a/n: it's happy hearts day so in
honor of that and the fact that i
cannot make any plans for v day due
to covid i decided to write this instead.
this is especially for redchaerry because
i crushed her with that ending, so why
not break some more hearts :") i
hope you guys enjoy ♡

this is a year after the events of
five crowns, jade is a senior now.

The past weekend had been filled with pink, white, and red; surrounded by big cuddly brown bears, heart-shaped balloons, and over dramatic gestures with lots of sparkly makeup. The memories of the weekend still linger in Jade's head as she's returning back to school. They bring a smile, and she tightens a hand around the bow decorating her shirt.

Across the hall, she sees Ryujin, her closest friend and association to the elite life of Evergreen. The dark haired brunette has a platter of cupcakes in one arm, each frosted with a slightly different design of pink and white. That's a gift no doubt, probably bought from the bakery down the street. Definitely the work of one of the testosterone-filled Olympian members, who's dying to receive an ounce of affection from her pretty gaze. Jade snorts, glancing down at her phone.

There's a text from Jaebeom, her current beau.

재범
hope you have a
great day :3

Choosing to respond at a later time, she clicks off her phone, walking through the Victoria's Secret-scented halls. A variety of aromas fill the atmosphere, each significantly sweeter than the other until it feels intoxicating. They're all dressed to impress. The girls have curled their hair, styled it to the best. Standing in front of locker mirrors, friends usher each other to apply more mascara, add that extra coat of sparkly lip gloss. Jade already her fair share of fun on the day of lovers and loved, so she doesn't bother to indulge in any of these behaviors. They never quite interested her either. It's not like he was even at this school anymore.

Ryujin joins at her side when Jade walks in. "There you are, I was looking for you."

"I actually just arrived, so makes sense why you were unsuccessful."

"Cupcake?" She points to the plastic box. "This was sitting on top of my locker this morning. I assume it's from one of the Olympians."

"Oh, I think we know who it's from." Jade snorts, then nods. "Yeah. Preferably with the pink frosting please."

"Ryu babe, if you could hand me one with the white frosting, I would love you like a love song."

"Not a chance Jeon." She snipes. "I know you're just going to hand that off to another one of the girls on your list, and make it seem like you actually care."

The Chesirean boy chuckles under his breath, thin fingers flipping the wooden pencil idly. His eyes meet Jade's for a moment before he grins.

"So? I heard Big J had plans with you for the weekend."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't call him that, sounds gross."

"But the plans?"

"They were nice." Jade comments. "We got dinner, watched a movie, took some pictures. Just a normal outing for the two of us."

"You're so nonchalant about everything, Lei." Ryu states. "I wonder how much he has to do to impress you."

"I appreciate the small things!" She protests. "And it was nice, really. I liked it a lot."

"Unlike you, I spent Valentines Day alone in my room, working on the final project for English."

"Oh same." Jeongguk agrees. "A waste of time in my opinion. I should have just skipped school today."

Jade raises her brow at him. "And you chose to come, why?"

"I'm a good student, Lei. I like to have perfect attendance."

"Perfect attendance, my ass." Ryu laughs. "I remember how you used to skip weeks at a time."

"And yet I'm still in Class A, love."

"You cheat the system, love."

"No, I'm just smart love." He rolls his eyes, then looks back at Jade. "There was something I needed to do. That's the only reason I'm here really."

"What a man of mystery," Jade mumbles. "You never let down that facade Jeongguk."

And he looks away when she says that.

§

The day passes like any other, Jade struggles to keep her eyes open towards the end of it, contemplating on her existence and purpose of life during one of her more uninteresting periods. After the last bell chimes for dismissal she takes her time to pack her things. Ryujin is already well on her way to the lockers to prepare for tennis practice, it's freezing outside but she takes the preparation pre-season very seriously. Jade heads for the locker hall, it's already crowded with many others who are packing their bags, excited to leave.

Conversations buzz with planning study sessions for the upcoming midterms, weekend outings to the Five Crowns nightclub, she doesn't choose to linger around to hear more.

Of course, whatever seems to be an average day is thrown out the window when she opens the locker door.

Her belongings are untouched, but the rest of the tall locker is decorated. Silver streamers line the tops, a little banner hanging with the words 'Happy V Day'. There's a pink and white box sitting at the bottom, so she picks it up. Even after all of what Jaebeom had planned yesterday, he still chose to do this? She really underestimated how thoughtful he was.

He had never been that great at keeping surprises anyways.

When she opens the box, Jade's smile fades. Inside there's an iced frappuccino, it clearly hasn't melted yet so it must have just been bought. There's no way that Jae could have done this, he was back at his dorm by now. Unless he had help from someone here.

Then it clicks. Picking up the last item in the box, it's a dorky little red elephant, holding a heart in its hooves, that say the letter J.

It could be J for Jade.

J for Jaebeom.

But Jade knows it's none of those. She turns around to look at the locker diagonal from hers across the hall. He shuts his, clicking the lock in place, before turning. Then his eyes meet hers. J for Jeongguk.

a/n: hehe once again, happy Valentine's Day you guys 🥺 thank u so much for the support which Five Crowns has received, it means so much that you really enjoyed it. and although i didn't really intend for this oneshot to be that sad, i guess it is a little sad :") poor jeongguk 💔 what did you guys think tho? 👀