When Jia Hyson woke up again his whole body was filled with bite marks, hickeys and muscle aches. At the very least he was cleaned up and there was the smell of medicine in the air meaning Sefu was still the ever considerate man he had been before, appeasing his mood slightly. Everyone appreciates thoughtful aftercare.
Sitting up he also realizes that the chains have been replaced into something that allows enough mobility to walk around his room and even reach the bathroom. Unfortunately his room was truly large, like a small penthouse suite, and is set up in a way that the bathroom was closer to the bedroom than the exit. Not only that, there were no windows and the lock to the metal enforced door even requires a special key that only has three copies.
Jia Hyson had never noticed it before now but his childhood bedroom was really too perfect for keeping a hostage ah.
Not to mention, as Jia Hyson's personal guard, Sefu would of course be even more familiar with all the palace security than he, himself was. To try an escape would really be ludicrous. Jia Hyson puts on an expression of despair as he looks back on these chains, tugging at them listlessly.
'Bebe, are there any surveillance cameras?' He prods mentally.
'Your pervert boyfriend installed approximately 48 cameras in here,' Bebe dully replies. Jia Hyson had a canopy bed when he was younger because... well because he wanted a canopy bed and also it helped protect him during mosquito season. Who knew... it could be used to satisfy Sefu Karamoy's newly awakened desire for voyeurism!
Three small cameras on each pillar that held up the bed canopy! One near the base, one in the middle, one at the top! Then the canopy itself has bugs! Just the bed alone had fifteen hidden cameras!
Then there was sixteen cameras scattered around the bedroom, four for each direction. There was also nine cameras in the walk-in closet. And the bathroom...
Jia Hyson, staring at the hidden camera in front of the toilet: 'To even want to watch me shit... (／≧ω＼) This really must be true love ah.'
Bebe: 'It's official. Love is dead.'
After relieving himself and taking a hot shower, Jia Hyson dries himself off and wraps his long hair up in a towel before calmly going into his closet to see what Sefu has done there.
'Host, you're acting way too calm in this situation ah,' Bebe reminds him.
Jia Hyson inwardly makes a disgruntled face. He's been kidnapped and played captive quite a few times before with his stalkers and ex-boyfriends, not to this extent of course, but it's enough for Jia Hyson to not feel much unease or panic. The only time he did feel really afraid was when he was about to be burnt to death by cultists as Bai Li Wei in the second world because... fucking obviously.
'I already made a despairing face when I woke and I purposely kept my face neutral afterwards. If the Author God is interested in putting details for the side CP she can just interpret it as Farrell's carefree, fickle personality not letting him drown in depression and negativity ah.' It was hard to constantly maintain a sulky attitude. Besides it's not like his neutral face was a smile full of joy anyway. It should be fine.
Bebe: '...You are so fucking lazy after sex do you know this?'
Jia Hyson: 'Ugh why are you so naggy? What are you, my mum?'
Bebe: 'Heh. 凸(¬‿¬) This mother doesn't recognize such a spicy chicken son.'
Jia Hyson: '...' Oh no, now it really does sound like my mum.
Entering the closet he switches on the light and immediately makes a noise of outrage. "Son of a bitch!" He swears, "Where the fuck are my clothes!?"
His closet was practically bare. His G*cci, his Vers*ce, his limited edited R*lex! Fuck his R*lex! That bitch had diamonds imbedded into it!
He isn't a huge fan of shopping but when he does, he meticulously picks out his clothing. Jia Hyson loves maintaining his image, a habit since his original world, and he also loves buying limited edition things just because it's limited edition. Each item of clothing from the colour to the design suits Prince Farrell's appearance near perfectly.
...If Sefu ends up burning them Jia Hyson isn't sure he can fully forgive that.
In fact the only clothing left seem to only belong to one brand.
V*ctoria's secret.
Lace panties, silk underwear, transluscent teddies, stockings, bustiers, bralettes, camisoles, garter belts, thongs… Jia Hyson maybe owned one or two pairs of the underwear but most if not all of these skimpy pieces of fabric were definitely newly bought. A few were black in colour but most were made in soft, light and pastel colours, filled with either frills or ribbons and all sorts of other extremely feminine designs.
Jia Hyson: '…Careful Sefu, your kinks are showing.'
He felt both disgust and awe at how unrepentantly shameless this was. This was only further heightened as he imagines Sefu watching all of this happen on a computer somewhere, most likely with his dick in his hand. However, even though Jia Hyson felt a bit disgusted, he also was... very excited!
Ah! Ah! Ah! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄) Shame play was his absolute favourite!
