Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 100

It was amazing that Han Taejun was being this good to him without caring about the gaze of those around them, but Haeshin also worried that Taejun might get swept up in unnecessary scandal because of this.

One could give money or buy expensive clothes for a poor person out of pity, but this was different. No one in this room would believe that Taejun was doing this out of sympathy. That point was exactly the source of Haeshin’s worry.

“Mr. President, I just…”

So, the moment Haeshin made up his mind to flee, unlike his usual self, Taejun openly took Haeshin’s hand, faced him, and spoke in a soft voice.

“Cha Haeshin, listen carefully.”

Haeshin glanced at the staff nearby. They stood there with composed expressions as if they saw and heard nothing.

Taejun, who gave Haeshin’s hand a slight tug to make him look at him, continued.

“I can’t hide you anyway. No, I won’t hide you.”

“Yes…?”

“Do you think I don’t know that it would be much easier to protect you by hiding you somewhere where no one knows? But we’re fighting right now so that we don’t have to do that.”

“…”

“To live normally. To live happily like everyone else.”

“That’s true, but…”

“So you have to endure at least this much, too.”

Haeshin thought Taejun’s choice of words was strange. “Endure” was a word used when one had to hold out in a horrific situation. It wasn’t a word to be used in a situation where one was eating well, sleeping well, and dressing well on someone else’s dime.

“Because if you’re with me, you’ll have no choice but to receive attention even if you don’t want it.”

Having finished speaking, Taejun smirked with a playful face. He looked like a superstar.

In that moment, Haeshin recalled the spotlight he had received when he married Jin Youngmin.

Poor, working at a bar, a man, heavily in debt, ignorant, gold-digging, maybe a swindler, lucky, just a pretty face.

Among the countless expressions used to describe Haeshin, there were almost no words with positive meanings. It had been like that even when he met Jin Youngmin; if he became involved with Han Taejun, there was bound to be an incomparable backlash.

But was he afraid because of that? Did he want to hide because he feared the countless arrows that would be aimed at him?

Haeshin soon straightened his hunched shoulders and smiled back at Taejun. He wasn’t afraid of the numerous insults and words of contempt that would be poured upon him.

Even if he heard such things, Haeshin had nothing to lose. He had no honor to be tarnished, nor pride to be dragged through the mud. Rather, the one who had to endure was Han Taejun. Because of Cha Haeshin, he would hear things he didn’t need to hear and suffer insults he shouldn’t have to suffer.

When even Taejun didn’t care, who was he to be intimidated? It was something he had already experienced once; Haeshin didn’t care if he was treated as an even worse swindler. Because Taejun would know his true heart.

“Do you think I’d be scared of something like that?”

Haeshin, having returned to his usual self, replied with his chin tilted up. Taejun wore a satisfied expression and led Haeshin toward the clothing displays.

It was time to sweep away another piece of misfortune remaining for Haeshin.

☂️

“This bastard, seriously…”

Youngmin, who had called Haeshin repeatedly, threw his phone onto his desk and huffed when the other man refused to answer until the very end. For days now, not a single call had come from Haeshin, nor even a reply to his messages.

He had been lenient, thinking Haeshin was simply distracted or that he was hesitating because he felt he lacked the shame to ask for help, but he had reached his limit.

This time, he wanted Cha Haeshin to be the one to back down first, so despite his frustration, he didn’t bother going to find him.

Because Haeshin was a wretch with nowhere else to cling to if not for him, Youngmin found his persistence until the end to be spiteful; he wanted Cha Haeshin to eventually come to him and bow his head first.

But Cha Haeshin didn’t come to him first. Not only that, he was now ignoring his contact entirely. Youngmin couldn’t understand what gave him such confidence.

Was I too soft? Did I pamper him too much? Did I make it too obvious that I liked him? Is that why this piece of trash sees me as a dog that will come running whenever he reaches out?

The more he thought about it, the more his anger rose. Now he was certain. He should have just used force to make him submit from the start. It seemed that letting him be because his struggle to overcome reality with his own strength was pitiful and amusing had made Cha Haeshin far too arrogant.

“He really underestimated me.”

