Work Text:
It was a cold October evening, Xie Lian had just arrived back home from work, and he was quite tired. Today was supposed to be his day off, but he had been called in suddenly due to a work emergency. Xie Lian sighed as fumbled with his keys and opened the front door, the house was dark and empty. He felt a twinge of guilt as he entered the house, today was Hua Cheng’s first day at his new job, and he hadn’t even gotten to see him off. Before entering the house, Xie Lian slipped his shoes off and placed them by the door. He switched on the light as he hung his coat up on the coat rack, and began walking towards the kitchen.
Recently, Hua Cheng landed a job as a scare actor at an incredibly popular haunted house in town. The haunted house was rumored to be the scariest one in town and only opened up in October. What made it unique was that, unlike most haunted houses in town, they’d change costumes, props, and location every year, so people never knew what to expect when walking in.
In the past, during Hua Cheng’s teenage years, he had worked at various places as a scare actor. He was incredibly talented at SFX makeup and created amazingly realistic gorey looks. Hua Cheng continued to work as a scare actor throughout high school until he got into college. Since then, he never got the opportunity to continue his hobby due to his busy schedule, and eventually forgot about it with time.
When Hua Cheng briefly mentioned this to Xie Lian, he hadn’t expected him to care all that much. But to his surprise, Xie Lian was fascinated! He encouraged Hua Cheng to try doing it again if it was something he enjoyed. With much of Xie Lian’s encouragement and convincing, Hua Cheng decided to apply as a scare actor at the haunted house. Luckily, he got the job!
Since today was Hua Cheng’s first day, Xie Lian had hoped to see him before he left. He had desperately wanted to see what his SFX makeup looked like since Hua Cheng didn’t have any photos of himself when he did it as a teen. But to much of Xie Lian’s dismay, he never got to see Hua Cheng leave due to his work emergency.
But, right before Xie Lian had left stumbling out the door for work that morning, he had packed Hua Cheng lunch (technically dinner, since he works in the evening) and left a note wishing him luck on his first day. He hoped Hua Cheng wouldn’t be too mad at him for leaving so suddenly, it was already hard enough leaving his arms in the morning, especially while he whined and begged Xie Lian to stay in bed longer and just skip work. As much as Xie Lian wanted to, skipping work would result in him being fired, and he needed this job. (Technically, he doesn’t. Hua Cheng makes more than enough to provide for both of them, but Xie Lian feels bad if Hua Cheng is the only one working, and feels the need to pull his own weight, too.)
Xie Lian heaved another sigh as he entered the kitchen and flicked the light on. To his surprise, the lunch box he had prepared for Hua Cheng earlier that day was still on the counter, exactly how he had left it that morning.
At first, Xie Lian was confused. Hua Cheng would never refuse anything he made, let alone forget a lunch box he had prepared. Xie Lian slapped himself on the forehead, he must’ve been busy this morning, I should've texted him…
Glancing at the time, Xie Lian realized it was only 6 PM, which meant Hua Cheng had started work only an hour ago, he had yet to go on break. A light bulb appeared above Xie Lian’s head, I can just bring him his food!
Xie Lian grabbed the lunch box and rushed back out the front door. He started his car and began to drive to the haunted house where Hua Cheng worked.
----------------
The location of the haunted house this year was an old, abandoned home. Xie Lian could hear the screams of people echoing throughout the house, along with eerie music being played by hidden speakers.
Although the line was long, the wait was only about 15 minutes. After he paid the admission fee, Xie Lian entered the house. He walked down a long hallway, the only light source within the hall was dimly lit candles scattered randomly about. Occasionally, there'd be banging on the walls, but it didn’t concern Xie Lian one bit.
Once reaching the end of the hallway, he was greeted with a door. When opening it, he entered into what seemed like a living room. The wallpaper was peeling and covered in blood, the sofas were tarnished, and an old TV was playing white static on a loop. The room was dark, and Xie Lian noticed a figure sitting on one of the sofas, facing away from him. He could hear a low gurgling sound coming from them as he slowly approached.
