"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 - Unhidden Love — The Press Conference and a Promise Under the Blue Sky
The "Grand Hall Oak," a press conference room in the basement of a hotel in Chiyoda, was already thick with a strange, electric heat before the doors even opened.
The three hundred seats filled the instant the venue opened. Men clutching cameras crowded the aisles and pressed against the walls. At the entrance stood a signboard: "Emergency Press Conference — Minase Ren." This was the place the industry whispered about—"If it's at the Oak, it's serious."
The floor lights shone white and cold, illuminating two chairs.
Backstage, in the shadows, Ren stared at his own palms.
His fingertips were trembling, just slightly.
(It's fine.)
(I'm not afraid of anything.)
Ren glanced at Hinata, standing beside him.
That fluffy light-brown hair. Those big, clear black eyes. Hinata was looking straight ahead. His small shoulders rose and fell, just a little. He wasn't the only one who was nervous.
"...Are your hands cold?"
Ren said it quietly.
"Huh?"
Hinata looked up at him.
"Ah, no... mine might be gross with sweat, actually."
Ren gave a wry smile.
Hinata blinked for a second, then broke into a soft, melting grin.
"That's so unlike you, Ren-san. You're always so perfect."
"I'm only perfect in front of a camera."
"I know that."
Hinata laughed quietly.
"After all, I'm the only manager who knows the real you."
"...Yeah. You are."
Ren squeezed Hinata's hand tight.
Hinata's hand was cold as ice.
"Still cold."
"That's because your hand is so warm, Ren-san."
"Of course it is. I'm carrying enough heat for both of us."
Ren wrapped both hands around Hinata's.
Hinata's fingers gently laced through Ren's.
"...Let's go."
"Yes."
The two of them stepped out from backstage into the light.
In that instant, three hundred reporters turned their cameras on them all at once.
The shutter clicks roared like a storm.
Flashes lit their faces without mercy.
Ren did not let go of Hinata's hand.
He couldn't let go.
The two of them sat down side by side.
Ren drew a deep breath.
Beside him, Hinata straightened his back.
In the front row sat Kamiya Tooru.
His black hair, threaded with gray, was slicked back in a flawless all-back. His sharp, narrow eyes were smiling. His mouth wore an easy grin. Kamiya sat with his legs crossed, gazing down at Ren and Hinata as though from a height.
Ren met Kamiya's eyes.
Kamiya smiled, a thin curl of the lips.
(You can smile while you still can.)
Ren muttered it in his mind.
The moderator stepped in front of them, microphone in hand.
"Now then, Minase Ren-san has an announcement to make. Please quiet down."
The hall fell silent.
Ren reached for the microphone.
But Hinata gently stopped his hand.
"Ren-san. Let me speak first."
Hinata's voice was small.
But it wasn't shaking.
Ren looked into Hinata's eyes.
Hinata's black eyes gazed straight back at him.
"...All right."
Ren handed the microphone to Hinata.
Hinata gripped it.
His hand was trembling.
But his eyes looked straight ahead.
"Um... I'll be the one to speak."
Hinata's voice rang through the hall.
"My name is Tachibana Hinata. I'm Minase Ren-san's manager."
The reporters stirred.
"The manager? What's he got to say?"
"Isn't Minase himself speaking?"
Hinata pressed on, unbothered.
"There's a past I've kept hidden all this time."
The hall went quiet.
"My father once fell into debt. More than he could ever repay. He turned to loan sharks. A group called Kagerou Finance—an underworld lending operation."
Hinata's voice trembled, just slightly.
Ren squeezed his hand tight.
Hinata squeezed back.
"To pay off my father's debt, I had no choice but to get involved with people connected to Kagerou Finance. What I did... I can't say in detail here. But it's true that there are things in my past I don't want anyone to know."
Hinata paused for a moment.
The old scar on his right wrist seemed to prickle beneath his sleeve.
"Someone got hold of that past."
Hinata looked straight at Kamiya in the front row.
