Was promoted to team leader after the first pick rejected the position.

So a "team leader" position became available and they wanted it to be an internal hire from the same dept. Surprisingly only 3 people applied for it (myself included). I always knew it was gonna be between me and this other person due to our experience and knowledge. After a month of higherups deliberating, they offered the position to the other person. All fair since he's been longer at the dept and is all around more knowledgeable than me. Thing is that he's been telling me for a while now that he would reject the position cause he knew he wasnt getting too much of a pay raise, cause his salary is past beyond the limit and that it would disrupt his work life balance (meaning having to work 8 hours instead of just finishing his tasks and taking it easy).

And he did just that. He was offered more, but not enough so he declined it. Not sure if it was a smart idea saying exactly why, but gotta respect that. A few hours later I was offered the position. Same amount offered to him. Since my salary lower, its a bit of decent bump for me (around 7k). I was gonna take it regardless, cause I just wanted to grow my career.

Thing is...not exactly sure how to feel about it. Yes, Im excited. My manager seemed optimistic and happy when he offered it to me, but I'm still sloppy seconds? IDK, I guess it's a bit of an ego thing being chosen second even though he was (in paper) the most logical option over experience and spending less of the budget promoting someone.