Formula Heartbeat

The campus lay deserted in the deep autumn, the last class having ended unusually early. Lin Shiyu, a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, stood at the end of the hallway clutching a thick stack of lecture notes, her gaze fixed on the only student who had stayed behind to help her gather the books. Her palms were slick with sweat. She had been teaching at this university for three years, her slender figure wrapped in an oversized knit sweater, resembling a timid yet stubborn cat. No one knew just how much she secretly fixated on this student—candid photos plastered all over her refrigerator, tailored assignments tucked into her lesson plans. She had spent an entire summer designing a game meant for only two people.