Lie Again! Chapter 80

<Chapter 80. Love, Set, Match (7)>

 

When James stepped away for a moment, the person who suddenly grabbed Jin’s shoulder was an unexpected child.

 

The East Asian boy, who looked about seven or eight years old, burst into tears the moment his eyes met Jin’s.

 

‘Why—what’s wrong? What happened?’

 

On a hunch that he might not be a child who lived here, she asked in Korean, but what came back was broken bits of Chinese. It seemed that after seeing Jin, whose appearance resembled his own somewhat, he had simply run straight to her.

 

‘Mom, ah—so you mean mama? You lost your mama?’

 

In a situation where neither English nor Korean worked, she tried every Mandarin word she knew, but the boy’s wailing only grew louder. He was crying so hard she couldn’t even manage to hold up a translation app. 

 

‘I want to cry too.’

 

The child was wailing as if the world were ending, while worried glances from people around them began gathering one by one.

 

The one who rescued Jin, who was flusteredly trying to comfort the child with gestures, was James, who returned holding ice cream cones in both hands.

 

‘Jin, is this your little brother?’

 

‘Are you serious right now?’

 

Jin stared at James in disbelief at his perfectly calm question. Chuckling, James crouched down on the ground to meet the child’s eyes and held both hands forward.

 

‘Which one do you want?’

 

In his right hand was a soft-serve cone piled high with colorful sprinkles, and in his left was a chocolate cone studded with chocolate chips.

 

The child gradually stopped crying at the sight of the suddenly presented ice cream. For some reason he kept glancing at Jin for approval, so she nodded repeatedly to show that it was okay to eat it. The boy accepted the chocolate cone and quietly began licking the ice cream.

 

“Tao probably made it home okay, right?”

 

At Jin’s question, James nodded.

 

“I’m sure he did. In the end we found his mom at the lost child center.”

 

After coaxing the boy and finally learning his name, the two of them simply took Tao’s hand and headed to the lost child center.

 

There had been only one staff member left at the center, and Jin, feeling uneasy about leaving the child alone in the nearly deserted late-evening space, wanted to stay beside Tao as long as possible. James also nodded readily and stayed with them.

 

For the next hour, until Tao’s mother came rushing into the lost child center breathlessly, the person most responsible for keeping Tao from crying was James.

 

He said he had used it a lot with his younger sibling, and without showing the slightest hint of annoyance, he performed all sorts of finger tricks. Remembering later how Tao had been on the verge of tears because he didn’t want to part with James, Jin spoke up casually.

 

“You’re actually surprisingly sweet.”

 

“You’re just realizing that now?”  

 

Jin let out a small laugh at the smug reply that returned as if he had been waiting for it. The quiet sound of their chuckling spread softly through the night air.

 

After the brief laughter faded, Jin glanced up at the sky, now completely dark, and finally said her last goodbye.

 

“Anyway… I should go now. Get home safely.”

 

“Yeah. See you at school.”

 

With the low rumble of the engine, the convertible drove off quietly. Jin turned with a smile and headed toward the homestay across the street.

 

When she got home, she would greet Riley to say she was back, and before bed she would watch the drama that Evie had asked her to recommend…

 

But her light steps didn’t carry her far before she stopped abruptly.

 

Someone was standing in front of the garage door, swallowed by the darkness. Only the silhouette was visible in the shadows, but she wasn’t afraid.

 

“…”

 

When the man in the darkness stepped forward, the face that had been hidden beyond the reach of the streetlight was revealed.

 

Jin’s eyes wavered faintly as she faced Evan. His light brown hair was pushed back across his forehead without any attempt to tidy it, and beneath the moonlight his pale face clearly showed signs of exhaustion.

 

He didn’t look like his usual self. However, after staring into his green eyes for a moment, Jin wiped the expression from her face and turned away. As she tried to bypass him to head for the front door, Evan hurriedly caught her.

 

“Let’s talk.”

 

“…”

 

“Please. I’m asking you.”

 

Jin grasped the doorknob without answering, but the voice behind her—so tired it sounded like a small animal curled into itself—finally made her stop. She bit down on her lower lip before letting it go and turned around.

 

“What is there left to say?”

 

Her sharp voice cut through the silence. Jin blinked briefly in surprise at her own tone, which had come out higher and more impatient than she expected.

 

“Where were you today?”

 

For someone who had grabbed her so desperately asking to talk, it was a rather out-of-place question. It sounded less like he expected an answer and more like a mutter to himself.

 

When Jin simply stared at him without replying, Evan let out a small sigh and continued.

 

“…My day today was terrible.”

 

“…”

 

“It was the first time in three months I’d be seeing my uncle, and I was supposed to behave quietly. But I threw it all away and ran out. For the first time.”

 

“What are you even trying to say?”

 

As Jin’s face hardened at the incomprehensible story, Evan, who had been holding her gaze, looked down at the ground. He looked defeated, as if a single word from her had wounded him. 

 

Jin stared at the pale eyelashes half-covering his green eyes; she could swear it was the first time she had seen him look like this.

