The Luster of Stars in Moscow
⁇ 17
"Who is he?" Someone shouted.
Cheri raised his face. Kyle? Why is he still here?
All eyes in the room were on Kyle with a look of hostility.
In that agonizing freeze, Sesha suddenly interjected. "Cheri's right, we don't have time anymore."
"Saah!" Evaline tried to protest.
"Friends.." Sesha clapped her hands together, ignoring Evaline's protest.
Everyone's attention was back.
"Maybe we should give Cheri a chance" Sesha suggested. "If Cheri disappoints us, you may protest after the show."
"Yes," said Ibrahim. "We all know Rafael's instinct rarely misses. You guys never doubted it all this time, right? So, why do you doubt it now?"
The whole room was silent.
Cheri is still bowing.
Rafael and Mikail exchanged looks.
"You doubted Cheri because he was a beginner or because of Rafael's special treatment of Cheri so you were worried that he would be rivaled?" Ibrahim looked around and smiled cynically.
Some people sound angry.
"Stand, Cheri!" Ibrahim approached Cheri and pulled him.
"Come, everybody!" Sesha cheered everyone on. "The temperature here is already too hot" he said, laughing uneasily. "You too!" He elbowed Saul who was standing beside him. "Applause to our newcomer actress!"
Momentary silence.
Kyle clapped his hands to provoke everyone. Some people supported him, a little hesitant. Eventually, everyone started clapping.
Mikail and Rafael heaved a sigh of relief.
Cheri smiled sadly and looked at Sesha. Anxiety immediately ambushed him. Will I disappoint them?
Rafael slipped into the administration room. Mikail. The door was closed behind them.
"Come, collect the scattered script!" Sesha took command.
Everyone started to move, some leaned back on the sheet, some squealed and murmured, some remained professional, returned to their respective rooms and refocused on their work, leaving a thumping and creaking sound that blared filled the room. Making the entire room instantly turn rowdy. Describe a life that returned to normal.
"Well, the change is this big?" Saul grumbled as he examined the manuscript he had collected.
"You better clean yourself up" Ibrahim advised Cheri.
"Ah, thank you!" Cheri laughed lightly and scratched the back of his head that did not itch, then glanced at Kyle.
The boy held up his thumb and blinked one eye at Cheri.
"So... What else are you worried about now?" Mikail grinned behind the door in the administration room.
Rafael chuckled thinly and shook his head. "It's hard to believe" he said. "The kid just saved me!"
"Rightly a good marionette," teased Mikail. "He looked great. I'm so fascinated to see it."
"Shut up!" sergeant Rafael.
Mikail chuckled in response. Then walk to his desk. "Are you unconscious, not just Cheri, but all the members of this theater are marionettes that you can control as you please?"
"Is that wrong?" Rafael looked at him. "This is the world of my creation" he said. "I think they should obey me. Otherwise, my work could not have materialized."
Mikail spread her shoulders in a resigned manner.
"By the way, who's the boy who's defending Cheri?" Rafael turned to Mikail. "He's not our member, is he?"
"Only SMU's son" Mikail replied as she slipped into her desk, then sat down and crossed her arms. "Take the angel of the earth that the Lord sent to protect Peter. He saved you too!"
The administrative room door suddenly crackled open.
Demian barged in and protested. "What the fuck?"
Mikail and Rafael turned their heads.
"Why are my scenes cut so much?" Demian brandished the manuscript sheet to Rafael's face.
Rafael groaned and let out a short sigh. "It's important you get the lead role, right?"
"But this is really outrageous" growled Demian. "Why is there only the dialogue of the Beautiful?"
"Ah, I'm just trying to portray women better" Rafael argued flatly.
"So you're adjusting the dialogue to the kid?" Demian muttered and twirled his eyeballs with a look of disgust.
What kind of a girl, huh?
Beauty has two older sisters and three older brothers.
He loves roses and is a hard worker.
A girl willing to die for her father.
He could see the kindness of the Ugly without being misled by the ugliness of his face.
Cheri flipped through the pages of the script uneasily.
The night grew late as he was still trying to understand his role, while the window of his room was still open.
The gusting wind blew away the thin white curtain that was still blushing, then swept across his worried wrinkled face all night long.
For more than eight hours he sat at his writing desk, reading the script over and over. But none of it made him understand.
Uh! Cheri groaned in frustration.
It was still easier for him to understand the character of the beast.
Human characters are so complicated, he thought.
The next day, in the training room…
"Bad Appearance! Don't die! I've come back. I miss you." Cheri rushed towards Demian who was lying on the floor and scooped at him, pulling the man into his arms.
"I'm glad to hear those words." Demian said weakly. "But it's too late" he said gasping.
"No, Bad Appearance! Awake up!" Cheri screamed and shook Demian's body, trying to live up to his role, putting on a sad expression but unable to catch his longing feelings. "When I part with you, I miss you so much" she said blankly.
Rafael listened to the dialogue while pouting.
"Without me knowing, I have loved you." Cherry continued.
"There's no hope for me anymore" Demian extended his hand to Cheri's face. "All I want is to see your face again." Demian's hand drooped. His body instantly relaxed and did not move anymore.
"Bad Appearance…"
BRUISES!
Rafael breaks his desk.
Cheri and Demian groaned at the same time.
Any more? Demian grumbled in his heart. I have to wait again!
Rafael sneaks out of his desk and slips into the middle of the room, approaching Cheri.
"Sorry," said Cheri. "In the middle of it, I suddenly lost my concentration." Cherry tried to explain. "I'll try it again."
"Wake up!" Rafael growled as he grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pulled her.
"Okay, I'll wake up!"
"Well!" Cyzarine chuckled in the audience. "Basic amateur. It seems that this double cast is useless at all. I still have to work hard."
"I'm actually not ashamed to do a love scene, but. somehow I can't feel the Beautiful One naturally!" Cherry tried to defend herself. "Wait a minute…"
"Bas stupid," Cyzarine scoffed. "It's not the players who show it!"
"Try repeating!" Rafael's orders.
"When I part with you, I miss you so much" he said. "Without knowing it, I've fallen in love with you." Cheri looked at Rafael with a sad look.
Rafael extended his hand to Cheri's face, mimicking the scene of the Ugly One played by Demian. "There's no hope for me anymore, all I want is to see your face again."
"Bad Appearance!" Cheri rushed into Rafael's arms and cried.
The entire room gasped and held its breath.
Absolutely natural!
Finally, thought Cheri. I can catch the feeling of the Beautiful.
"That's good" whispered Rafael. Then let go of his embrace slowly.