#Flashback - Months ago,
I used to like Professor Kim Namjin. Not in a romantic way. It was admiration. Respect. Something pure. He is brilliant.
The way he spoke about human mind... about emotions, trauma, memory he didn't teach us, he connected.
"Psychology isn't about labeling people," he once said, pacing slowly across the lecture hall. "It's about understanding what broke them, & how they chose to survive it."
His voice was calm, deep, & clean. Every word settled in the air like it mattered.
"Some people heal through love. Others through distance & some?" He paused, smiling gently. "Some heal by becoming the person they needed when they were hurting."
I remember writing that line down, word for word. I still have it taped to the back of my notebook.
He was married. Happily. He mentioned his son sometimes with soft laugh and spark in his eyes.
But still, every girl in the class admired him.
Because he never looked at us like prey. He looked at us like people.
One day after class, I lingered behind just to say "Thank you!"
"Professor Kim," I said nervously, adjusting my glasses. "Your lectures... they really help. Not just with studying, but... like..."
He smiled, warm & kind. "That means a lot. Thank you for listening."
"You make it easy," I said softly.
He chuckled. "Psychology is just a lens. You already have the eyes to see. That's mine."
I smiled like an idiot. Then turned & walked out my chest light.
But Taehyun was outside. Leaning against the wall. Watching. Silent.
His eyes darkened the moment he saw me smiling. His jaw clenched like he'd heard every word.
"Daydreaming about another man?" he said coldly.
I stiffened. "He's my professor. That's it."
"So, am I."
I rolled my eyes. "You're not the same."
He took a step closer, voice low. Dangerous.
"You're right. I'm not soft like him. I don't give lectures about healing."
He leans in, eyes burning. "I break people. I destroy things that threaten what's mine."
I glanced. "I'm not yours."
"Not yet," he whispered. "But you will be. And the day you stop quoting Namjin's words... and start hearing mine that's when I'll know you finally belong to me."
♡A Healer
Present-
The hall is full, quiet. Everyone listens when he speaks not out of fear but reverence. Like his words reach into places we didn't even know needed healing.
Namjin paces slowly, hands tucked behind his back, eyes thoughtful. His voice is calm, measured like poetry in motion. Calm. Magnetic. Brilliant. Soothing.
"There will be people who tell you who you are."
"You're too loud. Too quiet. Too much. Too cold. Too kind. Too different. And if you listen
long enough..."
He pauses, letting the silence breathe.
"But the truth is... you don't owe this world an apology for being yourself."
"You are not a mistake. Your intensity, your fire, your silence, your laughter. They all yours. And it's worthy."
My heart lightens.He smiles softly, walking toward the middle of the room.
"Society will try to fit you into a mold. And if you don't fit, they'll call you broken."
"But being different isn't broken. It's brilliance."
"And loving yourself even when the world tells you not to is the bravest thing you'll ever do."
The class is silent, every student hanging on his words. I feel something stir in something I can't name.
"We grew up trying to fit into boxes society made for us. We try to be perfect. Beautiful. Masculine. Obedient. Productive. Loved. But in all that trying, we forgot something."
He pauses, letting silence settle the way he always does before saying something that cuts deep.
"We forgot to love ourselves."
I feel my breath catch.
"I want you think about this," he said, stepping forward.
"When was the last time you looked in the mirror and didn't judge yourself? When was the last time you said, 'This is who I am... and that's enough.'?"
"Not who your parents wanted. Not who society expected. Just... you."
My fingers grip the pen tightly, heart quietly aching. Something in his words it pulls at something hollow inside me.
"I was once afraid of showing who I truly was,"
Namjin admits, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Until I realized the world doesn't need another version of someone else. It needs you. Broken. Brave. Becoming."
"So even if they mock you, misunderstand you, or try to silence your voice speak anyway. Live anyway. Be you anyway."
I swallow hard, feeling like he's talking to something hidden deep inside me a version of me even I've forgotten.
"So, talk to yourself kindly. Stand for who you are, even if your voice shakes."
"You're not mistaken. You're worthy."
"Because you're not here to be perfect. You're here to be real."
He ends the lecture with a soft nod.
"Take care of yourselves. The world will try to change you. Let it not succeed."
Outside the class-
I sit on the stone bench outside the hall, eyes closed, mind still ringing with Namjin's words.
"You liked his speech that much?" a familiar voice asks.
I open my eyes. Taehyun.
Today,
he's not dressed sharply. No black suit. Just a simple shirt, sleeves rolled up. A sadness to his posture I haven't seen before.
I raised a brow.
"He's... different. He doesn't tell people who to be. He reminds them they're enough."
Taehyun sits beside me, too close. "And you
need to hear that?"
I scoff. "Maybe."
A beat.
Later that day,
I sit on the campus bench with my best friend, twirling a pen in my hand and kicking at a pebble with my shoes as we sip on iced coffee.
"He is literally un-real!" I sigh dreamily.
"Who?" she asks, though she already knows.
"Professor Kim Namjin."
She snorts. "Oh god. Here we go again."
"No, seriously. If he ever runs for president, I swear I'll be the first citizen to cast my vote for him!"
I laugh at myself but mean every word. "He speaks like peace. Like he's wrapped in poetry and logic. The way he explains life, trauma, identity... ugh! He is everything."
My bestie makes a brow. "You've got a little heart-shaped sparkle in your eyes, you know that?"
I lean back, dramatic.
"He's married, has a son, and is probably too perfect to exist in this timeline. But if he wasn't married... I shrug, grinning. I'd totally date him. Gentleman. Genius. Kind. Tall he's the dream."
We both laugh, sipping our drinks.
But neither of us notices him standing a few feet away.
Taehyun.
He hadn't meant to eavesdrop. He was just walking toward me after a meeting and then he heard that.
["I'd date him."]
Something twists in his chest.
It's ridiculous. He knows that. I'm just talking. Just admiring. Namjin's a good man. Hell, Taehyun respects him too even if he's disgustingly noble & actually liked by people. But that doesn't stop the fire.
His wife is sitting here daydreaming about dating another man. Even if it's harmless. Even if i don't remember calling him husband yet.
Still he clenches his jaw, gripping the documents in his hand a little tighter than necessary.
His steps are slow but sharp as he approaches the bench.
I look up, blinking.
He stares at me for a second too long. His gaze, coal and unreadable, but something dark flickers there. "You admire Namjin a lot," he says.
I laugh. "Of course I do. Who doesn't?"
He says nothing.
My bestie, sensing the tension, awkwardly coughs & stands. "I'm gonna go... um... get snacks." She immediately runs.
I glance back at him. "What? You jealous?"
His eyes narrow, slightly. "No."
I raise an eyebrow. "Really?"
He steps closer, voice low. "You'd date him if he wasn't married?"
I blink. "I mean, that's just a compliment. Relax."
He shoves his hands into his pockets, a sharp, tightening.
"You speak about him like he's the only man who even makes you feel seen."
Silence.
"That's because he talks to people like they're human,"
I shot back, a little sharper than I meant to. "He doesn't stare like he can read them."
He leans in slightly, voice like velvet and fire.
"I don't need to be liked by the world or voted into office to earn your admiration."
He lifts his hand, gently brushing a lock from my hair. "I just need to remind you that you're already mine. In every universe."
My breath catches.
He straightens, gaze still locked on mine. "I'll pick you up after the class."
He walks away sharp, direct, controlled steps but I swear I can feel the storm still simmering in him.
I stare after him, heart shedding, cheeks warm.
I should be mad.
But a very dangerous part of me?
Finds his jealousy...
Scarily attractive.