Lie Again! Chapter 75

Chapter 75. Love, Set, Match (2)

 

As the two froze at the sudden appearance of the uninvited guest, Evan let go of James’s wrist with a sharp snap. James let out a dry, hollow laugh at the way Evan pulled Jin up and snatched her away as if hiding her behind his back.

 

“This wrist is how I make a living. Be a little careful, will you?”

 

James spoke while rubbing his wrist, a faint frown creasing the space between his brows. The sharp, edged atmosphere in his voice, which made no effort to hide his displeasure, felt like it was pricking the skin.

 

Just a moment ago, everything had been peaceful. The air had turned in an instant, and the shift pressed down on Jin.

 

Did he hurt his hand? What if he got injured before an important match?

 

The thoughts passed through her mind, yet her eyes didn’t move toward James. All her senses were fixed on the boy standing diagonally in front of her.

 

Then their eyes met.

 

Disregarding James’s words entirely, Evan turned his head and looked down at Jin.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

It was the first time in a long while they had looked at each other. She had been doing her best to avoid him, and even when they happened to pass by, she would fix her gaze straight ahead and quicken her pace. It was a face she had stubbornly shunned, ensuring she wouldn’t look at him even by mistake.

 

His jawline seemed sharper than it had in the Johnsons’ garden, his face slightly pale.

 

The atmosphere was quite different from the girl’s memory of the boy who was always composed.

 

His chest rose unsteadily. His brow was drawn tight. His hands opened and closed restlessly. It was obvious he was watching her reaction. Just as obvious that he felt anxiety—perhaps jealousy—about the man she had been with.

 

By what right?

 

Whenever she had looked into Evan’s green eyes, her first thought had always been that they were beautiful. For the first time, anger began to simmer inside her. She felt like bread swelling inside an oven—something on the verge of bursting filled her head and pressed outward against her skull.

 

Jin glared at him. Her chest felt tight. That unsettled sensation clung stubbornly around her ankles, suffocating her.

 

It wasn’t just today. For some time now, she had felt this way every single day. Even in class, even when laughing with the others over lunch, it was as if she moved with sandbags tied to her, one corner of her heart clogged and heavy.

 

And the moment she faced Evan, she vaguely understood where that feeling originated.

 

She wanted to hurt him.

 

The fact that she was the only one who liked him, the only one who got excited, and the only one left behind wounded her pride and infuriated her to no end.

 

Even now, she sometimes heard, in her room, the imagined sound of a stone striking her window. When that happened, she would yank the blue curtains shut to block it out and crawl under her blanket.

 

If a familiar song drifted into the bathroom from the radio Riley turned on, she would hold her breath and duck her head beneath the water, submerging herself until the muffled sound of water blurred the melody.

 

She wanted to see him hurt as much as she had—no, much more. Yes, it wouldn’t feel fair unless she saw tears gather in those green eyes—

 

“Jin.”

 

Lost in a dangerous line of thought, she snapped back at the sound of her name. Turning her head, she found James looking at her, someone she had momentarily forgotten.

 

Only then did she realize there was another person here. The startled look on her face drew a small, helpless sigh from James. He shrugged lightly.

 

“Lunch is almost over. Let’s head back. I’ll walk you to your classroom.”

 

“Don’t go.”

 

As soon as James finished speaking, Evan cut in aggressively. It was a frantic display of haste, as if terrified she would be taken away—a far cry from when he had kept his mouth shut.

 

And inside Jin, something burst.

 

All the things that usually made her herself—calmness, reason, restraint, social sense, appearances—blew away in a white blur.

 

She bit down on her lips to keep from screaming like a siren.

 

He hadn’t even offered the simplest excuse before. And now that he had heard her say she liked him, he couldn’t bear to let her go to someone else?

 

You really—

 

‘You think I’m that easy.’

 

Her lips, pressed pale between her teeth, loosened and twisted into a cold smile instead of a shout.

 

“…Why?”

 

“Whatever it is, just……! Just, when I tell you not to go, just don’t go.”

 

His eyes were confused even as he spoke. Instead of giving a reason, he grabbed her wrist and held on. His face looked desperate—almost pitiable—but to Jin, it was laughable. The heat of his hand against her skin only stoked her anger.

