Otabek Altin could be considered a sweet boy if you ask his parents. He would definitely be a nice guy if you ask the people around him. Other than that, he was also on the diligent side of things. University life has began to take its toll on the 19 year old, especially since he was nearing the end of his year's second semester. That always meant an onslaught of exams, reports, and lots and lots of papers; all of which went hand in hand with a chocolate milkshake, a box of pizza, and Lei by his side.

And if Lei was around, that meant the rest of their friends were around as well, because they still refuse to leave them alone. Not that it bothered Otabek much, by this point. Phichit had already gotten used to Lei being around their dorm a lot, and the latter often brought along her friend, Risu, along with him, so that was fine. If they weren't at the dorm, they would be at Grand Prix Pizza.

Yuri ended up befriending Guang Hong, who was always all-talk Yuri, which made Otabek and his friends wonder when was he ever that talkative. Leo and Viktor dropped by as well, but Viktor would excuse himself whenever Yuuri was around, to the other boy's annoyance.

Yuuri complained about that bit constantly, but Lei would always just pat his back and comfort him by saying 'there, there.' Otabek would be the one to offer a sip of chocolate milkshake, reasoning that it could heal their hearts. He always got Lei to laugh at that.

Shupp actually ended up working at Grand Prix Pizza as well, after Nour and Lei convinced her that she did a good job serving people; that, and she needed some extra income as well, and working with friends was always fun. Yuuko joined the team soon after, and things got a lot more noisier around the establishment, with her constantly belting out songs as she delivered orders. That also made things more fun, so it was alright.

There was still a lingering question in the air, however.

Phichit entered Otabek's room one night, at 2AM in the morning, stress written all over his face as he fell flat on Otabek’s bed. He groaned into the sheets while Otabek stared the boy on his bed with a concerned expression. It was nearing finals week, which meant summer was just around the corner, but that also meant the workload just got harder. Hell Week, so they call it, which meant double the papers for both of them. Otabek got fairly a ton of work to do, but still, he stopped his paper for the sake of poor Phichit.

"Are you okay there, buddy?" He asked, even if he already knew the answer.

Otabek got another groan in response.

Soon, Phichit rolled over so that he was lying flat on the bed instead, staring up at the ceiling for a few seconds before finally turning over to face Otabek.

"Have you said yes to Lei yet?"

Otabek blinked in surprise at the question, "what do you mean?"

"Has she asked you to be her boyfriend yet?" Phichit repeated, slower this time, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Well," Otabek started, "technically, I have to ask her. She said it was up to me."

Otabek recalled the certain day a few months after the confession, which involved a pouting Lei asking him again if they could be official yet. Otabek partially said not yet because he was nervous about the idea, and also because Lei looked cute whenever she would whine. Otabek knew the latter was always half-joking whenever she would complain, anyway. Eventually, she left the choice for Otabek to decide.

Phichit's jaw dropped, "you're kidding. And what have you done so far?"

Otabek hesitated, "I've done a lot of papers?"

"You're kidding, man, that's so lame," Phichit shook his head. "You know what we should do? We should call for pizza."

Phichit shoved Otabek's phone in his hand in a matter of seconds, now sitting up on the bed beside him while Otabek laughed and dialed the familiar hotline- not Lei's personal phone- and set it down on loud speaker again.

"Hello, thanks for calling Grand Prix Pizza! How may I help you?"

Otabek couldn't help but smile at the familiar voice, making Phichit shake his head and mutter something that sounded like how are you two not together yet?

"Hey," Otabek finally said.

"Otabek!" The voice on the other end of the line brightened immediately, and Otabek could hear snickers in the background.

"One regular pork cutlet pizza, please," Otabek continued.

A voice in the background that Otabek recognized to be Yuri's went "keep it professional, Lei" followed by what sounded like Lei shushing them.

"It'll be there soon."

"Sure, thanks," Otabek paused, and met Phichit's gaze- a knowing look passed the boy's face. He stared back down at the phone, a light blush spreading over his face already. Finally, he continued:

"I love you."

Phichit bit into a pillow Otabek didn't know when he got. On the other line, there was a definite silence, followed by what sounded like the phone actually dropping on the floor, before Lei's voice came up again.

"Is that for real this time? Does this mean-- I mean, I'm hoping-- Otabek?" Her voice sounded so breathless that Otabek couldn't help but laugh, already imagining the other's flustered face and also the probably confused looks of her friends.

"That's not the answer I was hoping for, Lei," Otabek teased.

"Oh. Oh, well, of course," Lei took a deep breath. Otabek did the same. "I love you too."

Phichit comically rolled off the bed just as Otabek smiled brightly, already hearing the shouts and excited reactions on the other end- Nour being the loudest voice he heard, and it even seemed like Yuri was blabbering in excitedly in Russian. Otabek listened in for a few more minutes before Lei's voice came up again.

"I'll go make the pizza now, it'll be there soon, bye!"

The call ended just as Phichit climbed onto the bed again, "you sneaky, sneaky slimy snake."

Otabek smiled cheekily, settling back on his laptop again to continue on his work. Phichit continued to laze around on his bed, and Otabek didn't feel like getting him to get back to work- rest was definitely needed in the midst of Hell Week, after all, and Otabek knew how to respect that. The doorbell rang, and Otabek got up from his bed since it didn't seem like Phichit was planning on moving anytime soon.

He opened the door and expected Yuuri, but instead, Otabek was greeted by the smiling face of Lei.

"You're not the delivery boy," were the first words out of Otabek's mouth as he stared, surprised.

"No," Lei replied, inching closer, moving the pizza box to the side with one hand. "But I am your girlfriend now, which means, I can do this."

Lei placed a hand on Otabek's cheek, and the latter soon felt a pair of soft lips on his as he stared in shock because Lei was so close and were they kissing? They must have been, really, because Otabek felt his knees go weak. Lei finally pulled away.

"I've always wanted to do that," Lei said cheekily. Despite her teasing, Otabek noticed how her face was likewise flushed red.

A cough sounded from behind them, and they jumped apart immediately.

Phichit sauntered over, taking the pizza box from Lei, "don't mind me, kids; I'm just here for the pizza."

He disappeared back into his room right afterwards, but the damage had been done. Otabek stared shyly at Lei, before looking at everything else but the girlboy before him. A few seconds of silence passed before Lei finally spoke.

"I have to return to the store now," Lei said, still smiling from earlier. "Let's go out more in the summer, yeah?"

Otabek nodded, "of course."

"I'll see you then," Lei leaned in to kiss his cheek as a form of goodbye, grinning in the end as Otabek once more had a shocked look on his face, before smiling himself and waving goodbye.

Summer was going to be pretty fun.