K City.
The Golden Tulip Grand Hotel stood tall in the neon-bathed night, subtly emitting an extraordinary yet understated luxury.
"Mr. Charles, is this your room?" Robert Daniella panted lightly, beads of perspiration forming on her forehead from fatigue.
"Hmm," the man she addressed as Mr. Charles grunted in response, seemingly very drunk.
He rested one hand on Robert Daniella's shoulder, his head leaning listlessly to one side. To accommodate her height, his tall, handsome figure had bent both knees, shifting the majority of his weight onto Robert Daniella.
"No, no, not here..." Robert Daniella was about to swipe her card to unlock the door when the sudden influx of weight caused her to step backward. She hastily wrapped her arm around the man's waist.
There were hotel staff members in the corridor, leading guests to their rooms. Hearing Robert Daniella's exclamation, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look. Witnessing their tight embrace, they implicitly understood the situation, their lips curling up in ambiguous smiles.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Robert Daniella quickly pushed the door open, exerting great effort to drag the man into the room.
"Hot."
Just as Robert Daniella managed to get up from the couch, ready to catch her breath, she heard the man utter the word.
Hot?
"What am I supposed to do if you're hot, besides..." blurted Robert Daniella.
However, she instantly regretted saying it because she heard him reply, "Take off my clothes for me."
What?!
"Mr. Charles, that's not very appropriate!"
Although she had long heard of the professor who had just arrived, it was the first time she was meeting him in person.
Despite having struggled through this era of liberation for twenty years, Robert Daniella thought of herself as open-minded. However, aiding a drunken stranger in disrobing was still something she found unacceptable!
The man, his eyes initially tightly closed, partially opened them, glanced over Robert Daniella, then closed them again. He moved his Adam's apple in discomfort, uttering a pained groan, hunching himself over.
One of his large palms found his own tie, tugging at it haphazardly. But despite his efforts, the tie remained perfectly hanging around his neck.
The man winced, appearing more pained.
Seeing him in this state, Robert Daniella could not bear it, to calm her brewing sympathy, she unknotted his tie with swift movements and tossed it carelessly on the floor.
The man then attempted to unbutton his own shirt.
Robert Daniella committed to the ordeal, gritted her teeth, proceeding to help him undo the button.
However, when her fingers accidentally brushed his feverish chest, she unexpectedly shivered, almost as if getting an electric shock from his body.
It was widely known that this prestigious professor was infuriatingly handsome. Unable to resist, Robert Daniella stared at his face, regaining her senses only after a while. But as her gaze slipped lower to his well-defined chest, her face flushed, she quickly averted her eyes and focused on unbuttoning his shirt.
"It's okay, it's okay, we have not done anything wrong. The innocent need not fear slander.", she reassured herself, as she unbuttoned the last button of his shirt.
Because throughout the process, Robert Daniella had kept her face turned away, she didn't notice the man lounging on the couch, smiling at her sneakily. His eyes sparkled like twinkling stars in the night, hardly the glossed-over look of a drunkard.
Taking a deep breath, she started surveying the extravagantly low-key furnishing of the room. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, "You should be cooler now. If I didn't have something to ask you, I wouldn't have done this."
The man closed his eyes again, furrowed his brows, and reached towards his belt.
Startled by his movements, Robert Daniella sprang up from the couch and retreated, her heart pounding in her chest, "Mr. Charles, you..."
Before Robert Daniella could finish speaking, the man was already shaking himself up from his seat and walking towards his bedroom.
Robert Daniella quickly picked up her bag, ready to escape, only to hear the sound of running water from inside: The man was taking a shower.
Her cell phone rang at that moment.
“Daniella, how's it going? Has he agreed?” Murphy Matilda, her cousin's voice was full of anticipation on the other end.
Swallowing, Robert Daniella glanced nervously at the bedroom, "Cousin, I..."
“Did you fail? He didn't agree?” Murphy Matilda's tone perked downwards.
“No, no, I'm still in talks with him! Don't worry, I assure you he'll agree! I'll call you back with good news later!” In order not to disappoint her cousin, Robert Daniella, confidently promised.
“Well... I'll wait for your good news.”
“Okay!”
After hanging up the phone, Robert Daniella immediately lost her momentum.
She remembered earlier that evening at the dinner, facing the constantly heightened enthusiasm of the school principal and other high-ranking leaders, this Professor Charles was nothing but indifferent. Not a single trace of laughter was brought forth, only a distant and indifferent demeanor.
For some unknown reason, he actually, surprisingly, drank a few glasses of alcohol later on, and only drank the ones served by her.
After the dinner concluded, the task of sending Professor Charles, who was helplessly drunk after only three glasses, home fell naturally to Robert Daniella.
Despite her reservation, Robert Daniella accepted readily, wanting to curry favor.
“Get me a drink, I’m thirsty.”
The sudden voice from behind startled Robert Daniella. She turned around only to see the man already reclining on the couch, one hand resting on his thigh and the other massaging his brow bone.
He was only wearing a towel!
Robert Daniella was completely thrown off. She could only sense a dryness in her mouth and a rush of blood to her head, leaving her dazed.
Seeing Robert Daniella motionless, the man stood up himself and unsteadily made his way to the bar.
He held a crystal wine glass with two fingers, casually grabbed a bottle and poured a bit into the glass. Then he swirled the dark red liquid around the bottom of the glass. As he tilted the glass, the liquid passed through his seductive, thin lips into his mouth. With the movement of his Adam's apple, symbolic of masculinity, the liquid was swallowed into his stomach.
"Drink water, don't drink alcohol anymore." Robert Daniella's face felt hot, whether from guilt or shyness, she didn't know. Her voice was so low while speaking that she could barely hear herself. It was as if she did something disgraceful.
The man looked at her and obediently turned around to walk towards the dining table where the drinking water was placed. But after only a couple of steps, whether due to instability or severe drunkenness, he stumbled forward.
Robert Daniella, with her quick reflexes, was afraid he would fall. Seeing the towel around his waist was the only thing she could catch hold of, she quickly reached out and grabbed it.
The man, however, didn't stop tilting forward due to her "rescue." He simply took two steps forward with his long legs and stabilized himself, preventing a fall.
However, the only piece of cloth that he used to cover his body was no longer on him but in Robert Daniella’s hands.
This unforeseen change in the situation left both of them stunned for a moment.