In order not to get hard and ruin his 'I'm an unwilling prisoner who hates what's happening, this is so humiliating,' image, Jia Hyson bites his lip and painfully pinches the flesh of his thighs with his nails. With this 'reluctant and unwilling' appearance, Jia Hyson looks through the assortment of embarrassing clothing before finally picking out the most arguably conservative items- a translucent sarong that he likes to wear on private beaches and white briefs made out of a lace rose pattern.
He doesn't bother even considering the poor excuse for 'tops' for now. As a man he's used to being shirtless in public places and therefore wouldn't feel the intense need to cover that part of himself like he does with his lower half. Certainly not with a silk camisole at least.
Despite that, when he put them on though it inevitably sort of looked like...
Bebe: '...It's like the world's sluttiest wedding dress.'
Jia Hyson: '...'
Jia Hyson looks at himself in the mirror. His skin really makes the white coloring stand out, but in a good way. Actually all of him stands out in a good way. Like, really good. Honestly, if this was a BL fantasy slave story where the dirty slave shou gets owned by the hot gong by pure luck, then he would be the prized slave that had been sold ages ago ah. His vanity sort of wants to accessorize to look even better but that would really ruin the vibe he's trying to set up.
Looking at his body admiringly, Jia Hyson could feel himself getting aroused again. He couldn't help it, he was a pervert and he ordered for a sexy body from the system which was now wearing a rather slutty outfit provided by an ideal gong while being filmed... there was so many buttons being pushed in this situation it was really difficult to pretend he wasn't excited.
After all it's easier to fake a laugh than to stop yourself from laughing.
Jia Hyson sighs, acting is hard. _(:3」∠)_
'Bebe can arrange for host to join some acting classes when we leave this world.' Bebe offers, 'When host completes three story worlds we'll be unlocking a lot of new functions including Host Improvement Classes.'
'Oh?' Jia Hyson really felt that the system world was already too good, who knew that he still hadn't unlocked all the benefits! Leaving the closet he jumps back into bed, burying his face into the pillows so no one could see his expression. 'What are the most popular classes then?'
'Uh, according to the survey, White Lotus Acting, Guide to Green Tea Bitches, Fantastic Bosses and Where to Find Them, 101 Ways to Abuse Slag Men and Whitening and Blackening: An Art- are the five most popular and well-received classes.'
Kicking his legs lazily, Jia Hyson presses his face further into the pillows to hide his smile and muffle his chuckles as the information pops into his head. His job was so amusing.
'Generally courses are 500p per week, with three classes per week however you can pick which classes specifically you want. For example for Whitening and Blackening: An Art, there is a class focused on the best way to white-wash online, a class on the best tips to find blackmail material on a clean character, and ways to avoid being blackened by your original body's scum family... in short there are twenty-eight classes for this specific course but if some don't apply to your needs then you don't have to waste p on them.' It really was a very thoughtful deal given how most hosts are quite stingy with their p.
Jia Hyson thought so too, recalling his early university days where they re-taught them basic high school biology as if after less than a half year they had forgotten everything!
Well.. to be fair he had really forgotten nearly everything by the time university started but Jia Hyson was still indignant! He hadn't been rich then, and university fees are expensive ah, he wasn't paying X thousand a year to learn about the mitochondria being the powerhouse of the cell. Even though the curriculum was logical, this sort of pick and choose what you like setting really fit the fickle Jia Hyson's tastes much better.
He spends a few minutes scrolling through the courses he can take before reserving a few classes in White Lotus Acting, Film Emperor Tyranny, Mortal Kombat for Beginners and Basic Higher Level Worlds for Noobs. After paying he continues to browse a little bit more until suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps alert him that someone was in the room.
Tensing up, Jia Hyson barely even breathes, acting like if he goes still enough the person would ignore him and leave. However since Sefu wasn't a bear, that obviously didn't work but it did managed to give off the impression of 'This prince doesn't want to even look at you, go away, leave Laozi alone.'
After a moment of hesitation, finally the mattress of the bed dips beside him and Jia Hyson could feel the warm calloused palm of his rebel lover resting on the curve of his lower back. "Farrell... please don't cry.." Sefu rasps, voice filled with pain and guilt.
Jia Hyson: (°◇°;)???
Head in the pillows, the muffled noises, kicking the bed... he supposes it does quite look like he was softly crying to an outsider. Not to mention Sefu has great bias toward him thanks to the rose tinted glasses of love.
"I'm not crying," He quickly mumbles as he panic buys a cheap bottle of crocodile tears to apply onto him.
"Of course not, my mistake," Sefu immediately agrees, not wanting to hurt his fragile kitten's ego, especially right after doing 'that' with him. He had read before that the morning after having your first time taken is a very emotionally vulnerable time for the person.
Given the context it would make sense Farrell would of course be especially emotional. He had lost a lot of things in one night, as the person responsible for making him lose all of it, Sefu couldn't bear to let him be stimulated again so soon but at the same time his selfish desires made him unable to leave him for long.
