“Come on, let's go.” Jaejoong stated, standing beside Yunho's bed, at some ungodly hour of the morning.

Yunho grumbled attempting to cocoon himself within his sheets. He was far to sleepy for his brain to have begun functioning, and what little thought was operating his body at that moment, sincerely believed that Jaejoong might just be a figment of his imagination.

Jaejoong huffed, gripping the sheet as firmly as he could, throwing it down to the foot of Yunho's bed, forcing the younger man to curl in on himself at the sudden exposure to the cold air of the room.

“Why?” he grumbled, attempting to glare at Jaejoong, and simultaneously hide his face from the sunlight attempting to sear his retinas.

“Because, we're going home. I have some things I want to take care of.” Jaejoong responded, his tone coming across as even and calm, despite the slight hitch in his voice at the mention of going home.

He sincerely hoped that Yunho would recognise what he was talking about. He'd been feeling guilty for days, about the fact that he'd never told Yunho that he was his best friend, and there just didn't seem to be a suitable way to bring it up in conversation ever since.

Yunho knew that Jaejoong's home was very special to him. It was a place he associated with love and warmth; a place full of support. He didn't bring just anyone there. He hoped that Yunho would recognise the symbolic nature of the invitation; that he would be able to see that it was Jaejoong's way of informing the younger man that he was his best friend; part of the family, despite what had happened in the past. That Jaejoong trusted him completely.

Unfortunately, at the moment, Yunho was far too tired to be able to recognise anything deep or meaningful about Jaejoong's words; only that it would result in depriving him of sleep. Consequently, Jaejoong was not met with the warm twinkle he'd expected to see in Yunho's eyes, but instead another huffy glare, as the younger boy picked himself up, finally realising that Jaejoong wasn't going anywhere.

He supposed he was expecting a bit much from Yunho, it was only 9am after all. The younger boy had never been much of a morning person, and for him, morning lasted until 1pm.

He couldn't help the smile that gripped him as he saw Yunho yawn as he calmly walked into the bathroom, only to get his sleeve caught on the door handle.

Today was going to be fun.

- -

Yunho wasn't entirely sure whether or not Jaejoong had bothered to inform his family they were coming. The stunned looks everyone sent him as they proceeded to crash tackle hug him in the doorway, could go either way.

He should have expected this meeting would be awkward. Jaejoong was the only boy, and his sisters, many of whom were older than him, felt the need to mother him incessantly. They'd been doing it since he was 3 years old. He just knew that they knew something about his and Jaejoong's falling out a few years ago. No doubt they would have been the ones consoling him, and trying to find out what went wrong between them. His random reappearance in Jaejoong's life, must seem quite suspicious to them.

To be fair, it was Jaejoong who had waltzed into his life. It's not like he was one of those guys that came and went just so they could make others fall all over themselves trying to keep a hold of him. He wasn't that egotistical, nor that controlling. He didn't want to manipulate anyone's feelings.

He was relieved that they held their tongues. He knew it wouldn't be for long, but they had the decency not to interrogate him in front of Jaejoong. The older boy wouldn't take kindly to his sisters grilling him for information, even if he did decide to give it to them of his own free will.

Besides, as much as Yunho loved Jaejoong, and wanted to keep him to himself, he wasn't ready for Jaejoong to find out why he left. He'd kept his reasoning to himself for so long, because he knew no one else would understand why he did it; that he really did have Jaejoong's best interests at heart. He still wasn't sure Jaejoong was ready to hear that. He wasn't sure that Jaejoong would stay when he found out. Until he was; until he knew Jaejoong wasn't going to abandon him for his feelings, he couldn't tell the older boy anything.

If he told Jaejoong's sisters, there was always the risk that they would tell Jaejoong what he had said. Failing that, Jaejoong was in the same house! There was every possibility that the older boy could hear it himself; whether he eavesdropped or simply because of their conversation being carried throughout the rest of the house.

