Actually, It’s a Messy Melodrama Chapter 78

“Um, that, uh……”

Haeshin rolled his eyes back and forth and took a step back from Taejun. Come to think of it, touching Taejun’s body randomly was also insane behavior.

“Whew……”

Just then, Taejun sighed. Haeshin reflexively flinched his shoulders. It was an unavoidable reaction since he had committed a sin.

How surprised he must have been, waking up in the middle of the night. The mere thought made him dizzy, and the moment Haeshin opened his mouth to apologize properly again, Taejun spoke first.

“I almost had a heart attack seeing you cry, honestly.”

Taejun’s voice that came out was clearly relieved. It was far from an irritated or unpleasant reaction.

“I thought something else had happened to you……”

Taejun messed up his hair and sighed once more. Only then did Haeshin realize that the emotion in his sigh was relief.

As shown by his unkempt hair and messy clothes, Taejun was literally thunderstruck while sleeping, but conversely, he wanted to confirm that Haeshin was safe first.

Haeshin felt an unfamiliar emotion rising from the depths of his chest. It was an emotion that could not be described in words. It was a type Haeshin had never felt before.

He wanted to protect this person. He wanted to protect Han Taejun’s life by somehow enduring, by not dying, by not giving up and resisting and fighting even more fiercely.

“Mr. President.”

“Why.”

“Do not worry.”

“What?”

“I will protect you.”

So Haeshin said it half impulsively. It was an presumptuous statement he would never have made before. How ridiculous to say that he would protect someone when he could not even protect his own life, given his status.

“Mr. President, do not worry about anything.”

But at this moment, Haeshin was sincere. It was fortunate that the dream was just a dream, but such a thing could happen in reality at any time. Whether physically or mentally, Haeshin absolutely did not want to see Taejun hurt or injured.

“I will become stronger.”

Han Taejun’s regression entirely depended on Cha Haeshin. Haeshin could not even guess what kind of fear it was to have his life suddenly end by a complete stranger who had nothing to do with him.

So, Cha Haeshin wanted to give Taejun certainty, even though it was late. He would never take his life lightly, and he would do his absolute best to ensure he could greet tomorrow.

“I am sorry for surprising you suddenly. Please go back to sleep quickly.”

Haeshin wiped away the remaining moisture around his eyes naturally and bid farewell. He felt awkward because it was not something to say after causing such a commotion in the early morning, but he could not help it.

If he had not confirmed Taejun’s safety, he would not have been able to calm down this quickly. The nightmare had shaken Haeshin’s soul to that extent.

Haeshin, who had become so used to all sorts of nightmares that he could now smile and move past most of them, was so completely broken by the single scene of Han Taejun being stabbed that he could not understand it himself.

He blamed himself, thinking that he must have become too weak due to a series of events, and just as Haeshin turned his body to leave the room.

“Cha Haeshin.”

Han Taejun called Haeshin with a heavier voice. Haeshin, who turned around with a somewhat surprised face, looked down. Taejun was holding onto Haeshin’s wrist.

“Mr. President……?”

“Instead of doing that……”

“……?”

“Will you sleep here tonight?”

Han Taejun’s words that followed were something Haeshin had never even considered in a dream.

A moment of silence flowed in the room. Cha Haeshin was not the only one embarrassed by the unexpected suggestion. Taejun, who had uttered the words, was even more flustered.

The moment he spoke the words, he realized it was wrong. Asking him to sleep here suddenly. No matter how he thought about it, it was a strange thing to say. Cold sweat beaded on Taejun’s spine, who rarely got embarrassed. He had no idea how to resolve this situation.

He simply could not forget Haeshin’s tear stained cheek. He felt sorry for him, trembling in fear, and at the same time, he found the desire to quickly regain stability and promise to protect him affectionate and grateful.

So he simply hoped that Haeshin would not wake up crying alone or tremble in fear again, but now that he had said the words, he was embarrassed because it sounded as if he had a dark, ulterior motive.

Yet, if asked if he truly had no ulterior motive, that was not the case either, so Taejun’s mind began to get more and more tangled, and the awkward silence lengthened.

“I mean, um……”

Taejun could not stand the uncomfortable atmosphere and opened his mouth again. But the words he had abruptly blurted out without a plan were not naturally connected.

“If you are too scared, um…… If you have a very bad nightmare, you might have trouble falling asleep again alone…… I know that……”

Taejun stuttered to the point where he wondered if he had ever rambled this much in his life.

