Lie Again! Chapter 30

<Chapter 30. Evan Butterfly (6)> 

 

The ball that had been hitting the floor with a steady rhythm bounced in a strange direction. Jonathan glanced at Evan in confusion at the rare mistake. 

 

Evan silently retrieved the ball and resumed dribbling. Jonathan looked suspicious as he followed Evan, who lowered his posture, bending his knees. 

 

“She looks cute dancing.” 

 

“I thought she’d be tacky since she’s Asian, but she’s actually got good style.”

 

“Still, she’s just Chinese.” 

 

“That’s true.”

 

The body, propelled roughly against the floor, hurriedly attempted a shot over Jonathan’s shoulder. Jonathan clicked his tongue because he was able to block the attack quickly, but he couldn’t take the ball away as he had originally intended.

 

Evan frowned at the ball that had been blocked before it even left his hand for the first time today.

 

“Hey, but that kid’s kind of strange. Her skin is so smooth and flawless, it’s kind of….”  

 

The sound of the ball hitting the floor grew harsher with each bounce. Jonathan, who had been intently waiting for the right moment to snatch the ball, flinched as a loud, sharp noise reverberated through the court. 

 

“Kind of what?” 

 

“I wanted to touch it.”

 

The sound of sneakers screeching against the floor pierced the air as they quickly changed direction. In an attempt to spin around and break through, Evan’s body was abruptly stopped when Jonathan reached out and grabbed him. 

 

Just before his hand could hit the ball, Jonathan forcefully collided his wrist with Evan’s shoulder as he aggressively pushed forward. 

 

Fuck. A soft grunt escaped Jonathan’s mouth as a curse slipped out. Evan, looking at him with an irritated expression, ran a hand through his hair and raised his hand in a gesture of apology. 

 

“Take it easy, take it easy.” 

 

Jonathan twisted his sore wrist as he scolded Evan. Half-joking, half-annoyed, he gave him a playful but reproachful look. Jonathan was puzzled, though, because aggressively charging with his shoulder to force a path or using rough hands wasn’t typically Evan’s style. 

 

‘This guy is acting strange.’

 

The game resumed, and Jonathan calmly blocked Evan’s fierce attacks, gradually observing him more closely. The shot he was trying to make over his shoulder was a fake. Probably aiming for the bottom right. There was a weak point in the play that had been like an iron fortress before. 

 

Thanks to Jonathan’s calm reading of the game, Evan’s attack routes were blocked one by one. 

 

Evan muttered a quiet curse through clenched teeth. Does he even realize he’s scowling right now?

 

Jonathan looked at his friend, who was always easygoing, with a strange look of irritation that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

 

Just as Evan lowered his stance to make another attempt at the attack, loud laughter erupted from those who had settled on one side of the court.

 

“This b*stard’s got yellow fever.”

 

“Tsk, I’m telling you, it’s not like that! Usually when someone’s pale, they look sickly, but her skin’s more like… milky, you know?” 

 

“Hey, I take swimming class with her, and I saw her once… her body’s kinda…” 

 

Whiiik— Thud!

 

The ball shot like lightning from Evan’s hand, but instead of heading for the rim, it slammed violently into the face of one of the boys sitting on the edge of the court. 

 

The sound was so loud that the boy sitting next to him flinched. A heavy silence fell over the once-noisy court. 

 

With wide eyes, Jonathan stood frozen in an awkward posture, alternately glancing between Evan and the boy who had been hit in the face. 

 

Gulp.

 

A stream of blood flowed from the man’s nose, who had a bewildered expression, not knowing what had happened. Jonathan, terrified, ran to him and covered his nose with the hem of his shirt. 

 

“Hey, hey, Cameron! You okay? I mean, why the hell did the ball go that way…?” 

 

Jonathan, who had been scolding Evan, trailed off. His face, which always smiled, was bleak without a trace of smile. Evan, who had been looking down at them coldly, turned around and left the basketball court.

 

“Tsk. Hey, sorry, sorry!”

 

With a troubled expression, Jonathan ruffled his hair, mumbled an apology, and got up to follow Evan. Evan’s pace was so fast that Jonathan had to hurry to catch up, and by the time he did, Evan’s back was already disappearing into the distance. 

 

Despite feeling Jonathan’s presence, Evan silently looked straight ahead and walked. His face was unexpectedly filled with annoyance.

 

Jonathan, who had been looking at his profile with a strange gaze, suddenly spoke.

 

“Do you like her?”

 

There was no object in the sentence, but Jonathan figured neither of them here would fail to understand who he meant. He should have made it a little obvious.

 

The transfer student who suddenly appeared in Crawford got into a fight with Evan Butterfield as soon as he arrived, causing a scandal and getting involved in a flashy way, and then leading him to do all sorts of strange things.

 

She made Evan Butterfield participate in after-school cleaning without fail—and for a while, Jonathan would watch him like a ghost whenever Evan headed to the chemistry lab—and then, in the crowded bleachers, he got caught up in a love scandal, drawing all eyes to him.   

 

Recently, he even saw Evan make a great miss in a crucial croquet game.

 

Ever since the transfer student arrived, he had often felt like his friend was no longer the person he used to know—but recently, something happened and their relationship suddenly became cold. 

 

Not only did the transfer student ignore Evan, but Evan, who used to smile and scratch the transfer student on purpose whenever he saw him, also coldly ignored the girl.

 

In fact, that was the strangest part. The way Evan Butterfield usually dealt with girls was by approaching them with feigned cheerfulness or sly charm, teasing them playfully—then pulling away once they seemed enchanted. Not… ignoring them like this. 

 

Evan Butterfield was the kind of guy who could still joke around with girls he’d had messy rumors with—even after things ended badly between them. 

 

If he was going to ignore someone, he should have done it completely, but Evan would glance at the transfer student as she passed by and express his own irritation in his own way. He would rest his chin on his hand, tap his fingers on the desk, nervously spin a pen, or give a crooked smile. 

 

To others, it seemed like nothing—on the contrary, according to some of the girls, it looked relaxed and cool—but to Jonathan, who had been friends with the sensitive and temperamental guy since childhood, it was clear that Evan was irritated. 

 

“What.”

 

“That kid.” 

 

“F*ck, stop cutting around the edges and just say it straight.”

 

Oh, so annoying. Jonathan, who was considering teasing him a little more since these opportunities don’t come easily, gave up after seeing Evan’s furrowed brow. 

 

Before his old friend could punch him, he threw a fastball.

 

“Transfer student. Jin Lee. Do you like her?”

 

Ha! 

 

Evan let out a sharp, mocking laugh, reacting as if he’d just heard something completely ridiculous.

 

“Me? Isn’t it that she likes me?” 

 

“She doesn’t seem to be that interested in you. She avoids you. Her expression hardened whenever you’re around.” 

 

Isn’t she more on the side of disliking you? 

 

Jonathan, partly serious, poked at Evan. Whether Jonathan’s words hit the mark or not, Evan’s footsteps, which had been moving swiftly, abruptly came to a halt.

 

Evan looked back at Jonathan and smiled fiercely. Jonathan whistled, seeing the burning pride of a teenager in his green eyes.

 

“Want to bet? I’ll confess to Lee first, or not.”

 

If I win, you’ll give me all your money. And those Jordan sneakers.

 

That evening, Evan sent a text message to the number he had gotten from Jonathan.

 

And then, he was beautifully dismissed.