When school opens again for the next week, Jade's head is still thinking about many things. Though she hadn't been focusing that well in Vicki's closet the other day, now her head is very clear.

Why was Jeongguk there? That had been very strange. Well he probably had access to the girl's room back when she was alive considering they were friends, but why would he be there now? Either he was looking for something in Vicki's room, or he was just like them. She doubts it's the latter though.

"Both of you are acting weird." Ryu hums. Her short hair is tied in a french braid today, it's cute. Previously the girl was thinking about dying it a dark blue, but Jade hadn't really been paying attention.

"Who's acting weird?"

"You and Jae." At the mention of his name, Jade perks a little, turning to her. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. Jaebum is usually pretty quiet but like today...you know how you just get a feeling when something is off about someone?" When Jade nods, Ryujin is satisfied. "Yeah, it was like that. Both of you. Same feeling."

Ryu is smarter than she lets on sometimes. Jade is amazed how she was able to pick this up so quickly.

"I don't know. Maybe since it's a Monday." She offers, trying to shrug off the topic. But Ryu is still relentless.

"Don't you like him?"

"Jaebum?" Jade arches a brow at her. "That depends, what do you want to hear?"

She grins. "So it's a yes." Then she leans back in her seat. "Cute. I think he likes you too." The good thing about her is that she doesn't nag or press for extra unnecessary details. Ryu is very straightforward when it comes to the interest of one's heart. If she says that Jaebum likes her...most times she is correct with her assumptions. And yes, she is correct once again. There's absolutely no way that Jaebum couldn't like her after what happened in Vicki's closet. Even if it wasn't classified as an official crush or whatever, he at least liked her to some extent.

"Now that we're on that topic," She turns in her chair. "What's going on between you and Jimin?"

And Ryu pauses in what she's writing. "Nothing."

"He likes you, does he not?"

"I mean...I don't know."

"And you two were talking at the nightclub."

"Yeah..." She brushes a flyaway from her face. "he's just pretty social. It's not a biggie."

"Oh shit. You like him." Jade bites her lip, to prevent herself from grinning too much. The other girl sighs. "I seriously hate your weird Sherlock Holmes thing that you do."

"What?" She smirks. "First you paused in what you were doing once I said his name. So you pay attention to anything someone says if they mention his name. Meaning, you think about him a lot, so you wonder what they have to say about him. And your ears are a bit pink. This isn't me being smart. Anyone can tell."

"Jimin likes getting sucked off." Jeongguk comments boredly, now making it very obvious he had been eavesdropping the entire time. Jade looks at him — Ryu flips her head around to shoot him a scowl — though his lazy smirk is seemingly lighthearted and casual to them, she finds him to be very deceiving. Ugh. She just needs to find his true colors.

"Shut up." She looks at her dark colored nails. "I only give people blowjobs if I really like them."

"So..." He glances around the room, then back to her. "Jimin." She flips him off, and switches back to her original position in her chair.

"So why are you guys called the Five Crowns?" Jade asks. "Is it like named after the nightclub?"

"Pft. Not even close." He shrugs. "Well, it's a mere coincidence that both are the same name actually." Jeongguk is lightly drawing circles on his sketch pad.

"The name comes from the Bible." At this Ryujin lets out a loud guffaw.

"So you mean to tell me you're religious."

He winks at her. "I have never been late to church."

"That's probably because you've never gone to church, dumb-ass." The short haired girl's remarks are very sharp, and Jade finds it hard to hold back a laugh. Seeing this, Ryu allows herself to smile too.

"So each of you represents one?"

He nods simply. And she wonders which one he is. "Which one was Vicki?"

The smile on his face fades, and he abruptly stops drawing. Ryujin notices his change in behavior too, and shifts in her seat uncomfortably. Man, this Vicki Wang topic is always like walking on egg shells. Jade never knows if she's about to cross a line since he's so damn secretive. Actually, she finds it hard to believe any of them can represent these five crowns, they are like the exact opposites of what they stand for. Maybe that's the point.

He hums. "Ironic you ask that, she was the crown of life."

§

Jade is on her way to her locker for one last stop before she heads outside to go home. Today was fairly productive, she had several tests, but at least they are done with. And she's starving too. Jade skipped out on lunch to study.

She's about to turn down the hall where her homeroom's lockers are, when an unknown hand yanks her over to a hidden corner across from her lockers. She almost shrieks at them, then she realizes it's Jaebum. She still has an inclination to give him a piece of her mind. Then he shushes her.

"Be quiet." He hisses. The halls are empty now since most students are on their way home, but she can hear some very distinct voices in the hallway she's about to enter. It's the Crowns.

"Why'd you tell everyone about my relationship status, Jeongguk?" And now it seems that Hyunjin has been brought to the light. Though it was very obvious for Jade, it seems that no one else knew that he had been single for his entire life.

"I know it was you."

"Don't make such silly accusations." She hears her classmate scoff to himself. "Hyunjin, I would die for you. I'd hate for my favorite underclassmen to suddenly get mauled by girls for having tiny balls."

Then Jade hears Hyunjin yell loudly. He seems to have a short temper, from what she's noticed over the past two months. Wow. It's already been two months into their school year. She can guarantee this year has been way off the charts in compared to the other two.

"Jeon, why did you do that?" It's Jisoo now. "We promised that we wouldn't leave each other's sides especially now."

