Pig Government Official Side Story

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Life isn’t just about happy endings. While everyone would like to reach a joyful conclusion together, from ages 23 to 30, during those 8 years, Jeonggwan witnessed bitter endings and sad endings he had hoped would never come. Around him? One might think, “If it didn’t happen directly to you, why should it matter?” But these were stories of people extremely close to Jeonggwan, moments when he shared their pain and sorrow.

Speaking of sad endings first, just as Jeonggwan and Junjae’s marriage passed the one-year mark, Junjae’s aunt suddenly passed away. Jeonggwan, who had accompanied Junjae on his business trip to Japan and was sleeping on the hotel bed using Junjae’s arm as a pillow, couldn’t forget Junjae’s voice waking him up after receiving multiple calls in the early dawn.

“Jeonggwan, we need to go back to Korea now.”

Junjae’s aunt was known for her fiery personality that attracted many followers. She had always seemed healthy and dependable, someone who would always be there. When they heard the news that she had suddenly left them too soon due to a heart attack, Jeonggwan couldn’t believe it. Throughout the journey back to Korea, he couldn’t speak and just rested his head on Junjae’s shoulder.

And then at the funeral home,

“…Hey.”

“Oh. You came…?”

The moment Jeonggwan saw Jihoon greeting him in ill-fitting black mourning clothes, his face quickly contorted as tears burst forth uncontrollably. It wasn’t that he had planned to cry upon seeing Jihoon. Throughout the journey back to Korea, he had thought, “I need to give Jihoon a tight hug first.”

And Jihoon, who had been standing blankly inside the funeral hall, also burst into tears upon seeing Jeonggwan, as if time, which had stopped due to the shock of his mother’s sudden death, had started flowing again. Was it because Jihoon had no siblings? The two embraced like brothers and shared their grief for a long while.

After that, Jihoon handed over the café on the first floor of Won-jae Electronics and left to study abroad again. Was it to follow his mother’s wishes to learn hotel management? Of course not. To be precise, his mother never had such wishes in the first place. The Won family updated their wills annually, and in Jihoon’s mother’s will, from beginning to end, there was never any clause stipulating that hotel shares should be distributed on the condition that Jihoon inherit the hotel management.

Perhaps knowing her unpredictable son, she may have complained to his face but silently supported him behind his back. So her will only requested that Jihoon be supported to do whatever he wanted without limitations. Jihoon left for overseas, saying he seriously wanted to learn something. Whether that something would be baking, art, or truly management, no one knew even a year later.

One might think Juhwan would know since he was Jihoon’s lover, but sadly, the two had already broken up before Jeonggwan’s wedding due to incompatible personalities. They went back to being friends who seemed more like enemies, but since this wasn’t Hollywood, Jeonggwan naturally distanced himself from Juhwan as well, standing by his best friend Jihoon.

Since they had seemed like they would be together forever, Jeonggwan thought he could maintain a lifelong friendship with Juhwan, whom he admired, but life is truly unpredictable. When the two broke up, naturally growing distant from the other person as well felt quite bitter to Jeonggwan, and this was precisely that bitter ending.

But if there were only sad events, wouldn’t life be too empty? Although there were sad times, there were just as many happy moments accumulating one by one. Jeongwon, the second oldest brother who had seemed likely to marry the latest, held his wedding ceremony right after Jeonggwan, and Jeonggwan became an uncle last month. Jeonggwan, who had always thought he disliked children because they only cried and threw tantrums, found this tiny baby irresistibly cute when he realized it was his nephew.

Though not his own child, he thought the baby was the cutest thing in the world and felt he could do anything for him. Part of it was because this was his first nephew, but it was also because this was precisely when Jeonggwan and Junjae were thinking about having a child. According to Jeonggwan’s plan, they would consider having a child when he turned 32, but Junjae was approaching 40.

Even though Junjae insisted his appearance and vigor were like those of someone in their early thirties, he had still waited too long. Junjae had always adjusted to Jeonggwan, never wanting to be an obstacle, always telling him to do whatever he wanted to try. Because of this, Jeonggwan made his decision earlier. Let’s have a child. As soon as he conveyed this to Junjae, Junjae repeatedly refused, saying he was really fine and not to worry about it, but faced with Jeonggwan’s firm resolve, he finally thanked him and embraced him tightly.

Well, of course… Junjae with his restraints removed became as crazy as during their early honeymoon days, making Jeonggwan seriously consider divorce again.

So what happened to Jeonggwan now?

