Pig Government Official

-55-

Jihoon gaped at Junjae with a face as if he’d seen a ghost, his eyes following him blankly.

“…H-hyung, why are you here?”

Junjae, who had emerged from a car parked in the alley of Jeonggwan’s house, seemed unaffected by Jihoon’s extreme confusion and stammering. He silently approached and helped Jeonggwan unload his suitcase from Jihoon’s car.

“You can go now.”

He then gave Jihoon a somewhat fierce look as if to say not to ask any more questions, urging him to leave. Intimidated, Jihoon mumbled something about leaving to Jeonggwan and hastily drove off. Meanwhile, Jeonggwan quickly took out his phone and changed Jihoon’s name from [Respected Boss] to [Gwan-Jihoon]. What true friendship.

Then he looked up at the man standing blankly in front of him. This man who was waiting in front of his house at 1 AM without saying a word. Jeonggwan hadn’t shown it much because Jihoon was there, but his heart had been pounding since he saw the familiar car in the alley. Could it be… Could it be! Suppressing the urge to let his smile reach the sky, Jeonggwan had pretended to be nonchalant until Jihoon left.

As soon as Jihoon was gone, Jeonggwan turned fully towards Junjae with a bright smile. It was an incredibly natural and welcoming gesture for people who hadn’t met in a while. However, Junjae seemed a bit unfamiliar with this, silently looking down at Jeonggwan, then averting his gaze, then looking back again repeatedly. To Jeonggwan, this looked like Junjae was extremely shy, and knowing that Junjae would never say he came because he wanted to see him, Jeonggwan decided to give in this time too.

“What is it?”

“…”

“Did you come because you said we should meet when I return?”

“…Well…”

Despite Junjae’s vague answer, Jeonggwan already knew what courage Junjae had mustered and what his intentions were by coming to see him at this hour, so he just smiled and nodded.

“We’re not counting this early morning meeting as tomorrow’s meet-up, are we?”

Jeonggwan’s excited voice echoed slightly loudly in the alley. Seeing Jeonggwan like this, Junjae let out a small chuckle. However, not knowing how to answer the question, he just nodded slightly in response. Jeonggwan smiled brightly again, and Junjae felt like his mind froze.

Junjae had actually intended not to come to Jeonggwan’s house. He thought Jeonggwan might feel burdened having just returned from a trip, and he himself felt it was a bit too much, so he had planned to just sleep and see Jeonggwan the next day. However, as the time for Jeonggwan’s return to Korea approached, he started wanting to go to the airport to meet him, and finally compromised by deciding to just come to his house. It wasn’t because he wanted to see Jeonggwan, absolutely not, but to soothe his aching head by indulging in Jeonggwan’s pheromones after a long time.

However, seeing Jeonggwan smile with raised cheekbones despite their previous argument… Junjae forgot about pheromones and everything else, and just wanted to do something to the small pig in front of him right away. But not knowing exactly what he wanted to do, his mind froze. What did he want to do with Kim Jeonggwan?

“Ah, right. Pheromones.”

“…”

“That’s why you came, right? Yap!”

“…Ah.”

“How is it? Do you think my pheromones got stronger after attending the bread fair?”

Jeonggwan posed as if shooting an energy wave at Junjae. Junjae’s eyes widened a bit at this. He had come using pheromones as an excuse, but only now did he actually notice Jeonggwan’s pheromones. Whether it was because he hadn’t smelled them in a while, or if it was really because of the bakery fair, Jeonggwan’s pheromones did seem stronger.

“…It seems so.”

“I want to smell the strawberry scent too.”

When Junjae jokingly said it seemed so, Jeonggwan smiled and suddenly moved closer, saying he wanted to smell Junjae’s pheromones too.

“Hmm. The strawberry jam is very intense.”

With Jeonggwan suddenly coming close as if to hug him, Junjae’s whole body stiffened. Finding this funny and cute, Jeonggwan giggled, covering his face, then stepped back and looked up at Junjae somewhat brazenly.

“Bread and strawberry jam. We might be a match made in heaven.”

At that moment, Junjae’s eyes deepened as he looked down at Jeonggwan.

“I should go in now. My family is waiting.”

Like a master of hit-and-run, Jeonggwan, after throwing out a line about their pheromones being a perfect match, stepped back from Junjae without hesitation, saying he needed to go home.

