Lie Again! Chapter 65

Chapter 65. The Scent of Rose (4)

 

‘Don’t ever fall in love. It will eat away at you and destroy you….’

 

The murmured words poured out toward a face that looked just like her own. They were not words Jacqueline spoke to her son, but to her childhood self.

 

Evan knows how things end for those who step into emotions they cannot control.

 

Warm and passionate love was only momentary; the love between those two had turned their life together into hell and, in the end, left them tethered to an empty house. 

 

They were ghosts preserved within that house.

 

A mother who had come to distrust people repeated meetings and breakups and cheated easily. A father who found comfort among people did nothing but cycle through meaningless dates, no longer truly sharing his life with anyone.

 

Evan did not want his life to follow the same track as his parents’. He didn’t want to leave behind even the slightest chance of that happening.

 

“….”

 

Evan looked at Jin. Eyes like a deep, dark winter lake. What must the verdant, summer-green season look like after all the ice frozen across the surface melts away? It would be incomparably more serene and radiant than now.

 

By the time he ever saw that sight, it would already be too late.

 

…So, now was the right time. While he could still take his eyes off that girl. 

 

Evan, who had been staring absently at the girl swaying this way and that in the crowd, turned his head away.

 

The vivid black receded from his field of vision. A faint voice followed after his departing ears.

 

If I went back again, I’d only watch your mother smile from far away. From very far away.

 

I hate that I met Henry.

 

Love is an illusion.

 

Evan had already realized that fact the moment the cherry tree in the garden collapsed. 

 

* * * 

 

Jonathan, who had been finishing off his hamburger with his face buried in the tray, peeked up to look ahead. A guy radiating an aura that practically screamed “I’m in a foul mood” was sitting there, barely picking at a single sandwich. 

 

His friend had been strange lately. He was never much of a talker to begin with, but recently he kept his mouth shut tight and hardly ever smiled. 

 

Unlike before, when he would at least humor girls who approached him, recently he either ignored them without a second thought or simply walked away.

 

Thanks to that, his reputation among the girls had been plummeting in real-time. It was a big deal when Madison burst into tears after being harshly ignored by Evan. 

 

Well, after that things had quieted down again. Needless to say, it was because the opinion that even his cold attitude was cool had gained the upper hand.

 

Jonathan shot an aggrieved glance at the face that somehow managed to make girls romanticize it no matter how self-centered or sharp-tongued it behaved. I should’ve been born like that too.

 

Whether Jonathan glared or not, Evan continued to stare down at his phone with an expressionless face.

 

It wasn’t that Jonathan had no idea why he was acting like this.

 

He recalled an unexpected phone call he’d received one day shortly before vacation ended. A number he didn’t recognize flashed on the screen, and how startled he’d been by the unfamiliar yet familiar voice that followed.

 

‘Hello.’

 

One afternoon when he was bored of both basketball and games, Jonathan had been killing time by taking out his carefully displayed collection of classic films and dusting them off one by one.

 

Answering the phone, he wedged it between his shoulder and ear and reached out to pull over a hefty package.

 

-…Hi, Hanson. It’s Lee.

 

‘Lee? Which Lee?’ 

 

Ah, this truly is the essence of a Spaghetti Western. How many times had he scoured eBay to get a brand-new copy, still in the plastic? 

 

Jonathan, who had been stroking the movie that made him feel full even without eating for a while with satisfied eyes, answered haphazardly, having already pushed the phone at his ear to the back of his mind. Does she think she’s the only Lee at Crawford? 

 

-Jin Lee. 

 

‘Oh—oh! Yo, Jin. What’s up?’

 

However, when the most unexpected and most important Lee among all those Lees identified herself, a startled Jonathan grabbed the phone with both hands. 

 

Because of that, the package that had been held nicely in his hand just a moment ago went thud, falling right on its corner. 

 

No! Panicking, Jonathan picked up the box and anxiously checked its condition. No, right? Please tell me no.

 

But betraying his desperate hopes, the once-perfect corner had lost its strength and crumpled beneath the softened plastic wrap.

 

-Sorry for calling so suddenly. 

 

Ah, no. This can’t be happening. I should’ve just stayed lying on my bed. Why did I take this out now of all times?

 

Faced with a reality he didn’t want to believe, Jonathan hurriedly rubbed at the dented cardboard. The voice on the other end of the line had already faded far from his ears.

 

‘Uh—no, it’s fine. So, what’s going on?’

 

-Have you been in touch with Evan lately?

 

‘Evan? Not recently.’

 

-…Is something wrong with Evan?

 

‘Why? Is it because of the bet?’

 

-…What bet?

 

Shit, what did I just say.

 

At the puzzled voice coming through the receiver, Jonathan snapped his head up. His mind, which had been completely hijacked by the Blu-ray, finally came back to him.

 

‘Ah, uh, no! It’s nothing. Haha……. So, um, why did you call?’

 

-I was wondering…… if you’re in contact with Evan.

 

‘He’s probably with his father. I’ll try calling him and let you know.’

 

After making a hurried excuse and hanging up, Jonathan broke out in a cold sweat. 

 

…She didn’t hear that properly, right?

 

With a troubled expression, he raked a hand through his hair and called Evan. I should tell him I slipped up, right?

 

…Or should I not? This guy’s will probably throw a fit…

 

As the line rang and Jonathan agonized back and forth, the call soon connected, and he forgot his hesitation and blurted out urgently.

 

‘Hey, Ev. Jin just—’

 

-I’ll talk later. Hang up.

 

Click.

 

‘…called. You jerk.’

 

Jonathan muttered at the disconnected call, staring at the phone in disbelief.

 

I was definitely trying to tell you. You just didn’t listen.

 

[Everything’s fine! I called him and he just sounded annoyed.] 

 

That was the last memory of vacation, sending that text to Jin.

 

‘And then Jin called me.’

 

[I have something to ask you. Can you make a bit of time? Let’s meet at school.]

 

One text that arrived the day before the new semester. Checking the sender, Jonathan went to see Jin feeling like a convict being dragged off to a labor camp. And then…….

 

Jonathan glanced sideways at Evan. Could it really be, really be because of that? Please let it not be.

 

But no matter how many times he thought it over, that seemed to be the only reason for Evan to be like this.

 

Not smiling, barely talking, and above all, clamming up and leaving whenever Jin came up—if it wasn’t because things had gone sour with her, what else could it be?

 

Wondering if it was his big mouth that caused all this, Jonathan, suddenly feeling guilty, opened his mouth to say something—just then.

 

“Say something. Don’t just gape like a carp.”

 

For someone who’d been staring at his phone the whole time, he was awfully perceptive.

 

“Well, could it be that you and Jin…… never mind.”

 

Jonathan flinched as Jin’s name slipped out, and when he met those coldly glaring green eyes, he immediately buried his face back into his hamburger.

 

His nerve to confess thoroughly crushed, Jonathan sucked noisily at the empty cola cup through a straw. Sneaking a look at his friend, who still wore an expressionless face, he let out a heavy sigh.

 

He missed Emily and Olivia, who weren’t here. He wanted to smack his past self from thirty minutes ago for asking them to give him some space because he had something to say to Evan.

 

As Jonathan jittered his leg, scouting for the earliest chance to escape the suffocating silence—

 

“That French fry totally looks like you. All limp and soggy.”

 

“The smashed burger looks just like your face.”

 

Two guys snickering among themselves strode up noisily and pulled out the chairs at the table right next to them.

 

Jonathan frowned as he recognized their faces.