Pig Government Official

-15-

There weren’t many tables near the cooking counters to prevent the dessert partners from becoming a spectacle. Jeonggwan’s counter was in the far corner, with only two tables directly facing it.

Moreover, these seats didn’t have a view of the photo zone, so customers only sat there if there was no other choice.

But someone was sitting there now. And not with their back to the window, but facing Jeonggwan’s direction.

“…Wow.”

A man with a cold expression, wearing a charcoal striped three-piece suit and pomade hair, was looking down at his phone. He looked like he belonged on the main page of a high-end men’s magazine, and Jeonggwan found himself staring blankly for a moment.

If he were a celebrity, he’d be more like the villain who’s so handsome you can’t help but pay attention to him, rather than the male lead.

He had the feeling of that villain in a historical movie starring a famous handsome actor. Like how the same amount of cherry blossoms seemed to flutter especially behind that actor. Even though the righteous protagonist was fighting the villain, you found yourself secretly cheering for the villain – that kind of captivating, eye-catching, handsome villain. Ah- my heart’s racing. The man hit all of Jeonggwan’s preferences.

“Really… he’s insanely handsome…”

As Jeonggwan murmured quietly in admiration, at that moment, the man lifted his head. The room was soundproofed so he couldn’t have heard Jeonggwan’s voice, but Jeonggwan still felt a bit scared, wondering if the man had heard him.

“……”

However, the man seemed not to have heard and just stared blankly at Jeonggwan.

This is crazy. Wow… How is this person not a celebrity… It’s a national loss. Shouldn’t he have already starred in twenty, forty, sixty-seven movies by now? Enchanted by the man’s beauty as he continued to look at him, Jeonggwan took a step closer to the window.

The man’s eyes seemed to tremble slightly, then he immediately frowned deeply and lowered his head sharply to his phone.

What’s this? Is he upset that I was looking at him?

Jeonggwan also frowned and squinted at the man. Then the man’s eyes flicked up towards Jeonggwan again.

“…!”

However, as if he hadn’t expected Jeonggwan’s frown, the man’s surprised pupils shook.

“…Pfft.”

In fact, Jeonggwan wasn’t really glaring, he was just teasing. Isn’t it normal to want to tease someone when you see a handsome person? So he had pretended to be angry, but he didn’t expect this kind of reaction, which made him smile, his cheeks lifting.

“……”

The man quietly stared at Jeonggwan like this. Then, after blinking slowly a few times, he suddenly turned his head to the side and stood up. Jeonggwan’s smiling face naturally lifted to follow the man’s height.

You’d think he’d look back one more time, if only because he was bothered by the eyes following him, but even though Jeonggwan kept staring at him, the man never looked back once as he quickly walked out of the cafe.

“…What’s that about?”

Jeonggwan also became genuinely upset at the man who seemed to leave in disgust just because Jeonggwan smiled at him after sitting there comfortably. If you’re going to be like that, why sit facing me? Why keep looking at me?

Jihoon had told him to hide and not be seen if he encountered Won Junjae – was this why? Was he trying to protect him from getting hurt by being ignored? But is leaving like that just because someone smiled really necessary?

“…Is being handsome everything?”

Jeonggwan grumbled as he looked around the now quieter cafe, his mood ruined on what should have been an exciting journey home.

“I guess so. I guess that’s how it is.”

Since his mood was already ruined, he thought he’d order malatang when he got home. Upset? – Shanghai – China – Malatang. It was the standard procedure.

* * *

However, the malatang party plan was canceled due to the presence of dad’s homemade curry at home.

In a household with two athletic boys and two big eaters, how long would a pot of curry last? A week? Three days? Wrong. The correct answer was one day. Even if mom and dad were away for just one day, they’d make a pot of ox bone soup or curry for the kids, but even that would be gone after the four brothers had it for breakfast and dinner.

Even then, someone like Jeongyun today, who came home late from work, would have to eat ramen without even tasting the curry. Usually, Jeongyun would have put Jeonggwan, the easiest target, in a headlock to punish him for not saving any, but today Jeongyun was just listlessly picking at his ramen with his chopsticks, completely drained.

Feeling guilty for having wolfed down the curry while shouting “There’s nothing left for Jeongyun! It’s all ours!”, the brothers gathered around Jeongyun, who was chewing his ramen in a daze, moving only his jaw.

