Leon was depressed the whole morning. His eyes were puffy and red while he was trying to think of ways to change the past in the game.
"Wait! That big boss investor that wanted me to meet him could help me fix this! Ah, didn't Zaydis say during the interview that he bought all the game rights? So was the big boss investor that was trying to meet me, Zaydis? It's been a few years and he still talks about the game so it must mean I can still try to contact him. Maybe he's still looking for that special person since his game character was included in the game company's new game."
Leon called Zaydis's business number on his professional site. The call rang for a while as Leon nervously waited for the other side to pick up.
*ring. ring. ring* *click*
// "Hello, this is Zaydis's personal assistant. Who is calling?"
"H-hello, this is Leon. I'm calling about the game that Mr. Zaydis had bought the rights to. Can you tell me if Mr. Zaydis is willing to meet me? I just checked into the game and saw the messages from the previous game developers. About contacting him."
// "...I see. I will write down a note and let him know when he's available. His schedule right now is very packed."
"Oh…ok, please tell him for me when he's free. Thank you…"
// "Of course, my pleasure. Bye bye."
*click*
"...I just have to wait until they call me back. It'll be fine."
Leon continued his usual routine of working constantly and going home to sleep. Rinse and repeat. The only change would be, Leon would cry until he passed out and read the records again every night.
"It's been a month! Why haven't they called me??"
Leon couldn't wait any longer and he looked up online. The current activities of Zaydis. There were a bunch of posts on Zaydis but none of them told Leon what he wanted to know. Leon decided to watch the agency entrance in person until he saw Zaydis and confronted him. Leon called off work for a few days and stayed most of the days in a cafe, facing the agency building. Because he wouldn't be able to pay rent if he ate or did not earn money. He decided to do fasting and live off a single cup of warm tea the entire time he watched the agency building. He even joined the fan club for Zaydis and got close to the administration members. They usually are able to contact the agency for Zaydis's schedule. Leon continued to cry himself to sleep while reading the game records every night. Leon's already poor health conditions as a low income orphan struggling to live was dropping to a weaker and dangerous level.
Leon finally found the opportunity to meet Zaydis in person. It was a celebrity event and the fan club administration members had wanted Leon to join them to gather outside and shout their support to Zaydis. The weather had been getting chilly and Leon had only one old black hoodie filled with tears and holes. But this was the best change he got. So he nodded and agreed to meet them and cheer Zaydis on. Leon opened his eyes and his body was limp from lack of health. He instantly knew he had a high fever. But today was the day. His eyes burned as hot tears flowed down his rough dry cheeks. It took a while to pull enough energy to move and layer himself with multiple baggy tshirts and his worn out hoodie completed the fit. The shirts were overused and so there was also wear and tear all over. He hoped these 3 thin old shirts and hoodies would keep him warm. Leon put on a face mask to cover most of his face. His burning eyes stopped watering. maybe he dried out his tear ducts, he did not know.
"Leon! Oh my…you don't look so well. Maybe you should go home and rest."
The fan club leader saw Leon's pale skin and purple cracked lips.
"Thank you for caring about me, sis Cassy. It's just a simple small cold. I'll leave after seeing Zaydis with my own eyes. It is my very first time to physically cheer and see him as a fan."
Leon shook his head to refuse.
"...alright. but you have to go home immediately after seeing him! I don't think your body could handle this cold weather right now."
"Un, yes ma'am!"
Cassy finally relented and went to check up on the other administration members that came to keep their group calm and respectful. Leon stood at the front on the side with the other fans. They had brought gifts and big signs to cheer Zaydis front. The stars and celebrities would arrive and walk past the line of fans before the news and photography team. Then they entered the building where the event was being held. There were other fan clubs for other stars on both sides of the walk way. They screamed and shouted with excitement when their celebrity came pass. Some even came closer to their fans behind the divider and greeted them for a few minutes, accepting small gifts and small talk. Leon's was out of it as he observed around them. His eyes were burning hotter than before and they blurred a bit before he blinked a while to clear his vision. Suddenly he heard the fans next to him cheer and he looked over to a black vehicle. A bodyguard stepped up and opened the door. Leon was shocked by his fixation of seeing Zaydis in person for the first time.
