Baekhyun worked from one to five, and the pay he received hardly seemed worth it. He sometimes questioned why he didn't ask Yixing to set him up somewhere better; the man certainly had the money to pull strings. But it was the smiling faces of customers and the giggling of happy children that made his dinky job worth it in the end. He'd wrap candy and stir molten fudge and drizzle frosting on sweets and the little things like that made Delight Candy more of a safe haven than a dead end job.
He never really felt content unless he was making candy or alone with Yixing. The confidence he once had dwindled down to nothing ever since his parents found out what he'd been doing with a college boy and kicked him to the streets. Yixing said he was paranoid. Baekhyun preferred reasonably suspicious of everyone and everything.
If one person were to catch on to what was going on behind closed doors, beyond friendly handshakes and casual acknowledgements, who knew what they might do to him. The possibility of being outed haunted him for so long, some days he couldn't bring himself to leave the house for fear the neighbors were watching. Yixing would go out and socialize on his behalf. He was always better at keeping cool in these types of situations. He knew no one would catch on if he acted normal and played into the role of a regular young businessman living quietly in the suburbs.
The older men who already had wives and children always asked him why he didn't have a girl yet, and he always laughed it off saying he couldn't choose between the tons he'd already been with. They didn't question him in the slightest, nor did they question the man he lived with because, as far as they knew, their relationship was strictly friends from college.
Baekhyun wasn't nearly as graceful under pressure. There was a time in his life where he was so bold and comfortable with himself, it was surprising no one caught on sooner. He openly flirted with the boys he knew well enough not to reject his advances and Yixing was not exempt from this. They met when he entered Delight Candy looking for a chocolate bar to relieve his stress. Baekhyun took a liking to him immediately, and the rest was history.
When Yixing bought a house with enough bedrooms to give each their own room but allowed Baekhyun to share his bed regardless, he knew he had to put up with the anxiety of being in a tight packed neighborhood for the sake of showing Yixing his gratitude. Their relationship was serious now, and Baekhyun didn't want to pull Yixing's wallet in every direction trying to find a secluded place to live that fit his standards.
Making candy eased the stress of side eyed glances he read into too much or sly comments that weren't meant to be taken so seriously. And Yixing always paying him visits on his lunch break helped too, but only when no other customers were around to witness the exchange. The place was usually clear around the time he came in, but once in a while the owner of the shop came around back to catch them conversing.
Baekhyun was especially tense on Hallow's Eve. It was 1967 and he'd been living in that neighborhood long enough to accept the paranoia as a part of his daily routine. More people flooded the shop than usual to stock up on candy for Halloween. He frantically ran back and forth behind the counter, fetching pounds of candy all day to satisfy his neighbor's requests.
As usual, Yixing came in when the place was mostly cleared out and stood off to the side as he waited for the last customer to pay and leave. Once they left, he swiftly leaned over the counter to plant a kiss on Baekhyun's lips.
"Stop." He shoved him off, keeping his head low and eyes focused on the dozens of chocolates he had to wrap.
"Nobody's around right now."
"That's not the point, Yixing." He walked out from behind the counter to sort the shelf of lollipops. "What do you want to go? Dark chocolate, I presume?"
"Who said I'm taking it to go?"
Baekhyun grabbed the same candy bar Yixing ordered every time and slapped it into his hand. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?"
"Don't worry. We won't get in trouble if we don't get caught."
Baekhyun couldn't help but smile as he made his way behind the counter again to continue wrapping chocolates. "You must enjoy coming here looking to mess with me."
"I'm only here for some sugar." He leaned his elbows onto the counter, inching closer to Baekhyun's face.
"That'll be fifty cents."
"Here's a dollar."
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun snatched the piece of paper waving in his face and stuck it in the cash register. "You got your sugar. Now, go away. I'll see you at home."
"Can I get one kiss first?" He whispered, his face mere centimeters away from Baekhyun's.
"Don't tempt me."
"We can make it quick." He went in to close the distance, but Baekhyun put his hand up to his mouth.
"At home. If you're lucky."
The back door swung open, causing both of them to jump back, getting as far away from each other as possible. The owner walked out with a box of candies, dropping the package beside Baekhyun's workspace.
"I'm gonna need you to restock. Things are going fast."
"Yes sir." He grabbed the box and brushed past Yixing, walking down the aisle to get to work.
Yixing grabbed his candy bar and left a couple more dollars on the counter. "Thanks for the candy, boys. Happy Hallow's Eve."
