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After a few days stuck in the apartment Jia Hyson could objectively now say that Sefu truly loved him. Maybe by itself this house arrest was relatively pleasant enough to live through for a while but when compared with the meticulous and obsessively doting care Seu had given him in the palace… Jia Hyson couldn't help but feel a little critical.

They were both house arrests, why was the quality so different?

Bebe: 'Isn't that because you were fucking the one in charge the first time and the second time you fucked the respected older brother, and girlfriend, of the one in charge?'

Jia Hyson: 'No… No... that's not it. I think it's more along the lines of the difference between a rich merchant and nobility ah. No matter how much these Zhengs make each day, they still do not have the extravagance and treasures of us with royal blood.' HaughtyDog.gif

Bebe: '…' Sure. Whatever. 눈_눈

He wasn't wrong. Food mainly consisted of delivery or Song Chuntao's attempts at baking. Which, to be honest, wasn't great. Due to him being so recognisable they couldn't allow the usual housekeeper in so Jia Hyson once again had to reacquaint himself with the bitch known as household chores. He even began to practice cooking again which was a nice alternate form of stress relief. However what really stood out during this time was the abrupt loneliness.

Both the Zheng brothers and Song Chuntao were busy people, even if Song Chuntao visited almost everyday it wasn't the same as having his lover around.

Usually he would be relatively fine being alone. He's introverted and finds it enjoyable spending time just reading and quietly lazing about. However Sefu, the manipulative bastard, has purposely nurtured an innate dependency in Jia Hyson for him. They've been together for over twenty years and Sefu has not only served him wholeheartedly and spoilt him to pieces, he has also made sure to spend as much time together as possible. Jia Hyson was not used to being by himself for too long anymore, even reading he would do it while leaning on Sefu's body. Now he was going through the withdrawals.

Jia Hyson squeezes the pillow in his arms tightly, "Bebe, how's Sefu?"

"The same." Bebe replies, used to the question by now. The palace was filled with surveillance so it was easy enough to check. "Still spending nights in your bed and watching the footage of when you were there."

The pillow was squeezed even tighter but for different reasons now. Jia Hyson coughs shyly, "May I see the video of him watching it?"

He licks his lips, imagining the older man desperately grinding his hips against the mattress as he watches the video of his beloved prince getting fucked. Sefu would probably filled with self loathing and arousal, his big pillar unable to be fully satisfied as it ruts itself on the bedsheets uselessly like an animal, his eyes would be glued onto the screen, reimagining what it felt to be tightly squeezed by Jia Hyson's inner walls. Just thinking about it really, really makes one's mouth feel dry ah (=﹃ = )

Bebe who can more or less figure out what he's thinking coldly shuts him down. "You may not."

"May I at least ask which video then?" He optimistically tries.

"…Hehe," You think Bebe doesn't know what you're going to do when you're reminded about such a stimulating scene?

"Aiyo," Jia Hyson gives an exaggerated sigh of disappointment, "I guess I'll have to use my own imagination to help me rub one out instead ah," It's not as good as seeing the real thing but it will do. ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯

Bebe: '…' So in the end you're just going to do it no matter what?

Just as he was about to put his hand down his pants, someone knocks at the door.

Bebe: (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Jia Hyson: 'Tch.'

"Farrell?" Song Chuntao calls out softly, "You awake?" Farrell mainly spent the time idly reading, working out, trying to seduce characters in various mobile dating games or cooking. It was rare of him to sleep for long periods of times nowadays so she was reluctant to disrupt him if it turned out he was napping.

Jia Hyson, who has been up all night reading lately because a new story he had bookmarked ages ago finally finished: '..I'm a bad friend,'

"Yeah, you can come in!" He invites pleasantly.

Luckily for her, Jia Hyson was stopped before he started so he was decent enough to let her enter the room and pretend he hadn't been about to do anything naughty ah. He looks up and smiles brightly, "What's up Chu Chu?"

