Notes Between the Lies

There are some questions...

Not whose answers come late,
But which are asked late.
Maybe that’s why sometimes the truth is what we hide most from ourselves.
Because deep down, we know—once heard, it changes everything.

As I sat beside Lyra, I wasn’t just wondering what she would tell me.
I was scared.
Because some truths don’t bring you closer to the one you love.
They show you just how far apart you are.

We had just survived a major crisis.
And while my mind was still struggling to process that, now…
I was about to learn the truths of the girl I had fallen in love with.
I wasn’t ready.
Not at all.

Lyra’s breathing was uneven.
Just a hand’s width away from me,
Yet she felt light-years distant.

I had to speak. Because this was not the time.
“Lyra… let’s talk about this later,” I said.
“This isn’t the moment. You already—”
“No!”
Her voice was so sharp it made me flinch.

“Why?” I asked. Had she never heard of the term “shock”?

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Lyra’s hands were clenched into fists, pressing down on her knees.
Her eyes were closed.
She was trembling.

“Because…”
She swallowed hard before continuing.
“I want you to know who it really was that you saved.”

Her words hit me like ice.
Slowly, I pulled my chair closer until we were eye to eye.
“Will telling me help you feel even a little lighter?” I asked, seriously.
“Yes.” She looked back at me with the same seriousness and certainty.

“Alright. I’m listening.”
I gave her my word.
And I would listen to her story until the very end.

Her tears had already moved on from what had just happened.
I was still in shock about where I was and what I had done on that stage. My body was trembling.
But I had to stay strong. Because what else could I do?

“Do you remember the first day we met?” Her voice was gentle, almost curious.
“Yes.”
“Your views caught my attention that day.”
That I could understand. But something still didn’t add up.

“I was craving something cold. We didn’t have any. So I excused myself and ran to the nearest store.”
This girl… was she truly this oblivious?
“And Noa…?”
“My manager told her to come with me for precaution. Since she’s usually very busy, she sometimes leaves everything to Noa.”

There was a short silence between us.
The more she spoke, the more my mind locked onto new questions.
Things started to click in my head.
Noa’s strange behavior…
Lyra vanishing now and then…
And that thing she said at the café?

“What about the boyfriend you said you had…?”
“It was just a lie,” she said in a muffled voice.
“Not to reject you…
Just… a defense mechanism I always used when someone tried to get close.
I’ve been saying that for years.
To avoid being disturbed.
To keep my distance.”

“To keep your distance?”

“I started singing in middle school. No one at home cared. My parents divorced a few years after my sister was born. My mom’s a businesswoman, and… her attention was always elsewhere. When I mentioned music, she just laughed. Until my teacher convinced her. Then came the talent tests, the album offers…
But love never came. Not once.”

That explained why no one had shown up, even after all that time.
Something inside me cracked.
I didn’t know what to say.
One wrong word and I’d just add to the weight.

Lyra went on:
“When I was little, the house always felt cold. Not temperature-wise. Just… empty.
Even when I sang… I was the only one listening.
So I got used to it.
Talking to myself.
Relying on no one but me.”

“Does your sister know you’re in the hospital?” I asked curiously.
“We haven’t told her yet. He’d worry, and… there’s no one to go get her anyway.”

I felt awful.
To have parents and still be left this alone—
It hurt just thinking about it.

“So what does your sister do now?”
“I take care of her. After I became of legal age, my dad drifted further away. My mom was already long gone.
Now it’s just the two of us. Sometimes Noa and her mom help. But otherwise… It’s mostly just us.”

My throat tightened.
Her words slapped me across the face.

“S-so there’s really no one else?”
“Only Noa’s family.
My first manager, Aoi, was introduced to me by my vocal coach when I was really young.
They live in the same building. They’ve always been there for me and my sister.”

A faint smile crossed Lyra’s face.
I could feel how genuinely happy she was to have them.

The singer I admired,
The girl I liked,
Seemed completely alone.
Aside from her little sister, she had no one.
She had kept going all this time, kept singing,
Kept giving her time,
Always smiling.