👻👻👻
They came home at the same time that day. Baekhyun rode his bike from Delight Candy and Yixing drove his fancy sports car from the office building. When he pulled into the driveway, Baekhyun stopped at the front steps and kicked the kickstand into place. Yixing walked up behind him with his keys in hand, peering over his shoulder to see the neighborhood kids out playing and the wives sitting on their porches. Their husbands were returning from work as well. Everyone was out and about.
"Hey, bud." He said casually, reaching to shake Baekhyun's hand. Baekhyun didn't return the greeting, hyper fixated on the neighbors minding their own business. He felt their eyes boring through him, even when they weren't looking.
"Mr. Zhang! Mr. Byun!"
They both turned towards the voice shouting for them. A little boy with a bicycle helmet ran onto their lawn with two kids of the same age trailing behind him; a boy with big glasses and a girl who always wore her hair in pigtails.
"Hey, Minseok. How can we help you?" Yixing crouched down to be level with him.
"We were wondering if you brought any candy home today, Mr. Byun."
Baekhyun glanced past Minseok's head to see his father watching them from their neighboring lawn. He waved and smiled with sincerity, yet Baekhyun's gut twisted painfully. He hated when they stared at him.
"Baek?"
His eyes snapped down to see Minseok and Yixing looking at him, waiting for a response.
"Oh, um...I forgot to bring some today. Sorry kiddos."
"You'll have some for Halloween tomorrow, won't you?" The little girl asked.
"Of course, Joohyun. I've already got an entire stash ready. I've been saving it specifically for Halloween."
"Can we have some now?" Minseok jumped up and down, clasping his hands together. "Please?"
"You'll have to wait till tomorrow." Yixing said as he patted the boy on his shoulder. "If you go trick-or-treating and wear the most amazing costumes you can find, then we'll give you all the candy you can imagine. We've got some good stuff this year."
"Mr. Zhang, you know I can't wait that long!"
"Go on, Minseok." He ruffled his hair. "It's only one more day."
The boy pouted, before grabbing his friends and running back to his house. Baekhyun unlocked the front door and stepped inside as soon as possible, slamming the door behind Yixing.
"You're on edge." He commented as he shrugged out of his coat and draped it on the coat hanger.
Baekhyun slumped against the door and ran a hand through his hair, fixing his glasses on his face. "Is it obvious?"
Yixing took him by the shoulders and pulled him closer, pressing his lips against his forehead. "What's wrong?"
Baekhyun pulled back for a moment to check that the windows were closed, before finally relaxing in his embrace. "I'm thinking too much. That's all."
"You always think too much. I remember when I first met you, you were the most careless person I'd ever laid eyes on. It amazed me how comfortable you were flirting with me out in the open. Now, you're a nervous wreck."
"That was before my parents knew. I can't go through that again." He rested his head on Yixing's chest and turned to the window, staring at the drawn curtains. "I feel like everyone's always staring at me. Like they know something."
"They don't. Trust me. If they did, they would make it very clear how they feel about it." He took Baekhyun by the chin and tilted his head up to peck his lips. "We've been here for two years and no one's given us any trouble. There's no need to be so worried all the time."
Baekhyun broke away from the hug and went into the kitchen to start dinner. He was always stressed, but Halloween season was a particularly hectic time for him and he felt completely drained by the time he returned home. If anything else were to interrupt his time of peace, he might snap.
Of course, the doorbell just had to ring after he put the food in the oven and settled on the couch to put his mind to rest. The chime that rang through the house made his heart race and sweat collect on his palms. He hated opening the door when he wasn't expecting someone, leaving Yixing to run downstairs and take care of it instead.
"Coming!" He yelled when the doorbell went off again and Baekhyun still hadn't gotten up to answer it. He was in the process of changing out of his work clothes when their unexpected visitor interrupted, and was still trying to shimmy out of his tie while simultaneously pulling the door open.
It was Junmyeon, the little boy with big glasses. Minseok and Joohyun were running around behind him, cutting in and out of their lawn. "Hello, Mr. Zhang."
"Hey, Junmyeon. Did Minseok send you to beg for candy?"
"No. I came to tell you that our ball went over the fence and into your backyard. Can you grab it for us?"
Yixing looked at Baekhyun, nodding towards the back door. Sighing, he removed himself from the fortress of pillows and blankets on the couch and went into the backyard to dig a baseball out of the rose bush lining the wall.
He stuck his foot in to avoid cutting himself on the thorns and kicked it into reach. On his way back in, he heard the voices of his neighbors from beyond the fence and stopped to listen. It was his neighbors on the opposite side of the Kim's; two sisters by the name of Yeri and Seulgi, who Baekhyun only knew as the two young girls with no boyfriends and an eye for Yixing.
