- 8 hours ago
The Icebound Professor is My Secret Puppy: New 🔝
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00After Professor Reed tore apart my work in the meeting, I sent my online boyfriend a photo of my legs.
00:06Show your master what you've got.
00:08I looked up. Dr. Callum Reed, who never smiles, who keeps every button done up to his throat,
00:13whose entire personality is controlled contempt.
00:16His jaw tightened. His ears went red.
00:18I glanced at his phone screen out of pure curiosity.
00:21It was my message. Oh my god.
00:23My brain stopped working.
00:24And then my stupid hand went ahead and called him on video.
00:28Callum's phone buzzed during the review, loud in the silence.
00:31I still can't believe it.
00:33The coldest man in the department.
00:35The one who makes PhD students cry in the hallway.
00:38The one every girl says is too beautiful and too mean to exist.
00:42He's my online boyfriend.
00:43He tapped his screen.
00:45My heart shot into my throat.
00:47He's going to pick up. Pick up. Please pick up.
00:50Ten minutes ago, he told the room,
00:52my analysis was embarrassingly underdeveloped.
00:55Once he knows it's me, he'll have to back off.
00:58Oh my god. I'm going to graduate.
01:00I sat up straight. He declined.
01:02My phone lit up.
01:03One message from six-pack underscore read.
01:06In a review right now.
01:07Can I message you later?
01:08I froze.
01:09I was still smiling.
01:10Then Callum's voice cut through the room.
01:12Jade.
01:13I flinched.
01:14What exactly are you smiling at?
01:16Everyone looked at me.
01:17Callum stared at me with those flat, surgical eyes.
01:20You have no major publications, no relevant research background coming in.
01:24I didn't want you on my committee.
01:25Your supervisor vouched for you, said you were worth developing.
01:29And?
01:30Your data is a mess.
01:32Your write-up is incoherent.
01:35You haven't said one useful thing today.
01:37And now you're on your phone.
01:40Do you actually want to finish this degree?
01:42I'm done.
01:43I'm so done.
01:44The other students went very still.
01:46Some looked sympathetic.
01:47Some looked relieved it wasn't them.
01:49I'd been a top student my whole life.
01:51Teachers loved me.
01:52Classmates looked up to me.
01:53Then I started my PhD.
01:55And Callum Reid became the person whose opinion decides whether I graduate.
01:58My face was burning.
02:00My eyes were full.
02:01But online, he's so different.
02:03Warm.
02:04Patient.
02:05Genuinely kind.
02:06I tried to say something.
02:07My voice came out shaking.
02:09I was messaging someone.
02:10He's actually...
02:11No one in this room cares.
02:13Zero people want to know about your personal life.
02:15Callum's voice was flat.
02:16Next time you can't manage basic professional conduct, request a different professor.
02:20I won't sit on your panel.
02:22Callum isn't just the youngest faculty member in the department.
02:24He's the youngest person ever tenured here.
02:26And his name carries across the whole field.
02:29His recommendation can open any door.
02:31Losing his backing can close every one of them.
02:34He chairs my committee.
02:35If he walks, I rebuild the whole thing from scratch.
02:38New chair, new timeline, years I don't have.
02:41I'd be finished.
02:42My whole body went cold.
02:44Eventually, I got the words out.
02:45Understood.
02:46It won't happen again.
02:48Outside the building, Maya grabbed my arm.
02:50Jade!
02:51What happened in there?
02:52Why were you literally calling someone on video during the review?
02:55Because I just found out Callum Reid is my online boyfriend.
03:00In the moment, I was insane with happiness.
03:02Now it just feels surreal.
03:03I looked around.
03:04No one nearby.
03:05Do you think Callum could be in an online relationship?
03:08Maya blinked, then laughed.
03:10Callum?
03:10He's like a sealed vault.
03:12The man doesn't date.
03:14He doesn't even look at people that way.
03:15Online relationship?
03:16No.
03:17Then her expression shifted.
03:19You didn't find one of those posts online, did you?
03:21The ones that say if your advisor's blocking you, just confess feelings and they'll back
03:25off?
