Chapter 9 Brand
I jumped back hard.
As I retreated, my mouth kept babbling, "Professor Shen, I didn't mean to touch you!"
My foot landed right on the sign I'd knocked over. I slipped backward—
I crashed down hard. Inside my head I screamed:
Could today get any worse?!
Shen Xiuming let out a quiet tsk. His large hand caught my waist and pulled me straight into his arms.
What the hell was happening?!
"Cen Cen! Where are you?" Tao Zi's voice shouted as she staggered in, leaned over the sink to retch for a bit, then saw I wasn't there and left again.
"Professor Shen...?"
Before I could process it, my heart was about to explode.
Right before Tao Zi walked in, he dragged me into a stall and clamped his hand over my mouth to stop the scream.
Only after she left did I finally breathe again.
I leaned against the door, gasping for air, too afraid to look at the man behind me.
"Professor Shen, we..." Why are we hiding?
He cut me off. "Don't call me Professor Shen."
He pushed open the stall door and flipped the sign outside to "Cleaning in Progress."
I stood behind him like a scared quail, not daring to make a sound.
He took my burned hand and held it under the faucet to rinse.
Then, from somewhere, he produced a tube of burn cream and gently applied it.
"No cotton swab. Bear with it." His rough fingertips, cool with the ointment, spread it carefully over the red skin.
I stared at him. A soft breeze seemed to pass through my chest.
After he finished, he rolled down his sleeve and turned to wash his hands.
"I had already transferred away from Z University. I wasn't your teacher anymore."
I gave an awkward laugh. "Haha, you're joking. Once a teacher, always a—"
"Call me Brand, Cen Cen."
His long, strong hand rinsed under the water. Veins stood out clearly.
Through the mirror, his shadowed eyes locked onto mine.
Without blinking once.