"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 - Self-restraint in Activities —The Hands We Held and the Creeping Shadow
"...Minase Ren, you're being placed on hiatus from all activities."
The executive floor of Aozora Entertainment's headquarters, eighth floor, conference room.
The air in the room was heavy.
Across a long table, Ren faced the board members. Men in black suits stared at documents with uniformly grim expressions.
"All commercials are cancelled. The offer for the film *Confession in Blue* is also withdrawn."
"...Understood."
Ren nodded quietly. His deep amber eyes stayed fixed on a single point on the table. His black hair was neat as always, but his cheeks were slightly hollow. He hadn't been eating properly for the past two weeks.
"The period will be... for the time being, indefinitely."
"I understand."
Ren's voice was so flat it surprised even himself.
The executives exchanged glances, looking like they wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing.
Outside the conference room windows, Shibuya carried on as usual. The crowds crossing the scramble intersection. Commercials playing on the giant screens. Ren's face was no longer among them.
"Ren-kun."
A soft voice suddenly cut through the air in the room.
"If I think of your future, I truly believe this is for the best."
Kamiya Tooru. Vice president of Aozora Entertainment. Forty-eight years old. Gray-black hair slicked back, sharp, narrow eyes.
Kamiya walked over to Ren's side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It must be hard. But this industry plays the long game. One stumble doesn't mean it's all over."
His mouth was smiling. His voice was warm.
But Ren knew. He knew the moment Kamiya's narrow eyes would open, just for an instant, and hold a cold light.
"Thank you."
Ren bowed his head. His fists clenched tight on his knees. His nails dug into his palms. The pain killed the emotion.
(This man isn't genuinely worried about me.)
Ren had long sensed a cold calculation behind Kamiya's smile. The young actor Kamiya backed—Himuro Kei. Ren's rival. Kamiya probably wanted to knock Ren down and expand his own faction.
(But I have no proof.)
All Ren could do was endure.
"Then, that will be all for today."
With that, Kamiya left the conference room. The executives filed out one after another.
Ren, the last to remain, exhaled deeply in the empty room.
"...Damn it."
He muttered it low, like spitting it out.
Outside the window, Tokyo's sky hung heavy and gray.
From there, Ren headed to his private dressing room on the fifth floor.
When he opened the door, no one was inside. A sofa, a refrigerator, a nap room. A place that usually echoed with staff voices and script pages was now dead silent.
Ren sank onto the sofa and stared up at the ceiling.
(It's over.)
Deep in his chest, a dark feeling spread slowly.
Japan's most popular actor, Minase Ren. Twenty-five. One point five million yen per episode for a drama lead. Thirty million yen per commercial. Eight million social media followers.
All of it had crumbled in two weeks.
A fabricated scandal. "Secret date photos" with Mizuhara Shiori. Clearly composited images, taken at dates and places Ren knew nothing about.
And yet the public kept attacking Ren.
Commercial contracts were terminated, film offers withdrawn. The agency announced his hiatus.
Ren hadn't done anything.
And yet he'd lost everything.
"...Senpai."
A voice came from beyond the door.
Ren lifted his head.
"May I come in?"
Light brown, fluffy hair. A little long, tucked behind the ears. Large, clear black eyes. A slender frame in a black recruiting suit.
Tachibana Hinata. Ren's manager. And Ren's secret lover.
"...Yeah."
When Ren nodded, Hinata quietly opened the door and came in.
"How was the meeting?"
Hinata sat beside Ren and peered into his face.
"It's decided. Hiatus. Commercials, the film—all gone."
"...I see."
Hinata's black eyes filled with pain.
"It's over, Hinata."
Ren murmured quietly.
"My career is finished."
"Senpai."
"Everything's gone."
"Senpai!"
Hinata gripped Ren's hand with both of his.
"I'm here. You're not alone, Senpai."
Hinata's hands were warm.
Ren looked at Hinata's face. Hinata's large black eyes were wet with tears. And still, Hinata was smiling.
"I'm your manager, after all. Even if there's no work, my job is to be by your side."
"...Is that a manager's job?"
"It's a lover-and-manager's job."
Hinata said it without a hint of shame.
Ren couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"...You really are an idiot."
"Yes. I'm so in love with you that I've become an idiot."
Hinata smiled brightly.
Ren squeezed Hinata's hand back.
"...Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The two of them held hands for a while.
The dressing room was quiet.
Still holding Ren's hand, Hinata reached his other hand toward Ren's hair.
"Senpai, your hair's gotten long."
"Didn't feel like going to the salon."
"It suits you. I love your black hair, Senpai."
Hinata gently stroked Ren's bangs.
Ren buried his face in Hinata's shoulder.
"...Hinata."
"Yes."
"Just let me stay like this for a little while."
"...Of course. For as many hours as you want."
Hinata wrapped his arms around Ren's back.
Ren held Hinata's slender body close.
Hinata's warmth. Hinata's scent. Hinata's heartbeat.
(As long as I have him, I can keep living.)
That was what Ren thought.
That night, the two met in the underground parking garage of Aozora's headquarters.
Basement level two. The executive parking area. White fluorescent light illuminated the bare concrete walls.
Ren wore a black cap pulled low and a mask. Hinata was in his usual recruiting suit.
"Sorry, did I keep you waiting?"
"No, I just got here."
Hinata shook his head slightly.
The two pressed themselves into the shadow of a pillar.
"Security patrols here, so we can't stay long."
"I know. ...But I wanted to see your face, Senpai."
Hinata gazed at Ren's face through the mask.
"We just saw each other this afternoon."
"I want to see you as many times as I can."
Hinata smiled, a little embarrassed.
Ren took Hinata's hand.