"He'll probably be at the Kim's Halloween party tomorrow night. If we can get Baekhyun to leave us alone for a few minutes, I might actually have a chance to get his attention."
"You? What about me?"
Nausea burned the back of his throat. He rushed into the house and dropped the ball in Yixing's hand, before running upstairs to take a shower.
He couldn't get out of his clothes fast enough. A hot stream of water beat down on his head, flattening his hair into his eyes as he dropped his head against the tile and inhaled deeply to calm himself. They didn't know anything. Just like Yixing said. Nobody knew anything. Nobody.
"Baekhyun?" Yixing rushed into the bathroom, releasing the cloud of steam that gathered in the confined space. "Are you alright?"
"No." He muttered, feeling faint and suffocated by the heat. Yixing threw the curtains back and turned off the water, then pulled Baekhyun out of the tub and draped a towel over his shoulders.
"You're more worked up than usual."
"It's been such a long day."
He dried himself off and changed into his pajamas, before crashing onto the bed. His head was pounding, chest tight, stomach aching. He buried his face in a pillow while Yixing sat beside him, stroking his damp hair.
"What's it going to take to help you relax?"
"A new house."
Yixing frowned. "I thought you liked this place."
"I do. I love it. I love being here with you. But the neighbors. I don't like being around so many people. I don't like having to hide all the time."
Yixing brushed a strand of hair out of his face. "I don't know where else we'd go. This is the best I could do for us."
"I know." Baekhyun took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "I appreciate everything you've done for me. I seriously have no idea what I'd do without you."
"And I have no idea what I'd do without you. Because I've never loved someone as much as I love you." He bent down to capture Baekhyun's lips, only this time he didn't pull away so soon. They let the moment linger for as long as possible, letting the rest of the world and all of their worries melt away.
The moment eventually shattered when Yixing lifted his head, his nose scrunching in disgust. "What's that smell?"
"What?"
"It smells like...smoke."
Baekhyun's eyes blew open. "The food!"
By the time he made it downstairs to throw the oven open, there was nothing left of dinner to salvage. He set the pan on the stove and tried to fan the clouds of black smoke away, but it was no use. The entire pan had been ruined.
"I'm sorry." He huffed, throwing his oven mitts onto the counter.
"It's fine. I'll go pick something up instead. What do you want?"
Shaking his head, Baekhyun abandoned the charred food and headed towards their bedroom. "Nothing. I wasn't hungry anyway."
👻👻👻
Minseok stood at the edge of his lawn, watching his neighbor's front door. Yixing left earlier to grab some food and was pulling into the driveway when the little boy ditched a game of baseball to watch. He craned his neck to see the bags in Yixing's hand, in search of candy. From the look of it, there were no sweets. Only hamburgers and fries.
"Minnie, what are you doing?" Joohyun asked.
"I'm looking for Mr. Byun's candy."
"It's probably inside." Junmyeon said. "We can get some tomorrow when we go trick-or-treating."
"But I don't want to wait! Come on, don't you guys want some now? Mr. Zhang said they have really good stuff this year."
"Mr. Zhang also said we can't have any until tomorrow, so let's wait."
"Or..." Minseok huddled his friends together, lowering his voice so his mother supervising from the kitchen window wouldn't hear. "We can sneak a few."
"How would we do that?" Joohyun whispered.
"We take some when they won't notice. The back door's always unlocked. I can jump the fence."
"You couldn't jump the fence when we lost our ball." Junmyeon reminded him.
"This time I'll bring something to climb on. I'll go grab a box. You two watch to make sure Mr. Zhang and Mr. Byun don't see us."
Reluctantly, Joohyun and Junmyeon snuck onto the adjacent lawn and stood by the back wall, waiting for Minseok to return. Meanwhile, Minseok ran into his house and went up to the attic to grab an old box full of photo albums. His little arms struggled to lift it off the floor, but he managed to haul it to the front door.
"What are you doing, Dear?" His mother asked while preparing the mashed potatoes.
"Making a fort." He shoved the box onto the front steps and dragged it onto the lawn. "I'll be back before dinner!"
Finally, he met with the others at the wall, who helped him push the box into position. "What if they see you? They're probably having dinner right now; they have a perfect view of the back door." Junmyeon said.
"I'll be really quiet. Now, give me a boost."
They both took one of his arms and pushed him up onto the box. From there, he threw his legs over the top of the wall and slid himself into the backyard. "You coming, Jun?"
"What about me?" Joohyun asked.
