Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 50

Haeshin, who had been held in Taejun’s arms for a long time out of the blue, didn’t ask for a reason even after Taejun let him go. He just carefully asked one thing: if he was okay now.

It was good that he had managed to get through that moment so well. But when he woke up in the morning and thought about seeing Haeshin again with a clear, sober mind, his vision went dark. He was at a complete loss as to what kind of face to make when he saw Haeshin and what he should say.

So, Taejun suddenly called for Secretary Choi first thing in the morning. He thought that if at least he were there sitting with them, the awkwardness and embarrassment might be a little less. For now, he wanted to avoid being alone with Cha Haeshin at all costs.

“So embarrassing…”

In the midst of it all, he felt so pathetic and ridiculous for looking in the mirror to check his condition. Even after that, Taejun couldn’t easily bring himself to leave the bedroom for a long time.

☂️

“Where is Cha Haeshin?”

“It seems he hasn’t come out yet, sir.”

As soon as he heard Secretary Choi’s answer, Taejun let out a deep sigh. He was relieved, but at the same time, it felt futile. To think he’d finally worked up the courage to come out.

The fact that he needed courage just to come out into his own living room was strange in itself, but he decided to ignore such minor issues for now. Taejun, now pretending to be nonchalant with a coolness he didn’t possess, sat down next to Secretary Choi and opened his mouth.

“You haven’t had breakfast, right?”

“I have, sir.”

“What? You have? Why?”

However, Taejun’s composure vanished without a trace in just a few seconds. Secretary Choi blinked, a look of incomprehension on his face.

“I usually have a simple breakfast before coming to work, sir…”

“No, I mean… you should have a proper, hearty breakfast, not just something simple. Eat with us before you go.”

“I’m full, sir.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not full. Have at least a spoonful. It’ll be delicious.”

Secretary Choi’s bewildered eyes soon sparkled with interest. From a moment ago, while spouting nonsense, Taejun had been busy glancing towards the direction of Haeshin’s room.

It was a clear indication of who was the reason for all this; calling him into the house first thing in the morning, and now trying to force-feed him.

“Did something happen with Mr. Cha Haeshin?”

“What? Me? With Cha Haeshin? What, what could possibly happen between me and him.”

Sure enough. Taejun jumped up and babbled incoherently, in a manner that confessed to anyone watching that something had indeed happened. For Secretary Choi, who knew how calm and adept at maintaining a poker face Taejun usually was, it was a reaction he couldn’t help but be surprised by.

“Yes, I understand.”

However, Secretary Choi was a man who always knew how to maintain his position. Instead of pressing Taejun further or teasing him, he answered demurely and waited for Cha Haeshin, the other protagonist of this morning’s comedy.

Before long, a presence was felt from a distance, and soon Haeshin appeared. At the same time, a light and cheerful voice echoed through the living room.

“Good morning, Mr. Han! Oh? Mr. Choi, you’re here too?”

“Ah… Yes. Good morning, Mr. Cha Haeshin. I came early as there was an urgent matter to discuss with Mr. Han.”

The quick-witted and competent secretary didn’t bother mentioning things like how the CEO had summoned him to the house in the morning. He also showed no signs of being flustered by Haeshin’s appearance, which was completely different from what he had expected.

But as Secretary Choi’s eyes darted between Taejun and Haeshin, they were already full of suspicion.

Taejun had been acting so unusually that he thought something huge must have happened, but Cha Haeshin himself seemed no different from usual. He didn’t seem awkward, nor did he seem to be uncomfortable around Taejun.

“Oh, I see. Will you be having breakfast with us then?”

“…Yes. I’ll be imposing.”

Secretary Choi, who glanced at Taejun for a moment, ultimately answered as he wished. It was partly to fulfill his secretarial duties, but he was also personally curious about what on earth had happened between the two.

“Imposing? Please don’t say that. I don’t do much of anything. Then please wait just a moment, Mr. Han!”

Finishing his words, Haeshin headed for the kitchen. He had heard that Haeshin had decided to work at Taejun’s house, and it seemed he was also helping with meal preparation.

Only after Haeshin disappeared did Secretary Choi turn his head to look at Han Taejun. Haeshin’s calm demeanor had only heightened his curiosity, and he was about to ask what in the world was going on.

But in the end, Secretary Choi couldn’t ask anything. Because.

“What’s with him?”

Taejun, sitting next to him, was staring at the spot where Haeshin had disappeared with a face even more bewildered and dumbfounded than Secretary Choi’s.

☂️

“Then I’ll go down first, so please get ready and come down, sir.”

