23 — MAKE XIGMA HIGH GREAT AGAIN

for it's a cruel game, i cannot lose.

—

EUNSANG.XMK: hyeongjunie, i think it's better for you to pay attention rather than looking down on your phone too much.

hyeongjun glances at the latter's new text and frowns. "with minhee and the other hyungs putting their attention on the elections too much, you're my only friend eunsang-ie. i think it's obvious why i rely on you for a conversation."

EUNSANG.XMK: but still,,, the other boys are in front preparing for the debate ( ′～‵)

EUNSANG.XMK: you don't wanna give them a shout of encouragement?

hyeongjun lifts up his head, waving his hands visibly to the people lining up on top of the stage. "kang minhee! fighting!"

minhee replies his best friend with a subtle smile, though his inner reaction is actually so much more because it's kinda obvious that he is really needing that kind of encouragement at the moment. his legs were shaking, he couldn't get a grip of the microphone.

yohan is busy preparing the team alongside dongpyo, that's why they did not respond to hyeongjun's words of support. "okay team! you know what to do. yerim—"

"think about nice comebacks to shoot back to the other team, got it." yeri cuts him short.

"dohyon, practice your lines. dongpyo, make sure minhee's still on his feet, don't let him faint on stage, that's a huge no-no. and na jaemin—"

"i'll do you the favor," jaemin swiftly enters the conversation without anyone in the crowd noticing. "but only because i don't think it's a huge of a deal. this is the first and the last favor that you could ever get from me."

yohan smirks. "noted."

jaemin quickly gets to his seat before anyone from the other side suspect of their sudden collaboration. he clears his throat and fixes his uniform as a way to prepare himself.

"what's the favor?" dongpyo asks.

"minhee is candidate number one." yohan answers. "he will be the first to speak, and also the first to appear at the election boxes. kind of an advantage for lazy voters who chooses anyone from the list, they usually choose the number one candidate."

"ah.. great thinking." dongpyo nods his head in endearment. perhaps he should think of being dohyon's campaigning team next year and use the same method for him instead.

"ladies and gentlemen and non-binary individuals, welcome!" hangyul greets with his ear catching husky voice, grabbing the attention of all the students. "i, lee hangyul, moderator of this election am going to begin presidential debate. anything you'd like to add before we start, na jaemin-ssi?"

jaemin stands up from his seat. "i will announce the order of the candidates. kang minhee will serve as the first, whereas cha junho the second. this sequence will be used until the end of the elections."

cha junho raises his hand. "but jaemin-ssi, this matter we haven't discussed—"

"and so i don't see it as a matter to discuss, candidate number two." jaemin quickly responds, ignoring him. "please return back to your seat."

junho bitterly sits back down, glaring at minhee in annoyance. he must've had really wanted the first candidate title.

"okay, you may start, hangyul-ssi." jaemin raises his voice, referring to the moderator.

"alright then, the moment we've all been waiting for." hangyul clear his throat. "each of the team's spokesman will start this session. candidate number one's spokesman, please come forward."

"good luck," dongpyo pats dohyon's back as the latter awkwardly climbs up the stage.

"dohyon-ssi," hangyul tries his best not to burst out laughing. "the stage is yours."

dohyon takes the microphone from him, realizing how huge the crowd is once he steps forward. he gulps. "heyyo, school." he starts off his speech in english.

hearing the strange start, everyone glances at him in confusion.

"don't be such a fool,
just let kang minhee rule!
we will be so grool.." he stops. "cool! we will be so cool!"

"hanging out in the pool! that's why, vote for kang minhee! t-thank you." too shameful to even react, dohyon quickly returns back the microphone to hangyul and runs down the stage, feeling the secondhand embarrassment starting to kick in.

yeri throws him a disgusted look. "the fuck was that?"

"that was supposed to be me, rapping." dohyon hides his face with his hands to cover the shame.

"rap? that sounded like a keyboard smash to me."

"and what did you just say?" yujin scrunches her nose. "what was it, grool?"

"i kind of combined 'great' and 'cool' okay, it was a mistake!" dohyon puts his face against the table and sobs. "don't talk to me."

hangyul doesn't seem to be all satisfied by his brother's results, but nevertheless he tries to keep his cool. "okay, let's move on to the next spokesman, or should i say, spokeswoman. jang wonyoung-ssi, you may enter the stage."

wonyoung confidently strides forward, gently grabbing the microphone prepared for her. she smiles to the crowd. "good evening, everyone. my name is jang wonyoung, i'm a tenth grader, and i'm here to express my full support to candidate number two, cha junho."

"that's how you do it." dongpyo says to dohyon. "that's how you give an opening statement."

dohyon didn't even bother to respond. he dumps his whole body down the shore so that no one could ever ask of him ever again.

"so that's why you should vote for cha junho," she simply announces at the end of her little segment. "but before that, i would like to do an acrostic poem in english, is that okay for you guys?"

"okay!" "yes, sure!" everyone's intrigued by the way wonyoung is carrying the conversation, they couldn't help but be immersed by it. wonyoung has definitely given a good first impression for the cha junho team.

"okay, we'll use the word cha junho, okay? would you guys mind shouting it out for me? 1, 2, 3!"

"cha!" the crowd chants together.

"cha junho is the best candidate,"

"jun!"

"junction for both charming and entertaining,"

"ho!"

