the fall
the president gameYou're watching
The President Game
Limited Series
The Fall: Ep. 6
Irene and Seulgi finally confront their feelings but a rendezvous on the rooftop results in disciplinary action.
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irene cleared lightly, succeeding in catching the attention of the two bantering students at the cafeteria table.
“oh, hello our president.” yeri smirked, leaning back from the table to look up at her. “what may i do for you?” she asked nonchalantly while the other girl on the table, joy, smiled politely at her.
“where is um… your friend?” irene asked, lowering her voice as she glanced around to make sure no one was overhearing.
“i have too many. who are you talking about?” yeri asked, sharing a knowing grin with joy.
irene huffed quietly, feeling a small blush rise to her cheeks. “seulgi. where is she?” she asked.
“i thought you were fighting.” yeri said, biting on the end of her lollipop stick in deep thought. “maybe that’s why she’s hiding from you.”
“i just need to know where she is.” irene said, feeling her patience run thin. usually seulgi would be with them during lunchtime but it was odd to see her missing from the table.
“i think she has been feeling down lately.” joy spoke up. “so she’s spending more time alone again.”
yeri nodded in agreement and heaved a dramatic sigh, “i can’t believe you broke her heart like that, pres.”
“so she’s at school.” irene confirmed and decided not to acknowledge yeri’s teasing. it would be a waste of time trying to explain something no one else would understand. “i’m going to go.” she said. now that she knew seulgi was on campus, she knew exactly where to find seulgi.
after all, where else would she go to be alone?
the moment she opened the door to the rooftop, her heart already started beating faster. seulgi stood at the ledge with her back to her, looking out over the school and irene was sure seulgi heard her arrive but she didn’t move or greet her.
irene walked closer, unsure what to expect after all that had transpired between them in the past week. she didn’t know where they stood or what they were.
“trust is an interesting thing, don’t you think?” seulgi asked out of nowhere, unmoving.
irene was too taken aback by the unexpected question to think of a coherent answer so she stayed quiet.
“trust is so intangible, so baseless, yet so powerful.” seulgi pondered out loud, still not turning to look at her. “it can do so much good but also have the potential for so much harm.”
“yes.” irene agreed, although confused about the topic of conversation.
“do you trust me?” seulgi asked, finally turning to meet her eyes and irene tensed at the sudden question and she was stuck between telling the truth or telling seulgi what she wanted to hear.
but seulgi answered for her. “no, you don’t. and that’s okay.” she said with a smile.
irene felt bad but she also couldn’t lie. she thought of what she could say to make seulgi feel better but before she could say anything else, seulgi had spoken again.
“let’s play a game.” she suddenly hopped onto the ledge and stood up, shocking irene who looked at her with wide eyes as she teetered on the ledge.
“what are you doing? that’s dangerous.” irene exclaimed.
“if i let myself fall over this ledge, could i trust you to save me?” seulgi asked and irene felt her blood run cold at the thought of such a deadly ‘game’.
she shook her head frantically, taking a careful step forward. “don’t do something stupid. get down from there.” she warned.
seulgi grinned, fearless about the fact she was one small push away from falling over the edge of the tall building. she sat herself down on the ledge instead, so that she could be at eye level with irene. “you know i trust you, right?” she said with a mischievous spark in her eyes.
“yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to do something so risky to prove it.” irene said, voice coming out shaky as the panic and fear set in because she knew seulgi was fully capable of doing what normal people wouldn’t.
the mischievous smile on seulgi’s face made irene grow more worried that she would go through with her words.
“seulgi, just come down from there and-”
seulgi giggled before she leaned backwards to let herself fall and irene screamed, launching herself forward to grab seulgi by the lapels of her blazer and yank her back before she fell too far.
she pulled seulgi off the ledge completely, almost falling over her own feet as they stumbled away from the edge of the rooftop together.
“are you crazy?!” irene demanded, gripping her uniform tightly and seulgi didn’t offer any resistance as irene shook her with anger blazing in her eyes. “why would you do that? why would you play with your life so carelessly like that?” she asked, fists trembling against seulgi’s chest.
seulgi stared at her silently but she had a curious expression on her face because she could see tears in irene’s eyes.
“what if i wasn’t able to grab you in time? you would’ve just- just…” irene stuttered, voice shaking from the adrenaline and fear coursing through her veins.
“you care about me.” seulgi said, sounding surprised.
irene stared at her for a moment through watery eyes. “of course i do, idiot.” she said angrily, letting go of her blazer as she crouched down with her back against the ledge to hug herself and wipe her tears with her sleeve. seulgi watched her for a moment, unable to process the fact irene was crying for her and she felt something move in her heart again.
she slowly sat down beside her on the floor, leaning back against the ledge while irene sniffled quietly and refused to look at her.
“i’m sorry for scaring you.” seulgi said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “but i knew you wouldn’t let me fall.”
“any normal person would’ve done the same.” irene said, still upset.
“not everyone.” was all seulgi said in response.
seulgi looked up at the sky, watching wispy clouds drift past while she thought about what to say to the president.
“do you think good and evil people are clearly distinguished?”
“what?” irene looked at her, baffled by her random questions today.
“do you think there are two types of people? ones who are good and ones who are evil?” seulgi asked.
irene thought about it for a moment and seulgi was patient with waiting for her reply, gaze moving back and forth betwee
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