Closets Are For Ghosts And Gays | Chanbaek, Chansoo

For Every Question We Answer, A Million More Pop Up

Chanyeol peered through the open door of the mausoleum to see the old man sitting in a small wooden chair, indulging in a good book. Kyungsoo broke away to look at all of the names on the gravestones, hoping something might pop up that could be useful.

There wasn't much to look into. Chanyeol almost considered giving up and going home, before Mr. Suho got up suddenly and made his way to the door. In a panic, he jumped to his feet and bolted through the graves, hissing Kyungsoo's name under his breath.

Just as he was about to duck under a tree for cover, his foot rammed into a gravestone and he face-planted into the grass. His lantern went flying, shattering against the stone. The beam of light from Mr. Suho's flashlight whipped towards him, followed by the old man calling his name.

"Chanyeol, why are you here again? And in the middle of the night?" He asked as he took Chanyeol's hand and pulled him to his feet.

"I was...I...I was looking for you." He laughed awkwardly. "I wanted to talk."

"About what?"

He looked past Mr. Suho's head to see Kyungsoo waving him down. Even in the dark, he could see the frustration written all over his face.

"I...wanted to talk to you about the cemetery."

"What about it?"

"Um...what do you like most about working here?" He was stalling; buying Kyungsoo some time to sneak into the mausoleum and search through Mr. Kim's stuff. Kyungsoo got the memo and bolted toward the door left open.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's for a project at school."

"Oh, well I enjoy the solitude. People don't come by that often, and when they do, they don't bother me."

"Uh huh." He saw Kyungsoo slip into the mausoleum without making a sound. "Tell me more."

"I guess it's nice to take care of all the resting souls. It's my way of giving back."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "There are things I regret in my life. Being here and paying my respect has helped let go of that."

Chanyeol finally stopped eyeing the mausoleum to give Mr. Suho his fullest attention. "What kind of regrets?"

"It's not really something I want to get into. But, it is the reason I work here now. It's the least I can do-"

"For Baekhyun?"

Mr. Suho stiffened. He averted his eyes, looking every but Chanyeol. "I don't know what you mean."

"You regret what you did to him, whatever it was you did. Is that it?"

A moment of silence passed. Mr. Suho pursed his lips and turned away, refusing to answer the question. Chanyeol would've asked further, but he caught Kyungsoo in the corner of his eye, swinging a book over his head.

"Thanks for the interview, Mr. Suho." He ran past him to catch up with Kyungsoo, leaving the old man to stand amongst the graves in the comfort of his own thoughts.

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"What'd you find?" Chanyeol asked when he regrouped with Kyungsoo outside the cemetery gates.

"It looks like some type of journal. I didn't read through much of it, so I just grabbed it and left."

They walked to the park across the street and sat under the streetlights to read through the pages. Chanyeol had to admit he felt a little guilty invading Mr. Suho's privacy, especially seeing how reluctant he was to delve into his past. But, how else was he supposed to help Baekhyun? For all he knew, there could be a confession to murder hidden between those pages.