Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 129

“Haa……”

However, that did not mean the current situation was being resolved. As Jeongyeon sighed while covering her forehead, Moonsung also sat down on the sofa with a serious expression.

“What do you plan to do?”

“First, we have to find him. We must catch that bastard Jin Youngmin ourselves first.”

“Catch him and……?”

Moonsung asked in a somewhat tense voice. Jeongyeon was a cold-hearted person. She was also someone who considered the family’s reputation more important than each individual family member.

“Our best option right now is to catch him ourselves, make him get down on his knees, and beg. The punishment…… we must leave that to Father’s hands.”

As Jeongyeon replied while pressing tightly on her temples as if tired, she suddenly raised her eyes, looked at Moonsung, and said:

“You, don’t you dare even bring up words like asking Father or Taejun to forgive Youngmin, by any chance.”

“But honey……”

“From the bottom of my heart, I feel like locking him up somewhere with my own hands, so do not speak further. Would a bastard who thinks of hitting a person with a car just because things don’t go his way even be able to handle company work properly?”

“That may be true, but.”

“The only way for him to at least preserve his life is to get down on his knees, beg, and say he will fully accept whatever punishment he is given. Pathetic bastard……”

Moonsung, who was about to try to persuade her by asking if they shouldn’t try to save him somehow since he was still their son, soon gave up and shut his mouth. Because although cold, Jeongyeon’s words were not particularly wrong.

Even if Jeongyeon did not cast him out, her son would become a non-person in this household from now on anyway. Such a thing would never happen, but even if Han Taejun generously forgave him with a broad mind, the Chairman would never forgive him since he attacked the grandson he cherishes more than his own children.

Even though she warned him to clear things up like that. While he felt angry at his son for ultimately causing this disaster, his insides boiled with worry about the future.

“Don’t you go getting soft-hearted for no reason either. If Youngmin contacts you by any chance, you tell me unconditionally. Understood?”

“Yes. I will do that.”

Looking at Jeongyeon’s eyes, which seemed to have already begun writing their son off in her mind, Moonsung braced his own mind along with her.

If the force moving Jeongyeon was the desire to climb to a higher place, the force moving Moonsung was the will not to fall to a lower place.

Moonsung knew all too well how dreadful the fear of wealth and reputation, built up over generations, crumbling overnight could be. He never wanted to experience that terrible moment ever again.

“What a worthless fellow……”

In the end, though he felt pity for his son who had gone down an irreversible path, it was a matter the boy had brought upon himself; he could only hope that he would be caught in their hands first, as there was nothing more Moonsung could do here.

A deep sigh from the two people settled over the house, which had not had any particular hardships in life. They still could not reach any contact with Jin Youngmin.

☂️

“Is your body alright?”

While Haeshin was taking a nap, Secretary Choi, who met Taejun in the hospital’s VIP lounge, asked while examining Taejun’s complexion.

“Perfectly fine.”

“I heard a rumor, however, that you moved around as you pleased without listening to the doctor, and the surgical site became inflamed.”

At the words of Secretary Choi, who maintained persistent eye contact, Taejun gave a dry cough uncharacteristically of him and averted his gaze. He was already getting nagged endlessly by Haeshin because of that very thing, so he had no desire to add more nagging to it.

The one saving grace was that thanks to him being Secretary Choi’s boss, he did not necessarily have to answer his words.

“Leaving that aside, what about you?”

Taejun changed the subject while looking at Secretary Choi’s forehead, which had been slightly torn in the accident. Secretary Choi fully knew that trick, but replied without hiding his expression of letting it slide just this once.

“As for me, well, as you can see.”

“Is there anywhere else where the pain has gotten worse?”

“No, there isn’t. Unlike a certain someone, I listened to the doctor very well.”

“Are you sarcastically mocking your boss just now?”

“It wasn’t sarcasm, I was just stating facts, so it seems your conscience was pricked.”

“……Stop it. I already got scolded by Cha Haeshin until my tears were about to burst anyway.”

Taejun quickly withdrew his strategy of trying to handle it with momentum, and replied by switching his tactics to playing the pity card.

“It is a relief to hear that then.”

Secretary Choi’s subsequent reply was still somewhat cheeky in tone, but at least there was no sign of him adding more nagging, so it was a success in its own way. Still, since everyone was recovering safely, even these kinds of jokes were possible, so Taejun did not dislike this conversation.

“Leaving that aside, though.”

But the joking ended here. Because an important matter still remained, Taejun’s eyes quickly grew cold.

“What about Jin Youngmin?”

“Not yet. I thought he would be completely out of his mind after committing such a ridiculous act, but it seems he still has enough brains left to run away.”

