Chapter 1

After I got into grad school, I finally met up with my online boyfriend in real life. And guess what? He was actually my advisor.

Before he noticed me, I slipped away and shot him a breakup message on WhatsApp.

[We're not right for each other. Don't wait for me. Let's break up.]

After the breakup, he turned into a total workaholic, making me pull all-nighters in the lab for a whole month.

After we won the award, he messaged me on WhatsApp: [Babe, I'm the most excellent architect you can find. Please don't dump me.]

I texted back: [Get lost.]

*****

[Babe, let's make a voice call.] My online boyfriend messaged me while I was grinding away in my boss's studio, miserably sketching out drawings.

[I've got no time. I still have eight sections left to finish.] I texted back.

I was an architecture grad student. Besides working on research projects, most students spent their time doing real projects with our advisors, who were generally called bosses.

My boss was super demanding, and since I joined his team, I had to get used to his studio's pace.

[Wow, that's a lot of drawings. I feel so bad for you, babe.] My boyfriend messaged.

I replied: [Can't help it. My boss is a total perfectionist, and he obsesses over every little detail.]

[Your boss sucks. Why doesn't he just hire more people? That's ridiculous.] Since he was in the same field, he always understood whenever I vented about work.

That was just how it went in our line of work. Pulling all-nighters was common.

I texted: [Anyway, talk to you next time. I need to hustle.]

He replied: [Okay. Finish up soon and get some rest. I'll be waiting for your voice call.]

I put my phone down, staring blankly at the screen as I quickly drew my CAD drawings.

It'd been a week since I was enrolled at Arkenveil University, and with all the coursework, I still hadn't had a chance to meet my online crush in real life.

We'd been chatting online for almost a year, but since we'd never met, I had no idea what he was actually like, so I was careful not to share too many real details about myself.

I glanced at the time. It was already 9:30 PM.

I was the only one left on this whole floor. Being here alone at night was super creepy.

Maybe I should just half-ass it. These drawings would get revised anyway.

I felt totally worn out, and my drawings started getting sloppy.

The sound of a door opening from the office inside startled me.

Still shaken, I patted my chest to calm my nerves, only to realize it was my boss.

I didn't expect him to still be here, working this late.

Good thing I didn't make a voice call with my online boyfriend earlier. If Boss had caught me venting about him, that would've been seriously awkward.

He was looking down at his phone, and for once, that usually handsome, stoic face of his was wearing this odd smile.

That smile was actually kind of charming.

Too bad he was a total scumbag.

I instinctively shrank in my seat, praying he wouldn't notice me.

But of course, he did. Seeing the light on my desk, he walked over.

"Hi, Professor Gilbert," I muttered, sneaking a quick look at his face before pretending to be totally absorbed in my computer screen.

My advisor, Philip Gilbert, was the youngest associate professor in our department. Word was, he went straight into the PhD track, graduated early at 22, and stayed on as faculty. So yeah, he was only about 27 or 28 now.

On top of running the campus studio, he also owned a pretty successful architecture firm off-campus.

He was honestly a genius, but I must admit, I picked him only because his photo in the recruitment brochure was stupidly handsome.

I was wondering why a guy this hot and talented didn't have students fighting to get into his group.

Later, I heard from a senior online that Philip was infamous for making it nearly impossible to get his students' theses approved, and he'd use research projects as an excuse to squeeze free labor out of his students.

By the time I found out, it was way too late.

"You're still here at this hour?" Philip circled around to my computer. I held my breath, feeling guilty as hell.

He took one look at my half-assed CAD drawings, and his brows creased slightly.

"Too slow. Pick up the pace," he said and then walked away without looking back.

After getting scolded by him, I dared not slack off. I forced myself to stay sharp, ready to pull an all-nighter.

But not long after, my phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message from him.

[Are the drawings done?]

I replied honestly: [Not yet...]

[Send me what you have so far. Tomorrow, draw according to my revisions. Don't waste your time on unnecessary work.]

Reluctantly, I sent him my crappy CAD files. By the time I got home, it was already 11 PM.

Since we were always pulling all-nighters and rarely made it back to the dorms, most of us architecture grad students just rented places off-campus.

After showering and towel-drying my hair, I shot a message to my online boyfriend.

[Sorry, I was super slow today. I got home late.]

He replied almost instantly.

[It's fine. I'm still up too. Wanna chat for a bit, babe?]

Without even thinking, I hit the call button. Whenever I was feeling down, I just had this urge to talk to him.

That habit started all the way back when I was cramming for the grad school entrance exam.

Back then, I was totally lost, running around like a headless chicken with no clue how to even start studying.

One day, I spotted a study guru on a forum sharing his tips for getting into Arkenveil University, so I messaged him, hoping to get some help.

At first, he was super cold—just shot me a link to his post and then totally ignored me.

But I kept pestering him, sending messages every couple of days. My questions were probably so dumb that he couldn't ignore me anymore, so eventually, he started replying.

Little by little, we started talking more. Honestly, with the way I was studying, I would never have made it into a top school like this if it weren't for him.

Suddenly, I realized I'd accidentally hit the video call button with my wet hands.

Panic hit me hard. I didn't want him to see me, with no makeup, at some totally unflattering angle.

I tried to end the call, but with water all over the screen, I couldn't tap the button at all.

I was still poking at my screen in a panic, and the video call went through.

I panicked, flipping my phone around so it was pointed at my desk.

"Huh? What's up, babe? Why can't I see you?" he asked.

"I hit the wrong button! Just hang up, please," I blurted out.

"Oh... I thought you were finally ready to show your face," he teased, sounding a little disappointed.

"I just got out of the shower and can't show you anything. Just hang up," I begged.

"Huh? Can't show me anything?" He let out a low chuckle, dropping his voice on purpose. "Now you're making me want to see even more."

When he turned on that deep, flirty voice, he was too damn sexy. Seriously, just one line from him and I'd be blushing like an idiot.

"Please, stop teasing me. Just hang up and I'll call you back," I begged.

"Alright." With a beep, the video call ended.

I let out a huge sigh of relief and gave him a voice call.

"How come you're still up this late too?" I asked, yawning as I sprawled out on my bed.

"Same as you, I still had work left," he replied.

"How were you still in the mood for a call then?" I teased.

"Chatting doesn't get in the way of my drawing. I always do this when I'm talking to you, babe," he said with a chuckle.

"Ugh, enough already! You're like some superhuman. Stop showing off, okay?" I groaned.

We kept chatting, and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and checked my phone. There was a message from him sent at 2 AM.

[Babe, you were talking in your sleep. So cute.]

I replied: [What did I say?]

He texted back: [I'm not telling you.]

I actually slept pretty well last night, so I walked into the studio all bright-eyed. Just as I sat down, Philip showed up.

Just thinking about the fact that I had to face his storm of critiques today made my face turn gloomy.

Carefully sneaking a glance at him, I realized he looked even more wrecked than me.

He had serious dark circles and was massaging his brow. "I tweaked your drawings. Just follow my notes and flesh them out."

Heading to his office, he pointed at Calvin, the doctoral student who looked totally wiped out in the corner. "Ask Calvin if you get stuck."

I nodded and mumbled, "Okay."

When I opened the file, I was honestly stunned. He hadn't just fixed my drawings. He'd practically redone everything and even annotated a bunch of details I'd totally missed before.

A bit discouraged but also impressed, I had to admit Philip was seriously talented. I had no clue how late he stayed up last night to do all this. People said he was ruthless and exploitative, but so far, I hadn't seen any of that.

With his notes to follow, the rest of the work went way smoother.