"Forty-seven missed calls. A scandal exploding across every screen. And only one person who came to the door."
Minase Ren has it all—the face of a generation, a top-floor penthouse, and a "national sweetheart" image built to perfection. But when a tabloid drops photos of him in a secret date with his co-star, the internet turns on him overnight. There's just one problem: the photos are fake. And no one wants to hear it.
Trapped in his apartment, drowning in hate and missed calls from the peopl
In the Night of the Scandal, With You - I watched all of senpai's stage performances — the only one who understood, and the shadows of the past
The light slipping through the gap in the curtains turned the dust in the room a pale white.
Minase Ren sat curled up on the sofa, knees hugged to his chest, unable to move.
On his phone screen, the abuse scrolled on as always.
"#MinaseRenIsTrash" "#Traitor" "#NeverShowYourFaceOnTVAgain"
Each character stabbed into his chest like a dull ache.
(It's been days of the same thing.)
Ren narrowed his deep amber eyes and closed the screen.
The top floor of Lumiere Tower, a luxury high-rise in Minato Ward. A corner unit on the 33rd floor. Monthly rent: 800,000 yen.
The view of Tokyo from this room usually calmed him.
But not now.
The curtains stayed shut tight.
The air in the room was stagnant, only the air-conditioning circulating pointlessly.
On the table sat a half-eaten convenience store onigiri.
He'd bought it two days ago.
One bite, and he hadn't touched it since.
His appetite had vanished long ago.
(If I could just... disappear like this.)
Ren buried his face in his knees.
Minase Ren, national heartthrob actor. Twenty-five. 1.5 million yen per episode for a drama lead. 30 million yen per commercial. Eight million social media followers.
Every one of those labels felt heavy and suffocating now.
The perfect smile. The polished manners. The "Minase Ren" everyone adored.
All of it was a mask Ren had built.
The real Ren was clumsy, fragile, and bad at relying on people.
Even when things hurt, he couldn't tell anyone.
If he did, the perfect Minase Ren would crumble.
He'd disappoint his fans.
So he'd carried it all alone, all this time.
And now the backlash was crashing down on him.
(Someone... help me.)
A small voice spoke from deep inside him.
(But who?)
Ren had no one to show his weakness to.
...Or so he'd thought.
Ding-dong.
Suddenly, the intercom rang.
Ren's shoulders jolted.
(Again.)
Over the past week, the intercom had rung countless times.
Agency people. Drama producers. Commercial sponsors.
Ren had ignored every single one.
Today would be no different.
Ren stayed sunk into the sofa, motionless.
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The sound repeated, insistent.
Reluctantly, Ren opened the intercom app on his phone.
What appeared on the monitor was—
Light brown, fluffy hair.
A little long, tucked behind the ears.
Large, clear black eyes. Honest eyes that betrayed every emotion.
A slender frame in a black recruiting suit.
Tachibana Hinata. Ren's manager.
"Senpai, I know you're in there. Open up."
The voice through the intercom was clear and carrying.
Ren couldn't answer.
(Hinata...)
Hinata was Ren's junior from university, and had only recently become his manager.
Still twenty-two. Barely half a year since he'd joined Aozora Entertainment.
Bright, easygoing, a natural charmer everyone liked.
But underneath, he was earnest, with a stubborn streak that refused to bend once he'd made up his mind.
Honestly, Ren found Hinata a little hard to deal with.
No—that wasn't quite right.
(Around Hinata, my mask starts to slip.)
Hinata seemed to have vaguely noticed that Ren was performing the role of the perfect actor.
Whenever Ren was tired, whenever he was forcing a smile, Hinata would always look worried and say, "Senpai, don't push yourself."
Those words stung Ren, somehow.
"Senpai, I'm not going home today. Not a chance."
Hinata's voice echoed through the monitor.
"I'll stay here all day. I'll wait in front of your door. If that's fine with you, then ignore me."
Ren gripped his phone.
(Wait, he says... is he serious?)
Hinata absolutely would do it.