"You stay here and be lookout. Let us handle this."
Junmyeon stumbled over the wall, nearly landing in the rose bush. Minseok caught him by the arm to avoid making too much noise, then pulled him into the shadows for cover.
"I saw through the window and it looks like no one's downstairs. Come on."
They ran ahead, quietly pushing the back door open. It led straight into the kitchen, which they immediately noticed smelled of smoke and hamburgers. Creeping further into the house, they spotted the burnt pan sitting in the sink and the bags of takeout on the counter.
"Sounds like they're upstairs." Junmyeon said. He turned his ear to the muffled voices from atop the stairs, listening for any signs they might be coming down. "Let's make this quick."
"Where do you think they keep the candy?" Minseok asked as he rummaged through the cabinets. "Maybe upstairs?"
"But we can't go up there. They could see us."
"Then help me look around down here."
They scoured the entire first floor; the cabinets, the drawers, under the cushions of the couch, under the table, behind any houseplants, in the laundry room, through the bathroom. Nothing turned up.
"We have to look upstairs." Minseok said.
"No. I don't want to get caught."
"Then you stay down here and I'll go."
"Minnie, wait."
Junmyeon reached for his arm, but the boy escaped his grasp and tiptoed up the stairs. He could hear their voices and determined they were in their bedroom. As long as he stayed out of there, he would be fine.
He crept down the hallway, sneaking into the bathroom to raid the cabinets. Nothing. Silently groaning, he put everything back where he found it and went back into the hallway. Their bedroom was directly across the way, the door slightly ajar. Minseok held his breath and dropped to his hands and knees as he crawled past, peering in briefly to make sure they weren't looking.
He stopped short, right in front of the door, his head poking in through the crack. Yixing was sitting on one side of the bed and Baekhyun was lying opposite of him, one arm draped over his face. They were talking in hushed voices, their faces close so only they could hear each other. Minseok watched a little longer to see if he could spot the candy anywhere in their room. He saw a dark chocolate candy bar on the nightstand and his eyes lit up.
"Take the day off tomorrow." He heard Yixing say.
"I can't. It's Halloween."
"I know, but you need a day to rest. Just stay in bed and relax. Turn off the lights so the kids don't keep ringing the doorbell while trick-or-treating."
"But I promised I'd give them candy."
"We'll leave a bowl out for them." Yixing stood up to take his shirt off and change into a pair of pajama pants. Minseok wasn't paying attention to him. He was far more interested in the chocolate bar and the bag poking out of the bottom drawer. That had to be the candy bag. Of course, it was in the one room he couldn't enter.
"You want some water?" Yixing reached for the door, ready to head down to the kitchen to get a glass. Minseok froze.
"No. I'm fine."
He didn't breathe until Yixing released the door and walked back to the side of the bed. They looked like they were getting ready to sleep. Good. Then Minseok could sneak in and grab that bag. He just had to wait it out a little, after the lights went out and they dozed off. Considering how tired they already looked, it shouldn't take that long.
Yixing climbed into bed, draping half of his body over Baekhyun's. He reached up to brush his hair back, his face hovering over his. "You look sleepy." He commented.
"I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep for a while. My thoughts are racing."
"Let me take your mind off of everything else then. Just think about me for tonight." He cupped Baekhyun's face and pulled him closer for a kiss.
Minseok's jaw nearly hit the floor. He scooted back, trying to distance himself from the door as quietly as possible. Except, when he moved, he bumped straight into Junmyeon, causing both to yelp.
"What was that?" Baekhyun mumbled between kisses, but neither broke away long enough to investigate. Yixing shrugged it off and climbed on top of him, pinning him to the mattress.
"What's taking so long?" Junmyeon whispered.
Minseok didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled him to his knees and pointed towards the bedroom. Junmyeon crawled closer to peek through the crack in the door. His eyes blew out of his head and his mouth hung open. He met Minseok's equally shocked gaze, mouthing the words oh my...
"Forget the candy. Let's get out of here."
"But-" Minseok turned back to the drawer. "I think I found it. Right over there."
"Minseok, we can't go in there. We shouldn't be here."
Yixing sat up, and for a second they thought he might see them. But he wouldn't look away from Baekhyun, who also sat up to take his shirt off. Yixing pushed him back down in a heated kiss, dropping his hand to reach for the hem of his pants.
"Minseok, let's go." Junmyeon grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards the stairs. They ran back out to the wall, using the box of gardening tools beside the rose bushes as a step.
"Did you get any candy?" Joohyun asked.
"No."
