Lie Again! Chapter 53

<Chapter 53. Teal and Orange (3)> 

 

“N, no. It’s just that, even when the teacher suddenly calls on you, you always do well… so I wondered if maybe you solved them in advance.” 

 

Jin was about to respond to the sudden question.

 

“Lee Jin! Let’s go to the store.”

 

Minchae suddenly cut in and tapped the desk. With a bright smile, she greeted Juhyun, causing the earlier conversation to fizzle out awkwardly. Jin also quickly erased the trivial exchange from her mind.

 

“I’ll take this and this!”

 

“I’ll just take a drink. Thank you, Jin.”

 

“I’ll eat well!”

 

Minchae and the other kids piled drinks and bread onto the convenience store counter and thanked Jin with cheerful voices.

 

Jin, who hadn’t even offered to buy anything and had only brought a single cup of coffee for herself, turned to Minchae with an awkward expression.

 

She was embarrassed that she ended up paying naturally without saying anything.

 

“Should I buy it?”

 

“Your family’s rich. I got my allowance cut this time because my grades dropped. Come on, just this once, hmm?”

 

At Jin’s question, Minchae crossed her arms and acted coy. Jin thought of Minchae’s mom—whom she called “aunt.” Knowing her aunt’s strict nature, it was obvious that even a slight drop in grades would’ve led to a sharp cut in allowance. She could easily guess how tight Minchae’s wallet must be.

 

…But, still.

 

‘Why does she act like it’s so obvious…’

 

However, having once grown distant from her closest friend made it hard for Jin to say no. During that time of unexplained distance, Jin had felt like she was walking on thin ice every day—cautious, and uncomfortable.

 

The friends who ate lunch and spent breaks with Jin in Minchae’s absence treated her kindly, but it wasn’t easy to feel at ease as someone who had suddenly joined the group. Faced with conversations she didn’t fully follow and jokes she didn’t completely understand, Jin instinctively responded with a smile.

 

Even so, whenever Minchae laughed loudly with her friends and glanced in her direction, Jin’s heart would pound with unease. Are they talking about me? What are they saying?

 

Jin didn’t want to go through that time again.

 

‘…I can buy it for you. Let’s not act so petty.’

 

“Alright. Is this enough?”

 

“As expected, our Jin is the best.” 

 

Minchae smiled and hugged Jin.

 

Thud.

 

A dodgeball flew in and hit Jin’s arm, bouncing far past the line. Small grumbles of discontent came from her teammates.

 

“Ah, Lee Jin! Try to block it better! How many times has it been now?”

 

For some reason, the ball kept flying toward Jin today. She had been out early and was standing on the defense line, yet the team’s attacks kept aligning with where she stood. Even after asking another friend to switch spots with her, it kept happening.

 

Jin apologized and ran towards the ball. She was anxious because she had to quickly resume the game that was interrupted because of her.

 

“Look at her run. So funny.”

 

A voice flew into the back of Jin’s head.

 

At the sound of the familiar voice, the kids burst out laughing. Knowing everyone was watching how clumsily she was running only made her nervous running even more awkward. Jin’s face flushed bright red all the way to her ears.

 

“Earlier, you…”

 

As P.E. class ended, the students gathered in small groups and headed back to the classroom. Minchae naturally came up to Jin’s side and linked arms with her. Watching Minchae’s cheerful smile, Jin hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

 

“Mm? What’s wrong? Ah, dodgeball was fun today! Right?”

 

“…It’s nothing.”

 

However, seeing Minchae cheerfully chatting away, Jin couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. She wasn’t completely sure if the voice she’d heard behind her really belonged to Minchae, and she didn’t want to ruin the bond they had only just begun to rebuild with a groundless suspicion.

 

Since that day, Minchae began to occasionally embarrass Jin in front of others. She would mock her for not being good at sports, make unreasonable demands under the guise of friendship, or blatantly ignore her when she spoke.

 

Whenever Jin tried to bring up the issue, Minchae would always brush it off with a light tone. That’s not what I meant, or Did I do that? I didn’t realize. And with that, Jin would have nothing more to say.

 

Jin held back her words because she didn’t want to ruin the mood—because she didn’t want to fight. When it was just the two of them, Minchae was the kindest friend, the same best friend she’d had since they were six years old.

 

‘If I just endure it for a little while, everything will be okay.’

 

Time passed like that. The “just this once” treat happened several more times, and Jin began to hate P.E. class.

 

Drrrk.

 

It was just a few days after the final exams had ended.

 

As soon as Jin arrived at school and opened the door, she met eyes with her classmate, Yooyeon. Yooyeon was one of the few people Jin, who was usually shy around others, felt comfortable with. Jin smiled and greeted her first.

