Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 68

“If you have something to say, say it. Stop being so cautious.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Taejun said this while they were sitting across from each other eating a late lunch. His tone suggested he had endured enough.

Haeshin, whose eyes met Taejun’s, stared straight into his eyes for a moment without speaking. The complex thoughts that had troubled Haeshin violently churned and surged in his mind.

The silence grew long. Taejun didn’t rush Haeshin’s answer, nor did he avoid his gaze, just silently waited. In that gentle stillness, Haeshin’s turbulent heart slowly began to settle.

When he recalled the past memory, it felt so huge that he felt he had to resolve it immediately, but facing the same Taejun as before, his mind cleared up, like a lie dissolving.

The past is not important. What was important was the fact that Han Taejun was here with him now, remembering him.

They had work to solve together and a path to follow. If the emotions of the kissing moment still influenced them, a day would naturally come when they would confront it again without having to dig up the past.

In the future, not the past, in the tomorrow, in the days they would now face together.

That fact made Haeshin more excited and thrilled than the memory of struggling in despair and exchanging breaths. So Haeshin decided to just let the past flow into the past.

“It’s just… I’m happy.”

“What?”

This time, Taejun looked dumbfounded at Haeshin’s sudden answer. Haeshin smiled broadly, as if he hadn’t been cautious at all.

“I worried a lot about how I could meet the CEO again, how I could persuade you… but the CEO who still knows, remembers, and pities me is right in front of my eyes.”

“…”

“It makes me feel strange because it’s so good. As you know, I don’t get this lucky very often.”

“Seriously… just eat.”

In the end, it was Taejun who first avoided eye contact. Whenever Haeshin spoke of his life’s misfortunes as if they were nothing, a pain he had never felt before sharply pierced Taejun’s senses.

Taejun took a spoonful of soup, whose taste he barely perceived, and changed the subject.

“Anyway… as we discussed earlier, quit your jobs as soon as possible, and let’s get your mother admitted right away. This time, I’ll make sure no unauthorized external person can enter and leave.”

“Yes. Thank you, CEO.”

“You can stop saying thank you.”

“But I am thankful…”

At the unnecessarily added words, Taejun raised his eyebrows and made a ‘tsk’ sound with his mouth, scolding him like a child.

Haeshin burst into laughter. Taejun’s concern over his expressing gratitude for being grateful, something neither difficult nor miserable, was amusing. In Haeshin’s life, there are many instances where he has to say thank you despite not being grateful at all, or even after suffering an injustice.

Compared to that, greeting Taejun was a happy situation, but it seemed to touch the heart of the rich young master with pity. Haeshin found that aspect of Taejun a little cute.

“What do you think Jin Youngmin will do?”

In the meantime, Taejun brought the conversation back to a serious topic.

“Hmm… he absolutely won’t give up easily. His backlash will be stronger than last time, too…”

Haeshin’s voice also became heavy. Although this was before he married Jin Youngmin, this timeline, which was well over half a year since they first met, was definitely a more disadvantageous situation than before.

Youngmin was already openly wooing Haeshin. He had clearly conveyed his intention to Haeshin, saying it was okay if Haeshin didn’t love him, he would solve all his misfortunes if he would just accept him.

Also, Haeshin was in a phase of opening up to Youngmin, so even without love, the two had become quite close. It was a time when Youngmin’s affection for Haeshin could only have grown deeper and thicker. It wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t a situation to be optimistic about.

Haeshin thought carefully, based on the countless deaths he had experienced.

“If he knows you’re involved, he’ll be more cautious than if I were alone… but the more thoroughly we block him, the higher the chance he’ll explode.”

“Hmm…”

“He might try to kidnap me… or in the worst case, he might just try to kill me.”

Taejun put down his spoon and bit his lip tightly. The anger he was barely suppressing erupted again. As much as he pitied Haeshin, who spoke so casually about his own death and must have experienced it so many times, he detested Jin Youngmin.

That must have been why.

“What if I just kill the bastard first?”

He impulsively blurted out words he wouldn’t normally utter easily.

A chilling silence instantly fell between the two. In the atmosphere, where even the air seemed sharp, Taejun met Haeshin’s eyes, who was silently looking at him.

