The security camera blinked red in the dim-lit control room. A dozen screens displayed different angles of the studio building—entrances, exits, parking lots, rooftops. And on one screen, like a haunting dream looped in real-time, stood him—Len. Laughing. Talking. Carelessly alive. Leo leaned forward on the back of the leather chair, arms crossed, his towering frame shadowing the man trembling in the seat below him.
"Replay that. Ten seconds back. Again."
The moment played again. Len tossing his hair back, tongue peeking out teasingly as he spoke to the driver. Leo's jaw twitched.
"He doesn't know who I am," he muttered.
"No, boss," the man replied carefully. "He's never seen you. We've kept him unaware, as your father instructed."
"He's too… untouched," Leo said, almost to himself. "Too free."
The guard flinched as Leo's voice dropped a note darker. "He speaks like the world belongs to him. Moves like no one owns him. But I do. I f*cking do."
---
Meanwhile, Len stood on the building rooftop, sipping from a cold bottle of water, his eyes scanning the far cityscape. He didn't know why—but something made his skin prickle. A strange chill, despite the sun's warmth.
"Len!" called his manager from below, waving. "Come down before the guards flip!"
Len chuckled and rolled his eyes. "They won't catch me if I don't want them to."
As he leaned over the railing slightly, wind brushing his cheeks, he had no idea he was already under surveillance. A sniper's lens from a nearby abandoned tower zoomed in on his every breath—not to harm him, but to watch… and claim.
---
Back in the control room, Leo tilted his head as the image zoomed in on Len's smile. A soft one. Unaware. Wild.
"Bring him to me," Leo said at last.
"Wh—now?"
Leo turned his eyes slowly, dangerously. "Did I say tomorrow?"
The man bolted upright. "I-I'll arrange a meeting. Public, maybe backstage—"
"No," Leo's voice cut like ice. "No meetings. No warnings. Bring him to me. Quietly. Before he realizes the cage door's closing."
He leaned closer to the monitor one last time, voice low, deadly.
"I want to see what that smile looks like when it fades."