Pig Government Official

-79-

After watching Jeonggwan for a while, Junjae carefully retrieved his phone from the bedside table. As usual, even though it was the weekend, there were several work-related messages from Secretary Oh. Since Junjae hadn’t checked anything all day due to spending time with Jeonggwan, he replied to the parts that needed his response, even though it was late at night.

Then he looked down at Jeonggwan again. His steady breathing was resonating through the bed, bringing an indescribable sense of comfort. Junjae turned off his phone screen and traced from Jeonggwan’s round forehead to his even rounder nose tip with his index finger. Feeling ticklish, Jeonggwan wrinkled his nose before raising his hand to grasp Junjae’s.

“…”

The white, chubby hand was holding just his index finger, but that small force made him feel so reassured. A small smile appeared on Junjae’s face. He had never experienced such a pleasant dawn in his life. For him, dawn had always been a lonely time filled with silence, when he had to leave for business trips or handle early schedules, but…

Now, this silence was incredibly peaceful.

“Hyung… I feel like I’ve been struck by lightning…”

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

Jeonggwan’s body was far from peaceful right now. His whole body ached as if he had been beaten. Especially his waist felt like it had been directly hit by Zeus’s lightning in the Olympian war. Jeonggwan, who had been walking awkwardly, stopped Junjae, who was carefully walking beside him with an arm around his shoulder. Then he grabbed Junjae’s waist from behind, buried his face in his back, and started walking one step at a time. Junjae wondered what this pose was and tried to turn around to look at Jeonggwan, but Jeonggwan made a sound like “Uhhh-” as if to say no and urged him to keep walking like this.

“I think I understand why grandmothers push strollers around.”

“…So I’m a stroller now?”

“Yes… Support me…”

When Jeonggwan said he wanted to eat hot pot, Junjae personally got takeout from a Korean restaurant they often visited. It was a good thing he didn’t take Jeonggwan there to eat, as it would have been a disaster. For Jeonggwan, even the journey to the kitchen was like a thousand miles. Junjae, feeling like he might have been too rough, tried to turn around to support Jeonggwan again, but when told this was the best way, he faced forward again and slowly guided Jeonggwan to the kitchen.

“I’ll tell Jihoon to let you take a day off tomorrow.”

“No! I think I’ll be fine if I go home and apply a hot compress today.”

Jeonggwan, who sat down at the table with a groan, shook his head as if he was really okay. Honestly, he felt like he needed another full day of rest, but he thought if he took advantage of this situation, it might come back to bite him. So Jeonggwan decided he should go home today and try to recover his waist as much as possible with hot compresses.

“…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“…It’s nothing.”

However, Junjae suddenly went quiet, and Jeonggwan looked up at him curiously. Junjae just smiled slightly as if it was nothing, but it seemed like something was bothering him. What is it? What’s he upset about? Jeonggwan couldn’t guess, so he tried to retrace their previous conversation, but he couldn’t figure out the reason. Is he worried because I said I won’t take a day off?

“Hyung. Should I take tomorrow off?”

“…Yeah.”

“Are you worried because I said I’d work?”

“…”

It wasn’t that. The response was even more unsettling. It seemed like he did want Jeonggwan to rest, but that wasn’t what was bothering him. Then what could it be? Jeonggwan’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure it out.

“Wow. This is crazy. Is this beef brisket?”

However, the moment Junjae put the hot pot he brought from the gas range on the table, all thoughts flew out of Jeonggwan’s mind. When Junjae said he had gotten takeout hot pot, Jeonggwan had naturally thought of plastic containers, but the hot pot in a ceramic bowl looked so neat and pretty. Moreover, it was the beef brisket and cabbage hot pot that Jeonggwan loved so much. It seemed Junjae had remembered what Jeonggwan had mentioned in passing before. A bright smile bloomed on Jeonggwan’s face.

“I’ll serve you.”

“Thank you~”

Junjae filled Jeonggwan’s bowl generously with mostly meat, and it was so cute how Jeonggwan’s gaze followed the moving ladle with shining eyes. It looked like a cat moving its gaze back and forth following a toy. Seeing this, Junjae’s feeling of regret grew even stronger.

“…Hot compress,”

“Hm?”

“…I’ll do it for you.”

So Junjae finally gathered courage and spoke.

“…Don’t go home.”

* * *

Tuesday. Jeonggwan, who had felt much better yesterday but was struck by lightning again at night, trudged into the changing room. If he had said he would rest today too, Jihoon, who had been terrorized by Jeonghyun’s messages yesterday, might have killed him. So Jeonggwan reluctantly went to work, riding in the car with Junjae at his usual commute time.

“How did Jeonghyun hyung…”

“…”

“He really has no prejudice.”