Once he started stuttering, he became embarrassed because it somehow seemed even more suspicious, which made his words even more tangled. Yet, he could not ask him to just pretend he did not hear it now.

“No, I do not necessarily mean you have to sleep here, but if you want to, I mean that it is fine.”

In the end, Taejun finished his sentence, continuing to mutter like an idiot. His earlobes were burning red. He did not even know if Haeshin had properly understood his words, as he had spoken so poorly.

Indeed, Haeshin was making a blank expression. It seemed he had made a huge mistake.

However, the reason Haeshin was making a blank face and could not answer was not because he did not understand his words properly, as Taejun guessed.

Honestly, when he first heard the suggestion to sleep here, Haeshin naturally thought it was absurd.

Taejun obviously would not mean giving up the room, so it must mean sleeping together in this room, but did that make sense? Haeshin naturally tried to refuse immediately.

Mr. President, I am very grateful for your kindness. But you will be uncomfortable if I am here, so I will sleep in my room. Thanks to you, I think I will be alright now.

The polite words of refusal came to mind naturally. It would also not be difficult to say those words out loud. Han Taejun was not the kind of person who would get angry for refusing his consideration.

But as a result, Haeshin could not utter a single word of the words prepared in his mind. That was purely Cha Haeshin’s own problem.

He clearly thought he was alright, his tears had stopped, and his emotions had subsided, even allowing him to bravely declare to Taejun that he would protect him, but the moment he heard Taejun’s suggestion, he suddenly felt afraid to go back to his room alone.

He felt like that nightmare would come again if he lay alone in the dark room on his bed. Even though there was no basis for it, he was certain that the nightmare would repeat.

He did not want to feel the powerlessness of being unable to do anything while watching Taejun get hurt with his own eyes again, and he was also afraid to watch Han Taejun suffer and bleed.

He felt it would be good if he could confirm Han Taejun, who was safely asleep and breathing evenly, right next to him if he were to have that dream again.

“Um……”

Haeshin opened his mouth after a long time. Haeshin was a brave person, so much so that he had even become accustomed to his own death, but he had no immunity to Han Taejun’s death, so,

“Would Mr. President be uncomfortable if I were next to you?”

“It does not matter. I am not uncomfortable.”

Despite rambling for a long time, Taejun answered without a single second of hesitation. That resoluteness gave Haeshin courage.

“Then I will impose upon you for just tonight.”

A bright smile momentarily spread across Taejun’s face upon hearing Haeshin’s answer. He could definitely say it was absolutely not a smile made by Han Taejun’s own will.

☂️

This is bad.

Haeshin sighed inwardly the moment he lay down in the bed. He could not sleep because of Han Taejun next to him.

Although they were side by side, because Taejun’s bed was so wide, the two people were not stuck close together. But the fact that the space was wide did not mean one bed stopped being one bed.

Haeshin was so tense that he could not move, lying rigidly and only staring at the ceiling. He could not even toss and turn freely, afraid that moving might disturb Taejun’s sleep.

“Good night.”

Just then, Taejun’s voice was heard from the side. Haeshin, who gripped the blanket tightly with both hands and curled his toes, feeling a sudden chill down his spine, hastily opened his mouth.

“Yes? Ah, yes, yes. Good night.”

His ears were ringing like tinnitus, so he could not properly hear what his own voice sounded like. He could only hope that it was not too strange.

“If you have a scary dream again, wake me up.”

Taejun’s words continued. It was a gentle and soft voice. Haeshin bit his lip. It suddenly felt surreal that there was someone who worried about his nightmares.

The ringing tinnitus slowly disappeared. Only then could Haeshin properly feel his own heartbeat. His heart was beating faster than usual, but he did not dislike that fluttering feeling.

“Yes. If Mr. President also has a nightmare, please, please wake me up.”

“……Alright.”

Taejun quietly replied to Haeshin’s cautious words. Tension eased as if by magic, and his whole body felt languid.

Thinking that Taejun, who even offered his own bed out of concern for Cha Haeshin’s nightmares, was next to him, he felt like any nightmare that came would be alright.

The certainty that no one in this reality could hurt him as long as Han Taejun was next to him, even if he wandered in a nightmare, stabilized Haeshin’s soul.

Savoring a peace he had longed for all his life but had never obtained in countless regressions, Haeshin closed his eyes. Soon, Haeshin surrendered his body to the sleepiness that swept over him.