Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed



Roseanne couldn't help but burst into laughter at the dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Here, take it, Uncle Reynolds-my dad's barbecue brisket is to die for, not everyone gets a taste of it."

"What did you call me?" He stepped closer, his hand bracing against the wall, "Hmm?"

Backed into a corner with nowhere to retreat, Roseanne could only look up at him, innocent eyes wide: "I was just repeating what my dad said, not my own words."

""

"Professor, this hallway is pretty narrow, you know... Maybe step back a bit?"

Owen Reynolds, remembering he was still nursing a cold and fearing he might pass it onto her, heaved a gentle sigh, withdrew his hand, and stepped aside.

Roseanne once again marveled at his approachability and gentlemanly demeanor.

After Owen accepted the brisket, Roseanne took the rest home and snapped a photo to send to Norris.

The response came quickly-

Norris: 【Did you give it to Owen?]

Roseanne: [Yes, I did! Dad, don't you think you're being too generous with him?)】

It was as if she wasn't meant to keep any for herself.

Norris, too lazy to type, sent a voice message instead: "Of course! You have to be generous and share the good times with your buddies!" Roseanne: Owen Reynolds should hear this.

...And she got cornered for just relaying a message?

Remembering how the man had cornered her, leaning in close, his scent and breath enveloping her completely.

Roseanne couldn't help but blush.

Her heart rate involuntarily sped up.

She remembered how back in high school, some boys would do the same thing-deliberately getting close, making her inevitably blush.

Before meeting Murray, she found such proximity to the opposite sex hard to handle, even suffocating.

She thought that after experiencing a relationship and a breakup, this issue would fade, but apparently...

It was like reverting to old habits!Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

Roseanne chalked up her reactions to "old habits flaring up," not daring to delve deeper.

In the afternoon, she invited Mamie and Scales over.

"...Let's meet up and talk about the lab situation."

"Sure."

"Be right there!"

They arrived quickly, Mamie in fluffy slippers and Scales in casual home wear, clearly having rushed over from their respective places. "Roseanne, did you come up with a solution?" Mamie asked eagerly upon arrival.

Scales looked at her expectantly.

Roseanne handed them each a soda before sitting down across from them, her expression serious and gaze stern-

"First off, just waiting it out following procedure for months isn't practical. We might manage, but our project and lab work can't."

"Even if we could wait, there's no guarantee we'd get the lab back in the end. New troubles could arise."

"About Mr. Reynolds's offer to use

his space... I've thought it over.

Besides the equipment mismatch

due to different fields,

social dynamics would drain too much energy. Imagine moving all our gear there only to leave after two days. Too much hassle."

et

"Lastly, and most importantly, borrowing a lab isn't a long-term solution. Clearly, someone's targeting us. With the enemy hidden and usin the open, if we don't foot out the problem, similar issues will likely keep cropping up..."

Mamie, initially hopeful, seemed to lose that spark as she listened, eventually slumping on the sofa in defeat, embodying the essence of despair.

Scales frowned, "Is there really no other way?"

Just as Roseanne was about to speak, Mamie burst out-

"What a load of crap from the college! So corrupt! We're being wronged and the college acts blind pretending not to see! Why should we take this? Just because we borrowed his lab, we have to put up with this nonsense? Then forget it! It's just a damn room, Duke has plenty!"