Pig Government Official

-11-

“Did something happen?”

Unlike her flashy earrings and necklace, Im Seri, wearing her hair up with light makeup and a calm beige wrap-around dress, finally broke the 30-minute silence, addressing Won Junjae who seemed lost in thought while staring out the car window.

“……”

But Won Junjae didn’t open his mouth. He was usually taciturn, but today he was even more quiet, deep in thought about something. Moreover, at all parties, including charity events, he always left within 40 minutes, but today, for some reason, he had stayed for an hour and a half.

Furthermore, unlike his usual habit of going up to the hotel suite to release his pheromones after leaving the reception hall, today he suddenly said he was going to a different hotel.

Im Seri was slightly taken aback but soon maintained her expression as if nothing was wrong, like the actress she was, and got into the car following Won Junjae.

‘I should follow the prince’s words, what else can I do?’ she thought to herself.

However, Won Junjae was even better at maintaining an expressionless face. He was currently looking out the window, confused by his own actions.

Throughout the party, he had been irritated by the “pig” that kept hovering around wherever he went.

“Really? You’re really staying overnight at this hotel today?!”

“Yeah. But if you come into my room, I’ll throw you out the window. I need to relax today.”

“Can I order room service and eat then?”

“Yeah. Order whatever you want. But if you come to share, I’ll barbecue you alive.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll eat it all by myself.”

Hearing these words exchanged between that “pig” and Park Jihoon as they passed by, his irritation grew, and he impulsively decided to move to a different hotel. If that “pig” happened to get on the same elevator, he would surely misunderstand about him and Im Seri…

Misunderstand…

What did it matter if there was a misunderstanding? Besides, it wasn’t really a misunderstanding. He always had relations with Im Seri and other partners to release his pheromones. But why did the thought of that “pig” knowing about it make him act so impulsively? He couldn’t understand himself.

So since getting in the car, he had been constantly searching for a reason. A valid reason for his own actions.

“By the way, have you been busy lately, Junjae? It’s been a while since you released your pheromones, right?”

Ah, so that was it.

Won Junjae turned his head towards Im Seri.

From head to toe, a perfect omega that met all his preferences was smiling at him. She was emitting the most stable pheromones among all the omegas he had met.

Although her pheromones were slightly irritating today, unlike usual, he had found his reason.

It had been over three weeks since he last released his pheromones due to being busy with work. Of course, he had a headache and everything was sensitive and irritating.

Yes, that was it.

When unable to fulfill desires, even a person can become a fool acting on impulse. Won Junjae laughed dryly at the realization. Anyway, it was fine now. Tonight, he would embrace this perfect omega and release his pent-up pheromones, and that would be the end of it.

* * *

“What… did you say?”

Jihoon was dumbfounded, wondering if what he just heard was real.

Three days had passed since the charity party. Called urgently by his mother, he thought, “I’m done for now. Won Junjae must have complained to my mom about how I lowered the tone. She’ll take away my card. I’m really finished.” He entered his family home with a sigh, resigned to his fate.

However, the words that came out of his mother’s mouth were unexpected.

It was so unexpected that Jihoon’s mind wasn’t working properly. He could only blink his eyes like an idiot and ask his mother again.

And Jihoon’s mother, Won Hye-ryeong, the CEO of Brighton Hotel, had a smile from ear to ear.

It was because her only son, who was treated as a problem child in the Won family, had caught the attention of Junjae, the nephew who would inherit the Won Group – the monster who would devour the Won Group in the future.

When Jihoon first said he wanted to become a patissier, Won Hye-ryeong thought she would faint. The boy who should have been studying hotel management went off to France to make bread after reading a single comic book. Because of this, Jihoon, without any power in the dog-eat-dog world of high society, was completely buried.

She was furious when her son was treated like a good-for-nothing and not invited anywhere, but she didn’t show it to Jihoon. After all, he was her one and only precious child. With the thought that he should at least show his face to people, she forced him to attend the Won Electronics charity party held at her hotel. Somehow, her child must have said something right at the party, because her usually cold and sometimes scary nephew Won Junjae had made a proposal first.

