Pig Government Official

-50-

The Hong Kong International Dessert Festa was a poverty amidst abundance. Jihoon and Jeonggwan were quite bewildered. Their expectation of encountering incredibly elaborate and novel desserts was a big mistake. The two of them, no lie, felt like they had seen over twenty egg tart booths. Jeonggwan, who loved egg tarts, excitedly rushed to buy and eat from the first egg tart booth they saw upon entering, but then the next one, and the next one… Seeing the endless line of egg tart booths, he felt discouraged.

Still, it was fun. There were many desserts uncommon in Korea, and it was especially fascinating to see traditional desserts from various countries being made and sold by people from those countries for the first time. They had only tasted stollen, bûche de Noël, and ponche made by Koreans in Korea before, but tasting these made by people who had lived in those countries and followed their traditions felt different. It was like eating rice cakes or Korean traditional sweets made by a master artisan in Korea.

As they wandered around the festa, sampling various treats, their stomachs started to feel heavy. They were full, but felt like they needed something spicy to balance it out.

“I want tteokbokki. No, stir-fried fire noodles.”

“I want to go home.”

“Something red. I want to eat something red.”

“I want home.”

Moreover, the scale was so large that even though they had only toured Hall 1 without eating lunch, three hours had already passed. Deciding to visit Hall 2 the next day, Jeonggwan and Jihoon hurriedly left the festa venue and headed to the parking lot, eager to find some salty soup-based food.

“What about all the bread we got as freebies?”

“We can’t take it to Korea because it’ll spoil. We’ll have to throw it away.”

“That’s such a waste… I’ll try to eat it all somehow.”

Jihoon chuckled, saying it was a typical answer from Jeonggwan, but Jeonggwan was serious. How could they waste such delicious bread? He’d eat it bit by bit. Although Jihoon got extremely annoyed when people ate in his car, Jeonggwan opened a bread bag, thinking there was no other choice.

“You’re dead. Stop it.”

Jihoon’s stern warning came immediately.

Okay. Actually, even smelling it is making me feel nauseous. Let’s quickly go eat something spicy. Jeonggwan agreed readily, clutching the bread bag tightly. If he ate any more, he felt like butter would flow through his veins instead of blood.

* * *

Patting his full belly, Jeonggwan entered the hotel room and dived straight onto the bed. The dandan noodles in Hong Kong had a whole new taste. Jihoon said he couldn’t handle any more carbs and only sipped the broth, claiming he was full, so Jeonggwan finished Jihoon’s noodles too. No wonder he’s skinny. It’s not for nothing. It was a meal time that only benefited Jeonggwan.

Afterwards, at Jeonggwan’s insistence that it would be a shame to return to the hotel right away, they went for a drive to Repulse Bay, making it another very satisfying day. The exotic trees lining the winding road were so beautiful that it kept reminding him of his family. Next time, I must come with mom, dad, and my brothers. Returning to find the bed sheets neatly made, Jeonggwan felt good and flapped his arms and legs up and down on the bed before pulling out his phone. He had to remember to take a selfie.

He got up and went to the room window to turn on the camera. The sparkling buildings beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows were perfect for zoning out, twinkling beautifully. With that as the background, Jeonggwan took a selfie with just the corners of his mouth turned up. Jihoon always teased Jeonggwan for not being able to take good photos, but Jeonggwan liked keeping memories through pictures, so he always took photos to record his trips or meetings with friends. He didn’t care whether they turned out well or not.

[Pig_goeni | Want to come again with family.]

After pondering what comment to add, Jeonggwan finally posted the photo on Instagram with a caption expressing his desire to come with his family, and then flopped back onto the bed. As he was scrolling through the photos of well-designed desserts he had taken at the festa today, something happened.

[1_WonJunjae liked your photo]

“Huh?”

A notification popped up at the top of Jeonggwan’s screen. Won Junjae had ‘liked’ the selfie he had just posted. Jeonggwan immediately tapped the notification to go to Instagram. However, contrary to the ‘like’ notification, there was no trace of Won Junjae’s like on Jeonggwan’s selfie post.

“What?”

Crazy. Did he just like it and then quickly cancel it? Puhak. Jeonggwan burst out laughing. Is Won Junjae secretly stalking my Instagram and accidentally pressed like? The corners of Jeonggwan’s mouth lifted so high his cheeks hurt. You hadn’t contacted me, but you were looking at my photos.

“…”

Without hesitation, Jeonggwan immediately went to Junjae’s KakaoTalk chat. And then, without a moment’s hesitation, he sent a message to Junjae. With a bit of teasing.