"The leader of the anti-rebellion asks to see you in a video chat," Song Chuntao says, "I was a little worried but they said it was to confirm that it really is Prince Farrell they are communicating with, which, I can't argue with but it's still a little…"

She had a good impression of this leader since he did help rescue Farrell from Samotrelis but she can't help but feel something was wrong. After all, the leader already knows Farrell is successfully rescued, and he wouldn't take so many days to confirm if that's the case. Was it because this leader doesn't trust them to take care of Farrell? He was a little high maintenance sure but Song Chuntao didn't think it was that either, a photo would have worked just as well ah.

The point is, from the beginning of their relationship with this anonymous man, they had never talked using video communication. Communication mainly consisted of the initial phone call and then text messaging.

Jia Hyson also thought it was a little sudden and out of the blue, but it wasn't like he could decline, "Okay, when?"

Song Chuntao sends a message on her phone and immediately gets a reply, "Now is good apparently. Here," She hands over her phone before fishing out another one from her pocket to fiddle with. The second phone was her personal device while the one she gave to Jia Hyson was treated as a spare burner phone.

She glances at the messages of her screen before glancing back at him nervously, "Do you, do you want me to be here? Moral support and all?" She asks tentatively. Maybe the topic about his time in captivity would be brought up and Song Chuntao wasn't sure whether she should be there to comfort him if that happens or if she would only make him uncomfortable listening to such a vulnerable experience.

Jia Hyson smiles but shakes his head, "It's fine ah. Besides, if I end up seeing this infamous leader's face on the chat I want to lord it over you heh," He winks jokingly.

Song Chuntao rolls her eyes but subconsciously felt much better. "Fine, fine, just yell for help if you need anything,"

"Will do~"

After Song Chuntao left, Jia Hyson looks at the phone. On the screen was a request to video chat.

"Bebe, could you figure out the identity of the person with this?"

Bebe tentatively denies it, "Bebe… Bebe could only on the condition that this leader doesn't tape up the camera on their device again. If they didn't then Bebe could go in and peek through there."

"What about the voice?"

"It's possible ah," Bebe replies but doesn't sound confident, "If it's someone we have met before Bebe can recognise their voice and if they use a voice distortion program Bebe can connect to the compute and unscramble it. But if they use a device that isn't connected to the computer then it's not possible to unscramble and therefore can't use my voice recognition function. Given this leader's track record, Bebe doubts that they would be drop the ball in this matter."

Jia Hyson sighs in agreement before accepting the request. Even though he could restrain himself, if it wasn't a life-threatening secret like the inside of a locked box in a haunted house, then Jia Hyson prefers to satisfy his curiosity.

Jia Hyson: 'This is worse than when I had to play Secret Santa with my publishing company in order to 'bond' better with the editors and fellow authors.'

Bebe: '…What did you do?'

Jia Hyson: 'Long story or short story?'

Bebe: 'Short story, always the short story.'

Jia Hyson: 'I seduced two editors, slept with an author, almost got shot, then I definitely got shot, spent a million USD, made an ex-girlfriend fall back in love with me, ate a really disgusting fruitcake, kissed a dog, slept with one of the editors I previously seduced, almost lost my left pinky finger and then won Secret Santa.'

Bebe: '…' So many things to comment on. Is this in consecutive order? Did spending a million dollars make the ex-girlfriend fall in love with you? Is the fruitcake really an important part of the story? How on earth do you even 'win' Secret Santa? No, more importantly, why did you not die sooner?

Bebe: 'Bebe changes its' mind, long story please.'

Jia Hyson: 'Sorry the call just connected.'

As more or less expected, the screen for the leader was black and taped up. "Hello," came a distorted voice. Jia Hyson mentally prods at Bebe but Bebe could only send a gif of a baby shaking their head in response.

"Hello," Jia Hyson politely greets back, then with a faint smile he tilts his head in acknowledgment to the camera, "Thank you for rescuing me, I appreciate it greatly."

