Pig Government Official

-58-

Jeonggwan made a flashy return to the cafe. It wasn’t just a figure of speech; he came to work wearing a vibrant lime-colored angora sweater that would make anyone exclaim, “Oh my, what is that?” He also brought souvenirs for Suki and Hwang Jun, making his entrance even more spectacular.

“I’m not lying, I thought a wealthy Chinese tycoon was coming in.”

“I thought a peacock was entering. It’s still dazzling.”

Jeonggwan, now changed into his uniform, laughed heartily at their comments, but somehow his smiling face looked even better than usual. Suki looked him up and down thoughtfully.

“Did you seduce a handsome alpha in Hong Kong?”

“Hong Kong? I didn’t seduce anyone, but I did see one.”

“Then why are you in such high spirits…?”

Although it was obvious to everyone that he was exuding happiness, Jeonggwan primly replied with a puzzled face, “Me? I wonder?” before starting to knead dough. Suki, quite curious and perhaps bored, didn’t give up and changed her question.

“Did you eat a lot of delicious food in Hong Kong? Desserts and such?”

“Absolutely. I ate until I was about to burst. He didn’t eat much though.”

“That’s Jihoon for you. As long as you ate well on the boss’s dime, that’s what matters.”

“Right. Only Gwan-Jihoon lost out by not eating-.”

“Gwan-Jihoon? What’s that?”

“Shut up!” Jihoon’s shout came through the open kitchen window. Jeonggwan giggled so hard his body shook, then leaned in close to Suki and whispered secretively.

“He changed his surname. To Gwan.”

“What now. You made another bet, didn’t you?”

As Jeonggwan shrugged, Suki laughed as if to say “you’re hopeless,” then quietly took out her own phone and changed Jihoon’s name from ‘Boss Park Jihoon’ to ‘Boss Gwan-Jihoon’. Birds of a feather.

“Oh right. Did Director Won come on Wednesday?”

“He must have been quite flustered since I wasn’t here.”

“We should have recorded that. He was so confused. It was cute.”

“He didn’t say anything special?”

“He didn’t say much, but all our staff saw his eyes shaking. He must have been really upset with you. He might not come today.” Suki patted Jeonggwan’s shoulder, telling him not to be hurt even if he didn’t come today.

“But he has to come. I bought him a gift from Hong Kong.”

“You bought a souvenir for Director Won? You’re really something else.”

Suki, not knowing that Jeonggwan had met Junjae over the weekend, gave him a sincere thumbs up. She even clapped her hands in admiration, saying that one should live life like Jeonggwan. Jeonggwan thought that when Suki sees him and Junjae flirting later, she’ll be shocked out of her wits. I’ll just casually go and hold his hand to surprise Suki. Jeonggwan smiled wickedly, like someone who can’t go a day without teasing someone.

But now I can grab his hand freely, right? He didn’t say anything after hearing the “some” song yesterday, and we held hands for quite a while, so it should be okay, right? For a moment, Jeonggwan wondered if it was too much, but decided to go for it anyway. He turned to look at the clock on the wall; there was still an hour and thirty minutes until Junjae would arrive. He had to work hard until then. To have even 20 minutes to sit and talk with Junjae, he needed to work non-stop. Jeonggwan’s body moved busily.

* * *

“Why did you come so early?”

“…I stopped by on my way to work.”

However, Junjae had come to the cafe an hour earlier than usual, as if he had come straight after starting work, and because of this, all the cafe staff were frozen. They had actually made a bet. Some bet that Director Won Junjae wouldn’t come because he was angry, while others bet he would come to say something to Jeonggwan out of spite.

“Yes!”

And there was a faction betting that the two had reconciled and would come together. Hwang Jun was the only one who bet on the last option. That Director Won and Jeonggwan had reconciled. Everyone had laughed at Hwang Jun. You really don’t know anything. How could they suddenly reconcile after being so hostile? Especially when Jeonggwan was in Hong Kong?

“Everyone send me 5,000 won later.”

Hwang Jun was the sole winner. With seven employees betting, excluding Hwang Jun, the total pot was 30,000 won. So how did Hwang Jun know they would reconcile?

“Didn’t I say Director Won looked happy on Friday?”

That’s right. Hwang Jun had coincidentally seen Won Junjae in the same building on Friday, and he looked much happier than usual. It wasn’t like he looked happy because work was going well or due to personal matters… It was more like he seemed excited. Anyway, that was the feeling. And while others might not have seen it, Hwang Jun had seen Director Won Junjae jump up when Jeonggwan hurt his hand. So Hwang Jun had bet on reconciliation just in case, but he didn’t expect to hit the jackpot like this.