[What are you doing? ㅋㅋ]

As expected, the read receipt immediately disappeared. Why didn’t you contact me when you were just waiting for me like this? Jeonggwan waited in the chat room with a pounding heart, not leaving. It had been a long time since he had contacted Junjae.

“Are you ignoring me again?”

But Junjae didn’t reply again. Jeonggwan couldn’t understand this man at all. Did you really press it by mistake or what? Gradually frowning, after three minutes of no reply from Won Junjae, Jeonggwan decided to send one more message, suppressing his urge to be clingy.

[I saw you like and then unlike it ㅎ]

Huh? The read receipt disappeared again immediately. Is Won Junjae also not leaving the chat room right now? Jeonggwan, half in doubt, sent another message.

[Are you too flustered to say anything? ㅎ]

That’s right. That’s right! He was right in thinking about what to reply! As the read receipts kept disappearing, a smile crept back onto Jeonggwan’s face. Jeonggwan, who had been writhing with joy, suddenly sat up from his lying position.

[Ding ding ding ding- Ding ding ding ding-]

And without hesitation, he made a voice call to Junjae. Jeonggwan, who had been excited throughout his stay in Hong Kong, had become bolder than usual, and having found a reason to contact Junjae, he rushed in without thinking twice.

In the meantime, he quickly thought that if he made a regular call, it would be an international call, and he might get hit with a huge phone bill later. Jeonggwan swallowed hard and waited for Junjae to answer the call.

Click-.

And finally, the call seemed to connect as the dial tone stopped.

“…Hello?”

[…]

But there was no answer from the other side. He’s not talking again. Jeonggwan chuckled. Won Junjae is really Won Junjae. Jeonggwan, dangling his feet as he sat on the edge of the bed, spoke first, as if he had no choice. A little coyly.

“Why did you unlike it?”

[…]

“And you saw what I posted really quickly.”

[…]

“Did you set notifications for my posts?”

Won Junjae was still silent. It was because every fact Jeonggwan was throwing at him was spot on. Did you really set post notifications? Really? Wow-. That’s intense, so intense. Jeonggwan now found Junjae cute and burst into giggles. Why doesn’t he admit it when he’s like this? While showing it so obviously with his whole body.

So even if he tried not to provoke Junjae, he couldn’t help it. How could he not provoke when the reactions were this interesting? Jeonggwan revved up his engine again.

“By the way, are you going on blind dates?”

[…W-who… Who…]

“I found out by chance. Really by chance.”

[…]

“Are you really going on blind dates?”

Jeonggwan asked calmly, but with Junjae not answering, he felt his heart sink. Silence means affirmation, they say. Are you really going on blind dates? I jumped up worried about you! But you still haven’t canceled it? After several days have passed!

Then if I hadn’t caught you like this, would you have just gone on the blind date and got married? Jeonggwan’s head buzzed for a moment. I haven’t even held hands properly with Won Junjae, haven’t really hugged him, haven’t even kissed him. Are you really running away from me?

He couldn’t give up on Bucket List item 13 like this. Honestly, he had half given up before, but since meeting Won Junjae, the possibility of achieving number 13 had arisen, so this time, Jeonggwan really didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“I’m sorry I went to Hong Kong without telling you. You should come to smell my pheromones-. Right.”

[…]

“I’m going back to Korea in two days, and I’ll probably be home around 8 PM.”

[…Yes.]

That can’t be. No way. There’s an old saying, “The brave win the beauty.” It seemed that unless he spoon-fed Won Junjae everything from 1 to 100 right up to his mouth, Junjae wouldn’t even think of trying to contact or meet, and would just brood alone. If that was the case, it was time to put his pride aside slightly and be more bold to win this shy beauty.

Jeonggwan put on a solemn face. Chapter 2 of seducing Won Junjae. Let’s begin.

“Do you want to meet then?”

Gulp. Jeonggwan asked as if it was nothing, but in fact, his heart was beating very fast inside. In case Won Junjae refused. In case he denied it again and avoided him.

[…Yes.]

Yes-! Jeonggwan got up from the bed and punched the air. Even if he had to set the whole table and spoon-feed him, he had to try to get Won Junjae at least once. Now it was a matter of pride.

With this, the possibility of getting Won Junjae had come one step closer, and the chance of achieving Bucket List item 13 had increased by 1/206.

Goeni Bucket List

Try the most expensive dessert in each country.

Visit the most expensive restaurant in each country.

Eat at the most expensive hotel in each country.

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.

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Date the most handsome alpha in each country. (206 countries)