Pig Government Official

-61-

After hanging up the phone, Jeonggwan, who was about to leave the cafe to go home, sat down at a table near the window instead. Junjae had said he wouldn’t be able to see him today because he was busy and wouldn’t be going to the company, so Jeonggwan had accepted it. In fact, although he didn’t show it, he was a bit disappointed, knowing that Junjae would fall for him faster if he kept meeting him continuously without giving him time to adjust.

Now that same Junjae was suddenly saying he was coming to see him. And with a firm voice, as if he had made some decision. Jeonggwan rested his chin on his hand, looking out the window. No matter how he tried not to get his hopes up by thinking of various reasons, there was only one conclusion to draw from the fact that a determined Won Junjae was coming to meet him now.

“…Already?”

Did he suddenly want to ask me out while eating? Did I seduce him too much yesterday? Was the “removing it with your mouth” line too strong? …Whatever it was. Anyway, it was clear that Won Junjae was coming to confess to him now. He didn’t expect such a quick response… A smile slowly spread across Jeonggwan’s face.

“What are you smirking about?”

“Won Junjae is really… the more you see him…”

“The more you dislike him?”

“The more okay he seems…”

“What part of him?” Jihoon asked with deep wrinkles between his eyebrows, but Jeonggwan mumbled, “What would you know,” and lifted the corners of his mouth even more. Honestly, he hadn’t expected Won Junjae to fall for him after just a few flirtatious moves. He thought that since Junjae was a perfect and excellent dominant alpha with nothing to be desired by anyone’s standards, he would pretend to resist a few times before reluctantly accepting and confessing. He didn’t expect him to be so honest with his feelings.

It seemed pure and cool in a way. Even Jeonggwan had considered Junjae’s looks and wealth, but Junjae seemed to have looked at just his personality, and it was really cool how he decided to move forward as soon as he was sure of his feelings. Honestly, Jeonggwan had made many plans thinking Junjae would hesitate until the very end… Junjae really showed many unexpected sides the more he got to know him.

So Jeonggwan was happy, and also afraid. This feeling of fear was one he had felt only once when dating Taegeon. It wasn’t the fear that came from wondering if this person would like him as much as he liked them, or if he would suit this person well.

“…”

It was the fear of wondering if this was okay. The fear of wondering if it was okay to be this happy. He liked this person so much, but what would he do if this happiness broke? The fear of an uncertain future, feeling that if this moment ended, it would be too hard for him. Jeonggwan had tried hard to overcome this feeling throughout his relationship with Taegeon. This feeling that was eating away at him. Then, just as he was about to find stability in his connected relationship with Taegeon after several months, the breakup that Jeonggwan had been worried about came as if on cue.

Still, this was the second time, so even if something like that happened again, he should be able to stabilize his emotions faster. It shouldn’t be as hard as it was then. He tried to calm his heart with these thoughts, but it wasn’t working. He was equally afraid, and it might even be harder than before. Back then, he was just a student who didn’t know anything and just went around eating tteokbokki, but now he was an adult who could feel what love was and could amplify his emotions several times without needing to be careful.

No matter how much he had lived thinking “I’m the best” and “If they don’t like it, so what?”, not everything was that easy. He was human too, and in front of love, he was just like everyone else. Just a person with many worries and fears.

So Jeonggwan didn’t want to like Junjae too much. If someone asked what kind of nonsense that was after he had seduced Junjae first because he wanted to date him, it could be seen as the contradiction of another coward who was backing away first for fear of getting hurt later, even though he had said he didn’t like cowards.

“Huh…? Why, why is he… here…”

“…”

However, he wouldn’t choose the option of not dating Junjae now. In fact, even if he resolved not to like him too much, human hearts don’t work as we want them to.

“That bastard… Why did he come here…?”

“…What?”

“Jeonggwan. Hide. That guy’s no ordinary character. He must have come to get you.”

Besides, maybe he already liked Won Junjae a lot. Because the moment he saw Kyung Juhwan – who had his tailbone cracked by Jeonggwan and sent strange apology messages, and whom Jihoon despised – smilingly blocking Junjae’s path as he was walking towards the cafe after getting out of his car, a fierce fire rose inside Jeonggwan.