Once Xie Lian was in eyesight, the person suddenly shot up from the sofa and began screaming like a madman. They began pulling at their hair, which revealed their face that was covered with lumps of flesh that looked like little faces.
Slightly taken aback, Xie Lian backed away, it was an incredibly gruesome sight. He knew it was fake though, and had no reason to worry, so he remained on track to find Hua Cheng.
Wait.
How was he going to exactly find Hua Cheng???
Xie Lian suddenly realized this flaw in his plan. Since he had purposely made Hua Cheng keep his role vague so he could be surprised, it meant that he had no idea as to what part of the haunted house Hua Cheng would be in. He thought for a brief moment and figured the best idea would be to just begin asking other scare actors, they were coworkers after all.
“Excuse me, do you know where San Lang is?”
“...”
Unfortunately, he was only met with the sound of gurgling and a bewildered stare. Xie Lian sighed and moved on to the next room.
…
The next room was a kitchen, it was quite an open one too. In the middle of the room was a metal table, where a fake dismembered human was laid. Along the countertops were fake organs and various body parts from humans and animals. This included legs, hands, fingers, head, etc. Although at first glance it was quite scary, it was easy to tell it was all fake.
However, in the corner of the room sat a person. He was facing away from Xie Lian, he seemed to be eating something.
“Excuse me?一”
Before Xie Lian could get out the last syllable, the person suddenly whipped around and began spewing curses at him. The man’s skin was greenish and his mouth was covered in blood. In his hands, he held a fake limb that had bite marks all over it. Xie Lian believed the scene was supposed to be mimicking a cannibal, but it wasn’t very good, to be fair.
“THE FUCK YOU WANT, INTERRUPTING MY EATING?! DO YOU WANNA FUCKING DIE?”
“...”
Xie Lian’s face scrunched up, he glanced at the man with a certain look of disdain.
“What’s with that goddamn look? THE FUCK YOU LOOKING AT?!?!”
“You just… remind me of someone…”
“THE FUCK THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?! ARE YOU TRYING TO INSULT ME? I’LL CHOP YOU INTO TINY FUCKING PIECES!”
Xie Lian waved his hands, dismissing it. “Ah, nothing. Do you know where San Lang is?”
The man crouched down on the floor looked at him confused, but instead of answering, he began waving around the fake limb he had been holding prior at Xie Lian.
“GET OUT YOU DOG FUCKER, BEFORE I MAKE YOU!!!!”
Xie Lian wasted no time moving onto the next room, another second in that room and he probably would’ve lost his cool.
…
The next room was a nursery.
This room was smaller than the last, similar to the living room, the wallpaper was peeling and coated in blood. Off to the side of the room was an empty crib, above it, a baby mobile softy swayed. Littered throughout the room were toys, but not just any regular toys, these toys were especially creepy. To name a few, there was a zombie duck, an eerie clown jack-in-the-box, a decapitated doll, and several other odd toys.
In the middle of the room was a lady sitting in a rocking chair. She gently rocked as she hummed a soft lullaby to the “baby” she cradled in her arms. Before Xie Lian could say anything, she slowly placed this “baby” on the floor, facing toward him. The baby was pale white, with a few blonde strands of hair sticking out on its bald head.
Suddenly, it began to crawl rapidly towards him! Xie Lian hadn’t expected this and booked it towards the exit.
Definitely not San Lang!
…
As Xie Lian entered the next room, he began to grow worried. What if Hua Cheng was on break, and he had taken too long? But he could not give up hope yet! He must continue!
Xie Lian looked around, it was incredibly dark, making it hard to see properly. After a moment, a realization hit him like a train. This room is a… dungeon?
Xie Lian hadn’t exactly expected something like this, since the common theme seemed to be regular rooms you’d find in a house, but alas.
