Pig Government Official

-60-

Kim Jeonggwan is so good at everything that he’s even good at deceiving. Junjae couldn’t believe what he had just heard and felt like he might feel terribly betrayed by Jeonggwan.

“…You’re saying this is cheese tteokbokki?”

“It looks delicious.”

Junjae let out a hollow laugh seeing the chicken and tteokbokki placed in front of him. Jeonggwan hadn’t said a word when he mentioned cheese tteokbokki… But that wasn’t the problem. What Jeonggwan said next was beyond imagination.

“It’s not snails, so be thankful.”

“…”

“You should be glad. That I didn’t go eat this with Jung Taegeon.”

Jeonggwan said he was going to eat chicken tteokbokki, not cheese tteokbokki, with Jung Taegeon. He was even brazen enough to say that the two were clearly different to him. Junjae was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even think of picking up his chopsticks and just sat there frozen. However, Jeonggwan was already shamelessly putting his third piece of tteokbokki in his mouth.

Junjae was about to get angry just thinking about Jung Taegeon holding Jeonggwan’s hand earlier, but when Jeonggwan said he was about to sit like this alone with Jung Taegeon and eat tteokbokki, his jaw clenched involuntarily. With someone other than me…

“…Huh?”

So he grabbed Jeonggwan’s hand as he was putting down his chopsticks to drink his beverage.

“If you want to hold hands, hold my left hand. This is my right hand.”

“…”

Jeonggwan, being right-handed, needed his right hand to eat tteokbokki. However, Junjae held Jeonggwan’s right hand with a serious face and wouldn’t let go. He was holding firmly between Jeonggwan’s wrist and palm to avoid hurting the burned part of his hand.

“What are you doing? I was eating just fine…”

“…Eat with your left hand.”

“What?”

It was punishment. Since it seemed impossible to beat Kim Jeonggwan with words, this was the best revenge Junjae could manage right now.

* * *

According to Jeonggwan’s principle that they must eat dessert, of course, the two came to a cafe near Jeonggwan’s house to eat fondant au chocolat. Junjae seemed unfamiliar with the name and stared at the menu for a long time, while Jeonggwan had an excited expression, saying he would be surprised when he ate it.

“But is this punishment?”

“…”

“It seems like you’re just indulging yourself.”

Jeonggwan, who was drinking his cafe latte with his left hand, looked at Junjae with narrowed eyes. Because the cafe was close to the tteokbokki place, Junjae hadn’t let go of his hand once during their walk here, except when paying. Thanks to this, they weren’t sitting facing each other, but side by side looking out the window. Jeonggwan thought Junjae wouldn’t hold his hand first unless he did, but surprisingly, Junjae was quite frequent with skinship.

“You secretly like skinship.”

“…Who does? Me?”

When Jeonggwan quietly murmured this, Junjae’s eyes widened as if he had never heard such a thing in his life. Me, liking skinship? Absolutely not. He was rather the type who disliked skinship. That’s why he had never had any contact like holding hands or kissing with the omegas he had met so far, except during the act itself. Him liking skinship? Junjae let go of Jeonggwan’s hand out of embarrassment and bewilderment. However, as if he still missed it, he kept his hand close to Jeonggwan’s.

“Yes!”

But this too seemed to be part of Jeonggwan’s plan, as he quickly picked up a spoon with his right hand and put some fondant au chocolat in his mouth. At Jeonggwan’s “Yes!”, Junjae felt tricked again. Mmm, it’s delicious! But seeing Jeonggwan enjoy it so much, even stomping his feet, Junjae felt his lips might curl up uncontrollably again. Junjae rested his arm on the table and pretended to prop his chin, covering his mouth as he watched Jeonggwan. How could Kim Jeonggwan find so many things to be happy about?

“By the way, do you know?”

“…Know what?”

“The range of skinship possible when you’re in a ‘some’ relationship.”

Gulp. Junjae’s Adam’s apple moved. Kim Jeonggwan comes at him like this, hitting his solar plexus without warning. Junjae’s eyes shook helplessly.

‘He’s my ‘some’ partner.’

Jeonggwan had called him his ‘some’ partner. And he said through a song that they were currently in a ‘some’ relationship. So what kind of skinship was possible in a ‘some’ relationship? Of course, since he didn’t like skinship, he wasn’t curious. Junjae’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Jeonggwan.

“…!”