"Why not? Did they see you?"
"No. But we saw them. We saw them together."
They all went back to Minseok's house. As soon as the front door opened, his parents charged towards him, shouting. "Where have you been? Dinner's been ready for twenty minutes! You were supposed to be back before sundown!"
"We were at Mr. Zhang's house." Minseok said. "We were only there to get some candy. I didn't mean to..."
His mother sat him down at the dinner table and looked him dead in the eyes. "Honey, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
He nervously glanced over at Junmyeon and Joohyun. His father stepped in front of them, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Minseok?"
"Um...well, we went into the house. Me and Junmyeon. We were looking for the candy, but..."
"But what?"
"But...we saw something."
👻👻👻
Yixing woke up around four for work. He gently moved Baekhyun's head off of his chest and went across the hall to take a shower. The sound of beating water and the faint light from the bathroom made Baekhyun stir in his sleep, but he didn't wake.
Yixing put on his work clothes and packed up his leftover dinner for lunch. Before leaving, he went back into the bedroom to grab his uneaten candy bar and plant a kiss on Baekhyun's head. "See you tonight." He whispered.
The neighbors left for work at the same time he did. When he locked up the house behind him and headed for his car, he saw Mr. Kim across the way, packing his suitcase into his own car.
"Morning, Mr. Kim." He greeted him as usual. "Happy Halloween."
Mr. Kim didn't say a word. He wouldn't even look at him. Yixing stood and waited for an acknowledgment, but the older man simply turned a cold shoulder and climbed into his car, driving off without a word. He looked across the street to wave to Mr. Bae and received the same reaction. The sisters on the other side of him at least had the decency to smile when they noticed him, but he couldn't ignore the way they glared.
The entire neighborhood seemed to brush him off and turn the other way, as if he did something to piss them off. But he couldn't think what might've upset them. Did he say something? They were usually in such a good mood on Halloween. What gives?
Whatever the reason was, he wasn't going to let it ruin his Halloween. He put a smile on his face and climbed into his car, driving off to work and leaving Baekhyun alone to have the day to himself.
He didn't wake up till late morning, and even then he didn't get out of bed for most of the day. Yixing was right; he really needed this. Just sitting at home, relaxing, avoiding his neighbors, enjoying the silence. He heard people out and about, preparing for Halloween, but none of them bothered him. They used to always come by to give him pumpkin cookies and invite him to carving contests, but not this year. This year, they left him alone completely.
He wondered if Yixing said something to them. If he told them to give him some space because he'd been having a hard time and needed time alone. Of course he would do something like that. Yixing was always looking out for him.
Evening came around eventually, meaning the real Halloween activities would begin. Baekhyun poured the bag of candy in a bowl and set it on the front step. He looked around to see the kids already walking up and down the streets, ringing doorbell after doorbell. He waited for them to stop by his house. A few minutes passed since he set the bowl out. No one had taken any.
The lower the sun set, the more people flooded the streets to celebrate. Baekhyun watched through the window, counting every kid that passed his house without taking any candy. Not even Junmyeon or Joohyun or even Minseok stopped by. They walked on while holding their mothers' hands, not even sparing his house a glance.
His stomach turned over from the nerves. It was strange; no one would go anywhere near his house. What did Yixing tell them?
The phone rang, making Baekhyun's heart jump. He threw the curtains back and grabbed the phone off of the wall, then cradled it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey Baek, it's Yixing."
Thank god, he thought. Hearing his voice instantly put his racing mind to ease.
"Hi. What's up?"
"I wanted to call and tell you that I might be home a little later than usual. You know how work gets backed up from time to time."
"Oh." The sinking feeling in his gut returned. He didn't want to be alone anymore. "Okay. When should you be back?"
"Probably around nine. Go ahead and have dinner without me. I'll probably grab something to eat on my way home."
"Okay."
"Baek-"
"Yes?" He anxiously twirled the phone cord around his finger.
"You sound tense. I told you to relax today."
"I am relaxed." He craned his head to watch the window. "Everyone's out celebrating right now and I get antsy seeing them outside our house. I'm just being dramatic, you know me."
Yixing chuckled. "As long as you keep the lights off, they won't come up to the door. Did you set the candy out?"
"Yeah, but no one's taken any."
"They probably don't notice it. At least turn the porch light on."
"Alright." He extended the cord to reach the light switch beside the door. "Please don't take too long to get home."
"I won't. See you later, Baek. I love you."
"Love you too." He put the phone back with a sigh and leaned against the dinner table. Great. Now, he had to be in the house all alone even longer with people constantly walking near his house. He checked the window again to see if the light drew anyone towards the candy, and to his relief saw that no one had approached the door.
