It has been more than a month since classes started. The freshmen were already used to the trainings given while the Japanese transfer students are used to the new environment. It was tough at first but with the help of the teachers and the camaraderie of the students, there seems to be no problem for the entire student body. Or so they thought.

It was a very rainy Friday when the student council gathered around inside the room. Inside the busy council room, a silent Sihyun was observing her co-officer’s actions. The girl had been sitting for the past hour with a hand under her chin, while her other hand was busy tapping her fingers on her desk. She’s now trying to figure things out. Today had been a hectic day, not only for their academics and training but also for the council. Earlier in the day something came up, they had to conduct an emergency meeting. Things weren’t running smoothly, either. Gyuri was running late, Minju kept talking to someone on her phone, and Chaewon seemed to have lost a document necessary for their agenda. Juri and her japanese team were inside the room as well, but, they were busy making progress reports of the Japanese students, minding their own business.

Minju ran her fingers through her hair and let out a sigh. The sophomore didn’t smile often but this was the first time she had such a dark look on her face.

“Sihyun-sunbae, I’m sorry.” Minju went to the president’s desk, lowering her head each step.

“Hmmm… Well?” Sihyun raised her eyebrow at the girl. The dance junior was a little irritable at the moment, she had to leave her afternoon training early, she didn’t have lunch yet, and she was now dealing with a new problem. The rain didn’t add up to lighten her mood either, in fact, she hated rain. The Japanese team noticed the tension, Juri gestured them to stay quiet.

“They can’t seem to get a hold of Chaeyeon-sunbae. She was the one who handled the paperwork, now they’re trying to make us accountable of all her expenses…Not trying but they’ve already made us accountable… They already got the money from the bank.” Minju replied.

“They’re not authorized, Minju, and we didn’t even sign anything.” Sihyun reasoned.

“Apparently, the dance department had us approve it under the disguise of it being a project under her department. We actually signed it, Sunbae.” Minju explained. Sihyun stopped tapping her fingers and stared at the girl.

“How could that happen? I don’t remember signing anything.” Sihyun tried to remain calm, but her usual strict and scary demeanor multiplied tenfold, making the younger ones afraid of her building rage. Just in the knick of time Gyuri makes her entrance, dripping wet from the rain.

“I signed it in your stead. You were on leave and the papers were urgent.” Gyuri paused and met with the president’s eyes.

“And what?” she turned her attention to the shivering Gyuri.

“Chaewon told me that you’ve been informed of content of the papers… so I did it without checking it… I’m sorry..” Gyuri looked at Chaewon and shot her an apologetic look. Chaewon stopped working on her laptop and looked at the two older girls.

“I told Gyuri-sunbae that all the papers on your desk were checked and I didn’t know the Dance department snuck in new papers. I’m sorry, I overlooked them.” Chaewon was on the verge of having tears in her eyes.

“But it’s still my fault, I didn’t check them properly. I’m sorry.” Gyuri replied, shivering.

“Hmmm.. I don’t think your sorry can do anything about this mess, Gyuri. How could you not check the incoming papers? Chaewon?! We just approved a 3 million project we don’t even know about. Plus, you’re late, I’ve been waiting for you to answer me. Where were you?” Sihyun answered. Sihyun’s response made the people inside the room stop what they were doing. The Japanese students have heard of Sihyun’s firmness when it came to work, and they were a little afraid of the dance junior. But right now, they were shocked to see the Korean President’s temperament a little heated.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Eunyoung and Chaeyeon for the past 3 hours. Unfortunately, I could only talk to Eunyoung. But even Eunyoung didn’t know about it.” Gyuri replied.

“They already got the payment. No refunds. No take backs. The thing is this will reflect in their reports and ours as well. Three Million Won is not a joke, sunbae. We can’t allow what happened to the Music department.” Minju rambled.

