322: 7.12 Moshe's Toy

7.12 Moshe's Toy

Lu Yizhou woke up to the sound of sobbing beside his ears. He squinted his eyes against the sunset glow filtered in through the window, buried his head deeper into the pillow and groaned. [Shut up, 666.]2

[666: W—What?! It's not 666! Why should 666 cry for you, Host?! It's not like you're dead!]

Lu Yizhou: "..." He still recalled the time when 666 cried nonstop when he had a heart attack in the first world. Truly, his system had been corrupted.

…Alright, if it's not 666 then who? Lu Yizhou painstakingly pieced together a semblance of clarity to remember what had happened previously. Right… Zion, the fight, the cinema and then… Moshe. Lu Yizhou faintly recalled Moshe sitting beside him but at that time, he had been too delirious to register what he was saying. It seemed like he blacked out at that moment and then…

"Brother!" A cry sounded beside him, almost startling him into jumping. "Brother, you're awake!" 

Oh fuck, this must have been… Lu Yizhou took a deep breath and turned to see a little girl leaning on his bed, long hair tied in twin pigtails with silver eyes full of tears, peering down worriedly at him. "Cheryl…" That's right, Aiden's little sister, Cheryl. Lu Yizhou finally looked around to register that he was back in the room he had woken up to last time. "You're noisy," he groaned and lifted one arm to shield his eyes. "My head hurts…"

"It's because you have a concussion!" Cheryl shrieked indignantly. "You have been unconscious for two days, Brother!"

"Two days…?" It's no wonder his body felt so creaky. He propped himself up by elbow and peeled off the IV drip hanging on his wrists. Cheryl's eyes widened in protest but in the end, she only grumbled and poured him a cup of water which Lu Yizhou took in appreciation. "Thank you."

He sipped on the water slowly whilst observing the girl in front of him. She looked well-fed and healthy. Quite adorable, in fact. She reminded him of a little girl who used to make grabby hands at him and call him 'daddy'. Lu Yizhou's heart couldn't help but soften. "Come here and let me look at you." He took her face in his palms and moved it side to side, earning him a series of melodious giggles. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Brother Moshe takes very good care of me!"

Lu Yizhou raised a brow. "Brother Moshe?"

"Mn!" Cheryl nodded excitedly and started counting. "He brought me here and gave me a very, very large and beautiful room with lots of dolls. We had delicious dinner together every night, he checked my homework for me, took a walk with me when I couldn't fall asleep and oh!" Cheryl stepped back and twirled on her heels, letting the yellow summer dress flutter around her in waves. "He also bought me this dress! It's the comfiest and most beautiful dress I have ever worn! Am I pretty, Brother?"

Lu Yizhou hummed with a smile. For someone who had repeatedly threatened him with his sister's life, Moshe was very hospitable. "Have you said your thanks to him?" 

"Of course I have!" Cheryl fake-pouted. "Who do you think I am? On the other hand, you didn't even tell me when you're injured! Even Brother Moshe said that you have been very, very bad—oh! I forgot! We should tell him that you're awake. Brother Moshe has been very worried about you, you know?" 

Then before Lu Yizhou could react, Cheryl had dashed to the door like a mini hurricane and opened the door to announce, "My brother is awake!"

Lu Yizhou snorted at how natural Cheryl was with strangers. In one glance he could tell that she was a social butterfly who could charm others as she pleased… just like Bianca. Well, it made the mission easier because Lu Yizhou had grown fond of her in less than ten minutes. He couldn't imagine how he would react if Cheryl was a bratty, annoying child. 

Two heads popped into the room to engage Cheryl in a conversation.

Oh they were the guards whom he had tied up last time. There were obvious bruises on their faces that weren't there before. Their eyes were wary and resentful as they glanced at him. Lu Yizhou nodded in apology. 

"I want to meet Brother Moshe!" Cheryl demanded like a girl boss. "I want to tell him that Brother is awake!"

"Err… that…" They clearly looked awkward. "Boss is currently preoccupied with something."

"But I want to see him now…" Cheryl widened her doe silver eyes and batted her lashes pitifully. Coupled with her dejected shoulders and the faint pout on her lips, Lu Yizhou decided that anybody who could resist her should be exterminated. "Brother Moshe is very, very busy that he can't see me for even one minute?"

The guards clearly looked conflicted. "I'm sorry, Cheryl. Boss is currently receiving a private guest. He has told us not to disturb him for the meantime. You have no idea how scary the Boss is when he gets angry…" They shuddered , clearly remembering the lesson of losing a certain 'pet".