Kamiya's smile stiffened, just slightly.
"The vice president of Aozora Entertainment—Kamiya Tooru-san."
The hall erupted in murmurs.
The smile vanished from Kamiya's face.
"Vice President Kamiya told me this: 'Cut ties with Ren, and I'll keep quiet about Kagerou Finance.'"
Every camera swung toward Kamiya at once.
Kamiya started to rise, then stopped himself.
"And he said this, too: 'A romance between a manager and a talent is a disgrace to the industry.'"
Hinata's voice grew stronger.
"I was threatened—cut ties with Ren, or have my past exposed. Betray Ren, or else. But I couldn't betray him. Because I love him."
The hall went still as a struck pond.
Three hundred reporters held their breath, staring at Hinata.
Ren looked at Hinata's profile.
A single tear spilled from Hinata's eye and traced down his cheek.
"I don't want to give Ren to anyone. I don't want anyone to erase his smile. So here, in front of all of you, I'll tell the whole truth."
Hinata held his smartphone up to the microphone.
"I'm going to play a recording of Vice President Kamiya threatening me."
Kamiya shot to his feet with a clatter.
"Stop! That's a fabrication!"
Kamiya's voice cracked with emotion for the first time.
Hinata looked at him.
"Whether it's a fabrication is for everyone here to judge."
Hinata pressed play.
Kamiya's voice spilled out into the hall.
'Cut ties with Ren, and I'll make it all go away.'
That calm, gentle voice.
'Your past, your relationship—I'll keep it all locked in my heart.'
Kamiya's face went pale as death.
'You're not worthy of Ren.'
'A romance between a manager and a talent is a disgrace to the industry.'
The air in the hall froze.
'Your father's debt, Kagerou Finance—all of it will be exposed to the world.'
Kamiya stood frozen, unable to move.
'You're a smart boy. I trust you'll understand.'
The recording ended.
Silence.
A heavy, heavy silence.
The next instant, the hall exploded.
"Vice President Kamiya! Is this true?!"
"Do you admit to the threats?!"
"Your connection to Kagerou Finance?!"
The reporters surged toward Kamiya all at once.
Kamiya stumbled backward.
"N-no! This is a mistake! The voice just sounds similar!"
Kamiya's voice cracked and flipped.
Ren took the microphone from Hinata.
"Vice President Kamiya."
Ren's voice resonated low through the hall.
Kamiya looked at him.
"You paid the weekly magazine Scoop Japan to run a fabricated article, didn't you."
Kamiya's eyes flew wide.
"The 'secret date photos' of me and my co-star. Those were composites—photos taken on different days, stitched together. You paid the editor-in-chief, Iwatsuki Makoto, five million yen to make them."
"I—I don't know anything about that! What are you talking about?!"
Kamiya raised his voice.
Ren continued calmly.
"There's evidence. In the safe in your office, there are documents on fraudulent accounting. Among them should be records of the payments to Scoop Japan."
All the color drained completely from Kamiya's face.
"L-lies! Fabrication! You're trying to frame me!"
Kamiya shouted.
Hinata quietly opened his mouth.
"Vice President Kamiya. I recorded you in your office. This recording is unmistakably your voice. You can't talk your way out of it."
Hinata's voice was cold and quiet.
Kamiya was speechless.
His mouth opened and closed, gaping.
Ren looked straight at Kamiya.
"Vice President Kamiya. You tried to bring me down and install Himuro Kei at the top. To do that, you ran a fabricated article, threatened my manager, and terminated my contract."
Ren's voice grew stronger.
"What you did is a crime. Defamation. Intimidation. And fraud. All of it will come to light in court."
Kamiya staggered.
"N-no... I did it for your sake..."
"For my sake?"
Ren laughed.
"The only thing you did for my sake was wreck my life."
Kamiya tried to say something, but no words came.
Ren looked at Hinata.
Hinata was gazing at him, tears streaming down his face.
Ren squeezed Hinata's hand tight.