Ah, the music department did this last semester too, Sihyun thought. It was a messy process to try to get the music department out of trouble before classes started, but Sihyun wanted to give them a chance since Yuri couldn’t possibly reap the previous management’s shortcomings for the rest of her term. It would have been too much for the junior, considering that her team is a little dysfunctional. Now, the always missing-in-action, Chaeyeon, did a questionable act. Honestly, Sihyun had always given second chances for people to prove themselves, she was that forgiving. But with what happened last welcoming party, and with the 2nd time the dance department having issues financially, her patience is a cut short.

“I know that already, Minju. Chaewon, have you found anything yet? You’ve been on your laptop for the past 3 hours and still nothing? The receiving copies!? Scans of the document? We can’t really move on with the meeting like this. We’ve been covering up for every department’s mishaps, and if the administration finds out we’ve been doing this….” Her voice had been growing louder and louder with each sentence. Suddenly, a hand from behind made Sihyun pause, the girl had been sitting in front of her desk, not trying to get in the way of the Korean students.

“I’m sorry, Sihyun, Minju, Chaewon. Please, calm down, nothing good will come out of a distressed conversation.” Juri suddenly interfered. She walked towards Gyuri and gave the girl a towel. The taller girl said thanks and dried herself up, Miru took it upon herself to accompany Gyuri in the rest room. She excused the both of them from the room to change. Sihyun felt bad to not notice the state of Gyuri.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you Sihyun-san but Gyuri would’ve gotten a cold if I didn’t.” Juri explained. The shorter girl made her way to the president’s desk, giving her a cup of tea and a melon pan to calm her down. She did the same with the two sophomores. This left Sihyun speechless once again.

“I’ve already contacted Chaeyeon’s roommate, it’s Sakura, she’s a good friend of mine, she’ll bring her here.” Juri added. There was a good 5 second pause before someone responded.

“Thank you, Juri-sunbae.” Minju had her eyes wide with how Juri intervened. Juri smiled at the younger girl and went to help Chaewon look for the papers. Sihyun couldn’t keep her eyes off of the short brunette, she couldn’t even believe that she allowed herself to get carried away.

Everyone resumed to what they were initially doing. Sihyun was still at loss for words. Gyuri entered the room wearing a track suit with Miru, then she was followed by a rain-soaked couple. Sihyun stood up from her desk and clenched her jaw. She was annoyed at how her beloved department was being run by such a messy person. Of course, Sihyun respected her as a dancer but as a leader, her negligence was intolerable. Chaeyeon would only deliver the last minute, which irritated Sihyun as she was such a careful planner.

Sihyun was about to walk towards the couple when Juri beat her to it. The sight of Sihyun made Sakura hold Chaeyeon’s hand a little tighter. Juri gave the couple a towel and a change of shirts. The two went out to change in the restroom. Juri pulled Sihyun outside of the office for a small talk. Mako met Miru’s eyes and rolled her eyes at the disappearance of the two leaders. Miru wanted to chuckle at Mako’s tiny jealousy but the mood in the room was a little intense.

“Look, I know I might be over stepping my boundaries here, Sihyun-san. But Sakura told me Chaeyeon’s been crying night after night for the past few days. I don’t know what happened but let’s hear her out first. She must have had reasons. Also, you’ve been out of it since this morning. Is something wrong?” Juri had her big eyes boring holes into Sihyun’s gaze. The taller girl wished Juri didn’t see her act that way. Juri noticed that Sihyun still was at a lost for words, so she decided to nudge the girl by taking her hand. Instantly, Sihyun’s face became more flustered.

“You’ve been working non-stop, Sihyun-san. Don’t stress yourself too much over this incident, you’ve always found solutions, right?” Juri smiled, which Sihyun replied with a nod. The girls saw two silhouettes make their way to the office, Juri gestured Sihyun to go inside the room and invited Sakura and Chaeyeon inside.

++

The atmosphere in the room was tense. Chaeyeon was seated beside Sakura, still not letting go of Chaeyeon’s hand, her eyes were puffy from crying. She looked miserable. Sihyun, while she wanted to question the girl and have her responsible for the money spent, but couldn’t find it in her heart to actually begin. So, she closed her eyes a bit, took a breath, and exhaled slowly. She opened her eyes, everyone in the room is seated at the table, nine pair of eyes were looking at her expectantly, Chaeyeon, of course kept her head low.

