Lie Again! Chapter 29

<Chapter 29. Evan Butterfly (5)> 

 

Tak.

 

The sound of the mallet hitting the wooden ball echoed, and soon Evan’s ball struck the old lady’s ball forcefully. 

 

“Bonus turn!”

 

It was already the third bonus turn. The elderly people around, who had been watching the game intently, could be heard admiring. 

 

“The game is about to end.”

 

“Hey, this is already your fourth turn just for today!”

 

At the relentless requests of the elderly to “take it easy,” Evan flashed a sly smile and moved on. 

 

He listened to their words with one ear and let them slip out the other. If Evan continued to dominate alone, there was a high chance the elderly would exclude him from the game due to losing interest. That was exactly what he wanted. 

 

The point where the ball rolled was near the 10th hoop. It was a bit far to make an easy shot, but he never thought he wouldn’t be able to make it. 

 

It was when Evan was calculating the distance and about to swing the mallet.

 

“You!”

 

A loud, resonant voice pierced through the window and spread out into the garden. 

 

The elderly gathered at the edge of the garden seemed not to hear, but he, standing in front of the nursing home building, was able to clearly hear someone’s shouting. 

 

‘Looks like some idiot has upset someone again.’

 

It was an occasional event whenever they volunteered at the nursing home. He was commonly known as Mr. Commander, a nickname given because he forced the children to call him “Sir.”

 

Just like his nickname, the Commander would furrowed his brows when something displeased him, and eventually, he would burst out with a scolding. 

 

His voice was so loud that whenever he yelled, it not only drew everyone’s attention, but someone had even joked that if a real war ever broke out, you’d still be able to hear that voice loud and clear.

 

The problem was that no one could ever predict when, where, or how the Commander would start yelling.

 

Because he was such a difficult person to talk to, everyone who had ever been here knew to avoid the Commander when possible. But today, it seemed like some unlucky soul had gotten on his nerves.

 

The shouting continued to echo, and Evan glanced towards the window. His brows furrowed slightly as he spotted an unexpected face next to the Commander.

 

In front of the angry elderly man, Jin was standing frozen, completely stiff. 

 

The girl, directly hit by the yelling, was sitting there as if frozen. Beneath her pale face, her hands were faintly trembling. However, it seemed that no one in the hall had any intention of helping the small Asian girl. 

 

‘…What does that have to do with me?’

 

Evan, frowning as he watched the scene, shook his head and turned his gaze away from Jin. Just as the girl pretended not to see him, there was no reason for Evan to acknowledge Jin either.

 

Turning his attention back to the wooden ball, Evan calculated the distance and adjusted his grip on the mallet. 

 

‘Mr. Wayne doesn’t seem to like me very much.’

 

Just as tension was about to creep into his shoulders, the girl’s voice—murmuring to herself one early morning in the garden—faintly brushed past his mind. The face that had smiled sheepishly while saying that sometimes it was hard, and sometimes it was lonely, came to him too.

 

All the while, the furious old man kept shouting so loudly that even Evan, standing outside the window, felt his ears ache. The sheer volume of the voice kept draining the strength from his body. The wooden mallet moved toward the ball, only to hesitate and stop again and again. 

 

“…Still, it has nothing to do with me.” 

 

Shaking off useless thoughts, Evan tightened his arm muscles and swung the mallet with full force. 

 

Boom!

 

The sound that rang out was far too loud to be just a mallet hitting a ball. The ball, shot out like a bolt of lightning, missed its intended target—hoop number 11—and instead slammed into a window of the nursing home just behind it. 

 

The sound was so loud that it seemed excessive for just the mallet hitting the ball. The ball, shot like a lightning bolt, struck not the intended 11th hoop, but the window of the nursing home right behind it.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

The elderly spectators watching the croquet game gaped at Evan, their mouths hanging open. The shouting that had been piercing everyone’s ears, and the murmuring voices within the hall, all fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on one spot. 

 

Evan, who had immediately focused everyone’s attention, picked up the ball without a care and opened the window.

 

Drrrk.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s my first time playing croquet, and I guess I misjudged my strength.” 

 

Tossing the wooden ball lightly and catching it with a grin, he looked carefree—yet there was something about him that made it hard to hate. 

 

Startled by the loud noise, the elderly who had been frowning gradually relaxed their expressions and slowly nodded their heads. 

 

Jin, whose pale face had regained a bit of color, was seen letting out a breath as the attention shifted away from her. 

 

The girl gently bit and released her lower lip before quietly opening her mouth. Her calm voice spread through the quiet hall. 

 

“Looks like this site doesn’t offer the Wall Street Journal. In cases like this, it’s better to just go directly to the newspaper’s official website…” 

 

At Jin’s voice, the old man shouted back with a mix of outrage and indignation on his face. 

 

“You—are you sure you even know what you’re talking about…!” 

 

And no sooner had the old man cut her off than Jin spoke up again. 

 

“After the invention of the abacus, Pascal created the first digital calculator, and Leibniz invented the binary system.” 

 

“….”

 

The old man’s face changed to a puzzled expression at the words that seemed out of context. Regardless of how he looked at her, Jin resolutely continued speaking. 

 

“The concept of the modern computer was first introduced by Charles Babbage, and the development of punch cards laid the groundwork. Just before World War II, Alan Turing devised the Turing Machine, and that’s when the idea of a general-purpose computer capable of performing computational tasks emerged…” 

 

“Enough, enough! What on earth are you trying to do?” 

