Pig Government Official

-32-

Junjae felt anxious, as if he was being chased by something. He was extremely flustered that his mother had noticed enough to probe whether he was seeing someone, and that he had let his expressions slip enough for her to notice. To think that he had failed to manage his expressions to the point where others could notice. If this had been in front of his father instead of his mother…

‘You foolish boy. How many times have I told you that you need to live with twice, thrice the vigilance of others?’

‘Even though you’re dominant now, the mere fact that you were born recessive is already a big weakness for the company.’

‘Don’t add any more to my weaknesses. Do you know how hard I’ve worked for all this?’

Junjae’s fists clenched. His father had always considered him a disgrace. When he was a very young recessive alpha, he thought it was natural. Because he was born recessive and was harmful to his father. He thought he was tarnishing his father’s name and might bring down everything his father had built.

However, the constant pressure even after manifesting as dominant left Junjae feeling helpless. His father had already said that being born recessive was a blemish. Others always envied him when they saw him. They said he was born with everything, that he had nothing to fear. But while they said that, in reality, he felt he couldn’t do anything or become anything on his own.

He seemed to have been in a good mood in the morning, but now everything was just irritating and complicated. Even though the necktie around his neck felt suffocating, he felt even more stifled by his inability to loosen it.

“…Hah.”

As the company building came into view, he became anxious for a different reason. Quickly…

“…Stop the car at the main entrance.”

‘Eating something sweet makes you feel better, you know.’

Ding-

Unlike usual, Won Junjae appeared at the cafe’s main entrance instead of the door connected to the lobby. Jeonggwan, who was making cream while the cake was baking, was startled to see Junjae directly in front of him and quickly looked up at the clock. He was shocked, thinking, “Has it already become 10:30, when this man appears like clockwork?” However, the clock had just passed 9:40.

Oh, what a surprise. Jeonggwan let out a sigh of relief. But what’s the matter at this time? Did he come early today because he missed me? While his eyes curiously scrutinized Junjae, his hands were busily stirring the cream. The power of capital.

“Hyung, the time… What’s the matter?”

Jihoon was equally surprised. As if he were Jeonggwan’s twin, he simultaneously looked at the clock and let out a big sigh of relief when he saw it wasn’t 10:30 yet. Has the sun risen in the west? What’s up with this guy so early in the morning?

Could it be that he missed Kim Jeonggwan from the morning? Jihoon placed the washed cups on the machine, then shuddered and approached Junjae. Up close, Junjae’s expression didn’t look very good.

“…Just because.”

“Ah, then you could talk with Jeonggwan for a bit. He gets about 20 minutes break while the bread cools after he finishes making the cream.”

Junjae, who usually didn’t react much to whatever Jihoon said, glanced briefly and quickly withdrew his gaze. But anyone could see that his mood had improved a bit at Jihoon’s words. Encouraged by this, Jihoon even brought up something he didn’t need to say.

“That’s great!”

“…”

“Hyung, you usually just look at Jeonggwan’s face and go…”

“When did I…!”

Contrary to the expectation that he would shyly agree in silence, a voice full of embarrassment was directed at Jihoon. Junjae’s voice, which was about to loudly object, let out a big sigh and then became lower and more serious. And it was sharp.

“When did I ever just look at his face and go.”

“…Pardon?”

“As if I… would do that.”

Jihoon was extremely flustered by Junjae’s suddenly sharp voice. He had meant it in a friendly way, like “It’s good that you two are getting closer,” but Junjae reacted unexpectedly fiercely.

Moreover, this face was the usual Won Junjae. Not the slightly relaxed face he showed whenever he came to see Jeonggwan, but the sensitive and irritated, porcupine-like Won Junjae that Jihoon had known all along.

The flustered Jihoon started to say, “That’s not what I meant…” but Junjae spoke again with a stern face, as if warning Jihoon once more. And Jihoon froze.

“It’s because of the pheromones. Don’t say unnecessary things.”

“…What…”

“What’s going on?”

At the commotion, Jeonggwan finally put the roughly finished cream in the refrigerator and came out of the kitchen. Jihoon was looking at Junjae with surprised eyes, and Junjae turned his gaze to Jeonggwan who had come out of the kitchen.

Jihoon was even more surprised to see Junjae’s face soften slightly in that moment. This guy… Jihoon’s eyes blinked rapidly.

“What is it? Did you see a bug or something?”

Jeonggwan approached Jihoon, looking him up and down as if asking what he was so surprised about, and tapped his shoulder. Jihoon’s face, which had been looking at Junjae, slowly turned to Jeonggwan.

“…”

“What is it?”

Jihoon shook his head saying, “No, it’s nothing,” and left his spot. Seeing Jihoon’s behavior, which was different from usual and seemed a bit confused, Jeonggwan turned his head to watch Jihoon’s retreating back.

