pairing: BaekChen
length: 1781 words

The sun shone brilliantly as Jongdae and Baekhyun walked around the lively carnival, arms hooked together. The scent of corndogs, buttery popcorn, and cooked meat filled the air as young kids ran haphazardly through the bustling crowd. Lines for the games and attractions s around the brightly colored tents whose ends flapped in the light breeze.

The couple had been enjoying the summer carnival like they did every year since they were kids. It never lost its novelty, especially since it carried their most important memories. New attractions were showcased every year, and the popular classic ones returned to cater to loyal returners like Jongdae and Baekhyun. It was their favorite place to be and they always made sure to clear time from their schedules to come to the carnival together when it was back in town.

“Look, that’s new!”

Baekhyun turned his head to see what his boyfriend was pointing at and his face instantly paled. He immediately spun around and began walking away as fast as he could, but Jongdae pulled him back before he could get too far. “Dae, I really don’t want to go! You know I hate stuff like that! Please don’t make me go inside!”

“Oh, come on, it’ll be harmless!” Jongdae said optimistically as he began dragging Baekhyun to the end of the attraction’s line. “This is the first time they’ve ever had one of these and it might not be here next year. There’s no way we’re missing out on this.”

Right now, Baekhyun knew he’d rather fight against the entire North Korean army alone than go inside the dreadful place where he was sure to be tortured. Baekhyun loved his boyfriend to bits and pieces, but at this moment, he wanted to strangle Jongdae and dump his body into the ocean where no one would ever find the corpse. Yes, it was slightly morbid, but his fears were too overpowering. Baekhyun felt like he was going to pass out as they stepped closer and closer to that awful place. He closed his eyes and tightly gripped Jongdae’s hand, praying that this was all just a dream.

“Aw, Baek, don’t be such a baby about this,” Jongdae teased as he poked Baekhyun’s soft cheek, a catlike grin plastered on the younger male’s face when he saw how terrified his boyfriend was. “I promise that it won’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be.”

“You don’t know that!” Baekhyun exclaimed as he pointed an accusing finger at the building. “You even said it’s never been here before. So theoretically, it could be way worse instead!” His eyes darted around in fear, desperately trying to find any way out of having to go inside.

“What if I give you a reward if you manage to go through the entire thing without crying?” Jongdae offered with a devilish smile. He knew Baekhyun wouldn’t be able to resist any rewards from his boyfriend, since they both knew what they entailed. And just like that, Baekhyun shut his mouth and pressed his lips together in a thin line, tightening his grip on Jongdae’s hand.

“Hello, welcome to the Haunted House! You will be traversing through four rooms that contain a variety of horrors. It will be two tickets per person to enter.”

Jongdae deftly ripped off four light blue tickets from the roll he carried in his pocket and handed them to the attendant.

“Thank you. Please go inside and good luck!”

The pair stepped inside and immediately found themselves in a pitch-black room. Baekhyun let out a shrill shriek and threw his arms around Jongdae, who was letting his eyes naturally adjust to the darkness. The younger male did the best that he could to feel around for a wall so he could get his bearings and figure out how to reach the next room, but it was admittedly much more difficult with a grown man hanging onto him for dear life.

Baekhyun could feel his heart rate accelerate as a sense of trepidation overtook him. “Dae, I don’t like this,” he whimpered fearfully.

“I know. I’m trying to find the entrance to the next room,” Jongdae reassured the older male as he continued taking small steps through the room, waving his hand to find anything he could grab onto.

Baekhyun began muttering a string of unintelligible words under his breath, the sound of his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He was scared out of his mind right now. The complete lack of light made him feel weak and vulnerable, and if it weren’t for the promise of a reward, Baekhyun would already be bawling his head off at this point.

And then his heart stopped as something touched his exposed ankles. “OH MY GOD, JONGDAE, I’M GOING TO DIE. HELP,” Baekhyun screamed as he hopped onto Jongdae’s back, keeping his feet wrapped securely around the younger male’s waist as he tried to forget the sticky sensation of whatever it was that had touched him.

“Woah, take it easy,” Jongdae said as he teetered under the sudden weight. As he adjusted his arms to keep Baekhyun’s legs in place, Jongdae felt remnants of whatever had scared his boyfriend on the older male’s ankles and used his fingers to pick some off. He rubbed the material between his fingers, trying to get a sense of what it was, but he couldn’t figure it out. So he slowly continued trudging forward, ordering Baekhyun to keep a hand out so the younger male wouldn’t crash into a wall.

