Chapter 34
Sa-eon recalled that, during the first call, the voice undeniably belonged to a man.
Upon pondering his expression turned uncharacteristically tinged with faint confusion.
― “Before everything gets exposed, you better handle this. Ditch Hong Heeju and bring back your original fiancée.”
The voice was so clear and delicate, almost unnervingly transparent. The absurdity of such a soft voice being used for threats drew an involuntary chuckle from him.
‘If 406 is a woman… then this changes everything.’
The entire chessboard was flipped.
“…Does this mean there’s an accomplice?” he muttered.
“There’s a possibility,” Park Do-jae cautiously replied.
“Or it could be bait. They might be using someone else’s voice,” Baek Sa-eon conceded, though the back-and-forth exchanges from their calls suggested otherwise.
The conversations were anything but robotic or scripted; they were intuitive and smooth. It was more like a live broadcast than a rehearsed act.
Who could it possibly be?
― “Hey, were you waiting for me?”
Imagining the same soft voice chirping around the word bro, now sounded ridiculous.
It had been a considerable period since he had felt this completely insulted. If everything was merely a ruse…
“This makes no sense.”
Baek Sa-eon laughed through gritted teeth.
― “I’ll call again tomorrow.”
He moved the mouse, replaying the segment on a loop.
― “I’ll call again tomorrow.”
― “I’ll call again tomorrow.”
Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he still couldn’t recognize the voice outright. Yet, it tugged at his memory, as if it was familiar to him.
‘Where have I heard this before?’
This tone, this timbre… where?
Then another portion was played.
― “Haa… haa…”
Baek Sa-eon’s shoulders jerked reflexively.
―“Hmm, hngh… like this?”
The awkwardly sultry mimicry was unmistakably suggestive. Deep lines of distress marred his brow.
“This woman is completely insane.”
The cold glow of the monitor reflected in his sharp, narrowed eyes.
And then―
『”Just let me out! Please, just let me out!”』
…Sh*t. What the h*ll?
Sa-eon wanted to smack himself for having such an absurd thought.
Why did suddenly… Why on Earth would I think of…
But as the memory crystallized, his scowling expression darkened. A sharp curse fell from his lips, and he stood up from his chair. He opened a drawer, ripped through its contents, and shoved a thick stack of papers across the desk. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Baek Sa-eon finally grabbed a USB.
Park Do-jae, uncertain of his next course of action, received the item.
“Analyse the sound waveform. Exactly what percentage do they match and extend the value to two decimal points.”
His eyelids twitched convulsively.
***
― “Can you believe that the spokesperson of Blue House would manipulate the scenes behind?”
Heeju was frozen in disbelief.
― “This would not rest with just a scandal. It would tarnish his saint-like image permanently.”
“…….”
― “I was satisfied with the last conversation, that’s why I’m sharing this with you. Seeing Baek Sa-eon curse outright was fun.”
“How…How do you know all these?”
I don’t think that crazy man will answer, but I can’t help but ask.
— “Hmmm…”
I heard a snort over the receiver.
— “I don’t know about Baek Sa-eon… but his grandfather cherished that organization like a treasure.”
He chuckled.
— “Then, I hope you will soon provide me with the results I truly want.”
The hostage-taker demanded.
— “If anything goes wrong, you’re dead, I’ll just kill you all.”
Heeju listened intently to the harsh words.
The hostage-taker was a man who rarely made his intentions known, so whenever he spoke out of the blue like this, it set her nerves on edge.
— “So get divorced, sis.”
“…….”
— “Otherwise as a stumbling block, I have to kill you first.”
“…..!”
— “Trust me, I’m not kidding.”
Ding dong
The doorbell rang. Heeju turned her head toward the sound.
“It can’t be…”
Her thin voice trembled and a giggle came over the receiver.
Dragging her feet, Heeju stepped out into the living room and checked the intercom, but there was no one on camera.
— “Let’s turn things back to how it was.”
“……”
The call ended just like that.
Heeju stood there for a while, trembling. After a while, she opened the front door and stepped outside.
‘..water?’