But despite the pleasant conversation, the looks he was being sent were a clear indication the girls wanted answers. They wanted to know why their brother was hanging around Yunho again. They wanted to know what Yunho had done to warrant being welcomed back so warmly, even as they welcomed him. No one would deny Jaejoong, and if he wanted to bring his ex-best friend over; to reinstate him as his best friend, then that was what they would do. But they didn't have to like it. As their looks, with varying degrees of surprise, suspicion, concern and curiosity all told him.

Jaejoong huffed, pretending to be annoyed when his mother dragged him into the kitchen, to help 3 of his sisters with the cooking. He had always been the best of them all, when it came to cooking, so it was unsurprising that his family appreciated his abilities, almost as much as Yunho did. Whenever he stopped by, they always cajoled him into helping them cook.

Recognising what was about to go down, Jaejoong's father excused himself, dragging two more siblings with him to help move some pieces of furniture. Mealtimes were quite a squeeze when it was just the family over. The moment anyone invited a friend over, all the furniture in the dining room had to be rearranged just to be able to seat everyone.

That left Yunho alone with Jaejoong's three remaining sisters. He was relieved to see that the eldest sister was there. She had always proved a patient and thoughtful person, and he was relatively certain that she would be open-minded enough to accept what he had to say. A quick glance at the other two sisters told him that he really didn't have much to worry about with this conversation; Jaejoong's most outspoken sibling was helping her father, so no arguments should break out.

“We haven't seen you in a while, Yunho. How are things?” the eldest sister enquired, a pointed look sent in Yunho's direction, telling him exactly what her seemingly innocent question was asking about.

“Things are good.” he replied uneasily. He didn't have much to worry about with the conversation, but it still felt uncomfortable to have someone talking to you like this. It felt like a cross between a confession and an interrogation. He wasn't sure how much he was going to say, and whether or not he said it willingly.

“Since when did you guys start hanging out again?”

“A few months, I think. Jaejoong didn't tell you?”

A slight eye roll accompanied the fond smile she sent Yunho as she answered “You know my brother. He tends to be very sketchy about details he thinks are superfluous.”

Yunho had to nod his agreement with that. “How did you guys meet up?” his younger sister piped up intrigued.

“He came knocking on my door in the middle of the night. His room mate kicked him out, and he needed a place to stay. He's been with me ever since.” he answered politely.

“Who decided that? You or Jaejoong?” the older sister inquired, eyebrow raised high with suspicion.

“I insisted.” Yunho conceded. “Why? What are your intentions towards my younger brother?”

“I don't have intentions toward your brother. I want to be friends again, that's all.” Yunho defended himself.

“You're the one who stopped being friends with him in the first place!” the quieter sister sullenly stated. At the exasperated look her older sister sent her, she quickly lowered her gaze, clearly not intending on speaking again for the rest of the conversation, after being chastised.

“You say that, and yet Jaejoong tells me there's something about some plan you need help with. Sulli was speaking out of place, but she is right. You were the one that stopped being friends with Jaejoong several years ago. Then you're the one insisting the two of you live together. Now, you're using him to trick your parents. How do we know that you didn't have that as your true intention all along.” the older sister explained, her eyes beseeching Yunho to provide some sort of proof. She'd always liked Yunho; he'd always seemed like he'd do anything to look out for Jaejoong, she was sure he must have had his reasons to forsake his friendship with her brother. If she could see the tiniest sliver of loyalty to her brother, she would help him.

“That's not fair. This whole thing with my parents only came up after Jaejoong started living with me. It wasn't even really an issue before that. Well it was, but not in the same way, and I never would have thought up this sort of plan to deal with it, the way it was before. I didn't have any bad intentions towards Jaejoong when I invited him to live with me. I was trying to look out for a friend, whose best friend had just betrayed him, and left him with no place to go in the middle of the night. That's all. Did I see an opportunity to try and befriend Jaejoong once again? Yes, I'll admit that. But what's wrong with me wanting to be friends with Jaejoong?” Yunho answered, getting a little emotional as he finished his speech.