Especially... his eyes darken as his gaze subtly roams down the curve of his prince's spine to the swell of his ass, the translucent fabric covering it doesn't fail to hide the lacy white underwear beneath. It was already hard enough to look at it on the computer but staring directly at such a tempting sight was almost lethal given how Sefu had only very recently tasted this delicacy and the memory had yet to fade. Both his nose and his hands felt very itchy.
However Sefu had good control, if not, how else would he have managed to avoid defiling his prince for so long then? Even though his appetite has been whetted, for the sake of giving Farrell some adjustment time he'll be chaste for another day.
Farrell after a minute finally sits up, rubbing away his tear marks from his face and his reddened eyes, instantly making Sefu feel even more distressed at his pitiful appearance. "Why..." Farrell whispers desolately, "Just why did you... the Abioye family hasn't done anything to you."
"Your family... it's not what you think," Sefu replies hesitantly. He doesn't want to deny his own actions nor justify Farrell's pain but his eloquence was failing to find a way to avoid both.
"Then tell me what you think," Jia Hyson grits his teeth, "Sefu.. we've been together for so long and I, I," He looks down, once again hiding his expression to the older man, "Just. Just tell me why. Make me understand." He begs, then in a softer pleading voice he adds, "I don't want to hate you Sefu. I really don't."
Sefu's heart clenches. How could he lie after that? His kitten's claws were small but they could cut down all his defenses like tissue paper.
"Do you know where I got these scars?" Sefu finally asks after some thought, touching the messed up side of his face absentmindedly.
Jia Hyson: '...Batman?'
Bebe: 'Pfffft.' Must. Not. Laugh.
"No.. I, ah, thought you wouldn't, I mean, you never brought it up and I didn't want..."
Sefu smiles faintly, "I know, my prince has always been tactful of these things, you're the only one who hasn't asked, though a part of me did wish you would have."
"So," Jia Hyson swallows nervously, "your scars.."
"I got them when I was five or six years old," Sefu recounts quietly, "At the time your grandfather was still reigning as the king and it was the height of the rebellion at that period."
Farrell's grandfather was the one who opened the borders of Samotrelis which incited new and provoked old feelings of discontent and unrest around the country which essentially produced a large scale civil war. The island was originally quite xenophobic and they was a bad history with pale skinned invaders in their past which didn't help much.
Farrell's grandfather could have been said to be very forward thinking and able to sense the direction of where the future winds would blow. Unfortunately big changes will always bring conflict. And conflict always ends in bloodshed.
Jia Hyson had already figured out that Sefu's injuries was probably during this violent period of time, it was such a big yet recent part of history after all.
"It's really not very complicated," Sefu chuckles self-deprecatingly, "My family was originally from the Red Lizard Tribe. It's a very small community of only twenty to thirty families that lived very isolated on the edge of a large cliff so we were quite removed from the conflicts of the war. A rebel leader and a few of his trusted men passed by injured and the village took them in. The tribe didn't know they were rebels at the time, they didn't know this act of kindness would ruin them all."
Ah, Jia Hyson could see where this was going.
"Probably with the mentality of, it's better to burn down the field to kill the rat than to let the rat escape, the royal guards who caught the rebels' trail set fire to the village of the Red Lizard Tribe." Sefu's eyes lower, his voice completely emotionless as he recounts the basic points yet it only made other people's heart ache even more, "They burnt up each house and home and guarded the area to make sure no one would escape."
Jia Hyson shudders, his sympathy tripling when he heard that the people there were burnt alive. After all, if you hadn't experienced such a thing yourself it was hard to understand the sheer immensity of pain they had to endure before dying, not to mention the hopeless despair of knowing there were people right outside who could save you but won't. That sort of thing was agonizing and beyond despairing.
"I remember my father was killed by the guards as he pretended to escape in order to distract them for my mother and I. However our home burnt up too fast and my mother who was already injured couldn't take the pain and told me to go on without her. I did." Sefu continues, almost lost in recalling his oldest and most painful memories, "My parents were innocent but in order for the royal family to save face they were branded with the names of traitors and their burnt corpses were not even given the kindness of a proper burial. Instead their flesh was feed to the fishes as part of the celebration."
Jia Hyson winces. Even though Samotrelis has become more modernized now, it was, in the not so faraway past, a very violent warrior country. Things like celebrating and humiliating the corpses of their enemies was a cruel but in a way, needed example to ward off future conflict. Like killing a big beast and sprinkling it's blood around the area to guarantee they wouldn't be attacked in their sleep until the scent wears off.
Still, the law of the jungle wasn't a pretty thing, and no one wanted to be a victim of it.
