Tving original ‘Running Mate’ (directed and written by Han Jin-won)presented a unique and fun student political drama.

‘Running Mate’, released on the 19th, tells the story of the students of Yeongjin High School, whose lives began to change simply because they ran for student body president.The painful awakening and growth that came after the ‘no-answer’ competition left a deep impression amidst the pleasant laughter.

‘Running Mate’ begins with Noh Se-hoon(played by Yoon Hyun-soo), who became the butt of everyone’s jokes after an unexpected accident, running as a running mate for the student council president election to change his image.Not only was Yang Won-dae(played by Choi Woo-sung), the face of Youngjin High School and the president of the choir, chosen as his running mate, but when even Kwak Sang-hyun(played by Lee Jung-sik), the students ‘wannabe, sent him a love call, Noh Se-hoon transformed from the’ humiliated man ‘of the entire school to a hot topic of conversation.The one who caught Noh Se-hoon’s heart, who was pleasantly troubled by Yang Won-dae and Kwak Sang-hyun, was Kwak Sang-hyun.Noh Se-hoon, who was disappointed that he was the 12th candidate for Yang Won-dae, held Kwak Sang-hyun’s hand.Yoon Jung-hee(played by Hong Hwa-yeon), who ranked first in the school, also joined Kwak Sang-hyun’s camp, drawing attention.

Meanwhile, Yangwon University, which had been rift due to Noh Se-hoon’s departure, completed its camp by recruiting Park Ji-hoon(Lee Bong-joon), Noh Se-hoon’s close friend and popular kid at Yeongjin High School, as a running mate at the suggestion of vice-president candidate Ha Yu-kyung(Kim Ji-woo).Their conflicting relationship from the start opened the prelude to a storm-like student body president election war.

As the full-scale campaign began, the Kwak Sang-hyun camp tried to win over the public sentiment by emphasizing ‘trends’ and ‘innovation’, while the Yangwon University camp emphasized ‘tradition’ and ‘unity’.In the first campaign, the Yangwon University camp had the upper hand with the school trip promise song that showed off Park Ji-hoon’s social skills and teamwork, but the Kwak Sang-hyun camp was no slouch either.They shook up the situation by counterattacking with the promise of opening a store for a famous coffee brand.However, the Kwak Sang-hyun camp soon faced a crisis when they got caught up in the incident of damaging the Yangwon University camp’s life-size statue.Taking advantage of the momentum, the Yangwon University camp pushed the Kwak Sang-hyun camp into an even more difficult situation with silent campaigning.

As the election campaign intensified, the true colors of Kwak Sang-hyun and Yang Won-dae, who were seething with desire, were also revealed.The malicious frame war had begun.Kwak Sang-hyun, who erased his friendly face and pushed Noh Se-hoon, and Yang Won-dae’s deception that went beyond shamelessness, made Noh Se-hoon extremely angry.The shock did not end there.The suspicion of Park Ji-hoon’s forged transcript was raised, which overturned the Kwak Sang-hyun party video that was exposed on an anonymous SNS account.The fact that the owner of the altered voice attacking Ji-hoon was Noh Se-hoon himself, and that this was secretly recorded and used by the camp he trusted and followed, made it difficult for Noh Se-hoon to endure.The election gradually lost its essence, and personal attacks and fake news ran rampant, and it became an emotional battle.The students jumped into the election war for their own reasons, but the reasons no longer mattered.They had to win no matter what, and they reached a point where they could neither back down nor give in to the war where the other party had to die to do so.


Yang Won-dae, who stood on the stage for the last joint speech, turned the criticism poured on him in the slander war into Nam Kyung-tae’s personal deviation and made a decisive move for victory.The one who turned the tide was Noh Se-hoon.Noh Se-hoon said to Kwak Sang-hyun, who had lost his will to fight in an unexpected manner after being publicly pelted with eggs, “If you don’t go crazy, you will never win this election.” Kwak Sang-hyun, who was provoked by the words to put down his pretense and bluff, knelt down and counterattacked by saying, “It is my fault that the election turned out like this.I will serve with an apologetic heart for the remaining year.”

After the fierce election, Noh Se-hoon had a painful awakening.Noh Se-hoon looked back on himself as a ‘disposable product’ that was neither a ‘need’ nor a ‘want’.Regardless of the outcome of the election, he lost his friends and himself, and in the end, he stood at a new starting line for himself.The growth that came after the ‘no right answer’ competition left a deep aftertaste.

The full series of ‘Running Mate’ can be found on Tving.

Hong Se-young, reporter for Donga.com projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.