Pig Government Official Side Story

-4-

Of all the numerous decisions Junjae had made recently, today’s was the most difficult to conclude. Even deciding whether to include a non-profitable home radon detector in the production line, which was far more costly to manufacture due to a minority opinion claiming its necessity, hadn’t been this challenging.

[When are you coming?]

Moreover, it was even harder to make a decision when someone who seemed to be increasingly losing patience was pestering him. As the saying goes, “Even a dog at a butcher’s shop can recite poetry after three years,” Junjae knew that if he felt pressured and bought something on his own in this situation, there was a 70% chance that someone wouldn’t be satisfied. So, even after checking the message, Junjae calmly looked back at the showcase in front of him.

“…Would you like a recommendation?”

Eventually, the store owner stepped in, seeing the excessively handsome man agonizing for 15 minutes.

“…Yes, please.”

Based on his appearance alone, the man looked like a cold, handsome type who would say, “I’ll manage on my own.” The store owner hadn’t been able to speak up for over 14 minutes, but seeing that the man might stay like this for another 15 minutes, the owner finally gathered the courage to offer help. Junjae nodded immediately, his eyes lighting up as if he’d met a savior.

“Our signature menu is the milk tea eclair.”

Junjae nodded slightly as if to say he’d take that, inwardly unable to hide his joy. Somehow, milk tea seemed like it would most appeal to the taste of the person he was agonizing over, and coincidentally, it was also this store’s signature menu. How delightful.

[I’ll be there soon.]

While waiting for the eclair to be packaged, Junjae replied to Jeonggwan’s message he hadn’t answered earlier, smiling.

Jeonggwan had mentioned a new eclair shop that opened near their home, and Junjae said he’d buy some on his way back from work today. But when he entered the store, there were over 9 types of eclairs, and it was too difficult to choose just one, causing the delay. In fact, he wanted to buy all the flavors, but Jeonggwan, who was on a diet these days, had insisted on buying just one… That’s how serious it was.

“Your order is ready.”

“Thank you.”

Junjae left the store with a light step, carrying the package. The thought of the recently sensitive and therefore even cuter “piggy” waiting at home, enjoying this, naturally quickened his pace.

“Hey! I told you to buy just one!”

“…”

The advantage and disadvantage of being handsome: you get unsolicited service. Junjae, who had forgotten this, was so shocked he was at a loss for words. He had clearly bought just one milk tea eclair, really just one for Jeonggwan since he wasn’t going to eat any himself.

“Why did you buy five? You’re not even going to eat them! Now I have to eat all of these by myself!”

The package contained five times the amount he had bought. Moreover, it included more than half of the store’s eclair varieties. All five types that Junjae had been considering the most: milk tea, green tea, raspberry, vanilla bean, and cream cheese with fresh strawberry.

However, he couldn’t cheerfully say he got them as service. Usually, he would have said he only bought one and highlighted that the rest were service, earning praise from Jeonggwan like “As expected of my hyung. Face genius.” But Jeonggwan was currently a very sensitive dieter, and bringing that up would be like digging his own grave.

“…I bought them for myself.”

Dinner was eclair jackpot. Four of them, at that.

Although he liked sweet things, eating four cream-filled eclairs as a meal substitute was clearly food torture. But since Jeonggwan believed that leaving food uneaten would bring bad luck, Junjae forced himself to eat all the eclairs. He managed to reduce the amount significantly by persuading Jeonggwan to try just one bite of each flavor, using Jeonggwan’s “one bite chance,” but he still ate more than three by himself, leaving him feeling queasy from the richness.

If someone were to criticize him, asking why he didn’t just give them to Jeonggwan to eat and if he really wanted Jeonggwan to diet that badly, Junjae would probably have trouble sleeping tonight out of indignation.

“Hyung, is ivory okay for me?”

“Yes.”

“Then you wear this emerald color.”

“Okay.”

“Or not? Should I wear the colored one?”

“That would look good too, brightening up the atmosphere.”

“Then I should wear the emerald color.”

Flip-. Flip-. Flip-. Jeonggwan’s hand quickly turned the pages of the booklet. The studio had sent a simulation booklet with pre-shot model photos showcasing the shooting concept, including clothes, props, background, brightness, and lighting. Jeonggwan was overjoyed, even applauding and exclaiming that this must be why expensive places take such great photos. However, an unexpected small problem had arisen.

