Pig Government Official

-71-

So that annoying Kyung Juhwan is the owner of that ridiculous YouTube channel Kim Jeonggwan is always watching. Jihoon’s face looked quite displeased as he scanned Juhwan with a twitching foot, clearly unsatisfied and unsure how to process this situation.

“You should restrain yourself before the big event. Stop eating.”

“Yes…!”

And Jeonggwan, despite being his closest friend, was really incomprehensible to Jihoon right now. After all that talk about suing each other and the bad situation they were in, now he seemed to have enormous trust in Kyung Juhwan, as if they were on familiar terms. Are those questionable methods really that impressive?

“Big event? What big event?”

“You don’t need to know. It’s something like that.”

Moreover, whatever scheme they had, this talk of a “big event” seemed like they were planning to cause some trouble. Jihoon instinctively felt it was related to Won Junjae, and he grabbed Jeonggwan’s wrist and glared at him as if demanding an explanation when Jeonggwan tried to brush it off saying it was nothing.

“He’s going to sleep with Won Junjae.”

“Ah…!”

However, the answer came from elsewhere. Jeonggwan looked to the side in surprise, while Juhwan pretended not to notice, sipping his coffee and only glancing at Jeonggwan’s wrist held by Jihoon.

“What? How long have you been dating for you to sleep with Won Junjae…!”

“Please shut up. Please…”

As expected, Jihoon opened his mouth loudly enough to shake the cafe, and Jeonggwan, as if anticipating this, immediately slapped his palm over Jihoon’s mouth. Juhwan glanced at the two again and then spoke as if wondering what the problem was.

“What’s the issue? They’re both grown adults.”

“No, it’s not that simple.”

“What’s so complicated? If things don’t work out while dating, they break up. That’s all.”

“He’s still…! Ah, you don’t know anything, so stay out of it.”

Jeonggwan had never had his first experience, and this wasn’t happening because they had been dating for a while and felt they matched well enough to give everything to each other. It was the honeymoon phase where anything would feel good, and Jihoon was worried and upset that if they rushed into a physical relationship like this and later found they weren’t compatible and broke up, only Jeonggwan would be hurt.

As if seeing right through Jihoon’s concerns, Juhwan looked Jeonggwan up and down once and nodded as if understanding. Then he shifted his gaze back to Jihoon.

“Is that such a big deal? You’re overreacting.”

“It might be easy for you since you’ve done it a lot. But he…”

“What about him? Is it his first time? Why should that be treated so preciously?”

“…Forget it.”

“You don’t have other feelings for Kim Jeonggwan, do you?”

Then he suddenly threw a curveball at Jihoon. But the damage was so severe that it hit Jeonggwan too with an area effect. Jihoon and Jeonggwan simultaneously frowned with an “ugh” as if to say, “What nonsense is that?”

“It seems neither of you have other feelings. I hate it most when friends claim to be just friends but are potentially flirting.”

Juhwan seemed satisfied with their facial responses and smiled languidly. That appearance was so much like the Aldakko Jeonggwan had imagined that he momentarily forgot his disgust and looked at Juhwan with admiring eyes again. That’s right. Our hyung is right. Friends who potentially flirt while claiming to be just friends should disappear from this world. It should be made into law. Absolutely.

“Can we even remain as friends?”

If such a law existed, Jung Taegeon would be guilty. Caught in the act, even. After promising Juhwan to go for waxing tomorrow, Jeonggwan returned home to find Taegeon waiting, his car neatly parked in the alley that had become Won Junjae’s de facto personal parking space lately.

Taegeon’s eyes, gazing intently at Jeonggwan, were eyes that knew everything. Who that man from before was, and that Jeonggwan was now dating that man. Taegeon’s expression, smiling bitterly and sighing, was that of someone who had given up without daring to compete. But unable to easily sort out his feelings, his attempt to cling on as just a friend seemed quite pitiful.

“Hey… I understand how you feel, but.”

“…”

“If I say ‘Okay!’ here, I’m just an incredible jerk.”

But as mentioned earlier, Jeonggwan couldn’t tolerate people who maintain a friendship while potentially flirting. Even without General Juhwan saying so, Jeonggwan also thought this wasn’t right for either Junjae, whom he was currently dating, or Taegeon, his ex-lover. If someone were to say, “Can’t we just be real friends?”, this would be where the real character issues begin. Staying friends with someone you’ve already kissed and made out with, even if you tell others you’re just friends, is actually keeping a potential backup plan. A backup that leaves room for romantic feelings to be rekindled at any time.