 

Jin twisted her wrist and shook him off. After shooting him a cold glare, she brushed past him without hesitation and walked toward James.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

She grabbed James’s hand decisively and started walking ahead, almost demonstratively. The two men remaining there stared blankly after her. Evan’s gaze was nailed to the white hand wrapped around James’s thick one.

 

Pulled along by her, James stared at her widened-eyed for a moment, then let out a quiet chuckle.

 

Turning his head, he waved toward Evan, who was already a little distance away.

 

“See you around.”

 

The man mouthed the words mockingly, then pointedly adjusted his grip on Jin’s hand, interlacing their fingers and pulling her closer to him.

 

Evan stood motionless, watching their backs recede. He clenched his fist so hard his nails dug into his palm. His jaw muscle rose sharply as he ground his teeth, yet he didn’t even seem to feel the pain. He stood like that for a long while.

 

James watched the rigid back walking ahead of him—like a bull charging straight forward—with an almost relaxed curiosity. Just as he began to wonder how far she planned to go, the tension in her shoulders loosened.

 

When Jin started to release their clasped hands, James hesitated briefly, then let go without resistance. If he pushed her further, it felt as though she might faint on the spot.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Jin faced him and lowered her head deeply in apology. James looked at the dense crown of her black hair with eyes that held a trace of a smile.

 

“For what? For using me to provoke him?”

 

“…Yes. For that.”

 

At the bluntness of it, Jin closed her eyes for a second, her head spinning.

 

So it had been obvious.

 

The urge to hurt Evan had burned too hot; she had lost to a moment’s impulse. At the time, she had been obsessed with the thought of wiping the composure from his face, making him paler, making him look anything but calm. Using James hadn’t felt wrong then.

 

To be even more honest, when she had left Evan standing there, she had felt a light, almost satisfying thrill. Enough that she had wanted to turn back and see what expression he wore.

 

But it was wrong toward James. Being used by someone you were interested in—especially to catch another’s attention—couldn’t possibly feel good.

 

Jin stared at the tips of her sneakers as if awaiting judgment.

 

“Hm. I don’t really mind. But if you feel bad about it, then grant me one wish.”

 

“…What is it?”

 

There was laughter in his relaxed voice. The word wish made Jin tense as she looked at him.

 

“Will you come shopping with me? I really have no sense for what girls like.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Her shoulders loosened at once. She had been bracing herself for something she couldn’t agree to—like asking to meet again—and his wish was unexpectedly simple.

 

James lifted a brow playfully when he saw her relax.

 

“What were you expecting, Jin?”

 

The girl who knew she was in the wrong could only nod helplessly at his sly smile.

 

* * *

 

The day to fulfill that wish was decided quickly. Wednesday, when James didn’t have afternoon training.

 

And four days earlier, on Saturday, Jin was still wandering in uncertainty.

 

“So what exactly is the problem?”

 

Ruth, resting his chin on the back of his hand atop the long handle of his mallet, turned to look up at Jin.

 

His partner, Mrs. Moore, was carefully positioning her mallet toward the red ball, but perhaps because he knew it would be a long time before the old lady actually swung the hammer at the ball, he turned his body fully toward Jin.

 

“Both James and I know that’s basically a date. But I… I don’t have feelings for him. What if I’m just wasting his time?”

 

Ugh.

 

At her hesitant words, Ruth let out a loud sigh for Jin to hear. Following the shaking of his head, the broad mallet swung around and pressed into the grass.

 

“You think too much. And if you refuse even this, he’ll think you dislike him.”

 

“…Do you think so?”

 

“Don’t think of it as a date, just think of it as going out to buy something with a friend. I mean, if you can come volunteer with someone even more handsome and fun than James, why worry?”

 

“Who would that be?”

 

“Me.”

 

At Ruth’s confident statement, Jin couldn’t help but let out a burst of derisive laughter. One of Ruth’s eyebrows quirked up. 

 

“That’s not quite how I remember it, unless…”

 

Jin, who had been chiding him with a playful expression, suddenly stopped speaking as a stinging gaze hit the side of her face.

 

Under the shadow of the nursing home building adjacent to the garden, a silhouetted figure with crossed arms was glaring at Jin with a hardened expression.