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The President Game 
Limited Series 

The Change: Ep. 1
The arrival of a new student introduces chaos at the idyllic and reputable Velour Academy. The school president meets the student who knows something she shouldn't. 

 

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the school bell sounded across the large campus and students began heading to their classes, walking in orderly lines down the hallways.

velour academy was home to students from the most prestigious and elite families in korea. after ranking first for the first time ever in the national school rankings, all eyes were on them this year to see if they would be able to maintain their position.

the school owed this victory to irene bae, the school president of the last term who was also well-known for being the daughter of a famous actress and philanthropist. rumours were that irene would resume her position as the president in the upcoming election, seeing how she displayed outstanding leadership in her role and upheld the peace and order that velour academy stood for. 

“move aside!” someone suddenly called out, shoving their way past the students in the hallway to rush forward. irene was startled when her shoulder was pushed as the boy ran past, making her bump into her friend. 

“are you okay?” wendy asked, receiving a nod from the president before she turned to glare in the direction the boy ran in. “he should know better than to run through the halls. i could write him up-” 

“it’s alright.” irene said with a small smile at how the vice-president was always so serious about rule-following. just then, irene heard commotion rising in the hallway and she raised her eyebrows as they both turned to look behind them. 

“hurry up! i want to see who got exposed!” 

footsteps echoed in the hallway as students excitedly rushed down the hall and irene had to move aside quickly to avoid getting bumped into again.

“what is going on?” wendy questioned, watching as more students made their way towards the same direction as the sounds of excited chatter filled the hallway. it was unusual for the students at velour academy to be so rowdy and act in such an unorderly fashion. 

“look.” wendy picked up a piece of torn paper from the ground and noticed that it had originally been taped to the lockers before it got torn off. the two of them looked at the photo printed on the paper, frowning in confusion.

“that kind of looks like…” wendy said, tilting her head because she wasn’t sure. the girl in the photo showed mild resemblance to one of the richest girls in their school who was renowned to be the prettiest in the school.

“why is this here?” irene frowned as she exchanged a look with wendy, wordlessly agreeing that they had to go and see what had happened. 

“the student council is away for two days and the school turns into a mess.” wendy muttered as they took quick steps to where a large crowd of students were gathered outside a classroom. 

“what’s happening?” wendy asked, trying to peer above the other students to see into the classroom.

“holy , she’s done for this time.” someone giggled and irene frowned at the inappropriate language but decided it wasn’t the right time to reprimand someone for curse words. 

she caught a glimpse of the classroom and saw the unusual state of the room where there were pieces of paper stuck everywhere, almost covering every inch of the room. she recognized some of the photos to be the same as the one they found in the hallway but there were also some different ones, but it was all of the same person. 

said person was rachel choi, who was nowhere to be seen, but amongst the whispers and laughs, irene pieced together that she ran off crying. 

across her desk, the words ‘FAKE’ were spray painted in red and there were a number of other curse words and rude remarks scrawled on the desk by multiple different people, judging by the different handwriting. 

irene was shocked, looking at wendy who shared the same expression. around them, the other students continued laughing mockingly at the victim of the school’s latest scandal. 

“i knew she wasn’t natural.” 

“her nose looked so plastic.” 

“even her chin looked strange.”

“she always got mad at the accusations and said she never got work done. now she’s exposed for being a liar and being a plastic . serves her right.” 

“who did this?” wendy asked out loud, turning the attention to her and people immediately quietened when they saw the president and vice-president standing behind them. 

“um…” the students exchanged wary looks with each other, everyone too timid to speak up or give an answer. 

“i expected the president to know everything.” a voice spoke up and all eyes turned to the girl who had bravely spoken up. 

“we were away for a few days for the student council camp.” irene responded calmly. 

“ah…” yeri kim smirked, unfolding her arms and taking the lollipop out of as she nodded. “that’s right. so you missed out on the most exciting change to boring old velour.” 

wendy folded her arms as yeri walked closer to the pair. “so are you going to answer to your president?” 

“a new student came.” yeri said nonchalantly, completely unintimidated by the authority as she twirled the lollipop between her fingers. 

“who?” wendy asked, glancing at irene who gave her a look that told her she was just as clueless. 

“the name is kang… seul…gi.” yeri said, enunciating the name with an amused grin. “she’s in class 2.” yeri said. 

“and she did all this?” wendy questioned, holding up the wrinkled paper in her hand. 

yeri shrugged, putting the lollipop back in . “i never said that.” she said with a small giggle. 

wendy turned to irene, “what do we do now?” she asked quietly. 

“get everyone back to their classes first. then get the other council members to clean this room.” irene looked up, changed her mind, and raised her voice. “actually, the students of class 3 can clean it.” 

“you heard the president. get back to your classes now!” wendy ordered, ushering the students outside the room to disperse. 

“can you stay to make sure the room is cleaned?” irene asked. 

wendy nodded, looking at her with questioning eyes. “where are you going?”

irene took a breath, “i’m going to meet the new student.” 

>>

kang seulgi was...something. 

everyone in the classroom went quiet and bowed when they saw the president enter. except for one person. it was too easy to tell who seulgi was. she sat at the back of the class at the desk beside the window and she had her feet on the desk, leaning back on her chair with her eyes closed as she bathed in the sunlight passing through the open window. 

she opened one eye to look at irene as she approached.

“kang seulgi?” irene said, but it wasn’t a question because she knew. “i’m irene bae, the pre-”

“the school president, yes. i’ve heard many things about you.” seulgi interrupted, giving her a big smile as she finally put her feet down and straightened up in her chair. “i had been looking forward to meeting you. it’s my pleasure.” she said, taking irene’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, making irene jerk back in shock. her shocked and flustered expression made seulgi laugh and irene felt her ears burning in humiliation. 

she grit her teeth, refusing to let a random new student humiliate her, the president of the most prestigious school in korea. 

“look.” irene took a deep breath, straightening her posture. “i understand that you are new to the school. but as a student of velour academy you must adhere to the rules and values here.” she said. “and as the president, i will not allow anyone to disrupt the order which we have worked so hard to attain in the school.” 

“i understand.” seulgi said, looking up at her with innocent eyes but irene saw right through the facade. 

“that includes wearing your uniform appropriately.” irene said, looking down at seulgi’s rolled up sleeves and loose tie hanging around her collar. 

“of course.” seulgi said, unrolling her sleeves and fixing her tie immediately. irene raised an eyebrow, admittedly surprised that it was so easy to get her to listen to her orders. 

seulgi glanced up while she was still tightening the tie and the corner of her lips lifted like she knew exactly what irene was thinking. “just so you know, president, i have no intention of breaking your rules or rebelling against you.” she said. 

irene wasn’t sure whether it was the intense gaze fixated on her or the low tone of seulgi’s voice that made her shiver, but something was unsettling about this interaction. she forced the fear and doubt away, putting on a confident and undeterred front. 

“good.” she said. “i am glad-”

“you’re not my enemy.” 

“sorry?” irene was taken aback by the sudden statement. 

“i’ve been here for two days.” seulgi said, leaning back in her chair and rocking the chair on the back legs. “no one has tried to be my friend or even talked to me. do you know why?” 

irene hesitated before asking cautiously, “why?” 

seulgi’s smile grew wider and she beckoned irene closer. irene glanced around nervously, not really wanting to go closer but seulgi’s sharp eyes were so persuasive that irene found herself lured in. 

she leaned down slightly but not too close and seulgi leaned up to speak next to her ear. 

“because everyone is scared.” 

irene was ab