Baekhyun reluctantly stuck his arm out as he felt for a wall, since his pleas begging not to fell on deaf ears. He definitely felt safer with Jongdae carrying him, but the temporary relief lasted only a few seconds until Baekhyun’s hand came in contact with a sticky wall. “AGH, JONGDAE, GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW.” The terrified male began rapidly shaking his hand as he tried to fling the substance off of him.

Jongdae almost ran headfirst into the wall since Baekhyun’s screaming was causing him to panic as well, but before he did, he spotted a dim light out of the corner of his eyes and turned in that direction. Once they were in the second room, Jongdae heaved his scared boyfriend off of his back and grabbed Baekhyun’s hand to see what the cause of panic was. “Oh my god, are you serious, Baek? Those were just cobwebs,” Jongdae told the older male as he doubled over in laughter.

“They're still nasty, okay?” Baekhyun defended himself, slightly embarrassed of his cowardice.

Once Jongdae finished laughing at his boyfriend’s cute reactions, he interlocked their hands and they proceeded forward through the second room. Baekhyun felt more at ease now that there was light, even if it was weak. He would be able to avoid anything like those gross cobwebs now that he could see. Cracked picture frames and broken candelabras were strewn around the room on dusty tabletops and chipped stone counters. Windows were partially covered by ripped black curtains and wooden chairs were set randomly around the room.

Then something swooped from the ceiling, fur brushing against Baekhyun’s ear. “HOLY COW, JONGDAE, I’M BEING ATTACKED,” the older male shrieked at the top of his lungs. And to make matters worse, a loud clanking sound filled the atmosphere. Baekhyun saw a suit of armor moving erratically towards the pair, causing him to let out another ear-piercing scream. He high-tailed it out of the room as quickly as he could with his amused boyfriend in tow.

Once they escaped into the third room, Jongdae released Baekhyun before saying, “Baek, you’re overreacting too much.”

“No, I’m not!” Baekhyun answered stoutly as he stomped a foot on the floor. “Something furry and disgusting touched my ear! I felt it!”

“I’m sure it was a bat prop or something,” Jongdae replied, trying to keep his giggles contained.

“What about that thing that was about to skewer us alive?!” Baekhyun countered, referring to the pointed spear that the mobile suit of armor had been carrying.

“I barely saw it since you pulled me out of the room so quickly,” Jongdae told him.

“Well, the sooner we leave this horrible place, the better.” The older male felt like he had aged about twenty years since the couple had entered this accursed place. And they had only gone through half of the attraction. He was starting to think that the reward might not be worth it, but one glance at Jongdae’s grinning face made Baekhyun sigh deeply as he decided to keep going.  

The ground was littered with broken dolls that the two of them carefully stepped around. Baekhyun shuddered as he looked at the cracked, mutilated toys that were precariously piled on top of each other. Jongdae accidentally knocked one down, causing Baekhyun to yell in terror.

“Hello, my dears. Come to play?” a high-pitched voice drawled as a sitting figure slowly turned its chair to face the two boys. It was a female dressed in rags with an extremely pale face and badly done makeup. She cackled madly as she held up a disfigured doll in each hand, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

“NO, PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE.” Baekhyun’s screams filled the room as Jongdae protectively wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, who was scared out of his wits. The younger male quickly led Baekhyun out of the room, laughing hysterically the entire time.

And just when Baekhyun thought it couldn’t get any worse, the couple found themselves in a dark hallway with the whirring sound of a chainsaw getting louder. Seconds later, a man carrying the chainsaw appeared and began chasing them down the hallway. “GO AWAY, OH MY GOD. STOP IT,” Baekhyun shrieked as he ran for his life, tears streaming down his face.

When he finally made it outside, where there was bright light and fresh air, the petrified male fell to his knees, gasping raggedly as he tried to collect himself. Jongdae crouched beside him, soothingly rubbing Baekhyun’s back. “I’m sorry, Baek. I really didn’t think you would cry.”

“I-it’s okay. I s-should’ve been b-braver,” Baekhyun hiccupped, quickly rubbing away his tears.

Jongdae gently pulled his boyfriend up before tightly embracing the sniffling male. “No, you were very brave already for agreeing to go inside. And you even finished the entire course. I’m proud of you.”

Baekhyun buried his head in the Jongdae’s chest, still recovering from the frightening ordeal. He slowly inhaled the musky scent of the younger male, which helped calm his nerves and slow his racing heartbeat.

Jongdae kissed the top of Baekhyun’s head before saying, “Let’s go buy you some ice cream."

♈♈♈