“Take care. Text me.”

“…”

Jeonggwan waved goodbye to Junjae, who was just standing there quietly. Leaving some regret makes the next meeting more exciting. As Jeonggwan turned to pull his suitcase towards the front gate, ending their brief encounter,

“Your hand…”

“Yes?”

Junjae approached from behind and grasped Jeonggwan’s wrist.

“Is your hand… okay?”

The last time Junjae had seen Jeonggwan, his hand was burned. He remembered this when he saw Jeonggwan wave. Pulling Jeonggwan’s hand towards him, he saw that fortunately, the gauze was already removed and only a large band-aid remained. Relief flashed across Junjae’s face, and

“…”

Jeonggwan stared up at Junjae without saying anything, and Junjae, as if entranced, met Jeonggwan’s eyes.

“…”

Jeonggwan’s clear eyes, filled only with him. Junjae’s gaze slowly moved down. Jeonggwan’s small, round nostrils, and his plump, protruding… lips. Junjae’s Adam’s apple moved noticeably. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Jeonggwan’s wrist.

“Ouch…”

“Ah…”

Jeonggwan let out a small groan, as if there was a wound near his wrist too. Startled, Junjae quickly let go of Jeonggwan’s hand. In his ears, it felt like someone was beating a drum loudly.

* * *

“Hey! I said I don’t like this Go*va chocolate! I told you to buy To*erto!”

As Jeonggwan was distributing souvenirs and gifts to his family, he looked at his eldest brother, who was complaining despite being given a gift, with exasperation. Then, true to his gaslighting expertise, he sat his brother down and explained calmly.

“Hyung. Why is duty-free called duty-free?”

“…Because it’s tax-free?”

“Right. So it makes sense to buy things that are usually too expensive to buy, right? With duty-free?”

“…Yeah.”

“What you mentioned can be bought at a convenience store. But this? Do they sell it at convenience stores?”

Jeonghyun shook his head. Jeonggwan smiled calmly and said, “That’s why I bought Go*va. Understand? And it’s more expensive, so it tastes better. It’s a premium taste. Right or wrong?”

“Stop brainwashing! You’re trying to brainwash again!”

“It’s not working.”

However, Jeonghyun, who was already immune to Jeonggwan’s brainwashing, stood up abruptly and threw an unreasonable tantrum, insisting that Jeonggwan go back and buy To*erto. Jeonggwan lightly ignored this and got up to go to his room. Even as 29-year-old Jeonghyun whined louder behind him, “Buy it for me~!” Jeonggwan didn’t even blink.

“Hyung has become too smart.”

Lying on his bed, Jeonggwan murmured softly. Until his mid-twenties, whenever there was something unreasonable among the siblings, Jeonggwan would always start by gently coaxing Jeonghyun and brainwashing him. Jeonghyun would nod and say, “That’s right. Everything Jeonggwan says is right.” But not anymore. What a shame. Has his brain improved from doing Sudoku lately? Jeonggwan clicked his tongue and picked up his phone. He was going to contact Junjae about what time they would meet tomorrow.

“…Wait.”

Why didn’t I think of that? Jeonggwan sat up abruptly. Come to think of it, brainwashing was his specialty. He had always thought he was good at persuading others since childhood, and when he grew up, his brothers jokingly said he gaslighted as easily as breathing. Now that he thought about it, he had manipulated Jung Taegeon that way, and even his father and brothers. Then of course, this method should work on Won Junjae too.

“I’m a genius.”

He had been thinking the entire flight back to Korea about how to make Won Junjae confess to him. Kiss him out of the blue and ask what their relationship is from today? Kiss him and say if he wants to do it again, they need to define their relationship? No, these were all too obvious.

Jeonggwan wanted to lure Junjae in with words alone. He wanted Junjae to purely acknowledge his feelings and be the first to say he liked Jeonggwan, without any physical contact. Forgetting his fatigue, Jeonggwan brought out his laptop and started writing plans from Chapter A again. Project: Naturally Brainwash Won Junjae. But using methods like “Do you like me?” as he did when he was younger was now too childish. He needed a more blatant approach. The kind of blatantness that says, “We’re going to date soon. You need to confess to me soon.”