Lie Again! Chapter 41

<Chapter 41. On the fence (1)>

 

The house, adorned with Christmas decorations a month early, radiated warmth and anticipation for the year’s end, filling the air with a cozy sense of holiday cheer.

 

Even in Florida, where winters were rarely cold, a mountain of firewood had already been stacked by the fireplace—proof enough of their excitement for the season.

 

Green, red, and gold curtains covered the walls, and Christmas wreaths hung from every window, candles placed here and there, and poinsettias filled the spacious living room.

 

In the corner stood a towering fir tree, looking as though it had been freshly cut from the forest. It was adorned with sparkling ornaments, and beneath it, life-sized illuminated reindeer and neatly wrapped gift boxes made the tree all the more dazzling.

 

It was a mansion that seemed to have gathered every Christmas in the world into one place. Even Jin, who had grown used to the Ruths’ grand living room after frequent visits, couldn’t help but let out a gasp at how beautiful it all was.

 

Inside the mansion, brimming with the enchantment of Christmas, five children had gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving break. Technically, they were playing chess—but in reality, they were using the chess pieces to play a game of Gomoku.

 

“You’re putting it there? Are you stupid or something?”

 

As soon as Dustin, who was seriously contemplating while holding a white knight, put down the piece, everyone around him started to scold him.

 

“Be quiet. I have a plan.”

 

However, before Dustin could even carry out his grand plan, Jin blocked him by completing a line of five black pieces first. As soon as the outcome was decided, the spectators brushed it off as expected and casually pushed Dustin aside to bring in Amanda.

 

Ruth, Joey, and Dustin were defeated by Jin one after another, and she was the only hope left.

 

And while Jin was placing pieces with her hands to face off against the four other kids, her mind was on the verge of exploding with entirely different thoughts.

 

‘What do you want to do with me?’

 

Jin recalled Evan’s teasing face. Since their date at the drive-in theater, the two had been maintaining a strange kind of relationship.

 

Before the first period began, Jin would often run into Evan when stopping by the lockers. The two would brush past each other, pretending not to notice one another with the most natural indifference.

 

However, at the same time, a message would arrive on Jin’s phone.

 

[Hi.]

 

After reading the message, Jin looked at Evan’s retreating figure. The boy, walking along while chatting with his group, subtly slipped one hand behind his back. Then, with a gentle sway, he gave a quick wave from behind his nimble waist, as if saying hello.

 

Keeping his head fixed forward so the other kids wouldn’t notice, he waved quietly. Seeing that, Jin smirked briefly, then quickly wiped the smile away so no one would catch it. Holding back the corner of her mouth from rising, Jin gathered her books and turned around.

 

Not just in the hallway, but during lunch, before bed, and sometimes even during class, Evan and Jin secretly exchanged messages, avoiding the teacher’s gaze. Most of their talks were just silly chatter that had started in the music room, but no matter what, their conversations kept going.

 

In the meantime, Jin learned a few new things about Evan. For example, his father, Mr. Butterfield, works as a lawyer on the East Coast of the United States, and his mother mostly stays in France, only coming home when she feels like it.

 

It wasn’t just messages that the two of them kept going back and forth.

 

Evan often came by the homestay and threw pebbles at Jin’s attic window—there had been no more unfortunate incidents disturbing Ivy’s sleep—and Jin, with Riley’s permission, or sometimes secretly without it, would sneak out of the house to go on dates with him.

 

On several of their dates—especially when Evan walked Jin home—there was always a strange tension in the air.

 

As the neighborhood dogs, usually so alert, all fell asleep for the night, Evan nervously gripped and released the steering wheel repeatedly. Jin, unsure where to look, fixed her gaze on the empty window outside. Several minutes of silence hovered between them.

 

They both knew they were aware of each other, and they both knew the other knew it too—which only made the atmosphere more awkward. Jin held her breath, feeling like something might happen at any moment.

 

However.

 

‘Goodbye.’

 

The date always ended with Evan folding his eyes prettily into a smile. The tension in the atmosphere suddenly disappeared as the two of them let go of the string they were pulling.

 

On days like that, Jin had to return home carrying a strange sense of emptiness.

 

‘That doesn’t mean I… want to do it or anything. But still, but still!’

 

It was a blow to her pride. Jin recalled the countless rumors surrounding him. 

 

Rumors like Taylor, Nikki, Amber, and several others kissed him, or that Isabel named Evan as the best kiss partner in the truth game, slithered like snakes into Jin’s ears in the cafeteria and in front of the cabinet, settling stubbornly in a corner of her mind, whether she wanted to hear them or not.

