Zeno looked up at the sky as he said that.
‘Fuck you,’ he thought.
Meanwhile, his friends smiled at each other. Zeno was fired up! It gave them inspiration to do well in their respective fields, too.
Then, Zeno turned his attention back to them.
“I actually need your help,” he said.
“Anything,” Minji said a little too quickly.
Doha chuckled and nodded, too. “What do you need help for, Zeno?”
Zeno had read the techniques of acting the entire afternoon, but he still needed to apply them.
He was labeled as a good actor, but in his opinion, he still lacked the necessary skills of a complete one.
The edge he had was his first-hand experience with the scenes he had acted in.
“Can you help me with my lines?”
His friends were once again surprised. Zeno didn’t usually ask for help for such things! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so they all agreed.
“Let’s do it,” Minji excitedly said.
“I guess… I’m down,” Eli muttered.
Minji turned to him with one eyebrow raised. “Don’t you have to read? Your exam is on Monday.”
“I review a lot in the convenience store,” Eli said. “I can help.”
“What do we need to do?” Doha asked, already preparing himself.
“Wait for me at the outdoor bed,” he said.
The three of them nodded and did exactly as he said. Zeno went to his room to grab a random scene from what was given to him.
Then, he went back out to the outdoor bed, where his friends were already waiting, huddled in a loose circle.
“I think Zeno might be taking this seriously,” Minji whispered.
“He has actually changed,” Eli muttered.
“We told you!” Doha exclaimed. “I really want him to be happier now.”
“Yeah… I don’t want to go back to that time,” Minji sighed.
“What time?”
Their eyes widened, and they quickly separated.
“That time when you insisted on becoming ordinary,” Eli shakily answered.
“Oh,” Zeno muttered. “That’s scrapped.”
“I’m going to do my best now,” he said, still feeling the rebellion in his heart.
“Here’s the script,” he said, handing them the single piece of paper.
“Ooh,” Doha exclaimed. They all went closer to Doha to read the script.
“You can just read from it,” Zeno said. “I’ll be Hajin Yi.”
“There are three roles,” he continued, “but we also need a narrator.”
“I’ll be the eldest son and the narrator,” Doha volunteered.
“I guess I’ll be the daughter of the councilor,” Minji said with warm cheeks.
Eli clicked his tongue. “It doesn’t suit you.”
Minji glared at him. “Would you rather be the daughter then?”
Eli rolled his eyes. “I’ll be the youngest prince.”
Zeno nodded. “Alright,” he muttered. “Let’s start right away.”
“Oh dang, is this how it is in the acting industry? I wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure,” Minji muttered.
“Just do as he says,” Eli whispered back.
Doha, on the other hand, was already locked in.
“Setting, royal courtyard,” he started off.
Minji and Eli held back their laughter as Doha used an announcer-like voice. However, they quickly snapped out of it when they saw Zeno already immersing himself.
“Imagine,” Zeno muttered, closing his eyes and imagining he was in a real royal court.
The scene showed how the three sons of the Crown Prince were fighting over the youngest and only daughter of the their nation’s councilor.
“The moon lights up the stone pavement, revealing the shadows of three men standing in a triangular formation. The guards linger at the edges, hands on their hilts, uncertain of how this will end,” Doha continued.
Then, he cleared his throat before going into an even deeper voice to channel the eldest son and first in line—Prince Seon.
“I am the eldest son of the Crown Prince, the next in line to the king. The weight of the throne is mine to bear, as it has always been. She will wed into the royal line by my decree,” he said.
As expected, Doha wasn’t great at acting. Minji and Eli felt like laughing once again but held it in.
Zeno, however, was already used to this. Acting with his co-stars in ‘Stars in My Ordinary Sky,’ especially in the beginning, made him immune to bad acting.
Minji nudged Eli’s shoulder, so he began speaking as Prince Yiku.
“Brother,” he started off. “You have no wealth or favor. Father’s coffers are mine to command. Who do you think he trusts more? His firstborn… or the son he treasures?”
“I am your elder!” Doha exclaimed.
Eli pursed his lips, once again holding his laughter.
The youngest prince knew that their birth of order was still very important to their ranks, so he stayed silent.
With that, he focused his attention on Hajin—the illegitimate son.
“I believe we should talk in our free time, brother,” Eli read. “The person we must ask is him.”
They all turned to Zeno, who hadn’t moved an inch since they started the scene.
It was then that they saw his expression, illuminated by the moonlight.
Minji gasped when she saw his eyes, filled with hidden contempt.
‘The Stanislavski’s method,’ he thought.
To ground himself in the truth of his character.
His fingers clenched the hilt of his sword, not in aggression, but in resolve.
Zeno lifted his chin high in the air, and in a soft, unwavering voice, he said.
“I have what neither of you possess.”
His friends glanced at each other awkwardly, suddenly feeling shy from their acting attempts.
Zeno was taking this more seriously than they had anticipated.
He stepped forward, deliberately breaking the proximity barrier. His gaze went between them before settling.
“I have knowledge,” he said, standing straight.
He applied emotional recall, summoning past injustices to fuel his words.
“Who do you think led the ambush that saved our borders from invasion? Who saw the enemy’s formation and outsmarted them before your scouts even caught wind of their movements? I have spearheaded battles in your names, deflected assassins meant for the royal bloodline, and protected this kingdom in ways you never could.”
His gaze hardened, eyes burning with a fire long restrained.
“Yet you take the credit—because my mother a mere concubine.”