No one could disagree with him. There was nothing inherently wrong about him wanting to be friends with Jaejoong. But there was something about the way he said best friend, that had quivered slightly, like it hurt to mention him. Perhaps it was simply the inherent contradiction between calling someone a 'best friend' and their decidedly unfriendly actions, towards Jaejoong. But his use of that phrase puzzled them.

“Who are you talking about? What best friend?” the younger sister enquired, perplexed. The only best friend they'd ever heard of had been Yunho. Jaejoong had certainly never called anyone else that; they would've noticed if he had.

Yunho sent them an equally confused look, “Yoochun. Jaejoong's best friend for the past 3 years. The guy he was living with since the start of university? He never introduced you?”

The girls shook their heads. “The name Yoochun does sound vaguely familiar, but he never called him his best friend. And he certainly never brought him here.”

Yunho was stunned at the comment. Had Jaejoong wanted to keep him a secret? If that were the case it might certainly mean that Yoochun was telling him the truth when he said that Jaejoong had been in love with him. Jaejoong had always been the type to try and keep his crushes to himself. But these thoughts were quickly replaced by the much happier realisation that this meant he was Jaejoong's only best friend; he hadn't been replaced when he'd left.

“You've seen this Yoochun guy? You've met him?” the older sister demanded, intrigued.

Yunho nodded his head sharply. “We've been introduced. He goes to the same university as Jaejoong and I, so we've seen him around on campus.”

The younger sister rolled her eyes at the comment, “I'm sure Jaejoong would have loved that after what the guy did to him.” Yunho couldn't help cracking a smile at the comment, even as he nodded.

“Yoochun did worse than just kick him out.” he stated bitterly, but realised he'd said the wrong thing when he saw the way Jaejoong's sisters violently reacted to what he'd said. “Ah! He didn't do anything to him, he just...said things about him; to him. You know picking on stuff he does, like how he always wants to know what other people are doing, and how he does stuff for them. Like cooking and washing and stuff. The sort of stuff that Dongjoon picked on him for back in Year 9.” he elaborated.

“Who is Dongjoon and what did he say about Jaejoong back in Year 9?” the younger sister asked, having been too young at the time to recall the conversation. Yunho had told all of Jaejoong's sisters about it the moment they got home, much to Jaejoong's embarrassment.

“He was a boy in their class back in Year 9. Back then, Jaejoong used to make all his own meals, but because Yunho liked his food so much, he used to make a lunch box for Yunho too, everyday. At the time he'd been experimenting with other cooking styles, and he'd made sushi that day. Dongjoon saw what he'd made and said that Jaejoong was really a girl. He kept picking on him saying that real boys don't cook, that since he must be a girl, he was wearing the wrong uniform, stuff like that. His mean words reduced Jae to tears.” his older sister explained.

“But then Yunho, over there, hit him, and picked up one of the sushi rolls, eating it, and praising Jae for his abilities. He told him that Dongjoon was just jealous of him, and his talent, and that having talent didn't make anyone a girl; no matter what their gift was in.” the sullen sister avidly explained to her younger sibling, who sent Yunho an amused grin, at the way he'd defended her older brother.

Mentioning the whole scenario again, brought a light dust of pink to Yunho's cheeks. He hadn't realised he'd been so corny when he was a kid. Or that what he'd done would leave such an impact on the girls. For them to talk about it so highly, Jaejoong must have discussed it with them after Yunho told them about it; what he thought of the whole thing. That meant, really, this admiration for him had come from Jaejoong's lips first, and that thought embarrassed him.

“After that, Jae never seemed to worry about what anyone thought about him. But recently he's become so concerned about others opinions of him. Back then it was an idea that he acted effeminately, now it seems almost like a belief he holds. After hearing what Yoochun said about him, I can't help thinking that he played some role in the change.” Yunho confessed suspiciously.

Jaejoong's older sister sent him a sympathetic look. “I'm sorry to say that Jae's been thinking those sorts of thoughts for years now. While this Yoochun boy may have helped crystallise those dark thoughts, the thoughts themselves pre-date him.” Her words puzzled Yunho. He'd never heard of Jae thinking those sorts of thoughts back then. But they didn't originate with Yoochun. Had Jaejoong been hiding them from him? Could he have missed the signs? What else could have caused him to think that sort of thing?