He went up to his room and buried himself under the sheets with a book, trying to pass the time until Yixing came home. The minutes ticked away in silence. Only the faint sound of children laughing and music playing outside could be heard.
The noise grew slightly louder. From the sound of it, people were starting to arrive at the Kim's Halloween party. Baekhyun used to attend all the time with Yixing. He hated to miss it, but at the same time he preferred staying home.
The celebrations went on without him all night. By nine o'clock, the commotion died down and parents carried their tired children back home with buckets full of candy. The Halloween spirit dissipated and the night came to an end. Yixing had yet to return home.
Baekhyun was about to reach for the phone to call him, when the doorbell rang. He stopped and slowly turned towards the door. It was probably the stragglers looking to get a little extra candy before wrapping up the night. They would take whatever was left in the bucket and leave eventually.
He went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, brushing his mysterious visitors off. He placed a glass under the faucet to fill it up, simultaneously rummaging through the fridge for a snack. He made a note to himself to call Yixing when he got situated.
A shadow passed over the window. Whoever rang the doorbell was still outside his house. He went to turn off the faucet, but stopped when he heard knocking. Not just knocking, but loud, relentless banging that shook him to his core.
He rushed towards the window to peek out. There were three figures standing under the porchlight, but he couldn't make out any of their faces. One of them slammed his fists against the wood, while the other two stood back, holding something out of sight.
The knocking didn't stop. Baekhyun thought if he waited long enough, they'd get the memo and leave. They never did.
"Byun." A familiar voice called through the door. "It's Mr. Kim. Open up."
Swallowing the knot in his throat, Baekhyun carefully undid the lock and pried the door open a crack. "Yes?" He asked quietly.
"What the hell took you so long to answer?" Mr. Kim laughed. He stumbled forward, trying to push through, but Baekhyun wouldn't budge. It was clear from his speech, his mannerisms, and the strong smell attacking Baekhyun's nostrils that all three of these men were stupid drunk.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"You weren't out celebrating Halloween. We wanted to know what you've been up to."
So, Yixing didn't tell them to leave him alone. Baekhyun didn't know what to think of that, but it made him nervous.
"I'm not feeling well, so I decided to stay in tonight."
"Bummer." Mr. Kim grabbed the edge of the door and pushed it open more so he could look inside. "Is Yixing home?"
"Yes." He lied, fully conscious of how much larger these men were and how aggressive they were being with the door.
"Really? Where's his car then? I never saw him come home." Mr. Bae said, pushing his way to the front to squeeze in between the two Kim's and the door.
"Where his car is doesn't concern you. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go to bed." Before he could shut the door, Mr. Kim grabbed the knob and forced it out of his grasp.
"Why are you trying to shut the door in our face? Don't you think that's rude?"
"Please leave." Baekhyun demanded, trying to stop them from entering the house. "I don't know what you want from me, but-"
"We've been talking with the neighbors." Mr. Kim interrupted, stepping close enough so that Baekhyun could smell the liquor on his breath. "We talked to them last night. My boy told me something that I thought I should share with everyone else. They all know."
His heart sank. The color in his face drained.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why don't you let us in, Baekhyun, and we can talk about it."
He pushed on the door, but was no match for the older man's strength. "Get the hell away from me. You're drunk."
Mr. Kim shoved forward, sending the door slamming into Baekhyun's face. He fell back, his hands flying up to the point of impact as blood trickled from his broken nose. While down, the three men entered the house with a crowbar, a chain, and a saw.
When Baekhyun's eyes fell on those three objects, he knew exactly what they were here to do.
"So, let's talk now." Mr. Kim reached for his ankle, but Baekhyun managed to get to his feet and scurry towards the phone. A trail of blood dripped wherever he went, leading from the door to the kitchen.
"My son was here last night, and you know what he saw? You know what he told me?" He swung the crowbar over Baekhyun's head, shattering the phone. He screamed, throwing his arms over his head to protect himself from the broken pieces.
"He said he saw you with Yixing. Can you believe that? I know Minseok's got an active imagination, but he wouldn't make up something sick like that."
Baekhyun jumped to his feet and sprinted for the stairs, just barely escaping past Mr. Bae and the other Mr. Kim. They ran after him, heavy footsteps echoing off of the walls, chasing him all the way to his bedroom. He threw himself into the closet and shut the door behind him as quietly as possible, slapping a hand over his move to silence himself.
