An honest lie | Kim Taehyung (editing*)

- An objective vs a subjective prospective -

IX

"Why do people lie?" Aksed the young girl, while keeping her gaze on the floor. She was playing with her fingers, rubbing them in a circular motion. Her expression was emotionless, but a hint of distress was clear in the tone of her voice.

Sitting across from her, Eda scanned her every movement but had a sympathetic and warm expression on her face.

"There are many reasons why a human being would feel the need to withhold the truth from someone or a situation." She answered slowly.

The girl looked up to meet her therapist's eyes that were reading her deeply.

"Yeah, but why?.." she repeated by adding impatience in her voice.

"Comfort, power, jealousy, anger, pride, honor, protection... you name it. A person can find anything to save its self from potential suffering or trouble."

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked and lowered her head in shame.

"Not always Anna." replied Eda now leaning her body forward and resting her elbows on the wooden desk. "Some people do it with bad intentions, others for necessity, while others do it to achieve something."

Anna looked up again with sorrowful eyes. "What about those who do it for fun?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Lying a couple of times for no particular reason doesn't make someone a bad person." Eda explained softly to her with a light smile on her lips. "Just a normal one."

"Mh.." she hummed in response and diverted her gaze to another direction.

"Perhaps the most innocent, but quite common reason for lying is to seek attention." Eda broke the silence that was created a minute ago and looked towards the window of her office.

Anna stared at her with curiosity, and Eda could feel her gaze on her.

"What do you mean?" She asked after a couple of seconds.

The psychologist answered while watching the garden out the window.

"I'll explain it to you with a short story." She paused and looked back at her patient, for signs of interest in her method.

As expected, Anna's eyes slightly widened and her position changed, her shoulders relaxed, her back strained and she leaned just a little bit forward to hear her better.

Eda smiled softly and started.

"Once upon a time, a little girl was born in a rich family. The parents were really happy and gifted her with the most expensive presents and toys to please her. But as the girl grew up, it never seemed enough."

"So she was a spoiled brat?" Asked Anna and her eyebrows joined together.

"No, no." Eda giggled a little at her comment. "She appeared spoiled in the eyes of her parents, and it's logical to think that, just as you did. But that's not the case here."

Anna tilted her head in confusion.

"While growing up, she started making up small lies like fun experiences, new friends, good marks, etc. The little girl had everything she'd ever want, her parents even treated her nicely, no bullying at school, no trouble with friends, but that wasn't what she needed." She paused and noticed Anna's facial expressions changed, and she became nervous.

Eda continued, as now she was almost close to achieving her goal.

"She was aware of what she was doing, yet she couldn't stop. The lying became a daily routine for her and even created imaginary friendships in the eyes of her parents, people that didn't even exist, events that never took place, so that she could talk about it at home. But her parents never gave her the reaction that she wanted. So she kept lying until it led her to some trouble." She finalized and stared at Anna intensely.