Liar and Liar - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19

Danielle raised one hand and pressed firmly between her brows, her face showing waves of pain.

“By the way, we decided to make a bet. The first person to come out of the ocean gets punished. But you’re not someone who can’t watch horror movies, right?”

Is Jaws even a horror movie in the first place? Frederick shrugged his shoulders once again.

“….”

Absurdly, Danielle realized only after Frederick asked that she didn’t know whether she was good or bad at watching scary things.

Come to think of it, she had never once tried to watch that kind of movie. If she had friends, she probably would have had opportunities to watch with them, but unfortunately, Danielle had been friendless for years.

She disliked disgusting, gory things. She was reluctant about blood splattering scenes….

‘Isn’t it just a story about a shark appearing and attacking people?’

It’s not like a serial killer appears or anything. It’s not zombies or strange creatures either.

And more than anything, she hated showing weakness to Frederick. So her answer was already decided.

“No, I can watch them.”

Even though it wasn’t a private beach, there were no other people around the seaside.

Danielle guessed that the entire town probably worked together to hide the entrance so that passersby wouldn’t come down to the ocean.

“Hey! Ni-el!”

The moment Joshua, who was playing beach volleyball, raised one arm and shouted loudly, not only the male students but also the spectators and female students who were sunbathing quickly turned their heads to look at Danielle coming down the stairs.

Hello.

Danielle responded only with lip movements without any hand gestures. She had definitely thought about calling Joshua Lauder “Josh” as part of her plan to annoy Frederick, but it just wouldn’t stick. Neither did pretending to be friends while greeting.

Danielle lightly ignored the other gazes and walked across the sandy beach where her feet sank deep, heading toward the ocean where a huge screen was installed.

* * *

She had wondered if watching a movie in the ocean was realistically possible, but surprisingly, the preparations were thorough.

Three safety personnel that Danielle hadn’t noticed at first were standing by on the beach, and boundary nets were even set up in the ocean to prevent tubes from drifting away. Some tubes were tied together.

Lounging on swimming floats (tubes) and watching a movie displayed on a screen. She thought it was quite a waste of money, but once she was actually sitting on a fully inflated tube drinking orange juice, it wasn’t bad at all. The seawater touching her legs was pleasantly cool.

Except for Joshua, who was floating on the water as if lying down, everyone was sprawled out on tubes or mats according to their preferences. Frederick had suggested sharing a large mat together, but Danielle firmly chose a single-person tube.

“I want to focus on the movie alone.”

“If that’s what you want… I’ll respect it. What’s most important is that you have a good time here.”

If she stayed close to Frederick, she would obviously just attract attention the whole time. Rather than watching the movie, she would be treated like a zoo animal, so it was better to be alone.

The movie finally started, and Danielle was amazed by the performance of the screen and sound. Just how expensive were this screen and speakers to be so clear even in the ocean?

Even though night ocean scenes were displayed while the sun hadn’t set yet, the contrast was vivid. As a woman appeared on screen entering the ocean alone, the voices of students who had been chatting in small groups gradually became quiet.

The screen captured the woman swimming near the surface from what seemed like the shark’s perspective from inside the ocean, and soon, just 3 minutes into the movie, the woman’s scream amplified through the speakers echoed across the beach.

-Oh! God help me! God! Argh!!!!

“Geez, that woman’s going to die.”

“Is a shark coming out?”

According to what Danielle had looked up on her phone earlier, this movie was from 1975.

It seemed like none of the students present had actually seen this movie. Danielle’s face hardened.

-It hurts! It hurts! Oh my god!!

When she thought a shark might actually appear, her whole body stiffened with goosebumps. The woman’s screams were desperate.

The woman disappeared below the surface, and peaceful ocean scenery followed, but Danielle remained in a startled state.

When she slowly turned her head, she could see that the sky, which had been blue when they arrived at the villa, was gradually turning red with the sunset light.

The glass of orange juice that she had only thought was refreshing somehow felt much colder.

‘It’ll… it’ll be fine.’

Danielle brushed her arms, which had developed goosebumps, with her hands.

“What’s the punishment?”

“Being locked alone in a closet.”

If she ended up receiving the punishment alone….

‘No way.’

She could clearly picture in 4K quality how much everyone would mock her and treat her like an idiot.

Danielle really hated being ridiculed and ignored in front of everyone. She had experienced such things so many times that she was sick of it.

And that wasn’t much different even now when she was pretending to be Frederick’s fake girlfriend.

Her tense body began to grow colder.

Danielle regulated her breathing while looking at the screen showing ordinary scenes again.

‘It’s okay. I just need to avoid the brutal scenes.’

However, her heart, which had started beating violently after hearing the woman’s screams, wouldn’t calm down easily.

At that moment.

Ding.

Danielle flinched even at the small notification from her phone. A text message had arrived.

Wouldn’t it be better to just go inside?

It was an unknown number. The sudden text was confusing, but Danielle typed a reply.

Who is this?

The answer came back quickly.

You don’t have my number. Still, I’d like you to figure out who I am.

Don’t play weird pranks. I don’t contact people I don’t know.

You’re the one who didn’t save my number. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t have it.

So much for telling you to ask for help if you need it.

“Tell me anytime if you need help, Danielle.”

Chris Fassbinder?

Danielle quickly turned her head. Her eyes met with Chris, who was sitting on a mat with Cove. He was also holding a phone in one hand.

When their gazes met, he showed a faint smile and lightly waved his phone once in the air.

Only after realizing the identity of the sender did Danielle type a reply.

However, she had no intention of sending a friendly response.

How would I know your number.

I have yours, don’t I? Try to remember what the occasion might have been.

If you think about other things like that, the movie will be less scary too.

Danielle typed a reply as cold as crushed ice without any hesitation.

It’s not scary enough for you to worry about me. Don’t mind me and just watch the movie.

It was true that her fear had subsided a little while paying attention to the texts. But Danielle didn’t want to rely on Chris.

Danielle had turned off her phone screen and looked up at the screen when she looked down again due to the flashing phone screen.

She thought she had sent messages rudely enough that he wouldn’t want to contact her anymore, but another text from Chris had arrived.

I know you’re scared of disgusting things and blood. In middle school, you almost cried when you saw the anatomical model that someone had jokingly covered with blood.

Danielle’s eyes widened in surprise. That was so long ago.

It was embarrassing. It was so unfamiliar that someone else remembered something she had forgotten herself.

After her younger brother collapsed from illness, it became natural for Danielle to take care of others rather than being taken care of. To the point where it was awkward for someone to care for and look after her like this.

How about this? If you’re surprised by the next text I send, you’ll keep texting with me.

Danielle finally typed a reply. It was because the nuance of “surprise you” sounded infinitely negative.

Don’t send weird photos or anything. I’ll really block you if you do.

What would be surprising if it’s not something like that. Danielle thought so, but when she saw the next text Chris sent, she really opened her eyes wide and was genuinely surprised.

And at the same time, she was so focused on staring at the text that she missed other gazes directed at her.

“….”

Frederick, who had turned his head to the side, was staring at Danielle, who was looking at her phone screen intently. His face was full of curiosity with his brown eyes wide open.

As soon as he shifted his gaze slightly to the side, he could see Chris similarly holding his phone.

Frederick’s head turned back to the front. As he lifted his gaze to the air, one corner of his mouth twisted upward.

It was an expression that no one in this world had ever seen, not even Frederick himself knew about.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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