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The President Game 
Limited Series 

The Comeback: Ep. 9
Themis returns with a promise of new exciting secrets to be exposed and Irene worries she might be on the list while a new literature teacher starts at Velour.

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“did you hear? apparently she hooked up with him over the weekend as soon as he broke up with his girlfriend.” 

joy gasped dramatically, “no way! that’s against girl code.” and yeri nodded vigorously in agreement. 

“right, she’s going to get in trouble for sure.” yeri snickered, scrolling through her phone to find more gossip to tell her friends. 

seulgi walked behind them absentmindedly as they headed towards the auditorium, eyes taking interest in the ceiling and the security cameras in the corner of the hallway. 

“seulgi, you’re going this weekend right?” yeri piped up, turning around to glance at her.  

seulgi nodded, not taking her eyes off the camera. 

“irene too?” joy asked. 

“the president is going to a party?” yeri exclaimed, face lighting up in excitement. “oh this is going to be amazing.” she laughed, turning to look at joy with a wide grin. “imagine how many likes i’ll get if i post a picture with the president at a party.”

joy scoffed a little, rolling her eyes at her friend’s obsession with social media and yeri playfully yanked her forward with an arm around her neck until they got told off by a student council member for fooling around. 

“seulgi.” a hand on her arm pulled her aside from the rest of the students walking into the room and she turned to see the school president in her full uniform, with her immaculately ironed blazer and shiny badges on full display. her hair was tied up neatly with a maroon-colored ribbon to match the school colors. 

“you look nice.” seulgi smiled as they stepped to the side of the auditorium that was filling up with students. 

“thank you.” irene said with a bashful smile. she heard that compliment often but only seulgi could make her feel shy about it. “so, they’ll announce it later but i wanted to tell you first.” irene said, fidgeting with her fingers. 

seulgi tilted her head curiously, “what is it?” 

“the student council has chosen the charity for the spring fair.” irene said. “it’s going to a cancer research institute, with a focus on lymphoma treatment and i know it doesn’t do or mean much but…”

“no, that means so much.” seulgi said genuinely before irene could continue doubting herself and if they weren’t in a room filled with the entire school, she would’ve kissed her. “thank you.” she said, gazing at her with eyes so full of adoration that irene felt shy again. 

“y-yeah of course.” she uttered, blushing at her own awkwardness. “it’s a good cause.” she tried to play it off casually. 

“you’re amazing.” seulgi said with a smile, reaching forward to tug at irene’s tie and straighten it a little better before she smoothed her hands down the lapels of her blazer to make her already perfect appearance more perfect. irene gulped at their proximity and she diverted her gaze away from seulgi’s lips, maintaining her focus on the upcoming assembly. 

“i have to go get ready now.” she whispered, as much as she wished to stay here with her. 

“i’ll see you later.” seulgi promised as irene reluctantly walked to the front of the auditorium, turning back midway to give her a small wave which made seulgi unknowingly smile wider. 

she took a seat in the very back row just as the assembly began and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes and she could feel her heartbeat unusually fast. 

“good morning students.” irene’s voice quietened her noisy thoughts like the calming of a storm. she opened her eyes to fixate her gaze on the president standing at the podium on stage, exuding the confident aura of a born leader. seulgi forgot momentarily what she worried about and swelled with pride, watching irene as she went through the school announcements, speaking eloquently with practiced ease. 

“and for our next announcement, it is with pleasure that i introduce you to our new literature teacher, mr jung, who has traveled all the way from the united states to join the faculty here at velour. please make him feel welcome.” irene smiled, clapping her hands to indicate for the rest of the student body to applaud together. she stepped aside from the podium as the teacher made his way to the microphone, giving the audience a warm smile as the applause died down. 

“oh? he’s handsome.” yeri said a little too loudly, making the students around her burst into giggles. 

“thank you all for the warm welcome. and for the compliment.” mr jung added with a light chuckle, making the audience laugh and yeri covered her face with her hands. “and thank you, irene our lovely president, for the introduction.” he said, turning to look at her and she bowed her head politely. 

seulgi, perceptive as ever, could see that his gaze lingered for a second longer than normal, but she paid it no mind and continued to listen. 

“as irene mentioned, i worked in the states before coming here. i taught literature at princeton.” he said and there were impressed murmurs through the crowd. “but i am really looking forward to my time here at velour academy and getting to know each of you better. so, if you see me around in this coming week, make sure you come and say hello.” he said with a charming smile, ending his speech there and the auditorium burst into applause. 

seulgi clapped slowly as mr jung thanked irene with a shake of her hand and hand on her shoulder before he went back to his seat on the stage next to a few other staff members. irene passed the time back to their principal to make the final address and she sat down on the empty chair next to the new teacher. 

the principal was just about to speak when someone’s phone in the audience chimed with a notification. the principal looked up, displeased at the interruption and he was about to speak again when another phone chimed, followed by numerous other notification beeps and rings. confusion marred the faces of the principal and staff and the students themselves were surprised at the simultaneous notifications as they all pulled their phones out. 

at the same time, the screen above the auditorium suddenly flickered to life and static filled the screen, making some students scream in fear. 

the screen went black and then words in red appeared. 

miss me?

the auditorium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. the words were then replaced by an all too familiar symbol containing a set of scales and the majority of the crowd burst into cheers while some were frozen in fear.

“it’s themis! she’s back!” they yelled and clapped excitedly. 

irene’s heart dropped and she turned her gaze from the screen to the crowd, searching and finding seulgi sitting at the back with an