Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 27

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

Thinking Haeshin was joking in a situation like this, Taejun raised his voice. However, Haeshin’s expression was serious. There wasn’t the slightest hint of playfulness.

“You could have a preference you can’t let others find out about. So, in exchange for saving a poor, pitiful guy with a decent face, you want to satisfy your sexual desires to your heart’s content???”

In the suffocating silence that followed, the two men’s gazes clashed fiercely. Han Taejun wore a deeply displeased expression, but Haeshin did not look away. It was a matter they had to confront at some point anyway.

No matter how he thought about it, Han Taejun’s methods were strange. If he was also the same kind of person as Jin Youngmin, he couldn’t get involved any further. What Haeshin wanted was pity, not the courtship of a perverted psycho.

At the end of the heavy silence, it was Han Taejun who spoke first.

“And if I said yes?”

Haeshin clenched his fists tightly. He felt a chill on the back of his neck. Taejun continued with an expressionless face.

“What if I said I feel something for you, whether it’s affection or sexual desire? And that in exchange, I would solve your poverty. I’m asking how far you would be willing to allow.”

If what Haeshin wanted to know was Han Taejun’s objective, what Han Taejun wanted to know was Cha Haeshin’s heart. He was curious, absurdly enough, if Haeshin wouldn’t choose Jin Youngmin if given another way to live, if he had truly been insincere about his marriage to him.

“What is the limit of the pity you won’t refuse?”

After a moment of silence in the face of Taejun’s sharp question, Haeshin soon answered.

“The only thing I have is myself.”

“I know.”

“To a person like me, if you ask for something in return for pitying me, that’s no different from asking for me.”

In that moment, an image of Cha Haeshin on his wedding day with Jin Youngmin flashed before Han Taejun’s eyes. Was it because all he had was himself that the Cha Haeshin of that time had offered everything he had to Jin Youngmin? To escape poverty?

“That’s not pity. It’s a transaction. Even if it’s not something expensive, I’d still be giving you something. I only accept pity.”

“Not pity but…”

“To be honest, there was a time when I thought, what’s the big deal about selling myself… But not anymore.”

Once again, Haeshin’s words stirred a strange feeling in Taejun. The period when Haeshin thought selling himself was no big deal felt just like a past timeline, which felt odd. Even though it couldn’t possibly be true.

“As for pity, anything is fine. I have no conscience and I’m shameless, so if you give me money, I’ll just take it. All I need is to be able to live as Cha Haeshin, so if you feel sorry for me, just give it. If you don’t want to, then that can’t be helped.”

Only after finishing his words did Haeshin smile with that familiar, affable face. But to Taejun, that face didn’t feel entirely bright. Now, not even married to Jin Youngmin, what kind of things had Cha Haeshin been through to declare that he wouldn’t sell himself?

“Is that a sufficient answer?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going to answer… my question?”

Haeshin’s voice was submissive. He had already accepted his own situation, where he couldn’t protest even if he wasn’t given an answer.

Before answering, Taejun let out a long sigh. In truth, his intention in countering a question with a question was also to avoid answering. He didn’t really have an answer to give.

Han Taejun’s reason existed in a timeline that was not the present one. There wasn’t much he could say while concealing that fact. And it’s not like he could falsely confess to having personal feelings for someone who was wary of them, could he?

So, Taejun had intended to just say nothing. Unlike Cha Haeshin, Han Taejun was someone who was allowed to do so.

“Even if I wanted to answer, I have nothing to say.”

“…?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure myself.”

But Taejun ended up opening his mouth with a sigh. What’s more, his answer was even mixed with a degree of truth.

“It’s true that I’m wary of Jin Youngmin, and it’s also true that I feel sorry for you. But as you said, it’s also true that those things alone can’t fully explain my actions.”

Taejun couldn’t give himself a clear reason either. It was too much effort for simple curiosity, and as for what he wanted to gain from Cha Haeshin, it was uncertain what he could possibly do for him.

It could be seen as a new amusement found in the midst of a tedious regression that had lost all meaning, but Taejun could feel that wasn’t a clear answer either.

“So I’m in the process of finding the reason myself. Why I’m bothering with you, going through trouble I don’t have to. So until I figure that out, just accept my pity. I won’t ask for the one thing you have.”

The words about finding a reason were true. Why Cha Haeshin had asked him to save him back then, why he cared so much about saving Cha Haeshin, and what kind of effect changing Cha Haeshin’s fate would have on Han Taejun himself. From now on, Taejun planned to figure it all out, step by step.

Haeshin, who had been listening quietly to Taejun’s words until then, finally opened his mouth.

“You shouldn’t fall in love with me while you’re at it, though.”

“What?”

