Pig Government Official

-48-

“Take his alcohol away.”

As Jeonggwan, with a bandage on his hand, cautiously lifted his beer glass, two hands from those around him rushed to snatch it away. Jeonggwan’s face crumpled as he tried to quickly take a sip.

“Ah, just one sip. How can I eat samgyeopsal without beer!”

“Didn’t you hear that you shouldn’t get water on it for a week and no alcohol?”

“Come on, Jeonggwan. Just close your eyes and endure it.”

“Still, it must be nice for Jeonggwan to have a week off…”

Jeonggwan glared at Jihoon with narrowed eyes. That evil boss. Back in college, even when he burned his hand, they’d drink all night together and have hangover soup in the morning while drinking more, but now he won’t let him have even a sip of alcohol so he can recover quickly and not disrupt the shop for a week? Park Jihoon has really become a boss.

“Jeonggwan, want to go hiking with me when I get off work while you’re resting?”

“Who are you?”

“I knew you’d say no, but I just had to try.”

Jeonggwan giggled at Suki’s clean retreat, and managed to scoop up some doenjang jjigae with the spoon that was hard to hold due to the bandage. Doenjang jjigae is really best at meat restaurants. Hehe, the doenjang jjigae was really delicious. Hehe. He got a week’s vacation. Hehe. Won Junjae still likes him.

Jeonggwan recalled the image of Junjae standing up from his seat earlier. When their eyes met directly, filled with surprise and worry, sparks flew in Jeonggwan’s heart. As expected. He was pretending not to look but was watching everything, pretending not to care but was caring about everything. He still liked me. Talking about blind dates, nonsense. Hehe. You can’t escape me, Won Junjae.

“Heh…”

“Happy to have time off?”

“Yeah, happy…”

Oh no. But there was a serious problem. He wouldn’t be going to the cafe for a week now because of his time off. Then how would he see Won Junjae? How would he seduce him again? Won’t he forget about me if we don’t see each other for a week? Jeonggwan’s jaw stopped as he was munching on samgyeopsal.

Should I text him first? Tell him to come to my house if he wants to smell my pheromones…? No, that’s too desperate. Or will Won Junjae come looking for me on his own? Probably not. Oh my, what should I do? Jeonggwan fell into deep contemplation with a quite serious face.

“Kim Jeonggwan. Let’s go to Hong Kong.”

“…We need to line up at Hong Kong Banjeom now.”

“Let’s go to Hong Kong while you’re off.”

“No, we need to line up at Hong Kong Banjeom now… Huh?”

At that moment, Jihoon made an unexpected proposal to go to Hong Kong. Jeonggwan, who thought he meant the Hong Kong Banjeom restaurant, stared blankly at Jihoon for a moment with an expression that said “What are you talking about?”, while Suki seemed to understand immediately, exclaiming “Wow, fuck. I’m jealous.” and throwing down her chopsticks. Hwang Jun also widened his eyes, saying “Whoa, no way.”

“There’s an international dessert fair in Hong Kong right now.”

“……”

“Let’s go see various things and learn.”

“……”

I’m saying this as your boss. Since it’s come to this, let’s go sightseeing and look at designs. Jihoon took a swig of beer and raised his eyebrows, asking “What do you think?”, and Jeonggwan, who had been listening quietly, carefully put down the spoon that had been trembling in his hand for a while.

“I… I’ve never been abroad before…”

Then he clasped his hands in front of his chest and gave Jihoon an admiring look. Jeonggwan had always been envious of friends who posted pictures of foreign foods on Instagram. With four siblings at home, there was already a lot of money going out, so overseas travel was something he couldn’t even dream of. The family had saved money and made passports to go to nearby Japan, but with so many family members, it wasn’t easy to match schedules. Because of this, he thought he might be able to travel abroad in two years at the earliest… But suddenly going abroad… Rich friends are the best. Rich bosses are really the best…

“The fair started today, so let’s go tomorrow, stay one night, and see the 3rd and 4th days before coming back.”

“…Okay! What about the plane? The hotel? I’ll search for good restaurants! Can we book flights now?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am? You just pack your clothes well. It’s hot there.”

“Wow-. I’m so jealous. So jealous.”

“I should hurt my hand too…”

Suki and Hwang Jun had wistful, envious faces, but Jeonggwan didn’t even seem to notice as he was busy searching for Hong Kong on his phone. It’s hot there? Good thing I didn’t put away my summer clothes yet! Squee! Jeonggwan clapped his hands and rejoiced, his bottom almost lifting off the seat as if he might fly away at any moment.

Won Junjae had long been forgotten.