03:25Those are rage bait.
03:27Don't touch them.
03:28Callum already doesn't think highly of you.
03:30If he thinks you're messing with him, you are done.
03:33My stomach dropped.
03:34I'd thought I'd hit the jackpot.
03:36But from Callum's side, I'd look like I was messing with him on purpose.
03:39He cannot find out it was me.
03:41I kept my voice steady.
03:42I was just curious.
03:43I'd never actually do that.
03:45Maya relaxed.
03:46Back at my apartment, Callum messaged me almost immediately.
03:50Are you free right now?
03:52In public, Callum Reed is all sharp edges and locked buttons.
03:55Every shirt fastened straight to the collar, cold enough to frost the air around him.
04:00But privately, the gap between the two is genuinely dizzying.
04:03And he still chairs my committee.
04:05I typed back, no, don't worry about it.
04:07Long silence.
04:08Why not?
04:09I'm sorry, that was wrong of me.
04:11Then a video call.
04:12My phone rang and something shifted in my chest.
04:14Maybe it was the way he'd torn into me in that room.
04:17Seeing him like this, careful and waiting, felt like something.
04:21I wanted to stretch it out.
04:23I wanted to make him uncomfortable and then walk away.
04:25But, I thought about what I stood to lose.
04:28Fine, I picked it up.
04:29We did what we always do.
04:30Neither of us are on camera.
04:31Are you angry?
04:32That voice, low and measured, with something careful underneath it.
04:36I'd never connected it to him before.
04:38Now I heard it immediately.
04:40Of course it was him.
04:41I was scared he'd recognize mine.
04:43I typed instead, not angry.
04:44Go ahead, I'm listening.
04:46Callum exhaled.
04:47His voice settled.
04:49Okay, starting now.
04:50I watched.
04:51Callum reached for his belt.
04:54I dropped my phone.
04:55I've read things online to decompress, but this was my first time actually seeing it.
05:00And it was his.
05:01The shock of it.
05:02His voice came through from the floor.
05:03Did I scare you?
05:05I pressed both hands to my face.
05:07Hung up.
05:08I typed deliberately.
05:09Did something not develop properly?
05:12Romance novels say the guys are always like 12 inches.
05:1612 what?
05:16Inches.
05:17Those books make things up.
05:198 inches is genuinely impressive.
05:21My face went even hotter.
05:23I can't handle it.
05:24You're too old.
05:25I like them younger.
05:27Maybe I should find a younger boyfriend.
05:29Callum was 34.
05:30That would land.
05:31It landed.
05:32Callum called immediately.
05:34I declined.
05:35He's never been good with words.
05:37Now he was worse.
05:38The screen just reads, typing, for a long time.
05:42Then one message.
05:43You can't leave me.
05:44I watched the typing indicator come back.
05:46He sat with it for a while.
05:48Babe.
05:49I laughed out loud.
05:51Perfect.
05:52I had a dissertation to rewrite.
05:54I dragged it out anyway.
05:55It depends on your behavior.
05:57I have to go to work.
05:58Is there anything I can do?
05:59He could absolutely help.
06:01I couldn't say that.
06:02Someone told me what I wrote was garbage.
06:04Starting over.
06:05That's their problem.
06:07Ha.
06:07He just called himself the problem.
06:10I laughed out loud.
06:11Do you need me to come cheer you up?
06:13Sure.
06:14He just wants to find out who I am.
06:16We met on a subscription platform.
06:18I run an anonymous sleepcast channel.
06:21No face.
06:21Just voice.
06:22He found me.
06:23He subscribed.
06:24He kept coming back.
06:25My parents have always wanted me to graduate and get married young.
06:29So I'm doing my PhD in secret.
06:32I pay my own tuition.
06:33I rent off campus so my parents don't find out through anyone at home.
06:37I'm always broke.
06:39When I noticed he was a regular, I paid attention.
06:42He wasn't loud about it.
06:43Never left demanding comments.
06:45Just showed up.
06:46Tipped quietly.
06:48Sent the occasional message.
