Pig Government Official

-74-

As the Christmas season approached, the cafe decided to release sweet potato latte, sweet potato pound cake, and sweet potato mousse cake for the winter. Suki, who made the cafe’s main tarts, had no additional work, but Hwang Jun, who had to make sweet potato pound cake, and Jeonggwan, who had to make sweet potato mousse cake, had their work hours extended by two hours. Of course, they didn’t mind as their salaries increased, but there was another major beneficiary who gained without additional work.

“That’s clearly a salary thief. It’s corruption.”

“Should I tell him not to come anymore then?”

“I never said that.”

Jihoon smiled a capitalist smile and turned his head towards where Jeonggwan was casting an affectionate gaze. Sitting there was Junjae, this company’s son and managing director, now known to everyone as Jeonggwan’s lover. Perhaps feeling self-conscious about coming down too often, he was disgustingly pretending to have a meeting and work with four members of the secretarial team.

“But hyung is surprisingly innocent. His intentions are transparent.”

“That’s his unexpected charm.”

After hearing the series of ‘baldie’ anecdotes from Jeonggwan, Jihoon had laughed so hard he could have brought down the house. Since then, he seemed to have become a bit more comfortable with Junjae, and his habit of slandering Junjae, always saying he must have some bad intentions, had disappeared. Moreover, he seemed to have developed an internal closeness, proudly acting as a bridge between the two by telling Jeonggwan to personally take the sweet potato mousse cake to Junjae’s table. As if 90% of this couple’s success was due to his efforts.

Jeonggwan almost snorted in disbelief, but if his boss friend wanted to push him to date during work hours due to his own delusions, Jeonggwan had no reason to refuse. Jeonggwan picked up the cake and approached the table where Junjae was sitting. Seeing Jeonggwan approaching from afar, the corners of Junjae’s mouth immediately turned up uncontrollably. What should I do with this guy? Jeonggwan felt his own cheekbones rising at Junjae’s obvious display.

“Um… This is the cafe’s new menu item. Please enjoy it while you work.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

“Wow… Thank you.”

Secretary Oh, the head of the secretarial team, jumped up to receive Jeonggwan’s tray, while Junjae bit his lip and looked up at Jeonggwan with shining eyes. It seemed like he wanted Jeonggwan to stay a bit longer, but with the employees present, Jeonggwan couldn’t sit beside him. So after smiling back at Junjae, he was about to turn back.

“Huh? Why are you giving this to us…?”

At that moment, Secretary Lee, one of the secretaries, asked Jeonggwan with a puzzled face. Secretary Lee was in charge of overseas business and was quite ignorant of the rumors circulating in the company, so he was the only one who didn’t know about Jeonggwan being Junjae’s lover, which even the cafe’s regular customers seemed to know implicitly.

“Secretary Lee. Just… just eat it.”

“Are you interested in someone? Don’t tell me it’s Secretary Park?”

“…Secretary Lee. I said just eat it.”

It was difficult for someone lacking in social awareness to exist in the secretarial team, but like the law of conservation of mass, there was always one such person everywhere. That was Secretary Lee’s position, and he kept smiling and asking questions to Jeonggwan with fluttering eyes, even as everyone else was telling him to shut up with their eyes.

“No way-. Secretary Oh?”

“Haha…”

“…”

Jeonggwan wondered if he should say it. If the secretarial team didn’t know, it meant Junjae hadn’t shown it, so should he reveal it first? But to say he hadn’t shown it… he visited the cafe three times a day… What is this? They weren’t an office couple, so it didn’t need to be kept secret, but in another sense, they were an office couple, so Jeonggwan wasn’t sure if he should just reveal it. He couldn’t answer and just smiled.

“It’s the manag…”

“Hm? What did you say, Secretary Kim?”

“I said it’s the managing director…”

“The managing director? Our managing director?”

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Secretary Kim, a master of ventriloquism, told Secretary Lee the answer with the corners of his mouth raised. However, as soon as Secretary Lee heard this, his face gradually crumpled, and he soon looked Jeonggwan up and down.

“…”

Because of this, Jeonggwan’s smile gradually faded. Jeonggwan knew that look. You? Someone like you with the managing director? Someone like you with Jung Taegeon? It was the same look he had received countless times in high school whenever he tried to flirt with Taegeon. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t hurt, but Jeonggwan didn’t care much. This time was no different.

“Well then, enjoy your meal!”

