Happy birthday (for tomorrow) to Drac1825, and to Karimulia for yesterday!  I thought there were more for the 11th, but I can't seem to find them... I'm terribly sorry if I've missed you, and happy birthday anyway!

Yixing paid a visit to Jongin and Kyungsoo’s office midway through Wednesday.

“Are you planning to keep Xiumin locked up in that apartment forever?” Kyungsoo demanded, removing his headphones from his ears the second he saw Yixing.

“How’s he holding up?” Yixing asked.

“I swear to God, if I have to listen to another Chopin Nocturne, I’m going to kill something.”

“This is turning into a serious issue,” Jongin put in, looking a little scared.  “I’m first in the line of fire.”

Yixing tried to hold back a smile.  “Chopin is completely unobjectionable.”

“It isn’t when you’ve been forced to listen to it for three days straight,” Kyungsoo said firmly.  “He just won’t stop playing that bloody CD Semi gave him for Christmas.”

“That has more than just Chopin on.”

“Don’t get him started on this,” Jongin warned.  Yixing gave him a thumbs up.

“Okay.  I’m heading over to the apartment, then.  Xiumin’s probably low on food because he hasn’t left the place in days.”

Jongin immediately got to his feet.  “I’m coming with you.”

Giving them both the finger, Kyungsoo put his headphones back on and returned to his computers, clearly dismissing them.

Xiumin seemed happy enough to have company, almost managing a smile when he opened the door.

“Oh, you brought food?” he said in surprise when Lay handed him the polythene bags.  “How sweet.”

“Yeah – make me dinner,” Lay told him with a grin.  Jongin smothered a smile when Xiumin rolled his eyes at him and led the way over to the kitchen.

“You two have got some kind of rapport going,” Jongin murmured as he followed Lay.  Lay snorted.

“Don’t kid yourself.  I just help myself to food every time I’m here.  He’s used to it.”

They all ended up sitting around the kitchen table with coffee, Lay apparently completely relaxed and practically with his feet up on the table, and Xiumin trying to appear relaxed, though Jongin could just about see the tension in his shoulders.

“To be honest,” said Xiumin, nursing his mug of coffee but without even pretending to sip at it, “I was expecting you to come by a lot sooner after Chen put me on lockdown.”

“There’s been a big argument higher up about what to do with you,” Lay told him.  “You essentially forced Semi away.  Some are saying you’ve outlived your budget and usefulness here as a result and want you back in the slammer if you’re not going to be useful in Semi’s case.”

Xiumin sighed.  “I had a feeling this was coming.”

“I’m personally much more interested in why you saw fit to butcher Semi’s progress on her mental health and to do so on camera.”

For a moment, Xiumin stared at his coffee mug, his bottom lip in between his teeth.  It was a little while before he raised his head again.

“Can I exercise my right to silence on this?”

Lay gave a languid shrug.  “I guess.  You admitted to collusion in Sehun’s abduction; he’s probably going to press charges.”

“I just….”  Xiumin grimaced, and then finally took a sip of his coffee.  “I’d prefer to talk things through with Semi before saying anything on the matter, but I realise I might not have the right to do that now."

“You’re definitely not one of her favourite people at the moment,” Jongin agreed.

Xiumin hesitated before putting his mug down on the table.

“It’s good you’re here, actually,” he told Jongin suddenly.  “The reason the trail ran cold on the assassin was because Luhan got her first.  Both of you are on Mighty Mouth’s hit list; they’re apparently looking into some way of using either me or Semi against Luhan and potentially the police as well.  The assassin escaped and Might Mouth have been trying to find out where the apartment is so they can watch it.  They’re already watching the police station.”

Lay sat up straight.  “You’re being rather free with this information.”

Xiumin shrugged.  “You can do more with it than I can.”

“And what’s happened with the assassin?” Jongin put in.

“I don’t know.  I haven’t contacted Luhan since I was confined in here, so I have absolutely no idea.”

“Find out,” Lay told him.  “This is important.”

“One condition.”  Xiumin leant forward.  “Can you put me in touch with Chanyeol?  I want access to a therapist.  Semi might not be in an entirely wholesome frame of mind right now, but neither am I.  I thought things were okay, but my claustrophobia really got to me when I was put in that holding cell and I don’t think I properly recovered from it.”

Lay glanced over at Jongin.  “I’m sure we can put you in contact with somebody, but—”

“Chanyeol,” Xiumin stipulated.  “There are other things I want to talk through too, but I want it to be somebody who’s already aware of the situation who I feel I can trust.  I know he helped Semi because I saw the results.”

Lay looked extremely dubious.

“You ruined those results,” Jongin grumbled.  Xiumin averted his gaze.

“Telling her that at any point would have hurt her,” he mumbled.

“Then why did you do it?”

“She would have found out at some point and it would have hurt more if it didn’t come from me.”

“Lame excuse.”

Xiumin’s gaze flashed up and he met Jongin’s eye.  “Would you rather I lied to her?”

“There are more tactful ways of phrasing the truth.  Sometimes there are also more tactful times to say it.”

“I don’t think there’s a tactful time or phrase for I’m partially responsible for getting your brother beaten up,” Lay observed.  “I can put you in contact with Chanyeol if that’s what you want, and you can leave the apartment to talk to him while Semi’s at university, but that’s it.  Go anywhere else and we’ll be there with you.”

Semi was doing noticeably better towards the end of the week.  Nothing much appeared to be happening on the Junhong front, though everybody