06:49Once I noticed he was dependent on me and had money, I started playing it carefully.
06:54Not replying to his messages for hours.
06:57Going dark for days at a time.
06:59Had a private client.
07:00Couldn't stream.
07:01He'd send money every time.
07:03I played it cool.
07:04There are people who'd pay more.
07:06Why should I agree to anything with you?
07:08What do you want?
07:09Someone who only listens to me.
07:11The kind who calls me master.
07:13Like a puppy.
07:14He sent back a flat.
07:15Fine.
07:16I thought I'd gone too far.
07:18He went quiet for a long time.
07:20I was about to go to sleep when he messaged.
07:22What do you need from me?
07:24I thought about it.
07:25Show me the six pack.
07:26He replied fast.
07:28Okay.
07:29Callum sent a voice note.
07:30Low.
07:31Unhurried.
07:31Deliberate.
07:33I only show my girlfriend.
07:34Be my girlfriend and I'll say yes to everything.
07:36So that's how we started.
07:37I treated it like a job.
07:39To protect myself, we agreed early on.
07:41No face photos.
07:43No real names.
07:44Who could have guessed he was Callum Reed?
07:46I typed, pretending to complain.
07:49Scared you'd show me something disappointing.
07:51Don't come.
07:52Don't bother me today or I'm blocking you.
07:54Okay, he said.
07:55And that was it.
07:56He went quiet.
07:57I put my phone down and worked.
07:59Just after midnight, my phone lit up.
08:01One message.
08:03It's a new day.
08:03How did it go?
08:04I had a dissertation due tomorrow and I'd been up rewriting it.
08:08Full of resentment about the whole thing.
08:10But then I saw him.
08:11Just waiting there.
08:13Patient as an abandoned puppy.
08:15Something in me softened.
08:16The resentment went quiet.
08:18Am I really that important to you?
08:20His voice came back rough and certain.
08:23Yes.
08:24Fair.
08:25He's usually a man of one or two sentences.
08:28Not tonight.
08:29These two years with you, I've been happy every single day.
08:32You matter more to me than I know how to say.
08:34Let's meet.
08:35Let's get married.
08:36Let me take care of you.
08:37My ears got warm.
08:38Everything in me went soft.
08:40Callum in public is cold.
08:42Cutting.
08:43Impossible to reach.
08:44A genuinely beautiful man with a genuinely brutal mouth.
08:48But then I think about his face.
08:49His drive.
08:50The way he is when it's just us.
08:52I am winning so hard.
08:54I typed back.
08:55Got it.
08:56Let's talk about meeting in June.
08:57I need my degree in hand before I let him see me.
09:01He sent back a single word.
09:03Okay.
09:03Next morning, I went to find Callum about my revision.
09:07Callum was frowning at his laptop.
09:09You're telling me this is the revised version?
09:11My stomach lurched.
09:12I leaned over to look.
09:14Yes.
09:15Did I get it wrong again?
09:17Callum's face was cold.
09:18The pressure in the room dropped.
09:20I twisted the hem of my sleeve.
09:22Should I take it back and try again?
09:24I don't think I can fix it.
09:25I don't know what I'm missing.
09:26Callum glanced at me.
09:28Have some faith.
09:28Think of it as the universe stress testing you.
09:30I blinked.
09:31That was almost kind.
09:33Is he being nice to everyone now?
09:35Before I could feel anything about it.
09:36Although the universe also seems to think you're its personal stress ball, it just keeps squeezing.
09:40Callum moved his cursor to a paragraph.
09:43What is this section?
09:44Did you use AI?
09:47No.
09:48I wrote it.
09:50You wrote it?
09:51Show me something like this again and I won't sign off on scheduling your defense.
09:55You'd have to petition for an extension.
09:57My ears rang.
09:58I'm doing this whole PhD in secret.
10:00If I don't finish, what was three years for?
10:03How do I explain this to myself?
10:05To my parents?
10:06And last night, he said I matter to him.
10:08And now he's the one about to break me.
10:11I felt like he'd reached through my ribs and twisted.
10:15Funny and horrible at the same time.
10:17And then I completely fell apart.