"hope you guys vote for him!" wonyoung flashes a bright smile, causing immediate chaos to on the crowd, practically worshipping her.

"yah, this is bad." dongpyo mutters under his breath. "we're doomed."

"no, we're not!" yohan hits his shoulder. "don't worsen the situation, that's not what we need right now! you'll make minhee feel bad about yourself!"

problem is, it has started to affect minhee in some way. the boy gulps in fear, glancing at the neverending crowd that could just eat the hell out of him in just a second. he tries his best to calm his horses.

"okay, okay everyone. settle down." hangyul says, controlling the crowd. "now we've come together for the next section which is an opening statement from each of the candidates. candidate number one, it is your time to shine. you got five minutes."

minhee manages to get up on stage, his sweaty hands fumbling at the end of the microphone. he takes a deep breath. "hello, my name is—"

the microphone creates an awful shrilly sound, surprising most of its hearers, including minhee himself. minhee stutters. "uh, sorry, uh, um.."

"here let me help you," hangyul lowers minhee's grip. "don't get it too close to your mouth, yes, that's it."

"bad start. such a bad start." yeri mutters under her breath.

yohan and dohyon couldn't help but agree. such accident must've had shaken the latter's confidence by now.

minhee clears his throat, gathering himself to speak. "good evening, fellow students. my name is kang minhee, and i am currently running as the student body president." he nods to assure himself. "all so sudden don't you think? don't worry, i'm quite surprised myself too. who knows that me, a very reluctant kang minhee, could end up here, standing on this stage in front of you all?"

"if you knew me at least briefly, you should know that i might not be the perfect figure you picture student body presidents to be. i act just as normal as you guys are — worse, even. i sleep in class, i get plenty of remedials, i'm simply reluctant to study; that's just who i am, and i can't change that."

"but that's the exact reason why you should vote for me. i relate to your problems, i relate to the pressure, i relate to your situation. vote for me, and i could get you guys what you want."

"what do they want?!" yohan tries to signal minhee to make his speech more informative, but unfortunately minhee didn't notice him.

"i might not be an ideal leader, but i am a representative for the people. i simply incorporate your hopes and needs for that is my work style." he bows lightly. "i hope that clearly sums up my visions and missions. thank you."

though minhee didn't make any much sense, his image as the 'representative of the people' has imminently left a great impact, and a great response from the crowd. turns out he wasn't as doomed as he thought after all.

"that was great dude," dongpyo says, patting his back. "who knows you could speak like that?"

"i feel like i have just been possessed by the spirit of leeteuk..." minhee takes a deep breath. "but that's okay. that was great."

jaemin glances at him for a short while and gives him a subtle wink. minhee immediately felt reassured that he's doing well.

junho now takes his turn to speak. "hello. you guys must know me, i'm cha junho, second candidate for this election." he swiftly observes the crowd, creating immediate eye contact, the same method jaemin likes to approach to grab attention. "to start off this speech, i would like to quote a line from black panther, which is: just because something works doesn't mean that it cannot be improved."

"he's speaking like an absolute robot he is," yohan leans over dongpyo. "structured speech, quote as a starter, programmed tone. he's getting scarier everyday."

"i for one have noticed in our school that although we have a lot of achievements in total, we could certainly do so much better." he hits everyone with quite an offensive statement. "hear me out here. we're here not as rivals, we're here as colleagues. it's time for us to see each other as equals rather than judging other people from their range of intelligence."

"i want everyone to get equal opportunities to condone achievement. not just the smart people, not just the overly-prepared, everyone. and by this, i will assure you that if i become the student body president, i will make sure that there won't be any qualifications to join the olympiad team."

the crowd crashes into loud chatters hearing his statement. "extra classes and tutoring will be provided to help this case. olympiad participation is very much needed for the college admissions, and i don't want to see only a dozen of you having it on your cv. everyone gets the equal opportunity to participate.. and will be treated based on your current knowledge and intelligence. so by that, not only the geniuses thrive, but others too."

"hence, these children who work hard will receive the appreciation that they deserve. not only from their certificates, but also in the wide screens, figurines, newsletters for everyone to see. we must celebrate every achievements given in the name of the school." junho steps backward. "that's all from me, thank you for listening."

equal opportunities, not just for the gifted ones, for everyone.

"well, we've heard both of the candidates, and to me i have found both to have done a great job." hangyul says excitedly. "now we move on to the next segment, which is the debate. kang minhee, as the first candidate, you may now ask a question for your rival to answer."

acting like a cheatnote, dongpyo sneaks over to minhee. "minhee, look, hear me out—"

"no, don't." minhee confidently stands up from his seat with a whole different aura than what he has taken on earlier. "yes, i do have a question."

"did you tell him anything?" dongpyo asks yohan.

yohan shakes his head. "no cheat notes. he's really there by his own."

"what in the world is he gonna ask, then.." dongpyo couldn't help but feel nervous.

minhee now has a hold of the microphone, making sure that he doesn't make the same mistake holding it too high. he turns to his opponent. "cha junho, i am afraid that i must disagree with you."

—

ooooOooo what's going to happen? see y'all in the next chapter ^^

i've eventually cleared up the plot in my head so now you can see me all geared up and prepared further on. the real question though, are you gonna be prepared? ~

thank you for all the tremendous support, soon this story will reach 50k and i 😭😭 i couldn't thank you guys enough.

thanks for reading and as usual, 130 votes for next chapter~

- yuehwa