Lie Again! Chapter 40

<Chapter 40. Window, Phone, and Movie (2)>

 

– Freeze! Get your hands in the air!

 

In a dark living room where a scene of an investigator subduing a criminal with a gun was playing, a high school student who was caught trying to sneak out while leaning against the sound of the TV was frozen and making eye contact with an elementary school student.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

After a moment of silence between them, Jin, who had been frozen in place, timidly brought her index finger up to her lips.

 

‘Shh.’

 

Ivy stared intently at Jin, then shook her head and mimed zipping her lips shut before turning her attention back to the TV.

 

Only then did Jin breathe a sigh of relief, quietly making her way to the front door and gently turning the lock.

 

The thunderous sound of the lock snapping open startled Jin until the very end, but fortunately, it seemed to be buried in the gunshots of the detective on the TV chasing the criminal.

 

Jin briefly looked around and safely exited the front door.

 

‘I shouldn’t do this twice.’

 

Jin only let out a sigh of relief after feeling the touch of the long-grown garden grass beneath her bare feet.

 

One thing Jin realized today, rebellion just wasn’t in her nature. Just sneaking out of the house had her heart pounding—so what more could be said about doing anything bolder?

 

Just as Jin dropped the shoes in her hand onto the ground with a soft thud.

 

“Are you into earthing or something? You’re always barefoot whenever I see you.”

 

“There is something like that.”

 

Evan, who appeared from the shade of the bushes, nodded toward Jin’s feet and asked. Jin quickly brushed off the dirt and put on her shoes, grumbling. Maybe it was the relief of having snuck out of the house without Riley noticing, but her expression was bright.

 

“What movie are you going to see today?”

 

“You’ll see when we get there.”

 

It was when the two were heading toward Evan’s car, chatting about trivial things.

 

“Hey, kids. You should at least tell me when you’ll be back.”

 

The sound of the window opening was followed by a familiar voice.

 

Jin’s steps came to a halt as if her feet were glued to the ground, and a strange silence descended on the quiet garden.

 

‘I’m screwed.’

 

Countless thoughts flashed through Jin’s mind. The impulse to run away just like this shook her.

 

But if she wanted to keep living at Riley’s house, that was out of the question.

 

“…Riley?”

 

Regaining her composure, Jin mustered her courage and turned around, only to lock eyes with Riley, who was leaning against the window frame, narrowing her eyes at them. Next to her, Ivy shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest in an “X,” signaling that she wasn’t the culprit.

 

“So, um… I just stepped out for a bit and planned to come right back. I really was only going to watch the movie and then come inside. I was worried Riley might be worried…”

 

Jin, fumbling with a nervous voice as she tried to explain, fell silent under the steady gaze fixed on her.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Jin’s head dropped with a soft thud. After accepting her apology, Riley nodded, then shifted her gaze toward Evan.

 

Riley pointed at her own eyes once, then at Evan’s eyes with two fingers, looking straight at the smiling Evan.

 

“No alcohol, no smoking, no drugs, no sex—none of that. Just watch the movie quietly and come back.”

 

Jin jumped up in shock at the unexpected, huge list of forbidden things. Especially at the last forbidden word, her face flushed red as her eyes darted around nervously.

 

“I’ll make sure you get home safely.”

 

However, it seemed that only Jin was feeling embarrassed here, as Evan playfully raised both hands and gave a refreshing answer.

 

Hearing the answer she wanted, Riley let out a big sigh and, as if she had no choice, reluctantly gave her permission for Jin and Evan’s night outing.

 

“I trust you. Come straight home as soon as it’s over.”

 

Jin nodded quickly. Seeing the expression full of apology and nervousness, Riley let out a small chuckle.

 

“Have fun.”

 

With Riley and Ivy seeing her off, Jin finally got into the car. It had taken far too long to get to this Mustang that was only a few steps away from her room.

 

A date with Evan Butterfield wasn’t easy from the start. Even before they could set off, Jin was already exhausted—she let out a quiet sigh, swallowed back before it could escape.

 

They drove out to a drive-in theater near a lakeside on the outskirts of the city. Jin had been to regular movie theaters plenty of times, but this was her first experience at a drive-in. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked around the unfamiliar setting.

 

Following the directions given at the entrance, they arrived at a wide open space. In the center of the grass-covered clearing stood a massive screen, standing solitary and tall. To the left, a large lake lay shrouded in darkness, appearing as a vast patch of black. On the right, a thick forest encircled the clearing, its trees forming a quiet, natural barrier around the space.

