Storing encrypted value using getter/setter not working. Stored in plain text.

I am trying to save a string value in the database. this value needs to be encrypted. I tried to create a _set and _get function to encrypt/decrypt this. 

here is the code:

protected function _setUsername($username)
{
 $key = 'wt1U5MACWJFTXGenFoZoiLwQGrLgdbHA';
 if(strlen($username) > 0)
 {
 $username = Security::encrypt($username, $key);
 }
 return($username);
}

protected function _getUsername($username)
{
 $key = 'wt1U5MACWJFTXGenFoZoiLwQGrLgdbHA';
 if(strlen($username) > 0)
 {
 $username = Security::decrypt($username, $key);
 }

 return($username);
}

However the value is stored in plain text. Am I misunderstanding the documentation on the use of these functions?

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