“Why are you so lifeless? Jeonggwan was the one who opened the cafe. What, did your employer face a terrorist attack today or something?”

“…No.”

“Then, did Won Junjae abuse his power or something?”

“Power abuse… if you call it power abuse… I guess it is…”

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. The three brothers’ eyes widened. Jeongwon had asked about power abuse as a joke, but he didn’t expect Jeongyun to actually confirm it. Is this the chaebol power abuse we’ve only heard about…? The three brothers stared at Jeongyun with very curious expressions, wondering how exactly the abuse of power had occurred.

But Jeongyun had never once revealed anything about the behavior of the VIP he was guarding just because others were curious, so the brothers expected him to say, “Never mind, forget it.” However, the answer that came was truly unexpected.

“Our VIP is on a high floor, you know…? I can’t say which floor, but…”

“Oh, oh, oh.”

“But today, he went up and down to the first floor five times…”

The first floor? Why? Did he have a lot of errands today? Jeonghyun asked innocently, but at that question, Jeongyun suddenly shook his body as if starting a rural tractor and began to rap out his frustrations.

“No… I don’t know… If he at least knew why he was going down, you know?! I’d go down 10 minutes early… But he suddenly comes out of the office without saying anything, and I, being the youngest, have to run around like crazy. It’s protocol that I have to go to the first floor first and check for safety. But I can’t take the VIP-only elevator down! The moment the VIP comes out, I have to wait in front of the emergency stairs, jump down two floors, take the staff elevator, go down first, and check the lobby… I did that five times today! And without any mental preparation!”

The others acknowledged that Jeongyun would naturally be exhausted after doing that five times. Jeonghyun and Jeongwon listened with awkward sympathy, saying things like, “What, did they smear honey on the first floor or something?” “I thought he wouldn’t move without a plan, but does he secretly have bipolar disorder?” “What was he doing on the first floor?”

Jeonggwan, while chewing on the sweet potato fries his dad had left, narrowed his eyes at some point.

“At first, when he went to the first floor right after I started work, I thought he was going to see Jeonggwan’s cafe opening. Usually, he goes straight from the basement to his office, so I thought he might be going to check out the cafe today. But he went straight into the Won Electronics store? Oh, by the way, Jeonggwan, your cafe was packed today. The line extended to the lobby. I was shocked when I got to the first floor. Anyway!”

Apparently, he was looking at various things in the Won Electronics store. Then he went back up. So at first, I thought he must have had something to check. But the second time, he suddenly came out again an hour later. He asked where Secretary Oh was… Glasses? Secretary Oh. Anyway, when Glasses asked, he said he was going to the first floor. So I ran like hell to take the staff elevator, but he came down before I could even finish the safety check! I got scolded by the team leader again! They asked why I didn’t check quickly! How could I check faster than someone taking the exclusive elevator when I had to run down the stairs and take the staff elevator! It’s so unfair. I even had to stay late for retraining because of that! Anyway, then he went into the store again…

As Jeongyun continued his explanation with an expression of burning frustration, Jeonggwan’s expression gradually became more serious. To summarize, Won Junjae came down to the first floor a total of five times today. All to go to the store.

“Then, with an hour left before closing time, he came out again at 5 o’clock. When Glasses asked if he was leaving work, he said he was going to the first floor again. It’s driving me crazy.”

What did he do at the store? That wasn’t it either. Why? Because he probably didn’t have anything to do at the store. Won Junjae had business on the way there. For example, the first-floor cafe that opened today, or the first-floor cafe where Park Jihoon was the manager, or the first-floor cafe where he was working.

“How many times does he need to go to the store? How many times! How many times in a day without any notice!”

However, the last destination must have been different. Jeonggwan put down the oily sweet potato fries and pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth.

“Fortunately, this time, a senior said I’d worked hard enough and ran down himself, while I rode the exclusive elevator with the VIP while guarding. And then. Finally. At last…”

The last time… because he was sitting in front of me.

“He went to Jeonggwan’s cafe.”

…Is that so? Jeonggwan felt an indescribable thrill from head to toe.

The way he quickly lowered his gaze when Jeonggwan approached the window, the way he looked flustered when Jeonggwan glared at him, the way he suddenly got up and left quickly when Jeonggwan smiled. It wasn’t because he was upset…

Hey, wait a minute, this… Jeonggwan’s lips twitched into a smile.