'How come I never knew how identical Kayden and Zaydis looked. Maybe because his eyes weren't emerald green. Zaydis had normal black hair color like everyone else, unlike the game character appearance. His personality is also different so the vibes coming off makes it even harder for me to realize it.'
Leon watched in mesmerized daze as Zaydis came up to the front center of the fan group and waved his hand and accepted tiny gifts and letters. Leon looked at Zaydis's distinct features and noticed his eyes.
'So pretty, there's swirls of silver shimmer in them. You wouldn't be able to tell unless you're this close to him, huh. Wait…no one is saying anything about his eyes?? That's not normal though…'
Leon was lost on Zaydis handsomeness and forgot why he was even there. Everything seemed to be in slow motion and the surrounding chaotic noise seemed far away.
"Ack!!!"
Leon was dazed before a few excited fans behind him accidentally bumped him and his unstable body fell forward. The paper divider that reached his hip ripped and he hit his face on the carpet. The carpet was thin and rough too so Leon's vision turned dark. Leon hissed in pain and tears fell down his cheeks. He rubbed his sore nose and felt liquid. He looked at his hand in surprise and saw blood. His nose was bleeding. Leon finally noticed it was unusually quiet and saw a shoe step into his vision.
"Hey, are you alright?!"
Leon heard the other asked in a worried tone and he looked up with his blurry vision to see Zaydis was kneeling down to check on him. Leon was helped to stand by the taller and handsome man. Leon noticed the fans near him gush and admire Zaydis as they whispered to each other. Leon felt like he had embarrassed himself in front of so many people. He panickedly apologized and ran away. Leon was breathing heavily as he stopped in a random alley. He bent over with his hands on his knees to collect his bearings.
"Ah…my nose is still bleeding…"
Leon's blurry vision saw blood dripping on his torn worn old pants. He tried to stand up straight but overestimated his body and got extremely dizzy. He reached out to the wall next to him and weakly held himself up.
"Shit…I think my fever got worse."
Leon stumbled a bit before he was too weak to continue and fell forward.
'Am I hallucinating? I'm hearing a bunch of footsteps running closer…Ah…I'm passing out… Not good."
Leon slumped and knocked out onto the dirty ground.
"There he is!"
"Wait, I think this man needs to go to the hospital!"
"We can't ask him to come with us now. And it seems he's in serious condition. Send an ambulance right now!"
"They'll take too long to arrive. Let's just take him ourselves!"
It was a group of bodyguards. They moved Leon on one of the men's back and they rushed to their van. They hurried to the hospital and the health practitioners quickly placed Leon on a stretcher and moved him into the emergency room. The doctor did his job and came to the leader of the bodyguards.
"Do you know him in any way? I need his identification to pull up his past medical records."
"No, our boss ordered us to find this man to ask him something. We found him in that condition and rushed here."
A nurse hurried to the doctor.
"Sir! I found a phone and an old-overused wallet. We found his ID card."
The two men turned to the nurse and the doctor nodded as they went to continue the physical check up. The bodyguards were waiting in the lobby when a woman came through the doors. They noticed that it was the boss's lead assistant.
"Ma'am! You're here."
The woman's red stilettos clicked and clacked against the hard tiles at a calm pace.
"So explain to me why this poor young man was sent to the hospital? Did you all end up fighting him and he was overpowered by 5 largely built men?! How are you going to explain to our boss?! You know how cold and ruthless he can be behind that laidback, polite gentleman act!! Boss likes things done with over 110 percent efficiency and perfection!"
