People Never Change

After weeks of practicing and rehearsing, the final dress rehearsal of The Song of the Mermaid Princess and the Vengeful Pince was here.

The other outstanding auditioners for the Vengeful Prince, which were the love interests of the game, also had good and important roles. Shu Chuanli got the role of the Mermaid Princess' pet clownfish, who was her confidant for her troubles. Shé Haoran was the Vengeful Prince's adviser, who had been giving him advice since they had washed up to the Mermaid Princess' island on what he should wish for. Ma Jianyu was the kind and noble prince of the kingdom that the Vengeful Prince wanted to destroy.

And Hu Chuntian was the evil king who was the reason for why the Vengeful Prince wanted to get revenge, obviously.

All of the performers are doing well. The show would be on Monday at the large auditorium, and the majority of the students had bought tickets to watch. How could they not when there are 5 handsome men in the show and a campus goddess as the female lead?

Despite not getting the leading role, Hu Chuntian remained competitive. Many times, he tried to steal the spotlight from Mo Jiagei and Gou Manchu. This worried the director Mo Jiagei, though it was only in character. Real-life Mo Jiagei was probably enjoying being antagonized by the Tiger Emperor.

There was a part where Hu Chuntian's arrogance reaches +1000000, and he keeps taking over the audience's attention from the main couple. That part was when the Mermaid Princess and the Vengeful Prince face the Evil King, and she convinces the Vengeful Prince that no matter what, he shouldn't slay him with his own hands and become impure. The Evil King will laugh and mock them as he tries to kill the two couple.

Mo Jiagei and Gou Manchu held hands as they were under the Evil King's tornado, believing in each other through a duet:

"My heart and soul stained black from my suffering

Had been cleared up because of you

You who thought me goodness from the bad

Who gave me hope that I had already forgotten—"

It was supposed to be a touching moment for the people to appreciate the love and bond of the two leads, but Hu Chuntian gave his all in performing as the villain to undermine them. He laughed, drowning out their voices:

"HOPE IS USELESS, MY FRIENDS

YOUR LOVE CANNOT UNDO THE ANCIENT CURSE

THAT THE WORLD HAS GOTTEN SINCE THE DAWN OF MAN

AND THAT IS EVIL, WE ARE ALL BORN EVIL!"

The Mermaid Princess responds in song:

"Nay, do not believe that man!

He was corrupted by sorrow and grief

We are all born good, with goodness that we must share

Forevermore to the people we cherish"

The Evil King lashed out:

"I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN ANYONE IN THIS WORLD

BECAUSE I AM NOT HINDERED BY HOPE AND LOVE

I AM NOT FOOLISH AND YOUNG LIKE YOU

WHO BELIEVES THAT TRUE LOVE SAVES ALL!"

The Vengeful Prince tries to stand up from the strong wind, sword in hand. Gou Manchu sang in his melodious voice:

"True love does save, miserly king!

You have exchanged it for power and greed

Your heart has died, but ours remain beating

Me and my love, and all the good people as one!"

Ma Jianyu's character, the kind son of the king, appears. "Father, stop this now! You have become stained because your happiness was taken away from you!"

"Quiet, unfaithful child!" The Evil King aimed the wand at him.

Gou Manchu's eyes widened, like he had an idea. "My dear princess, I know now what I must wish for! I wish for the king's happiness!"

The lighting effects team gave a burst of light, as a new female student appears. This girl was Li Youman, the one who used to be the female lead of the Theater Club.

"My queen!" The Evil King was stunned at the figure. "You have come back to life!?"

"I have come to ask you to join me in Elysium, where you truly belong. The black magic has corrupted your soul and you have remained living even when you shouldn't have." Li Youman delivered her lines well, but rather in an underplayed way that didn't steal the thunder of the Mo Jiagei.

"My queen, how I missed you. I have been blinded by wrath, I see now the evilness of what I have done. I will change myself for you, and for my kingdom." Hu Chuntian's performance gradually lessened its vigor on this redemption scene, making the difference from his energy earlier jarring.

They left the stage, the two main leads sing one last duet love song, and the curtain closes.

Mo Aini wanted to die from cringe. (The story was so cliche and cheesy! True love conquers all? Really? Are you Disney, bro?)

He was the one holding the stage light from the very back of the auditorium, so he had no choice but to watch it all from start to finish. He would rather sleep than watch this dog blood drama musical about some evil king who automatically got a metanoia after he met his queen again. Then the main leads go lovey-dovey and everyone is happy, hooray!

Everyone's character was bland, the story was boring, and the songs were written like they were ballads from the 17th century. No offense to Ma Jianyu, but it was trying too hard to copy the romantic novellas and plays of the medieval times. There's nothing original about it.