 

By the time Jin and Evan pulled into a parking spot, the opening sequence was already well underway. Perhaps because tonight’s feature was a fairly old film, there weren’t many cars parked around.

 

An elderly couple, seated outside their car on folding chairs, glanced over as Evan’s Mustang rolled in with a low rumble. Before disturbing their movie experience any further, the Mustang glided smoothly into an empty spot in the quieter back row.

 

Grrrk.

 

In the quiet car where Evan was turning the button to tune the radio frequency, a hungry sound resonated faintly from somewhere.

 

‘I should have eaten dinner.’

 

Jin, the source of the sound, bit her lower lip with an embarrassed expression. Her stomach, which hadn’t felt hungry at all earlier, was now loudly demanding food.

 

Pretending it wasn’t her, Jin crossed her arms and pressed down firmly on her stomach. But no matter how much she tried to tense her abdomen, the sporadic growling refused to stop.

 

Jin, whose ears were red, glanced at Evan. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice, and he tuned the radio frequency without saying anything and turned away.

 

Bang! Bang!

 

Soon, the urgent sound of gunfire as the protagonist was chased by villains filled the car. The movie Jonathan had recommended was one of the early entries in a famous spy series.

 

Just as Jin, reassured by the movie’s sound filling the car, tried to ignore her growling stomach and focus on the screen, something happened.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

Evan, who was watching the screen, suddenly said something insignificant.

 

“…No,  it’s okay.”

 

Startled by the sudden question, Jin flinched and lied, but at the same moment, her stomach growled loudly once again.

 

Why did she have to do it now, without realizing it?

 

Jin, embarrassed by her stomach’s relentless demands that cared nothing for her dignity, squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Jin, embarrassed by her stomach’s relentless demands that cared nothing for her dignity, squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

 

After laughing for quite a while, Evan opened the door and got out of the car. Watching him walk away toward the ticket booth, Jin let out a groan and covered her face with her hands.

 

A little while later, Evan returned with his hands full of nachos, hot dogs, and pizza.

 

Jin mumbled with an embarrassed look upon seeing the precariously stacked pile of food.

 

“I’m really okay.”

 

“I know. I bought it to eat.”

 

“Ah.”

 

Jin’s face flushed red once more. I see. As Jin mumbled a reply and turned her head away, Evan grinned mischievously and slid the food onto her lap.

 

“Eat.” 

 

Jin shot him a subtle glare. She was pretty sure she’d been called smart more than a few times in her life, but whenever she was around Evan, she just felt stupid.

 

Jin opened the window to cool her flushed cheeks and muttered a thank you.

 

“…I’ll eat well.”

 

Evan shrugged.

 

The movie was just so-so. The spectacle of an old black-and-white film felt clumsy to modern eyes accustomed to dazzling special effects and CGI. Every time Jin tried to immerse herself in the story, some awkward setup would pull her right back out.

 

On top of that, the actors’ Mid-Atlantic accents—a curious blend of American and British pronunciation—made it even harder to catch the already fast-paced dialogue. Jin found herself watching the movie as if piecing together clues, relying on context to guess what was being said.

 

Judging by the occasional yawns Evan let out as he quietly watched the film, it didn’t seem like he was particularly enjoying it either.

 

‘Unexpected taste.’

 

As Jin sat through the dull movie, she found herself reevaluating Jonathan’s taste. According to Evan, Hanson—who, in his words, “looked like he’d only be into stuff like Spider-Man”—was surprisingly fond of classic films. He even browsed eBay in his spare time to collect Blu-rays of Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando.

 

It was Hanson’s strong recommendation that led them to watch this movie. Thanks to Hanson’s unusual hobby, they ended up spending two hours on a Friday night watching a film that didn’t suit their tastes.

 

The dialogue was hard to understand, the spectacle was clumsy, and the movie was so boring that it made them yawn from time to time.

 

But despite all that, if someone asked her if she was bored, Jin would say no.

 

The sound mixed with the crackling of the old radio had its own charm, and the soft chatter of the elderly couple discussing the movie through the open window, along with the distant croaking of frogs by the lakeside, added a certain poetic atmosphere.

 

In fact, more than anything else, what made Jin think the movie was “not bad” was the boy sitting beside her.

 

When the protagonist in the movie made a joke and they unexpectedly laughed together, when he yawned and gave an embarrassed smile, when he mimicked the funny accent—these small moments made Jin’s heart flutter. She felt so reluctant for the boring movie to end.

 

Jin glanced at the face flickering in the darkness under the screen light, and then rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.