"I apologize for my men's lack of professionalism, Assistant Leader Dia. By the time we caught up to him, he was in a bad state and was unconscious on the ground."
"...Sir Vander, if you all didn't cause this situation then there is nothing we can do about it. I will call our boss about what happened and will see what he wants to do."
"Yes, thank you."
Vander bowed in respect and Dia went outside to make phone calls. Vander waited with his men as he sat on the chair of the lobby. He saw the doctor come back to speak with him.
"The young man's name is Leon. He should be 22 years of age and his physical condition is extremely horrible. It seems he did not come to any of his annual check ups or received any medical help after the last medical record we found on him. Which was a short and brief health check from the orphanage that gave basic health care for any of the orphans under their care. We have no other information and we looked at the blood tests we had run on the boy. He seems to have starved or barely ate for a long term, which I suspect had started even before he was orphaned. Because his state as a child was also listed in his old records, he was just like now but it was not as heavy back then. I can conclude that his stunt growth also worsened with his continuous poor diet and lack of experience. Honestly, if you had not found him and rushed here as soon as you did. I am positive he would have died from a horrible fever and cold within 2 to 3 hours or even sooner."
"...Oh my god…then how is his condition now?"
Vander was shocked at what he had learned about this stranger he just met and saved today. He felt deep sympathy and pity for Leon.
"We were able to keep him alive and lower his fever by a little bit but it'll take time to see how his state would improve. Or he might actually pass away because it seems his mental state was also extremely low. He seemed to be in an anxious and desperate, depressed mental state."
"..."
Vander had no words. He was shocked to know that this kid could still have the possibility of not surviving after receiving medical help. The doctor left to do his job and Vander let his men stand in front of Leon's room to guard until he received orders from his boss. He had called Assistant Leader Dia and upgraded her on what he learned. Dia was also shocked to the core and was sad for Leon and his conditions. She notified her boss and received orders to do a background check. As well as letting her know that he would pay for Leon's medical bills and any continuing treatments. Dia was surprised because she knew her boss was not as caring for strangers like that. He kept a pretense for his celebrity occupational background but he was not one to care about anyone, much less random strangers. Even if they had a sad or difficult history and background. Dia and Vander were ordered to watch, protect and care for Leon. Leon's physical condition has somewhat stabilized but it seems he had fallen into a deep coma.
2 years later…
"Is the boss coming to visit Sir Leon today?"
"Yes, he will arrive in 15 mins."
When Dia looked at Leon's background check reports, she was silent and her sympathy for Leon grew. It seems Leon was isolated by the other kids and was very close to a volunteering young adult female that came every weekend. But soon, the orphanage shut down and the kids all either transferred to other orphanages or they had run off like Leon. The reports said that Leon was seen by a few aunties in a low income community. The aunties were questioned on what they knew about Leon. But all they said was he was a chippy child that was malnourished and still kept strong to survive. Leon was only seen when he was picking up trash to recycle and get money off them. All the aunties would pitch in to store bags of recyclables for Leon. It wasn't much but it was enough for Leon to probably buy a small palm sized meat bun by the food stands near their area. Leon seemed to live with an older kind elderly beggar. Then Leon came to say goodbye to the aunties one day and that was the last time they saw him.
It looks like Leon had gone somewhere else. Dia continued to turn the page and the reports said they found information on Leon. Leon had graduated high school in another district. There was a yearbook photo of a skinny malnourished teenage boy with a thrifted shirt and pants on. The reports stated that Leon had been working multiple odd jobs and part-time jobs. He even lied about his age when he was still in middle and high school, working and earning money to pay for his education. He was still picking up cyclable items to trade in for some extra change. His grade was decent as well. He picked up knowledge quickly, probably from the harsh life experiences, his mindset was more mature and observative than kids his age. After he graduated high school, he continued to work multiple part-time jobs to pay for food and rent.
Dia and Vander were ordered to go to Leon's mini apartment.
