Chapter 80: The Price of Victory

“Great job~”

“You all worked hard.”

The red light on the camera turned off, and the people nearby exchanged greetings.

“Congratulations~ But are you okay?”

Kim Minjun, standing next to him, spoke to Hyunjae, who barely nodded while clutching the bouquet in his arms.

“Hyunjae!”

“… Brother.”

“Are you okay…”

Hyunjae collapsed straight into Hayoon’s arms and closed his eyes.

“Hey, hey! Are you alright? Snap out of it.”

“This kid’s completely out.”

Hyungkyu, who had somehow come over, checked Hyunjae’s condition.

“Let’s move him to the waiting room first and get him to the hospital quickly.”

“Yes.”

Hayoon piggybacked Hyunjae and hurriedly ran straight to the waiting room.

“He’s been acting strange for a while now. What’s wrong with him?”

“Yeah…”

“From what I overheard, it seems he accidentally took some sedative wrong.”

The remaining cast members talked while watching Hyunjae’s retreating figure disappear.

“He won the lead role but couldn’t even enjoy it properly…”

“Yeah.”

The person who ultimately secured the male lead position was none other than Hyunjae. 

And none of the other actors had any objections to that fact.

“I was really shocked earlier.”

“Even I thought they wouldn’t pick me.”

“Exactly. Honestly, I was so embarrassed I nearly died while doing it.”

He realized anew how difficult it was to showcase acting skills live on air. 

Even veteran actors usually end up laughing when asked to act on variety shows, yet they made them do it.

“I gritted my teeth and did it.”

“But really… I admit it.”

No one expected him to deliver such high-quality acting.

“You must feel a bit disappointed, sunbae-nim.”

“No, not at all.”

Minjun instinctively knew. 

If he had beaten Hyunjae here with fan votes, he would have been buried in hate. 

That performance gave him chills just watching.

“It feels like an experience I won’t have twice.”

“Will there be another actor survival show?”

“Probably… not?”

Though he participated by chance, it was a new experience for them too.

“Ah…”

His consciousness gradually returned, and the moment he slightly opened his eyes, three faces appeared before him.

“Huh? Are you coming to?”

“Are you okay?”

“Are you alive?”

Overwhelmed by them shoving their faces in to check on him, he turned his head to look around and realized it was a hospital. 

Hyungkyu and Hayoon aside, why was this guy here? 

He had many questions, but first checked his own condition.

“Haa— What medicine did I take, they say?”

“Th-that’s…”

“It’s my medicine, but it accidentally got mixed into your gift, and you ended up taking it.”

Jiwon answered in place of the hesitant Hayoon.

“What?”

“The stylist picked it up off the floor without thinking and put it in there, and the manager brother found the pills inside and made you take them because it was live and he thought you might be nervous.”

The short, precise explanation made the situation immediately clear.

“I’m sorry!”

Hayoon apologized right away, thinking it was his fault.

“It’s not Brother’s fault. It could happen.”

“You took too strong a dose, so it’s just temporary. They say you’ll be fine after sleeping it off.”

It wasn’t done with bad intentions; it was just a minor accident.

“But you came all the way to the waiting room—why did you just leave?”

On top of not noticing he dropped the medicine he cherished more than anything, he forgot and left? 

For someone who knew the usual him, it was incomprehensible behavior.

“Huh? Something urgent suddenly came up…”

A lie. 

If something truly urgent happened, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be here now.

‘What on earth happened.’

“Anyway, since you’re awake, I need to wrap things up. The internet is exploding right now.”

“Did I look that weird?”

“Of course. But everyone thinks you got messed up from a sedative side effect.”

Sedative side effect?

“Really?”

“So we’re just going to confirm that in the press release. You match the story too.”

It wasn’t intentional, but it worked out perfectly. No need for unnecessary lies.

“And next week, there’s a meeting with the director and writer, so keep that in mind.”

“Ah, right. I got 1st place.”

He received the bouquet and seemed to give some acceptance speech. 

By the end, he couldn’t even properly remember what he said.

“Yeah, you got 1st and snagged the male lead.”

“Haa~ Thank goodness.”

“You acted all confident and relaxed by yourself, and now you say ‘thank goodness’?”

“If I didn’t act like that, the CEO and brother would worry and not trust me.”

“Wow… Our agency’s celebrity even worries about the CEO. Thanks a lot.”

Hyungkyu let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded and lightly tapped Hyunjae’s forehead twice.

“I’m off.”

“Take care~”

He waved as Hyungkyu left, and now only Hayoon and Jiwon remained in the single room.

“I’m okay, brother~ I got the male lead role anyway, and I’m fine.”

He comforted Hayoon, who stood beside him with a tearful face.

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m really okay. When can I be discharged?”

“They said if there’s no particular discomfort, you can leave in the morning.”

“Ah~ What time is it now? Brother, my phone.”

“Here!”

Hayoon quickly pulled out Hyunjae’s smartphone and handed it over. 

The phone was filled with congratulatory messages and contacts from acquaintances.

“Ah, uncle!”

Kyungho must have watched the live broadcast too, so he’d be more worried than anyone here—if anything, more, not less.

“I already contacted the old man.”

“Good job.”