That stubbornness—Ren knew it better than anyone.
Ren let out a deep breath and rose from the sofa.
His legs wobbled.
He hadn't eaten properly in a week.
He'd barely slept.
His face in the mirror was pale, cheeks hollow.
His black hair was a mess, bangs falling over his eyes.
His deep amber eyes were bloodshot and clouded.
(I can't let him see me like this.)
But Hinata wouldn't leave.
Ren walked to the entryway on heavy legs.
In front of the door, he took one deep breath.
Click.
He unlocked it.
The door swung open slowly.
"...Senpai."
Hinata's black eyes went wide.
The moment he saw Ren's face, his expression turned serious.
(Ah. Of course.)
Seeing Hinata's reaction, Ren regretted it.
(I shouldn't have let him see.)
Hinata was speechless for a moment.
But then—
Hinata smiled, soft and warm.
A gentle, warm, utterly Hinata-like smile.
"Senpai, are you okay?"
His voice was astonishingly kind.
Something deep in Ren's chest tightened.
(Why are you making a face like that?)
Ren fought back the tears welling up.
"...Come in."
His voice was hoarse.
Hinata gave a small nod.
Ren staggered back to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa.
Hinata took off his shoes at the entrance and quietly stepped up.
In his hands, a convenience store bag.
"Senpai, have you eaten anything?"
"...Not really."
"That's no good. You'll wreck your health."
Hinata stood at the kitchen counter and pulled onigiri and tea from the bag.
"Here, eat this. I bought the salmon onigiri you like, senpai."
Ren stared at Hinata's hands.
Salmon onigiri.
Something Ren had loved since university.
"...How'd you know that?"
Ren's voice was still hoarse.
Hinata grinned mischievously.
"I know everything about you, senpai. I'm your stalker, after all."
"Don't say scary things like that."
Ren couldn't help but crack a wry smile.
It felt like the first time he'd smiled in a week.
Hinata sat down beside Ren.
The distance between them was less than twenty inches.
Hinata's body heat reached him through the air.
"Senpai, I'm your junior from university, you know. Do you remember?"
Ren looked closely at Hinata's face.
"...Sorry. Honestly, I don't."
"Right? I was pretty plain back then."
Hinata laughed brightly.
"We talked once, at the theater club's welcome party. You told me, 'You've got a voice that carries.'"
Ren tugged at the threads of his memory.
University days. Theater club.
Ren had been attending auditions constantly while going to school.
He'd barely shown up to the club.
His memories of the welcome party were vague.
"...Sorry, I still can't remember."
When Ren apologized honestly, Hinata shook his head.
"It's fine. I was the only one who remembered."
Hinata looked Ren straight in the eye.
"But I saw every one of your stage performances, senpai."
"...Every one?"
"Yes. Both *Fireflies of Atami* and *Orpheus at Dawn*."
Hinata's eyes sparkled.
"When you stand on stage, senpai, the air in the audience changes. At first it's all murmuring, but the moment you deliver your first line, it goes completely still. I still remember that feeling."
Ren was at a loss for words.
*Fireflies of Atami* and *Orpheus at Dawn* were small theater productions Ren had appeared in during university.
The audience was fifty people at most.
Tickets barely sold.
And Hinata had seen every one.
"...You remember stages from that long ago?"
Ren muttered, trying to hide his embarrassment.
Hinata smiled happily.
"How could I forget? That's when I thought—I'm going to follow this person."
"You're exaggerating."
"I'm not. Watching your stage performances is what made me decide to enter the entertainment industry."
At Hinata's words, Ren felt something warm spread through his chest.
(This person... he's the one I can let see.)
It was the first time Ren had thought that.
Even if he took off the mask, this person wouldn't run away.
He felt that, somehow.
"...Hinata."
Ren said Hinata's name.
Hinata looked at him, slightly surprised.
Ren only called Hinata by name when they were alone.
"You know, around you, my real self just comes out somehow."
Ren stared at his own hands and began to speak slowly.