“You seem to care about my brother so much.” the older sister stated, sadly, her eyes almost weeping as she asked the one question, he hadn't wanted to hear. “Why did you leave him?”

Yunho winced at the question not entirely certain what he should say in response. He couldn't tell them the truth, but thinking up a lie that didn't give the wrong impression, but also didn't give away the truth, was very difficult.

Taking up Yunho's silence as him imploring her to elaborate, the oldest sister sighed, before continuing, “Most of the time, when two people stop being friends it's gradual. It's because they stop sharing the same interests; lose what they had in common. Jae, thought that it was like that; that you had simply stopped wanting to be friends with him. That you didn't care about him, or even like him anymore. But the way you speak about him, they way you treat him and the way you view those who hurt him, don't mesh with that idea. You must have had a good reason to give up your friendship. You don't seem like the sort of person who'd just let go, and certainly not of Jaejoong of all people. What happened?” she implored.

“I.... I want to tell you, that I've never stopped caring about Jaejoong. When we stopped being friends, I still watched over him. I made sure no one bullied him. I made sure he was okay. Hell, I could have gone to any university I wanted; I chose to go to the same one Jaejoong was going to, and let me tell you, it's no mean feat finding out what university someone is attending when they can't realise that you still care about them...”

“Why couldn't you ask him? Why couldn't he find out you knew?” the youngest sister asked, absorbed in Yunho's tale.

“You know Jaejoong. You saw how he was after I left. If he thought that I still cared about him; he would have clung on to me. He wouldn't have let me leave. He would have kept trying and trying to get my attention; my affection, I couldn't let that happen. Who knows what he might do to himself? It's not like I did it for the fun of it. It's not like I wanted to hurt him. I still can't explain what happened, not to you, and certainly not to him, but I did it to protect him. This was the only way I could do that. How could I protect him, if he wouldn't let me?” he demanded bitterly. He could feel his throat thickening with tears. But he wouldn't cry; not here and certainly not now.

His sisters looked at him piteously, but he saw no anger or disbelief in their eyes. They accepted what he had to say; they were prepared to accept his interest in their brother as being acceptable, despite how things had ended the last time.

“Has whatever you were trying to protect Jaejoong from gone away?” the younger sister asked, her eyes imploring him to tell her that everything would be okay now.

Yunho mournfully shook his head, “Yes...and no... I...Things have changed since then. I don't think Jaejoong needs protection anymore... In the very least, what could happen to him if I weren't around seems like it would be far worse than if I stay. I promise, this time around, I'm not leaving him. No matter what happens, I won't hurt him again.” he vowed.

Something about what he said or the way he said it must have appeased Jaejoong's eldest sister. She fixed him with the same fond look she had given him for half his life. The familiarity of the look brought him some comfort, which helped to ease away the tears, he was trying to suppress so desperately. “So, explain exactly what happened with your parents, and Jaejoong.” she whispered conspiratorially.

Before Yunho could figure out how to respond, though, they were being summoned to the dining room. The food was apparently ready. Somehow Yunho wasn't surprised to find that the conversation had taken quite some time. Somehow that sort of confession always seemed to make time stop and speed up at the same time.

They were all seated at the table, the absent sisters looking around wildly at the other occupants of the room, to try and work out what had happened. Jaejoong either didn't notice the strange looks his sisters gave one another, or else he chose to ignore them, instead happily gossiping to Yunho beside him about all the food, and which ones he'd made and the changes he'd made and how wonderful everything was going to taste.

Even as he listened to Jaejoong, he watched the unspoken conversation bouncing around the tiny room, as the sisters notified one another about their changed positions. One by one, those siblings that had been absent, came to replace their confused, suspicious stares with ones that were tentatively relieved. They might not know what he'd said, but apparently Jaejoong's eldest sister had been sufficiently convinced, and that was good enough for everyone else.

