Lu Han cleared his throat, staring at the machine. His hands fidgeted, but he wrung them quickly together and hid them behind his back. In two ways at least, the evening wasn't going as planned. For one he had not expected the gentleman to agree to his request. For a nobleman, even one whose family history was somewhat decayed, marriage with a common adventurer like Lu Han was entirely beneath him. Minseok's agreement gave Lu Han an edge. He was that desperate. But secondly, Lu Han had never heard about any kind of machine...

He peered around the room. The machine Minseok had indicated was one of a variety of devices, only a few of which Lu Han recognized. Scattered between them were long tables steeped with many smaller instruments of research, microscopes and beakers, and a small cage with one very large, white mouse. 

"You are a chemist? Or a physicist?" Lu Han asked. 

"A little of both." Minseok smiled. 

He had his hand on the large machine which he pat almost fondly. Lu Han saw that it was built not quite as tall as himself, but with a bench and room for a man to sit. The entire thing was at an incline and included arm rests and head supports. Throw a cushion on there and it might actually be comfy, he thought. On the other hand, metal wires in a brilliant, electric blue lined these supports up and down, belying this vain hope. Lu Han coughed again, then he gave a return smile. As one adventurer to another kind entirely, he would call this man's bluff.

"So what am I to do? Shall I sit? Is it human safe or have you tested it before on..." he looked around, "the rat?"

Minseok's smile quavered a little as he followed Lu Han's gaze. "My rat, a test subject? Oh no, no, of course not. Baekhyun is my pet. I will introduce the two of you later. In the meantime, sit here a moment so I can verify it'll fit your parameters."

With only a few seconds' hesitation, Lu Han sat as instructed. The metal seat was cold even through his clothes. He inhaled slowly and leaned back, arms resting in their place, head uncomfortably positioned. He exhaled. Minseok stood over him and made a series of hums as he measured how well Lu Han fit the space. His legs were cramped, but after pulling a series of levers, he could stretch them out. Breathing in slow again, he rested his eyes above himself. The entire contraption was open on both sides but a low overhand blocked his view of the ceiling. He had a brief feeling of claustrophobia before turning his head and looking left. Minseok was fitting a makeshift helmet over his head. Several of the blue wires hung loose until Minseok attached them one by one above and around Lu Han's head, chest and arms. Several stood unconnected when he was done but Minseok ignored them. He stood back and observed, his eyes everywhere at once but without looking at him directly. Lu Han stared, a little pensive and quite a little nervous.

But then Minseok was done. He pulled the wires free so Lu Han could move his limbs.

"As I thought. With a few adjustments it will fit perfectly. We'll begin tomorrow." 

Lu Han blinked as Minseok clapped his hands. At once the manservant who had escorted Lu Han here appeared. 

"Yixing, take my guest to his rooms. Have him changed into something... a little more suitable for dinner? Then show him to the dining hall. We'll have a feast, you and I," he said addressing Lu Han, "for there is much to talk about."

"Like our impending marriage?" Lu Han could not resist saying. He stood up from the machine and awkwardly stretched his limbs.

The smile on Minseok's face dropped automatically. He grimaced then made a curt nod. "Among other things. Lu Han, I'll bid you goodbye until suppertime. We meet soon."

When he'd come in, Lu Han had seen only the entryway, then the grand hall before being shown into the ballroom which it seemed had long been used for Minseok's laboratory. Of course, prior to being escorted like a privileged guest, Lu Han had been accosted outside of his own home, greeted imperiously by a coachman with a letter and a patch over one eye, then driven post haste to the manor home of the great but crumbling Kim dynasty. Lu Han had not much time to be afraid, even knowing some of the rumors surrounding this latest heir to a family of ruined, secretive ambitions. 

Kim Minseok was never seen out and about in society. He did not attend parties, he did not accept dinner invites. He was never at the opera; it had been thirty years since the manor had hosted a ball. People spoke of him, as one did of the people who probably thought themselves so highly exalted and yet were absent from the scene, with hushed titters and covetous, callous remarks. 

"He's become quite eccentric," Lu Han recalled one elder gentlewoman say to her friend. "Reclusive, you know. Such a shame. I mean I know their family has been on the way out for generations, but that's no reason to hide oneself away, fidgeting with things."

Those things she referred to, Lu Han had head other whispers, were scientific things. Nobody knew what. Like some great Faustian exchange, Kim Minseok was spoken of like madman bent on reclaiming the past. Others with a more charitable tongue called him an inventor. And others... well, some others had spoken of things but then spoke nothing else again for they had entirely disappeared. No one remarkable, of course. Just a few rogue types, an apothecary's assistant, a soldier, even a minor third cousin of some greater lord. That one hadn't disappeared but had suddenly been withdrawn home by his family and kept locked away in the country and who knew why except that he had once boasted of having been approached by Sir Kim's estate and tasked with an important request. He could not speak now without stuttering, his brain completely addled. Lu Han knew this because he had gotten drunk in a pub once with a manservant of that household. He wondered now if had something to do with Minseok's request, or that machine. 

A crash of thunder fell across the manor for the rain had not let up and continued to get worse. And as he followed Yixing through dimly lit corridors, past hallways that had no end and staircases he almost didn't notice, he heard a great whoosh of wind which seemed to gust through the house itself. A candle which had been lit on a low table flickered out. Yixing walked past it without even a sideways glance. 

He found, in his new room, a complete set of dinner clothes which Yixing helped him change into. Lu Han had brought no amenities, no clothes. He was grateful for this small kindness, but could not help wondering when he might receive the instruments for murder...

An hour later he entered the dining hall. His host sat at the end of a long, barren table, two place settings on opposite ends and only two chairs. Lu Han paused for a moment, then he adjusted his tie and walked towards the table. 

Minseok looked asleep. With an arm braced on the table surface supporting his cheek, he nodded back and forth with eyes closed. A small white rat sat perched on his shoulder, unmindful of its precarious position. Lu Han cleared his throat. 

"Mr. Kim?" he spoke. 

Minseok lurched, and his head came up. 

"Ah, yes. Lu Han. I see you found us. Shall we eat then?"