“What about my aunt’s side?”

“They are also diligently searching for Jin Youngmin over there. From what I’ve looked into, it doesn’t seem like they have any intention of hiding him away, and it looks like they think delivering him with their own hands is their best option.”

“They aren’t as stupid as their bastard son, at least.”

Taejun murmured while tapping his finger on top of the table. Although a few days had not passed yet, the fact that he hadn’t been caught so far was a bit unexpected.

“There must definitely be someone hiding him. If he were truly running away on his own, there’s no way he wouldn’t have been caught like this.”

“Even without you saying so, we are combing through everyone around Jin Youngmin to see if there is anywhere money has gone out.”

“Right. I know you must be swamped too, but since the matter is what it is, I’ll count on you. Who else would I trust besides you.”

Secretary Choi nodded his head with a gaze more reassuring than ever, as if telling him not to worry.

“Yes, Mr. President. Since the Chairman is also looking for him, we will be able to catch him quickly.”

Suddenly, the gaze of his grandfather, who had come to find him and asked if Jin Youngmin had really done that, came to mind. Taejun had never seen such a face on his grandfather in his entire life. His grandfather, who calmly asked about the whole story without raising his voice even once, looked exactly like a judge risen from hell.

Of course, Taejun had no way of knowing the fact that Secretary Choi was thinking the exact same thing while looking at his face right now.

Right then, Taejun’s phone, which had been placed on top of the table, vibrated briefly. Taejun’s expression as he checked the alarm that popped up on the screen softened in an instant, to the point where one would wonder when it had been as fierce as if he were about to kill someone. There was no need to even ask who the person contacting him was.

“Then, I will take my leave now.”

“Yeah. I should go back to the hospital room too. It looks like Haeshin woke up.”

Even though he was trying to give him space on his own accord, Secretary Choi stared blankly at Taejun, who deliberately informed him of a fact he hadn’t asked about with a beaming face, before soon bursting into a light laugh.

Although experiencing this so-called ‘lovey-dovey display of a couple’ for the first time in his life was bewildering, it was a good thing that there was someone who could make Han Taejun smile even at a moment like this.

⍣ *

“Yes, Mom is almost all the way there. I’m going in.”

Younghwa, who finished the phone call with her daughter, picked up the luggage she had temporarily set down on the floor with both hands and got into the elevator. Because it had been a long time since she went grocery shopping, the bags were quite heavy.

Honestly, for the past few days, Younghwa had been out of it as well. It was due to Taejun and Haeshin’s accident. Because both of them were still in the care of the hospital and hadn’t returned home, there was practically nothing for Younghwa to do, but the drain on her mental strength was severe enough that it would have been better if her body were exhausted instead.

What was the shock she felt at the moment she heard the news that Taejun had met with an accident like, furthermore? Younghwa literally sat down on the floor and lost her wits. To think that even Haeshin was riding in the same car, on top of that.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even her own business, but Younghwa could not even sleep properly a single wink that night due to her anxious mind. It was such a relief that the surgeries ended well for both of them and they were recovering safely.

She didn’t know what others might think, but to Younghwa, Taejun was practically no different from a savior.

The fact that Younghwa, who was raising a child alone, could live in a proper apartment that even had an elevator, and the fact that her only daughter could attend academies and study what she wanted to her heart’s content, were all thanks to Taejun, who provided a salary that far exceeded the average and gave so many bonuses each time that she felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

That wasn’t all. Taejun always treated Younghwa like a human being. During the long time she worked at Taejun’s house, Younghwa was never once insulted personally or ignored for being poor.

Younghwa sincerely wished for Taejun to always be happy. Without any misfortune or accidents.

Younghwa stepped inside the house while continuing to ponder in her mind what kind of food would be good to make for Taejun and Haeshin once they were discharged.

“Daughter, Mom is home.”

However, her daughter, who always came out to the entryway to greet her when she arrived, was nowhere to be seen. Younghwa tilted her head and took off her shoes.

“Daughter? Where are you?”

They just spoke on the phone, did she go to the convenience store in that brief moment? At the instant curiosity arose, a presence was felt in the living room. Younghwa turned her head, instantly forming a bright smile.

“Since you’re right there, why aren’t you answer…… ah……?”

However, the smile on Younghwa’s face ended up vanishing in a split second. The person welcoming Younghwa from the living room sofa was not her beloved daughter.

Younghwa, shocked by the visit of this unexpected person, momentarily lost all strength in her whole body and ended up dropping the bags she was holding in both hands.

“Manager……?”

The person waiting for Younghwa instead of her daughter was none other than Jin Youngmin.