Tuesday was the Monday version of SDV University, the busiest day for the teaching personnel in every college since it was when most students attended their regular classes. And for all the employees, it was also the deadline for submitting their weekly output reports.

Sky shook his head as he observed a number of his co-teachers finish the written requirements at the last minute before they rushed to their first class schedules. Most of these people had been working at the university for years, but until now, they still hadn't learned to shake off their bad habits of doing the small paperwork on the very last day of submission. They could have found some time on Saturdays or Mondays when they were not swamped with giving lectures to the students, and it would not even take them fifteen minutes to complete the entire report.

It seemed like all the time management seminars that the university had conducted for the employees were of no use to them.

The assistant professor opened his messenger bag to double-check if all the stuff he needed for his lectures was already inside. The students' index cards. His laptop. A few pens and markers.

All set, he rose from his chair and was about to walk out of the faculty office when he heard the conversation between Dion and John Paul across his work desk.

"Here. I already saved the sample of my output report, so you can use it as a template," the older professor said while passing a green USB flash drive to JP, "Don't forget to change the name and position, and of course, the number of hours. You can also add some tasks there if you want or remove those that don't apply to you, like the committee duties."

With a nod, JP muttered, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. So where do you plan to edit it? Are you sure you don't want to borrow my laptop? I'm done with mine anyway, so I don't mind if you use it."

The young instructor smiled. "I really appreciate the offer, but you've already helped me enough with the form, and I know you have to go to your first class in a few minutes. I don't want to make you late." He turned his eyes to the corner of the room where an old desktop computer was located. "I can use that, right?"

"You can, but that thing is old and loads too slow," Dion pointed out, frowning at the said thing.

"It's better than nothing. And I don't think time is going to be an issue since I don't have any class schedule until nine today. I can wait, unless it actually takes an hour for the windows to load?"

"Not really," Dion answered, and then let out a defeated sigh. He stood up and arranged the things on his desk. "I guess I will not be able to change your mind anymore. Then, I'll go to my class."

With another appreciative smile, JP expressed his thanks to the older professor before he walked to the desktop computer in the corner. All the time, Sky had been watching him.

As soon as JP was far enough away, Sky turned to Dion, only to discover that the older man was already giving him an intent stare.

"Now, Sky," Dion began in a solemn tone, the same tone he used every time he played the older brother who wanted to impart some advice to the assistant professor, "Don't look at him like that. I know you're all for punctuality when it comes to reports, but do cut that young man some slack. He's only been here for more than a week, so he's still in the period of adjusting and learning about our routines. It's not easy for him either because he can't afford to have his personal resources for teaching yet, but I can see that he's actually good at doing his job."

Normally, Sky didn't mind it when Dion acted like this towards him. He didn't have any problem with the professor's manner of speaking, even now. In fact, he always found this occasional seriousness of his friend refreshing.

However, it was the context of Dion's statements, the subtle accusation that he was being too difficult on JP, that made Sky scowl at the older man.

"Did I say anything about him not being good at his job?" he asked, his voice low.

Dion stared blankly at Sky while questions floated in his head. After a full beat, his eyes widened and lit up with comprehension. "No, of course you didn't. And I'm pretty sure you've never thought of JP like that," he conceded. Along with a mock salute, he gave Sky an ingratiating smile. He then scuttled to the exit, leaving the miffed younger man in the faculty room.

Thinking that it was too early to let his older friend's antics get to him, Sky relaxed before he too headed out of their office.

He crossed the university's main covered pathway to get to the College of Education building, where he would be having his first class.

A group of male students were hanging out in front of the lecture room when Sky arrived. As one of them caught sight of the assistant professor, the young man tapped the friend beside him and bobbed his head, gesturing at their approaching teacher.

The said friend looked up and, as soon as he saw Sky, grinned. Stepping away from his group, he came up to the assistant professor.

"Good morning, Mr. De Vera, Sir, you look dashing today, like always," the student greeted him with an exaggerated motion of his hands. Behind him, his friends snickered.

Sky raised a brow and suppressed the urge to smirk. "Telling me something I've known for a long time will not change my decision about your reaction paper, lad. Revise it before the deadline I gave you or I'm afraid you'll see the bold letters I-N-C in your report of grades this semester," he answered, earning more simpers from the other young men.

"You're a demon, Sir," the student grumbled as he and his friends followed Sky to their lecture room.

"I can always take back the extension if you want to talk about me being a demon."

"You're an angel, Sir. You're the best fairy godfather."

All the students scrambled to go back to their proper seats once Sky entered the room. Some of the boys got down from the window sills; others, off the arms of their chairs. A couple of the girls greeted him with giggles while shoving and whispering to each other. The young man who had been trying to butter up to him a minute ago took a seat in the front row with some of his laughing friends beside and behind him.

"Now settle down, everyone." Sky placed his messenger bag on the table and pulled out the students' index cards. "We're going to have a graded recitation today."

The class gave out collective groans. This time, Sky didn't bother to hide the quirk of his mouth.

»»————-　➴　————-««

His morning schedule finished at 11:45 a.m. The first-year accountancy students that he had handled in the last class were considerably better behaved compared to the third-year education students. Not really surprising, as that was always the case with the freshmen. They were so timid and obedient until they advanced to the higher years and learned to whine. Either way, Sky took satisfaction in teaching all types of classes.

The assistant professor made his way to the counter of a nearby fast food restaurant to order fried chicken and a roast beef wrap. After seeing that only vegetable dishes were left on the university cafeteria's menu, he had decided to have his afternoon meal here instead. A lunch without meat was not a proper lunch, after all.

