LIGHTNOVELWORLD Lie Again!
Chapter 1
< Chapter 1: The Place Called Crawford (1)> “Here, the books are here. Since you’ll be using them over and over again, you better keep them clean, right?”
The counselor, who introduced herself as Miss Smith, handed Jin an armful of books. Miss Smith, a redhead with freckles covering her entire face, continued speaking while coolly staring at the wall clock and the schedule in her hand instead of meeting Jin’s gaze. “Usually, students create their own schedules, but since you’re a transfer student, follow the one the school prepared for you this time. If any of the classes are too difficult, you can change them later, so try your best, hmm…” Jin, who had been struggling to understand the rapid flow of English, suddenly froze and flustered under the intense gaze staring at her. During the brief moment of silence from the counselor, Jin’s mind raced with thoughts like whether something was on her face or if nodding without speaking seemed rude. “Since you’re Asian, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you.” While Jin was trying to grasp the meaning behind Miss Smith’s words, the counselor swiftly turned her head back to the schedule and continued speaking. Phrases like, “Swimming classes are held every morning at the pool,” and, “Since you’ve already taken biology in middle school, you’ll start with chemistry,” were thrown out rapidly. Jin pushed aside her uneasy feeling and tried to absorb the flood of information. “Phew.” Jin let out a sigh as she closed the door to the counselor’s office behind her. Miss Smith spoke quickly as if English was the main language of “Asians,” and she showed her annoyance whenever Jin tried to ask questions. Words she couldn’t understand and phrases she hadn’t fully caught flew past her like arrows. Jin gave up on asking questions and instead tried to piece together the counselor’s words like solving a puzzle, guessing at their meaning. Miss Smith rattled off words like “left,” “right,” and “straight,” but even if they had been in Korean, Jin wouldn’t have been able to find her way, let alone with English speeding past like bullets. As a result, Jin still hadn’t found the Spanish classroom until just one minute before her fourth-period Spanish class was about to begin. It was a disheartening start to her first day at Crawford. “Why do they only give us a 4-minute break…?” Jin, clutching a pile of books in her arms, wandered among the unfamiliar faces before placing the books down and picking up a stone. It looked like a piece of concrete that had fallen from somewhere along the gray school pathway. The students who had filled the school had all disappeared somewhere, and Jin was left standing alone. In fact, in a school that wasn’t very large, four minutes wasn’t necessarily a short time to ask for directions. However, amidst the people who stared at her as though she were a strange creature, she couldn’t muster the confidence to approach anyone and ask where the classroom was. The green, blue, and brown eyes that stared at Jin every step she took made her feel intimidated. They would turn around to look at Jin as they passed by, and they would whisper about her while talking among themselves. No one approached Jin first, and Jin didn’t take the initiative to approach anyone either. She tried not to show that she was aware of the gazes on her, keeping her eyes fixed on the nameplates of the classrooms as she walked. As she kept repeating “Where is the f*cking Spanish class” in her head, time passed meaninglessly. Now, even if she wanted to ask for directions, there was no one to ask. As she hesitated, time continued to pass, and now it was getting dangerously close to the time when she had to head to the classroom immediately. Jin, imagining the dizzying scenario of opening the classroom door and finding a seat while everyone’s attention was on her, started to consider skipping the class instead. After all, as a new transfer student who wasn’t even familiar with the school’s name yet, they might let it slide this time. Jin, seriously contemplating skipping class, decided with a half-resigned mindset to carve her own path. Jin placed the piece of concrete on her palm and flicked her wrist, deciding to follow the direction in which the stone would fall. If it pointed toward the school gate, she would humbly accept it as a sign and head straight home. Although Jin couldn’t help but laugh at herself for doing it, there was no other option. Thud, roll. The flat stone rolled a few times helplessly before stopping in the direction of the school gate as if it were a lie. “Honestly, this is God’s will.” Jin muttered to herself in a resigned tone, gathering her belongings and heading toward the school gate. She had come here in Riley’s truck, her homestay mom’s, and though she still didn’t know the way back, she figured she’d eventually find her way home if she kept walking. Eventually. Jin tapped the toes of her sneakers against the floor, preparing herself for the long walk. The sky was clear and the sunlight was bright, a good day for walking. She deliberately ignored the fact that the stack of books in her arms felt like it weighed at least 10 kilograms. Jin briefly closed her eyes and quickly made the sign of the cross. She didn’t have a religion, but somehow, it felt like doing so would ensure she made it home safely. With that thought, she stepped boldly out of the school gates. “Let’s see. Spanish, Mrs. Haide?” No, she almost stepped forward. It would have been so if someone hadn’t swiftly taken her schedule from my right hand. Jin, who opened her eyes at the unfamiliar voice, turned around and immediately faced a broad chest. Jin slowly tilted her head and looked up. She passed broad shoulders and a protruding Adam’s apple, and when she reached the face, a mischievous beauty with a playful smile was looking down at her. The handsome face exuded a charm that was both boyish and mature, brightening the eyes of anyone who looked at it. Jin couldn’t take her eyes off the dimpled cheeks, and only after a moment did she reply with a delayed, “Ah, yes.” “Follow me.” The boy moved his long legs in the opposite direction of the school gate, leisurely starting to walk. Perhaps because of his height, he seemed to walk slowly, yet he was moving ahead quickly. Jin, who had been blankly staring at him, soon came to her senses and quickly followed him. Jin’s steps, which were catching up with the boy who had moved away, slowed down again, exactly two steps behind him. For some reason, walking side by side made something inside her stir. Maintaining a certain distance, Jin followed him, intently watching as his brown hair fluttered in the wind, shimmering gold in the bright Florida sunlight before returning to its brown color in the shade. ‘Even his hair is pretty.’ During the brief time she spent following behind, various thoughts tangled in Jin’s mind. She wondered if she had ever looked at someone’s hair so intently in her 17 years of life, felt a sense of self-disgust for secretly staring at someone, and finally ended up thinking that even his back looked beautiful. Despite feeling a slight sense of guilt for secretly observing someone, Jin, who had been comfortably admiring his back two steps behind, couldn’t help but gasp in surprise when she suddenly met his green eyes as he turned around. “Evan Butterfield. My name.” “Heuph. Ah, I… ugh.” Maybe it was because she couldn’t even say her name properly due to the hiccups. “I know. You’re the new transfer student, right? There’s been a lot of buzz about the new transfer student coming into the 10th grade.” There aren’t many transfer students here. Butterfield added that in Crawford, students progress similarly from elementary school to high school. Jin’s hiccupping was interjected as Butterfield spoke. Jin barely managed to reply, “I see,” and gave up on the conversation that was sure to sound ridiculous, holding her breath to stop the damn hiccupping. Whether Butterfield was uninterested in the name Jin had yet to say, or if he was simply being considerate of her hiccups, he didn’t continue speaking. Jin turned her head forward again and spoke to the boy in her mind. My name is Lee Jin. …It seems like you’re not really interested, though. After the short conversation ended, neither of them spoke, and they continued walking in silence. Hiccup, hiccup. The only sounds that could be heard were the sound of large footsteps, the hurried steps following them, and the occasional hiccup. Butterfield broke the silence when they arrived in front of a classroom in one of the buildings. The sound of the ongoing class could already be heard coming from inside. He smiled prettily and handed Jin back the schedule he had taken, then swung the door open without Jin having time to prepare herself. The teacher’s words were interrupted, and the eyes of everyone in the classroom immediately focused on the two standing behind the door. For a brief moment, there was silence, but it quickly turned into a flurry of greetings thrown at Butterfield, who had taken the first step inside. He casually accepted the greetings and plopped down into the empty seat at the back. As Butterfield sat down, everyone’s eyes turned to Jin, the new transfer student. Jin’s expression gradually hardened under the attention. To keep a stern expression and maintain a cold attitude. This was Jin’s way of dealing with the scrutinizing gazes. It was much better to look stiff than to look dumb or funny. “So you’re the new transfer student who was supposed to arrive today. The empty seat…” Mrs. Haide pretended to know Jin, who stood there like an ice statue with her eyes lowered. Just as Mrs. Haide was about to choose a seat and point somewhere, a voice intervened. “Wouldn’t it be better next to Evan Ruth? After all, they’re from the same place.” It was Butterfield. Mrs. Haide smiled at his words and, as if nothing had happened, pointed her finger in the opposite direction from where it had been pointing to the left seat. “Ah, that sounds good. You see the person with the black hair? Sit next to them. Um, so…” “It’s Lee Jin.” Seeing Mrs. Haide’s awkwardness as she looked at her, Jin quickly gave her name. “Right, Lee. Since you’re both Asian, you two should get along well. Isn’t that great?” There was a boy with an exaggerated look of disbelief in the direction Mrs. Haide had pointed. The boy with black hair close to a dark brown color stood out among the Westerners, looking like a mixed-race Asian in a crowd. It was only by local standards that he stood out, as to Jin, the boy felt just as unfamiliar as the others. “I was born in this town and have never been outside of the United States, you know?” Evan Ruth protested in a sullen voice. The classroom was filled with laughter. Jin sat down next to Ruth, pushing through the jokes being thrown at him here and there. It was the seat right in front of Evan Butterfield. As Jin, still with a cold expression on her face, pondered whether this was the racial discrimination she had only heard about, a familiar voice reached her ears. 「Hi. You’re Korean, right?」 In Crawford, where Jin hadn’t seen a single Asian, let alone a Korean, on her way to the classroom, she was taken aback and stared at Ruth, surprised to hear Korean in a Spanish class. 「What? Oh, no, hi.」 Ruth shrugged and continued speaking in Korean. 「I’m mixed race. My dad is Korean. But I’m not very good at speaking Korean.」 “I can speak English, right?” Ruth, who had been speaking Korean with smooth pronunciation, ended his sentence in English. Jin was still looking at Ruth with her rabbit eyes wide open. “Mhm. I kind of understand.” Ruth, glancing cautiously at Mrs. Haide, lowered his body and whispered to Jin. The class had already begun. “Do you speak Spanish? It’s page 15.” “I only know Ola.” Jin whispered as she took out the Spanish textbook and searched for the page. Hearing that, Ruth smiled and showed Jin the palm of his hand. 「Me too.」 Jin lightly high-fived Ruth’s palm. Throughout the class, Jin and Ruth chatted, mixing Korean and English. Whenever Mrs. Haide’s gaze landed on them, they pretended to focus on the class, but in reality, they couldn’t concentrate at all. Ruth was busy describing various places in Crawford with words, while Jin was busy not only with listening to Ruth but also with being distracted by Butterfield in the seat behind them. Butterfield, sitting directly behind Jin, spoke Spanish quite fluently, unlike Ruth. He was having a smooth conversation with the girl sitting next to him. Occasionally, when Butterfield said something, the girl would laugh and lightly tap some part of his body. Even Jin, who didn’t know Spanish, guessed that he was saying something sweet. The girl next to Butterfield had blonde hair and blue eyes, and Jin thought that she looked fresh and lovely, just like a princess. ‘As expected, similar people meet.’ Jin glanced at her own black hair for no reason, shook her head, and focused on Ruth again. For some reason, the feeling of being deflated like a push balloon was something she tried to ignore and cover up. Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and
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