Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 119

“You have nothing better than Cha Haeshin except that you’re just a little luckier. If you get kicked out of this house—no, there’s no need for that. You can’t even come close to Cha Haeshin’s heels right now. Got it?”

The hand with which Taejun was gripping Youngmin’s collar tightened. The desire to throw Youngmin to the floor just like this and stomp on him with his foot surged up.

So he wanted to see Jin Youngmin bawling and begging for his life, begging to be forgiven just this once. Jin Youngmin had done far worse things to Cha Haeshin, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to do the same?

“Disgusting bastard.”

“Ugh……!”

However, instead of throwing a punch at Youngmin right then and there, Taejun pushed Jin Youngmin away as if shaking off a filthy insect and let him go.

He hadn’t even pushed particularly hard, yet Youngmin’s legs seemed to give out—he staggered back a few steps and then collapsed right there. It was a pathetic sight.

Youngmin’s hand, braced against the floor, trembled. He felt it would have been less miserable if Han Taejun had at least thrown a punch. But by not even doing that, Taejun conveyed his intent with perfect clarity: You’re not even worth the effort of my fist.

“Get out. And never show yourself in front of Cha Haeshin again. If you hover around even once more in any way, then I’ll make sure you understand clearly.”

“…….”

“What it means to make an enemy of me. This is a warning not just to you but to your mother and father as well, so if you feel wronged, go cling to them and beg for help. I’m curious whether they’ll take your side.”

Taejun glared at Youngmin with eyes full of contempt, then turned and sat back down at his desk, summoning Secretary Choi. Secretary Choi, who entered the office immediately, saw Youngmin collapsed on the floor but showed not a flicker of agitation as he looked at Taejun.

“Escort him out.”

Taejun said irritably, without even looking at Youngmin again. Youngmin couldn’t say a single word and just stared up at him blankly.

In any case, having been bound for so long under the name of family, Youngmin had thought he knew Han Taejun a little better than others did.

It was a delusion. He didn’t know Han Taejun at all—not even a little. To that degree, Taejun and he were infinitely far apart. Han Taejun was looking down at him from a far higher place than he had ever imagined.

“Manager, please get up.”

“Let go of me!”

Meanwhile, Secretary Choi grabbed Youngmin’s arm to help him up, and Youngmin quickly shook off his hand and stood. Then he shot a brief glare at Taejun before shoving past Secretary Choi and leaving the office.

“Hah…….”

Only after Youngmin left did Taejun press his hand to his forehead and let out a deep breath. The anger that still hadn’t been resolved churned inside him.

“You did well.”

Secretary Choi then approached and said. Taejun finally looked up at Secretary Choi and asked.

“What?”

“Letting Manager Jin leave in one piece.”

“Was it obvious?”

“With that expression, it looks like you’ve already killed someone.”

Taejun finally relaxed his face and let out a hollow laugh. As Secretary Choi said, in his mind he had killed the man dozens of times over.

“Don’t even mention it. I barely held back from smashing that face in.”

“Honestly, when you suddenly sent him out, I was bracing myself.”

Secretary Choi said honestly. While waiting outside, it was a concern that weighed on him as much as Taejun’s safety. He worried that Taejun might lose his reason and leave Jin Youngmin half-dead.

It wasn’t because of some principled reason like not resorting to violence. Secretary Choi was simply worried that Taejun might end up dealing with troublesome consequences because of it.

Taejun, hearing Secretary Choi’s words, let out a smirk.

“There’s only one reason I held back.”

In that moment, Secretary Choi felt a strange mix of wanting to hear the reason and not wanting to hear it at the same time. Taejun paid no mind to Secretary Choi’s feelings and continued.

“Cha Haeshin says he doesn’t like it. He says he doesn’t want me to suffer damage to my soul because of him.”

Perhaps Secretary Choi wouldn’t be able to fully understand the meaning of these words. It was a reason only Han Taejun and Cha Haeshin could perfectly understand.

Han Taejun didn’t want to solve things with violence. He didn’t want to become a violent person himself.

Violence had persistently tormented Cha Haeshin’s life in various names and forms. Wearing the skins of his father, poverty, and Jin Youngmin, it circled around Haeshin’s side and endlessly agonized his soul.

