Pig Government Official

-72-

Jeonggwan, changed into his pajamas, lay down on the living room sofa and turned on the TV. He was catching up on a drama he had missed while being busy dating lately. It was a makjang drama that he often watched with his family before. Although it was full of common clichés he had seen many times, familiar tastes are more delicious, so Jeonggwan was carefully watching everything he had missed.

“Do we have potato chips?”

“We have pretzel meringue cookies.”

“Bring them.”

“…I don’t have hands. I don’t have feet.”

Next to Jeonggwan was his eldest brother Jeonghyun, who was sprawled at home for the first time in a while after returning from training camp as a coach for the youth national team. Perhaps because ordering and instructing children was his daily routine, Jeonghyun would order Jeonggwan around without lifting a finger. So while Jeonggwan loved all his family, he loved Jeonghyun 10% less. It wasn’t just because he ordered him around, but because Jeonghyun always added a reason to it.

“Tsk. This is all for your diet, you know.”

If he had just asked, Jeonggwan would have done it without complaint, but because he always added something about dieting, it gradually built up as stress for Jeonggwan. He had tried saying “Hyung, stop it” several times, but to Jeonghyun, it seemed like just the whining of his cute youngest brother and didn’t work at all.

“…Sigh.”

Jeonggwan sighed and got up. In the past, he had fought a lot with Jeonghyun over this. ‘I’ve never said anything about your appearance, hyung. So why do you keep commenting on my appearance?’ He had even gotten angry, trembling, but Jeonghyun just brushed it off saying, “Oh my, did I? I’m sorry!” These fights only stressed out the person who got hurt. So now he decided not to engage, thinking ignoring was the answer. Responding only made the bad feelings grow.

[Do you think you fit in with our family? I’ll give you this money. Stay away from our son.]

As he returned with the cookies, the screen showed a man who looked like a chaebol heir sitting with his legs crossed, holding out an envelope of money to the female lead. It was a typical story of rich parents trying to pay off a commoner to leave their son. But the typical is always fun. Jeonggwan roughly handed the cookies to Jeonghyun and sat on the sofa with a serious face, watching the screen.

[Chairman… I truly love Jeongwoo.]

[It’s 1 billion won.]

“Hey, it should be at least 3 billion. Is it less than the lottery jackpot? If she marries his son, what’s 1 billion? She could own a 10 billion won building.”

“Hyung, be quiet…”

[Don’t you like our Jeongwoo because he’s handsome and rich? 1 billion? It might seem small right now. But do you think our Jeongwoo will love you forever?]

“Ah, but that makes sense too… That old man speaks well. How long will Jeongwoo love her? Realistically, once the honeymoon phase is over, it’s done. Then what’s 1 billion? She might end up with less than 100 million.”

“…Ah hyung, please.”

[Seonjung, I’m giving you realistic advice. Is 1 billion too little? How about 3 billion then?]

“She should accept that. It might be hard to break up right now. She’ll cry and make a fuss. But later when she sees her bank balance, she’ll automatically smile. How many zeros is that? I’d be counting them all day.”

Jeonggwan glared at Jeonghyun, who kept adding commentary to the drama dialogue. Just watch it without talking. He was as talkative as Gwan Jihoon. But his brother’s words made sense too. If they broke up right away, she’d probably cry and make a scene about having a boyfriend. But after the pain subsides, seeing 3 billion in her bank account would probably make her smile automatically. Love isn’t visible, but money is.

[Chairman, I… I only need that person.]

“Wow… She’s refusing 3 billion? Isn’t that crazy? If it were me, I’d say ‘Thank you!’ and immediately take the money to deposit in the bank. Just the interest alone would be so much. Don’t you think so, Jeonggwan?”

But dramas were just dramas after all. The protagonist chose love over money, as expected. Is that only possible in dramas? In reality, if 3 billion was right in front of you, could you really choose love without wavering? Is there love that solid?

“So, what about you? Money?”

“If 3 billion was really in front of me, I think I’d be torn…”

“Right? Even for me, 3 billion is a lot of money.”

In Juhwan’s car on the way to get waxed after work, Jeonggwan brought up the drama he had watched yesterday. When Jeonghyun asked yesterday, he had said “Of course 3 billion!” without thinking, but before bed, imagining Won Junjae breaking up with him and smiling at someone else calling them cute, or kissing someone else, his lips automatically turned down. So if asked about love? He wasn’t sure about that either.

If someone asked if he could live without ever seeing his eldest brother Jeonghyun again for 3 billion, Jeonggwan thought he might be able to say yes. He loved Jeonghyun very much, but because he was sometimes annoying and stressful, Jeonggwan thought it would be fine to just see the rest of the family, thinking of it as living abroad.