"How is this even called an apartment?! It's more like a closet with a poorly installed toilet and shower."
"Dia, I know why you're upset but we can only hope for the best right now. Let's pack Leon's stuff to move to the boss's mansion. I'm sure Leon would be grateful to have his important possessions still with him."
"Yeah…I know there are people out there in the same situation as the boy… but this is my first time physically connected to someone with this struggle and hardship. My impressions were not as I had expected. It was a lot worse than I had imagined."
Dia sighed and searched for anything that could be of importance to Leon. Vander and his subordinates joined in with the same sad impressions.
"This shouldn't even be called a bed! How was he able to sleep??!"
"Sir Vander, should I pack the clothes?"
"No need, boss has already thought of that. Just see if there is anything that could hold dear to Leon."
"Sir, I found a few photos in this bookshelf."
One of Vander's subordinates was carefully looking through the few books on a rotting wooden two tier shelf. It shouldn't even be called a bookshelf as it was missing a side and bottom wooden board. The parts that were still there had rottened huge holes in various places. It was a wonder how it was still useful. The few books were all study notes and school texts. It seemed Leon had many sleepless nights of self study. So they could assume Leon's grades would have been a lot higher if he was born and raised to grow up like a proper boy. They decided to pack the books with photos in them. The photos were of two young people with bright smiles. Most likely a couple in deep love. Then there was a little journal diary. There was a different name on the front cover so they assumed it was Leon's mother's. There was an old glass jar with a few things inside. There was a worn out photograph of an elderly man and little Leon. This was probably the kind beggar that Leon stayed with for awhile.
Then there were a few rocks in tiny plastic zip up bags with folded notebook papers. It was too invasive to open and read so they put it back in the jar. They found a small black paper shoe box as well. They lifted the top cover and saw little clay pottery objects, they didn't dig into it since that was also too invasive. It could be the craft projects Leon had done in his art courses in high school and he kept them to reminisce and look back on the memories. They found the charge for Leon's phone as well. When the medical practitioners asked for Leon's ID. He had his wallet and phone on him. But the phone had run out of battery and it was outdated so they were unable to find a charger cord that could charge the device.
When they were powered on the phone, it had a pin code to unlock so they couldn't find out if Leon had close people he normally contacted. They were able to find out where Leon had worked. Vander went to the small run down cafe and asked about Leon with the cafe owner.
"Hi, I am the cafe owner, Burnett. You are?"
"Hello, my name is Vander and I'm here to ask about this young man in this photo."
Vander opened his phone and pulled up Leon's photo to show her.
"...Could you tell me why you wanted information on this boy?"
"I don't want to cause a misunderstanding, ma'am. I heard he had last appeared here to work? He has an accident and is currently in a coma. My superiors had tasked me to find anything on this young man. The young man is currently under my superior's care."
"Tell me what happened to him! How did he get hurt?!"
"Please calm down, Ms. Burnett. The doctor told us that Leon had been starving for quite awhile and had a horrible fever from his cold. His condition is stable now but he has been in a coma for a while and has not woken up."
"Good god…that poor boy…"
Burnett slump back to lean against the bar counter in shock and worried sadness. Vander let her calm down before asking about Leon.
"I'll tell you what I know. Leon had called off work for a few days and I thought he was too exhausted and needed a short break. I knew he was worn out and overworked since childhood. How could I not see it? I had watched him ever since he was hired and we were close. I was like his mother and he was like a son to me. At first, I had rejected his job request since it didn't seem fit for the tasks I needed. Then he kept coming every day for a week to beg me to hire him. I saw his determined gaze and asked him if he had any experience working at a cafe. And he told me he had various experiences from his previous part-time jobs and the last one laid him off since business was doing a lot better to purchase electrical appliances that would take over and Leon wasn't needed anymore. So I asked him if he needed food to eat during his little break to rest. He told me he had saved up some extra cash to live without working for a few days. So I allowed him to take a few days off…"