* * *

Junjae, who got off in front of the company’s main gate, walked briskly towards the cafe. Only Jeonggwan could quell these uncontrollable, boiling emotions. More precisely, he needed to say something to Jeonggwan, and he needed to immediately embrace that mischievously smiling face, that white face that seemed fuller than anyone else’s.

“Won Junjae-ssi. Long time no see.”

However, it wasn’t Jeonggwan who calmed these boiling emotions, but someone else. Someone he was embarrassed to face right now. Junjae’s eyebrows instantly contorted with bewilderment.

“…”

“I heard this was Won Junjae-ssi’s hot spot these days. It’s true.”

Kyung Juhwan, who was supposed to have a blind date with him. Junjae had just been talking with his father about the blind date and was on edge, so it was no surprise that his sensitivity exploded when the person in question appeared like this. However, it wasn’t polite to the family to openly embarrass them in front of the company where many people could see. They could apply pressure and push behind the scenes as much as they wanted, but acting on impulse in public was likely to cause trouble. Junjae didn’t want to worry about such things one by one right now, and he had more important things to deal with immediately, so he tried to maintain his reason as much as possible.

“Let’s talk later.”

“Are you really dating that pig?”

“…”

“Everyone’s talking about it these days.”

However, his frivolous way of speaking, true to the Kyung family style, greatly irritated Junjae’s nerves. Junjae clenched his fist tightly. He could feel his eyes becoming fierce, but Kyung Juhwan either pretended not to know or was living only for today. His chattering mouth didn’t stop.

“…Move aside.”

“Answer me first. Is it really that pig you’re meeting after rejecting me?”

“…”

“Is something wrong with your eyes? For real?”

Finally, Junjae, with his jaw fully clenched, closed his eyes tightly once and opened them, trying to move his feet to pass by Kyung Juhwan. He didn’t want to waste time arguing when it seemed like words weren’t getting through. Right now, Jeonggwan was waiting for him over there.

“No. Is it possible? Even with that plump body? If it were me, I’d ask if it was bossam for late-night snack… Ack!”

As Junjae was about to inhale to warn Kyung Juhwan to stop, angered by his excessive remarks, Kyung Juhwan’s body suddenly fell forward, headbutting Junjae’s chest. Startled, Junjae stepped back without supporting him, causing Kyung Juhwan to fall to the ground in a completely prone position.

This revealed the person who had been hidden behind Kyung Juhwan,

“Butt poke, success.”

It was Jeonggwan, who was looking down at Kyung Juhwan with an evil smile, his index finger raised as if he had poked the tailbone he had previously shattered by pushing him.

* * *

Junjae visited for the first time the small park where Won Electronics had created a walking path for employees to take short walks after lunch. He knew it existed but had never thought of going there. Even when he occasionally looked down from his office, he thought the employees gathered there, laughing and talking, seemed to be in a different place, even though they worked in the same building.

“It’s over. It’s over.”

“…”

Sitting side by side with Jeonggwan on a park bench like this, he felt like just an ordinary person. Just a regular company employee who works at the same company as Jeonggwan, eats lunch together, and goes for walks together.

“Ah, I thought the ‘some’ relationship would end today-“

“…”

At Jeonggwan’s brazen words, Junjae cleared his throat and looked away. Just a moment ago, he had resolved to tell Jeonggwan today, but for some reason, when he met Jeonggwan’s eyes, his tightly closed lips hesitated to open. It was partly because Junjae had never uttered these words in his life, and also because of what had just happened. The mood had been somewhat broken.

But he thought that maybe it was fortunate that Kyung Juhwan had appeared in the middle. He felt dizzy thinking that earlier, unable to control his greatly fluctuating emotions, he might have made a public confession to Jeonggwan in front of the cafe. If he had done that, Jeonggwan would have teased him about it for a long time.

“…”

However, he didn’t want to postpone this feeling he had resolved today for any reason.

“Still, it’s nice to see your face today-“

“I like you.”

Jeonggwan, who was about to ask “Isn’t it nice?”, looked up at Junjae with slightly surprised eyes as he said “I like you” before Jeonggwan could finish. Those eyes sparkled as if to say, “You know how to say such things first too?” Jeonggwan grabbed his own cheeks with both hands and smiled shyly, but

“…I do.”

As Junjae finished his sentence, Jeonggwan’s eyes widened as he understood the meaning a moment later.