Lie Again! Chapter 98

<Chapter 98. A Season for Something to Ripen (3)>

 

Across the school, people in academic gowns could be seen wandering about. They were the seniors who had finished their brief morning assembly and were now preparing for the graduation ceremony in the afternoon. Perhaps feeling the sorrow of leaving the school they had grown fond of, they were busy taking group photos in various clusters against different backdrops.

 

Jin was not a graduate, but she deeply empathized with that sentiment. In fact, today was essentially graduation day at Crawford for Jin as well. There would be no day for her to return to this school in the future.

 

Even though it was a fact she had already braced herself for, reconsidering it brought a sense of loneliness that circled around her. While a creeping urge to follow them and take one last look at the spaces where she had spent so much time welled up within her, Jin firmly suppressed the impulse.

 

She had already captured every corner in her phone’s photo gallery and finished her own personal farewell; furthermore, this boy was right by her side.

 

Jin stared blankly at Evan, who was watching the crying and hugging graduates with an air of indifference.

 

The boy who had kept her heart racing, swaying, and precarious throughout the year, yet at the same time had made her so incredibly thrilled and happy.

 

“Shall we go?”

 

Noticing her gaze, he spoke as he uncrossed his arms. The green eyes that narrowed slightly as he smiled were as fresh as summer leaves.

 

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Jin took one last look around the school and nodded.

 

She needed to focus more on the time remaining ahead of her rather than the memories at Crawford already etched in her mind.

 

Among those moments, the day she was pinning her highest hopes on was Evan’s birthday. His seventeenth birthday was the very day after graduation.

 

Jin lightly brushed the bulletin board bearing the alligator emblem, the school’s symbol, with her fingertips. The sensation of the rough board and the smooth plastic lingered at the tips of her fingers before quickly vanishing.

 

This was enough. 

 

Just as Jin was about to leave, having gathered every last fragment of regret to leave behind here, a voice called out.

 

“Hey, Jin!”

 

Jin turned her head at the sound of her name called in a low voice. Far down the hallway, she saw a man in a black academic gown waving his hand—holding a mortarboard—wildly above his head.

 

A tall, solid build; curly bronze hair; and eyes that crinkled into half-moons when he smiled.

 

“James!”

 

His name reflexively burst from Jin’s mouth.

 

As she waved back with a mix of bewilderment and delight, a brightly smiling James ran over in a single bound and stood before Jin. Then, noticing the person radiating a fierce aura next to Jin, he raised both hands.

 

“Whoa. I’m just saying a quick goodbye. Don’t get so defensive. It’s the last day, after all.” 

 

James spoke while looking back and forth between Evan, who was glaring at him, and Jin. At that, Jin turned to Evan with a troubled face. It was obvious that she wanted to say a final goodbye but was caught between the two of them, unsure of how to act.

 

Evan, scowling at James, let out a small sigh and eventually stepped back a few paces. After all, the person he had a grievance with was that man, not Jin.

 

“Hi, Jin. It’s been a while. It looks like you found your answer quite well.”

 

James, having diverted his eyes from Evan, said with a beaming smile. Jin realized what he was referring to and gave an awkward laugh.

 

After staring at James for a moment with eyes full of gratitude and apology, Jin changed the atmosphere with a light question.

 

“Where are you going after graduation?”

 

“I’m not going to college; I think I’ll go straight on tour. I’m diving into the professional world for real now.” 

 

Anticipation and excitement were visible in James as he made that declaration. The confidence sparkling in his eyes made even the observer feel uplifted.

 

“That’s cool. You’ll do well wherever you go. I’ll be waiting for your name to become famous.”

 

“You too, Jin. I’ll be rooting for your future high school life.”

 

James held out his hand.

 

“Your scary boyfriend can at least understand this much, right?”

 

Jin chuckled at his cheeky playfulness as he shrugged his shoulders, and she took his hand.

 

“Congratulations on graduating, James.”

 

The hands they shook a couple of times pulled away cleanly. His crinkled eyes lingered on Jin as if leaving a brief farewell, then he passed her by.

 

As she watched his retreating back striding away, someone grabbed her hand and shook it as if to tell her to stop.

 

Turning her head, she saw Evan had approached and was holding her hand with a pouting expression. The hand he gripped—as if to cover it up—was her right hand, the one that had shaken James’s. Jin burst into a short laugh.

