FIVE:
Eponine

The event was well underway by the time Jisoo finally made it back from a quick run to the nearest grocer to pick up some more cheese and crackers. The old gym still smelled by varnish, though it was slightly masked by the scent of sandalwood. Jennie had purchased an air freshener. She was very detailed, Jisoo noticed.

The decor was standard Jennie fare: black bar tables with rose centerpieces that were so red they were almost burgundy. A DJ was playing the Top 40. The lights had been dimmed and there was a sign that had “Welcome Class of 2012” written in a medieval-looking font.

About 250 people graduated from their high school that year, and there looked to be about 40 or 50 people gathered in the gym tonight. All things considered, it was a pretty good number.

Jisoo saw Jennie rushing up to her in a blue velvet mini dress. Her hair was done up in a bun with a chopstick. Jisoo herself had opted to go more casual with a taupe t-shirt dress, black flats, and she kept her hair loose.

“There you are!” Jennie said. “Get the crackers over to the table. These people are going through the hors-d'oeuvres like they haven’t eaten in half a decade!”

She reached over and grabbed one of the bags from Jisoo and ushered her over to the food table. Jisoo took a look around the gym meanwhile, thinking about how weird it was to see so many familiar people in one place. 

“Nice turnout,” Jisoo commented to Jennie as they laid the crackers and cheese out. “So, who’s here?”

“I don’t know,” Jennie said, arranging the cracker platter so that it was at a perfect right angle with the edge of the table. “People, I guess. I saw Kim Doyoung, Jackson Wang, Im Nayeon, Mark Tuan, your boy, Bobby RSVP’d but I guess he isn’t here yet. You know, our classmates.”

Jisoo flicked. “Your boy, Bobby” was a phrase that Jackson had coined to . Yeah, she crushed on him, but come on now, that must have been six or seven years ago. Never underestimate the staying power of alliteration, she supposed.

“What about Jinyoung? Is he here yet?” Jisoo asked. 

Jennie turned and was about to tell Jisoo that no, she hadn’t spotted Jinyoung yet, but it was that exact moment that Jennie saw the aforementioned boy walk in. Jennie cleared and then gestured at the door with a nod. Jisoo looked over and saw them. 

Jinyoung was wearing a dark blue button-up that was rolled at the sleeves and tucked into dark gray trousers. 

When the hell did he get so good at fashion? Jisoo wondered. 

Even when her feelings for Jinyoung were at their most intense, Jisoo hadn’t thought him especially handsome, but then again, it was never his appearance that made her fall in love in the first place. She would never have thought that the skinny eighteen-year-old boy with the narrow shoulders and unruly hair would turn into this… Hollywood leading man.

He was arm in arm with Minji, who was wearing a wine-colored romper and lipstick in a matching shade. A thought stabbed her: what a good-looking couple they made. If Jinyoung was the leading man in a romance, she supposed that made Minji the leading lady and herself, the poor, pining, unlucky best friend. 

The Eponine to their Marius and Cosette.

But she shoved those poisonous thoughts away. Her best friend was back in town, goddammit, and she was not going to let this silly, dead, old crush drive them apart again. Jisoo put on a smile as Jinyoung led Minji over to her.

“Hey, you guys made it,” Jisoo said. She looked over at Minji. “So, the last time we met wasn’t really ideal. Is your phone okay?”

“She was texting with it the whole ride over here,” Jinyoung said. “So I think it should be fine.”

Minji pressed her lips into a thin line. “It’s just a phone,” she said flatly, then smiled. “So. You helped put together this little… thing.”

She looked around, taking in the black decor, the medieval font, the dark red roses. Jinyoung looked around, too, but he looked a bit more amused.

“I’m gonna go ahead and guess that Jennie was in charge of decor,” he said, laughing.

“She does have a flair for it,” Jisoo said. “I’m thinking she missed her calling. What do you think? Jennie Kim, interior decorator?”

“Do you think she’d travel for work?” Jinyoung said. “She can do my apartment when I move to New York.”

“Our apartment, babe,” Minji said, playfully hitting his chest. That little detail caught Jisoo’s attention.

“New York?” she asked. 

“Oh, yeah,” Minji said, perking up all of a sudden at the mention of New York. “Jinyoung’s been promoted and transferred. Father’s firm just opened up a branch in Manhattan and is looking for talented young accountants to join him there. I just sort of threw his name into the conversation.”

Ji