Qilin said "We're all pretty tired so should we get some takeout on the way for dinner or we get it from the cafeteria?"
Andre shook his head "I just wanna go home and sleep. Qilin, why does it seem like food is always on your mind?"
Qilin pouted "I just.. hmph, why do I have to answer you?"
Azlin said "We're all very tired from today's outing so in the evening, we can talk about that later"
Milk yawned and fell asleep
Sean joked "The mother likes food and the child likes to sleep. I wonder who he takes after"
Andre and Sean immediately looked at Azlin who saw them looking at him through the rear mirror and asked "What are you two looking at?"
The duo shook their head frantically as they tried to hold on their laughter
Andre whispered to Sean "Hehe, I see what you did there"
Qilin noticed what the two were trying to do but ignored them
Everyone got back to the dorm safely and went to their dorm rooms after waving bye to each other
Although Qilin got some curious looks, they didn't dare come up to him because of Azlin who was beside him and giving a death glare to anyone who tried to come close
When they got to their room, Azlin immediately locked the door and Qilin went and placed Milk on Azlin's bed
Azlin was perplexed when he turned around "You want him to sleep with me?"
Qilin raised an eyebrow "Why are you guys thinking of sleeping while it's still sunny and bright. We're still in the afternoon"
Azlin said as he shoved the duffel bag under his bed "Well, that's not what I meant. I meant like.. uhm, at night not now. I'm not sleeping now"
Qilin said "Well the thing is, my bed is in a messy state and I want to get it arranged before putting Milk with me. Just watch him"
Azlin nodded and sat on the edge of his bed so he wouldn't wake Milk up but he would still be in his point of view
Qilin quickly arranged the scattered clothes on his bed and the floor then placed the luggages back under the bed
Qilin suddenly realized something and came out of the curtain "We didn't get any clothes for Milk"
Azlin said "His mother might come tomorrow so there's no need"
Qilin sighed "I just hope we won't be having lectures when Officer Saw calls"
Qilin got a call from Kelvin and picked it "Hello, governor"
Kelvin pursed his lips from the other side of the phone as he entered his dorm "Don't call me that, my name is Kelvin, you can even call me by my nickname, Ken"
Qilin nodded "Okay, Ken"
Kelvin then said "The school council president just informed us that for the rest of this week, there will be no lectures for freshers"
Qilin silently squealed so as to not wake Milk up but Azlin was puzzled by his actions 'Who called him and what the heck is he so excited about?'
Qilin then calmed down and said "You didn't have to tell me personally, I would have seen it in the class group"
Kelvin smiled "I just felt like informing you first since we're friends. I'll post it tomorrow morning"
Qilin smiled shyly "Thank you"
Kelvin asked "So are you coming for the party?"
Qilin glanced at Milk and Azlin "No I won't be going"
Kelvin seemed a bit dejected "Oh, what about your friend, Sean, right?"
Qilin shrugged "I don't know about him but he did say he's not going and he is probably asleep right now"
Kelvin nodded "Oh okay then"
Qilin wanted to cut the call so he said "Okay bye have fun"
Qilin hung up before Kelvin could say anything else
Azlin asked "Who was that?"
Qilin replied "My departmental governor"
Azlin inquired "So what happened?"
Qilin spinned on the spot then said "No lectures for freshers for the rest of the week"
Azlin was astounded "Oh that's cool"
Qilin then went back into his curtain and Azlin asked "I thought you weren't sleepy?"
Qilin replied "I want to change my clothes. You should too"
Azlin stood up to freshen up "Aright then"
Qilin decided to have a shower after Azlin was done before he changed into something else
Qilin came out of the shower ten minutes later and saw Azlin's bare back as he was about to put on a tank top then he gulped 'Lin's so fit'
Azlin heard the bathroom door open and turned around then Qilin quickly ran into his curtain before he was caught staring which made Azlin chuckle slightly
Qilin changed into a short sleeve blue polo shirt which reached his thighs and shorts that was just a tad bit past the length of the shirt
Azlin wore a black tank top and joggers then sat on his chair while pressing his phone
Qilin was looking for what Milk would wear when he woke up because he didn't want him to wear the clothes he would still wear tomorrow and sleep like that that night
He found a small elastic crop top and one of his small sized shorts for the boy to wear
He then came out of the curtain to ask Azlin "These are okay for Milk, right?"
Azlin blinked his eyes severally "Where did you find those?"
Qilin shook his head "That isn't the issue, these are okay for Milk, right?"
Azlin nodded still amazed "You're acting like his mum now"
Qilin rolled his eyes "I was the one who became the mum to my lil sis when she was born so I'm just able to do it, that's all"
Azlin asked curiously "What happened to your mum?"
Qilin sat on the steps and placed the clothes on Azlin's bed "She passed away after giving birth to my lil sis"
Azlin regretted asking such a question "I'm sorry..."
Qilin shrugged "It's fine, I'm dealing with it better now"
Azlin nodded and Qilin sighed as he gently caressed Milk's hair "That's why I hope deep down that Milk's mother did not abandon him"
Azlin pursed his lips and didn't answer
Half an hour later, Milk woke up and tapped the bed then called out "Mommy? Mommy!"