Jeonggwan smiled brightly again and turned his body back towards the kitchen.

“…He’s a bit shameless, isn’t he?”

“Secretary Lee. That’s enough.”

“Yes, Secretary Oh.”

Thinking Jeonggwan couldn’t hear, Secretary Lee quietly sneered and spoke, but Jeonggwan had good ears and heard it. His steps almost faltered for a moment, but such looks and words tended to follow wherever he went, and ignoring them was the answer.

“…”

And Junjae, who was watching Jeonggwan’s retreating figure, wanted to immediately say something to Secretary Lee out of anger, but this was inside the company building, and if he openly showed anger in front of people, Jeonggwan might become even more of a topic of conversation. He didn’t want to hear Jeonggwan’s name on people’s lips.

“Secretary Lee. Do you know the saying ‘the mouth is the gate of misfortune’?”

“…Yes? Ah, yes. The mouth is the gate that invites disaster…”

However, he couldn’t control the anger that was immediately rising. Junjae asked Secretary Lee a question and then quietly stared at him while lifting his coffee cup.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Shall we start work again?”

“…Yes.”

He felt like he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he made at least a small scene.

* * *

“Hey. Look at that pig. Is that really an omega?”

“The gym shakes every time he jumps. It shakes.”

“…”

Jeonggwan was in a very irritated state right now. He was crushing the treadmill at the gym he had come to after work, and two alphas cycling right behind him were deliberately talking loudly as if they wanted Jeonggwan to hear, but at first, he didn’t know they were talking about him. Then, when he saw their reflection in the window pointing at him and making gagging motions, he couldn’t help but pay attention.

Ignoring is the answer. Ignoring is the answer. Thinking that, he just turned on YouTube and turned up the volume on his earphones, but he kept seeing the disgusted looks of the two reflected in the window. Moreover, knowing that Jeonggwan had turned up the volume, they deliberately raised their voices too… and those words were incredibly hurtful.

“Look at the sweat on his back at that speed.”

“That’s not sweat. It’s meat broth.”

“Pfft-. You crazy bastard, don’t make me laugh. I almost missed a step.”

Finally, Jeonggwan finished his workout, stopped the machine, and turned around while wiping his sweat with a towel. The two muscular alphas were snickering while looking Jeonggwan up and down, and a whirlwind swept through Jeonggwan. However, the big event was just around the corner. Unpleasant things like this could be forgotten, but if he got into a fight and got hurt or felt worse, it could ruin good things too. Jeonggwan thought to ignore it this time too and moved his feet.

“You’re Won Junjae’s pig, right?”

“…Who are you?”

“Me? I’m Won Junjae’s older brother.”

Jeonggwan really felt like he was having a cursed day. Junjae had said he would get off work early and they should have dinner together, so Jeonggwan was heading back to the Won Electronics building after leaving the gym. He was trying to calm his mind and forget the unpleasant incident from earlier when suddenly, with a loud exhaust sound, a bright red sports car stopped beside him, and a man got out and started picking a fight out of nowhere.

“He said he was an only child…”

“Did that bastard say that? Ha-. He’s always had an inferiority complex towards me.”

“…”

Jeonggwan looked the man up and down, who was dressed like a thug from head to toe. The man was wearing a white suit so flashy it seemed it couldn’t be any brighter, with a blue shirt with some geometric pattern underneath. It looked just like the outfit of debt collectors you’d see on TV, making Jeonggwan wonder if this man was really Junjae’s brother or just a thug pretending to be his brother.

“But are you really dating Won Junjae?”

“…”

“Wow. Looks like it’s true. Has Won Junjae finally gone crazy…”

“…”

“But does he lack self-awareness too…?”

The self-proclaimed Won Junjae’s brother was, decisively, a thug in his speech. It was very rude for a stranger to say such things to him, but if this person might be Junjae’s real older brother, it was even more problematic. Jeonggwan wanted to scream and fight with the man, but right now, he was too tired both physically and mentally. He just wanted to meet Junjae quickly and nestle into his broad chest to be comforted.

“Please just go. Otherwise, I’ll call the police.”

“Go ahead and call. But for what? Violence of facts?”

Puhak. The man seemed to think he was so witty even after saying it himself, shaking his head with a satisfied smile, but Jeonggwan felt the whirlwind in his chest growing stronger.

There’s a limit to how much you can ignore, and how many times has this happened now?