“That happens a lot in movies and stuff, right? That would be a big problem. I’m a pine processionary caterpillar, so I can only eat pine needles; I won’t be able to accept your feelings, sir.”

“You really…! My goodness, you’re full of confidence.”

“It’s all based on evidence.”

After finishing his words, Haeshin laughed as if it were a joke. But both Han Taejun and Cha Haeshin were the same in not thinking of those words as a simple joke.

☂️

“Why is he suddenly acting like this?”

Youngmin muttered in an annoyed voice as he stared at Cha Haeshin’s contact information, which he had already called several times without an answer. A bolt from the blue wouldn’t be as sudden as this.

Cha Haeshin had changed abruptly. He had thought they were getting closer step by step, but from a certain point on, it felt like he was putting up a wall, and now he wasn’t even answering his calls at all.

Youngmin knew very well that Cha Haeshin had no feelings for him. In fact, that was part of what drew him in.

He thought someone with a life like Cha Haeshin’s would fall for him with just a little kindness, but he found it amusing that Cha Haeshin would readily accept the favors he offered without getting greedy for more.

Will he fall for me if I do this? Will he waver a little if I do that? Before he knew it, Jin Youngmin’s mind was completely filled with Cha Haeshin, and when he came to his senses, he was trying with all his might to win his heart.

He wanted him. He wanted to be the one and only person that the man, who seemed kind to everyone but didn’t actually let people get close easily, relied on and clung to. He’d thought it was actually going well.

But then, suddenly, Cha Haeshin changed. He still treated him with a gentle smile like before, but whenever they were alone, there was an unidentifiable, uncomfortable atmosphere. And now, he wasn’t even taking his calls.

That wasn’t the only reason Youngmin was so anxious. A while ago, Youngmin got an earful from his parents, telling him to mind his conduct. They asked what on earth he was doing to make Taejun worry about him.

It seemed he hadn’t gone into detail about things like frequenting a bar, but it was clear he had definitely expressed that he was an eyesore. Otherwise, his parents, who rarely interfered with Youngmin’s affairs, wouldn’t have spoken so sternly.

His parents seemed more worried about Youngmin falling out of favor with Taejun than about him getting into trouble itself. That was also why he hadn’t been able to visit Cha Haeshin for the past few days. He was worried about himself, but he couldn’t make a rash move because if Haeshin got caught in the crossfire, nothing good would come of it.

“Han Taejun… what did you do…”

Youngmin muttered, gripping his phone tightly. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Haeshin had cut off contact shortly after Han Taejun had visited him. He had changed right from that point, so how could this be a coincidence?

Anyone would feel intimidated if a figure like Han Taejun suddenly appeared and warned them. Cha Haeshin would be no exception. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t think of any other reason.

[Mr. Haeshin, please call me when you see this. I’m worried.]

Youngmin spouted a stream of curses under his breath as he left a message for Haeshin. The fact that he still couldn’t give up despite Taejun’s warning seemed to mean that his feelings for Cha Haeshin were much bigger than he had thought.

“He didn’t give a damn until now, so why is he throwing a fit all of a sudden?”

Youngmin grumbled in frustration, glaring at his phone that remained unanswered. He was anxious because he had no idea what Han Taejun was thinking.

☂️

“It seems he was quite famous in the neighborhood. To the point where there was no need to go to great lengths to find information.”

At Secretary Choi’s report, Taejun nodded his head silently. It was information about Cha Haeshin’s father that he’d had someone look into.

“There is still private debt left in Mr. Cha Haeshin’s name, and it seems most of the money Mr. Cha Haeshin earns is used to pay it off.”

“Are you sure that bastard is dead?”

Secretary Choi looked momentarily surprised at Taejun’s harsh language. Taejun was not usually one to easily resort to swearing, even when he was angry.

“Yes. They say he was drunk and fell down the stairs in front of his house…”

“He died too comfortably.”

He hadn’t heard the details of how severe the violence was, but if he was famous enough in the neighborhood, it was obvious without even seeing it. It wasn’t for nothing that Cha Haeshin had a seizure.

Feeling suffocated, Taejun loosened his tie. To think that the person he met after escaping such a father was Jin Youngmin. This hopeless and bizarre fate was even dumbfounding.

“Alright, I understand. You may leave. You’ve worked hard.”

Perhaps because he was so angry, his head was throbbing, so Taejun dismissed Secretary Choi. But Secretary Choi didn’t leave and stood there, quietly looking at Taejun. Taejun smirked as if he had expected it.

“You find it suspicious no matter how you look at it?”

“I am not suspicious, I am certain.”

“Of what?”

“That your interest, sir, is not in Department Head Jin Youngmin, but in Mr. Cha Haeshin.”