 

“Hello.”

 

“….”

 

But the greeting was not returned—Yooyeon simply turned away and walked back to her seat.

 

Did she not hear me? Jin looked at her retreating back with a puzzled expression, but without thinking too much of it, she made her way to her seat.

 

“You came early?”

 

Jin placed her bag on her seat and greeted her seatmate. Surprisingly, Juhyun—who was usually just barely on time—had arrived earlier than Jin today.

 

“….”

 

However, Juhyun merely glanced at Jin, then pushed back her chair and walked over to another friend. Left all alone, Jin stared at her in bewilderment.

 

However, this inexplicable cold treatment didn’t end with Yooyeon and Juhyun.

 

Tuk.

 

“Ah.”

 

Someone bumped into Jin from behind while she was taking a book out of her locker. As her body was shoved forward, her hand slammed into the corner of the locker, and a small groan escaped her lips.

 

“What? Is there something there?”

 

“There’s nothing there, so why are you bumping into it?”

 

“That’s right. What did I bump into?”

  

Instead of apologizing or worrying, the kids just laughed among themselves and talked about something incomprehensible.

  

Jin looked around in confusion. The kids in her class were watching the situation and giggling, but no one made eye contact with Jin.

 

As if they couldn’t see her.

 

Drrrk.

 

While Jin stood there blankly, unable to grasp the situation, the back door opened. Minchae, who hadn’t been seen on the way to school that morning, was now walking in.

 

And the moment Jin saw that relaxed expression on Minchae’s face, she understood exactly how things had unfolded. There was no need for evidence or explanation—she just knew. Ah, it must’ve been her.

 

Jin walked over to Minchae.

 

“Can we talk?”

 

“Jimin, hi. Jaeeun-ah, the bread you mentioned wasn’t at the snack bar.”

 

Minchae passed Jin by and smiled brightly and spoke to the kids.

 

Minchae, hey~ Really? The owner said they’d restock it though. Anyway, thanks. Whether Jin’s expression hardened or not, their conversation flowed along peacefully.

 

Even if Jin were to suddenly scream at the top of her lungs, it felt like no one here would care. Treated like she was completely invisible, shame and humiliation began to creep up from the tips of her toes, slowly engulfing her whole being.

 

A crackling sound like a fuse burning underground echoed faintly. Gritting her teeth, Jin strode purposefully toward Minchae.

 

“…What is wrong with you? If you have a problem with me, just say it. Don’t act so childish like this.”

 

“Oh, right. Remember the person I mentioned before? They contacted me yesterday.”

 

As Minchae continued speaking without even turning around, Jin’s patience finally reached its limit.

 

“…Kim Minchae. I put up with you ignoring my messages, brushing off everything I say, suddenly showing up with excuses and asking me to buy things, laughing and chatting with your friends right next to me like I wasn’t there—all of it. Because I didn’t want to fight with you. Because I wanted things to go back to how they used to be!”

 

As her voice grew louder, all eyes turned toward Jin. She could feel more than twenty pairs of eyes watching her, observing like she was a spectacle. Jin clenched her trembling hands tightly.

 

“I’ve thought about it dozens of times—maybe I did something wrong, maybe there’s a reason you’re mad. But no matter how much I try, I just can’t figure it out. Why are you doing this to me, Minchae? I really…”

 

Overwhelmed with emotion, Jin trailed off and pressed a hand to her forehead. Despite trying her hardest to stay composed, her voice trembled pitifully at the end.

 

After Jin finally let out all the words she had been holding in, only then did Minchae slowly turn her head toward her.

 

Faced with the very explosion she had desperately wanted to avoid, Jin tensed up and dug her nails into her skin.

 

“….”

 

But contrary to Jin’s expectations, Minchae neither got angry nor looked hurt. Minchae was just laughing heartily. It seemed like she was having so much fun in this situation. 

 

“It’s a hidden camera prank! You got fooled!”

 

At the same time as Minchae’s words, a burst of loud laughter erupted. Jin looked around with trembling eyes.

 

“Jin, you’re not angry, are you?”

 

“It’s just a joke, aren’t you taking it too seriously? Minchae must feel embarrassed.”

 

 Everyone was looking this way, laughing. Unlike the faces of those who were laughing as if they were having fun, Jin didn’t even know what expression she was making. All their senses were jumbled up in a whirlwind of confusion.

 

Instead of exploding with a bang, the bomb beneath the ground opened its jaws wide and swallowed Jin whole. The unfamiliar emotions tightening from all directions made it hard to breathe.

 

‘You even make my anger look like a joke…’