There are always refreshments. And it's always something new, strange, weird, or a combination of all three that Chen somehow always enjoys.

He would say that he's surprised, but he's honestly not.

Today it's some biscotti – an Italian biscuit served with tea apparently. It's dry, but dipped in tea is just the perfect taste, and perfect moisture. His motions pause in the middle of stirring a piece in his cup, as he idly wonders when he'd learned to stop protesting the sweets Lay pushes on him.

"Want to bring me to where you've gone?"

Chen looks up, then chuckles at the irony of the question. He can't count the number of times he's asked the very same question of chonrian Lay. "It's nowhere interesting," he says, and knows without looking that the chonrian is giving Chen that slow smile of his.

"Right." The chonrian sighs as he places his cup down with a clink. "I suppose I should stop wasting your time and give you what you came for."

Chen nods, bowing his head in respect. "If you would, chonrian."

A pause, then a sigh. "Jongdae, why can't you just call me by my real name?"

And Jongdae rolls his eyes, because he knows that if he doesn't, then he won't get what he needs. And really, his reason for not doing as the chonrian says is selfish; he's not one to stick to titles and formality after all. "...fine. Just get it on with it chonrian Yixing."

It's not everything that Yixing wants, but it's enough for now. And he nods, fixing his eyes into the distance.

Jongdae has never gotten used to it. The way Yixing goes stiff like a board, his eyes snapping into a void of swirling colours. It's utterly terrifying.

Then, there's a slow blink, and a shudder. And then, Yixing is back, his posture seizing up from his shivers so that he falls from his seat.

But he never meets the floor, because Jongdae is ready. Anything can happen after Yixing's trances. And this time, he casts terrified eyes at Jongdae and whispers. "Jongdae. There's something whispering in my head. Something that isn't me."

"Yes," Jongdae replies simply. Because that is the truth. "Someone put something there, tied you to something else, to make you stronger, so that they could make use of you. And you agreed."

Yixing's eyes flutter, and he closes his eyes; and Jongdae lets out a breath he doesn't know he's been holding. Yixing's eyes are mesmerizing in their colours even out of his trance.

"Right," Yixing whispers. "Far north in Gangbukgu, a house on a hill in which things move by their own...and in Dobonggu nearby, a sweet suicide of romance in the middle of the highway near the exit to north Changdong. You'll find both boring but necessary and maybe a little surprising. But the most surprising would be in Seodaemungu. And although it's a bit far...maybe you could make a point to visit. There's someone who is in want of your help."

Yixing feels Jongdae pause, then resumes helping the chonrian back into his seat. "Thank you for your information again, although I doubt that anyone would ever want my help, knowing what I do."

When Yixing opens his eyes again, Jongdae is long gone. Outside, the sky is the colour of storms and deeply forbidding. Or at least, that's what the world thinks. Yixing sighs.

"Oh, Jongdae... There is someone. Someone...right here."