What’s going on? They seemed to be saying something before I came out, did he get scolded badly by Won Junjae for the Instagram thing? As he was thinking this, the scent of strawberry jam flowed strongly from beside him, as if announcing its presence to Jeonggwan. Jeonggwan turned his head, saying, “Ah.”

“Right. But what brings you here at this time?”

Junjae’s expression had already softened. He looked up at Jeonggwan coyly and mumbled, “…There’s a meeting scheduled.” Jeonggwan smiled happily and pulled out the chair in front of Junjae to sit down.

He seems to have come earlier because he wanted to see me, even though he might not be able to come at his usual time due to a scheduled meeting. Having grasped the whole situation, Jeonggwan didn’t mention it again to Junjae and changed the subject.

“Oh right. I’m starting to go to the gym from today.”

“…Gym?”

“Jihoon says he’s getting gym memberships for employee welfare. I’ll exercise and eat more to become a healthy pig.”

Pfft. Junjae laughed looking at Jeonggwan. Not saying he’ll exercise and lose weight, but saying he’ll eat more to become a healthy pig. Do pigs really think differently? Well. He’ll probably beg to go eat every time we meet from now on, but if he gains any more weight here, Kim Jeonggwan might really start rolling around. The thought of a white lump rolling after him was a bit embarrassing.

Regardless of that. Whether he gains weight and rolls around or not, Jeonggwan’s heart was beating fast right now. Everyone in the country knew that Won Junjae was handsome, but that smile was truly unfair. He thought even Apollo, famous for being the most handsome god in Greek and Roman mythology, would be jealous of this.

How can a person be that handsome? Jeonggwan had thought Jung Taegeon was the most handsome person he’d ever seen in his life. And even with Jung Taegeon, he had become desensitized to that face after seeing it constantly, but Won Junjae felt new every time he saw him. And that smile was really cheating. When he closed his mouth with no expression, he looked like an ice-cold beauty you couldn’t approach, but when he smiled slightly, he was so captivating that even a crying baby would stop and stare with round eyes. This is really cheating. Even though they say that kind of setting usually works…

Ugh. I’m entranced again. Jeonggwan shook his head slightly, put both arms on the table and moved his body closer to Junjae. Then he said shyly,

“What are we going to eat this Saturday?”

He’s really sincere when it comes to eating. Thinking this while looking at Jeonggwan’s sparkling eyes, Junjae recalled the restaurant at the top of the list Secretary Oh had compiled.

“Korean food?”

“Ugh. What kind of traditional set meal is that? We’re not grandfathers.”

“…Then. French cuisine.”

“Wow. I’ve never had French food before!”

The Korean food Junjae was talking about was a fusion restaurant with 3 Michelin stars based on Korean cuisine that easily exceeded 300,000 won per person, while what Jeonggwan was thinking of seemed to be traditional royal court cuisine, but Junjae didn’t bother to correct him. He could feel the vibration of Jeonggwan stomping his feet excitedly at the mention of French cuisine. Once again, Junjae’s lips curved into a smile.

Jeonggwan said, “French food looks pretty!” and took out his phone to search for French cuisine, but the first thing that popped up on the blog was snails. The French escargot dish he had only heard about. Ugh. Jeonggwan looked up at Junjae with a very wrinkled face.

“But… We’re not going to eat snails, are we…?”

Seeing Jeonggwan’s unusually timid face, Junjae laughed softly again. Junjae quite liked the snail dish Jeonggwan was talking about. Escargot was a delicacy when eaten without much appetite, but Jeonggwan had never tried it and seemed to find it gross. Seeing him shudder just at the imagination, Junjae wanted to make sure he tried it someday, if not this time.

“We’re not, right? Why aren’t you saying anything? Are we really going to eat snails?”

“We won’t.”

Whew. Jeonggwan sighed in relief and started looking for other French dishes. Even pigs have things they don’t eat. Junjae also rested his chin on one arm on the table, looking down at Jeonggwan. He noticed Jeonggwan’s small, chubby white hands.

The hands that Junjae had given affection to for the first time in his life were also white and chubby… and very small.

“Then what are we having for dessert?”

Come to think of it, those eyes seemed similar too. Big, clear eyes that sparkled.

“Let’s eat that chocolate you mentioned before.”

“No, we can just buy that separately.”

“Ah…”

Jeonggwan suggested a delicious macaron place he knew. There’s a really good wild strawberry macaron in Yeonnam-dong. The custard cream and raspberry are no joke. I’m telling you, your mouth will drop open when you eat it-. It seemed the answer was already decided.

“Let’s go there then.”

“Yay. They’re expensive, can I eat two?”

Junjae nodded with a face that said he couldn’t help it. Jeonggwan seemed to be excitedly searching for what else that dessert place had, saying, “What else was there…” Junjae looked at Jeonggwan with curious eyes, wondering how he could be so happy about being able to eat just two wild strawberry macarons.

However, when he slightly raised his head feeling a gaze from afar, Secretary Oh’s eyes immediately met his, signaling that it was time to go to the meeting. Ah…

I don’t want to go.