CHAPTER 1: knights of the L-shaped table

As all good things do, this starts with a bang.

The type that leaves a champagne cork slamming into Nayeon's midriff, and gets bubbles everywhere.

"I think I'm dead," Nayeon whimpers, and crashes into the dusty ground. She gets up a moment later, squeaking in indignation at how dirty the council room is. "Double dead now."

Jihyo sighs.

This is going to be a long year.

-

Their first meeting and the ceremonial champagne-pop are supposed to signify a few things. Firstly, the exit of the old student government and the entry of the new one, which isn't happening, because this is the first student government their school has ever elected. (Jihyo blames budget cuts and poor planning, but there is something exciting about being the very first. She fancies herself a trailblazer.)

Secondly, the end of the campaign season, which was tiring all over and featured Jihyo sleeping a total of five hours across five days. The same can probably be said for the rest of the student council, especially one of their two sophomore publicity heads that Jihyo knows to be Chou Tzuyu, the popular sprinter and star of the track team. She looks like she hasn't gotten a good night's sleep since she was born. Jihyo's personally just glad that the emotionally taxing campaign season is over, and they can start work on things that actually matter instead of giving out hotdogs to buy votes. (Their internal liaison, some girl in her year named Kim Dahyun, did that. Jihyo's still impressed at the number of hotdogs she had on hand.)

Thirdly, the whole champagne thing is supposed to signify the coming of a prosperous age for all of them. It's highly prestigious, but the mood is ruined by the fact that they're sitting in a dusty council room that hasn't been cleaned in years and looks like it was used by the zoology club for sheep shearing. That, and them not knowing each other at all. Jihyo knows Nayeon and Jeongyeon, of course, and she kind of knows Sana because duh, Nayeon and Sana have been together since middle school, but that's about it. Oh, and Momo. She doesn't quite remember how she knows Momo, but she does. They're all seniors, and Jihyo is still absently worrying about how they'll take to having a junior as council president.

That said, there's nothing to do now but find out. Jihyo claps her hands once, and watches disorganized chaos unfold across the room. The four senior students seem to have banded together already - Jeongyeon has a string of fairy lights slung over her chest like a toga, and Momo is hanging off her and trying to pull the fairy lights in her direction. In addition to that, they seem to have adopted Dahyun - the younger girl is talking animatedly to Nayeon and Sana, and nearly hits Sana in the face with how excited she is.

Only the sophomores - Chaeyoung and Tzuyu - are paying attention. They're in seats beside each other, not close enough to imply that they know each other, but close enough to show unity. It must be tough, being the only underclassmen in a council of nine. Jihyo remembers being like that, and smiles wistfully.

Along with them is Myoui Mina, another girl in her year who was elected logistics head of the council. Jihyo realizes that this means that Mina will end up working closely with their treasurer, Nayeon, and sends a quick prayer out there for Mina.

Mina gives her a small smile when their eyes meet, and Jihyo finds herself filled with confidence to tame this unruly bunch. If she could get the student body to vote for her in an overwhelming landslide of an election, she can get this council under control. Her body buzzes with the excitement of being able to call them 'her' council. This is real, this is happening!

She claps her hands together again, "Hi!"

"Hi," the seniors (and Dahyun) chorus. Mina, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu look uncomfortable at what looks like a clique, but Jihyo brushes it off and makes it her personal mission to integrate everyone into the council.

"Hi everyone!" Jihyo puts on her best smile. "I'm Jihyo, your president. I hope we can have a good year together! How about we go in a circle and introduce ourselves! You can say your name, your grade, and one interesting fact about you. I'll go first. I'm Jihyo, I'm a junior, and I really like vanilla lattes!"

"We're not even in a circle," Mina points out apologetically.

"I never let that get me down," Jihyo replies, pointing at Mina. "You can go next!"

"Jihyo," Jeongyeon says, "You're shaking."

"Am not," Jihyo says defensively, but it's true. Tzuyu winces from her seat and holds out her hands to steady Jihyo, as if anticipating her fainting. Jihyo feels insulted by the very notion. "It's just excitement."

Jeongyeon comes behind her as means of moral support, and Jihyo lets out a long breath. She makes a note to thank Jeongyeon later and Google how to give good welcome addresses. She really should've watched that compilation of presidential inauguration speeches last night when hyping herself up for this. Nayeon had called her excessive on their Skype call, but Nayeon is, well, Nayeon.

"How about we get into a circle?" Jihyo grins.

-

"Hi, everyone!" Sana chirps. "I'm Sana, the external liaison. I'm a senior and a fun fact about me is that, uh, I'm..." She looks to Nayeon helplessly, unable to think of a suitably fun fact about herself. Nayeon thinks, too, before whispering into Sana's ear. Sana brightens up. "Oh, yes! I scream when my inner thighs get touched."

"Do I want to know why you know this?" Jihyo sighs. Chaeyoung looks like she doesn't get it, and is pestering her to tell her. (Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon have gotten suspiciously pally within the span of half an hour. No one's complaining, but it's just... shady.)

"You do that too!" Momo exclaims, nudging Jeongyeon.

"Next, please," Tzuyu calls.

All eyes fall on Nayeon. She shrugs, "I'm Nayeon, the treasurer, and uh, I failed calculus twice in a year." She does the 'I'm watching you' gesture when Chaeyoung and Dahyun burst out laughing, even to Mina who looks like she's having a hard time holding it in. "I'm also the eldest here, I think."

"Grandma," Jeongyeon mumbles.

After the introductions are done, they end up going through the workplan for the year. "Seeing as it's our first year, I don't think we'll have to do much, so we can plan for maybe four, five events," Jihyo says, poring over the school calendar. "Two of them are the winter formal and prom, so that's that."

"We should start off with a fundraising event," Mina says quietly. That's all Jihyo has gleaned from her so far - that she's pretty, and very quiet. She's pretty sure Mina even moves silently, like a cat. At any rate, it's a refreshing change of pace from the rest of the council, especially the seniors. "We don't have anything in our treasury."

"Seconded," Nayeon says, and high-fives Mina. Mina's smile is gummy and is up there in Jihyo's top ten sights.

There are nods from the rest of the table. (The table is sort of circular and sort of L-shaped, and Jihyo likes the feel of it, even though it's old and donated from the library out of pity. It makes her feel like one of the knights of the round table.) "Okay, so what should we do?"

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