Entering the living room was a tall, young man in purple and white pyjamas.
His features were exquisite, and he seemed to be of mixed nationalities.
He had straight brows and a good-looking nose with a head of black, fluffy, shoulder-length hair that had been dishevelled from sleep.
Hàoyû walked toward the sofa and plopped down next to Tejumole before naturally resting his head on her thighs.
Tejumole raised her hand to brush his hair away from his face before stroking it softly.
"You're up so early. Did you already eat?" Hàoyû asked even though he knew the answer.
"Yes." She gave a curt reply, then waved the bag of chips over his face.
Her eyes were glued to the screen, seemingly an attempt to ignore the gaze trained on her.
"Haai, these are not food." Hàoyû sat up and gestured towards the junk food on the table.
"What do you want to eat? I'll order takeout." In a resigned manner, he questioned.
They had been over this issue, but no matter how many times they talked, she never seemed able to rid herself of this bad habit.
"It's Sunday. Restaurants won't open until eleven."
"I'll make noodles then."
"We're out."
Hàoyû: "…"
In the end, Hàoyû joined her in eating snacks as they watched kid shows on TV. They would have to wait until later before eating it seemed. As apart from noodles, Hàoyû couldn't cook anything else and Tejumole, well, it was safer to keep her out of the kitchen.
They stayed in this position, with Tejumole occasionally feeding Hàoyû while the two couch potatoes watched kid shows.
"Little one, tomorrow is the start of a new semester. Don't you have things to settle before then?"
Taking his attention from the TV, Hàoyû stared at her with his dark fox eyes before saying a little helplessly.
"No, I don't. I've done everything I need to do and as for the rest, they'll be finalized tomorrow, at the university. My dear professor, I'm not a child anymore. In addition, aren't I even taller than you now? Why do you still address me as little one? If you really want to give me a nickname, why not give me something manly?"
Tejumole tilted her head to look at him.
"It's good that you settled it, but I'm not wrong. Even if you become a giant, I'll still be older, so calling you little one is reasonable."
"…alright." Sighing, Hàoyû no longer pursued the topic.
Tejumole was generally easygoing, but there were times when she could be as stubborn as a mule. Especially when it came to matters involving Hàoyû.
They had lived together for four years, but she still preferred to call him names like 'child' or 'little one'.
Not like he hated it, but he would still like to be treated as an adult. He was eighteen already!
Looking at the child drowning his sorrows in junk food caused Tejumole to reveal a barely noticeable smile.
And though her face was expressionless, the glint in her eyes showed that she was enjoying this a little more than she should.
She fondled the child's soft hair and turned her gaze back to the TV.
They stayed like this for a while, two couch potatoes watching cartoons and chatting idly. The two had beautiful features and even with their untidy appearances well, mostly Haoyu, the scene was picturesque.
Tejumole had smooth, light-brown skin with soft features that made her appear harmless. Her eyebrows were soft and arched. She had a cute nose with lovely brown eyes and bow-shaped lips.
Yet, even though she was mostly expressionless, the feeling she gave was of a gentle and steady person who was easy to get along with.
As for Hàoyû, he was a young and spirited young man, who although appeared fainéant, still managed to look good in his purple kitty pyjamas.
He inherited the best parts of an African and an Asian with his head of soft, curly hair, slightly tan skin, straight brows and narrow lips.
His fox eyes were deep like the bottom of an ocean, and resembled an endless abyss.
A few hours later...
Hàoyû had his eyes closed as he rested on Tejumole's legs while Tejumole read through a few documents, wearing a pair of glasses with black rims and gold chains.
She was skimming through the papers when her focus was broken by the sound of the doorbell.
Ding, dong.
"Hmm…who is it…?" Hàoyû rubbed his eyes and questioned sleepily.
"I'll go check." Tejumole took off her glasses and patted him gently.
She then placed his head on the couch before heading towards the door.
When she reached, she peered through the peephole, and then pulled the door open.
Outside, was a middle-aged lady in a green Ankara dress.
"Good morning dear. How are you today?"
"Aunty Bisola. Good morning. I'm fine. What brings you here?" Came her robotic response.
"Why? Am I not welcome?"
Aunty Bisola walked into the house while Tejumole closed the door and responded.
"You are…" Tejumole followed the lady, who seemed extra familiar with the house.
"Ah, I was worried about you two, so I came over after service. You probably haven't had anything to eat. Here, I made a lot of food."
Aunty Bisola gestured at the bags she was carrying, keeping them out of reach to prevent Tejumole from touching them.
They reached the living room and walked toward the open kitchen.
"Thank you. You didn't have to do this. Sundays are your off days. We were just about to order some food." As she spoke, Tejumole watched Aunty Bisola bring out flask after flask from the bags and wondered just how much food she made.
"Yes, I know. But how can I be at ease when neither of you knows your way around the kitchen? You can't possibly expect me to let you starve, right? And were you really about to order some food? That doesn't seem to be the case. Look at you, one is reading while the other is asleep. Just look at the amount of junk on that table. Don't you know those kinds of food are bad for your health?"
Tejumole glanced at the forty-some year old lady busy herself in the kitchen while nagging her endlessly.
She could only look on helplessly as she was stumped for words.
Currently, Tejumole was feeling a little envious of the child sleeping with no care in the world.
"Come and eat. I'm not leaving until you do. But first, you should go wake up the boy. You're spoiling him too much. He's already so big, but he still acts like a child. Go, go and wake him up."
Instantly, Tejumole rose from her seat and left the kitchen in brisk steps.
Her back view seemed like she was fleeing from something frightening.