Pig Government Official

-67-

As Jihoon sipped a latte with 6 shots of espresso as soon as he arrived at the cafe in the morning, he thought Jeonggwan must have really started dating when he saw him come to work with a particularly bright, radiant face and a beaming smile. Although Jeonggwan had told him yesterday that he was dating Junjae, Jihoon thought he wouldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes, but seeing Jeonggwan with a different expression than usual, he started to feel it was real.

And it seemed it wasn’t just him, but everyone was feeling it, as they were all surreptitiously watching Jeonggwan. Could he really have started dating? And with the son of this building’s owner? Though no one said it out loud, their expressions seemed to be throwing a hundred questions at Jeonggwan. Was he really dating Won Junjae?

And everyone’s curiosity was resolved faster than expected. As soon as it turned 9:30, Junjae entered through the cafe’s main door, and his appearance alone was screaming “I’m very different from usual.” Junjae always wore a tailored three-piece suit when going to work, no matter what, but,

“He’s crazy.”

“…Really.”

Today, he was wearing a black turtleneck and black suit pants with just a brown herringbone jacket over it, giving a very casual suit look. And it suited him so well, making his already handsome face look even younger and more handsome, that everyone in the cafe, including customers and staff, gasped.

“If this isn’t a dream, what is it?”

“I really feel like I’ve come to a parallel universe…”

Among them, Jeonggwan and Jihoon were the most surprised. Such a handsome man is dating me? He kissed me yesterday? He told my dad yesterday, “I… I am Jeonggwan’s boyfriend”? Jeonggwan couldn’t believe this reality because he was so happy, and Jihoon doubted whether the reality he was seeing was real or if perhaps a Junjae from a parallel universe had crossed over.

Junjae came to his designated seat with his gaze fixed on Jeonggwan’s face as if he could only see one place, even though others were staring at his face and whispering. Up to here, one might think, “Well, only his clothes are different, how can you tell they’re dating?” But people could instinctively sense it. The signal between the two that was tingling even through a window.

“Jeonggwan.”

“Yes, noona.”

“You look happy.”

And Suki, who was closest to them, spoke softly to Jeonggwan while looking at the tart she was plating. In fact, when Suki first came to this cafe, she had gladly joined because Jihoon, who she was close with during her study abroad, said he would pay well, but she felt a bit hurt in her pride when she had to share the kitchen with a novice who hadn’t even had their college graduation ceremony.

However, Jeonggwan was such a lovable child. No matter how much people around him teased him to lose weight, Jeonggwan pretended not to hear. No, he even teased them back. But could you say that was bad? If you constantly hear “You’re a pig” or “Lose weight,” even a sage might become sensitive and twisted, but Jeonggwan dispelled it with laughter.

In some ways, he clearly had a shrewd side. But to those within his boundaries, he was the most affectionate and caring child. Suki couldn’t forget the look in the eyes of Won Junjae, the son of this building’s owner who had shown interest in Jeonggwan since the opening, sitting there in front. A look of not knowing what to do because he was so interested despite really disliking it. But Suki thought that would be the end of it. This innocent child and that man seemed like people from different worlds.

But now it was different. It wasn’t that this child had entered that man’s world, but that the child had pulled that man into this world. Should she say it’s amazing, or commendable for his courage? The one thing that worried her was that humans are creatures of habit, with a tendency to want to return to their original place. If that man was staying here just for a moment’s pleasure, he might soon return to his own world.

“Hold on tight. The celestial maiden might fly away.”

“…”

She could only hope that this child would firmly grasp the man who might fly away again someday.

* * *

In Cheongdam-dong, there were regular omega social gatherings, and since Heejin, who had the strongest external power, was the head of this gathering, it was mostly hosted at Hee-in, the gallery she owned. Since all the people in the gathering were omegas from prominent families, showing off money here was completely meaningless, and when they met, all they talked about was their children.

“I heard Daehyun is getting married?”

“Yes. The alpha partner insisted on imprinting… so we decided to let him go.”

“Still, JC is more than good enough. But I didn’t know Daehyun would meet a foreigner?”

