Theo arrived fifteen minutes early and still felt late.
The elevator hummed as it carried him upward through the quiet tower of the faculty apartments. Each floor seemed too still, too aware. When the doors opened, a corridor stretched in perfect symmetry, lined with gold sconces that burned low against dark marble walls.
Adrian’s door was already ajar.
Theo hesitated before knocking. The invitation had been simple—If you want to learn, come to me. After hours. Yet something about it felt more like a dare than a request.
He stepped inside.
The apartment was a museum of restraint. Bookshelves reached the ceiling. The windows were floor-to-ceiling glass, rain pooling against the panes and breaking the city lights into fragments of gold. The space was warm, not from color but from quiet
