When The Phone Rings

Chapter 23

Baek Sa-eon raised his eyebrows.

“Whether it was someone she dated in the past or her current lover—”

When the blackmailer sneered, accusing him of having a jealous husband complex and questioning why he had jumped to such conclusions… Sa-eon got a reality check.

This unsettling feeling caused him to irrationally think that he might lose Hong Heeju to someone else.

Why did he… Why did he have such thoughts? And so naturally at that.

The shock Baek Sa-eon was feeling now was akin to the force of a building collapsing.

At that moment, Assistant Park clapped his hands and added, “Make sure you keep an eye on your fishbowl so that no one dares to play with it again.”
“……”

The feeling that someone was messing with their relationship wouldn’t go away.

What if the 2 billion won the blackmailer demanded somehow ended up in Heeju’s hands? What if someone proposed a deal to her? In that case, who would be the culprit?

Sa-eon wondered who had been more ruthless in their relationship.

The answer was blatantly clear and a faint sense of displeasure began to cloud the man’s face.

“About the voice modulation,” He coldly instructed Assistant Park, “See if it can be filtered.”

You have to strike while the iron is hot.

 

***

 

“Ah…so that’s why there was a fishy smell.”

That was the first thing 12-year-old Heeju had to translate.

“Ignoring the fact I hate water. Dealing with two gold fishes at once is ridiculous.¹”

His flat tone carried no emotion. After putting the notebook away, he said in an oddly flippant tone.

“How come Chairman Hong’s daughters are damaged in some way or another?”

Her sister gave a jab to Heeju to convey the words to her. Even as a child, Heeju hesitated, unsure whether she should translate such thoughtless words exactly as they were.

Baek Sa-eon, the grandson of the assemblyman who lived next door, had been chosen as the tutor to help In-ah with her studies.

The arrangement was something the adults had orchestrated, but at least the two students in school uniforms seemed indifferent to it.

Baek Sa-eon was polite and well-behaved in front of the adults, but once the children were alone, he revealed his true self, propping his chin on a hand.

At eighteen, he already had a mature air about him. He was occasionally looking at Heeju while flipping through the books.

“So you’re Hong In-ah’s ears. Right?”

His pitch-black hair fell in neat strands, his sharply defined features casting shadows even when still, and his enigmatic eyes seemed to draw in everything they grazed. His alabaster-like skin was even smoother than her sister’s. His face was strikingly handsome no matter how you look at it.

“Where are you planning to use your stupid ears²?”

Clicking his pen, Baek Sa-eon frowned slightly.

“If you make a mistake, you’ll be punished.”

In-ah poked Heeju again. Left with no choice, Heeju began to write. Her sign language was still clumsy, but after the accident, her sister could only turn to her. There was no scope to hire someone else.

The child gripped her pencil properly and neatly wrote,

<He wants to eat…tofu…>

Baek Sa-eon abruptly turned his head. His graceful profile twisted subtly as he muttered, “Children and their translations…”

His pronunciation was so precise that even the faintest sounds rang clearly.

As Heeju silently listened, her sister nudged her again.

An eighteen-year-old boy, a sixteen-year-old girl, and a twelve-year-old child were sitting together.

Baek Sa-eon’s gaze shifted to Heeju who was sitting there blankly. At that, In-ah instinctively wrapped an arm around her younger sister’s shoulder.

It was the first time her usually aloof sister had initiated such physical affection.

From then on, Baek Sa-eon fulfilled his role with an impassive face.

“If you mess up the calculations again, I’ll pour cold water on your head.”
<In-ah, you can do better (๑•᎑•๑)!>

“Seeing your test scores, breaking off this engagement won’t be hard.”
<I feel shy (/∇＼*)!>

“Even that little kid is staying awake, so why are you nodding off?”
<Is it making you tired ( ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )?>

At some point, Heeju wasn’t translating anymore— she was mistranslating Sa-eon’s words.

The tutoring continued until Baek Sa-eon suddenly left for abroad. Heeju couldn’t even reach his shoulder.

Between the two steadily approaching adulthood, Heeju remained perpetually a step behind, as she was unable to close the overwhelming gap of growth. It wasn’t just physical; as time passed, the distance between them grew far greater.

I don’t remember when we talked about this.

‘Why do you hate water?’

Overcome by a strange impulse, Heeju had scrawled that question.

Baek Sa-eon, in the middle of solving a math problem, stared at the doodle for a moment.

He was now a fully grown man in his twenties, he ripped the notebook page with the solution and handed it to Hong In-ah. But his cold murmur was directed at Heeju.

“Because I dream every night of drowning in the river.”

 

***

 

After finishing the call, she didn’t remember how she ended up in her room and fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes, it was morning. Heeju woke up and tried to figure out what had happened.

Though she had connections with Baek Sa-eon since childhood, the distance between them never ceased.

