Pig Government Official

-49-

It was two hours after boarding the plane to Hong Kong when Jeonggwan remembered Junjae again. Until he had circled the duty-free shop twice with Jihoon, bought his mother’s cigarettes and a bundle of Godiva chocolates, and boarded the first-class cabin of the domestic flight, Junjae’s existence had been buried deep in his mind. Then, while cutting into the steak served as in-flight meal, he suddenly thought about how he was enjoying such luxury thanks to having a friend from the Won Group.

“Hey… Do you think Won Junjae will try to contact me?”

“…He might feel upset because of the pheromones.”

No, that’s not it. He’s probably feeling hurt. Jeonggwan chewed the tender meat three times and swallowed, wondering how Won Junjae would react right now. Will he call like crazy after I change my SIM card when we arrive in Hong Kong? Jeonggwan raised his wine glass with a somewhat smug and arrogant expression.

* * *

Jeonggwan sniffled awkwardly and checked once again if the SIM card was properly inserted in his phone, but unfortunately, it was. This meant that he hadn’t received any contact from Won Junjae, which made Jeonggwan’s lips purse in a very petty manner. Still trying to protect your pride? After jumping up like that? You’re going to deny it even though you were completely exposed?

“Let’s go to Zen Bakery first.”

“Where’s that?”

“And then we need to go to Lan Fong Yuen. To eat toast.”

“Where’s that one?”

So you’re going to completely forget about that and enjoy Hong Kong two hundred percent, is that it? Jeonggwan pulled out the list of recommended restaurants he had researched and put on a solemn face. I’ll conquer all the famous restaurants in Hong Kong today! Ignoring Jihoon, who suggested just going to the hotel and ordering room service, Jeonggwan entered the directions to Zen Bakery into the car’s navigation system.

“By the way, when did you get a rental car?”

“This isn’t a rental.”

“Then did you steal it?”

“What are you talking about? I had them bring a car from the Hong Kong house.”

Jeonggwan almost felt dizzy for a moment. He kept forgetting that Jihoon was a chaebol, so whenever these chaebol-like moments popped up, he pretended to be unfazed, but inside he was always very surprised, and then felt even more proud. My friend is so awesome!

Since Jeonggwan was ignorant about cars or luxury goods, he had only thought “pretty” or “weird” when seeing the cars Jihoon rode in or the clothes he wore for the past three years. But as he grew up and learned more, he realized that there was a big difference between chaebols and ordinary people. Especially when looking at Won Junjae, he often felt that this person was really from a different class than himself.

Even the way they wiped their lips after eating was different, and their posture when using their phones was different. Unlike himself, who defaulted to hunching over while looking at his phone, Junjae’s straight back and unwavering shoulders were completely different from his. It was fascinating how even when angry, there was little variation in tone and everything seemed controlled. Park Jihoon was the same. Although Park Jihoon yelled and acted out just as much, he had never really gotten agitated when truly angry. Jeonggwan used to think it was just peculiar, but when he learned that Jihoon had been educated from a young age not to raise his voice even when angry, he felt how different they really were in these aspects.

But did that make Jihoon feel unfamiliar? Not at all. The rowdy guy he had always known had just become a rowdy guy with a lot of money; nothing else had changed.

“Park Ji. Look here.”

“My right side looks better though.”

“Sorry, but there’s no difference.”

“I’ll fry you like a pork cutlet.”

Hey, Kim-chi. Jeonggwan took a selfie with Jihoon’s side profile as he was driving. It was to announce on Instagram that he was on an overseas trip. After uploading the photo with just the #HongKong tag, Jeonggwan put his phone away for a while. It was to fully experience Hong Kong. Even the road from the airport to their hotel was so different from Korea. The trees were big and strangely shaped. It really felt like being abroad.

“Hey, what kind of tree is that?”

“Looks like a banyan tree.”

“Isn’t that the name of some spa place?”

I know that one. That’s a palm tree! Jeonggwan was so excited he looked like he might stick his whole body out the window. If Jihoon hadn’t told him to keep his head inside, he might have really caused an accident in his excited state. While cursing, Jihoon was also feeling proud on one side. If he had known this pig would be this happy, he would have brought him every year.

“Park Jihoon, you bastard.”

“…Don’t ruin the mood.”

“Have you been coming to places like this alone all this time?”

Of course. You ungrateful, materialistic pig. Jihoon shook his head with a rotten expression.

