Maladroit as it is, Yui has never progressed from her acting skills. It gets worse every time she utters her lines without thinking about the following dialogues. If I have to describe it using a word, it would be "extemporaneous".
An author must be a word-smith, after all.
"Again," I repeat.
Despite her incessant trials, I let Yui do her job and correct all the missing pieces in her performance to the best of my abilities. I am no expert at acting, but I can distinguish between terrible posture and awkward lines. She has almost all of it and does the things that make her play fiddly.
But I cannot just give her a crude review of her performance. I know it means a lot for her to practice every day. I do not want to end up making her quit her passion because of something I would tell her.
We continue doing this for the rest of the period until all the drama club members arrive. Yui still feels embarrassed every time she performs in front of strangers or people. She keeps on glancing at the wall clock for the time.
As soon as the black arrow hits before the number three, the two of us careers outside. We head over the bustling streets full of automobiles and eventually reach the relaxing cafe.
This day differs from before because now, we have Roxanne that can also supervise her practice.
"Thanks for having us, Roxy."
"As long as I could play on your laptop, that would be-," Roxanne asks, but I interpose.
"No."
The three of us are sitting on the line of chairs in front of the barista. Upon recognising our faces, the server gives us a tip and adds more cream and vanilla to our beverages. Not that I need anything from the barista, but an extra sweet topping would not hurt for me to bite!
"I have heard many things from you, Yui." Roxanne faces the bashful girl.
Yui jerks from her seat and nods. She does not know what to do, so she waits for anything Roxanne still wants to say.
After a long silence from Roxanne, Yui finally says, "What things have you heard from me?"
"Acting." Roxanne nods to herself, thinking she has said something philosophical.
I brush my hand over to my hair, uncertain what I am seeing with the two of them.
"You two are not making sense!"
We skip the formalities and act out as if we are close friends, wanting to catch up. Since Roxanne is the president of the school, she does not need to introduce herself to the students. Roxy already knows Yui through my stories, so the conversation goes like a streaming river.
The short skit concludes as the three of us get onto our primary topic. I nudge Roxanne's elbows and suggest we stick to our goal.
"I want to see you say the lines," Roxanne demands.
Yui backs off from her seat and asks, "Right now?"
The two of us shake our heads and gesture to her to continue with the dialogues. In my hands is her part of the script, which I have saved for later use.
I hand the papers over to Yui and encourage her to do her magic. Yui rolls her eyes from left to right to scan the parts. She also spots the lines she used from before when we first practised inside the club room.
I look at Yui's shivering legs behind us, afraid to mess up. There are now two people gazing at her performance and the patrons at our rear that could hear everything she would say. But we do not ask for anything grand from her acting. Yui could even whisper the lines to us as long as we can hear her lines.
With a deep inhale, Yui grips the sheets and plays the part of a young girl in the script. Her role is to act like an orphan selling matches around the city. It is a short story called "The Little Match Girl". The girl eventually dies at the end but experiences freedom from the problems she encounters throughout her journey. It has a tragic ending.
I want to use a line in Hamilton, but it is far too strenuous for me to find it on the internet. But if I am going, to be honest to the two of them, I am not in the mood to listen to theatrical plays. I wish to hear a short story that I can relate to.
"Grandmother," Yui cries, "O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large glorious Christmas tree."
Roxanne and I remain speechless in our seats while staring at Yui. It is not because she has done a spectacular job at her acting but the other way around. We do not feel any emotions from her words.
It almost feels like she is an audiobook of monotonic tunes in her program.
"Can you try that again?" Roxanne requests.
With a reluctant bow, Yui says the words from the skit once again. She tries and adds more feeling to it. Like a baker who has the urgency to place more sweetness in her cake, Yui unleashes unnecessary pauses and intonations during her act.
Roxanne and I have to cut to her performance and tell her something she needs to know.
"We understand that you really love acting, Yui," I tell, and let Roxanne finish my sentence.
"But you need to exert more effort than what you are doing right now."
Silence fills the atmosphere between the three of us. Roxanne and I exchange glances, thinking to ourselves that we may have gone too far. None of us has touched our beverages until the start of the performance.
With a dejected look on her face, Yui folds her hands and shatters the silence.
"I am terrible at this, right?" She asks, wanting to have any confirmation of her statement.
We shake our heads. I point out the lines from the script while Roxanne does the tone. The two of us push our limits while trying to help her realise the weight behind each text. But it becomes difficult for us to teach her anything since we know nothing about acting.
I am an author that writes stories about gore and killings. According to sir Benjamin, our club adviser, I also lack the skills of showing emotions to my readers.
Roxanne is a student and a visual artist. Although she has yet to start anything other than reading books about animation, she could not give any tips for acting.
All we say here are our judgements that we think are correct for an actor. We base our knowledge on movies and short plays that we have seen throughout our lifetime.
"Then why can't I do the things that Chang-Ae does?" Yui says, with tears falling from her eyes.
Roxanne offers her a tissue to wipe the wet part of Yui's face and offers her hand. After wiping her tears, Yui gazes at the sight of Roxanne with a gaping mouth.
"I am sorry, I-,"
But before Yui could finish her sentence, Roxanne butts in and invites the two of us to go outside, leaving the half-full iced coffee on the table.
The three of us run on the bustling streets and travel to the distant foundling home. Outside the orphanage, we notice Himari sitting on the stairs. Upon moving up close, Himari is scribbling four people on the sheets. If I have to guess what she has drawn, Himari is drawing the three of us, her friends, who have been visiting the orphanage.
"Why are we here?" Yui asks.
We have not given her a reply, instead of introducing her to Himari, the adorable little girl. With widened eyes, Yui exchanges stares with Himari but shows hints of retreating to the cafe. However, the kid is too fast for her thoughts. Himari grabs Yui's hands and flashes her a beam.
"A new friend?" She says.
It is too late to struggle now, my dear actress. The only thing you can do is accept your fate and listen to what Himari is about to tell you. Who could even refuse such a lovable kid?
"I guess?" Yui answers, while giving her a faint smile.
Yui turns around and checks Roxanne and me, hoping to unlatch herself from Himari's arms. But we decline her suggestion and lead the two of them inside the building with giddy eyes and exciting feelings.
We can see her struggling from the kid below her age. Yui moves her body from side to side, but with Himari's hand clutching her hand, we deduce she can never flee from her position.
"Oh, dear me! You did not tell us you were coming, the two of you." The caretaker addresses us and looks behind. "I can see you brought a prisoner."
Yui could not believe her eyes upon seeing our faces.