Just like all of the other rooms, blood covered the walls and floor. Chains hung from the ceilings and walls, and fake torture devices were placed inside the room, such as a guillotine and an electric chair. Xie Lian then saw there was a person chained to the wall. This person was slumped against the wall, their head hung low, as if they had succumbed to despair after days of torture. Another person dressed in all black stood above them, holding a decapitated head in their hand.
As Xie Lian entered, the person dressed in black turned to him. Once they locked eyes, they recognized each other.
Xie Lian was the first to speak, “He Xuan? What are you doing here?”
“I work here.”
He awkwardly scratched his nose, “I see. Do you know where San Lang is?”
“Mn. He’s at the end, he chases people with a fake chainsaw or something like that.”
Xie Lian’s eyes instantly lit up, finally after so much wandering, someone had finally given him an answer! He could finally give Hua Cheng his food, he’d probably be starving by now.
“Thank you, He Xuan!”
He happily trotted off, making his way through the rest of the rooms quickly until he reached the end.
…
The moment Xie Lian opened the door to the outside, a cool breeze hit him. When he had originally entered, the sun had yet to fully set, but now it was pitch dark outside. The only light source he had been provided was a lantern, which was given to him by a man with a half-crying half-laughing mask. He had been informed that this last part was a maze, but it wasn’t difficult to navigate through.
As he began to walk through the maze, Xie Lian continuously looked for Hua Cheng, even repeatedly calling out his name a few times. Despite the man in the half-crying, half-laughing mask telling him the maze was easy, Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel like he had gone in circles multiple times.
He heaved a heavy sigh, Hua Cheng’s food was definitely cold by now. As he continued walking about the maze at random, he suddenly heard a chainsaw rev up.
Xie Lian’s eyes lit up in an instant, and he whipped around towards the sound,
“San Lang!”
Almost instantly after he called out that name, the revving of the chainsaw instantly stopped,
“Gege? Gege, what are you doing here?”
Emerging from the bushes, came Hua Cheng. His face was covered with blood and he had used SFX makeup to create fake gashes all along his face. Despite his heavy amount of makeup, Xie Lian could tell with just a glance this was his beloved.
“San Lang, I finally found you! I made you food this morning for your first day! I felt bad I didn’t get to see you off. I left it on the counter, but I don’t think you saw it…”
Xie Lian then proudly presented Hua Cheng the lunch box he had prepared this morning with a stupidly, giddy smile.
Hua Cheng, who was always crafty with his words, was for once at a loss for words at this moment. His eye was filled with pure adoration and love for the man who stood before him, who shone brighter than any star.
“You… came all the way to give this to me?” Hua Cheng happily accepted the lunch box, he’d never refuse anything his husband presented him.
“Of course, I wouldn’t want San Lang to go hungry the first day on the job!”
Hua Cheng chuckled and pulled Xie Lian into a tight hug, “Thank you, Gege. Make me lunch boxes all the time from now on?”
“Mn. I’ll make you one every day! Just remember to bring it with you to work.” Xie Lian wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng, his ears tinted a faint pink.
“Of course. I’m sorry, I won’t forget again.” Hua Cheng gently kissed the crown of Xie Lian’s head before they both reluctantly pulled away from each other.
“You should get back to work… I don’t want to get you into any trouble.”
“Who cares about that? My bosses can go suck it if they have a problem.”
Xie Lian giggled at his comment, “I’ll see you back at home, okay?”
“Mn.”
But, right before Xie Lian left, he quickly looked around as if he was about to commit a crime. He reached up to Hua Cheng's face and pecked his lips. Before Hua Cheng could react, Xie Lian shouted a quick goodbye and ran away, face red as a tomato.
Hua Cheng laughed as he watched his shy husband flee from the scene, he’d make sure to continue where Xie Lian had left off once he got home. For now, he’d enjoy the food he had prepared him.
end~