Therefore, if asked to choose between 3 billion and love, he didn’t think he could easily answer.

“For ordinary people, having such a large sum of money right away would of course make them happy.”

“…”

“But when it comes time to die, I think it might all seem pointless.”

“…”

“Before dying, I think the person you truly loved would come to mind. Of course, if you choose love, money might come to mind before dying too?”

This all depends on the person, right? Juhwan glanced at Jeonggwan and smiled, but Jeonggwan was slightly surprised by the unexpected answer. He thought Juhwan would say it’s definitely money, love doesn’t feed you, 3 billion is money to pursue your dreams. Because when the topic of “Love and Dreams for Omegas” came up before, Aldakko had said to choose dreams. So he had thought Aldakko was a very realistic and rational person, which made this answer truly unexpected.

“…Then between money and dreams?”

“Dreams, of course. Money… It’s funny for me to say this since I have a lot, but money is just material. So it can come and go, it’s fleeting. But dreams, although you can’t hold them in your hands right away, they make you live looking towards them. How valuable is that? The fact that it makes you live for it, that can’t be converted into money.”

It was still a profound statement for young Jeonggwan. Moreover, coming from someone with money, it didn’t resonate much, but he seemed to understand the gist of it. Living for something. For Jeonggwan, it was eating. He lived to taste all the delicious foods and desserts in this world. If offered countless riches in exchange for only eating what he wanted once a week, Jeonggwan thought he really couldn’t live like that. Though he could do it if offered delicious food every day in exchange for earning countless riches.

* * *

[I’m bald ㅠㅠ – Jeonggwani]

Junjae, in a meeting with the research team in the medium conference room, glanced down at the message from Jeonggwan. Holding the new smartphone customized in the same lemon color as Jeonggwan’s, he slowly lowered it under the table. After confirming that everyone in the meeting room was looking at the screen in front, Junjae entered Jeonggwan’s chat room.

[Bald?]

What does bald mean? He could guess the meaning roughly since a mountain without trees is called a bald mountain, but he wasn’t sure if that was correct.

[ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ – Jeonggwani]

[To think that I’m bald… – Jeonggwani]

Seeing Jeonggwan’s reaction, it seemed Junjae’s guess was correct. A bald Jeonggwan… Pfft. Junjae couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. Instantly, everyone in the meeting room turned to look at him, and Junjae immediately put on a serious face as if nothing had happened, sent a reply to Jeonggwan, and closed his phone.

[You must look cute.]

It might be a bit embarrassing, but he thought Jeonggwan would still look cute.

“…Oh my.”

“What?”

“I told him I’m bald and he said I must look cute…”

Aaargh-! Jeonggwan screamed, clutching his head. The waxing shop he followed Juhwan to wasn’t for leg hair as he thought. It was Brazilian waxing. Jeonggwan was so shocked that he just stuttered and ended up bald(?), and when he came to his senses, he felt so perverted that he sent a crying message to Junjae, but Junjae said he must look cute. Should he like this or not…?

“Must be Won Junjae’s taste… Good thing we did it.”

“…Am I too young? This is weird. It’s perverse!”

“Baby talk. Let’s go buy underwear.”

Juhwan grabbed Jeonggwan’s wrist, who had pulled his mouth down in a pout, and strode out of the shop for the next course. This shop had a very large and luxurious atmosphere, as it wasn’t just for waxing but was connected to an aesthetic shop. So the lobby was huge, and Jeonggwan felt like a few people sitting there were looking at him coming out of the Brazilian waxing corner. Even knowing they couldn’t see, Jeonggwan covered his front with the shopping bag containing moisturizing products Juhwan had bought for him.

“You need to throw away that lucky underwear.”

“Why…”

“It would cool even Won Junjae’s thousand-year libido.”

Juhwan, after seeing Jeonggwan’s lucky underwear in the changing room earlier, said with a look of shock and disgust that he’d kill him if he went to Won Junjae’s house wearing that, and insisted on going to buy underwear. If it had been Jihoon, Jeonggwan wouldn’t have listened at all, but intimidated by Aldakko’s serious face, he agreed. The two quickly left the shop, and,

“…Won Junjae?”

A man wearing sunglasses who had been sitting in the lobby listening to their conversation lowered his sunglasses and turned his head towards where Jeonggwan and Juhwan had just left through the door and were no longer visible. Then a person who seemed to be his companion turned their head towards the door and asked,

“What? Do you know them, Seongje?”

The man was momentarily speechless, as if in great shock, despite his companion’s question. His eyes were filled with shock, astonishment, and intrigue. He thought, “It can’t be, right? Must be a Won Junjae with the same name.” But since Kyung Juhwan was with him, it couldn’t be a Won Junjae with the same name. Then…

“…Huh? Is that fatty from the rumors?”