The shooting director had contacted a single brand for all the clothes to give a unified feel, but that brand didn’t produce ready-made clothes in Jeonggwan’s size. Therefore, Jeonggwan had to either have clothes custom-made or lose weight. Junjae had naturally planned to have Jeonggwan’s clothes tailored by the brand. But something seemed to have triggered Jeonggwan, and he suddenly decided to diet, intensively working out and following a strict meal plan for the past two months.

That’s why Junjae had agonized so much over buying just one eclair as requested, and why he had to eat all the service items himself. Why was Jeonggwan so sensitive about this photo shoot, you ask?

“This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I have to look absolutely handsome.”

“It should be just once… What do you mean by ‘might be’…”

“You never know what life holds.”

“…That’s too much.”

“Hyung, what I mean is-. We might take photos again for a vow renewal, so it could be twice.”

“…You sure know how to talk.”

It was none other than a wedding photo shoot.

That’s why Jeonggwan, who even had a professional trainer, had already lost 9kg but was still extremely sensitive, saying he needed to lose 5kg more. Junjae had tried hard to dissuade him, saying he didn’t need to diet and that he was already handsome, but once triggered, Jeonggwan seemed deaf to those words and went on a rampage. Junjae, wondering what on earth had triggered him, thought someone might have said something hurtful, but it turned out to be a button Jeonggwan had pressed himself.

Trying to practice posing with a sharp jawline like the model in the booklet, Jeonggwan looked in the mirror and struck the same pose. But lo and behold! Instead of a sharp jawline, there was a dumpling so round that it wouldn’t be strange if someone asked, “Isn’t that a steamed bun?” and took a bite. It wasn’t just ’round,’ it was ‘perfectly round.’ After that major shock, Jeonggwan had been working hard to achieve a sharp jawline for the photo shoot.

So, did he end up getting a sharp jawline?

“Hey, I thought you were someone else when I saw you walking in earlier.”

He did. Jeonggwan had successfully lost 18kg in two months, and the dumpling-like double chin was gone, replaced by a sharp and smooth jawline. Jeonggwan, who had been avoiding Jihoon (the number one person not to meet during a diet) until the photo shoot was over, came to Won Jae Electronics headquarters following Junjae to work right after the shoot ended yesterday to meet Jihoon. Jihoon, who was looking out the window, almost fell backward when a fairy-like creature entered, calling itself Jeonggwan.

“Hey, isn’t this crazy, hyung?”

Seeing Jeonggwan’s extreme weight loss for the first time, Jihoon kept turning Jeonggwan around, unable to believe what he was seeing was real. Jihoon really disliked the phrase “unscratched lottery ticket,” but in this situation, no other phrase seemed more fitting, leaving him unable to close his mouth.

“Hey, don’t even mention it.”

“Why? Is it causing a fuss? Are his eyes rolling again?”

“Yeah, they’re rolling. It’s really causing a fuss.”

Whoa. As a relative, he didn’t want to know the details of their sex life, but he had been quite surprised to hear that Jeonggwan was “getting it” even before the diet. Now, he couldn’t even imagine what it would be like, so Jihoon tried hard to suppress his widening nostrils. Still, since dirty talk was always interesting, Jihoon raised his eyebrows slightly, ready to listen as if to say “go on,” but,

“You’re going to suffer food torture with me today.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Hyung has prepared a course of lunch, snack, snack 2, snack 3, dinner, dessert, dessert 2, and late-night meal.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“I’m done with the diet now, and I’m going to eat everything today. Let’s go home now. Hyung has prepared a course of beef, scallops, and shiitake mushrooms for lunch.”

Jeonggwan was saying something unexpected. Jihoon wanted to hear about how they were tormenting the fairy-like Jeonggwan, but instead, he was talking about a real food torture schedule? Jihoon kept wondering as he was led out of the cafe by Jeonggwan’s hand.

“Doesn’t hyung like that you’ve become handsome?”

“No, he doesn’t seem to like it.”

“…Why?”

“He says if I go somewhere alone now, I might get sick or turn to dust. Today, he was going to send me to Jangheung to eat the three-combination dish, but he brought it in directly because he was worried I might break. Let’s go.”

“…”

Jihoon had felt this before, but if the phrase “making a fuss” were personified, it would definitely be Won Junjae. I mean, even after losing 18kg, Jeonggwan just had a nicer fit in clothes, not like he’d crumble if you poked him. Jihoon frowned, thinking it might be good to say “Junjae is making a fuss” instead of just “making a fuss” from now on.