LIGHTNOVELWORLD Lie Again!
Chapter 4
<Chapter 4. A Place Called Crawford (4)> “Jin, aren’t you eating again today?”
After the Spanish class ended, Ruth grabbed Jin, who had slumped over in her seat. “I’m tired, let me get some sleep.” “There’s nothing wrong, right?” Jin shook her head from side to side while waving her hands lightly in response to Ruth’s unusually serious question. “I don’t get enough sleep because I’m working on my homework every morning.” “You didn’t eat yesterday either because you said you were tired.” Because it had been the same excuse for the past few days, Ruth didn’t seem to believe Jin’s words. In the end, Jin had to push firmly on Ruth’s back and force him to go. Jin let out a deep sigh as Ruth left. Ever since the incident with Butterfield, Jin had been avoiding her friends. It had been a few days since she last saw them, using excuses like being tired or busy. Ruth had noticed, so it was likely that Joey and Amanda had figured out that Jin was avoiding them too. Jin knew well that she couldn’t avoid it forever, but she couldn’t muster the courage to face the problem head-on. She wanted to delay any hurt as much as possible. She hated that this was the only way she knew how to deal with things. Jin left the Spanish classroom with a tired expression, pressing between her brows. The school was quiet and empty, likely because everyone had gone to the cafeteria. Jin took out the bread she had packed in the morning from her cabinet and walked slowly to somewhere. It wasn’t long before she arrived at the old music room. It was a classroom she had luckily found while trying to find a place to eat without being seen. The door with thick soundproofing material had a lock, but it was easy to open after shaking it a few times, perhaps because it was corroded. Inside, there was an old grand piano and various miscellaneous items piled up. Unlike the other objects, which were covered in a thick layer of dust, the piano was clean, thanks to the fact that Jin had been wiping it down for the past few days. Jin sat on the piano bench and collapsed weakly onto the piano cover. The smooth, glossy piano lid felt cool against her cheek. Jin pressed her cheek against the piano and chewed on the bread. On the first day she started avoiding Ruth and the others, she hadn’t even felt hungry, but after a few days, she had gotten used to it. After the one-sided argument with Butterfield, Jin felt awkward whenever she met Joey. It felt like there was gritty sand stuck in her heart. Who did I tell about Butterfield? Why did I say something so bad? Does Joey… hate me? The uncomfortable feeling, which had been nothing more than sand, grew larger while Jin quietly struggled with it, eventually becoming a heavy rock. The rock, which Jin thought she would never see again after coming to America, returned and pressed down on her once more. “There’s nowhere else to run.” Jin murmured softly. The familiar feeling inevitably brought a certain face to her mind. * * * It was an unusually hot day for early May, as if summer was trying to arrive early. The children were waving their summer shirts, waiting for the class president to call out the answer. “Number 6 with number 5, number 7 with number 1, number 8 with number 1…” Cheers and disappointed sighs mixed together, filling the classroom. Jin quietly graded the test papers, wearing a satisfied smile. It was Korean, the subject she was most unsure about, but her score turned out better than expected. As Jin folded the test paper and placed it under her desk, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her shoulders from behind. “Lee Jin!” It was Minchae. Minchae and Jin had been friends since kindergarten, through elementary school, and middle school. The two, who met at the age of six, were still the closest of friends at the age of sixteen. “How was the test?” “I think I saw it just fine.” “How many did you get wrong?” “Secret.” Minchae shook Jin’s shoulder, complaining that it was unfair and begging to know, but Jin kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to argue with Minchae anymore. Minchae started changing in the third year of middle school. As they were approaching high school, the students began to worry about their grades, whether they were aiming for specialized schools like foreign language high schools or science high schools, and Minchae was no exception. Jin also understood, as she was preparing for the entrance exams as well, but the problem was that Minchae was actively trying to compete with Jin’s grades. Whenever Jin received praise from the teacher or did well on a quiz, Minchae’s expression would noticeably stiffen. On