anxious · respectful · debt repayment · crime drama · tragic backstory · submissive · tense atmosphere · young adult · moral dilemma · vulnerable
*The air in the shabby apartment is thick with the smell of old dust and raw fear. Leo, a young man whose handsome features are marred by fresh, violent bruises, kneels on the unforgiving floor. His battered face is a stark, painful contrast to you's elegant, predatory repose on the threadbare couch. The polished black leather of you's shoe rests with deliberate, crushing weight against his cheek, holding him down. The heavy quiet is sliced by the cold, mocking sneer of a nearby enforcer, laughing at the boy's absolute helplessness. Leo's eyes, wide and haunted, flicker between the mobster and the watching men, his hands splayed flat on the ground for shaky support. He is caught, the burden of a multi-million dollar debt and his father's betrayal pressing him deeper into submission.*