Jeonggwan, who had fallen for Junjae’s persuasion, had freeloaded at Junjae’s house for two more days. Until Sunday, his waist had gotten much better with massages and hot compresses. However, on Monday night, before Jeonggwan was about to go home, he was eating strawberries for dessert in Junjae’s living room when Junjae, whose eyes had suddenly gone wild again for some reason, suddenly pounced on him after watching him eat strawberries for a while.

So Jeonggwan, who ended up staying out for three nights, received an unexpected message from Jeonghyun: [You shameless brats should know better. Not coming home?!] Apparently, Jihoon had received a similar message, but even more threatening.

[Hey. Jeonghyun hyung says I’m a gloomy and flirty bastard? – Gwan Jihoon]

[Hey. Jeonghyun hyung says he’ll grind me up when he sees me? – Gwan Jihoon]

[Hey… Jeonghyun hyung says he’ll die if I don’t take care of you? What’s this about? – Gwan Jihoon]

Startled, Jeonggwan called Jeonghyun, who was making a huge fuss, overreacting to the extreme. He said he knew this would happen even though they were just friends, that he had suspected ulterior motives ever since the Hong Kong trip. He yelled at the top of his lungs, calling Jihoon a gloomy bastard.

However, Jeonggwan couldn’t reveal Junjae’s existence to Jeonghyun. Telling Jeonghyun would be no different from announcing it through a neighborhood loudspeaker. If Jeonghyun found out, within a day, there might be posts saying, “The son of Won Electronics’ CEO is dating that patissier from the first-floor cafe!”

So Jeonggwan ended the call saying, “Hyung! I’m an adult. I can handle this myself!” But after that, Jeonghyun went even crazier, sending threatening messages to Jihoon and causing a lot of trouble. Jeonggwan felt so sorry for Jihoon that he absolutely couldn’t say he was taking another day off, so he set out for work holding his aching waist, even if it meant being late.

“…Jihoon. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, just spill the details. How was it?”

“What?”

“You know what.”

However, Jihoon didn’t seem to care about that at all and was waiting with sparkling eyes like a student wanting to hear about their math teacher’s first love story. Jeonggwan smirked at Jihoon and started speaking while buttoning up his uniform.

“…Junjae hyung.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“…He’s incredibly strong.”

“Why? Did he break the bed like Edward?”

Referring to a vampire movie based on a novel where the male protagonist broke the bed because he was too strong during intimacy, Jihoon giggled, thinking that’s what Jeonggwan meant when he said Junjae was strong.

“No, not that. Hyung can lift me.”

“…Wow. Hyung is super strong?”

“Your reaction is crazy.”

However, lifting Jeonggwan seemed more impressive than breaking a bed, as Jihoon was genuinely surprised and gave a thumbs up with a serious face. Jeonggwan burst out laughing at the absurdity and pushed Jihoon’s shoulder, saying he needed to work, and left the changing room.

“Spill the details.”

“What? When did you get here?”

“Juhwan hyung!”

But outside the changing room, there was another person waiting for Jeonggwan with eyes as bright as Jihoon’s. It was Juhwan, who had rushed over without even washing up, just wearing a hat, because he was so curious about how Jeonggwan’s passionate night with Junjae had been after receiving his message about coming to work.

“Spill the details right now.”

“Yeah. You don’t have to work today. Sit down and tell us more.”

“What do you mean I don’t have to work…! It’s embarrassing…”

“We’ll deduct it from your vacation days. Sit down and spill.”

Jeonggwan protested, saying it was a waste to deduct from his vacation days when he came to work. He insisted he would tell them later and that he was going to work now, then slipped into the kitchen, shaking them off.

“Ah- I came without even washing up.”

“…Looks like you have nothing better to do.”

“What are you saying? You’re curious too.”

The remaining ‘JH’s were left alone without Jeonggwan, feeling very awkward. Especially Jihoon, who really didn’t want to deal with Juhwan, looked around nervously and moved to the opposite side. That terrifying mouth was only selectively kind to people he liked, so Jihoon, who was clearly at -9000% likability with Juhwan, knew he couldn’t handle it.

“Hey. Park Jihoon.”

However, hearing the assertive voice calling him from behind, Jihoon stopped walking. He really didn’t want to turn around, but knowing that not turning would result in twice the usual trouble, Jihoon glanced back slightly.

“Bring me some coffee.”

“…Pay at the counter.”

“Cafe latte.”

Jihoon told him to buy it himself at the counter, but Juhwan ignored him and slightly shook his hair, lifting the hat he was wearing. It was exactly like his arrogant behavior from when they were younger, and Jihoon’s face automatically scrunched up.

“At the counter…”

“Two cups. You come and sit down too.”