call it love or foolishness
but when I was 19,
i'd get up at 4:30a.m.
making sure the campus street was still dark
when I'd sneak into his house

i wasn't an expert cook
after all, there were not many options to cook in college due to money constraints;
it was almost always canned goods or instant noodles

but, I played chef
in the hours that I stayed with him at dawn, helping him with the restaurant's menus. i remember putting a tablespoon of sugar on the sauteed beans and him saying, "this is really good"
now, i wonder whether it was honest feedback or he was just kissing my ass

anyways, of course we weren't that wholesome,
because after all the dishes were prepared,
i would offer him my dish
and his, to me
we would play lovers for maybe a good 15 minutes before getting back to reality

by 6a.m., we'd be done by both the chef and lovers play
then I'd stealthily go back to my dorm
with one of our cooked meals,
eat breakfast, clean myself, then go to school ---
ready to play the model student ---
where he played the serious professor.

© reddragonfly

#studentxprofessor
#forbiddenlove