Then his eyes widened. Jeonggwan suddenly leaned in close and touched Junjae’s lips with his hand. Junjae trembled greatly and looked at Jeonggwan with surprised eyes.

“Removing something stuck on your mouth.”

“…What,”

“Something was stuck there.”

However, Jeonggwan looked relaxed as if nothing had happened. Moreover, he even smiled slightly, not seeming like someone inexperienced at all. In contrast, Junjae’s mind was in chaos. As far as he knew, Kim Jeonggwan had only dated once, so what was this? Why did he seem so advanced? Why did it feel like he was being played by Kim Jeonggwan?

“But you know…”

“…”

“For couples…”

As Junjae rolled his eyes in confusion, Jeonggwan leaned in close as if telling a secret and whispered.

“It’s possible to remove it with your mouth.”

* * *

Junjae couldn’t concentrate and kept fumbling with his chopsticks. It was a family dinner, but for the first time, Junjae’s attention was focused not on his father, but elsewhere. More precisely, he couldn’t get his mind off what Jeonggwan had said yesterday. He had never seen an omega speak so blatantly in his life. No, not among all people he had ever met. It felt like Kim Jeonggwan was playing with him in the palm of his hand.

Somehow, that round face looking up at him primly and whispering felt a bit sexy. Remembering it again, Junjae felt his body tense up. He took a deep breath in the middle of eating.

“…”

Seeing this, Junjae’s mother Heejin was anxious, worried that her son might get severely scolded by her husband again. However, for some reason, Won Youngjae was pretending not to notice. Usually, he would have already said something to Junjae by now. Won Youngjae wondered if he had been too restrictive of Junjae. So even though he wasn’t pleased with any aspect of his son lately, he decided to loosen the reins a bit as Junjae seemed unstable.

“I’ve rescheduled the blind date for this Friday.”

“…Father.”

“Junjae. You need to be helpful to the company and to your father. I won’t interfere with who you meet after you’re married. Such things are common in our circles. You know that, don’t you?” Won Youngjae spoke as if he was giving in for the first time, as if he understood Junjae to some extent, trying to coax him, but it wasn’t the reality. His only purpose was his own benefit. He was coaxing Junjae because he needed the Kyung family to solidify his position as chairman among the shareholders.

“Get married first, then meet whoever you want.”

“…”

“It’s not like you’re going to marry that guy anyway.”

When Junjae rebelled for the first time recently, Won Youngjae felt a sense of crisis. Because he read something in his son who had always done as he was told and obeyed well. Anger? Rebellion? Resignation? No.

“…I’ll go first.”

What he read in that face that seemed to no longer care what happened was “giving up” – the desire to let go of everything. That couldn’t happen. After how he had raised him, after how he had shaped him.

* * *

“I’ll take you to the hotel.”

“No. Go to the company.”

“…Pardon? But…”

“Go.”

After dining at his parents’ home, Junjae was originally supposed to go straight to the hotel for a meeting with Japanese buyers. However, for some reason, as soon as he left his parents’ house, he told them to go to the company without a moment’s hesitation. Secretary Oh was puzzled but quickly complied. He must have had a hard time because of the president again today. That’s why he needs Kim Jeonggwan’s pheromones. Secretary Oh quickly sent a message to another secretary at the hotel saying they would stop by the headquarters and be about an hour late.

Junjae stared blankly out the window. Once, when he was very young, his mother had worried about why he never seemed to go through puberty. He had dismissed it as not something to worry about, but now he realized he had been underdeveloped. He had grown older and bigger physically, but he had never once acted according to his own desires or followed his heart. So it felt like he was just now entering puberty. Not doing what his father told him to do, but what he wanted to do.

He hadn’t felt anything when his father told him to go on blind dates, or when he said he should be helpful to the company. Because he knew these facts to some extent. But when his father said he wasn’t going to marry Kim Jeonggwan anyway… A strange feeling suddenly arose. Of course, he had never thought about marrying Kim Jeonggwan either.

However, it didn’t seem likely that Kim Jeonggwan would willingly meet him if he married someone else, nor did it seem like he would passively watch Kim Jeonggwan go to someone else. So he felt like he needed to do something right now about Kim Jeonggwan, who had been popping up in his mind since yesterday.

Following where his heart led him, Junjae took out his phone and called Jeonggwan without hesitation. Click.

[Hello…?]

“Where are you now?”

[I was about to leave work…]

“Stay there. I’ll be right there.”

Junjae’s hand trembled slightly as he heard Jeonggwan’s voice.