10:19I slapped both hands on his desk and said,
10:22Callum Reed?
10:23Are you seriously trying to fail your own future wife?
10:26Callum stopped.
10:28He looked up slowly.
10:29Jade, take a breath.
10:32You're an adult.
10:33You know that spiraling and crying doesn't fix anything.
10:36Callum sat there, perfectly composed, while I came apart, cold, unmoved, certain.
10:41But online, he tells me to keep going.
10:43He says, I think carefully.
10:45He says, I matter to him.
10:47And now he's telling me tears don't solve anything.
10:50The gap between those two people.
10:53I stared at him.
10:54And then I understood something.
10:55The person in front of me, unreachable and controlled and merciless.
11:00This is the real one.
11:01The one online who is warm and patient.
11:04Maybe that's just what he's like when there's no audience.
11:07Maybe it's not about me at all.
11:10I got angrier.
11:11Good thing he didn't connect future wife to anything real.
11:14He just thought I was having a breakdown.
11:16I wiped my eyes.
11:17I am spiraling.
11:18That's the point.
11:19Something shifted in Callum's expression.
11:22He softened slightly.
11:24Okay, leave the dissertation for now.
11:26Take a few days.
11:26If you can't get your head straight, I can refer you to someone at the counseling center.
11:30You seem close with Maya.
11:32I'll ask her to sit with you today.
11:33I have other things to deal with.
11:34He made a call.
11:35Maya came and collected me.
11:37Maya did her PhD here and stayed on as a postdoc.
11:40She took me back to her office.
11:42I've never seen you cry before.
11:43But compared to the students who come out of reviews sobbing every month,
11:46your resilience is actually way above average.
11:48I drank the bubble tea she'd bought me.
11:50He's like something that escaped from a nightmare.
11:52I genuinely think he wants me to fail.
11:55He doesn't.
11:55He's like this with everyone.
11:57He's not targeting you specifically.
11:58You just have to get through it.
12:00You will graduate.
12:01I just don't know if I can get through it.
12:03I needed to decompress.
12:05That night, I took Maya to a bar.
12:07All of it on my own money this time.
12:09Every cent.
12:10We ordered everything.
12:11I was three drinks in when I noticed Maya on a call.
12:15Her voice went...
12:16To read?
12:18Oh, sorry.
12:18This is Jade's phone.
12:20Maya.
12:21Stop being on your phone.
12:22There are dancers up there.
12:23Let's go.
12:24Maya covered my mouth with her hand.
12:26She gave the address to the phone and hung up.
12:29Dr. Reed is coming to get us.
12:30Do not say anything in front of him.
12:32I heard this and immediately forgot it.
12:35Callum arrived fast, like he'd been close already.
12:37The wind had moved his hair slightly.
12:39It didn't matter.
12:40He was still unfairly good looking.
12:42He just stood there, and the whole room rearranged itself around him.
12:45Maya said, Dr. Reed, very respectfully.
12:48I felt like I was being haunted.
12:49Why do I see you everywhere?
12:51Are you following me to finish me off?
12:53Maya jumped in.
12:55She really does respect you.
12:56She's just drunk and not herself.
12:58Please don't take anything she says seriously.
13:00I know.
13:01He crouched down in front of me.
13:03Something attentive in his expression.
13:04I'll drive you home.
13:05Can you stand?
13:06I hated that he was being calm about it.
13:08I don't want your help!
13:11I genuinely hate you.
13:13Maya reached for me.
13:15Callum held up a hand to stop her.
13:17Those sharp, dark eyes, usually so precise.
13:20Right now, they just looked at me.
13:21Why do you hate me?
13:22Because you won't let me graduate!
13:24I'm doing this whole degree without telling my parents.
13:27I thought a PhD would make me more employable.
13:29Now I won't have the credential, and I have no work experience, and I'm older, and I'm
13:33going to be less hireable than when I started, not more.
13:35I'm such a mess!
13:37People nearby turned to look.
13:39Callum's brow pulled together slightly.
13:41I'm not trying to stop you from graduating.