“What's this I hear about a plan involving Jaejoong?” one of the sisters inquired, loudly, making sure the whole table heard. Jaejoong's cheeks flamed at the thought of his parents sitting at the same table as them. Yunho couldn't help feeling a little flustered himself. He'd only just come back here, for the first time in years, and he was going to have to tell this room full of people he really wanted to impress about what an idiot he was.

Everyone's gaze was curious. One look at them told Yunho that they all knew Jaejoong was gay. There was no way that they couldn't. His older sisters had for years about how girly he was. They had always joked that he was definitely going to be gay, but there was no menace to the comments, despite how much they had annoyed Jaejoong at the time.

This was just the sort of family Jaejoong belonged to. He'd recognised it the moment Jaejoong had first introduced them years ago. This was the sort of family that he'd always been jealous of when he was younger. This was a family of people, who loved and cared about each other no matter what. They accepted each one of their children's bizarre habits and unconventional choices, and took it in their stride.

That sort of unconditional acceptance, Yunho knew was hard to find these days. It was this sort of relationship he had with his brother, yes, but no one else. He knew that most families, despite supposedly being based on love, also had a strong conventional support, filled with expectations for the roles everyone should play, and how they should do them.

That was probably why Jaejoong tended to remain so closed-lipped about his ual orientation. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that all of the world would treat him the same way that his own family had. He wasn't even naive enough to believe that all gay children had families as accepting as his own. Yunho had to suppress a frown at the thought that perhaps it was himself that had robbed Jaejoong of that naivete. He hated the thought of negatively impacting on the boy in any way, but at the same time, perhaps it was just a necessary evil; maybe he couldn't remain that naive forever.

“Ah, so that's why you wanted me to come round?” Jaejoong demanded, sounding petulantly offended.

“Not true. We also wanted to see what Yunho looks like these days.” piped up one of his sisters.

“And for you to cook us lunch.” added another, sending the table into a round of laughter, making Jaejoong pout between bouts of his own laughter.

“Jae, you know we love you, and want to spend time with you too. But you've got to dish on the gossip!” his mother chided, acting as motherly as she knew how. She'd never been much of a 'role of the mother' type woman. As much as she loved and cared for all of her children, she'd always been a young woman at heart. She wanted to know friends, gossip, stories you name it. She had always tried to be involved in her childrens' lives, and always needed to know what was going on.

“Okay, mum. So you remember that girl Seohyun I used to tell you about?” Jaejoong began excitedly. He got a mixed round of replies, with the younger girls shaking their heads, and all the older people nodding, though there was a vague, thoughtful look on their features. Though the name rang a bell, with some of them, they clearly couldn't recall anything about the girl the name belonged to.

“Okay, so there was this girl, Seohyun. She was the daughter of one of Yunho's father's best friends. For like, their entire lives, Yunho's and Seohyun's parents have hinted that it would be nice for them to get married, how cute a couple they'd make, what a lovely catch the other is, that sort of thing.” Jaejoong explained.

“What's she like?” Sulli asked. Yunho crinkled his nose in distaste at having to think about her for long enough to be able to describe her, “Clingy, really stubborn, or obtuse, I'm not certain which. Just kind of annoying really.” he substituted, since Jaejoong had never actually spent two minutes with the girl since he was a pre-teen.

“So, the thing is, Yunho isn't the slightest bit interested in her. After I moved in to his apartment, Seohyun came by one evening, and found out I was staying there. She immediately went right to Yunho's mum, and told her about me. So in a fit, she calls Yunho the next day to “check up” on him, and find out what I was doing there. It was apparently really obvious that she was concerned that Yunho had taken an interest in me, and that it might impact on her plans for Yunho's future marriage. Yunho, here, being the stupidly good boy that he is, told her the truth, which alleviated her fears about me, and led to her talking about his future bride again. Unable to take it, that she was being so pig-headed about the whole thing, Yunho stupidly burst out that he's gay and we're in a relationship together, so that he can put her in her place. Hence, the problem.” Jaejoong explained.

