“Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Professor T drawled in her husky voice as she tossed her head back and trailed her fingers down her neck. There was a collective gasp which she took in her slinky stride as she swirled around in front of her students. “A D.H. Lawrence masterpiece. Yea or nay?”

Her students answered with a mixture of the two, which she had absolutely no interest in, for she had her answer and no one in this world could sway it.

“A masterpiece. Better than a good ol’ roll in the hay,” she exhaled, rolling her tongue to emphasize the ‘r’ in roll. “But would I give up a roll in the hay to read this book?” she laughed and shook her head. “N-O, no.”

Her students laughed, some blushing and covering their mouths, some roaring like a tickled lion. But one person did not. That person sat at the back of the lecture theatre, back stiff, arms folded and frowned.

Two hours later, Professor T was in her office when the person entered without knocking. She glared at him, his black-rimmed rectangular glasses and obnoxious gel-fort of hair, and did not offer him a seat.

But he sat anyway. Of course.

“Miss Young—”

“I am addressed as Professor T, Dean Kwon. You wouldn’t like it either if I called you Mr. Kwon, would you?”

“Touché, Professor T. But let’s not stray from the subject.”

“Which is?”

“Your choice of material for your English class.”

“What do you have against D.H. Lawrence?”

“It is not D.H. Lawrence I am against. It is the language used in the book you have chosen that I am concerned about.”

“Oh, you mean the word ‘’?”

Dean Kwon winced at the word. “Yes, that is the word. But I would appreciate it if you would avoid uttering it freely as you do.”

“But what is wrong with ‘’? Are you discriminating it because it has four letters? Like ‘’?”

Dean Kwon winced again. “Professor T, a professor should not be spouting words of such crude nature around, especially not in front of students.”

“Dear Dean Kwon, our students are adults. They are old enough to drive and they do plenty of ing themselves. Avoiding those words will not make them disappear, you will only miss out on the great story of Lady Chatterley’s Lover.”

“The book was banned for a good reason, Professor T.”

“It was unbanned in 1960 for an equally good reason, Dean Kwon.”

Professor T flipped her hair over her shoulder and stared him down. After a moment, he stood, displeasure written all over his face.

“This is not the end, Professor T. I will get rid of that book and you too.”

Wearing nothing but her white boyfriend shirt and a confident smirk, Professor T sat herself on the desk and arched her back to lean back on her hands. “I’m right here waiting for you, Dean Kwon. Right here waiting.”

Dean Kwon slammed the door on the way out and Professor T chuckled to herself. When was Dean Kwon going to loosen up and live a more exciting life?

A tentative knock on the door and Professor T lounging on her elbows across her desk as she said, “Come in.”

“Are you okay, Profess—” Professor Tae stopped short as soon as Professor T came into view.

Professor T smiled as those soft, brown eyes widened and she giggled when Professor Tae little Adam’s apple bobbed up and down like a life buoy in rough waters. “It looks to me like I should be asking you if you’re okay.”

“I-I’m okay. I came over because I heard the door slam. It gave me a fright.”

Professor T put on her warmest smile and swung her legs over her desk, pivoting to face Professor Tae. “Aw, you’re such a dearie.” She slid off the desk and sauntered the two steps it took to reach the frozen woman standing at her door. Taking her hand, Professor T tugged her in and nudged the door shut. “Come, have a seat. Chat with me.”

“But er, I have a theory class to prepare for.”

“For later?”

Professor Tae shook her head. “For next week.”

“That’s plenty of time. Stay,” Professor T persuaded. “I’m hot and bothered because of that stuck up Dean Kwon. I need to talk to someone who can make me hot and bothered over something nicer.”

“I’ll listen. You can talk to me about it.”

“Mmm, but can you make me hot and bothered?” Professor T asked in her extra-husky voice reserved for people she liked.

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t want to upset you.”

“Upset me?”

“Is that not what you meant?”

“You silly cutie,” Professor T laughed and ruffled Professor Tae’s hair. “I meant y.”

“. . . y?”

“Oh, I love the way you say ‘y’,” Professor T drawled. “Yes, y . . . y . . . and .”

“Oh.” Professor Tae’s ears turned pink. “I don’t think I can do y, but I can make you a list of music that will put you in the mood.”

“A list of music?” Professor T was close to falling on Professor Tae laughing. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Schumann, Romance Opus 28 No.2.”

“What?”

“Schumann. Robert Schumann from the Romantic period.”

“You’re serious.”

Professor Tae nodded, her eyes perking up like Professor T had never seen before. “He wrote three Romances for the woman who would become his wife and the middle one, No. 2, is called Einfach, which is German for ‘simply’. Simply simple, it has a simple melody with simple harmonies. A love song written by a genius.” Professor Tae smiled, her eyes shining with passion. “Would you like to have a listen?”

The honey-coated voice waxing a ton of nerdy honey over a piece of music combined with passion blazing in soft, brown eyes was unexpectedly alluring to Professor T. Mesmerized by Professor Tae’s moving lips, she leaned closer but Professor Tae backed away.

“I-I’ll be next door if you want to have a listen,” the professor said while stepping back towards the door. “But I really need to prepare for my class next week. B-Bye.”

The door closed with a click, leaving Professor T alone to wonder what had come over her. Did she just get mesmerized by a nerdy music professor talking about romantic classical music? And did Professor Tae just make her forget all about her theory of seduction?

~z