Qilin who was in the bathroom immediately came out and went to Milk "Milk, Mommy's here"
Qilin carried Milk who was already scared and hugged him tight "Mommy, d-did you weave Milk again"
Qilin caressed him tenderly "Mommy won't ever leave you again"
Milk held out his pinky finger "Mommy, pwinky pwomise like you always do"
Qilin became skeptical and looked at Azlin who pursed his lips
Milk wiggled his hand in the air with a pout "Mommy? Mommy wants to weave Milk again?"
Qilin smiled wryly then hurriedly curled his pinky around Milk's own which made the little cutie smile widely "Yay! Mommy won't leave Milk again"
Azlin watched the duo with a dotting gaze 'Sweet'
Qilin then said to Milk "Time to take your bath"
Milk shook his head with a pout "Water scawe"
Qilin poked his nose gently "Mommy will be there with you"
Milk was still scared but nodded "Owkay Mommy"
Qilin gently placed him in the bathtub but he was shivering even though the water was warm "Milk, don't worry, Mommy's here"
Milk held his hands but was still shaking "B-but, Mommy water scawe"
Qilin realized that Milk wouldn't let go of his hands so he couldn't wash him "Lin, come in here please"
Azlin came in quickly and asked "He still doesn't want to take his bath?"
Milk's lips wobbled like he was about to cry "Mommy, I want Daddy"
Qilin furrowed his eyebrows and Azlin took up the role so he closed the door like he was just entertaining "Daddy's home oh Milk wants to take a bath? Let Dad come help"
Milk almost forgot his fear of water "Yay! Daddy!!"
Azlin made up jokes and funny stories to distract the boy as he bathed him
Qilin smiled as he held Milk's hands because he still didn't let go
Qilin cleaned him up with his towel and wore the outfit he found for him luckily it was elastic but it still seemed big on him then Qilin noticed the bruises on Milk's wrists "Milk, what happened to you here "
Milk was wearing long sleeves so Qilin didn't notice before "Mommy weft Milk, Milk fewl"
Qilin felt bad "Mommy's sorry"
Qilin called Azlin who had placed Milk's clothes in the watching machine to get washed "Lin, do you have a first-aid box?"
Azlin nodded and went towards his bed drawer "Here it is"
Qilin told Milk as he (Qilin) held his (Milk) hands out "It's going to sting a little but Milk should be brave so Daddy will make the booboo go away"
Milk nodded and Azlin applied the ointment as gently as he could but it still pained Milk a little
When Azlin was done, Qilin blew on both wrists "Milk better?"
Milk bopped his head up and down "Mommy blew, plain flew"
Qilin smiled and tapped his nose gently "You little cutie"
Milk snuggled up to him and Qilin raised his head to look at Azlin "Lin, what time are toddlers supposed to go to sleep?"
Azlin replied "Around six to seven in the evening"
Qilin nodded "What's the time now?"
Azlin checked his phone "nineteen minutes past three"
Qilin thought of something "How much can you see?"
Milk became puzzled "Mommy, what?"
Qilin waved his hand in front of Milk "How much can you see Mommy's hands?"
Milk squinted his eyes "I don't swee Mommy's hands, I swee uhh.. shaky thingy"
Qilin asked "So your vision is blurry?"
Milk turned to his Mommy "Yes"
Qilin asked Milk "Do you know the alphabets?"
Milk nodded and excitedly sat up "A.. M.. T.. I.. W.. uhh B!"
Qilin and Azlin tried not to laugh then Qilin said "Milk, let Mommy guide you"
While Qilin was teaching Milk, Azlin wanted to go get their dinner at the cafeteria when it was five in the evening "Linlin, what do you want to eat?"
Qilin took a paper and wrote it down then passed it to Azlin who read through it and nodded
Azlin then asked Milk who was busy memorizing "So what does Milk want?"
Milk excitedly shouted "Cupcwake and Milk!"
Qilin ruffled his hair "You can't have cupcakes for dinner"
Milk pouted "But Mommy alwaysh lets me hwave anytwing"
Qilin frowned 'What a bad mother, letting her kid eat sweets all the time'
Qilin said "You can only have sweets as snacks like that in the afternoon or desserts but not all the time or else your tooth will decay"
Milk asked "W-what does dwecay mwean?"
Qilin thought of a way to scare the little one "Spiders will eat up your teeth and you'll never be able to eat anything again"
Milk shrieked and hugged Qilin "No no Milk no want tooth dwecay"
Azlin chuckled at Qilin's antics and Qilin patted the boy's back "Good boy now tell Daddy what you want"
Milk pouted "But Milk no know any food but noodles"
Qilin frowned then told Azlin "Get him small sized Italian pasta with two ounces of meat, a bottle milk and another bottle of apple juice"
Milk chimed in "Muffins too"
Qilin shook his head "Save those for tomorrow, this is already too much for you to eat tonight"
Milk sulked "But Milk wants Muffins"
Qilin firmly said "If you eat too much, you'll become too fat to lift yourself"
Milk nodded dejectedly "Owkay, Mommy"
Azlin tried to talk to Qilin "Uhm, just for the night, let him have muffins even if it's just one"
Milk became excited then Qilin glared at him "Are you siding with the child right now, Lin?"