 

While leaving Crawford while joking around with Evan, a strange sensation enveloped Jin. She was clearly in this moment, yet she fell under the illusion that a long time had passed and she was reminiscing about the present. It felt as though she had become an old woman sitting in a rocking chair, recalling days gone by.

 

It was, so to speak, a premonition.

 

The cheerful air devoid of any dampness, the clear sunlight pouring down, the kids brimming with vitality, the teachers who offered affectionate glances, all the time spent laughing and chatting with friends, and Evan.

 

A premonition that all these things would be etched into the center of her seventeenth year, becoming a scene she would miss forever.

 

She missed the present, which hadn’t even passed yet, quite terribly.

 

* * *

 

‘I didn’t forget anything, right?’

 

Jin mentally reviewed the details she had meticulously prepared for several days. Glancing through today’s schedule, she let out a breath filled with a “Hoo,” bracing herself.

 

Jin habitually went to tap the toe of her shoe against the floor a couple of times, then realized she was wearing flat shoes and stopped.

 

“I’m heading out.”

 

“Have fun! We’ll be back after dinner.”

 

When she said goodbye, Riley poked her head out into the hallway and waved. Having slept in late since there was no child to drive to school, she let out a long yawn. Then, she crinkled her half-opened eyes and let out a laugh.

 

“You look pretty today.”

 

Today, Jin looked quite different from her usual attire.

 

Denim shorts that came well above her knees; a white sleeveless eyelet blouse that lightly hugged her body, subtly revealing her lines before falling in an A-line; a light blue shirt draped over her arm in preparation for cold interiors; and her hair tied up high with a blue-lined checkered scrunchie.

 

Her overall lovely appearance showed clear signs of her having agonized over wanting to look pretty while simultaneously trying not to give the impression that she had tried too hard.

 

To Riley, who knew Jin had been rummaging through her closet until late last night, even that looked purely adorable.

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Jin awkwardly cleared her throat at Riley’s compliment. The faint blush on her cheeks was lovely.

 

Watching that sight with satisfaction, thinking of it as the essence of youth, Riley glanced at the clock hanging in the hallway and signaled her to hurry.

 

“Oh my, you’ll be late, Jin. Get going.”

 

Leaving the house behind Riley, Jin quickened her pace upon seeing the car parked in front of the garden. She herself had come out five minutes earlier than the appointed time, so she wondered just when he had arrived.

 

“Hi.”

 

“….”

 

Jin offered a greeting as she opened the door and climbed into the car. However, there was no answer even by the time she fastened her seatbelt. Jin looked toward the driver’s seat with questioning eyes.

 

“Evan?”

 

“…Hi, Jin.”

 

Evan, who had been staring blankly at Jin, only seemed to snap out of it when she called his name. He blinked, then turned his head forward.

 

His expression was nonchalant, but his actions were somehow awkward.

 

‘What’s wrong with him?’

 

Jin looked at Evan with suspicious eyes. It was because his hand kept flailing in the air. Watching him strangely, Jin soon realized it was an attempt to grab the key inserted in the ignition.

 

After a few fumbles, the hand that finally grabbed the key turned it, but this time, the engine wouldn’t start.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Tick, tick.

 

Inside the car, enveloped in an inexplicably awkward silence, the sound of the car key turning fruitlessly echoed. Evan, clearing his throat, tapped the dashboard for no reason, and the tactless car only started after the key turned two or three more times.

 

Watching him flustered, which was unlike him, Jin quietly turned her head toward the window. Looking out the window and pretending not to notice, Jin bit her lip to keep the corners of her mouth from rising.

 

It was a good start.

 

…It was definitely a good start, but.

 

“The lead actor broke his leg in a car accident this morning. We can’t put on that performance now. Here, see this? Take a look for yourself.”

 

The employee sitting in the box office reached out and tapped a piece of paper lying crookedly on the counter. Because they had some unknown food in their mouth, their pronunciation was slurred, making it hard to understand.

 

Jin looked at the notice, which had been scribbled roughly with a marker, and thought:

 

‘Did I come to the wrong place? Maybe it’s actually a few blocks over, or a theater with the same name…’

 

However, no matter how much she tried to escape reality, this was clearly the right place. The well-manicured lawn garden visible beyond the high walls made of glass and steel, and the palm trees planted at precise intervals alongside it, proved it.