Closets Are For Ghosts And Gays | Chanbaek, Chansoo

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

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?"