“Ah… hyung, my stomach, my stomach hurts…”

“Huh? Your stomach hurts?”

“Yeah… ah…”

“A lot? We just passed a rest area…”

“What? Damn, really…?”

Jeonggwan, who had eaten baby potatoes bought at the previous rest area, suddenly got an urgent signal and bent over with a strained expression. Junjae, watching through the rearview mirror, was flustered and didn’t know what to do. Speeding up would be dangerous, but Jeonggwan’s face was turning pale. This was a situation that needed immediate resolution.

“Jeonggwan, should I step on it? Should I?”

“No… don’t… absolutely don’t step on it…”

Despite Jeonggwan’s firm refusal, Junjae was anxious. His face showed genuine concern that this could become a serious problem. Jeonggwan, worried they might have an accident, reached out and patted Junjae’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Hyung. Drive safely. I’ll just… if I soil my pants, then so be it.”

“…What?”

“…I’ll try to hold it as much as possible. Focus on driving.”

Reassuring Junjae, Jeonggwan slightly lowered the window to get some cold air on his face. But that was a bad choice. The cold sensation on his face made goosebumps appear and his stomach hurt even more. Jeonggwan tightly closed his eyes and quickly raised the window.

“…”

And then suddenly, a strange, pungent smell began to fill the car. Oh, God. Quietly murmuring, Jeonggwan still kept his eyes closed, while Junjae drove silently with his lips firmly pressed together, looking straight ahead. Jeonggwan was about to open his mouth to make some excuse but kept it shut, just praying for a rest area to appear soon.

Jeonggwan came out of the bathroom shaking water off his hands and approached Junjae, who was sitting nearby holding a handkerchief. Having resolved his urgent matter, Jeonggwan’s face was full of relief, and seeing him like that, Junjae’s face was covered in smiles.

“Wow, I almost wet myself in the car.”

“I thought you had soiled yourself.”

“I could tell you were thinking that, but if I had said it out loud, I would have burst out laughing and really wet myself.”

Finding the situation both absurd and funny, Jeonggwan took the handkerchief Junjae was holding and wiped the mouth of a baby who looked less than a year old, nestled in Junjae’s arms, eyes wide open and drooling. Then he poked the baby’s chubby cheek with his finger.

“You little poop machine. You almost got me in trouble.”

Fortunately, the source of the pungent smell in the car was not Jeonggwan but this baby called “poop machine.” Unaware of what he had done, the baby blinked his eyes and smiled at Jeonggwan’s voice, which was so cute that Jeonggwan let out a small scream and frantically took out his phone to take photos.

The baby was already used to the clicking sound of phones being thrust in his face and instead laughed delightedly as if watching his father’s antics. Junjae lifted the baby from his chest and was busy nibbling and sucking on his cheeks, while Jeonggwan pretended to be dizzy, touching his forehead in an exaggerated manner.

“Won Youngjae! Even though you’re my child, how can you be this cute?”

Currently Jeonggwan’s treasure number one, Won Youngjae. Despite people’s concerns that they might have trouble conceiving due to Junjae’s age, he came into existence with just one try, becoming the official fourth generation of the Won Group. Youngjae was born an alpha with strong genes and monopolized all the love. Of course, Jeonggwan strongly insisted that such distinctions should be abolished now, but this wasn’t the kind of family to listen to such arguments. Junjae reassured Jeonggwan that it was fine now, patting his shoulder, but Jeonggwan was still disgusted with the family’s emphasis on alphas and omegas.

Moreover, following Won Youngjae senior’s insistence that the child’s name must include the character “Jae” no matter what, he was reluctantly named Youngjae, which Jeonggwan didn’t like either. There were so many pretty trendy names, why the old-fashioned Youngjae? However, after calling him by this name for a while, it seemed to suit him best now.

Of course, Junjae had insisted they should use Jeonggwan’s “Jeong” and name him Jeongjae, but Jeonggwan quietly shot down the idea, saying if they wanted their child to be teased all his life for having the same name as a famous actor, go ahead.

Youngjae inherited 90 percent of Junjae’s genes. The baby was so beautiful that everyone who passed by turned to look, which Junjae actually found a bit, no, quite disappointing. If only he resembled Jeonggwan more… Still, he loved his child dearly.

“How will you survive in this world being so cute? Hm?”

“I think that about you, Jeonggwan, everyday—”

“Speak quietly. People can hear you.”

“…But really,”

“Stop it.”

“Okay.”

But Junjae’s treasure number one remained the same as always.