Granny invited all of us down to the lake house. It’s been forever since the family met, isn’t it exciting? 

It was Thursday afternoon. The summer was in full bloom. Yunho finished with his last university class for the day and headed home.

Is just for the weekend, two days. We are going to stay at the lake house, is going to be so much fun! 

To avoid heavy traffic and packed subway, his favorite transport of choice was his green bike. It wasn’t just convenient to get around the city. Cycling was also one of his hobbies. Yunho was a very athletic person. He loved to be active outside or hit the gym at least once a week.

In hope of calming his nerves, this time he took the longer route home. Enjoying the wind hitting his face and body.

Do you remember the lake house? When you were younger, we vacationed there often. 

While studying in the big city, his new home became a small apartment he shared with a friend.

Sungmin will come too. You got along well, didn’t you? You two were grannies favorite grandchildren. He’ll bring his girlfriend along too. 

On the way home, he stopped at the convenience store and stack up on beer. In his opinion, a cold beer was the perfect beverage for warm summer evenings. However, this time he won’t drink just one and he won’t drink just to refresh himself.

What do you say? 

He parked his bike, his usually bouncy hop up the stairs dragged today, beer cans clanking along the way.

Don’t forget you owe me one… 

He took off his shoes, his backpack practically fell off his back to the floor by itself. The plastic bag with beer found its place on the small, messy coffee table. 

Don’t forget you owe me one… 

The beer can made a satisfied hiss when opened. He emptied it in one go, then smashed it with his hand and aimed for the trash can in the corner. He sighed when it bounced off the edge and landed on the ground. 

Don’t forget you owe me one… 

He chugged down another one and then another one. One by one, he aimed for the trash can. 

Despite drinking, his mother’s voice continued to haunt him since yesterday's unannounced visit.

“I owe you nothing…” He mumbled to himself and burped.

Nausea, from drinking so fast, caught him soon, and he sat the beer aside, spilling a bit along the way. 

His eyes caught the envelope, over which the drink spilled. There were some photos sticking out of it. He picked them up, dragged them along his toned chest to dry them. Flipping through them, his troubled face lightened. He couldn’t help but grin.

The photos were from last week, when Heechul, his roommate, had a few friends from cosmetology school over. Yunho preferred to give them space and stay out, not because he disliked Heechul's friends, but he was more of a solitary person, unlike Heechul, who is a definition of a social butterfly.

He sort of crashed their gathering, since Heechul forgot to give him a heads up that he had people over. But since he didn’t have other plans, he joined in on the fun. They played around with makeup and beauty products, something a little out of his comfort zone.

“That was lots of fun, wasn’t it?. Donghae brought them by this morning.”

It startled Yunho. He was sure he was alone. 

“You are home? I thought you were filming…” 

He looked at Heechul, who had silky blue pajamas bottoms with a matching robe on, his hair pinned back with a headband. 

“I have a free day. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be filming the whole weekend on location.” He strut across the room, to the fridge. Noticing the beer cans, but not commenting on it. 

Heechul was working on a movie set as part of the hair and make-up crew. 

Yunho flipped through the pictures for the second time. It was fun. To be honest, that day he drank more than usual. It was a little embarrassing that he didn’t remember everything.

Pouring himself some tea, Heechul joined him on the small sofa. He eyed the trash can again and sighed.

“Should we address the elephant in the room?”

Yunho let out a long breath, toss the photos back on the table and lied back. He looked at his friend, who turned his gaze from the empty cans and looked him straight in the eyes. 

Heechul was a good-looking man with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. They met back at Cram school and instantly clicked.

“My mother was here.” Yunho answered, his voice tired. He felt a small wave of relief, because Heechul knew his family situation and that one sentence was enough for him to understand his frustration.

Heechul laid back, their shoulders touching. He rested his head on Yuho’s shoulder. His eyes fell on Yunho’s toned chest, his tight cotton t-shirt left zero room for the imagination.

In a lazy tone he asked: “Oh god, what does she want this time? I thought you were not speaking anymore?” 

Yunho briefly told him about the “happy family get away”, how she’s just collecting plus points with grandma, by convincing him to go.

“Well, that …” He felt bad for Yunho, all his mother ever did was to find ways how Yunho’s existence would benefit her. After hearing all that, even he needed something stronger than tea. He reached for the opened can of beer and took a sip.

Yunho nudged him. “Eeey, go get yours!”

Heechul didn’t break eye contact as he gave the can an extra, unnecessary before offering it back to his friend. 

“You’re insane. You can have it now.” Yunho grimaced and laughed. Heechul never missed the opportunity to flirt.

He stood up, and went to get more beer from the fridge, bringing it for the both of them.

They chatted and explored Yunho’s options: to go or not to go? One beer turned into two, two beers turned into three. Heechul felt lightheaded, and reached for the bag of chips, stuffing a few into his mouth before he provided with another of his theories.

