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The President Game 
Limited Series 

The Chase: Ep. 5
True feelings finally come out but leads to avoidance. Seulgi attempts to show her sincerity and ends up meeting the parents.

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it took everything in her to not look in seulgi’s direction and to ignore seulgi’s attempts of getting her attention. 

within a day, the rumors had already spread like wildfire. whispers and gossips of a breakup, of cheating, lying, love triangles, strict parents, and even terminal illnesses. every possible reason was conjured for the sudden change in the relationship of the school’s most beloved couple. it wasn’t hard to notice that the couple was on bad terms because irene vehemently avoided being in the same space as seulgi, even walking away after seulgi called her name in front of everyone in the hallway. 

irene didn’t make any effort to deny or confirm any of the rumors, only promptly ignoring the questions thrown her way and it appeared that seulgi did the same.
 
now that irene thought about it, seulgi could easily make up a story that would paint irene as the villain who broke her heart and that would surely be enough to damage irene’s reputation at the school, considering how much everyone loved seulgi. 

but somehow, irene knew seulgi wouldn’t do that. 

maybe it was the way seulgi looked at her or the way she always protected her, comforted her, cheered her up, and supported her. maybe it was the way she looked at her like- no! irene shook her head, hitting her own forehead lightly to get the thoughts out. seulgi was a plague in her mind and after that close encounter, which was the biggest mistake in irene’s life, she only invaded more of her mind until it was impossible to think of anything other than her. 

“irene-sunbae?” a careful voice asked and irene looked up from the desk quickly.  

“oh, eunbi. hello.” she greeted, looking surprised to see the younger student. 

“are you alright?” the new vice-president asked, looking at her with a little concern. irene glanced around at the empty room, remembering that she came in here during lunch break to avoid everyone else. 

“yeah, i’m fine.” irene lied, putting on a smile. eunbi pulled out a chair, looking at irene to wordlessly ask for permission to sit next to her and irene nodded. 

“are you sure?” eunbi asked after she was seated. “i know we are not very close and i’m just your junior, but we will be working together from now on, so i hope you know that you can trust and rely on me. for council related things and non-council related things.” she added. 

irene just nodded, smiling politely. “i’m okay, really.” she said. “i just made some mistakes and…” she let out a breath, shaking her head. “i’m not sure what to do. that’s all.”

eunbi listened to her attentively, nodding afterwards. “are your mistakes to do with other people?” she asked. 

“yes…” irene winced internally at the thought of seulgi and the disappointed expression that was on her face when irene pushed her away. 

“and it was your mistake?” eunbi asked to which irene nodded again. “well, i think… there are no problems between people that can’t be solved by communicating.” she said, leaning on her fist as she thought deeply. “whether by talking it out, explaining your side, or apologizing. if we want to and if we are willing to make efforts to resolve the matter, there is always a way.” 

irene nodded in agreement, impressed by the maturity of her junior. “but what if the issue is in one’s own feelings?” she asked. eunbi looked perplexed and irene knew it would be hard for her to understand what she was implying so she shook her head, smiling. “it’s alright.” she said. “i will figure it out myself. and i wouldn’t want to burden you with my personal problems. you must have a lot on your plate already as the new vice-president.” 

eunbi shook her head quickly, “you wouldn’t be a burden.” she said and then after a pause, like she was deciding whether to say it or not, she added, “seulgi-sunbae told me you would be like this.”

her heart skipped a beat with the mere mention of her name. “what?” irene asked.

“i’m probably not meant to tell you but… she told me that you never like to share your worries with others because you are afraid of burdening them or making them think you can’t handle yourself. she said if i wanted to be vice-president, i had to promise her to be there for you.” eunbi said and it was irene’s turn to be confused. how did seulgi know that about her? 

“and honestly, i wasn’t that interested in being vice-president.” eunbi added.

“then why did you…?”

“because seulgi-sunbae was worried about you.” eunbi said. she let out a smile when she saw irene’s confused expression. “she said that i was one of the only people she could trust to help you with your presidency. honestly, i was just touched that she was so worried for you.” 

irene was speechless and she just looked away, feeling her heart and mind in even more of a turmoil. eunbi sighed quietly because of course she knew all about the rumors. 

“if only you had seen her when she asked me for that favor. then you would see.” eunbi said. 

“see what?” irene asked quietly. 

“how much she cares for you.” 

>>

“you better tell me you have the dirt on her.” seyoung said crossly with her hands on her hips. 

“relax. what’s the rush?” seulgi replied breezily. 

“i’m not rushed, i’m just concerned that you-” seyoung stepped closer to her, backing her against the ledge on the rooftop. “-aren’t actually as capable as you brag to be.” she snarled.

“no need to be angry.” seulgi said, still smiling. 

“you ed up, seulgi!” seyoung exclaimed, frustrated by her nonchalance. “i don’t know what you did, but i know she hates you now and is avoiding you. how will you find out her secrets if she won’t even breathe the same air as you?” 

“trust me, she wants to do a lot more than just breathe the same air as me.” seulgi said playfully and seyoung pushed her shoulder, frowning at how she wasn’t taking this seriously. 

“doesn’t look like it.” she hissed. “you better have a plan to fix this. otherwise i am taking my money back; the one that you used to rent the apartment near her house.” 

“oh no.” seulgi said monotonously, making seyoung shoot her a glare. seulgi broke out into a grin, “like i said earlier, relax.” she brushed imaginary lint off seyoung’s shoulder. “everything will go just as i planned.”