* * *

Pig_goeni | This is Hong Kong! #ParkJihoonTheBest #BossTheBest

Pig_goeni | These are the addictive cookies from Zen Bakery! #Ate10Bought3More

Pig_goeni | This is the SoHo Escalator! #PerfectForAPigWhoDiesIfHeWalks

“You’re really excited.”

Junjae had been watching Jeonggwan’s Instagram updates that had been coming in continuously. He had tried to focus on work while Kim Jeonggwan was away, but because he had set up notifications for his posts, his phone had been ringing about every two hours. Although he wasn’t particularly keen on it, he was willingly checking just in case something happened to Kim Jeonggwan that might affect his pheromones.

After leaving his family home, he had been feeling extremely helpless and unable to do anything. He wanted to rush to Kim Jeonggwan right away and inhale his pheromones to his heart’s content. He wanted to grab those chubby hands and bury his face in them. But would Kim Jeonggwan, who hadn’t even looked at him, allow that? Would he look at him with disgust this time? Scared, he quickly stopped such imaginings.

Even when Kim Jeonggwan hurt his hand, he wanted to rush over and check on him immediately, but fearing that he might give him a cold look and tell him not to touch his body like he did in front of the house, his legs froze in place and wouldn’t move. Who was he to be able to do that? Now, he just hoped that he wouldn’t disappear from his side and would at least allow him to breathe.

“The Chairman wants you to select two candidates from the list and send them by today.”

“…”

But now he might not even be able to do that. While they said to select and send, his father would have already calculated what would be more beneficial for his company and chosen. He was probably testing him. Asking him to guess who he thought would be the most helpful partner for the company. It was truly frustrating… the fact that he couldn’t even decide on his own marriage.

But even if he could marry as he pleased, would anything really be different? He might have also calculated what would be more beneficial for the company and satisfactory in his father’s eyes. He would have weighed and considered various factors and chosen an omega with adequate usefulness as a partner. Perhaps he was no different from his father.

Ding-.

Pig_goeni | This is the Lan Fong Yuen toast! #SoMoist #SoSavory

“…”

He had once briefly seen part of an award-winning work by a famous Korean film director. “My savior who came to ruin my life.” At the time, he thought it made no sense. How could someone who ruins your life be a savior? But strangely, whenever he saw him, that phrase kept coming to mind. Whenever he saw him, absurd thoughts invaded his mind.

“I’ll send these two.”

Thoughts so absurd that he didn’t even consider voicing them.

* * *

The hotel they came to as accommodation also excited Jeonggwan’s heart. The wide expanse of sea and the grand, sparkling buildings of Hong Kong across it were so beautiful. Moreover, the large swimming pool where he could swim while viewing these sights also thrilled Jeonggwan. Click.

“Are you going to take pictures all day?”

“It’s my first time, you know.”

“Go to your room and sleep now. We’re going to the festival tomorrow.”

“Okay… Jihoon…”

“Stop saying thank you so much.”

“No… Can I order room service…?”

You’re going to eat again, pig? Jihoon looked at Jeonggwan with a disgusted face, but Jeonggwan, undeterred, blinked his eyes at Jihoon with a wistful expression.

“Eat it all. Go ahead.”

“Okay… I’ll definitely eat it all over the three days.”

Excited by the reluctant permission, Jeonggwan rushed out of Jihoon’s room and into the room right next door. It was Jeonggwan’s room. Unlike Jihoon’s room, which was neatly organized, Jeonggwan’s room was a mess with clothes, toiletries, bought cookies, souvenirs, and other items strewn about, resembling a pigsty. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

After updating Instagram all day, Jeonggwan opened the app to post the view from Jihoon’s room as the last photo of the day. He hoped that Won Junjae might contact him after seeing his photos, but there was no word from that side. Instead, another side was actively reaching out.

Comments like “Hong Kong looks beautiful,” “ㅋㅋㅋ cute,” “When are you coming back to Korea?” were piling up from his ex-boyfriend. What’s wrong with this guy? Why is he suddenly like this? Jeonggwan threw his phone on the bed with a salty expression and picked up the menu.

Why is everything so expensive here? He had heard that Hong Kong was expensive, but 25,000 won for a bowl of noodles? Jeonggwan was shocked, thinking “I would never eat this if I was paying my own money!” But since it was Jihoon’s money, he just ordered everything he could understand in English.