13:44Let's take this out somewhere.
13:45Maya gathered our things and stood.
13:47The moment she moved, I slid sideways off the couch.
13:50Callum caught me before I hit the floor.
13:53Got one arm around my back, one under my knees, and lifted me.
13:57Maya's eyes went enormous.
13:58I yelped.
14:00What are you doing?
14:01He was already walking toward the door, calm like this was nothing.
14:04Can't walk straight.
14:05I'm taking you to the car.
14:06Put me down!
14:07I don't want you!
14:08I can't stand looking at you!
14:10I genuinely hate you!
14:11Callum's throat moved.
14:12He held on steadily and kept walking.
14:15I woke up the next afternoon.
14:17Pressed my hands into my eyes.
14:19Looked around.
14:20Unfamiliar room.
14:21Unfamiliar duvet.
14:22A few blank seconds, then...
14:24Panic.
14:25I remembered now.
14:26We'd been together.
14:27I called her immediately.
14:29She said she'd stayed with me at the hotel.
14:31Left when I was still sleeping because she had a morning meeting.
14:34Then she said the thing that made me want to disappear.
14:37You cried on him.
14:38You yelled at him.
14:39You hit his shoulder and then you wiped your face on his jacket.
14:42Jade, he has a thing about cleanliness.
14:45I stared at the ceiling.
14:46My degree felt even further away.
14:49How did he even end up there with us?
14:51Maya sighed.
14:52He came to get us and for what it's worth, he kept apologizing to you the whole time.
14:56Like, like he actually felt bad.
14:59So he probably won't hold it against you.
15:01That was something.
15:02After a shower, I left the room.
15:04Callum was standing in the corridor.
15:06Gray shirt.
15:06Top button done.
15:07Dark trousers.
15:08That whole precise, contained, slightly untouchable,
15:12look he always has.
15:13He was looking down at me.
15:14Something careful in it.
15:15Like he was the one who was nervous.
15:17Was Maya right?
15:18Is he actually worried he pushed me too far?
15:21Good.
15:21He should be.
15:22But he's still a professional obstacle in my life.
15:24I have to be careful.
15:26I was about to apologize for last night.
15:28Jade, I'm sorry.
15:30I didn't know you were carrying all of this.
15:31Now that you know, are you still going to hold up my defense?
15:34I didn't want his apology.
15:35I didn't want him to say he hadn't realized I was struggling.
15:38Because he can't actually feel what that's like for me.
15:41He'll just think I'm fragile, incompetent.
15:43I only cared about one thing.
15:45No.
15:46I breathed.
15:46Then, quietly.
15:48But I genuinely can't fix the dissertation on my own.
15:50Callum looked at me steadily.
15:52Bring your laptop to my place.
15:53Everything you don't understand, we'll go through together.
15:55We don't stop until it's done.
15:56I stared at him.
15:57If I'd known falling apart worked this well,
15:59I would have done it so much sooner.
16:01Before he could reconsider,
16:02I went back to my apartment,
16:04grabbed my laptop,
16:05and went to his place.
16:06Callum has never asked us to do personal work for him.
16:09Never had any of us over.
16:11This was my first time.
16:131,200 square feet with a view of the river.
16:15Clean lines.
16:16Gray and white.
16:17Expensive in a way that doesn't announce itself.
16:20In the study, I sat at the desk.
16:22Callum pulled a chair up beside me.
16:24One hand near mine on the desk.
16:26I could feel the warmth coming off him.
16:28His voice near my ear when he leaned in to point at something.
16:31Focused.
16:32Professional.
16:33But different from the office.
16:35In the office, there's always a door open.
16:37Always distance maintained.
16:39Here, he just sat next to me.
16:42I made myself concentrate.
16:44We were working through the second chapter
16:45when he told me to take a break.
16:47He put a bowl of oranges on the desk.
16:50Oranges.
16:51I like them, but they're a hassle.
16:53Without thinking, I said,
16:54My hands will get sticky and then the keyboard.
16:57Open.
16:58What?
16:59He popped an orange segment into my mouth.
17:01I'm going to take a break.
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