Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 24

Of course there were other rooms, but the problem was that he had already said this wasn’t his bedroom. Compared to the other rooms, anyone could see that this was Taejun’s bedroom. Not wanting to get caught in a lie, Taejun was about to tell him to just sleep here again, when Haeshin spoke, just a little faster.

“This…… is your bedroom, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, honestly, anyone can see it’s your room. I know you said it wasn’t on the spur of the moment. But for me to pretend not to know and use it, my conscience bothers me, no matter how you look at it……”

After finishing his words, Haeshin smiled his customary heee. For a moment, Taejun found that smile a little grating. It just was. When Cha Haeshin smiled like that, he felt an inexplicable discomfort in the pit of his stomach.

“Cha Haeshin, you really……”

Taejun, unable to completely hide his discomfort, blurted out, but Cha Haeshin cut him off again with that same smile.

“Am I that annoying?”

“……”

“I wasn’t trying to be annoying…… Please don’t hate me. I’m pitiful, aren’t I? My family is poor, and I grew up getting beaten.”

In that moment, Han Taejun realized. Cha Haeshin’s shield was his guileless laughter and his presentation of himself as poor and lacking, even in situations that didn’t call for it.

Han Taejun knew all too well how ruthless the powerful could be to the powerless. Taejun couldn’t even begin to imagine how much ruthlessness Cha Haeshin must have endured while struggling to survive.

Cha Haeshin’s current demeanor was clearly a form shaped by the countless attacks he had endured. It was a desperate struggle to be hurt less, hated less, and pained less.

Right here, Han Taejun learned a little more about Cha Haeshin. In this world, only Han Taejun knew the Cha Haeshin who didn’t laugh like he did now, who didn’t talk back like he did now, who wasn’t as bright as he was now—the Cha Haeshin that Jin Youngmin had painstakingly broken.

That fact made Taejun feel a little miserable. He couldn’t understand why.

“……Yeah. You are pitiful.”

So this time, Taejun answered honestly. He was pitiful. He had thought that the luxury of pitying others had long since vanished from him, but in this moment, Han Taejun genuinely felt that Cha Haeshin was pitiful.

“I knew it, right?”

Cha Haeshin’s face, smiling with the corners of his eyes crinkled as if he’d received a compliment even after being told he was pitiful, looked heartbreakingly endearing.

“So just sleep here. This is the best place in this house.”

This time, Haeshin kept his mouth shut. Taejun stood up from the sofa and continued.

“You might not get a chance like this again, so surely you won’t refuse.”

At his somewhat provocative tone, Haeshin burst out laughing.

“What do you take me for. Then I’ll sleep here tonight. I couldn’t say it before because the atmosphere was so serious, but wow…… this bed is really, really nice.”

Always cheerful, knowing how to act pitiful just enough, non-threatening yet not too pathetic or clingy—Cha Haeshin had grown into a person who could earn the favor and sympathy of many.

“Right. Enjoy that nice bed to your heart’s content. I’ll bring you a new pillow.”

“Yes, thank you!”

Leaving the cheerfully responding Haeshin behind, Taejun managed his expression to hide his complicated emotions and left the room. And before closing the door, Taejun, who made eye contact with Haeshin through the half-open gap, said.

“From the beginning, I had no intention of deliberately making you approach Jin Youngmin to find out something. I just, hoped that if you naturally came across any information, you would tell me.”

“Ah……”

“No matter how the situation unfolds in the future, I have no intention of making you do something like that…… so just know that.”

Taejun, who had barely managed to swallow the words “don’t worry,” closed the door without even hearing Haeshin’s reply. His heart pounded as if he had said something profound. It was a strange feeling.

☂️

“Whoo……”

Left alone in the room, Haeshin let out a long sigh. It hadn’t been a bad conversation, but he felt as if he had expended a huge amount of emotional energy. Drained of all energy, Haeshin flopped onto the bed and stared blankly at the surprisingly high ceiling.

“So the CEO is a kind person……”

Words he had said before flowed out again. Taejun kept speaking in a grumpy manner, but Haeshin felt the kindness within it. Whether it was pity or something else, it was clear that Taejun was worried about Cha Haeshin.

“Was it just because he’s a kind person.”

Maybe the reason he had come all the way to Jin Youngmin’s house at a single plea to be saved wasn’t for any special reason, but simply because he was inherently a kind person. That’s why he couldn’t just ignore someone’s cry for help.

“Well, it’s a good thing for me.”

