The club was alive with laughter and lights, the music curling like smoke through the air. Len sat near the lounge area now, surrounded by a few familiar industry faces — stylists, models, and a young actor who clearly couldn't take his eyes off him. Len, unaware of the pair of dark eyes locked on him from across the room, laughed — the kind of laugh that made people turn to stare, a sparkle of warmth in a place full of masks.
He leaned closer to the actor, playfully nudging his shoulder. "You're seriously telling me you messed up the script on your first drama shoot? In front of the lead actress?"
"I choked so bad," the actor groaned, burying his face in his hands, and Len burst into another peal of laughter, tilting his head back. His eyes shone, his soft pink lips parting with ease, his hand covering his mouth just slightly. It wasn't forced. It wasn't staged. It was pure, natural, effortless charm — the kind that made hearts beat faster without warning.
But to Leo, watching from the shadows of the upper floor balcony, that smile was fire.
A dangerous one.
Something twisted inside him. That curve of Len's lips wasn't supposed to belong to anyone else's eyes. Not to strangers. Not to pretty boys trying to impress him. That smile — his smile — was being wasted on people who didn't even understand the worth of what they were seeing.
Leo's knuckles whitened on the glass he held.
He didn't blink. Not when Len leaned in again. Not when the boy beside him whispered something that made Len giggle — giggle, like he had no idea a monster was watching his every move.
Mira, one of Leo's trusted guards, stepped closer. "Is there a problem, sir?"
Leo didn't answer her. His voice was low, dangerous. "Who's the boy beside him?"
"Ryu Kang-min," she replied quickly. "Actor. Fresh face. Harmless."
Leo's eyes stayed locked on Len. "He'll never laugh like that again around anyone else."
Mira shivered slightly.
And below, Len's smile faded a little as he felt something — that strange, bone-deep chill crawling up his spine again. The one that made his breath pause for a second. His brown eyes glanced around, unsure why the back of his neck felt like it was burning.
But then, Kang-min joked again, and he smiled…just a little.
And from above, Leo's hunger grew darker.