Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 2

Taejun, unlike Jin Youngmin, put on a face that perfectly concealed his true feelings and opened his mouth.

“No, just… It was good to see you after so long. Let’s have a meal sometime.”

“You’re always busy, hyung. It was good to see you too. I’ll contact you.”

Every word that came out of his mouth felt incredibly awkward. Now that Taejun’s life was in shambles, he couldn’t be bothered with Jin Youngmin, but before Taejun’s situation became like this, they had been close.

What had happened to him while Taejun was struggling to solve other problems?

“Haeshin, are you tired? Let’s just go first.”

Youngmin spoke to Haeshin as he took his hand and led him out. It was the gentle voice of a man in love. But Haeshin’s back, reflected in Taejun’s eyes, was stiff, like someone extremely tense. At least, that’s how it appeared to Taejun.

Taejun watched them leave, wondering if Haeshin would try to give him another signal, even for a moment, but Haeshin didn’t look back or glance at him.

Left alone, Taejun washed his hands at the sink with a dubious expression, and began to ponder his memories of the two.

Cha Haeshin.

His life could be defined in a single phrase: A pitiful and miserable bottom-feeder life. Born poor to poor parents, he had lived his entire life scraping by at the bottom.

And Youngmin had fallen in love at first sight with that very bottom-feeder life, working as a server in a bar. It wasn’t mere curiosity or the object of a one-night stand. Youngmin had truly fallen in love.

Naturally, the whole family was in an uproar that he had rejected all the eligible marriage prospects and brought home someone like that, insisting on marriage. The adults were even more shocked because Youngmin had never caused any trouble growing up.

Not only Youngmin’s parents but also his grandparents and relatives opposed it, but Youngmin was stubborn, as if going through a belated puberty. He even went so far as to refuse to eat, causing a commotion by saying he’d rather die if he couldn’t marry Cha Haeshin, and in the end, he officially placed Cha Haeshin in the position of his spouse.

Cha Haeshin, who had been living a hard life, getting only two or three hours of sleep a day to pay off his father’s debts and his mother’s hospital bills, became a member of a chaebol family overnight, instantly gaining the title of ‘modern-day Cinderella’ and attracting public attention.

People envied and scorned him. They sympathized with his difficult life, yet they wondered when he would be abandoned and return to his “proper place.”

Some called Jin Youngmin and Cha Haeshin’s relationship true love that transcended social prejudice and status, while others clicked their tongues, saying Cha Haeshin must have approached him deceptively, aiming for the chaebol family’s money.

However, contrary to most expectations, their married life continued peacefully. Youngmin held a lavish wedding despite the disapproving looks and proudly brought Cha Haeshin to family events.

“Come to think of it…”

Taejun muttered in a suspicious voice as he slowly recalled old memories. He was sure that Youngmin had taken Haeshin around everywhere for the first few months after their marriage, but after a certain point, he had no memory of seeing Haeshin outside.

Taejun turned his head again and looked at the exit. Taejun still didn’t know Cha Haeshin well, but the way he looked today was definitely far from the Cinderella who had been the envy of everyone. Jin Youngmin, who had seemed somehow irritated, looked even less like a prince on a white horse.

Taejun’s heart, dying of boredom, began to race for the first time in a long while.

Until now, Han Taejun’s life had been hell. A cycle of punishment he couldn’t escape, no matter how much he struggled. He merely continued his habitual, listless struggle, waiting for the foreseen end of his life.

But today, Cha Haeshin had jumped into that empty hell. Someone he had never encountered in this way in the countless repetitions of this cycle.

‘Please save me.’

The words Haeshin had desperately pleaded were, in fact, the words Taejun had been praying to a god whose existence he couldn’t even be sure of. Please, please save me, I’ll do anything. Get me out of this hell.

Having reached that thought, Taejun hurried out of the restroom and headed towards the hall where his family was. Jin Youngmin and Cha Haeshin were nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Youngmin?”

