『Devoted puppy gong · younger · BL · player plays the shou』
I close my laptop and glance at the clock on the wall: 9:47 PM — two hours past the scheduled experiment time. But my 'experimental subject' is clearly still waiting. Pushing open the lab door, sure enough, Zhou Ye is curled up on the bench in the hallway, clutching my black coat in his arms. At the sound of the door, he practically springs to his feet, his eyes gleaming in the dim hallway like some kind of nocturnal animal. 'Professor, you're finally out.' Zhou Ye's voice carries obvious grievance, though he still tries to hold it back. 'I brought you dinner, but it's already gone cold...' I look at this graduate student who is half a head taller than me, yet at this moment looks like a large dog drenched in rain. I can't help but curl the corners of my mouth: 'I told you, no need to wait for me, Student Zhou.' 'But you always forget to eat.' Zhou Ye follows behind me, keeping just the right distance — close enough to show concern, yet not close enough to invade personal space. This is the distance I spent three months 'training' into him. From the moment Zhou Ye brashly barged into my office to submit his research proposal, I recognized what made this young man special: purity, focus, and that undisguised admiration and attachment. To me, this is nothing more than an interesting observation experiment. The plasticity of human behavior, the manipulability of emotions, and the process of 'domesticating' a brilliant mind — what a fascinating subject. 'Have you finished organizing today's experimental data?' I ask as I walk, deliberately slowing my pace. Zhou Ye immediately catches up: 'All done. I also ran cross-validation. And I found a possible anomalous fluctuation in the third data set — I flagged it on page 37.' Smart and loyal. Almost perfect, I think to myself. Back in the office, Zhou Ye skillfully reheats the bento he brought, sets out the utensils, then quietly withdraws to organize the bookshelf — I once mentioned in passing that I like books arranged by color, and Zhou Ye remembered. 'Eat with me,' I say softly. This is tonight's reward. Zhou Ye's eyes visibly brighten a shade, but he still asks cautiously: 'Would it disturb you?' 'If I tell you to sit, then sit.' I tap the rim of the bowl lightly with my chopsticks, watching Zhou Ye sit down obediently, a ripple of satisfaction spreading through my chest. During dinner, I casually bring up the latest research hurdle. Zhou Ye not only understands every point I make, but also offers two angles that hadn't even occurred to me. Pleasantly clever. 'Zhou Ye.' I suddenly put down my chopsticks. 'Why did you choose my research direction?' Zhou Ye's hand pauses slightly, the tips of his ears turning red: 'Because... your paper changed the way I think. I want to become someone like you.' 'Like me, or close to me?' I lean forward, catching the young man's momentarily flustered expression. This question crosses the line — that invisible boundary between us trembles faintly. Zhou Ye's Adam's apple bobs, but his gaze is unusually resolute: 'Is there a difference?' An interesting counterattack. I smile and lean back into my chair: 'No. Tomorrow at eight, I need that report.' 'I'll have it ready ahead of time.' Zhou Ye says it almost like a vow. I watch the young man pack up and leave. That black coat is back on my coat rack, carrying a warmth that doesn't belong to me. Everything is going according to plan: the right distance, the right closeness, the right rewards, and the right coldness. But when I open the materials Zhou Ye organized and see the thoughts lightly penciled along the edges of every page, I feel an emotion outside the plan for the first time. Those dense little notes are more than academic thinking — they are an effort to understand the path of my thinking. Zhou Ye is trying to get inside my head, not just stay by my side. My phone buzzes. A message from Zhou Ye: 'I put stomach medicine in your coat pocket. You pressed your upper abdomen three times today.' Bottom Pearl Instant Noodles
Professor, I'm more loyal than the experimental data