days like that, Minchae would leave school without saying a word to Jin and would go ahead with other friends. Jin would continue calling Minchae on her phone, which went unanswered, and eventually ended up walking home alone. Minchae, who had not responded to Jin’s calls all day, would casually approach her the next day, folding her arms. If Jin brought it up the previous day, Minchae would brush it off with a smile and change the subject. “Jin-ah, the science teacher wants you to come to the staff room. I heard you got a perfect score in science?” The back door creaked open, and a classmate called out to Jin. Jin instinctively glanced at Minchae. Her face, which had been laughing and chatting just moments ago, had now stiffened as if the previous moment had been a dream. “I’ll be back.” “….” Minchae didn’t respond to Jin’s words. Instead, she quickly turned and walked toward the other friends. Jin swallowed a sigh and left the classroom. The delicate balance in their relationship was shattered when Jin unexpectedly became the top student in the entire school during the first midterm exams of their third year in middle school. “Our class has the top students in the whole school. Well done, Jin. Everyone, let’s give her a round of applause.” Everyone looked at Jin and congratulated her. The whole class was noisy with exclamations of envy and applause, but there was one person, Minchae, who didn’t look at Jin and kept solving her workbook instead. Jin’s May was marked by the scorching heat that had arrived, the number 1 written on the long paper tag, and Minchae’s cold back. * * * “Jin. I think your friend came to visit?” On Saturday morning, the doorbell rang through the three-story house early in the day. There was a faint mumbling for a moment before Riley suddenly poked his head out from the attic landing. “A friend?” Jin, who had been lying messily on the bed watching a drama, sluggishly sat up. “Mhm. I think he said he’s Evan Ruth. Ah, I was wondering where it went, and here it is hiding, this little guy.” Meow. Riley grabbed Freckle, a black tuxedo cat that was lying lazily on the window bed in front of the attic window, basking in the sunlight. The cat, with patterns on its face as if freckles were scattered, resisted Riley’s touch by wriggling its body. Its plump belly swayed from side to side. “Uh…Evan Ruth?” “Did you go out today? What about lunch?” After a brief struggle, Freckle seemed to tire out and hung limp in Riley’s hands. Its short legs dangled loosely. “Mm. I’m not sure yet. Don’t wait for me. I’ll take care of lunch myself.” “Jin, are you going out today?” Jin looked towards the voice while changing her T-shirt. It was Riley’s elementary school-aged daughter, Ivy. Ivy had already climbed up the stairs and was peeking her face out of the attic. “Ivy, Jin is meeting her friend today. Are you disappointed that she’s not here?” A girl with brown hair and blue eyes stared at Jin intently. When Jin awkwardly smiled at her obvious gaze, she quickly turned her head and ran over to her mom with little footsteps. Ivy didn’t answer Riley’s question and instead just fiddled with Freckle’s belly. Freckle flailed its back legs for a moment, but seemed to get tired and sagged back down again. Riley gave Ivy a look that said she couldn’t do anything about it, and Jin lightly shook her head as if to say it was fine. “Let me know when you’ll be home, Jin!” Riley said goodbye to Jin as she went down the attic stairs. Jin said okay and left the third floor. As Jin descended the stairs, she saw Evan Ruth leaning against the open front door. “What’s the matter?” Jin spoke in a slightly awkward manner. “Hey, Jin. It’s been a while since you had any Korean food, right?” Ruth smiled and spoke to Jin, who was looking confused. She mentioned that her father had insisted she bring Jin over, saying that a new Korean friend had arrived. Ruth gently coaxed Jin, listing dishes like japchae, bulgogi, and kimchi jjigae that sounded tempting coming from her mouth. Evan Ruth smiled and spoke to the bewildered Jin. He mentioned that his father was eager for her to come over to their house as soon as he heard he had a new Korean friend. He coaxed Jin with promises of dishes like japchae, bulgogi, and kimchi stew. When Jin came to her senses, she was already in the car Ruth was driving. Ruth hummed along to the song playing on the radio as he drove down the wide-open road. Even Jin, who wasn’t familiar with pop songs, had heard that particular one a few times before. The sunlight was warm and the wind coming in through the open window felt refreshing. “Did you know that a few days ago, Miss Smith asked the