FIVE CROWNS.

fifteen

The next weekend is probably Jade's most enjoyable time with Ryujin. Her friend comes home with Jade on Friday night and decides to spend the weekend in her room. It's fun mostly, they spend the mornings studying up until lunch, and after that they basically do whatever they want. Lei had bugged her sister Joy into helping them with one of their boredom projects. Ryujin suggested embellishing their uniform skirts, because it's starting to get colder. Long sleeves were in season now, but their bouncy skirts just didn't fit with that occasion.

No, they wouldn't get dress-coded for changing the uniform. Technically this is their uniform, just rearranged a little. Jade doesn't forget to thank her sister.

"I didn't know your sister was so artsy." Ryu hums, flopping back on Jade's bed. "She's pretty."

"I know. We all are." At this, her friend laughs and nudges Jade's side with her elbow. "Jade, you don't need to be so full of yourself."

"If I'm full of myself, you should meet my older brother."

"Is he the one who took you to Tokyo?"

"Yes. Mino."

"Is he single?"

"Shut up!" It's Jade's turn to laugh loudly. "He's like way older."

"I'm down for that. Age is just a number." Ryu giggles into a pillow, when Jade shoves her lightly.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Has Jeongguk had any girlfriends before?"

"Oh yeah, probably hundreds of them."

"No. I mean like, a serious relationship."

Ryu frowns to herself. Sitting up more straighter, she looks at Jade. "I...you know what? I think so."

"Really?" She crosses her legs to face the other more comfortably. "When?"

"I'm trying to remember." She frowns. "It was definitely around the time when I first became an Olympian, if I had to guess. I distinctly remember people talking about him being a player and how I shouldn't go near him, but to me JK showed no signs of being one. In fact, it seemed like he wasn't interested in anyone." Ryujin sighs. "Now that I think about it Jade, he has seriously changed since then."

"In what way?"

"A few months after I joined, he switched to the way he operates now. But before then, he was pretty...harmless. He was really close with Jimin, Yoongi, and Jaebum back then, not saying they aren't now. But it's just different. I don't know what happened to make him change, maybe a breakup? But it must've been big."

"And no one knew about it?"

Ryu shakes her head. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to make sure no one finds out about something. But like that, it's always easy to reveal the truth."

Jade nods. She has one last question. "Do you think the Five Crowns like each other?"

"Not at all." Her voice is low. "It didn't take much for me to figure out that Jeongguk hates them. He never liked Vicki to begin with, and he had reason. She was so manipulative, controlling the four of them like they were puppets. Vicki messed around with innocent people for fun. She always had her next ten moves figured out, and she reminded me of you — except in a bad way. She could just look at someone and figure out their weaknesses, use it against them..."

"Ryu." She stops her mid explanation. "Did you hate Vicki Wang?"

And the look on her friend's face is alarming. Shin Ryujin is not a cruel person, no, she's very nice, rational, and reasonable. She's an easy girl to approach, she smiles a lot, and she is pretty. Jade understands why Jeongguk likes her as company, she gets why Jimin likes this girl, and she knows why Jaebum doesn't mind such an optimistic and chatty person around him. She's irresistible. But Jade can't ignore the chill that gets sent down her back once the question is asked. Ryu looks so scary.