The customer service attendant gave him a queue number and told him that his food would be ready in ten minutes. While looking for a good spot to sit, he espied Angela at the wall-mounted table of the restaurant. She was eating alone while watching the street through the glass panels.

Good timing, Sky thought. He had wanted to talk to her since this morning regarding a request to the Supply Department.

Taking a few strides, he reached the female professor. "Hi, do you mind if I join you?"

Angela looked up with a smile as if she already knew who the person was without even seeing him first. "I'd be a fool to deny a chance to have a handsome young man join me for lunch," she answered before taking a bite of her burger.

Amicable and smooth; no wonder a lot of men threw themselves at this woman.

Just as Sky was about to sit on the bar stool on Angela's right side, he noticed a familiar black tote bag and an old notebook on the table. He paused, and before he could ask the woman if the seat was taken, JP materialized from behind him, grabbing the bag and shoving the notebook inside.

"I really have to go back to the uni. You'll be fine h—" John Paul stopped, his hands freezing on his bag, once he raised his gaze and met Sky's eyes. The Philosophy instructor glanced at Angela, looking as if he wanted to know what the assistant professor was doing here. When it became obvious that he was not going to get any answer, he turned back to Sky and gave him an awkward greeting, "Hello."

"Sorry, I didn't know that someone was already sitting here," Sky said, equally stiff.

"It's okay. I'm done and about to leave anyway," JP mumbled and avoided Sky's stare. He offered him a curt nod and sent a smile in Angela's direction.

Sky pursed his lips. There it was again, the illogical irritation each time he witnessed the contrast between this younger man's behavior towards him and towards other people. With a wry face, he kept his eyes on JP until the latter stepped out of the restaurant.

He returned his attention to Angela, not expecting to be faced with the woman raising a brow at him.

"You two seem very close," Sky pointed out, dismissing the female professor's quizzical expression.

"You look and sound jealous," Angela tossed back before putting a piece of French fries in her mouth.

Sky took a seat and put his queue number on the center of the table where a waiter could easily see it.

"You're a charming woman, Angela, but I've never been into someone older than me. Besides, everyone in the faculty is aware that you're already in a stable relationship with someone. I'm not a fan of being a part of a love triangle drama."

"You're making it sound like I'm already an old fossil like Dion. I'm only four years older than you. Everyone in the faculty, you said, and that includes JP. I doubt he's into that kind of drama either."

A male attendant arrived with a tray of Sky's food. The assistant professor acknowledged him with a nod and signaled that he could start placing his order on the table.

"And that was not what I meant when I said you seemed jealous. I've always known you've never had a thing for me," Angela continued, and Sky caught a glimpse of the waiter nearly dropping the glass of sprite.

The young worker completed serving the food and drinks. He took the queue number, and once he left, Sky looked back at his colleague who was taking a drink of her pineapple juice. "Then what do you mean?"

Angela put her glass down, revealing the fine smile gracing her lips. "I mean, are you, maybe, interested in our new Philosophy instructor?"

Whatever Sky had expected to hear from her, it certainly was not this question. He furrowed his brows as he wondered if the woman was also aware of John Paul's orientation, although he could only perceive an innocent curiosity in her voice; nothing that hinted that she knew about JP's attraction to men.

In an effort to avoid outing the new instructor in case Angela had no idea about his preference yet, Sky settled for a safe response. "I've only been interested in women."

His statement drew a soft laugh from the female professor. She slowly twirled the glass of juice as Sky would a whiskey tumbler.

"I'll tell you what, dear," Angela said, the term of endearment stretching into a drawl, "I know some people who admitted they thought they were straight growing up but discovered they're actually bi or pan only in their forties or older. But then again, I'm not saying you could be like them. After all, your sexuality isn't something that other people can decide or figure out for you."

She paused, only to eat some of her fries, while Sky remained quiet, absentmindedly staring at his own food, unsure why he was even having this discussion with a female colleague. He felt like he was back to the day his mother had sat him down and given him the talk about the birds and the bees.

When Angela spoke again, both her tone and the subject of the conversation shifted. "So anyway, I'm sure you didn't approach me just to talk about this. You were going to tell me something else before you saw that JP was with me, no? What is it?"

Sky internally sighed, relieved. More than happy with the change of topic, he said, "Right. There's something I want to consult you about the additional equipment we need in our office. I'm wondering if we can request another printer and a new laptop this month."

He bit into a large portion of his beef wrap, the juiciness of the meat and crunchiness of the vegetables in his mouth improving his mood to a degree.

"I think we can try," Angela answered vaguely, "But the supply officers told me before that the Accounting Department is stricter when it comes to approving requests for expensive equipment like computers. We may have a good shot for the printer, but as for the laptop, they may require us to submit a justification letter."

"I can draft the letter, and you can let me sign the RSF this time."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Sky saw Angela studying him with a perplexed expression.

"Yeah, sure, we can do that," she said, her uncertainty showing in her voice, "There might be a better chance of the bookkeepers approving it without a lot of questions if they know you're the one requesting. But I'm curious what we need a new laptop for. We still have the desktop in the office, and it's not like anyone's using it regularly since we all bring our personal laptops—"

Sky didn't need to look at Angela to know that her face had just brightened with realization. He pretended not to notice and tried to focus on the food.

"Oh." The woman's grin oozed from the single word.

Facing his female colleague, Sky explained with a straight face, "The desktop is old and works slow. And I'm thinking it's better to have a laptop in the office as a backup in case one of our teaching staff will need it for their lectures or doing their reports."

"Of course," Angela easily agreed. She cast a knowing look at Sky, her eyes gleaming behind the glass as she took a sip of her pineapple juice.