chemistry teacher out and got rejected?” Ruth spoke as if there had been no gap between them. “What? Don’t lie!” “Really. So now the kids are calling her ‘Mother Bald,’ because she lovingly fell for the bald head.” Jin burst into laughter, imagining Miss Smith being mocked by Mr. Ross, whose head was gleaming. After that, Ruth kept talking about what were undoubtedly gossip stories, mostly about Joey. Jin’s shyness also blew away little by little as they laughed and chatted about trivial things. Ruth’s house was not far from Jin’s homestay. When they arrived, the building was more fittingly described as a mansion rather than just a house. On one side of the neatly maintained wide lawn garden was a large swimming pool, and in the middle was a fountain decorated with an angel statue pouring water from a jar. “Ruth, you… are rich, aren’t you?” Jin, with her mouth open, looked at Ruth in surprise. She knew that there were many wealthy people in central and southern Florida, but she never imagined that Ruth would be one of them. Jin began to suspect that perhaps all of them—Joey, Amanda, and Dustin—were actually wealthy, reflecting on their spending habits. Ruth got out of the car, closed the door, and shrugged as if to say, “It’s not me, it’s my parents who are rich.” Ruth took Jin, who was looking at the cars parked in the garage with curious eyes, to the door connected to the garage. 「Come in!!」 Before Ruth could even turn the key all the way, the door swung open with a creak. A middle-aged man with sparkling eyes and an apron was standing there. At first glance, he didn’t look like Ruth, but he definitely had a similar vibe. “As you can see, it’s my dad, Jin.” Ruth narrowed his eyes and said, “I told you not to do this, Dad,” in a stern voice. The man smiled brightly and greeted Jin. When Jin hesitated and said, “Hello,” in Korean, the man’s eyes brightened even more. As soon as they entered the house, the delicious smell of food filled the air. It was the smell of Korean food, something Jin had dreamed of. Exactly one week after coming to America, she had dreamt of eating tteokbokki. Passing through the spacious living room with its impressive full-length windows that captured the view of the well-kept garden, they arrived at the kitchen, which was lavishly prepared with holiday-worthy dishes. Jin sat down at the table as Ruth led her, and picked up her chopsticks without even realizing it. The food was as delicious as it smelled. Since Ruth’s father, Nathan, spoke only Korean, Jin was able to forget that she was in America for the first time since arriving. Ruth, who kept asking what he had just said because he couldn’t keep up with the conversation, seemed like a stranger. Nathan was an excellent conversationalist. He refrained from asking the dull, stereotypical questions that parents of high schoolers tend to ask—such as about grades—and instead smoothly steered the conversation toward topics like movies, TV shows, and sports. Jin ate her fill of Korean food, laughing heartily at the embarrassing stories Nathan teasingly shared about Ruth—according to Nathan, Ruth was so afraid of the space under his bed until he was twelve that he would sleep with his parents every night. Ruth vehemently denied it, insisting it only happened once during the winter when he was twelve. Jin’s heart melted like ice in front of a fire as they talked in a familiar language, without having to worry about whether the message was being conveyed properly. It was the first time in a long time that she felt peaceful. “Now, tell me why.” Ruth suddenly spoke to Jin, who was sitting on the swing in the garden, basking in the sunlight. “Ah… what?” “Wow, you can’t lie. It’s so obvious, it’s embarrassing.” Despite her natural-sounding voice, Ruth quickly saw through Jin’s pretense by the way her eyes shifted nervously. After hesitating, Jin eventually confessed the truth. She shared everything, from the incident with Butterfield to how her thoughts always seemed to drift toward the negative side. However, despite her courage in speaking up, Ruth’s response was indifferent. “What? That’s it?” Ruth took out his phone and made a call. Before the dial tone even finished, the person on the other end quickly answered the phone. “Yeah. Come now.” Ruth briefly explained the matter to the person on the other end and hung up the phone to notify Jin. “The kids are coming here now.” “…Huh?” Ruth casually asked for confirmation, as Jin stood frozen in shock. “I’ve called Joey, Amanda, and Dustin here too.” “What?” Jin screamed silently. Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and
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