Losing Faith in Humanity

After witnessing her betrayal, he broke up with Sofia Jones. He did not waste his breath for an explanation. Immediately after their breakup, he went radio silent and hid under the radar.

He received a lot of an angry backlash from fans. Even his own fans chastised him. They called him a jerk for dumping her for no reason.

She of course took this as free publicity. She looked very pitiful in interviews. Making sure she always appeared distraught and aggrieved. Of course people sided with her. After all, she was their goddess.

She’s an angel to many people. She’s pure while they knew him as the entertainment circle’s bratty heir. A second generation heir who knew nothing but to make trouble.

He cannot help but sneer at the irony of it all. If people only knew what a scheming sl*t, their goddess was. They will definitely throw up every time they see her crying like a widow.

A month after his hiatus, Ryo sits still as a makeup applies makeup on him.

“All done!” The makeup artist announced. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He cannot believe that he was looking at himself. They applied some prosthetics on him to change the structure of his face. They gave his eyes a different shape and hid his long hair under a wig. He cannot help but exclaim, “wow” as looked at the makeup artist’s reflection in the mirror. His makeup and prosthetics looked flawless.

“Ryo,” called the director. He immediately went to the director after saying thank you to the makeup artist. The director was with the show writers and producers. “Ryo, we’d like to brief you on what’s going to happen.”

People cannot help but look at him with a stunned expression. “Fantastic, huh?” he cannot help but tease them. They all nodded at him with mouths agape. Even his voice was unrecognizable because of the voice changer they hooked him up to.

“We’re shooting outside the country for this episode, because we will air it as an anniversary special.” Ryo listened as the show’s head writer explained. “For this episode, you’re playing as a tourist who has lost his money, IDs. passport, cellphone, etc.”

She paused and scan’s Ryo’s face for reaction. Ryo stared back at her. “Your goal is to find someone who will help you.” Ryo nodded his understanding.

“It does not matter what kind of help it is - give you money, food, help you report the theft — as long as they help you.”

Easy. Ryo thought to himself. “Also, we know you are fluent in French, but we forbid you from speaking French. You can only speak Japanese or broken English.” Ryo nodded his head to show his comprehension.

After the quick briefing, they dropped him off at Champ de Mars. He assumed persona and put his game face on. He wandered around the park grounds, looking at the surrounding people, looking confused and anxious.

He approached a middle-aged man who was standing on the sidewalk, admiring the Eiffel Tower. The man looked friendly and considering that he’s quite old already, he’ll be more emphatic, Ryo assessed.

“Excuse me. Can you help me, please?” He uttered slower than he normally would. The man looked at him, then without a word walked away from him.

Ryo stood dumbfounded in his spot. “He did not even bother to talk to me,” he thought. He walked some more, looking around for friendly faces that might help him. So, the middle-aged man ignored him. This time, he tried an older lady. He has not yet uttered a word when the old lady swung her bag at him like he was a mugger.

These did not deter him. He kept on trying. “Don’t lose hope, Ryo. You can do this!” he pepped talk himself.

But, as the day went on, he’s yet to complete the task. The sun is almost setting. He was losing hope already, not only to his ability to complete the task, but to humanity itself.

Are we so detached from each other that we are no longer willing to help a fellow? Do we distrust each other so much that our first reaction towards others is that they’re out to hurt us?

He was feeling downtrodden already, but he still continued his task. But the results were the same. Dejected, he sat on a sidewalk bench. With buried his face in his hands, then after a while ran them through his wig. He let out a loud sigh.

“Est-ce que tout va bien?” he heard a female voice say. He looked at the source of the voice, but kept his posture. His elbows on his knees as his palms were cupping his cheeks. He looked at her in disbelief. He could not respond at all.

Her brows furrowed, then she asked once again, this time in English, “Is everything alright?” He felt her concern in each of the words she said. She even looked at him with a worried face.

He remembered that the show is still on, and he immediately assumed his character. In his broken English, he explained his situation to her. The more detail he provided, the more her jaws dropped. Her expression got increasingly worried. She cannot help but let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands, looking at him with disbelief and pity.

“Have you at least eaten anything?” She asked, which surprised him. He already gave up all hope that he would finish the task. It was already so late in the day and not a single person he asked for help bothered to even ask him how he was.

Now, this lady in front of him asked not only if he was ok but also if he already ate. He did not speak, but gave her an embarrassed smile.

She stood up from where she was sitting and stood in front of him and extended her hand towards him. “Let’s go. You must be starving. My apartment is nearby, I can make a meal for you.”