Lie Again! Chapter 48

<Chapter 48. Christmas Chaos (2)>

 

We can’t meet this week.

Jin.

 

* * *

 

On the fourth day of exams, the moment the bell rang signaling the end of the Spanish test, Ruth collapsed into his seat. With a drained face, he turned to look at Jin.

 

“Praise me quickly, Jin.”

 

He waved the Spanish notebook he had managed to borrow from Jin, pushing past Evan’s interference to get it. He had powered through the thick stack in just two days—and had gone down in flames heroically.

 

Jin couldn’t help but burst into laughter as she looked at Ruth, who seemed—maybe it was just her imagination—as if he’d turned completely pale. 

 

“Yeah, well done. From now on, you’re the real Evan.”

 

Ruth gave a crooked smile at her tone, which was mimicking Joey from some time ago.

 

“You’re required to call me Evan for the rest of the day.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

The two of them got up from their tired bodies. As she packed her bags and headed to the cafeteria, a deep sigh escaped Ruth’s lips.

 

“Oh, it’s lunchtime again. Aaaah.”

 

There was one reason why Ruth was so disgusted by the twelve o’clock hour, which he would normally welcome. Jin said, looking at Ruth, who was groaning, with pity.

 

“I’ll pass on lunch today.”

 

Today, instead of sharing in Ruth’s suffering, Jin planned to escape to the music room. Her mind felt foggy after constantly pushing herself to think while running on too little sleep.

 

“I don’t even want lunch today. I just want to let those two eat on their own, honestly.”

 

If they went to the cafeteria now, Joey would be grumbling the whole time while Amanda sat in silence, the two of them sitting far apart. And since she wouldn’t be there today, Dustin and Ruth would probably split up and each eat with one of them.

 

Ever since the argument a few days ago, things hadn’t been good between Joey and Amanda.

 

Whenever the two happened to cross paths, Joey would express her anger as loudly as possible—slamming cabinet doors shut or stomping her feet as she walked—while Amanda responded with icy indifference. Needless to say, that only made Joey even more furious.

 

It was the other three who were caught in the crossfire of the two girls’ conflict. Their group chat, once constantly active, had fallen silent as if a deep freeze had set in. Since Joey and Amanda wouldn’t so much as speak to each other—let alone make eye contact—the remaining three had taken turns being lunch buddies, making sure no one was left to eat alone.

 

This, too, was not an easy task.

 

“…You’ve been through a lot, Ru—Evan.”

 

Jin gave Ruth a sympathetic pat on the back. Remembering their deal to call him Evan for the day, she quickly corrected herself, and Ruth let out a small chuckle. Then, taking a deep breath, he braced himself with renewed determination.

 

“Today, I’m going to make those two eat together—no matter what.”

 

After parting ways with Ruth, Jin headed to the music room and jiggled the rusty padlock to open the door.

 

It was her first time going there since exam week had started. Ever since she began swim lessons with Evan, the music room had become more of a place to catch up on sleep than to study.

 

‘Well, what else can I do? It’s not like I have anywhere else to rest.’

 

It wasn’t like the school was divided into homerooms like in Korea, and there wasn’t even a proper lounge. Jin did feel a twinge of guilt, wondering if it was really okay to use an off-limits classroom like this—but sleep was a more urgent need, so she shook off the thought.

 

As Jin walked toward the desk, she suddenly stopped at the sight of something unfamiliar. A stack of papers was neatly piled on top of the black piano.

 

‘What is this?”

 

Jin picked up one of the sheets. It was a small piece of paper, folded as if torn from a notebook, with something scribbled on it.

 

The sharp, flowing handwriting—each stroke nearly connecting to the next—felt strangely familiar. Especially the way the tail of the letter y flicked out with a flourish, just like its writer’s temper… and, annoyingly, just as pretty as his face.

 

Then when are you coming?

 

Fail your swimming test.

 

Just kidding. I’ll pray that you come on time.

 

I don’t know why you work so hard. Even kids who are much dumber than you play well.

 

I’m bored.

 

Your hair was pretty long. Don’t ask how I knew.

 

Looks like you did well on the chemistry test. Ross was grinning at your paper like a proud dad.

 

Studying is not fun.

 

I can’t believe I’m dating a nerd 🙁

 

As she flipped through the notes, each one sounding almost like his grumbling voice, Jin let out a small laugh. Looked like her study buddy had a lot to say while she was gone.

 

Each of the stacked notes felt like a glimpse into Evan himself—like traces of the time he’d spent alone in the music room while they hadn’t seen each other.

 

She could easily picture him with a bored look, absentmindedly scribbling with his pen, then folding or crumpling the notes and tossing them onto the piano. The image made her smile.

 

After reading the short messages over and over, Jin carefully gathered the notes and tucked them into her pants pocket. A smile lingered on her face as she turned back toward the desk.

 

* * *

 

The exam ended quickly. Jin barely passed her final test, swimming, with a precarious time of 2 minutes and 54 seconds.

 

Mr. Parker raised an eyebrow at her record, but he knew it was Jin’s best effort, so he just patted her shoulder without a word.

 

Now, all that awaited Jin was winter break. She had thought she’d be able to greet it with a clear mind and a sense of relief—free of worry or stress. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite that smoothly.

 

On Friday at lunch, right after Jin had safely passed her swimming exam, Ruth—worried that Joy and Amanda’s relationship would grow even more distant over the break—decided to take action. Determined to mend things before the holidays, he dragged the two of them over and forced them to sit down together. 

 

Amanda wore a cold, irritated expression, while Joey’s sharp eyes flared with tension. Ruth looked exhausted, Jin anxious, and Dustin kept glancing between the two girls, clearly on edge. It was the first time in nearly a week that all six of them were eating lunch together.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“Do you know what the sound of a witch’s car is?”

 

Dustin opened his mouth in the silence. He couldn’t stand Ruth’s urging to say something.

 

“….”

 

“Broom, broooom, brrr—”

 

Dustin, who had been growling out engine noises in a raspy voice—“Broom, brooom, brrr”—fell silent, unable to withstand the cold stares Amanda and Joey shot at him from either side.

 

“Don’t be an idiot.”

 

Amanda turned her eyes away from him and spoke in a cold, clipped voice. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Dustin looked at her, hurt flashing across his face—How could she say that?—but the reply came from someone else.

 

“You think everything I do is stupid, don’t you?”

 

Joey asked in a low voice. Her pale face without a trace of laughter was unfamiliar.

 

“Then stop giving me a reason to think that. Look at yourself right now. You can’t even get your own act together—how am I supposed to see you in a good way?”

 

“What do you know?! Maybe this is something more important to me than some stupid exam! Can’t you just let it go for once?”

 

Ha. Amanda burst out laughing. Jin watched them with anxious eyes.

 

“Yeah, that must be really important, Joey. So I’m just supposed to watch you throw everything away over some guy? Cheer you on for it?”

 

Grow up.

 

“….”

 

At Amanda’s sarcasm, Joey’s lips pressed tightly shut.