That was why Han Taejun didn’t want to become another name for violence. Even knowing he had the ability to deal with a person’s life cleanly and without loose ends, he understood why Haeshin hadn’t asked him to.

“Cha Haeshin is facing danger head-on to protect my soul… so I can’t become a violent person just to vent my feelings right now.”

The more Secretary Choi heard Taejun’s words, the worse his expression became. To be honest, it did sound a bit like the love complaints of some overly dramatic couple.

“Yes…. I see.”

Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud, so Secretary Choi answered faithfully for now.

“Souls, no less?”

Though it was, of course, impossible to add souls to the mix.

“Ahem, anyway. Should we keep monitoring Manager Jin going forward?”

“Yeah. Tell them it doesn’t matter if he notices he’s being watched, just don’t lose track of him.”

“Understood.”

After Secretary Choi left the office, Taejun found his uncle’s contact number on his phone and made a call.

He had personally warned them to handle it at home before he stepped in, yet Jin Youngmin had the nerve to spout off in front of him about wanting Cha Haeshin. This was also the fault of that father who couldn’t properly keep his son in line.

“Uncle, it’s me. Youngmin just came to my office and made a scene.”

Taejun said, not hiding his displeasure the moment Moon Sung, Youngmin’s father, answered the phone. He didn’t expect them to perfectly control Youngmin, but the more safety measures, the better.

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Taejun had originally had almost no interest in home interior design. It went without saying that he wouldn’t decorate things himself, and he was at a level where he barely even noticed if the housekeeper, Younghwa, accidentally moved a decorative item while cleaning.

“Hm?”

But even a Han Taejun like that couldn’t help feeling something was off this time. If a strange life form he’d never seen before in his life was sitting proudly on the living room table in his own home, it would inevitably draw his attention.

“Ah… that?”

Haeshin, who had been exchanging greetings with Taejun after he got home from work, noticed his gaze and looked sheepish.

“I, um, it just caught my eye while I was grocery shopping today, and, um, do you… maybe dislike things like that?”

Only after hearing Haeshin’s follow-up question did Taejun shake his head.

“No, it’s not that I dislike it. Why would I dislike it? It’s just… I’ve never seen it before, that’s all.”

Taejun slowly approached the thing on the table. It was a small cactus, round and covered all over with spines that looked like soft, fluffy fur.

“If you don’t like it here because of the spines, I’ll put it away!”

“No. I told you it’s not that I dislike it. I’m just looking because it’s fascinating. The cactus is really small.”

“It’s called a Sujeong cactus. They said you only need to water it once a week for now, and it’s easy to grow, so….”

Haeshin trailed off in a shrinking voice, as if that were something to be so self-conscious about. Taejun turned to look at Haeshin with a dissatisfied expression.

“What.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you speaking so cautiously? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Ah… no, it’s just… it’s your home, Representative, and I bought it and put it here without even asking permission. That’s why.”

“Ahh, so it’s because this is someone else’s house?”

At Taejun’s openly sulky voice, Haeshin finally widened his eyes and looked at Taejun. Taejun’s expression was on the verge of a full pout, which was disconcerting.

The extremely rational question—’Then this is someone else’s house, isn’t it? Your house?’—rose in his mind, but Haeshin was not someone tactless enough to say that out loud.

“Come on, that’s not what I meant. Interior design is just such a sensitive matter, so I was being careful. Is it okay? Can I leave it here?”

Haeshin skillfully placated Taejun. Taejun nodded with his lips pursed like a child.

“If you want to keep it, keep it. What permission do you need?”

“Right. That’s why I already put it here. It’s cute, isn’t it.”

Taejun’s gaze turned back to the cactus. The cactus, smaller than his fist, did have a somewhat cute side to it.

However, Taejun couldn’t be sure whether that was truly an impression of the cactus, or an impression of Haeshin. He had seen similarly shaped cacti many times in his life, but Taejun had never once felt a plant was cute.

“Well, it’s cute.”

Whether the cactus was truly cute, or the Cha Haeshin before his eyes was cute. Either way, it was true that he found it cute, so Taejun answered. Haeshin’s expression brightened instantly. He thought it was a good thing he’d shown it.

His mood, which had been low all day because of running into Jin Youngmin, improved at once.