Haeshin muttered as he rolled over onto his stomach. The blanket against his cheek was soft. Perhaps because the tension had eased, he felt like he would fall asleep in no time.

“It’s a good thing……”

He repeated the same words as if casting a spell with slurred pronunciation. So maybe, this life might be okay. He might finally be able to escape the terrible abuse.

Haeshin gripped the thread of hope, which was ready to disappear at any moment, even tighter. If he let go of even that, there would be not a single person left in this world striving for Cha Haeshin’s happiness.

☂️

‘Stop……’

Haeshin mouthed the words at the man who was pressing him down, his hips moving. But the words he wanted to say couldn’t become sound. Every time the man moved his body, Haeshin’s body swayed, and an unpleasant sensation spread throughout his entire being.

‘Stop, please stop!’

Haeshin screamed desperately. But still, no sound came out of his mouth. No, he couldn’t even breathe properly, let alone make a sound.

His mind was hazy. He couldn’t remember where he was or what he was doing. Only the face of the man moving above him was clearly imprinted in his eyes. Jin Youngmin.

‘Ah…… ahh……’

Haeshin wailed like an animal. Hadn’t he regressed to a time before he met Jin Youngmin? Was the thought that he had found new hope all a dream? Was I still suffering endlessly in the prison Jin Youngmin had created?

Through the hazy memories, Han Taejun’s face finally came to mind. When he had found him standing in front of the house with a lollipop, he had thought he had finally found his way, but to think that was all a dream.

A sense of emptiness washed over him. An unbearable sorrow came in like a tsunami. Where did the dream begin? Did Taejun ever come looking for him in the first place? No, did a person named Han Taejun even exist?

His vision blurred and cleared repeatedly, and a voice full of hot breath echoed in his ears.

Cha Haeshin. You’re mine. You can never escape me. I love you. I love you, Haeshin-ah.

Tears streamed down his cheeks. It was miserable and sorrowful. I was struggling because I wanted to live somehow, to live like a human being, but how could life betray me in the cruelest form every time?

And the sorrow soon turned to anger. He was sick and tired of enduring. If this was the result of a life lived kindly and diligently, why should he protect his humanity?

In the meantime, Jin Youngmin panted even more explicitly. Finding it hard to bear the rising nausea, Haeshin clenched his fists and turned his head at the unfamiliar sensation in his hand.

Somehow, a sharp knife was in Haeshin’s hand. He didn’t even care where it came from. It just felt like a golden opportunity.

Jin Youngmin had thrown him into hell countless times and made him face the most miserable and lonely deaths, so he couldn’t understand why he shouldn’t do the same.

Even if it became a meaningless act, even if it broke him further, Haeshin wanted to kill Jin Youngmin. He wished he would feel even a ten-millionth of the pain he was experiencing.

‘Stop, please just stop!’

Even in that moment, Haeshin desperately wished for Jin Youngmin to stop, to please save him, but no one heard his voice.

Haeshin gripped the knife tightly. It wasn’t the first time, so there was no reason to hesitate further. Finally, Haeshin swung the knife with all his might at Jin Youngmin, who was panting like a dog.

☂️

“……”

Haeshin opened his eyes in the silence. His whole body was drenched in a cold sweat, but that was all. As he stared blankly into the pitch-black void, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. It was Han Taejun’s room.

“I’m sure I fell asleep in a good mood.”

Haeshin grumbled in a dissatisfied voice. Literally, Haeshin had fallen asleep in a good mood for the first time in a while. It was nice that things were going well as he had thought since this regression began, and it was nice to sleep in a good bed after a long time.

Moreover, this was a place where he didn’t have to feel the fear that someone might barge in, grab him by the hair, and slap him.

Haeshin still remembered the shock of the soft, fluffy blanket and pillow on the first night he slept in his new home after marrying Jin Youngmin. He knew in his head that there were people who slept on such pillows every day, but experiencing it firsthand was another dimension.

Haeshin had thought that night was the beginning of happiness that finally came after a long period of misfortune, but it wasn’t long before his blood and tears flowed onto that soft pillow. Thanks to that damn dream, all sorts of bad memories started to act up as well.

“This is a problem.”

So Haeshin consciously cut off his thoughts and hurriedly got up from the bed.

When he touched the pillow with his palm, he found that the pillowcase was wet with the sweat he had shed. Haeshin, who had a serious expression at the thought of having dirtied a nice pillow, soon flopped back down.

Since someone else had used it, it would have to be washed anyway, so he probably wouldn’t be scolded for sweating a little. Besides, it wasn’t like Taejun would be the one washing it.