A month later.

Jinki rushed out of the shower on hearing his phone ring. He had forgotten to take his phone with him inside since he usually got calls in the morning when the employees under him started working. His logistics business had early hours, and since Jinki worked until closing time, he allowed himself to go in late, but being the owner, the one solely in charge and responsible meant he had to be present in one way or the other from open to close. Sometimes even beyond. He had ideas to ease things, but they would take time and growth. Until then, he was stuck taking his phone with him even to the bathroom.

He wiped his wet hands on the towel he had tied at the waist before he pulled his phone out from charging and turned it towards him. It wasn’t a saved number that was flashing on his screen but he recognized it. Because he had memorized it before he had wiped Shiwon’s phone.

A number he even entered on his phone now and then, but never felt right about hitting the call button.

Somehow his mind was both frenzied and at a standstill. And he acted on the first thought his quick thinking suggested to him.

He answered it. “Hello?”

“Hello. Am I speaking to…” Jinki recognized the voice immediately. Despite how the caller's usual confidence was replaced by uncertainty. “Lee Jinki?”

“Yes,” Jinki answered, feeling pleasant on hearing his name in this voice. “Kibum.”

“You recognized me.”

“Of course.”

Kibum let out a sigh, his tone easing. “How are you?”

“I am okay.” Jinki felt his nervousness dissipate as well, “And… you?”

“I’m doing okay too.”

“How is Jonghyun?” Jinki asked, unsure of what else to ask, since the realization of Kibum knowing his real name had settled in, making him a bit giddy. “And work?”

“He’s fine too. Work is good. Jonghyun and I are business partners now. I invested in his business and he branched out into…” He laughed a bit, “Hmm, it would be better if he explains it himself. He wants to meet you.”

“Do you… want to meet me too?”

“It's 7 AM on a Tuesday. I shouldn’t even be awake. But I called you.” He let out a breath. “So, yes. I want to meet you. And,” He added then, “We heard everything from Taemin. I still can’t believe he was Jin Shiwon all along.”

“To be fair, I had no idea either.”

Kibum chuckled. “Alright. I can text you on this number, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’m actually in your town this week. How about coffee today?”

“Sounds good.” Jinki smiled to himself, “I’ll bring my smart mug.”

Kibum laughed. “I’ll bring mine too.”

A poster was stuck on the largest bookstore in town.

Meet & Greet
Book Signing with Lee Francesco
Author of The Bloody Halo

Taemin had stared at it for a few minutes, feeling a bit regretful he couldn’t name it The Silenced Herald as he had intended. For obvious reasons. But his regret was momentary. He walked in, greeting Herald staff as well as the bookstore staff on his way, and took the seat arranged for him in the cleared area for the event. It was his first time doing this, despite this not being his first book. It felt strange to dress up too; he hadn’t worn anything but t-shirts and tracks for the past few months, while he worked on this book. He had quit his job at Herald and when the new management had sorted all of Hyunjin’s affairs, they had requested to sign him, at his terms. And he had. Internally, everyone now knew that The Faceless Portrait as well as all the books he wrote as Jin Shiwon were his. The profits were his as well. Herald’s new CEO had even suggested making an announcement and republishing The Faceless Portrait under his name but Taemin had decided to let it be because this book–will speak the truth for him subtly. He hadn’t intended to write it, but with the way things had turned out, he needed to tie the loose ends. So, he could write again.

He wanted to write again.

Back then, he no longer wanted to. He was indeed serious about retiring. But Hyunjin’s murder changed everything.

He had to step in to protect Jinki. It was the first time in a long time that he hadn’t taken safe routes out of things. Hiring Jinki was one such safe route as well, because he couldn’t quit his job, nor could he publish anything under his name when Hyunjin was hellbent on taking away anything and everything he had written, for Injae. All of his experience working in a publishing house–which was initially only to make ends meet and save up to publish his work–had ended up helping him in other ways. He knew what was entailed in a contract, what was necessary, and what was not. The loopholes and possible ways to evade certain requirements. He registered Jin Shiwon as a DBA (doing business as), wrote up a contract for himself, and hired Jinki to be Jin Shiwon’s face, to protect his works from Hyunjin by separating them from his identity altogether, and keeping the contract away from his—and anyone’s eyes—since it carried his real name.

It took much effort, but he needed to do this, to prove to himself that The Faceless Portrait wasn’t just a one-off hit, that it wasn’t because of Injae’s already established image and wealth that the book had done well. It was what Hyunjin kept claiming all the time. That the only way his works could garner attention was if they belonged to Injae instead. But he had proved him wrong, and the man hadn’t even known it. He was gone before he could ever find out.