Hmm, Lu Yizhou narrowed his eyes, a private guest?

Lu Yizhou tested his conjecture. "He's with his toy?"

Startled, the guards looked at each other before turning to him. "How did you…"

Lu Yizhou scoffed. So he was right. When he was unconscious, his lover was somewhere else getting chummy with another man— wait, why did that sound kinda familiar? — Lu Yizhou didn't want to miss such an interesting opportunity to have a glimpse into his lover's private life in this world. 

He got to his feet and the guards reeled backward, shocked. "W—What do you want to do?" They stammered out nervously and took on a defensive stance.

"Of course…" Lu Yizhou chuckled darkly. "...to watch him play."

"Brother, me too! Me too!" Cheryl jumped in place, arms up to ask for hugs. For a split second, Lu Yizhou was hit with such a strong déjà vu that his breath stuttered. "I want to play with Brother Moshe's toy too!"

"You can't." Lu Yizhou patted her head. "It's for adults only. You should play with your own toys. Didn't you say that Brother Moshe has bought you a lot of dolls?" 

Cheryl's shoulders slumped down. "Aww… that's no fun."

Lu Yizhou told the guards. "You, take her back to her room." He turned to the other, eyes dark with intent. "And you… bring me to him." 

The guards were flabbergasted. Who was this man to order them around?! But the weirdest thing was, they couldn't seem to deny his demand! His voice contained a unique kind of authority and… it was his aura! The aura of someone who had gotten used to being at the top of the food chain and commanded everyone to do his bidding! Didn't Kaede say he was an orphan? What kind of demonic orphan was this?

Crudely speaking, he was more bossy than a boss and resembled a thug more than the real thug themselves! 

The two guards sweated profusely and swallowed. This man had gone against Boss a few times and still got to keep his life so… maybe he was different from the others? 

"Then please… follow me."

Lu Yizhou waved goodbye to Cheryl before turning to follow the guards through an open air corridor connected to a different part of the mansion. Below was a wide, opulent swimming pool with a few folded chairs lined by the side. Guards were patrolling in every corner and there seemed to be more in quantity than the last time Lu Yizhou remembered.

They were clearly confused when they caught sight of him but Lu Yizhou kept his gaze forward, willing anyone to get in his way. Perhaps everyone had caught wind of his bold escapade, or perhaps it was the faint scowl on his face, nobody actually dared to interfere and the whole journey was smooth sailing.

Lu Yizhou halted in his tracks when the guard slowed down to peek at him whilst gesturing at the huge mahogany door in front. There was a red light atop of it. 

Realizing the direction of Lu Yizhou's sight, the guard explained. "The room is soundproof. You have to press the bell to let Boss know that you're outside." Then he chuckled dryly. "Nobody dares to do that except Kaede anyway. It's Boss eh… private room."

"Thank you…" Lu Yizhou gave him an inquiring look.

"E—Ezra, my name is Ezra."

Lu Yizhou nodded and patted his shoulder. "Thank you, Ezra. You may leave." As if he had been waiting for this sentence, Ezra all but zoomed down the hallway as if his butt was caught on fire. In a blink of an eye, he had disappeared, leaving Lu Yizhou alone in the hallway. 

Lu Yizhou turned his gaze back to the door and inhaled deeply. What would he find inside, he wondered? What kind of person was worshiping his lover's body before him or… was it his lover who topped another? The corner of Lu Yizhou's lips twitched and he tried not to venture too deep into that line of thought lest the heat on his chest became unbearable.

Before he could get close, the light suddenly turned green and the door clicked open. A man sauntered out with leisure pace. He had shoulder length hair, clip earrings on his right ear and clad in branded outfits from head to toe. "I'm leaving, Boss!" He called out with a cheery and familiar tone. "I hope you feel a bit better eh? Otherwise my sacrifice would be for naught…" He let out an airy chuckle, closed the door behind him and began to walk—

—in Lu Yizhou's direction. The man jolted when he caught sight of Lu Yizhou. "Fuck, you scared me. What are you doing there like a ghost? I haven't seen you around here before…"

Lu Yizhou couldn't take his eyes off the man.

It wasn't because of his damp hair that smelled of Moshe's shampoo, or the obvious red marks around his wrists uncovered by his puffy sleeves. It's also not because of the lingering flush on his cheeks and the heat in his eyes that told of the time he had spent inside. 

It was because of the man's face. Except for the different eye color and his smaller body frame, this man looked 70% similar to his identity in the previous world, Regius. 

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A/N: On one hand we have Cheryl-you-know-who and on the other hand we have this fake Regius. Let the world burn!!!

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