“If it was me, I would definitely go.” Crums of potato chips flew out of his mouth. Yunho was grinning from ear to ear, the effect was a combination of alcohol and his friends animated show. He knew that tone and loved Heechuls insane ideas that came with.

“Let me guess, you would go just to cause drama.” He said what he could read between the lines and laughed out loud, because it didn’t even take a second as Heechul vividly nodded and came up with an entire story. He himself couldn’t be serious for long, they both laughed so hard, tears came running.

Yunho thought, instead of being a part of the make up crew, Heechul should sat in the directors chair at movie sets, without a doubt he would gain success.

Heechul was almost finished when his eyes caught the photos on the table again. He sprung up, almost fell over the coffee table, and disappeared to his room.

Yunho got startled, but before he could call after him, his roommate was back with a devilish grin on his face.

“Ok, ok, listen to this one. I come along, and you introduce me to your whole family as your new girlfriend…”

Somewhere behind his back, he pulls out a long blond wig and puts it on, before he continues:

“Of course, I charm everyone. Your granny, your auntey, you cousins and most importantly your mother.”

He makes this elaborate movies, almost like he’s performing on a grand stage. Yunho could barely hold his laughter as he was wiping his eyes.

“And before you leave on a Sunday, we let her know your new girl is not a girl at all! And we watch her stumble to the ground as she shouts at us and the humiliation turns her into stone.”

He carried on performing the said action, and dropped down to his knees, indicated the last scream with his mouth and laid down, pretending to be gone.

Yunho pushes the beer out of his nose after seeing that. Heechul laughs and passes him a napkin.

“Too bad, I’m working and can’t come with you … darling.” He said playfully with a fake sad face, but couldn’t keep it for long as he too bursted out laughing.

“Can you imagine?! She would resent me so much.” Yunho said, when he could take a normal breath again.  

Heechul pulled the wig off and came back to sit on the sofa, this time it was Yunho who came closer and leaned on the laters shoulder. He rubbed his friends leg, before he gave Heechul’s knee a light squezze.

“Thank you, I needed this.” 

If he would look straight at him, he would notice Heechul’s flushed face.

“Any time…” Heechul softly mumbled into Yunho’s ear as he watched the hand, that left a pleasant burn on his leg.

The moment was interrupted when the bell rang, they looked at each other, trying to guess who invited who. Heechul got up, to get the door. He felt a little dizzy. He drank too much on an empty stomach.

“Hi, sorry I came unannounced, I called you, you didn’t answer. I had a seminar just around the block and decided to come by and check if you’re home. Donghae said he left the pictures with you?”

The front doors were out of sight. All Yunho could hear were their voices and he recognized Jaejoong’s voice almost immediately. He hurriedly tried to clean up as much as he could and sat up straight when he saw them coming in.

“Oh, no worries, come in. We were just looking at them.”

Jaejoong flinched a little, seeing Yunho there. He rarely saw him. He nodded a small hello in his way, to which Yunho responded with a smile, trying to hide his slight intoxication.

Heechul took the photos from the coffee table and handed them to Jaejoong. He grabbed a chair for Jae to sit down, bringing it closer to the coffee table, since the sofa was only a two-seater.

 “Can I get you a beer?” Yunho offered.

Jaejoong thought a little, noticing the room, the aura his hosts gave out and nodded. “Sure, I’ll have one. I didn’t interrupt something, did I?”

Jaejoong felt a little unsure, he was more timid than Heechul, but that's how they complimented each other as friends. He shouldn’t have come unannounced.

“No, no, you didn’t. Somehow one beer turned into five, it’s all good.” Heechul saw it in Jae’s face, the uncertainty.

Yunho was also quick to join Heechul,reasuring they did nothing of importance. Their eyes met when he handed him the can. Jae smiled and thank him, before he averted his gaze back to the photos.

“I like how the hard flash gives the photos sort of 90’s vibe?” Jae said as he flipped through and Heechul agreed. Donghae had a genuine talent for photography.

“Right, I also think they came out great! Donghae know's what he's doing.” Heechul commented as Jae flipped through again, smiling here and there.

“Oh my gosh, Heechul! You’re so talented! I hardly recognize myself.” Jae’s lip stretched into a gracious smile, showing his straight teeth. The photos were nice sure, but it wasn't just beacuse of the photograpfer, they had the best make up artist as well. He handed the photo to Heechul, who sat on the sofa. Yunho was quick to glance at the photo as well.

Someone who doesn't know the background story will only see a beautiful girl in her twenties, with long auburn hair drinking from a fancy coupe glass..

Looking at the photo, Heechul felt proud, that was indeed his work, he was about to comment, when Yunho overtook him.

“What are you doing this weekend?”