Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 49

“What is he trying to say now…”

Youngmin chewed on his lip. A sense of anxiety washed over him. It wasn’t that he had no idea what it was about. Taejun must have been seriously ticked off about Youngmin going to see the Chairman.

Taejun’s voice didn’t sound angry or anything, but Youngmin didn’t trust that relaxed atmosphere. He was clearly pretending to be fine because his pride was hurt.

Still, it wasn’t entirely without a satisfying point. The fact that Han Taejun was contacting him so urgently to meet meant that his grandfather had clearly said something to Taejun after his visit.

His grandfather, out of pride for his cherished grandson, would have sided completely with Taejun in front of Youngmin, but he couldn’t have just ignored Taejun’s behavior of chasing after a man from a bar.

“Let’s see who wins.”

Youngmin muttered, putting on a brave face as if he wasn’t scared at all. At least in this matter, Han Taejun had more to lose than he did. That’s what Youngmin thought.

The responsibility that the heir of Myungjin must carry is that much heavier, after all.

Not many people would understand Youngmin for trying to confront Han Taejun over just one Cha Haeshin. Jin Youngmin himself couldn’t fully comprehend his own actions.

Even after going to Cha Haeshin and apologizing, Youngmin continued to look into his own heart. Confronting Taejun was something that required that much resolve. Youngmin even took the time to calm his heart, wondering if he was making the wrong choice out of a momentary fit of stubbornness.

He hadn’t approached Cha Haeshin in the first place to have some grand, epic love affair. So, he had constantly tried to tell himself that getting on Taejun’s bad side because of Cha Haeshin was a stupid thing to do.

But it didn’t work out as he wished. No matter how much he weighed the pros and cons and chided himself, he couldn’t give up. No matter how many times he thought it over, he just couldn’t tolerate the thought of Cha Haeshin being taken by Han Taejun.

Even though Jin Youngmin had never possessed Cha Haeshin for a single moment, he even felt as if his most important possession was being stolen. Even if he himself couldn’t have Cha Haeshin in the end, he would rather die than see Han Taejun have him.

Who the hell was Cha Haeshin? What was so great about one wretched life with nothing to its name? It was a strange feeling.

☂️

“Gasp…!”

Taejun shot up in bed, clutching his side with a painfully suppressed groan. His rough gasps echoed in the dark bedroom. He’d had the chronic nightmare for the first time in a while.

“Hoo…”

Taejun took a long time to catch his breath. Even though it was a dream he’d had to the point of exhaustion, it was still not easy to control his emotions. Since the regressions began, Taejun had countless nightmares, but none were as persistent and shook him to his very soul as this one.

“Please, just stop…”

Taejun muttered, covering his face with both hands. His whole body was damp with a cold sweat. His plea, heard by no one, vanished into the predawn darkness once again. At that very moment, a high-pitched ringing sound, piii– filled Taejun’s ears.

“Ah, no…!”

Startled, Taejun threw off the blanket and stood up, almost convulsing. His heart was pounding, and he felt like he was going crazy, unable to tell if it was the aftermath of the nightmare or the familiar premonition.

“No, no, no.”

Taejun stumbled, muttering like a madman. How had he come this far? He couldn’t even guess how many miracles and coincidences would have to intertwine to create a moment like this again, so what if he regressed again just like this?

Unable to withstand the wave of dizziness any longer, Taejun collapsed to the floor, supporting himself with both hands. Dizziness, ringing in his ears, a racing heart. Everything was the same as the symptoms before a regression.

Taejun closed his eyes and began to pray. Please, please help me. Anyone, please, just save me. A prayer he hadn’t offered since realizing no god was listening to his voice now flowed out desperately.

Please, let me save Cha Haeshin.

If there was one thing different from his previous prayers, it was that the one he wanted to be saved was Cha Haeshin, not Han Taejun himself.

“Haa, haa…”

Did someone hear his desperation? Or was it not a symptom of regression in the first place? Taejun’s breathing began to calm down. The heart that had been pounding as if it would burst slowly settled, and the ringing in his ears had vanished at some point. Cold sweat dripped onto the back of his hands that were pressed against the floor.

“Ha, hahaha…”

Taejun laughed. It was a laugh mixed with relief, anger, and all sorts of emotions that couldn’t be described with words. It had been a really long time since he had trembled in such fear. At some point, it hadn’t mattered when or to what point he regressed.

After laughing for a long while like a man who’d lost his mind, propped up on the floor, Taejun slowly got up and left the room. In the place where the desperate terror had passed, there was a face he wanted to see.