"But nobody's watching for the plot nowadays, they're watching for the actors. I guess that's the moral lesson of the story." Mo Aini said to himself.

"Thank you, everyone. You have done well! Let us all give a good show on Monday!" Mo Jiagei praised her club members.

The people dispersed and Mo Aini helped his fellow props team to wrap things up. The actors drank from their water bottles and talked about each others' performance.

Mo Jiagei suddenly approached Mo Aini. "Jie Taime, can I talk to you?"

He was shocked a bit and thought his cover was blown, but he calmed himself. "What is it, Ms. Mo?"

"You know Hu Chuntian well, don't you? The members had told us that you two seem close."

(That's because he was bothering me and being a nuisance in his spare time after every performance!)

"I'm not sure if I should say that we're close, but I know him well enough." Mo Aini just said. "Why are you asking about me and Hu Chuntian?"

"We just wanted to.... Have you help us convince him to tone down his performance. Or at least remain consistent till the end." Mo Jiagei said. "Hu Chuntian is a good performer, but he has a secondary role, and sometimes he can be a bit.... Too much for the whole cast."

Mo Aini scoffed. "He's an egotistical prick, what do you expect?"

Mo Jiagei blinked and tilted her head. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, haha! I'll try to convince him, Ms. Campus Goddess!" Mo Aini bowed and took his leave.

Great, now he has to go look for Hu Chuntian himself because his sister told him so.

He found Hu Chuntian sitting by the bench other than a big cherry blossom tree, smoking as usual. Mo Aini rolled his eyes under his sunglasses and took the cigarette from his lips.

"The show is on Monday, yet you're still ruining your throat by smoking?" Mo Aini chided him.

Hu Chuntian glared when his cigarette was taken from him, but his eyes twinkled when he saw it was Mo Aini. "Da Ge! Did you like my performance?"

"Nobody liked your performance. You were overenthusiastic for the most parts and then flat at the rest." Mo Aini said harshly.

"I only enjoyed those parts. The story breaks apart the moment the Evil King 'changed'." Hu Chuntian said.

"Well, they're asking me to convince you to take your role seriously and not just try to steal the spotlight through the evil parts." Mo Aini sat beside him. "What brand are you smoking anyway? Why do you like it so much?"

"Would you like to try?" Hu Chuntian offered him a stick and took back the one Mo Aini snatched from him.

"Just this once, to see what's so good about it." Mo Aini said and put the cigarette in his mouth. "Lighter, please—"

Hu Chuntian put the ends of their cigarettes together, lighting Mo Aini's using his.

Mo Aini scoffed. "Seriously? You're not losing any opportunity to be a nuisance, aren't you?"

Hu Chuntian just smiled. The two did not talk and just smoked for a while, the gray smoke from their mouths coalescing together.

Mo Aini broke the silence. "You should really follow what they say. I don't want to be seen as someone who's close to you and can run errands for you."

"Are you asking me because that's what you also want to happen or you're just being an errand boy who follows what they say?"

"I'm saying this for the benefit of the whole show and cast, including you." Mo Aini flicked his forehead. "You better do well and not drag everyone down who had worked so hard."

"Hehe, so you're concerned about me?" Hu Chuntian teasingly blew smoke on Mo Aini's face.

"Think whatever you want. You're a crazy motherfucker anyway." Mo Aini did not react and kept a still face despite the smoke. "I couldn't care less about the show itself. The story is unoriginal and tacky. But I care about the whole club who will be affected if it does not do well."

More specifically, the main couple Gou Manchu and Mo Jiagei. Their Good Ending relies on a good performance.

"You didn't like the story?" Hu Chuntian asked.

Mo Aini raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like it as well?"

"Yeah, I didn't like it but...." Hu Chuntian leaned back and watch the sky. "It got me thinking about something. Can love really change a person?"

"Why did you wonder about such silly things? Are you in love or something?" Mo Aini snickered.

Hu Chuntian ignored his question and asked another one of his own instead. "What's your opinion about it? Do you believe people can change because of love?"

"If you're asking me...." Mo Aini stood up, dropped his cigarette butt, and stomped it on the grass. "I'd say it's all bullshit. People don't change unless something drastic like amnesia or trauma happens to them. But changing because of one person? That only happens in cheesy love stories."

"Right. I know that." Hu Chuntian looked away, sounding unsure. "I just wondered if there will be exceptions—"

"There are no exceptions, Hu Chuntian. Infatuation may blind you a bit and believe that you can be good just for that one person, but if you're rotten, you're rotten forever. The best you can do is love that person without hoping they'll love someone worthless like you back." Mo Aini smiled at him sadly and walked away.

Mo Aini was not dense, he is the master of otome after all. He knows when a confession scene is near, and he had just barely dodged one.

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