“Youngmin? He said something urgent came up and left a while ago with his tail between his legs.”

“…”

“I was relieved not to see him for a while, but why did he bring him again? It’s best to just let them go.”

The words that flowed out unsolicited were filled with contempt for Cha Haeshin. Even though they had been married for over two years, Haeshin was still not accepted by the family.

Was that why? Because there was no one around to help him, no one to listen to him, that’s why Cha Haeshin had abruptly asked him, someone with whom he had little connection, to save him?

But why? With a husband who loved Cha Haeshin so much that he pushed through with the marriage despite everyone’s opposition right beside him, what was Cha Haeshin being threatened by?

Leaving the obvious assumptions behind, Taejun hurried outside and got into his car. He had many questions, but the most important thing was to confirm the nature of the strangeness he felt about Cha Haeshin.

No, actually, even that might not be a very important issue.

How many expectations had he held during his repeating life? There were also countless variables he had been sure were the answer. Yet Taejun was still trapped in this hell, and hope had never once been the right answer.

So why was he running like this now? Was there still some lingering attachment he couldn’t let go of?

Taejun looked at his half-dead eyes in the rearview mirror and then started the car. Even if it was another futile struggle, he wanted to find out the nature of this strangeness he felt.

Because if the ending was already determined, it would be better to leave no regrets.

☂️

Taejun stood in the middle of the sprawling garden, like a paradise, and quietly stared at Youngmin’s towering house. The three-story house completely blocked any outside view, looking like their own fortress.

Jin Youngmin had built this house when he married Cha Haeshin. Youngmin, who had moved to the outskirts of the metropolitan area despite the considerable distance from his company, had built his newlywed home in this secluded place, far from the city center.

He had thought it wasn’t unreasonable, considering that his family didn’t approve of Haeshin and the intense public scrutiny at the time. However, looking up at the wide and high fortress, the thought suddenly occurred to him that no one outside would know what was happening inside.

No matter how much someone screamed for help inside, no sound would escape beyond the high walls.

Taejun looked around carefully and walked toward the entrance. The beautifully landscaped garden was perfect, like a scene from a movie. And the moment Taejun’s feet stepped onto the path leading to the entrance.

With a tremendous crash, something fell right next to Taejun.

Taejun’s body froze. Even though he hadn’t seen it clearly, he could easily guess the identity of the fallen object. A person. The motionless mass that had fallen to the ground was undoubtedly a person.

A spectacular thriller had suddenly entered Taejun’s life, which had been filled with boredom. It was a completely unexpected development in a terribly dull movie. Taejun slowly turned his head, feeling the violent pounding of his heart.

“Cha Haeshin…?”

A bewildered voice escaped Taejun. It was Cha Haeshin lying on the ground, coughing up blood. The very same Cha Haeshin who had begged Taejun to save him just an hour ago.

“A-Are you… okay…?”

Taejun stammered, unlike himself. Even though he was experiencing scientifically inexplicable, unrealistic events, witnessing someone’s death before his eyes was another shock.

“Wait, call… call…”

Taejun knelt down in front of Haeshin, muttering like a half-crazed person, and then realized that the fact that he had fallen from above wasn’t the real problem.

There was a wound on Cha Haeshin’s neck, as if cut by something sharp. Far more blood than what was coming from his mouth was gushing from his neck, soaking the ground.

“Fuck… Fuck this…”

A stream of curses flowed from Taejun’s mouth. He had come this far to find something different, but he hadn’t wished for such a drastic variable.

No, was it not a variable?

At that moment, a lightning bolt of realization struck Taejun. Han Taejun knew nothing about Cha Haeshin’s life.

He had experienced countless possibilities in the endless repetition of regressions, but in none of the possibilities Taejun had experienced was there Cha Haeshin’s death.

Perhaps this death was the variable in this life, but if it wasn’t, if Cha Haeshin’s death had already occurred multiple times in the lives Han Taejun hadn’t seen.