* * *

He had no choice but to tell his family about Jihoon’s true wealth. This was because his second older brother asked how much money he was making from the cafe to suddenly take him to Hong Kong, and whether he was going to sell his organs, asking if he hadn’t seen the movies.

“He’s from the Won Group…? Jihoon…?”

“He looks like the son of a nouveau riche family who didn’t know they owned some land and struck it rich when a hot spring was discovered…”

While all family members looked surprised, they seemed secretly envious of Jeonggwan. And somehow, they felt choked up. Seeing how happy he was, how much must he have wanted to go all this time? Especially since people in baking are more interested and go more often… How happy must my child be… Dad wiped away a tear with the apron he was wearing.

“Here. 300,000 won.”

“Oh… Mom, I have money…”

“Buy mom’s cigarettes and souvenirs for your brothers at the duty-free shop on your way back.”

Ah, okay. Jeonggwan accepted the money his mom gave him with an embarrassed smile. I’ll exchange it at the airport tomorrow. Jeonggwan, who had already searched which floor the currency exchange was on at Incheon Airport, grinned. He took out a small notebook and added mom’s cigarettes to the list of things to buy at the duty-free shop.

He also borrowed a few clothes from Jeongwon, who dressed the best. Jeonghyun, being a youth national team coach, had many suitcases of different sizes from training camps, and Jeonggwan took the largest 28-inch suitcase and packed it full. When told to pack for 3 nights and 4 days, he packed as if he was emigrating, showing how excited he was.

Eventually, with Jeonghyun’s mediation, he switched to a 24-inch suitcase. Jeonghyun said it was best to pack half with clothes and leave half empty for souvenirs, but Jeonggwan said he could carry souvenirs himself and ended up packing the suitcase full.

[The flight is at 10 AM tomorrow, so come out in front of your house at 6 AM. Did you pack your passport? – Your respected boss]

Jihoon sent a message to Jeonggwan, who was lying down. Jeonggwan replied with a cheerful “Yes! Of course!” and set twenty alarms. His first overseas trip… He felt too excited to sleep, but if he was late, Park Jihoon might really curse him out and leave without him.

“Hah… I really think I made a good friend.”

And I think I got a really good job too… Park Jihoon usually didn’t flaunt his money in front of him to avoid showing he was from the Won Group, but when he did once, the scale was enormous. To have enough wealth to just go on a trip like this if he felt like it… So cool… I should earn a lot of money later too and go to Japan to eat udon and to China to eat Peking duck! Jeonggwan closed his eyes, drowsy with excitement.

He was still forgetting about Junjae.

* * *

Secretary Oh thought it was fortunate that today’s meeting had been moved to the large conference room. If they had held the meeting in a smaller place, everyone would have known that his boss’s soul was elsewhere right now. Even when Secretary Oh gave a slight cough and glanced at Junjae, his eyes were already out of focus, staring blankly at the rotating projector screen.

It was understandable. Junjae had heard some absurd news when he went to the cafe today. Because of Jeonggwan’s burned hand yesterday, he had gone down to the cafe 10 minutes early today, oh of course not because he was worried or anything, but just to check if there was anything wrong with the pheromones Jeonggwan gave him due to his poor condition. Really. Truly.

‘Uh… You didn’t know… Jeonggwan and the boss went to Hong Kong… for a dessert fair…’

But Kim Jeonggwan had vanished. To Hong Kong, no less. At the cafe manager’s words, Junjae was so dumbfounded he could only open and close his mouth without saying anything. He suddenly went to Hong Kong? With an injured hand? Without even telling me…! And… Junjae felt the back of his neck stiffen for a moment. How could he go to Hong Kong without saying anything when Junjae might have a pheromone shock? For four days, no less. Without a single contact…

‘I thought you were Jeonggwan’s boyfriend… Were you not…?’

Moreover, he was baffled by what Kim Jeonggwan was saying about him that made the employee think he was his boyfriend or whatever. What on earth was he saying about me?

“What boyfriend…”

“Pardon? I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t hear what you said clearly.”

“It’s nothing. Please continue.”

Ahem. Junjae cleared his throat and bit his lip. Even so, how could this be? Him and Kim Jeonggwan as lovers? It was absurd. Wasn’t he too good for Kim Jeonggwan? All Kim Jeonggwan had going for him was his white skin, round eyes, and a face that became a tiny bit cute when he smiled and his cheekbones rose. And Kim Jeonggwan had only dated once in his life so far, while he…

“……”

He…

“…What the.”

“Pardon? I’m sorry, sir, what did you,”

“…There’s nothing.”

“Pardon? What’s…”