"I was hoping Yixing would be here too." Mr. Kim continued. He kicked the closet open and sent Baekhyun jumping back, swinging the crowbar forward to strike him in the jaw. "But I guess this works too."
Mr. Bae finally got ahold of his ankles and dragged him into the center of the room. Baekhyun kicked and screamed, trying to be as loud as possible to alert the neighbors. He shouted and cried until the crowbar struck him again, knocking the air out of his lungs.
Mr. Kim was relentless. Metal struck bone in every place it could; his arms, his legs, his ribs, his hips, his shoulders, his spine. Baekhyun could hardly move, yet his body found enough strength to roll over onto his stomach and try to crawl away.
The other Mr. Kim pushed his foot onto his back, pressing him down on the floor. "Please." He choked out, voice and body trembling. "Please don't do this. Please. Please."
A foot kicked him in the back of the head, though he couldn't see who was responsible. His vision went black for a moment; all blurry and jumbled and confusing. When his senses returned to him, he realized they had flipped him over onto his back and lifted his head enough for Mr. Kim to wrap a chain around his throat.
"Stop!" He panicked, fighting with all of his might to break away. "Somebody help! Please!"
"Nobody's gonna help you." Mr. Kim spat. To drive his point home, he opened the window, letting Baekhyun's screams be heard by the entire neighborhood.
Everyone could hear him. Even the children. Minseok shot out of bed and ran downstairs to see his mother sitting by the window, sipping tea and listening to the cries for help from next door.
"What's going on?" He asked.
Mrs. Kim looked up from her tea, staring at the little boy in a way that made him aware he wasn't supposed to be up. "Go back to bed, Dear. It's nothing."
"Help me!" His voice rang through the empty streets. Minseok could tell it was Baekhyun.
"Go on." His mother said. Minseok took one last look at the house across the way, then went back to his room to try and fall asleep.
"You see? They don't care. No one's coming for you. No one's calling for help." Mr. Kim chuckled. "No one's going to save you."
"Yixing!" Was the last word Baekhyun could get out before the chain tightened around his throat and he couldn't breathe anymore. They pulled on it hard, quite literally squeezing the life out of him. He tried gasping for air, but nothing reached his lungs. He clawed at the chain in a vain attempt to loosen the hold. In the back of his mind, he knew he wasn't going to escape.
Mr. Kim pulled harder. Baekhyun's head jerked back. His face turned purple and his eyes looked blood red. It wasn't long before he lost consciousness and slumped against the floorboards in a pool of his own blood.
He held on a while longer to make sure Baekhyun was dead. When his body went still and the heart slowly rapping in his chest stopped completely, he undid the chain. The three men stood up and hovered over the body, debating what to do next.
"We have to get rid of him. Get the saw."
👻👻👻
The street was completely silent when Yixing restlessly pulled into the driveway and dragged himself out of his car. Checking his watch, he realized he was getting home over an hour later than he intended. He got caught up with work and then stopped to eat at a restaurant and really made no effort to drive fast with how tired he felt. Baekhyun wasn't going to be happy.
Grabbing his takeout bags, he ambled towards the front door to find the candy bowl still sitting out, seemingly untouched. Weird. He expected all of it to be gone by the end of the night. He picked the bowl up and fished his keys out of his pockets. Before he could take them out, he noticed something; the door was already unlocked. In fact, it wasn't even closed all the way.
He pushed it open with his back and dropped the candy off to the side. "Baekhyun?" He called out while hanging up his coat. No response.
He heard running water from the kitchen. Flipping on the lights, he saw the faucet hadn't been turned off and the phone completely destroyed, hanging by a fizzing wire from the wall. Drops of blood surrounded the rubble, leading all the way back to Yixing's feet.
"Baekhyun!" He ran upstairs, following the trail of blood, his heart hammering in his chest. He barged into the bedroom, freezing in the doorway.
There was no body, but there was a large puddle of blood soaking into the floorboards at the foot of the bed. "Oh god..." He swept his hair out of his face, feeling sweat beating down his forehead. The sight of blood made him dizzy, but he pushed through, running from room to room in search of Baekhyun.
"Baby, where are you?" He cried to himself as he entered the bathroom. Upon flipping the lights on, he found the bathtub completely soaked in blood, more blood than he had ever seen in his entire life. Blood all over the walls, pooling on the floor, turning every inch of the white tub red. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie, and it made Yixing sick to his stomach.
He folded inward, heaving and on the verge of puking up his dinner. His head was spinning, but he didn't stop. He ran downstairs and through the front door, heading straight for the Kim's house.
