Pig Government Official

-29-

[Come to the music room after school. – Jung Taegeon]

Receiving this KakaoTalk message from Jung Taegeon 30 minutes before the end of class, Jeonggwan grinned from ear to ear. He was so happy that he buried his head in his desk and giggled, making the teacher wonder what was wrong with him. Finally, Jung Taegeon is gathering his courage!

After school, when most students had left, Jeonggwan sat on the piano stool in the music room, looking up at Jung Taegeon who was perched on the teacher’s desk. His face was calm, as if not expecting a confession, but his heart was beating so fast it could be believed to be racing at the speed of Mach.

After hesitating for a while, Jung Taegeon finally spoke, his face turning bright red.

“Jeonggwan.”

“I told you not to say you like me.”

Jeonggwan responded first, in a voice that suggested he knew this was coming. But Jeonggwan’s face was also red. Encouraged by this, Taegeon moved away from the desk and approached Jeonggwan.

“…I like you.”

Jeonggwan, whose neck was hurting from looking up at Jung Taegeon, pulled on his sleeve. Telling him to bend down.

“Come here.”

Their eyes met at the same level as Taegeon bent down. After staring into each other’s eyes for a while, it was Taegeon who first lowered his head and pressed his lips to Jeonggwan’s. Being students, they couldn’t even imagine a passionate kiss. They just pressed their lips together and apart, making smacking sounds. It was Jeonggwan’s first kiss.

The first kiss with Jung Taegeon was sweet and soft. Because Taegeon’s pheromones also smelled like cream, Jeonggwan thought of sweet and soft yellow custard cream during the kiss. And he naturally said what came to mind.

“I want to eat egg tarts.”

Taegeon burst out laughing. He hugged Jeonggwan as if he couldn’t handle how cute he was. Then he whispered softly in Jeonggwan’s ear.

“Want to go eat some?”

* * *

TAE_GEON_J – Want to go eat?

Jeonggwan stared at the screen. This is cheating. With mixed feelings, Jeonggwan put two pieces of gopchang on his chopsticks and put them in his mouth. The savory taste burst in his mouth. Wow. Eating two at a time is twice as delicious. As serotonin was released, Jeonggwan’s complicated emotions quickly subsided as he reminisced.

As rationality returned, Jeonggwan decided to recall the bad points about Jung Taegeon rather than the good memories. Usually, when you’re just starting to date or in the early stages of a relationship, you only have good memories. Also, memories tend to be beautified. If you focus on why you broke up, you come to your senses thinking, “Right. That’s how it was. It’s good we broke up.”

Right. Jung Taegeon was a coward. The more he thought about how Taegeon never rebelled against his father and went to China, and how he never even mentioned coming back to Korea out of fear, the more vexing it became. Of course, love doesn’t put food on the table, but for Jeonggwan, that was his first relationship.

And honestly, he didn’t want to break up. How could you break up with such a handsome, great dominant alpha? To be honest, he had been conflicted until the moment they broke up, wondering if he should just wait, pretend not to know. But as he ate bread and came to his senses, he realized this was exactly how he was back then. When he was dieting to become an omega worthy of Jung Taegeon. When his self-esteem was seriously low.

Will he be able to come for my birthday? During summer vacation? For Christmas? Living with such endless waiting and expectations, prioritizing a lover who doesn’t prioritize you, was truly miserable. That’s right. Jeonggwan had grown tired of the cowardly Jung Taegeon who only asked him to wait.

There’s no chance of meeting again. Even if they happen to run into each other, it would be difficult for Jeonggwan to have expectations for Jung Taegeon again. Unless Taegeon really cut ties with his father and came begging. But that coward would never do that. If so, Jeonggwan wanted to make him regret it thoroughly.

ㄴ Pig_goeni – Can’t you see I’m eating right now.

Jeonggwan firmly rejected Taegeon’s advances. If he had suggested eating gopchang-tteokbokki just 3 years, no, 2 years earlier, Jeonggwan would have gone. It’s a shame, but this is where their connection ends…

Ding-

└ TAE_GEON_J – Then how about cheese tteokbokki?

…Cheese tteokbokki is innocent. Food is innocent. Jeonggwan moved his hand without a moment’s hesitation.

└ Pig_goeni – Okay.

Jihoon, who had been watching Jeonggwan’s responses from the side, gave a thumbs up. His expression said, “You’re really a crazy guy with no pride when it comes to food.” Feeling like he might have lost his senses over food and agreed too easily, Jeonggwan made a lame excuse.

“This is just a build-up for a bigger picture.”

“Build-up my ass. What if Won Junjae offers to buy you cheese tteokbokki for free for life?”

“The fun of build-up is in tearing it down.”