 

‘Does that mean you don’t really want to do it with me? Or am I just a friend you’re mistakenly thinking otherwise?’

 

But you said with your own mouth that what we’re doing is a date!

 

“It’s empty over there, over there.”

 

Whether they knew how tangled Jin’s mind was or not, her friends lined up beside the chessboard, leaning in to watch Amanda’s game.

 

“No. You have to block it in advance.”

 

“A person who loses without even attacking once has no right to speak.”

 

Ruth and Dustin started bickering, and then emotionally charged fists flew beneath the table. The brewing underground fight was abruptly ended when Joey clicked her tongue and gave each of them a good punch.

 

Even while all this was happening, Jin kept thinking about Evan. Was Evan’s fondness for her really just staying at the level of friendship? Though it was embarrassing to say out loud, her own intuition quietly whispered that it wasn’t just that.

 

Jin thought back to lunchtime.

 

Difficult and demanding assignments piled up all in the same week, leaving Jin unable to get proper sleep for several days. Overwhelmed by a rising urge to sleep that felt like she might collapse onto the cafeteria floor at any moment, Jin skipped lunch and headed to the music room for a quick nap.

 

It had been a while since she last came here at lunchtime. Not long after transferring, Jin had heard rumors from Joey, and her casual remark had somehow reached Evan. Afraid and avoiding the other kids, she had spent some time taking refuge in the music room, which now looked quite different from back then.

 

If this place used to be a dark and gloomy dust hole with only a piano barely organized, now it was brightened by Jin and Evan’s touch.

 

Two desks placed side by side, red silk curtains that were regaining their original color, a slightly more polished piano, and a wooden floor that was still worn but clean.

 

Compared to the past, when it had been left neglected with no one ever stopping by, it was practically a transformation.

 

Jin took a moment to glance around the room again, then made her way to the desk. Letting out a long yawn, she rested one cheek on the desktop and lay down. A wave of drowsiness washed over her. If she closed her eyes like this, she felt like she could fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

 

‘Lunch break is 30 minutes, so I should be able to get a solid 20 minutes of sleep…’

 

After setting an alarm on her phone, Jin closed her eyes.

 

But thanks to someone’s interruption, Jin’s sweet plan couldn’t be fully carried out.

 

Tuk, tuk.  Jin’s eyelashes fluttered at the tickling sensation of something touching her cheek like a feather and then falling.

 

Someone let out a low chuckle as they pulled their hand away, then tapped her cheek again once her fluttering lashes had calmed. Thanks to that, Jin’s mind, which had sunk deep below the surface, began to slowly stir and rise. 

 

Through her hazy senses, she could faintly hear someone’s voice.

 

“Why aren’t you eating?”

 

A languid voice with a hint of laughter asked a question to the person who didn’t answer. Instead of waiting for an answer, the voice continued to speak.

 

“Well, I’m glad I don’t see you hanging out with them…”

 

‘Are they the Ruth? …Why do they like it when I’m not around my friends?’

 

Jin answered silently to the troublemaker poking her cheek while she pretended to be asleep, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

 

“How long are you going to sit with Evan Ruth? It’s annoying how he grabs your wrist.”

 

‘If it bothers you, so what. You keep hitting me here and there.’

 

Why tell me not to do it? Besides, Jin and Ruth weren’t even that close.

 

Jin pouted as she thought of the girls lingering around Evan—whether they were just friends or potential girlfriends was unclear. The hand pressing her cheek briefly pulled away, but seeing no sign of her opening her eyes, it returned confidently to press the corners of her lips, making them pop out.

 

“Don’t let him rest his arm on your shoulder.”

 

‘Then don’t hang out with Gwen either.’

 

Jin sent the words she’d been holding back quietly in her mind. It was still a story she hesitated to bring up directly to Evan—too embarrassed, like she might seem jealous, and afraid she’d be disappointed if he didn’t listen.

 

While Jin silently conveyed her thoughts, Evan mischievously smiled and playfully puckered Jin’s lips.

 

Just as suspicion began to rise that Evan might have noticed she was awake despite his careless touch toward someone sleeping, he leaned in, whispered something softly, and then walked away.

 

Thud. The door closed, and silence returned to the music room. Under the clear autumn sunlight that had come quickly, only the dust danced silently in the air.

 

Jin quietly got up and looked at the door through which the boy had left, dumbfounded. There was a red heat rising in her earlobes.

 

‘I’m jealous.’

 

Jin squeezed her eyes shut and lay back down on the desk.

 

Riiing! The alarm on her phone, set earlier, rang loudly.