“…”

Taejun’s steps stopped in front of the room he had given to Cha Haeshin. Standing before the firmly closed door, Taejun bit his lip. It was clearly the crack of dawn, and there was no valid reason to wake a sleeping Cha Haeshin just to see his face right away.

He just wanted to see him. He wanted to confirm Cha Haeshin’s safety right now and feel the reality that he hadn’t regressed. That was all. And humans were beings who could act on illogical impulse alone.

Taejun’s hand cautiously knocked on the closed door. It was a sound so quiet that if he were deeply asleep, he wouldn’t hear it. Taejun held his breath.

Even as he knocked on the door at this ungodly hour because he wanted to see Cha Haeshin, a faint wish that Haeshin wouldn’t wake up coexisted within him. If Cha Haeshin opened the door and asked what was wrong, he had nothing to say.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, there was no sign of movement from inside. Should he knock one more time, or should he consider it a relief that Haeshin hadn’t woken up and go back? While Taejun was intensely debating, the door suddenly opened, and the face he had so desperately longed for appeared before him. It was Cha Haeshin.

“Mr. Han…?”

Haeshin looked disheveled, as if he had been asleep. His voice was huskier than usual, and the hair at the back of his head was messy.

His comfortable clothes, his attitude that seemed completely unalarmed despite Han Taejun suddenly knocking on his door at dawn, all of it brought Taejun immense relief. It was to see this very sight that Taejun had escaped the swamp of his nightmare and was standing here.

“Is something wro-… Ah…!”

As expected, Haeshin asked a question that would be difficult to answer, but Taejun didn’t hesitate. Instead, he suddenly reached out and pulled Cha Haeshin into an embrace. It happened before Taejun could even think.

Only after pulling Haeshin fully into his chest did Taejun feel his ice-cold heart finally begin to melt. The beating of Haeshin’s heart, alive and safe here, melted away Taejun’s fear like a spell breaking a curse.

Cha Haeshin, not in pain, not wretched, not vanished to the other side of a regression, was right here, in his arms. Taejun savored that fact, holding Haeshin so tightly it felt like he might break.

“It’s okay…”

At that moment, Haeshin’s low, soft voice reached Taejun. Simultaneously, Haeshin’s arms wrapped around Taejun’s back and began to pat it gently.

“It was just a nightmare.”

Taejun unknowingly sucked in a breath. There was no way Cha Haeshin could know about his nightmare, yet he offered comfort as if he knew everything.

The one who had wanted to give comfort was Taejun; the one who had wanted to pat him and say it was okay was Taejun himself. The unexpected comfort from Haeshin heavily soothed Taejun’s soul.

Taejun hugged Haeshin with all his remaining strength. It was suffocating, but Haeshin didn’t push him away and continued to rub his back.

It wasn’t that Haeshin hadn’t been flustered by Taejun’s sudden action. The knocking on his door in the middle of the night was one thing, but the act of pulling him into a hug without a word was another.

But the moment their chests touched and he felt Taejun’s heartbeat, Haeshin decided to just comfort him. He didn’t know how it was possible, but Haeshin could feel that Han Taejun was suffering from a very old and terrible nightmare.

Perhaps it was because Cha Haeshin himself was a person wandering in a horrific nightmare. He could feel Taejun’s anxiety and sadness as vividly as if it were his own, and he couldn’t help but hug him back.

“It will all pass.”

Even though Cha Haeshin’s own nightmare continued endlessly, he wished that Han Taejun’s nightmare, at least, would vanish completely with the newly rising sun.

The two of them held each other for a long time in a world that contained only the two of them.

☂️

“So… you told me to just sit in the living room?”

“Yeah. Just sit in the living room for a bit. We’ll go out together later.”

“Is that all you require of me?”

“Yes.”

Taejun replied, avoiding the gaze of Secretary Choi, who kept asking as if he couldn’t understand. It was indeed a strange request to make after bothering to call someone into the house.

But Taejun had his reasons. A reason why he had no choice but to call Secretary Choi into the house first thing in the morning.

“Anyway, please do.”

However, unable to bring himself to tell the honest reason, Taejun first sent Secretary Choi out to the living room and then let out a long sigh, alone in the bedroom. He wondered what on earth had become of the great Han Taejun.

That was right. The problem was Cha Haeshin. In fact, there was almost nothing in Taejun’s daily life these days besides Cha Haeshin.

“I must be crazy…”

Taejun practically tore at his hair with both hands. Still, he couldn’t escape the memory of the past dawn that kept surfacing.

Haeshin’s safe and unguarded-looking face, his thin body that fit perfectly in his arms, their chests pressed together, the pounding heartbeats, and the hand that had gently patted his back.

From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, every moment of that dawn had been replaying in Taejun’s mind.