 

The old man, fed up with the endless explanation, cut him off in the middle of his sentence. 

 

“You doubted whether I knew anything about computers. That’s why I started reciting the history of their invention.…Would you like me to continue?”

 

The girl blinked slowly as she spoke, her expression clearly showing that she was more than ready to keep going with this nonsense anytime. 

 

The elderly man, momentarily stunned, shook his head with a face full of disgust. 

 

“…Fine. If you know so much, just hurry up and look up the news.” 

 

“This site’s new to me too, so I got a little flustered. I’m sorry. If you give me just a bit of time, I’ll walk you through it step by step.” 

 

As Jin spoke calmly, the old man waved his hand dismissively, as if telling her to do as she pleased. Evan, who had seen the girl clench and unclench her trembling hands beneath the table, turned away.

 

Without needing any more help, Jin handled the situation on her own. Evan chuckled as he threw and caught the ball. 

 

Sometimes, that girl showed a surprising amount of grit like that. She did back when she shattered all the glassware in the chemistry lab—and she is doing it again now. 

 

She acted like a shy honor student most of the time, but when it really mattered, she’d look you straight in the eye without flinching. It was fun not knowing what she’d do next whenever she unfolded that stubbornness she usually kept neatly tucked away.

 

Evan, who had been chuckling to himself, suddenly realized the corners of his lips were lifted—and quickly wiped the expression from his face. 

 

This is just, well… It’s just that the situation is obviously funny, that’s all. 

 

However, even in the face of an entirely reasonable and perfectly valid explanation, he couldn’t shake off a peculiar sense of frustration and furrowed his brow. 

 

Then why bother getting involved in something so troublesome? The unanswerable question hovered around his head, leaving behind an uncomfortable aftertaste.

 

As he tapped the handle of his mallet with irritated fingers, an elderly woman who had been inspecting the window for cracks beside him suddenly spoke to Evan. 

 

“What a shame, dear. I thought you were about to finish the game right then. How did the ball end up over there?” 

 

The ball, which had been heading toward the hoop as if it had been magnetized, suddenly completely missed its path and bounced. The wooden ball, which usually rolls tightly on the ground, was hit by the hammer and flew like a bullet. 

 

It was the most unusual sight the elderly woman had witnessed since staying at the nursing home. 

 

“We’ve got plenty of time. Let’s just say I’m playing at a leisurely pace, well.”

 

The person who had created the spectacle simply shrugged his shoulders shamelessly.

 

Evan glanced into the hall and turned his eyes back to the game.

 

Right. I didn’t help Jin—I just resolved the situation to protect my sanity and eardrums. It was supposed to be moderately loud, not that loud. 

 

He shook his head as if to clear away the lingering distractions and refocused on the game. 

 

* * * 

 

Kiiiek.

 

It was not long after Jonathan and Evan had resumed their game that a group of children came rushing in through the barbed-wire gate. 

 

Evan looked ahead, cutting off the distracting thoughts that kept coming to his mind while bouncing the ball.

 

The men who came in with vulgar jokes mixed with profanity greeted the two noisily and took their seats on the floor at the edge of the court.

 

“Hey. How long are you guys going to play?”

 

“Just wait a minute. It’s the last game.”

 

The boys, nodding at Jonathan’s words, made a few comments on Evan and Jonathan’s game while waiting for their turn, but soon grew bored and started chatting among themselves. 

 

As expected, the topic was girls. The names of every girl considered pretty at Crawford passed through their mouths at least once. 

 

As is typical of boastful boys, crude evaluations and low-grade rumors—things they would never dare say to anyone’s face—spread and swelled among them. 

 

Jonathan seemed quite bothered by those words, but Evan, well, he didn’t care. 

 

It was a familiar sight. There were many people gathered around Evan, and that kind of people were no exception. 

 

High school boys, somewhere between immature children and adults, would puff out their shoulders as if it were their achievement while verbally belittling the girl. For her small butt, her big nose, her sensitive temper, her stupidity, her smartness. There were many places to criticize. 

 

Emily Gwen was a regular on their list. The queen bee with her pretty blonde hair and aloof demeanor—someone nearly every boy had secretly admired at least once—made for an easy target. Passed around in the boys’ conversations, Gwen was quickly reduced to the stereotype of a dumb, sexy blonde. 

 

“Hey, hey.” 

 

As Gwen’s name came up again today, one of the boys nudged Evan with a sly glance. It seemed they’d heard the rumors about something going on between him and Gwen. They lowered their voices for a moment, watching Evan closely for any hint of a reaction. 

 

Jonathan glanced at Evan. The quick-witted guy knew why they were checking his mood, but he didn’t give him a single glance as if he was telling them to talk freely. 

 

When Evan didn’t show any reaction, his voice became louder as if he was relieved.

 

“Isn’t Joey McCoy pretty cute too?”

 

“She talks a lot.”

 

“Yeah, true. But still, the Reel is so cute.” 

 

The topic of conversation had somehow shifted from Gwen to McCoy. When one of them pulled up Joey’s account on their phone and played a Reel, a fast-tempo song began to play. 

 

“Isn’t that her? The transfer student.” 

 

“Yeah. Asian.” 

 

Thump.

 

Evan’s dribble was messed up.