He sent a simple “I’m okay” message to Kyungho and checked articles to see what his 1st place speech was and whether he said anything unnecessary.

[‘Love Some’’s owner was Jung Hyunjae. With unrivaled acting, he showed a clear vote gap with 2nd place…]

Fortunately, he hadn’t said anything special.

“Because of me…”

“Brother, don’t blame yourself. Thanks to that medicine, I might have acted the Lou Gehrig scene even better? But how did I reverse it?”

He was clearly losing the text votes—how did he climb to 1st?

“Uh? Taewoon brother and Jaehoon brother posted about it?”

After fiddling with the smartphone a few times, he quickly found the reason.

“Ah, that’s…”

“Eh? Brother asked them?”

The fact that Hayoon asked them to post was more surprising than the posts themselves.

“I just wanted to help even a little…”

“Brother… I’m so touched.”

For Hayoon of all people to go through this trouble to raise his vote count even slightly. 

They weren’t close with those two, and he wasn’t the type to ask favors easily—how could he not be moved?

“No, it’s my fault…”

“Wow~ What would I have done without Brother.”

“Huh? No…”

“I really love you, brother!”

To stop the apologies, he deliberately hyped Hayoon up, and Hayoon flustered, his ears turning red with embarrassment.

“I didn’t do anything, just caused trouble…”

“The trouble was caused by that guy. How is it brother’s trouble. And this isn’t even trouble.”

“No, I almost caused a big problem by making you take it.”

“Stop saying that and go home to rest. Brother must have been shocked because of me.”

If he stayed, Hayoon would keep feeling guilty, so he tried to send him home quickly.

“No, I need to stay by your side.”

“Do I look like a kid? I’m fine. I’m getting discharged tomorrow morning anyway.”

“Still…”

“He’s here too, so it’s okay.”

He pointed at Jiwon and finally succeeded in persuading the reluctant Hayoon.

“Then I’ll come in the morning.”

“You don’t have to! I’ll take my time getting discharged, so rest well at home~”

He sent Hayoon off with a smiling face, and the moment the door closed, he glared at Jiwon.

“Wh-what. Why are you looking at me like that.”

“You have something to tell me.”

“Ha, what… You seem fine, so I’ll get going too.”

He grabbed Jiwon as he tried to stand and escape.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

“It’s late, I need to get home.”

“Since when.”

“Haha. What are you talking about.”

He was pretending not to know so obviously that it was clear he was hiding something.

“You didn’t used to take this much.”

He knew Jiwon had been gradually reducing the dosage since meeting him and was almost off it now. 

Yet he had such strong pills? 

Since when?

“I wasn’t taking them, just carrying them around.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? You rushed here the moment you saw my state on air.”

“||”

Presented with irrefutable evidence, Jiwon shut his mouth instead of answering.

“Why would you need such strong pills. Don’t tell me… it started again?”

“No!”

“There’s no other explanation.”

“I just couldn’t sleep. Don’t overreact.”

He spoke with a straight face as if it absolutely wasn’t true, but Hyunjae knew. 

That kind of defensive outburst meant it was 100% true.

“What happened.”

“I told you it’s not.”

“I haven’t been paying enough attention.”

“Ha… I told you it’s not.”

Even while talking, Jiwon never once looked at him.

“See? You’re not looking at me.”

He was more transparent than anyone, so he couldn’t even meet his eyes for fear of being found out.

“Confess before I call your brother right now.”

“Hey!”

“Let’s not blow this up when we can solve it between us?”

“Ha… fine.”

“Quickly.”

Under continued urging, Jiwon showed him the messages on his smartphone.

“What… is this?”

“Blackmail messages, obviously.”

The moment he saw the messages, chills ran down his spine. 

Same time every day. 

Identical text.

“What kind of blackmail is this?”

He couldn’t understand how “Mom is waiting” could be blackmail.

“The mom written here isn’t my real mom.”

“Huh?”

“My nanny.” Nanny…

Like in historical dramas, the person who raises and cares for the young prince?

“She was mentally ill. Raising me as a nanny, she started thinking I was her real son, and to take me away from that family, she gaslighted me.”

Gaslighting?

“She got caught by my parents and was kicked out, so she tried to take me with her, thinking I’d save her. But I didn’t fall for it…”

“And then?”

“She died.”

“Huh?”

She suddenly died—what…

“She staged a show. Probably because things didn’t go her way, she blamed me and died. Right in front of my eyes.”

Insane. A complete psycho.

“Then these messages…”

“That woman is definitely dead. So someone else who knows about the incident must be messing with me.”

“Why did you just stay quiet knowing this.”

It was frustrating. Something like this could easily be tracked down.

“What, run to them over something this trivial and tattle?”

As expected, he was too clever and soft-hearted. Anyone else would have reported it long ago and found the sender.

“Yeah. Why not?”

“Wow…”

At the confident words, Jiwon exhaled as if dumbfounded.

“But sending something like this—maybe someone from your family?”

“Probably. Even if they ordered silence, it’s hard to make it perfect.”

“They might be close to you right now… Huh?”

While talking, the door to their room rattled and shook.

‘…Wait, I’ll go check.’

Hyunjae got out of bed, muffled his footsteps, and slowly walked toward the door.