Having finished an unexpectedly hearty breakfast, Secretary Choi hurriedly excused himself. A moment ago, Taejun had been desperate to keep Secretary Choi by his side, but now his face clearly showed that he wanted to talk to Cha Haeshin alone.

The skill of a competent secretary shines even in moments like these. That wasn’t all. On behalf of the CEO who was sitting with his lips sealed in some kind of displeasure, Secretary Choi also had to carry on a natural conversation with Haeshin at the dining table.

Usually, Taejun was a boss who was rarely whimsical, but for some reason, whenever he got involved with Cha Haeshin, he kept showing a side of himself that was different from his usual self.

Whether this would be a good or bad thing for Taejun, Secretary Choi thought he should observe this yet-uncertain change a little more carefully as he headed to the garage.

“Hey, you.”

And finally, left alone with Haeshin, Taejun called out to him as he was about to head to his room to get his coat.

“Yes, Mr. Han! Is there something you need?”

Haeshin asked as he usually did, without a hint of being flustered or awkward. That was precisely the source of Taejun’s endless irritation since earlier.

“Do you not have any feelings?”

“Feelings?”

“Yes. You can be this unaffected?”

“About what…”

“About what happened yesterday!”

After raising his voice and spitting out the words, Taejun immediately regretted it. This wasn’t how he’d intended to start the conversation. Every time he was in front of Cha Haeshin, he found it difficult to control himself.

Honestly, until he saw Cha Haeshin today, it was true that he had wanted to ignore what happened yesterday. He figured dwelling on it would only make things more embarrassing for both of them, so if he could, he wanted to just pretend it never happened.

But seeing Cha Haeshin acting as if nothing had happened made his anger flare up. Taejun hadn’t been able to sleep a wink because his mind was filled with Cha Haeshin, yet Cha Haeshin, far from being embarrassed or awkward, was acting as if he didn’t remember a thing.

Cha Haeshin’s displeasing behavior didn’t end there. During the meal, he had been chattering away with Secretary Choi the whole time, right in front of Taejun. It wasn’t even a necessary conversation, just an endless stream of meaningless small talk, and for some reason, that made him feel so slighted.

In the end, Han Taejun had unconsciously blurted out words that were shamefully blunt.

“Yesterday, ah…”

“Aren’t you even curious about why I did that, or what happened?”

It was embarrassing, but it had already happened. With a ‘whatever happens, happens’ attitude, Taejun let out everything on his mind. He felt like an idiot for being the only one agonizing over what to say, how to say it, and fidgeting with shame.

No, actually, he didn’t mind feeling like an idiot. What upset Taejun more was the feeling that last night’s event, which had been such a great comfort to him, seemed to have been nothing to Cha Haeshin.

That moment when they held each other tight, feeling each other’s heartbeats, Taejun thought he had felt a special emotion that only the two of them could share, but what if Cha Haeshin said that wasn’t it? What if he said it was nothing more than comforting a person who’d had a nightmare?

The mere possibility made his chest feel as if a huge hole had been punched through it. He had never felt this way before.

“That is, I…”

Haeshin, who had been standing there with a stunned face at Taejun’s sudden outburst of complaints, answered.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about it, Mr. Han.”

“…What?”

“I thought you would be embarrassed if I brought it up, since you did it in your sleep… That’s why I did it, it’s not that I wasn’t worried.”

As he answered, Haeshin’s face, unlike its cheerful expression from a moment ago, looked somewhat sulky. Just like the expression Taejun had worn at the dining table during breakfast.

“On top of that, you suddenly called your secretary, and you avoided my gaze as soon as you saw me, so I thought I was right. That’s why I didn’t let on either… Why are you getting mad at me?”

Even though Taejun was technically his CEO and employer, Haeshin, far from being intimidated, retorted with wide eyes. It was Han Taejun, instead, who was suddenly at a loss for words.

“I wasn’t getting mad, it’s just that you weren’t paying any attention to me…”

“I was paying attention, that’s why I pretended not to know for your sake. Then why did you call your secretary, Mr. Han? You called him to have a discussion but didn’t do anything. Didn’t he just eat and leave?”

There was nothing he could say to refute her point-by-point argument. With nothing to say, Taejun could only make meaningless sounds like, “Well, I never.” The only surprising thing, even in this situation, was that despite Cha Haeshin openly talking back to him, he didn’t feel particularly bad.

Quite the opposite. He liked the fact that Haeshin wasn’t intimidated by him at all, despite being in debt and now employed by him. The fact that he was realizing this and feeling pleased about it in this situation was the truly absurd part.