Everyone else looked caught somewhere between laughing and checking for a hidden camera somewhere. The whole scene seemed so far fetched, and yet, boys really could be that stupid, so maybe it was true, after all.

“I can't see what you need our help for.” one of his middle sisters replied, shyly smiling at the two of them.

“Oh right!” Jaejoong exclaimed, seemingly having forgotten to inform them what he wanted to ask them about, “What do Yunho and me have to do to make this work? How do we make it believable?”

“Well, what are you trying to do? How long term is this little charade of yours supposed to be?” the outspoken, middle sister demanded, arms crossed.

The two boys looked at one another, and sort of shrugged at Jaejoong's family, slightly out of sync. The response seemed just so much like them; not thinking about the consequences of their actions before they did anything, that the middle sister had to smack herself at their stupidity, while everyone else just shook their heads at them.

“I mean, you two could end up doing this until the end of forever, if you wanted to.” Sulli pointed out.

“Though if that were your plan, maybe the two of you should just get together. Since you'd have to pretend to be in a relationship for the rest of your lives, you wouldn't be able to have any relationships with anyone else ever again. For that level of commitment, you might as well just get married, or whatever it is you gay people do.” the outspoken sibling responded again. She was never one to mince her words.

“It doesn't have to be for that long.” Yunho explained, thoughtfully. “We only need things to be like this until Changmin gets accepted to university.”

“Eh? Why?” Jaejoong questioned, eyes turning on Yunho, filled with as much intrigue as his siblings. “Because, at the moment my parents are his legal guardians. He's under their thumb, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. But Changmin is going to university next year. He's coming to join us, which means, he'll be with me, he'll be an adult, and there'll be no possible consequences for him.”

“Why what are you planning to do that could have consequences for him?” Jaejoong's father enquired, his old, kind eyes softening in concern at what Yunho was planning. “I'm going to cut all ties to my parents.” he informed everyone, his tone sounding almost deadly.

Everyone else recoiled, such drastic actions in their minds being unthinkable. He supposed if he'd been fortunate enough to have a family as close as theirs, he would consider such actions unthinkable too. No, that's not fair. He did have that sort of relationship; with Changmin. That's why he couldn't act yet. He had to wait until Changmin was free, or else they'd never see one another again; he couldn't bare that.

“Eh? But you can't.” the girls exclaimed in horror. No one could imagine not having their family with them. “I have to. With my family, they're never going to stop pestering me. They'll always be there, trying to force me to fit their mould of an ideal son. I can't do that anymore; I can't be around people like that anymore. As long as they're around, I won't be able to have a life. They'll just chase everyone off, until I'm so worn down I'll just give in. I won't let that happen.”

“But won't you pretending to be with Jaejoong have similar consequences for your brother?” the eldest sister persisted.

Yunho shook his head, a lop sided grin perched atop his lips. “That won't matter. They're probably not going to take it seriously no matter what we do. That's not the point. I just need your help keeping them distracted until Changmin can get away. They want to tie me down, to keep me bound to them, that's why they want me to marry Seohyun. If I stay, Changmin won't leave, and they'll have everything the way they want. We'll both be captives to their will. If I can stay free, so will he.” Yunho explained.

Everyone at that table knew what it was like to want to protect a sibling. They knew how serious this whole situation must be, despite how comically it began or how outrageous it sounded. “Well, you should make sure to touch each other a lot. You know hugging, and hand holding. It should look like you guys have no personal space barriers at all.” one of the middle sisters began.

“You should try and kiss each other a lot. Maybe even start making out, or groping one another in public occasionally, to show there's chemistry.” the outspoken sister, stated with an amused grin.

Her mother and father sent her a warning look, and she waved her hands in mock innocence. “I think something subtler would speak volumes. Start giving each other looks. You know, conversations with your eyes kind of thing.” the older sister suggested.

“You should attend each other's classes.” Sulli suggested excitedly.

“Oh and go out together. being seen going places together will do wonders for the image.” the youngest sister added.