"Help! Help!" He slammed his fists on their door. "It's Yixing! Mr. Kim! I need you to call the police!"
Nobody answered the door. He couldn't wait there forever. Cursing to himself, he ran across the lawn and went to the house on the opposite side where the sisters lived.
"Yeri! Seulgi! Call the police, please!"
Again, no answer. He ran from house to house, trying to get somebody to listen, until finally a little old lady about a block from his place answered the door with confusion plastered across her face.
"Let me use your phone. Please." He begged, tears streaming down his face and shaking furiously. The woman asked no questions and led him to the phone in the kitchen. She watched him fumble with the dial, struggling to call the police.
"Hello? I need help. Please, somebody help me. My friend is missing and there's blood everywhere. Oh god, there's so much blood." His knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor, still holding the phone close to his ear. The operator was asking him questions, trying to get information from him, but she couldn't make out a word he was saying. He was a sobbing mess, curled up on the floor, pleading for somebody to do something.
Eventually, the old woman took the phone from him and gave them the name of the street. She then hung up and turned her attention to Yixing, who rolled onto his back and buried his tear stained face in his hands.
"They're on their way. Your friend will be fine, okay? They're going to help your friend."
They showed up fifteen minutes later. Yixing sat outside his house with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, staring blankly at the officers that passed through. They asked him questions and he said he knew nothing, only that Baekhyun was a good and kind person and he didn't deserve anything bad happening to him. He deserved to be returned home safely.
They talked to the neighbors next. Mr. Kim walked out of his house looking tired and hungover, approaching the cops to whisper something to them. Yixing watched. He took note of the way the cops nodded along in understanding and Mr. Kim gestured to the upstairs window that looked into their bedroom; the bedroom where Yixing first found the blood.
The cops didn't look at him the same way after talking to the others. They were passive, dismissive, bothered almost. They told him they'd get around to searching for his body, that maybe they'd do a full blown investigation, maybe this was worth their time. Yixing knew it wasn't. He knew they weren't going to try and solve this. But it was okay, because he already knew. He knew the moment Mr. Kim spoke to the police.
Yixing sat on the front steps until morning, long after the police took pictures, cleaned up, and left. They didn't drive him back to the precinct or ask anymore questions. The investigation ended the moment Mr. Kim admitted what happened.
He was left to sit on those steps until sunrise. When the light broke behind the roof of his house, the neighbors filed out to their cars to head off to work. Yixing looked to his side, spotting Mr. Kim with his briefcase walking down the driveway.
"How did you know?" He called out.
Mr. Kim stopped. Turning around, he saw the young man, exhausted and with tear streaks on his face, curled up on the front steps. "Excuse me?"
"How did you know about us?"
He scoffed, tossing his briefcase into the backseat of his car. "Minseok went through your back door. Saw things he wasn't supposed to see. His friends were there too. I had to do something about it."
In the blink of an eye, Yixing was on his feet, storming across the lawn. "Are you going to kill me too? Huh? Are you going to murder me like you murdered Baekhyun?!"
Mr. Kim merely shrugged.
"He was your friend. He was good and kind and he was always nice to everyone. Even the children loved him. You cared about him once."
"That was before I knew the truth."
Yixing's heart dropped into his stomach. He was about to be sick. He looked into Mr. Kim's eyes and saw no remorse or regret. The man who once treated him like family truly did not care about what he did to Baekhyun. And neither did anyone else.
"Where is he?" Yixing nearly whispered, his head low and tears pricking his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean." His voice cracked, and he took a moment to control his sobs. "Just tell me where his body is."
Mr. Kim stepped forward, getting up in Yixing's face. There were people watching them; the neighbors came out of their houses and were staring at them from afar. Mrs. Kim stood on the porch in a bathrobe. Minseok was hiding behind her.
Yixing tensed when the older man sized him up, standing so close he could feel his breath fanning his face. "Where is his body?" He whispered, trying to control his shaking.
"A few different places, actually."
He snapped. It was all a blur, but Yixing knew that he struck Mr. Kim hard enough to knock him off his feet. A sharp pain bloomed in his fist, then his side, then his jaw, and it was only then he realized Mr. Kim tackled him to the floor and was beating him like a madman.
Somebody pulled him off. He didn't know who. He wasn't aware of anything around him; only the tears soaking his face and the screams that erupted from his chest. He was also aware of the fact that nobody helped him; they left him lying in the grass as he gasped and choked and cried until his entire body felt ready to shut down. They all walked back to their houses and went about their business, just like they had done when Baekhyun was murdered in cold blood.
In that moment, Yixing decided he was going to move.