“Who would have known he’d be completely taken by someone 10 years older as soon as we sent him to study abroad? But when I heard it was JC’s first son, you don’t know how relieved I was.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, saying “That’s right” and “Fortunately,” but those with omega children were hurting inside. Daehyun was from the lowest-ranking family among them, and hearing the news that he was marrying the son of the most famous bank in New York made them incredibly jealous. For their children to marry an alpha of comparable status, they would need to be at least on the level of Won Electronics in Korea.

Therefore, the current gathering was no different from an animal kingdom. Currently, there were five families with omega children, and among them, three had not yet had any discussion about marriage with any family. As a result, they were engaged in a battle of wits, trying to look good to Heejin, Junjae’s mother, biting and tearing at each other.

“But I heard things didn’t work out between Executive Won and Seomho this time?”

“I wouldn’t like it either. Isn’t that Juhwan kid a bit weird?”

“Can you believe it, they say he brought a hemorrhoid cushion to the blind date.”

Oh my goodness. What’s this about? A hemorrhoid cushion? How disrespectful is that to our Executive Won? They all started badmouthing Juhwan to Heejin with shocked faces. Knowing that the Seomho Group could never be part of this gathering, they took Junjae’s side, their veins popping out in their necks.

“Um… Chairwoman Song. Our Hyemin is returning to Korea soon…”

“Oh my? Hyemin is only 23, isn’t she? As they say, even cold water has its levels. Our Eunseo is 28 now, so the four-year age gap is perfect without even checking compatibility…”

“If we’re talking about levels, it should be our Youngseo. She’s the same age as Executive Won. They even went to the same school…”

They soon revealed their true intentions, pushing their phones towards Heejin to show pictures, saying how great their children were.

“…”

But Heejin couldn’t agree with any of their words. Because she knew who Junjae had met after leaving the blind date, and what kind of relationship they had. Heejin just smiled slightly and sipped her coffee without saying a word. She just hoped this conversation would pass quickly.

“But… doesn’t Executive Won have someone he’s seeing these days?”

However, just as there were families jealous of Daehyun, the omega, it was natural that there were also families jealous of Junjae, the alpha. Among them, Seo Geumhyeok of the Imseong Group had given birth to four recessive alphas, and except for one who was still a student, two of them had recently been divorced, and the remaining one was about to marry a beta. So he felt a deep jealousy towards Junjae, whose life seemed to be nothing but smooth sailing.

Therefore, Geumhyeok had gathered every piece of gossip about Junjae without missing anything, but the previous stories were all unverified fictional tales. Like the one about Won Junjae originally being recessive or something. Geumhyeok had filtered out such nonsense stories, and in the end, there was nothing to criticize about Won Junjae. He had resigned himself to thinking, “He really is a perfect alpha.” But somehow, the recent rumors, although more preposterous than any heard before, were quite specific and had many eyewitnesses, making them highly credible.

“…”

“I heard he’s seeing a young kid with a good build…”

Moreover, everyone who had reportedly seen the protagonist of this rumor evaluated them as fat, chubby, or a pig. Frankly, there were quite a few people in this gathering whose alpha children had married omegas who were ordinary citizens but exceptionally beautiful, but there was no one crazy enough to date an omega who was not only from an unremarkable family with poor education but also unattractive. And to think that it was Won Junjae. How much does this tarnish the reputation of the Won Group?

“…Oh my, Geumhyeok. What a disrespectful thing to say.”

“That’s right… to our Executive Won…”

“Isn’t that right, Chairwoman Song? Oh my. I’m so sorry.”

Geumhyeok apologized to Heejin with a face that didn’t look sorry at all. However, no words came from Heejin, who was quietly staring into her coffee cup. The people in the gathering knew very well that Heejin didn’t lie, and they also knew that silence meant affirmation. Therefore, as Heejin was acknowledging that this far-fetched rumor was true, everyone was momentarily speechless from shock.

“…Oh my.”

“…How big is his build?”

“I’ve only heard…”

“How young is he? How much…”

As the story suddenly became a hot topic and was being discussed back and forth, Heejin could only close her eyes tightly.