"…No need to bow your head your highness. I can only offer condolences for being unable to rescue the rest of your family." It's hard to decipher too much emotion from the voice but Jia Hyson did feel that the regret in those words seem genuine enough.

"Even god has limitations, don't apologise for this," He reassures before becoming more serious, "Do you know what is the current situation with my family and the rebels?"

"Your family is safe though the first and second prince has been placed in the underground prison as they were part of the distraction to facilitate your escape. Third Prince Jaleel is currently working with me as my second in command." The leader calmly recounts. "The group of traitors are currently suspecting and covertly fighting between each other, even though they have occupied a lot, if the internal friction continues like this, their advantage will mean nothing if they break from the inside."

Jia Hyson feels both moved and guilty toward his two eldest brothers upon hearing this. Between house arrest in their old childhood rooms and the prison cells it was easy to choose which one they would prefer but for him they were willing to endure living in poorer conditions and most likely even poorer treatment. While it should be due to strategic reasons given Jia Hyson's public face value, he wouldn't be human if he didn't feel touched.

However hearing about the rebel infighting produced a far more complicated emotion. After all Sefu was one of the most well known rebels, both in identity and appearance.

"Is, is Sefu…" Jia Hyson hesitates, "Is Sefu also one of yours? Is he also on our side?"

"…I will not disclose the identity of any of the group in case they become compromised," The leader shortly answers before adding darkly, "Needless to say, Sefu Karamoy is one of the rebels leading the group against the royal family. He will not have a good outcome no matter what side he turned out to be on."

Motherfuck.

"But, but then what will happen to him?" His voice goes a little high and desperate. He had been confident Sefu was a spy but with lack of affirmation how could he not doubt himself? Not to mention that from the sounds of it, Sefu's position was too high profile and no matter what, he wouldn't be able to completely wash himself clean after this. "You, is he really not, but how can that be-"

"Why are you so concerned about him?" The leader interrupts. Jia Hyson startles, feeling oddly guilty about his worries. After all this was the anti-rebellion leader and he has literally only asked about the status of one of the biggest rebels there.

Staring awkwardly at the keyboard Jia Hyson struggles to think of something to say that doesn't sound like Stockholm Syndrome. Unfortunately, being in love with the person who confined you and made you wear a lot, a lot of lingerie and cat cosplay- even a great writer as himself could not find the words to explain himself well to everyone's satisfaction. Anyone's satisfaction really.

"Sefu… he's just.. Sefu…" His smile is nervous and bashful, golden eyes flickering with complicated emotions, "I don't want him to," He bites his lips then gets an idea. Straightening his back he looks back at the video camera with a serious expression, "If possible I want him alive. He's the one who wronged me the most, I deserve to have a say in what end he has ah."

"Your highness…" The voice of the leader hesitates, despite the voice being garbled Jia Hyson could sense the confusion and disapproval at his decision. "…I'll see what we can do."

"Thank you," Jia Hyson says, relieved and grateful with more than a little guilt in his heart. He didn't even like asking for help in retail stores and now he was asking a stranger who spent a lot of time and effort helping him and his family, to go save one of the big enemy bosses.

Aiyah, he's sure the person in the screen is silently cursing him out in his heart.

Thinking about it he quickly tries to alleviate the bad feeling in his chest, "You, you'll be greatly rewarded once we succeed, um, really, thank you so much for your service."

"…No need for thanks." Jia Hyson felt like the leader no longer wanted to talk to him, which, fair, but it did feel a little disheartening. It was like disappointing your new boss. Even if you don't know them at all, you wouldn't feel good getting their disapproval in the first meeting.

"Oh, well, is there anything you want to ask me?"

"No. I just wished to confirm you're accounted for. Now that I have I must go. Goodbye." Before letting Jia Hyson echo his own goodbye the call disconnected.

Oof, yeah. That really hits at his social anxiety.

Jia Hyson switches the phone off and places it aside with a sigh.