"When you became my manager, honestly, I hated it. You were the last person I wanted to see my pathetic side."
Hinata listened silently.
"But no matter how cold I was, you came to my dressing room every day. Smiling, saying 'Good work today.'"
Ren smiled a little.
"That straightforwardness of yours—it was blinding, but it felt good. Comfortable."
Hinata's eyes welled up as he listened.
"I like you, Hinata. As a lover."
Ren took Hinata's hand.
Hinata's hand was small and warm.
"...I know."
Hinata smiled through his tears.
"I love you too, Ren-san. That's why I'm here right now."
Hinata squeezed Ren's hand back.
Their relationship went beyond manager and talent.
But it was a relationship that absolutely could not be known.
Aozora Entertainment's employment rules forbade personal relationships between managers and talent.
If discovered, Hinata would be dismissed. Penalty fees up to ten million yen.
Ren never let himself forget that.
"Hey, Hinata."
"Yes?"
"Because of me, you might end up in danger too."
Ren tightened his grip on Hinata's hand.
"This scandal—there's definitely something behind it. Someone's trying to bring me down."
Hinata looked steadily into Ren's eyes.
"Ren-san."
Hinata's voice was calm.
"If it's for you, senpai, I don't mind getting fired."
"Don't say stupid things."
Ren shot back immediately.
But somewhere in his heart, the words made him happy.
"I'm serious."
Hinata grinned mischievously.
"If I can protect you, senpai, that's enough. I basically decided my whole life after seeing your stage performances."
Ren gave a wry smile at Hinata's words.
"Don't say things like that so lightly."
"I'm not saying it lightly. Once I decide something, I never go back on it."
Hinata's black eyes didn't look like he was joking.
Ren held Hinata's hand and fell silent for a while.
The room was quiet.
Only the hum of the air conditioner and their breathing.
"...You know, I'm from Atami, in Shizuoka."
Ren began to speak quietly.
"My family runs a small inn. My parents had a huge debt back in the day. I came to Tokyo to pay it off."
Hinata listened silently.
"I figured if I became an actor, I could earn money. And I do now. I send money home. The debt's almost paid off."
Ren stared at his hands.
"But to do that, I kept performing 'the perfect Minase Ren.' When the real me is this weak, this clumsy, this pathetic."
Ren's voice trembled slightly.
"I couldn't show anyone the real me. I felt like if I did, everyone would leave."
Hinata wrapped both hands around Ren's.
"I know."
Hinata said quietly.
"I know you're the son of an inn in Atami, that you came to Tokyo to pay off your parents' debt. That you send money home. I know all of it."
Ren looked at Hinata in surprise.
"...How do you know that?"
"I looked into it. When I was assigned as your manager, I wanted to know everything about you."
Hinata smiled, a little proud.
"I'm the only one who knows your past, Ren-san."
Ren stared at Hinata, dumbfounded.
(This guy, seriously...)
Ren burst out laughing.
"You really are a stalker."
"I'm not a stalker. I'm a devoted fan."
Hinata shot back with a pout.
Seeing that face, Ren laughed again.
It felt like the first genuine laugh in a week.
"Hey, Hinata."
Ren picked up his phone.
"Would you look at this for me?"
Ren opened the Scoop Japan article and held it out to Hinata.
"This is all lies. I never did anything like that with Mizuhara Shiori."
Ren's hand was trembling slightly.
Hinata took the phone from Ren's hand and stared at the screen with a serious expression.
His black eyes moved, scanning every detail of the photo.
"...It's composited."
Hinata said immediately.
"The lighting is wrong. The light on Mizuhara-san's face and the light on your face are coming from opposite directions. And the background blur is unnatural too."
Ren felt a wave of relief at Hinata's words.
(He saw the same thing I did.)
When Ren had looked at the photo alone, he'd noticed it was composited.
But he'd thought no one would believe him.
That's what he'd assumed.
Hinata had noticed the unnaturalness of the photo, just like Ren.
That made him unbearably happy.
"Hinata, yo
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