“What happened, Chaeyeon?” Sihyun asked. Chaeyeon was not budging. Sakura took the initiative to speak in her stead.

“Chaeyeon has been leaving every week ends right? She’s been going to Jungnang-gu. She’s been visiting an institution there. It’s an orphanage. And –“ Sakura was cut short with a sudden interruption from Chaeyeon.

“I know what you guys are probably thinking. That I took advantage of my leader position for my personal whims. I won’t deny that I took money from the Student Activity Funds, which is supposed to be for our school. I only did it because I didn’t have an option.” Chaeyeon replied.

“What do you mean?” Minju asked.

“I am a full scholar here in our academy, I don’t have money, or means to get myself to study here. I only have my talent. I grew up in that orphanage, and 2 weeks ago, it was attacked by thieves. The nuns in our place didn’t have anything to defend themselves with. A lot of stuff were stolen. The children were crying. They were like my siblings. Their home was ruined. The place was trashed. The rainy season has come to start, they’re cold. So, I went and used the money in the funds to repair the broken gates, windows, and got them a new broiler. I even ordered them groceries...” Chaeyeon explained.

“But why the school funds?” Minju continued to inquire.

“The school is loaded. The music department has been using it for alcohol before. I just needed that home to be okay again. I know it isn’t right to use money that isn’t mine and I’m sorry but I didn’t have a choice. They had no one to ask help from..” Chaeyeon had tears running down her face as she explained the entire situation to everybody. Gyuri and Mako were holding back their tears as well. They didn’t expect this kind of back story. However, Sihyun remained composed even though she was shocked at Chaeyeon’s story.

“Look, Chaeyeon, this thing that you did might get you into trouble… an expense purchase worth 3 million won.” Sihyun explained.

“Please don’t let anything happen to Chaeyeon. She just did it for the kids. Please.” Sakura clasped her hands together and bowed in front of Sihyun. This shocked everyone, to see the well respected Miyawaki Sakura on her knees for a girl she just met more than a month ago. Honestly, Sihyun understood the dilemma of Chaeyeon, but her means were not acceptable. However, how can she let someone as pure hearted as Chaeyeon face the threats of having her scholarship revoked? Or let alone, expelled?

“I know, Miyawaki-san. We just need to know the reason why Chaeyeon did that to move forward with our next step. We won’t let anything bad happen to a student here.” Sihyun reassured the two. It was as if the entire room was relieved to know that was Sihyun’s answer.

“So basically, you got food, repairs, and supplies for the orphanage, right?” Gyuri asked.

“Yes. I have all the receipts if you need it!” Chaeyeon replied.

“That would be helpful. But why didn’t you say it in the first place?” Gyuri asked.

“I was a little busy with funeral arrangements. One of the nuns died last week. And I actually thought it was okay since you guys had it approved. Right now, I snuck outside the school grounds again and came rushing back when I heard you’ve been looking for me.” Chaeyeon replied. The mood suddenly went down again.

“Hmmm. I know you mean no harm then. But you snuck the papers in the office and how can we know and will we explain this to the admin?” Sihyun asked.

“I didn’t mean for it to turn that way. It was really urgent. I didn’t have time to discuss and go through the tedious process of getting it approved.” Chaeyeon explained. Everyone thought it was understandable why Chaeyeon did it, however, it was ethically wrong.

“I think, Pres, we should just label it as Community Service Expenses. It’s fairly new here, but back in Aidoru School we had Community and Outreach activities and this is technically an outreach activity, so if it fits, I guess it sits? I mean we can sit with it?” Gyuri suggested. Gyuri was apologetic she didn’t check the papers however, she didn’t regret that it went to a good purpose.

“That’s a wonderful idea, Gyul-sunbae!” Minju agreed. “Honestly, with the 200% increase in funds,