"Especially now? Since Vicki is dead?"

Doyoung sighs. "Stop acting like she was a curse to us all. She had her good moments."

And it shocks Jade when she hears this. "Maybe to you, you were always in love with her. But to me? I never wanted to be one of you guys and you know it. Screw the Five Crowns and our entitlement. I'm determined to bring this down."

"Jeon, stop trying to act like a patriot. You're playing such a dangerous game." Jisoo warns. When Jade peeks over the wall, she can see him approach the shorter girl slowly.

"Be ready to get hurt then." He whispers. And Doyoung looks like he wants to punch the younger kid, but Jisoo holds up a hand to stop him. Oh wow, what a plot twist. The airhead of the group is actually a lot smarter than she lets on.

"It wouldn't be so hard for me to say you wanted Vicki dead." Jisoo hums. Damn, she is ruthless. "Old habits die hard, don't they?"

And Jade looks at Jaebum. He is just as clueless as her.

"Imagine if that Jade Lei found out the actual reason you hang out with her so much." Doyoung's voice is almost as icy and his facial expression. This friend-group is far more toxic than Jade even accounted. To everyone else, they were so perfect. "Something about the people you trust the most? You seem to have a trend in the girls you prey on."

"What the hell does Jade have to do with this?" Jeongguk growls — and oh my — she's surprised with how Doyoung was able to rile him up so easily. Now Hyunjin looks satisfied.

"What I just said. The bold, straightforward, intelligent, and cocky personality." Cocky? She's not that cocky. "Reminds me an awful lot of Ch—"

And he punches him. Jeongguk punches Kim Doyoung. He punches him so hard that the older boy is forced to the ground. Hyunjin almost attacks him from behind in retaliation, but the furious boy shoves the younger kid against the locker, hand around his neck. Goodness gracious.

"I specifically told you guys to Never. Say. Her. Name. Again." And he looks at Jisoo with the same flame of anger in his eyes. For a moment, her stoic face falters for just a moment, and in that time frame...she looked scared.

Jade personally had never witnessed the popular boy in such a rage like this. But this incident gives her more insight than she would've from probing him for answers.

"I told you once Jisoo. If you try to bring me down, I will drag you all with me. And I am not afraid of doing that."

"So what is it that you want?" Jisoo calls out to him, when Jeongguk starts to walk away. He turns back.

"I want your head on a platter."

§

He calls Jade later. Something about needing air and asked if she wanted to join. Jade doesn't hesitate now to say yes, and within ten minutes Jeongguk is at her door, the black and purple car humming with life at her front porch. She goes out way too much lately, but by now Jade has found a slightly new look on the boy currently driving the expensive car. He's not the rich kid she thought he was. He chose Jade because she reminds him of someone he used to know. Oh so that means something totally different. And he also hates the friends Jade assumed he liked.

He's so complicated. Maybe that's the case with many rich children, but he's his own case. Jeongguk is on the border of recklessness, class, and definitely a bad attitude. He's charming when need be, he gets angry when someone crosses a line — but no, he won't ever tell you where the lines are or where you stand — and something she just realizes, he's very emotional.

At first, she assumed his decisions were made by a 'I have no care in the world' type mindset, but maybe it's the thought that he actually cares that makes him do that. Whatever is haunting him from his past, that is what is currently driving his downhill into madness.

Jade wants to find out. Why? She just...needs to know. Not that she cares about him. Of course not.

"What's good here?" Jade speaks up. It's a fancy French restaurant that he takes her to, very expensive at that, so she assumes he's paying. He flips through the menu briefly.

"You might like the Coq au Vin." He pronounces. "I usually get that when I order here."

"I'll take your word for it." Their waiter passes by to fill their glasses with iced water. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Yeah. A lot of things." He answers honestly. "But I can't really tell you. Not that I believe you're going to do anything with what I'm thinking about...I just think it's better you don't know. Seriously, you don't want to know."

That's obviously where he's wrong. In fact it makes her more curious. But pushing those thoughts aside, she decides to test where she stands in his lines, and ask him one simple question.

"Why were you at Vicki's dorm the other night?"

And he looks up slowly at her words. "...What?"

"I-I saw you." Jade's lips dip downwards at the corners. "Don't lie to me. I saw you there Jeongguk."

"Why were you there?"

"Jaebum was there." She says quietly, not really caring if he starts to make assumptions about them. She doesn't tell him that they were in the shoe closet, like he said, it's better he doesn't know.

The silence between them is very tense. Between the time he chooses to stay quiet and find out what to say for himself, the two order their food. Jade adds a bit of lemon to her water. Is he going to tell her the truth? Or just lie? She can't even tell when he's being honest, it's so frustrating.

"I was looking for something of mine, to tell you the truth." He leans his head back against the leathered seat. "A book."

"A book." She repeats. "What was in the book?" When Jeongguk becomes quiet again, she presses her lips together.

"Something I don't want to know, huh."

"It's not something I'm eager to talk about." Jeongguk looks at her, and notices the disappointed expression. Because Jade's not going to hide it from him, she is disappointed.

"Look." His hand gently covers hers. "There's just some things you're better off—"

"Not knowing?" Jade Lei finishes. "Yeah, maybe for now. But one day I promise you, I will find out."

Jeongguk surprises her with his response to her mild threat. Maybe it's not even a threat now.

"I'll be looking forward to it."