"...You're freezing."
"It's underground, so it's cold."
Ren wrapped both his hands around Hinata's.
"Your hands are warm, Senpai."
"You're just bad with the cold."
"Maybe."
They looked at each other and shared a small laugh.
In the silence of the underground garage, their breath rose white in the air.
"...Senpai, I'm happy."
Hinata said it quietly.
"Even in a situation like this, just being able to see you makes me happy."
"...You really are an idiot."
Ren gripped Hinata's hand tighter.
"But that's exactly why I—"
He stopped there and closed his mouth.
"Senpai?"
"...Never mind."
Ren turned his face away to hide his embarrassment.
Hinata watched Ren's profile and let out a soft laugh.
"Senpai, are you blushing?"
"Shut up."
"You're cute."
"You're younger than me, you know."
"Even if I'm younger, there are times when I think you're cute, Senpai."
"...Enough."
Ren let go of Hinata's hand.
But Hinata gently caught Ren's fingers again.
"I won't let go."
"...Yeah, I know."
Ren smiled faintly.
Just then, a faint sound came from the back of the garage.
Ren and Hinata turned toward it at the same time.
But there was no one there.
"...Must be my imagination."
"I think so. ...But we should get going."
"Yeah."
The two reluctantly let go of each other's hands and walked toward separate exits.
After Ren left, a man emerged from behind a pillar in the underground garage.
Black suit. Expressionless. A small camera in his hand.
The man checked the camera's monitor and nodded slightly.
On the screen, Ren and Hinata holding hands were captured clearly.
The next day, Hinata sat alone at his computer in his apartment in Nakano Ward.
A twenty-five-year-old one-room apartment. Rent: sixty-eight thousand yen. A narrow space with just a bed, a small desk, and a refrigerator.
Hinata was thinking about whether there was anything he could do for Ren.
(I want to be useful to Ren-san.)
Hinata began searching through online news and industry insiders' social media, one after another.
"Minase Ren scandal." "Scoop Japan Minase Ren." "Mizuhara Shiori Minase Ren."
He typed various terms into the search bar.
He scrolled through the screen for hours.
Eventually, one article caught his eye.
"Scoop Japan editor-in-chief Iwasaki Makoto and Aozora Entertainment vice president Kamiya Tooru—close ties?"
It was a small online news article.
Hinata read it voraciously.
According to the article, Iwasaki Makoto and Kamiya Tooru had been close for over ten years. Photos of the two playing golf together, and sightings of them dining at high-end restaurants, had been reported several times over the years.
(Ten years of association...)
Hinata dug deeper.
He found rumors on several anonymous forums that Kamiya had ruined multiple entertainers using the same methods in the past.
"Actors who defied Kamiya all disappeared." "Aozora is Kamiya's dictatorship." "He leaks information to weekly magazines to crush his rivals."
No way to know if it was true. But all of it matched Ren's current situation.
(Kamiya set Ren-san up...?)
A dark anger surged in Hinata's chest.
"...I won't forgive this."
Hinata clenched his fists.
Just then, his phone buzzed.
An incoming call from an unknown number.
Hinata hesitated for a moment, then pressed the call button.
"...Hello?"
"It's been a while, Tachibana."
A low, muddy voice.
Hinata's body went rigid.
He could never forget this voice.
"...Sakakibara-san."
"Oh, you remembered. Makes me happy."
Sakakibara. Former member of Kagerou Finance. The loan shark Hinata's father had borrowed from.
"What do you want?"
Hinata fought to keep his voice from shaking.
"I don't call unless I want something. ...So, you're Minase Ren's manager now, huh."
"...What about it?"
"Must be nice. Getting all cozy with the entertainment world big shots."
Sakakibara's voice had a mocking ring to it.
"Listen, Tachibana. Your old man's debt is still outstanding."
Hinata's heart lurched.
"With interest, it's a fair amount. How much are you making now? Twenty-two thousand a month? You couldn't pay it off in a lifetime."
"...I'll pay off my father's debt. But right now—"
"'But' nothing."
Sakakibara's voice dropped suddenly.
"If you don't want your past exposed, cut ties with Minase Ren."
Hinata gasped.
"W-what are you—"
"I know everything about what you used to do. How you got involved with the underworld to cover your old man's debts. I still have the photos from back then."
Hinata's fingertips went cold.
"Cut ties with Minase Ren, and I'll keep quiet about your past. Not a bad deal, is it?"
"...No."
Hinata forced the word out.
"Huh?"
"No. I won't do anything that betrays Senpai."
Hinata's voice was trembling. But his words were clear.
"...Heh. Got some nerve."
Sakakibara laughed low.
"You'll regret this, Tachibana. Don't come crying when your precious Minase Ren-sama gets what's coming to him."
"...What are you planning to do to Senpai?"
"Who knows. Depends on how you play it."
"...I will protect Senpai. No matter what."
"Protect him if you can."
With that, Sakakibara hung up.
Click. Click. Click.
Hinata stood frozen, clutching his phone.
His heart was pounding so loud it hurt.
(Ren-san must never find out.)
Hinata pictured Ren's face.
(Ren-san doesn't know about my past. If he found out, he'd surely...)
Hinata touched his right wrist.
An old scar. A mark from when Hinata had once hurt himself.
(If he finds out, Ren-san will hate me.)
Hinata hugged his knees and curled up small.
That night, Ren visited Hinata's apartment.
"Hinata, you there?"
Ren knocked on the door.
No answer.
Ren used the spare key Hinata had given him and opened the door.
"Hinata?"
The room was dim.
Hinata sat on the bed, hugging his knees.
"...Ren-san."
Hinata lifted his face. His eyes were red and swollen.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Ren sat
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