“you have until the end of the semester, kang.” seyoung reminded. “so if i were you, i wouldn’t relax.” 

>>

irene gripped the rail of the staircase tightly, her steps faltering the closer she got to the top. her confidence wavered at the thought of seeing seulgi again and she really just wanted to avoid confrontation and run away like she always did. she didn’t even know what she wanted to say when she saw her, but she felt compelled to see her. 

she reached the door to the rooftop and just as she reached for the handle, the door swung open and irene gasped, flinching in fright. 

seyoung stood on the other side of the door, eyes widening when she saw her and the two of them wordlessly stared at each other for a few seconds. seyoung pressed her lips into a thin line and walked past irene, going down the staircase without looking back. 

irene looked up and saw seulgi standing out on the rooftop, now alone, and she was overcome with emotion that burned her from the inside. 

“why was seyoung here with you?” she asked as she walked closer, not meaning to sound so demanding but she definitely sounded like it. 

seulgi raised her eyebrows, not used to having irene’s attention on her and words directed to her. 

“why couldn’t she be here?” seulgi asked innocently, which only made irene bristle more. 

“what were you doing?” she asked. 

seulgi’s expression lit up with realization and amusement, “are you jealous?” she asked. 

“wh- no!” irene denied instantly but the heat that crept to her face betrayed her. seulgi knew she was never good at lying. “i am not jealous. i would never be jealous because of you and seyoung, i don’t even care what you were doing because it’s none of my business.” she sputtered, and it sounded more like a self-reminder. 

seulgi rested her elbows on the ledge and leaned back leisurely, “so even if i said we were kissing, you wouldn’t care?” she asked, enjoying the way irene clenched her jaw but forced herself to remain a neutral expression. “we were making out and it was really hot and-”

“shut up.” irene said in a low voice, her head lowered and fists clenched and seulgi smirked, ready to continue teasing her but then irene said it again and there was a tremble in her voice that made seulgi fall silent immediately. 

“i hate you so much.” irene said and seulgi remained completely silent and unmoving. irene finally looked up to make eye contact and there were tears in her eyes. “you are the worst person i’ve ever met. you are arrogant and selfish and inconsiderate. you don’t care about other people and you have no empathy because you’re just some sick person who likes seeing other people suffer because of you.” 

seulgi pursed her lips, suppressing a smile as she was admittedly impressed by her outburst and the truth in her words.

“i am so, so, done with you and your fake, manipulative tricks.” irene said, her fists shaking slightly as tears welled up again. “i am embarrassed that i even let you near me and it was the biggest mistake of my life to believe that you might actually have feelings or that you cared about me. all you really care about is having fun and doing what you feel like. all of that fake dating and helping me win the election was just a fun game to you, wasn’t it? and the worst thing about all of it isn’t that you only did it for fun or that you are incapable of caring for someone else. the worst thing is that you actually made me care about you and-” irene’s voice was growing louder with each word before she abruptly stopped and her voice dropped to a weak admittance. “-like you.” 

the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break but neither of them moved or did so much as flinch.

“i know that never seeing you again is unrealistic.” irene said, breathing in deeply as her eyes glistened. “but i never want anything to do with you again from now on.” she said. “so please,” her voice broke a little. “stay as far away from me as possible.” 

seulgi finally reacted and she stepped forward, instinctively reaching for irene’s hand. 

“don’t.” irene pulled herself back, shaking her head with tears in her eyes. “don’t make me hate you more.” she whispered. 

“irene.” seulgi called, and irene shook her head again, stepping back. the last thing seulgi saw were the tears falling from her face as she turned and ran away from her again. 

seulgi stood alone on the rooftop, faintly hearing the sounds of students making their way to their classes and the sounds of irene’s footsteps rushing down the stairs. 

“huh?” seulgi said quietly, hand reaching up to her chest and clutching her shirt where her heart was beating faster and louder than it ever did before. “what is this feeling?” 

>>

the next two days, seulgi complied with irene’s wishes, staying far out of her way and out of sight as well. irene knew she should be happy that she got what she asked for, but really, she was far from feeling happy. 

despite always having friends or council members around her, the loneliness always weighed her down. her and wendy finally had a long talk and made up, but even having her close friend back didn’t change the way she felt about the absence of seulgi. the pain of having strong feelings for someone that she couldn’t have was unimaginable. it didn’t help that it was her first romantic experience too. 

“irene.” the teacher’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “we’re a couple of tennis balls short, would you mind getting one more bucket from the storeroom?” 

“sure.” irene flashed her signature polite smile and headed to the storeroom while the rest of her class were occupied with practicing on the tennis courts. the storeroom was a shed next to the field where all the sports equipment was kept.  

irene went inside, scanning the shelves for where the tennis equipment was stored and she ventured deeper into the shed until she located the buckets on the floor at the back. she picked up a bucket that was filled with tennis balls and she heard the shed door creak, which startled her and made her turn around quickly. a few tennis balls rolled off the pile in the bucket, bouncing around her feet and rolling across the floor of the shed as she stared stoically at the unwanted intruder. 

“what are you doing here?” 

“i wanted to talk to you.” 

irene looked at her from head to toe, only remembering now that they coincidentally had gym class at the same time on fridays. as much as she wanted to keep staring at how good seulgi looked in her white tee and gym shorts, she forced herself to busy herself with picking up the fallen tennis balls instead. 

“sorry, i’m busy.” she said, not sparing her a glance as she collected another ball to put back in the bucket. 

“irene, please just listen to me.” seulgi said, reaching to take the