wei reassured Everett.

"No." The doubt from before seemed to fade in an instant, as Everett gulped down a glass of wine. "I will do anything for my followers," he grinned in confidence.

The rest of the night was a complete blur, but Everett could remember a sweet, lingering scent of the barista.

Awakened by a blaring alarm and accompanied by a stinging headache, Everett was about to snooze the alarm once more until he caught sight of the time.

He was already 30 minutes late for his first class.

He tumbled out of bed in a hurry. Something was bugging him, almost as if he had forgotten something important, but he headed for the shower as usual.

Kevin, being the good roommate he is, left some breakfast for Everett.

Burnt toast—

Everett stuffed the toast into his mouth without a care and reached into his backpack, taking out a neon-pink sticky note with scribbly handwriting.

"SEDUCE THE PROFESSOR – YOURS TRULY, MIZUKI"

Everything from last night emerged right back into Everett's mind. He stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Why did I even agree to do this…"

With his feet dragging behind him and his back slumping, Everett slowly trudged out of his dorm room and headed for the lecture room.

He took his time roaming around the campus, wanting to postpone his dare for as long as possible. "If only I had taken a longer bath and eaten a proper breakfast…"

Before stepping into the lecture room, Everett pictured an old, wrinkly man in his mind. He took out his phone and started recording the challenge.

"Here we go…" He huffed.

"Everett here! And today I'm back with another weird challenge—" He shook his head, "No, that sounds weird…" And retook the clip multiple times, wasting another five minutes.

Finally, he built up his courage and stepped into the lecture room.

"Sorry, I'm late—"

The "old man" Everett has melted away instantly.

In front of him was a young man, perhaps even younger than Everett himself. His features were soft, almost feminine…His eyes were a lovely teal, which narrowed as he spotted the newcomer. The peculiar thing about his icy elegance was a not-so-invisible earring on his left ear, its shape resembling… a duck?

"You're late." The professor said coldly.

Stunned by the professor's appearance, Everett could only stand in awe. At that moment, he felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment, being the only one late for an entire hour.

Time seemed to freeze as they gazed into each other's eyes. Everett could feel his own heart flutter, which was strange, as he was always the one to make people fall, and never the one who falls…