He thought Haeshin might be afraid of him for casually speaking of murder, but Haeshin’s eyes, which he met, were calm. So excessively calm that it chilled the heart.

“You, CEO… might be capable of killing Jin Youngmin without consequences.”

Haeshin’s subsequent voice carried a subtly strange resonance.

“But I don’t want that.”

“Because it’s a crime?”

“No. Because that wouldn’t be killing Jin Youngmin, it would be killing the CEO’s soul.”

There was no trace of wavering in Haeshin’s eyes as he said that.

“I don’t want the CEO to get hurt because of a guy like Jin Youngmin. And there’s no guarantee that it would solve things that way.”

“But…!”

“I don’t want that.”

Taejun tried to object, but Haeshin refused. Faced with such unwavering resolve that showed no opening, Taejun couldn’t push further and closed his mouth.

He couldn’t know how Haeshin would view him insisting on killing someone, even if it was for Haeshin’s sake.

However, Haeshin had one more unspoken reason for stopping Taejun. Perhaps the most important reason.

In countless past timelines, whenever Haeshin tried to kill Youngmin, Haeshin either failed and died alone, or died along with Youngmin. In no way did Jin Youngmin ever die alone.

Haeshin’s fear stemmed from this. If something went wrong and Haeshin died, that wouldn’t be a problem. Haeshin’s life would restart anyway.

But what if Han Taejun died? If the attempt to kill Jin Youngmin failed in some way and Taejun died?

Of course, Han Taejun would have a myriad of ways to kill Jin Youngmin without getting his hands dirty. But Haeshin already knew how unbelievably and relentlessly this fate operated against him.

If an unimaginable scenario unfolded, and Han Taejun’s life was also sacrificed as the price for killing Jin Youngmin, could that truly be called success?

Haeshin had never experienced Han Taejun’s death. What if Taejun died with Jin Youngmin, and no further regression was executed? What if even Haeshin’s death couldn’t bring Taejun back to life?

Haeshin didn’t want to risk losing Han Taejun forever for an uncertain outcome.

“Jin Youngmin isn’t worth it.”

Haeshin emphasized once more. His voice contained an earnestness that couldn’t be refused.

“Fine. I understand.”

In the end, Taejun answered obediently. Even though he wouldn’t get a speck of damage to his soul by killing Jin Youngmin, whom he wanted to grind up, he couldn’t ignore the strange fear he sensed in Haeshin’s voice.

“I understand, so don’t worry and just eat.”

Taejun’s voice became gentle, as if he hadn’t just mentioned murder. Haeshin looked into Taejun’s eyes for a few more seconds, like someone seeking assurance, and then picked up his spoon again.

A slow smile appeared on Taejun’s lips. Seeing Haeshin heartily scooping rice into his mouth dispelled his temporary discomfort.

To feel good just by watching someone else eat. He was becoming unfamiliar with himself, experiencing a feeling he had never known before.

“Eat this too.”

However, novelty aside, Taejun’s hand, like a grandmother caring for her grandson, pushed a side dish of meat toward Haeshin.

“You should eat too, CEO.”

“Mhm.”

Seeing Haeshin speaking to him with cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, Taejun hastily lowered his head and shoved rice into his mouth. If he didn’t, he felt he would break into a silly smile, revealing himself as a foolish idiot in love.

It was a miracle that he managed to refrain from uttering the words, ‘I’m full just watching you eat.’

☂️

“Hmm?”

Youngmin tilted his head and hung up the phone. For the umpteenth time, Youngmin had called Cha Haeshin and heard the message that the call was going to voicemail because the recipient wasn’t answering.

He should be at the convenience store working now, so it shouldn’t be possible for him not to answer the phone for this long.

“Did something happen…”

Since there had been no contact since the morning, it was possible that something had indeed happened. Haeshin’s life was on the edge of a cliff, so it wouldn’t be strange for anything to happen at any time.

“It would be good if he’d ask me for help first…”

A look of dissatisfaction crossed Youngmin’s eyes. At this point, Cha Haeshin should have given in, but he was still hesitating, and that was the problem.