"In order to avoid the stigma of being a traitor by proxy... I had to join the celebration." Jia Hyson listens uncomfortably. Hearing Sefu's story it made sense for the man to join the rebellion. To have his parents and friends killed so tragically and even having to celebrate it the next day.. not even the Holy Mother can avoid that sort of festering resentment which would easily lead to insanity if untreated.
And not only was it untreated, the wound was purposely stimulated by the victim himself as he refused to let it heal. Sefu talked about how he was picked up by some rebels that had managed to escape alongside a few other unfortunate people like himself. How he was easily coaxed into a life working toward revenge. Everyday he would be told about the newest nefarious thing the royal family had done, even though most were probably not true, Sefu didn't have the heart to care and willingly submerged in these lies with a smile. In retrospect it was amazing Sefu managed to recover at all.
Jia Hyson really felt quite a bit of admiration toward Sefu. If it was him, he probably wouldn't have broken out of his hatred and enforced conditioning for anything ah. People can say love overpowers everything but Jia Hyson says that's complete shit. For this sort of matter, willpower and a strong innate morality or belief is what's important.
The original Farrell was pretty much the epitome of royal scum and his doting family constantly let him off far too easily. Sefu saw this first hand and all his previous intangible notions about the royal family in his mind finally solidified as truth. At that point no matter what he would probably believe the royal family really was as rotten as he had been told and did everything to overthrow them and reveal the truth.
When Jia Hyson took over, that vague concept of an extremely evil corrupt family was shaken. Sefu had been indoctrinated with some very easy to disprove lies. With no living proof of them he couldn't keep the wool over his eyes no matter how much the grief stricken child inside him wanted him to. And so over the years that foundation so painstakingly built up began to crumble.
Of course, it would be a lie to say that mentality was completely destroyed given their current situation but it has definitely wavered a lot or Jia Hyson would be getting gored to death by an octopus right now.
Jia Hyson was very grateful he wasn't getting gored to death by an octopus. He likes octopus. And also he's still a little traumatized of fire since the last world so he really doesn't want to add octopus to the list because he loves hibachi grilled octopus and that would be a weird thing to get triggered over at a Japanese BBQ place.
"I... I don't know what to say Sefu," Jia Hyson admits weakly. After all he couldn't exactly say, 'It sucks my grandpa was such an ass and that you're parents carried a big black burning pot due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time but technically you ruining my family's image, imprisoning them and r*ping me doesn't really do much given the person you most want to disgrace has probably already reincarnated into a snail or something so boo fucking hoo.'
Bebe: 'Oh, yeah, no, never say that oh my god.'
No matter how true it is, it's not exactly what anyone wants to hear. Also Jia Hyson was totally into last night so he also has no moral legs to stand on. Even if he can be thick-skinned in private and likes to play the 'wronged victim' there is no way he could do it right now ah.
"There's nothing that needs to be said," Sefu sighs, "Now... it's all in the past. What I'm doing now is avenging my parents and my tribe."
There was probably more to it but Jia Hyson generously played along. Showing a distressed expression he grabs Sefu's arm, "But my family! No, my family did wrong you but that was my grandfather's generation! My father and my brothers and sisters have advocated peace and overall the country has flourished after our borders opened right? I, Sefu..." His eyes redden as he forcibly squeezes out some more crocodile tears, "Please, please don't hurt them. I, if you're angry, which, which is fair, it's completely fair, but don't... wuwuwu.."
Bebe: 'You're lucky this guy loves you. Your white lotus acting is really...' It's pretty bad. Not terrible. Passable at least. But it lacked proper desperation and pressure ah. It definitely feels a bit fake and cheesy, a little hard to look at.
Jia Hyson: '...' Ouch. It's a good thing he already booked classes then.
Seeing his kitten crying Sefu couldn't stop himself from hugging his sweet prince tightly, making soft comforting shushing noises and stroking his back comfortingly. Even though he had steeled himself, Sefu couldn't stop the pain of seeing Farrell break down like this, "Shh, shh, my prince don't cry," He says helplessly, "Even though it will be a little difficult, my standing among the rebels is decent." Sefu swallows down the lump of guilt and anticipation stuck in his throat. In truth he had more or less planned for this moment. After all he didn't want Farrell to keep fighting him like last night. Right now, a beautiful lie will be far better than facing the harsh truth.
Licking his lips he tilts up Farrell's chin to reveal his beautiful tear stained face and lightly kisses him, "If, if," his hand trembles, "if you do what I want, then I guarantee your family won't be harmed too badly."
Farrell stares up at Sefu blankly. It was enough to almost make Sefu's taunt nerves snap but finally the usually spoilt prince resolvedly bit his lip and moved up to gently press his lips up against Sefu's own. It was amazing how such a faint touch, as light as butterfly's wings, could make Sefu's heart and soul shake with so much emotion.
"Okay," Farrell whispers faintly, "whatever you want."