NOVEL NEXT Lie Again!
Chapter 9
<Chapter 9. 10 Reasons Why I Can’t Love You (3)> The three-story house, with its striking garden where fruit trees, wild herbs, and carrots grew in an untamed harmony, was bustling from the early morning.
The black-spotted cat elegantly moved between the dishes, sniffing around, while the elementary school girl, with food in her mouth, was busy tying and untangling Jin’s hair. Jin, still drowsy, let Ivy play with her hair while she quietly ate her breakfast. Jin chewed on pancakes that were too thick and dry, and bacon that was so hard that it was overcooked. Riley made time every morning to prepare breakfast despite the busy mornings, but the results were hard to call delicious, even out of politeness. Even Jin, who wasn’t picky about food, found herself missing the meals she had eaten back home during her first few days in America. Fortunately, Riley was excellent at making fried eggs. Every time Jin saw them, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the perfectly shaped sunny-side-up. She tapped the yolk lightly with her fork, watching as the golden liquid spilled onto the plate, soaking into the crispy bacon. “What’s wrong, Jin?” Riley, who was pouring milk into a glass cup, asked worriedly when she saw Jin’s expression. Jin was mechanically chewing the food in her mouth with a worried expression. “Just… I have detention cleaning starting today. The kid I’m supposed to do it with probably won’t show up, so thinking about doing it alone is giving me a headache.” “If he does that… Ivy, sit down and eat!” Riley, who was about to say something to Jin, couldn’t hold back and nagged Evie, who was braiding Jin’s hair with her small hands. Ivy quickly popped a piece of bacon into her mouth, glanced at Riley, and then ran back to Jin. Riley placed her hands on her hips and looked at Ivy with a stern gaze, but Ivy, unfazed by her mother’s look, continued braiding Jin’s hair. Riley sighed as if giving up and instead grabbed the freckle that was moving around the table. Meow! The cat, held under its armpits, wriggled its short legs in protest. Its fluffy white belly jiggled from side to side. It was a hectic morning. Jin couldn’t help but laugh when she noticed that Freckle and Ivy were acting exactly the same. Seeing Jin laugh, Ivy, who had been carefully braiding her hair, giggled along without even knowing why. “This is something I like, so I’ll give it to you.” Ivy, proudly tying a blue checkered scrunchie at the end of the loosely braided hair, spoke with a satisfied tone. “Thanks, Ivy. It’s pretty.” Jin turned on her phone camera and checked her reflection. Her hair, loosely tied, had stray strands sticking out, but since Ivy had worked hard to braid it with her little hands, Jin didn’t bother fixing it. She thought it was cute. “If that guy doesn’t come out to clean, let me know. I’ll make sure to tell the school about it.” Riley leaned out of the truck and reminded Jin. When Jin smiled and nodded, Riley finally seemed reassured and smiled as she bid Jin farewell. “Have a nice day, Jin.” “Have a nice day, Jin!” Ivy, securely fastening her seatbelt next to Riley, followed her mom and waved goodbye. “Thank you, Riley. Have a nice day, Ivy.” Jin waved goodbye with a big smile as she saw the mother and daughter off. She kept waving at the faded red truck until it disappeared into the distance, then turned on her heel. Jin shook off the heavy thoughts of the morning and walked forward with a lighter heart. * * * ‘Shameless.’ Jin was resting her chin on her hand and looking somewhere with cold eyes. The handsome man at the end of Jin’s gaze smiled brightly as he greeted the girl beside him. Jin recalled the time when she was first paired up with Butterfield in the chemistry lab. ‘When we were together, you wouldn’t even look at me or say a word.’ Butterfield reached out and brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen over the girl’s forehead. The moment his hand touched her, her face flushed as if it had been set on fire. ‘Oh my.’ Jin, who was looking at the sight with displeasure, realized that she was paying too much attention and shook her head. Butterfield hadn’t done anything, yet she was the one getting all worked up. You can’t come to your senses, Lee Jin. Even after hearing those words to his face, was Butterfield still on her mind? Some things never changed—she was just as easily swayed now as she had been back then. Jin laughed at herself. As she sank deeper into gloomy thoughts, even recalling the past, someone approached her from the side. “Hello.” A tall, thin figure wearing glasses sat down in the empty seat beside her and greeted her. “Hello. Pablo Miche…right?” Recognizing who he was, Jin greeted him. He was the one who, after being told he was handsome, had gone around staring intently at girls without his glasses for a while… Jin recalled the gossip she’d once heard from Joey. Pablo pushed his glasses up with the back of his hand and nodded to Jin without saying a word. There was something strangely intense about his gaze. Meeting those strikingly bright blue eyes, Jin couldn’t withstand the intensity and looked away first. Only after Jin shifted her eyes around did Pablo finally withdraw his gaze. “Do you know the reaction rate formula?” “Uh… are you talking about what we did in the last experiment?” Pablo nodded and started talking without Jin having a chance to answer. “The reaction rate is influenced by various factors, you know? It depends on things like the type of reactants, concentration, temperature, and catalysts. The average reaction rate is calculated by dividing the total concentration change by the time elapsed during the reaction…” Pablo continued talking endlessly, which he had started abruptly. “Oh, um. I see.” Jin nodded awkwardly every now and then and broke out in a cold sweat. Jin’s pupils trembled slightly in confusion. Yet, she was too afraid to cut off this strangely offbeat conversation. It was because she couldn’t predict what Pablo might do next. I think I finished that experiment before you. Jin thought that to herself, smiling awkwardly as she quietly listened to Pablo’s long speech. Thanks to that, Jin didn’t notice the gaze of someone staring at them. “I… What’s going on, Evan?” Evan turned his head from Jin to Emma at the voice asking cautiously from the side. After being kind to her a few times, her title had changed from Butterfield to Evan. When is she going to touch my hair? Evan looked down at her with a twisted thought. “Just because.” It was ridiculous. He didn’t say anything else. “Is there a problem…?” Emma looked at Evan with an anxious face at Evan’s cold expression. “It’s nothing.” Evan dismissed it with one word and smiled prettily again. Emma, who had been anxious, smiled along as if her tension had been relieved. Ah, it’s not fun. Evan turned his head towards Mr. Ross, who was entering through the door, with a smirk on his lips. * * * And that day, Butterfield didn’t come to clean the chemistry lab. It was expected, but when it actually became reality, she was completely disappointed. Sitting alone in the chemistry room, she accepted that Butterfield wasn’t coming and let out a sigh. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like there was much to clean up. Jin headed towards the flasks and beakers, calculating how much time she had left before she could go home. …And three days passed. In other words, it had been three days since Butterfield hadn’t shown up even once, leaving Jin to clean up all on her own. In fact, if she told Mr. Ross, the problem would be resolved quickly, but the idea of running up to him to complain didn’t sit well with her. Both telling Mr. Ross and cleaning up alone felt like losing to Butterfield, which hurt her pride. Jin stared at his calm face, not knowing whether he knew that fact or not. Butterfield was smiling mischievously and rejecting Jin’s essay for the fifth time. “…So you’d better rewrite it, Jin.” As his green eyes were half-covered with a slight squint, Jin couldn’t hold back and spoke up. “You know this week is the deadline?” “Of course, I know.” Butterfield answered calmly. “You also know there are two days left this week?” “Of course.” “…Then you probably know what my answer will be, right? You should rewrite it too, Butterfield.” Jin spoke while clenching her fist under the desk. His dimples deepened on his face, which was as innocent as a mischievous boy when he smiled. Before Butterfield could respond to Jin, someone else approached them and spoke first. “Evan. Do you have time after school today? We’re having a pool party at Olivia’s house. Wanna come? Hanson’s coming too.” It was Emily Gwen. Jin and Butterfield’s gazes met the tall blonde girl standing with a somewhat haughty expression. “Um. After school…” Butterfield trailed off. Jin waited nervously for Butterfield to say what he wanted to say. ‘You have to clean up. Where are you going?’ Butterfield, who had been reluctant to answer, suddenly turned to Jin. A smile grew on his face as he stared at Jin. “Okay.” The two women reacted differently to Butterfield’s words. Jin sighed inwardly and glanced up at Emily. The girl, who always seemed like a haughty doll, was surprisingly smiling brightly like a child. Emily, who had met Jin’s eyes, straightened her expression again. However, instead of turning around and leaving, she hesitated and spoke to Jin. “…Jin Lee. If you want to come, come too.” “…Me?” Jin opened her eyes wide and pointed to her chest with her finger. “That won’t work.” The answer came from beside her, not Jin. Butterfield was expressing his refusal on Jin’s behalf. The two women’s embarrassed gazes were fixed on Butterfield. “Jin has something to do after class.” Butterfield continued speaking gently, not caring about the gazes fixed on him. “Please take care of me today too, Jin.” The man who said such shameless words without any hesitation smiled prettily at Jin. “….” Jin was speechless. A little while later, Jin stood in front of the chemistry desk, neatly arranging beakers and flasks on top. “Alright. Let’s see how this goes.” Jin gritted her teeth and muttered to herself as she reached out, pushing everything off the desk. A shard of glass poured down on the floor of Mr. Ross’s chemistry lab. “I’m sorry, Mr.. I accidentally broke something I cleaned by myself while moving it.” She then ran straight to Mr. Ross. “I’ve been doing fine on my own for a few days without Butterfield, but I’m sorry. I guess I got tired of doing it all by myself.” Jin added an explanation to Mr. Ross, who was speechless, emphasizing the word “alone.” Mr. Ross, who had been looking around the classroom with a troubled expression, sighed and nodded. He had a headache, so he put one hand on his forehead. “Okay, Jin. I’ll tell Evan Butterfield.” “Thank you, Mister.” Jin politely bowed before turning and leaving the chemistry room. Her steps were light. * * * And the next day, after chemistry class, Jin quickly left the classroom after seeing Mr. Ross calling Butterfield. After finishing the 7th-period math class—where Pablo, who was in the same class, acknowledged her—Jin had to endure more of him, even after the chemistry lesson. Once she returned to the chemistry room, she opened the door with a strangely pounding heart. However, the classroom, with its wide-open window letting in the long afternoon light, was eerily quiet. The crimson sunlight wrapped around Jin, as if teasing her, warmly enveloping her. Still not coming? “…Amazing, really.” Jin shook her head and began preparing to clean. As she washed the beakers, flasks, and pipettes, which were now half the number from yesterday, she once again contemplated breaking them. But she quickly dismissed the thought. If she broke them again, Mr. Ross’s anger would be directed at her, not Butterfield. Jin grumbled inwardly about Butterfield as she struggled to climb the wooden storage cabinet. After neatly arranging the solutions on the shelf, she turned around and let out a deep sigh. Sitting on top of the storage cabinet with her legs stretched out, Jin found that her feet couldn’t reach the ground. She had managed to climb up somehow, but now the thought of getting down seemed difficult. ‘If I land wrong, my ankles might break.’ Looks like I could twist my ankle if I land wrong. As Jin hesitated, contemplating whether to call Evan Ruth, the door to the classroom opened. Jin looked down at the floor, estimating the height and landing spot. Should I ask Ruth to come? As she hesitated, wondering whether to contact Evan Ruth, who was supposed to take responsibility for her ride home today, someone opened the classroom door. “I got the gift you sent me, Jin. You did something cute.” Butterfield appeared after the cleaning was finished. Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and
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