Youngmin, plopping down in his chair, snorted and glared at the phone he had thrown. It was at that very moment that the phone vibrated briefly.

Youngmin quickly grabbed the phone. On the screen was the name he had been waiting for, , and below it was a long message.

A smile quickly spread across his face, which had been full of dissatisfaction. But that smile vanished the moment he read the message.

[To be honest, it’s uncomfortable when you keep contacting me like this, Mr. Manager… I’m sorry… I should have told you more firmly sooner, but I was scared, so I couldn’t speak up. As I told you last time, I don’t have personal feelings for you, Mr. Manager. So I hope you meet someone better than me and I would appreciate it if you didn’t contact me from now on. Goodbye.]

“What is this…?”

Youngmin’s eyes shook violently. Even though he clearly read every single character, he couldn’t understand what it meant. Youngmin’s eyes scanned Haeshin’s message again from beginning to end. He still couldn’t comprehend it, so he read it again and again.

“Has this bastard gone crazy?”

A hollow laugh escaped him out of sheer absurdity. He was scared, so he couldn’t speak? Cha Haeshin was a guy who had never acted scared in front of him.

He already knew that Haeshin had no personal feelings for him, but as time passed, Haeshin had opened his heart to him, even if only a little. It wasn’t the emotion of love, but there wasn’t a hint of him finding Youngmin’s feelings uncomfortable.

“No, seriously, what the fuck is this?”

Curses continuously spilled from Jin Youngmin’s mouth. Faced with such a nonsensical situation, his brain refused to work.

It was right then. A story completely unrelated to the current situation suddenly flashed through Youngmin’s mind.

‘He said he heard that Taejun seems to be seeing someone?’

It was a memory that literally came out of nowhere. One that had nothing to do with Cha Haeshin. Yet strangely, that remark suddenly flared up, filled his head, and refused to back down. As if it were a puzzle piece related to this situation.

“No. No. Now isn’t the time to care about that crap.”

Youngmin tried his best to ignore the unidentifiable anxiety and focused back on Cha Haeshin’s message.

Could there be a situation I don’t know about? Is he trying to give up on everything because he’s been pushed into such a difficult spot? Ten thousand different assumptions swirled around.

He habitually pressed the call button, but Haeshin still didn’t answer. Finally, the moment Youngmin stood up to go find Cha Haeshin himself, his secretary opened the office door and entered.

“Mr. Manager, the meeting preparations are complete.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Youngmin remember the schedule he had forgotten; he tousled his hair in frustration. He was frustrated that he couldn’t skip a meeting with his superiors on a whim.

“Whew…”

For a moment, a strong urge to smash everything around him surged within him. Youngmin bowed his head and exhaled deep sighs repeatedly, trying to calm his emotions.

Youngmin had rarely felt that his life wasn’t going his way. He was a person who knew his place and only grew greedy for things he could handle at his own whim.

As long as he bowed his waist before the strong he couldn’t beat and acted big only before the weak he could beat, his life wouldn’t go wrong.

But lately, minor moments were subtly going awry. It was a slight misalignment, not enough to be seriously concerned about, but enough to cause a momentary flash of annoyance.

And Youngmin knew exactly where that misalignment began. It was Cha Haeshin. To Jin Youngmin, who had never failed to get what he wanted because he only ever desired what he could have, Cha Haeshin was the first ‘trivial thing’ that made him feel anxious that he might not obtain it.

Even though he’s a nobody. Even though he’s a wretch who would have long ago been lying before me with his legs spread if I hadn’t gone easy on him.

“Mr. Manager…?”

Youngmin first composed his heart at the voice of his secretary gently urging him. Anyway, Cha Haeshin was in the palm of his hand. He led a life with nowhere to run and no ability to flee.

He could just make him pay step by step for being so arrogant without knowing his place. Youngmin thus ignored the anxiety that kept following him.

☂️

“This one. Put this in together too.”

“Ah, seriously, Mr. President! Stop! Stop it!”

Haeshin reflexively raised his voice at Taejun, who said he would buy the clothes Haeshin had just come out wearing. Taejun had said just to try them on, but as soon as he stepped out of the fitting room, he said he’d buy them again. It had been like this for a while now.