 

It was strange. She had wanted to hurt him so badly, had wanted him to suffer several times more than she had, yet instead of feeling satisfied she only felt irritated and suffocated.

 

“Did I ever tell you? After my parents divorced, my uncle became my guardian. If I go against him, it usually ends badly.”

 

Because of that, Jin simply kept her mouth shut instead of interrupting his next words. As if even that alone pleased him, Evan’s lips curved faintly upward.

 

Dimples briefly appeared in both cheeks before fading just as quickly. Jin watched the trace of them with her arms crossed before turning her head away.

 

“After I left, I kept wandering around Bay Street. Someone told me you were there with Wood.”

 

Bay Street?

 

It was completely different from Point Avenue, where she had been today with James. Who on earth had told him that? Jin frowned slightly in confusion but did not bother to ask.

 

“I didn’t even know why I was doing it. I ran around there like a crazy person, thinking the whole time about what I’d lose by running out of that dinner, the trouble that might follow soon, and the decision that if I couldn’t find you here, then I’d finally let go completely.”

 

“…”

 

Her heart tightened painfully at his last words. Jin’s fingernails dug into her own arms. She hated herself for still having a part that could be swayed by a mere sentence. 

 

Even while Jin stared somewhere at the grass in the garden, Evan continued slowly.

 

“But it’s funny. Look at this. I swore to myself over and over, yet when I came to my senses I was here. Even after struggling like that.”

 

Evan let out a dry laugh and covered his face weakly with both hands. From beneath his large palms, his uncontrollable feelings leaked out like a sigh.

 

I just don’t know how to let you go. 

 

“Ever since you left, you won’t leave my head. …Because of you, I’m a mess right now.”

 

Removing his hands, Evan lifted his lowered gaze and looked at the girl standing before him. Reflected within his clear green eyes, the girl was staring at him blankly.

 

Jin’s black eyes wavered, appearing both flustered and angered by his confession. Her fingers gripped her arms tightly, as if she needed something to hold on to. 

 

But only for a moment. From the girl’s tightly closed lips came a dry laugh.

 

“Ha.”

 

Roughly uncrossing her arms, Jin ran a hand back through her hair.

 

“You must’ve forgotten, Evan. You already let me go once. The one who played with someone’s feelings and ran away like a coward was you.”

 

The words that came from her twisted lips struck Evan like spears. Her raised eyes and sharp tongue were fierce enough to freeze him in place. Yet instead of showing pain, Evan simply nodded calmly.

 

“You’re right. I was a coward. I was afraid of you, and I thought if I ran away like that it would be over… but after running away, it was much worse.”

 

His voice trembled awkwardly at the last words, and Evan fell silent for a moment.

 

Jin said nothing. Lacking the courage to look directly into her eyes, he let his gaze wander briefly before facing her again.

 

“…”

 

Her dark eyes remained unmoved. Even after he bared his soul, the chill surrounding Jin showed no sign of thawing. 

 

Hesitating before the face that seemed shut tight like a door locked forever, Evan finally poured everything out, like a believer kneeling before a priest to confess his sins.

 

“While I was waiting for you—when you didn’t come—I kept thinking about you and Wood. I hate seeing you with Wood. When I imagine you spending the time you shared with me with that guy, it makes me angry, and this place hurts so much.”

 

Evan pressed a hand hard against his rapidly pounding chest. The heavy vibration spread from his palm to his fingertips, his abdomen, his legs, and all the way down to his toes.

 

It felt as though his entire body had become one enormous heart. The violent pounding at his temples disrupted his thoughts.

 

“I can’t stop this feeling.”

 

In the dizziness of his mind, every thought shattered white, leaving only a single worn sentence rising clearly to the surface.

 

Without even checking how he might look, his mouth opened on its own. As if entranced, Evan moved his tongue and spoke the words.

 

The words he had kept turning away from.

 

The words he had run from so many times.

 

“Jin Lee. I like you. Maybe from the very beginning.”

 

An old confession.

 

Like a frozen lake breaking apart under the warmth of spring sunlight, Jin’s eyes trembled in every direction. In that expression he saw the girl he knew, and Evan stared at her almost breathlessly.

 

The soft-hearted girl could not hide her confusion and kept shifting.

 

Her white teeth bit down on her lower lip, then she licked her dry lips.

 

Evan waited quietly.

 

Slender fingers pressed against her forehead before pushing her hair back.

 

Evan waited silently.

 

Occasionally a bewildered breath slipped from her tightly closed mouth.

 

Evan waited without a word.

 

“I…”

 

Finally, after a silence that felt like an eternity, Jin’s eyes met his. Evan watched with bated breath as the girl’s lips slowly parted. Even with his fevered head, he could feel every single cell in his body focusing on this moment.

 

“I… I can’t trust you.”

 

At the end of a murmur that was almost a whisper, Jin brushed past him quickly. Before he could even register the strand of hair that briefly touched his cheek and then pulled away, the door slammed shut behind her.

 

The faint musk scent Jin left behind wrapped around Evan, who stood there blankly, before disappearing into the night air.