“Oh my, I told you Junjae has an eye for people, didn’t I? How much must he have liked you? Can you believe he said he’d push out their company’s first-floor cafe and give you the space? That means he wants to keep you right by his side. Right? But you didn’t even tell your mom. When were you planning to open a cafe? Hm?”

“…I know, right.”

The proposal from Won Junjae was to push out the representative of the cafe industry, that world-famous franchise ‘star’ cafe from the first floor of Won Electronics headquarters, and have Jihoon move in there.

Jihoon wasn’t exceptionally good at baking, and he hadn’t accomplished anything yet, but Won Junjae’s intention to keep Jihoon close to him meant he wanted to make Jihoon his person. Hye-ryeong was so happy she was even humming.

She had been under immense stress because her son was subtly ostracized at gatherings, but with this development, his position would become very solid. Fearing her nephew might withdraw the offer, Hye-ryeong accepted it first and then called Jihoon to inform him.

“But… Mom, actually, I…”

“No, you’re not. Shut your mouth. Before I cut off all your cards and shave your head to send you to a temple.”

“…I’ll do it. Yes.”

‘Right? My son will do it, won’t he?’ Won Hye-ryeong thought as she elegantly lifted her teacup with a smile.

* * *

As if Jihoon, who had been frantically trying to find an alpha to set up a bakery for him, was going to replace that alpha himself, Jeonggwan secured a job with incredibly good conditions just 5 months before his college graduation. And that too, at the biggest conglomerate in South Korea.

“You just do the peach Earl Grey shortbread and the fromage blanc tart.”

“Okay. But are we going to include simple desserts too?”

“Do you think we should?”

“Yeah. The shortbread might be too heavy for office workers after meals.”

To be precise, it was a bakery cafe on the first floor of that company, but it was still an incredible opportunity for Jeonggwan. Honestly, in this industry, only those who graduated from famous pastry schools could get jobs in such large-scale bakery cafes. To think such a big opportunity came thanks to having a good friend. Jeonggwan thought that the saying “South Korea is a society based on school and regional connections” was indeed true.

The bakery cafe ‘Bible’ on the first floor of Won Electronics headquarters opened at 8:30 AM, but the sandwich partners started preparations early, so they arrived at 7 AM. Other cafe partners and dessert partners arrived at 8:30 AM, and the dessert partners could leave freely once they finished making the daily quota of desserts.

But the salary was enormous. To the point where Jeonggwan thought, ‘Is my friend going to go bankrupt like this?’ Still, Jeonggwan didn’t refuse the money offered. There’s a saying that even if the rich go bankrupt, their next three generations will live well. Judging from the series of events, Park Jihoon was indeed rich.

Pushing out a star cafe and setting up a cafe on the first floor of Won Electronics headquarters in the heart of Gangnam… The scale seemed out of this world.

Moreover, he seemed to be quite close with Executive Won Junjae last time. The rich must be extremely tight-knit even with their relatives’ in-laws’ distant cousins.

‘Did you come to eat?’

As his thoughts drifted to Won Junjae, Jeonggwan recalled the image of Won Junjae approaching and speaking to him at the party a week ago. Honestly, when he saw him briefly before and looked up his photos in news articles, he looked like he was in his mid-30s.

But face to face, he looked like he was in his late 20s. And truly, even looking again, he was so handsome it made you go “Wow-” involuntarily. Despite his words being a bit offensive. His voice was also really nice. And his body was truly excellent. Broad shoulders and a waistline tapering down in an inverted triangle. Wow.

In fact, he wanted to talk to him, so he urgently picked on his age, but he didn’t regret it because it felt good to receive his full attention.

“Hey, so that Executive Won Junjae.”

“Yeah……”

“You might be able to see him occccasionally, right?”

When Jeonggwan casually brought up Won Junjae, Jihoon’s expression darkened by about 1 degree.

“I don’t know what that hyung is thinking……”

“Why?”

“This cafe too, it’s because he told me to come in that I’m going.”

“Wow, really?” Jeonggwan’s eyes lit up as he clung closer to Jihoon. Why? Why did he suddenly tell you to come in? Aren’t you like distant relatives or something? Maybe he somehow tasted that once-in-a-lifetime tart you said you made last time?!

“Why would he eat a tart I made? He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t even eat tarts made by a patissier who was a professor at Tokyo Confectionery School when he was young, saying they were too sweet.”