Puhah. Jihoon and Jeonggwan simultaneously buried their heads on the table, giggling. Ah, offering to buy cheese tteokbokki for free for life is already a proposal, isn’t it? As Jeonggwan muttered this, Jihoon nodded in agreement before suddenly raising his head.

“Hey. But what if Won Junjae sees this and thinks you’re giving this guy the green light and gives up?”

At Jihoon’s worried expression, Jeonggwan clicked his tongue. With a look that said, “You really don’t know anything,” he raised one finger and wiggled it side to side. Jihoon felt annoyed for a moment, but the pig in front of him was no ordinary pig. He had dated an incredibly handsome dominant alpha that even Jihoon found breathtaking, and that alpha was still clinging to him even after breaking up. And although he hated to admit it, it was clear that Won Junjae was showing interest in this pig. Might as well publish a book at this point. The title could be “My Friend Who I Thought Was An Innocent Fatty… Is Actually A Love Expert?” As Jihoon was having these useless thoughts, Jeonggwan shared a hypothesis worthy of a theoretical love expert.

“Won Junjae already has serious feelings for me, right? And he hasn’t even done anything with me yet? But suddenly a handsome alpha appears and starts flirting? It makes him jealous, you know.”

As Jeonggwan nodded confidently with his arms crossed, Jihoon looked at him with an uneasy expression.

“But Won Junjae… I’ve never seen him like anything, not just people…”

“…Not even snacks?”

“Of all things, your example is snacks?”

Jihoon looked at Jeonggwan pitifully before speaking. Won Junjae doesn’t like any objects, plants, hobbies, or friends. Of course, no snacks. It’s so bad that even his pet dog… Never mind. Anyway, Won Junjae doesn’t like anything. Jihoon was about to mention the pet dog but stopped. He thought even Jeonggwan might find such a story uncomfortable.

“Pet dog? What pet dog?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“Don’t tell me he didn’t cry when his pet dog crossed the rainbow bridge?”

“…”

Jeonggwan put on a serious expression. From what he had seen, although not much, the Won Junjae he knew was someone whose emotions were visible. In other words, while he didn’t take big actions, it was clear whether he was happy, disappointed, or annoyed. Even if he tried to hide it, it showed. He didn’t seem like a psychopath or anything like that.

To become the owner of Won Electronics, you have to hide any emotion! The image of an abused prince from a chaebol family automatically formed in Jeonggwan’s mind. But come on. In this day and age, how could such things happen? Just look at Jihoon. Even though he’s from the Won family, he lives without any oppression, doing whatever he wants. Living recklessly like a delinquent. When he searched online at home, he found that the Won Electronics chairman Won Hyeopjae had two daughters, one of whom, Won Hye-ryeong, was Jihoon’s mother. She looked quite extraordinary… If she had been oppressed, Jihoon’s legs would have been broken by now. Won Junjae probably wasn’t like in dramas, just someone who was a bit clumsy with expressing himself.

“Anyway. Someone who doesn’t like anything…”

Seeing Jeonggwan lost in thought, Jihoon shared his idea again. And quite plausibly at that.

“Might be an avoidant type…?”

“…Avoidant?”

“Someone who avoids liking things…”

“Oh- I see-.”

Jeonggwan’s pupils noticeably dilated. As if to say, “How can someone like you come up with such a deduction?”

Clang-!

At this, Jihoon threw his chopsticks and lunged at Jeonggwan. You fat pig, I’ll tear your face apart so you can never make that condescending expression again! However, due to the weight difference, nothing happened.

* * *

Meanwhile, Secretary Oh’s face was in a state of shock, with every possible facial feature expanded. He was in the middle of researching TAE_GEON_J, that is, Jung Taegeon, when suddenly the call button lit up, followed by a series of messages from the security team with just a single dot, indicating his boss’s sudden action, and

Bang-.

Soon after, his boss, with a complex expression based on irritation, either extremely angry or anxious, or both, burst into the secretary’s office. Secretary Oh, who had never experienced this before, stood up awkwardly in surprise, and the other secretaries also froze in shock.

Won Junjae, having startled everyone, urgently approached Secretary Oh and soon thrust his tablet in front of Secretary Oh’s face.

“Secretary Oh.”

“…Yes? What…”

“This.”

What is this? Secretary Oh calmly took the tablet. The screen showed that cursed Instagram. Were you looking at this again when I told you to work? Secretary Oh almost got angry for a moment, but first calmly scrolled down.

Jung Taegeon said before that gopchang… only eat salt-grilled… Kim Jeonggwan said should have tried back then… Jung Taegeon said want to go eat… Kim Jeonggwan said eating right now… Jung Taegeon said then cheese tteokbokki… Kim Jeonggwan said…

“…Okay?”

Secretary Oh unconsciously covered his mouth with his hand at Kim Jeonggwan’s last reply. And when he looked at Won Junjae,

“…”

His expression was quite a sight to behold.