Even now, instead of focusing on her problems, she was stubbornly concerned about me.

How strong she was. How resilient.
Even as she spoke to me, she never looked like a victim.
She looked like a fighter.

“Then… how did you manage to make time for us on all this?”
How could someone dealing with so much still have the motivation to laugh and enjoy life?
I couldn’t comprehend it.

Lyra was silent for a moment.
Then she lifted her head, with that familiar, shy yet loving smile.

“Because… when you all came into my life… something changed.
I realized how much I enjoyed being around you. I usually don’t have things like that.
For the first time, I felt like the people approaching me… were trying to see who I really was behind the mask.
You… Ray, Yasu…
Only Noa ever did that before. I’d hang out with her, go home, take care of my sister, and music was my only hobby.
But then you all showed up…
None of you looked at ‘Lyola.’
You looked at me.
Maybe I never said it,
But you were still there.
And… I missed that kind of gaze.”

Lyra’s cheeks were flushed.
My throat tightened.
I looked into her eyes.
Tears welled up in mine.
There was silence.
But this time, not a painful one.
It felt like no words were needed anymore.

“I realized too late, Yuta,” she said softly.
“Sometimes the time you spend with someone says more than any conversation.
I didn’t tell you a lot of things but…
Being quiet beside you was what I liked most.”

I lowered my head.
And I… in that silence, had already fallen for you,
I didn’t say.
But my heart shouted it louder than anything.

Lyra had her head down. Her hands were clasped on her knees.
Almost like she was afraid to look me in the eye.

“So…”
Her voice was thick.
“I’m really sorry, Yuta.”

I shook my head.
“All this time… I stood by you without knowing what you were going through.”
I took a deep breath.
“And you never really told me.”

Lyra looked up. Her eyes were red,
But she wasn’t crying anymore.

“Because… I was used to it.
Handling everything on my own,
Suppressing my emotions,
Smiling through it.
Because I thought that was the only way to survive in this world.”
She paused.
“Or at least… I thought it was.”

I slowly moved closer to her.

“When I tried to reach you… Most of the time, you were already behind your walls, weren’t you?”
Even I was surprised by my words.

Her eyes widened. She was shocked.
“Y-Yuta…”
“I was afraid you’d see me as a burden,” I said.
“But turns out… You were even more afraid than I was, weren’t you?”

Her eyes filled with tears.
She swallowed.
“I was so scared, Yuta…
That if I ever really connected with someone…
If they ever left, there’d be nothing left of me.
So I always kept my distance. From everyone.”
Right in front of me, she had started crying again.

I thought of the fireworks festival she spent alone,
Of the concert she wanted to attend but couldn’t,
Of the messages she wrote…
Put it all together, and Lyra’s life looked like a journal of loneliness.

But as she spoke, there wasn’t a hint of pain on her face.
Just… a habit.
And that hurt more than anything.

Then, she gently changed the subject:
“Actually… music was my escape. On stage, I had to be someone.
But that someone wasn’t me.”

She shrugged lightly.
“Lyola was someone else. Bright, bold, dazzling.
But Lyra… was just a quiet girl who overthinks, cries sometimes,
gets scared.”

I reached out my hand.
“I… don’t know which one I got to know.”
I paused. It didn’t matter to me. Because I…
“But whoever you are… I’m ready to know her.”
Because I already did.

Our eyes met.
And in that moment...
Something inside me broke.
As if she silently said: It hurts.
But all I actually heard was…
“Thank you.”

She said it in a small, broken voice.
But inside me, it echoed like thunder.

I slowly leaned toward her.
The space between us felt unbearable.
I extended my arm behind her—
And with that motion, Lyra pulled me into a tight embrace.

I held her gently, not wanting to crush her.
She cried into my chest, tears soaking through my shirt.

In that moment...
I didn’t just want to know her.
I wanted to protect her.

Not just a singer.
But the girl who had grown up alone,
Worn masks,
Fought to survive—
That silent Lyra…
The unseen, but real one.

And so,
The stranger I didn’t know,
Became the one person...
who understood me more than anyone else.
And the only person...

I was finally beginning to truly know.