The floor was damp as if someone had spilled water on it.
‘Ugh…!’
Suddenly, a stifled groan burst from my throat. There was a pile of dead goldfish that lay ahead.
***
That night:
[From the Web’]
This is the Blue House Press Secretary’s office.
Congratulations on passing the third and final interview for sign language interpreters at the Blue House.
For more information, please refer to the announcement on the Blue House website, and for further inquiries about the schedule, please contact Blue House spokesperson Baek Sa-eon at 010-xxx-xxxx.
In addition, a workshop of the Office of the Chief Press Secretary will be held from 22 October to 23 October 202X. Please refer to the Blue House website for details.
Thank you.
The first schedule was a workshop.
It was 10 P.M. But Heeju couldn’t make the call, even with her husband’s newfound weakness. The slippery plastic bag hadn’t gone from her memories. She could still feel the tactile sensation of bagging dead goldfish by hand.
Heeju couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling in her fingers.
***
< Climbing Competition and Workshop for the Blue House Senior Presidential Secretary of Public Relations >
People were gathered under a large commemorative banner.
Heeju unconsciously scanned the faces of the people she had never met before. But the face she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
Heeju picked up her bag and started walking.
‘Baek Sa-eon didn’t come home yesterday.’
In the early hours of the morning, Heeju woke up to find the bed empty next to her.
She thought about sending him a message, but then stopped in tracks. She could talk very well when making threats but in normal circumstances she lacked confidence.
As I clutched my bag tightly, the mood of the crowd changed.
“It’s the Spokesperson!”
“Hello, Sir!”
Walking over with the public relations chief, Baek Sa-eon looked perfectly neat. Maybe he took a shower and changed clothes elsewhere.
Baek Sa-eon seemed to be looking for someone. His eyes finally landed on Heeju. The moment their eyes met, he walked over and grabbed her arm without hesitation.
They stood in front of the crowd, with their shoulders touching. Sa-eon’s hand was unnaturally hot. Even so, the smell of shower gel was familiar.
“How could I forget Miss Interpreter!”
There was a hint of reproach in Sa-eon’s voice, which only Heeju felt. The crowd didn’t sense the change and kept exchanging glances.
“This is Heeju Hong, a sign language interpreter who will be working with us from now on. I’m sure there will be many ups and downs, so I hope the seniors will help her a lot.”
“…….”
“Also, Heeju Hong is shy and finds it hard to communicate directly with her due to personal issues, but she’s a talented interpreter, so I hope we can get along well.”
Heeju couldn’t look up in shame.
“I heard you have been studying me. Not just my videos, but my upper lip, my upper teeth, and even my palate. Let’s see how you do as an interpreter, Heeju Hong.”
‘Why did he have to introduce me like that?!’
Heeju turned bright red with shame. She wanted to shake off his hand, but the grip on her shoulder made it difficult.
“Can we get a round of applause?”
I’m screwed. Definitely screwed…
Even if the staff clapped, their expressions weren’t deceiving anyone. When the bus arrived, people fled the room as if to escape.
Heeju was about to climb aboard when her backpack was grabbed. Baek Sa-eon was looking down at her with a stern, slanted face.
“Wait… You’ll ride with me.”
‘What?’
“You’re going to sit next to me.”
‘Why …?’
“Your expression looks off.”
He looked into Heeju’s face and muttered.
“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”
‘……!’
“Now you’ll make up for it.”
‘I can’t. We’re outside right now…!
Heeju anxiously gestured with her eyes, signaling to the many people around them. Sitting together would undoubtedly spark gossip.
But Sa-eon acted oblivious, “Did you think I was out of town or something?”
He coyly lifted one corner of his mouth.
“I did come home.”
“…”
“I dropped by shortly this morning.”
He suddenly leaned his neck toward her.
“See… this is the scent of our home.”
The tip of her nose lightly brushed against his deep collarbone where the smell of the shower gel lingered. For some reason, the nervousness she felt about her first day of work completely vanished.
Thank you 💕😊
Thank you so much. I enjoy reading it!😊