So Jeonggwan firmly rejected Taegeon’s request. In fact, even sitting in the passenger seat of Taegeon’s car right now felt a bit uncomfortable. Some might say, “Why would you feel uncomfortable if you have no feelings? You must feel uncomfortable because you do have feelings.” And that’s correct. It’s impossible to have absolutely no feelings. After all, they had dated for almost a year, how could all emotions completely disappear? While he clearly couldn’t feel any excitement or romantic feelings for Taegeon anymore, he knew what the memories and emotions they had shared were, so he couldn’t just brush it off with a cool smile.

“I thought you might say that… but it still hurts to be rejected for real.”

Taegeon’s face, smiling bitterly as if he had expected Jeonggwan’s answer, didn’t look entirely sad. Somehow, he seemed a bit relieved, perhaps because he realized that his first love had truly come to an end.

“Jeonggwan. I really…”

“I loved you. Don’t you dare say such things.”

“…I can’t say anything.”

Taegeon laughed softly while pressing his wrist to his eyes as if in disbelief, and looked at Jeonggwan one last time. Kim Jeonggwan, his eyes sparkling as he looked at his phone, was exactly the same as he had been in high school, not having lost an ounce of baby fat. How long had it been since he’d seen Kim Jeonggwan with such life in his eyes?

“…Take care.”

“Yeah. You too.”

Every time you say that you seduced me, do you know? That actually, I liked you first. When I was young, I pretended to dislike you on purpose because of my pride, afraid someone might find out I liked you. Then I pretended to fall for your seduction. But unable to give up that pride, I followed my father’s words to not meet you, yet I selfishly hoped you would stay by my side even knowing everything. Even as I watched you losing your sincerity to avoid getting hurt, I was just happy. But seeing your eyes today, the same as before, I felt that you were receiving real love, different from the love I gave you. It’s probably trust. Because you seemed to be finding your genuine feelings for the other person again, which you had lost while only defending yourself to avoid getting hurt.

Actually, until I came here today, I wanted to somehow forcibly belittle it. To say how could such a person truly love you? How long do you think you can date that person? But seeing the lively Kim Jeonggwan in person, I realized how arrogant I had been. I had been unconsciously conceited, thinking you couldn’t date anyone but me. Clearly, if Kim Jeonggwan heard this, he would say, “What the hell, you’re being so cheesy.” It was a thought only I had, but even having such thoughts made me a little embarrassed. So embarrassed that I felt I should cover my face for a long time.

* * *

This is indeed my place. Although it’s the same passenger seat, this one, completely different from earlier, was so comfortable that Jeonggwan was rubbing his back against the seat as if trying to bury himself in it, while passionately telling Junjae about the reality of Aldakko he had discovered today.

“And then Gwan Jihoon suddenly tried to hit him.”

“…Jihoon seems more dependable than I thought.”

“So I quickly jumped in to protect our hyung from getting hurt…”

“…”

“And bam! I caught his fist.”

As Jeonggwan was gesturing with his hands and feet in front of Junjae, trying to reenact the situation, Junjae’s expression, which had been smiling, gradually hardened. Then he grabbed Jeonggwan’s white, chubby wrist that was awkwardly raised in the air and lowered it.

“…What if you get hurt doing that?”

“It’s okay. Gwan Jihoon really has cotton fists. Totally soft.”

“Still, it’s dangerous.”

Junjae lowered his hand further and interlocked fingers with Jeonggwan. Although Jeonggwan had said it didn’t hurt and was fine, he seemed secretly pleased by Junjae’s concern, shrugging his shoulders and smiling shyly. And that appearance once again hit Junjae’s sweet spot.

“…I don’t think I’ll live long.”

“Why? Are you sick somewhere, Mr. Executive? Because of company stress?”

“…Yeah.”

Knowing that if he said he couldn’t live long because his heart ached because of Jeonggwan, Jeonggwan would 100% say, “Ew, you sound like an old man” with a strange expression, Junjae just let Jeonggwan make his own assumptions. But still…

“…Why am I still ‘Mr. Executive’…”

“Hm…? Well, because you are the executive?”

Why is Kyung Juhwan, whose true identity he discovered today, “our hyung,” while I’m still “Mr. Executive”? Junjae’s face looked hurt, but he couldn’t show it, so his expression became one of not knowing what to do.

“…”

“Then what should I call you?”

Actually, Jeonggwan had known for a long time what title Junjae wanted to hear, but he was deliberately not using it. It was because he needed to see that hurt, helpless look up close to feel the thrill. It’s so thrilling to see a handsome man sulk. Jeonggwan was flaring his nostrils, enjoying it so much that he was about to keep pretending not to know, but,

“Honey-“

“…Ah.”

Because his melting smile was even more handsome, he quickly gave Junjae what he wanted.

“-call me before then.”

“…Haa.”

Of course, he didn’t give in easily. Jeonggwan winked as he got out of the car, and Junjae ran his hands over his face as if resigned. However, even that playfully heard “honey” seemed to please him quite a bit, as his lips still held a smile.

“…I really won’t be able to live long.”