Azlin became speechless with his mouth slightly open 'Damn, Linlin looks so hot with that gaze. Control yourself, Azlin!'
Qilin scoffed "That's what I thought. No muffins till tomorrow"
Azlin nodded then left to get it
Half an hour later, someone knocked on the door and said "Coming in!"
Qilin recognized the voice and excitedly said "Sean, you're finally awake!"
Sean flipped his short hair as Andre closed the door "I needed my beauty sleep"
Qilin giggled and Andre just stared with an eyebrow raised and mouth slightly open "What the?"
Sean chuckled as he saw someone in a suit run down the stairs "Linlin, I almost forgot about the freshman party this evening, I wonder how it would be like"
Qilin teased "Wanna go?"
Sean rolled his eyes "Not anymore, already had enough fun and adventure today"
Andre pouted "I would have gone but none of you guys are going which makes me unable to go either"
Qilin scrunched up his nose "You just wanna go so you get the girls"
Andre shrugged "I mean, there are pretty girls in our year, it'd be a shame not to hit on any of them"
Qilin noticed Sean getting uncomfortable with the topic so he asked "You guys eaten yet?"
Andre shook his head as he looked at the time on his phone "We made a order to be delivered to the dorm in less than half an hour now"
Sean said "Since you have Milk around tonight, we'll eat in our room cool with you?"
Qilin nodded "No, it's fine. I don't mind at all"
Sean folded his arms "I do and I don't want to bother you two"
Andre looked around "Where's Azah?"
Qilin replied "He went to get food"
Sean sat on a chair "Andy would definitely want to see Azlin before he goes so we'll just wait for him to get back"
Qilin said "No problem, I was just teaching Milk the alphabet"
Sean cooed and came over which sort of frightened Milk a bit "Oh sowwie sowwie, Uncle Sean didn't mean that"
Qilin ruffled Milk's hair "Why don't you tell Uncle Sean what you learned?"
Milk nodded "A, B, Swii, D, F, uhh.. J, K... K.. P! X! Y! Z!"
Sean clapped enthusiastically which made Milk smile with glee "Wow, Milk's so smart"
Qilin was happy too "He did better than the first time"
Qilin placed Milk on the bed "Mommy's coming, okay?
Milk nodded then continued trying to remember the alphabet "P.. B.. Uhh... Swii"
Qilin and Sean sat together on the small stairway "Linlin, he doesn't have to start learning though, I thought kids started preschool around three to four years old"
Qilin said "I know but Milk isn't in the right condition to go to school yet because he's visually impaired but luckily it's the blue one if it was the total one, there'd be no hope"
Sean was puzzled "Hope for what?"
Qilin pursed his lips slightly "Surgery or maybe get one of those special glasses so he could see"
Sean exclaimed while Andre just watched the duo on "You can't get him into surgery, he's too young. Besides, *whispers* what if his real mommy does come tomorrow?"
Qilin sighed "I don't know, Sean. I-i just feel... feel like.."
Sean raised an eyebrow "You feel like he's your child and you want the best for him?"
Qilin looked away "Yeah, something like that, I guess"
Sean held his forehead "I too care for the child and he's cute and all but... Linlin, you're eighteen years old and we just started college. You can not have a child tie you down and not let you enjoy life in school. Do you think you're ready for the responsibility?"
Qilin folded his arms "Sean, my mum died when I was four years old and I had to take up the responsibility of my lil sister who was just a baby that time because my dad had a mental breakdown for a whole freaking year. I mentally became a mother since I was four years old. Disregarded my childhood to make sure my little sister had one and now you're asking if I'm ready for the responsibility?"
Andre gasped "Qilin, you're talking as if you don't want his mum to come back"
Qilin glanced at Milk who was too focused on memorizing the alphabet and said "If she doesn't, I'll be a better mum"
Sean sighed "For your sake now I hope she doesn't"
Andre raised an eyebrow "What's with you two all of a sudden?"
Then the door opened and Andre said "Azah, they don't want Milk's parents to come back for him anymore!"
Milk heard that and started sobbing "D-did Mommy and Daddy w-weave Milk again?"
Qilin rushed to him and hugged him but he was still crying "No, Mommy and and Daddy are not going anywhere. We'll stay with Milk and Milk with us forever now please stop crying"
Sean lightly slapped Andre's nape "You made Milk cry!"
Azlin just shook his head and went to Milk to try and change the topic "Daddy got Milk a muffin!"
Qilin stared at Azlin shock when he did bring out a muffin but Milk immediately stopped crying and happily received it
Qilin glared at Azlin who raised both hands in surrender "It's an egg muffin, good for the body"
Qilin softened his gaze and smiled "Thank you, Lin"
Azlin smiled "You look better when you smile, Linlin"