The man was always out of his reach both as a tutor and a husband. No matter how much time passed, she could never catch up with him.

The fact remained unchanged.

‘I was always stuck in the middle of the two of them…’

The day before sister disappeared, did she meet Baek Sa-eon?

Suddenly, those moments she intruded on in the past felt like they were still unfolding in the present.

‘I need to learn more about sister.’

Her mood sank inexplicably. Heeju wiped the sleep from her eyes and headed to the kitchen.

Her and Baek Sa-eon’s routines never aligned. He would come home past midnight and leave for work early, while she went to bed earlier and woke up later.

The sense of never standing side by side weighed on her like fatigue.

As always, she filled the quiet house with the loud noise of the TV and opened the refrigerator.

“Why are you changing the channel?”
“Pff..!”

Heeju spat out the water she had been drinking. She was too shocked to notice her pajamas were completely wet.

The man sitting calmly at the dining table frowned slightly.

“Are you still half-asleep?”

He grabbed the remote control again and switched back to the news channel he had been watching.

‘Why is he here…?’

Was it because of that dream? The sense of reality felt faint and distorted.

“There’s no need to look at me like that. I’ll be going to work in the afternoon today,” He spoke absentmindedly.

Baek Sa-eon’s hair was slightly damp, likely from a morning shower.

Loose sweatpants, a plain short-sleeved t-shirt, and hair hanging down to completely cover his forehead.

He rested one arm lazily on the edge of the chair in a relaxed and unguarded posture.

With one ankle resting on the opposite thigh, he slouched as he watched the news. His side profile, so casual and different from usual, drew Heeju’s curious glances.

“Go eat something first,” he ordered in his usual indifferent tone.

But ironically, Baek Sa-eon himself was drinking an Americano on an empty stomach.

‘Is he okay?’

She distinctly remembered smelling a medicine on him. Did he get proper treatment?

As she frowned, trying to suppress her concern, their eyes suddenly met.

He narrowed his gaze and put his coffee cup on the table with a clink.

“Coffee on an empty stomach is a no.”
‘Huh?’
“Even if you keep staring at it, I’m not giving you any. Eat breakfast first.”

He motioned toward the kitchen with a slight tilt of his chin.

‘No, that’s not what I meant…’

Heeju reluctantly approached the rice cooker while scratching her head.

Maybe it was because she felt his watchful eyes on her, but her hands kept fumbling.

The hardened rice wouldn’t scoop out easily, and as she stood on tiptoes trying to force it out, a distinct presence loomed behind her.

“You can’t even handle this, Heeju?”

His voice came from directly behind her as he grabbed the rice paddle from her hands.

“I thought at least you would be good at feeding yourself.”

He frowned slightly as he assessed the state of the rice cooker.

With practiced ease, he dismantled the cooker and placed it in the sink before pulling out a frying pan.

Soon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, and asparagus made their way to the countertop.

The morning had a strangely peaceful air about it.

‘Something feels off…’

Heeju pinched her cheek.

This wasn’t a normal morning for a married couple. If anything, the fact that Baek Sa-eon wasn’t already at work and was standing in the kitchen instead felt… unsettling.

‘This is like a horror movie.’

He cracked eggs with a grip that seemed a little too firm, sliced sausages with sharp, deliberate movements, and grilled asparagus with almost mechanical precision.

His thick forearm flexed as he pressed down the lid of the juicer, extracting juice in heavy bursts.

Watching him—destroying, no, making something with such rough movements—put Heeju on edge.

Technically, he was cooking… but for some reason it made her feel nervous.

Eventually, a completed brunch was placed on a large plate and set before her.

“Eat every last bite.”

Baek Sa-eon sat across from her. Heeju felt pressured by his stare.

“You’ve been picky about egg yolks since you were a kid, so I made it into an omelet on purpose.”

The bright yellow lump of egg looked as intimidating as a yellow card.

“And you never drink milk, do you?”
“…”
“Drink.”

He poured milk into a glass and slid it toward her.

This… this was a new form of torture.

Heeju mechanically picked up her chopsticks.

“And by the way, I’m not divorcing you.”
“Cough, cough…!”

She choked the moment she stuffed the dry eggs into her mouth, coughing violently. Desperately, she reached for the milk and gulped it down.

“I’m just saying this in case anyone tries to plant strange ideas in your head.”

Baek Sa-eon’s usual indifferent expression didn’t falter as he watched her. The only one blushing to her neck and struggling to clear her throat was Heeju.

---

 

TL/N:
[1] Dealing with two gold fishes at once is ridiculous – he’s calling the Hong sisters slow-witted.

[2] Where are you planning to use your stupid ears? – The lit. translation would be “What are you going to do with tofu ears,” meaning her contribution was useless or calling her a slow-poke.

And that brings us to number [3] where Heeju is using the word ‘tofu’ from Sa-eon’s dialogue, to make a completely different interpretation for In-ah.