You are my super star

Immersion

Having been used for several months, the pages of the script were unwrapped. The cover seemingly fell off. The word, Scrumbags, was written on it.

It had originally been named ''Scrumbags are hard to forget'', a story about emotional entanglement lasting over a decade.

Leon Walsh played the part of Miner Cotton, and Jules Miller that of Peters Hunter.

At the beginning of the film, the young actor, who played the role of young Miner, accuse done of his classmates of tearing apart Peters' homework. He broke a beer bottle on the boy's head.

In the film, Peters is Miner's childhood sweetheart. It turns out that Peters is gay, and he has been hiding it. His emotions towards Miner date back to their boyhood. Peters showed his affection towards Miner in many ways along the years; Handing his homework to Miner and lying to the teacher; protecting Miner by reasoning with his ex-girlfriend; devoting himself to taking care of Miner. However, Miner is an inborn affectionate person. He had no fixed girlfriends for ten years, Peters never being one of them.

Peters had made up his mind to kill any illusions he had about him. However, it was hard. Miner had been good to him; Fought for him at school; Helped him plan for the future after graduation. All in all, Miner always had Peters' back.

One day, by accident, Miner found out that Peters was gay.

''You're into men too, so why not give me a chance?'' Peters had suggested.

Miner, however, didn't know the truth—That Peter had been hiding his love for him for years.

The relationship only lasted months.

It was when he caught Miner in bed with another boy that he realized that he had made a big mistake.

The delicate-looking boy had then cut off his connection with Miner.

Jules closed his eyes for a few seconds, the story in the script playing out in his mind. That night they would work on an important scene. It was about Miner eventually finding his long-lost lover, after years of being apart, and begging Peters to get back together again.

Jules had mastered the lines. That particular part of the script didn't have many words, but focused on the emotion of the roles. It was Miner and Peters' second meeting after their initial reunion.

In that scene, Peters, who was played by Jules, was concealing and holding back his previous volatile emotions, with less surprise and anger compared to the first, unexpected meeting. He was the leading one in this scene.

After a short, but heated, discussion, Tripp and Leon stepped in, discussing something in a low voice. Tripp frowned, while Leon appeared to be filled with contempt towards the situation they had just been in.

''These guys are crazy. I'm sick of these scheduling arguments.''

Tripp looked as if he was about to say something, then shook his head, seemingly deciding against it. He then walked to Jules, skipping the greeting process, and said to him: ''Let's discuss this over makeup.''. Sitting down beside the young man, Tripp took a few seconds to recollect himself, turned to Jules, and spoke.

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?'' He paused, briefly, then continued. ''You are, and you hate him for it. But you also hate yourself, for allowing him to have this effect on you.''

Jules nodded.

''You have to open yourself up. You need to let the anger go. Not only anger, you also need to explore the reason for your pain. Time alone won't help. You are angry with yourself.'' He paused for a moment. ''Tell me, have you ever experienced unrequited love?''

Leon came over and sat down beside them. At the sight of him, Jules's face turned red. He nodded at Tripp.

"That's good," Tripp pointed at Leon. "Now imagine he's the one you're attached to. He's the reason for your anger. Remember, you're also sad and disappointed with yourself and that's the point, okay?"

Jules took a light breath, then answered. "Got it."

Tipp turned to Leon. "I've told you the part. This highlights Jules and marks his emotional turning point. Your task is to strike him. Just keep to the script and don't overdo it."

''Do I ever overdo it?" Leon smirked.

Tripp turned to Jules. "I'll be frank; You're not as good at this as Leon, so you won't do as well as him. But try your best."

Tripp knew he could be straightforward with Jules, after having spent some time with him. He had started treating Jules as a friend and knew that the young man could see the bigger picture and wouldn't get offended at his critiques.

Jules explained, sensibly. "Thank you for reminding me. Leon is a true talent, so I have to try my best."

Leon, despite being used to receiving praise, still appreciated the words. He interrupted abruptly. "Is it the real...I mean, tongue kiss?"

Jules gave no reply.

It's a complete lie that people won't remember what they do when they're drunk!

Tripp frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Leon leaned against the makeup desk, hands in pocket. He licked his lips, then asked. "I want to know. Deep kiss?"

Jules felt anger in his heart. What the hell is he doing?

''It depends on you.'' Tripp replied, coldly.

Leon started laughing. "This is a little embarrassing. He probably thinks I'm doing it on purpose."

Tripp gave a surprised glare at Leon. Seemingly having had enough of that conversation, he turned his back and walked away.

Leon turned to Jules, smiling.

"Tripp hasn't told us...so what do you think? You're the key role this time, so it's up to you."

"Up to me...?"

Jules felt like fainting. His face was red and he was trying to calm himself down.

"It's up to you..." Jules finally said, his tone and composure betraying his shyness.

"Up to me...? Hahaha, I was only joking." Leon couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Take it easy, I will only bite you, no more."

Sitting on the chair, Leon examined Jules's resentful expression silently in a comical manner.

This fresh talent was becoming fascinating to him.

(1033 words)