“You kept such important information to yourself?”

“I told noona three times that I had a hunch.”

“You should have said it four times.”

Suki, with a slightly sour expression, watched through the glass as Jeonggwan, who had been making cream, went out to the cafe to see Junjae. Suki had actually bet that Won Junjae would come to say something to Jeonggwan today. In her heart, she hoped he wouldn’t come rather than hurt Jeonggwan, but somehow she could imagine Won Junjae’s angry appearance without even seeing it. Her heart comforted Jeonggwan, but her reason made a self-destructive choice for the sake of the bet money.

“Hey… But this goes beyond reconciliation?”

Watching the two of them, Suki’s eyes widened as if she had witnessed a scandal, looking very surprised. Jeonggwan was chattering away, leaning towards Junjae and talking enthusiastically, while Junjae quietly watched Jeonggwan’s face, occasionally lifting the corners of his mouth before pretending not to. Yet he couldn’t hide his happy aura. This felt like they were properly announcing their relationship to everyone around them. Like saying, “We’re really flirting now.”

Jeonggwan’s chatter wasn’t about anything special. It was about how someone said he looked like a Chinese tycoon this morning, or how they thought a peacock had entered. One of these stories could have potentially been a big deal, but to Jeonggwan right now, it was really nothing.

“You know that Hong Kong alpha, right?”

“…”

“Aren’t you curious about what happened after that?”

However, to Junjae, it wasn’t nothing. As soon as Jeonggwan mentioned the ‘Hong Kong alpha’, he felt his body tense up. When he had called Jihoon at that time, he had tried to convince himself that nothing had happened, but in reality, he was still bothered by it.

“Are you curious?”

“…”

He wished Jeonggwan would just tell the story quickly, but Jeonggwan’s smile was full of mischief. It seemed he definitely wouldn’t tell the story easily. As Jeonggwan was creating suspense by tapping all ten fingers on the table noisily, Junjae’s hand covered Jeonggwan’s. Someone watching might think he was telling Jeonggwan to keep his fingers still, but in reality, it was Junjae’s subtle pressure to make him speak quickly.

“Okay. I’ll tell you when I get off work today.”

“I’m getting off at five today because I need to make some things I liked at the fair, so Director, you should leave work an hour early and take me home. I’ll tell you then.” Jeonggwan looked up at Junjae and said boldly.

“…Now.”

Junjae gripped Jeonggwan’s hand and asked him to tell him now, but

“No way.”

Jeonggwan refused with a playful face. For a moment, Junjae thought Jeonggwan was a little devil in pig’s clothing. Not a full pig. …More like a mini pig.

* * *

At the time when all the bakery staff had gone home. Although Jihoon had tried to stop Jeonggwan, telling him to take it easy, Jeonggwan had tried to recreate a couple of the good things he had eaten at the Hong Kong fair, worried he might forget the taste. Of course, he wasn’t planning to add them to the regular menu right away, but he thought of letting all the staff taste them tomorrow morning and if the response was good, he’d put them on sale for a few days.

“I should go change clothes.”

It was already close to 5 o’clock. Jeonggwan shook his hands dry after finishing the dishes and entered the changing room. As he opened his locker to change clothes, he laughed once more, remembering Suki’s Chinese tycoon joke from the morning. And seeing the souvenir for Junjae next to it, his smile grew even wider. It was a cup he had bought at the Di*ney Store in the Hong Kong airport while sightseeing with Jihoon. A cup with the face of that piggy bank from the cartoon where toys come to life. Since Won Junjae probably had everything, he bought it hoping it would make him think of Jeonggwan at least one more time. Of course, he couldn’t imagine it. Won Junjae using this cup.

Bam-.

“Hey…! Hey!”

“Gwan-Jihoon-ssi. Please knock.”

As he was changing clothes, feeling satisfied, Gwan-Jihoon suddenly entered the changing room. Fortunately, he was almost fully dressed, or it would have been embarrassing if he had been without pants. Today he was wearing the yellow sponge underwear that Gwan-Jihoon absolutely hated.

“Hey! Hey! Are you crazy…!”

“What is it? Is Won Junjae here? I told him to come.”

Jeonggwan looked Jihoon up and down, wondering why he was making such a fuss, and opened the changing room door holding Junjae’s gift. I should ask Won Junjae to have dinner together today. That’s when I’ll tell him what happened with that Hong Kong guy afterwards. Jeonggwan smiled, thinking of upgrading his flirting, and came out to the cafe hall, but

“That’s not it…!”

Instead of the expected Won Junjae,

“…Jeonggwan.”

“…What? Why are you here? How did you come?”

Jung Taegeon was standing there with very red eyes.