And then, in front of three hundred reporters, Ren said it.
"I love Tachibana Hinata."
The hall went utterly still.
"He is my everything. Because of him, I can stand here. He saved me."
Ren's voice was shaking.
But it was heard clearly.
"I won't give him to anyone. I'm going to live my life with him."
Tears spilled from Hinata's eyes.
Hinata took the microphone from Ren.
"...Me too."
Hinata's voice was a mess with tears.
"I love Ren, too. Ren is my everything. As long as I'm with him, I'm not afraid of anything."
Hinata gripped Ren's hand with both of his.
"Ren-san. I won't give you to anyone, either."
Tears spilled from Ren's eyes, too.
The two of them stood before three hundred reporters, hands clasped, weeping.
The air in the hall changed.
Anger, shock, and something warm—all mingled together.
Then Kamiya collapsed to the floor.
"...I'm sorry."
Kamiya's voice was hoarse.
"I was wrong. I was jealous of you, Ren-kun. I wanted Himuro at the top... I did all of it."
Kamiya pressed his forehead to the floor.
"I paid the magazine. I had the photos composited. I dug into the manager's past. I threatened him. ...I did all of it."
Kamiya's shoulders were shaking.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
Kamiya was crying.
Ren looked down at him.
(Was this man driven into a corner by something, too?)
A bitter feeling spread through Ren's chest.
But Ren shook his head.
(I won't pity him. This man tried to wreck Hinata's life and mine.)
Ren turned his back on Kamiya.
Hinata didn't look at Kamiya either.
The two of them rose, hands still clasped.
"This concludes the press conference."
Ren said it to the moderator.
The two of them left the hall.
Behind them, the shutter clicks kept ringing, on and on.
──
A few hours after the conference.
Social media was rewritten in an instant.
#BelieveInMinaseRen
#SupportMinaseRenAndTachibanaHinata
#ArrestKamiyaTooru
#NoToFabricatedArticles
The timeline was flooded with messages of support for Ren and Hinata.
Ren's commercial cancellation was withdrawn.
The offer for the film *Confession in Blue* was revived.
Aozora Entertainment announced Kamiya's dismissal as vice president.
Ren's contract termination was voided.
Hinata's disciplinary dismissal was rescinded.
Everything had been reversed.
──
Around the same time.
In a room in the Lumière Tower, a luxury condominium in Minato.
Himuro Kei sat staring at the television.
His near-silver platinum blond hair caught the light of the screen. His cold ice-blue eyes followed the images of Ren and Hinata.
The live broadcast of the conference ended.
Himuro picked up the remote.
"...You got me."
Himuro's voice was small and frayed.
"Minase-kun. You really do go diagonally past everything I imagine."
Himuro lifted only the left corner of his mouth, just slightly.
"To think you're genuinely in love with that manager."
Himuro turned off the television.
The screen went black.
The room fell silent.
Himuro sank deep into the sofa.
"...I'm alone."
Himuro's voice reached no one.
──
Ren and Hinata walked out of the Grand Hall Oak.
Outside was a blue sky.
A clear, cloudless blue sky.
Ren looked up.
"...It's blue."
"Yes. It really is."
Hinata looked up, too.
Behind them, the reporters' cameras were still clicking.
But the two of them didn't look back.
Ren squeezed Hinata's hand tight.
"Hinata."
"Yes."
"We're not hiding anymore, right?"
Ren looked at Hinata.
Hinata looked up at him and smiled brightly.
"Yes. No more hiding."
Hinata's smile shone against the blue sky.
"Ren-san. I want to walk beside you. Without hiding from anyone."
"So do I."
Ren didn't let go of Hinata's hand.
"I'll walk with you, too. No matter what anyone says."
Ren's voice was strong.
Hinata buried his face in Ren's chest.
"Ren-san. I love you."
Hinata's voice was muffled.
Ren held him tight.
"Me too. I love you."
Ren's voice echoed gently in Hinata's ear.
The two of the
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