When The Phone Rings

Chapter 40

/contains suggestive text/

Heeju kept staring at Sa-eon without blinking. There was so much she wanted to say. Hundreds of questions to ask, words to pour out—but instead, all she could manage was to tug his suit jacket.

“I stopped by before heading to work.”

His reply was immediate, a swift and certain answer to the unspoken query in her eyes. Surprised by his response, she fidgeted nervously. At the same time, the man leaned to meet her gaze.

“How did you keep it all in? Someone like you should have been chattering away the most.”
“…”
“You used to sing so well, too.”
“…!”

Though his tone wasn’t particularly kind, every word struck a chord deep within her.

“It’s not that it’s hard to guess. Hong In-ah’s deafness must have been the reason.”
“…!”
“You must’ve felt wronged.”

His cold voice kept accurately pinpointing the dynamics within her family. Yet, the edge in his tone wasn’t directed towards her.

Sa-eon reached out and brushed back her stray strands of hair. Heeju tried to hold back her tears.

“It’s fine. This is okay too.”

He smirked faintly, lifting the corners of his mouth.

“There’s more than one way for a married couple to communicate, after all.”

Unbeknownst to them, the first rays of dawn were beginning to illuminate the world outside.

 

***

 

The day passed quickly.

Her mother and Chairman Hong hadn’t contacted her, even after hearing she was injured. Staring blankly out at the darkening window, she suddenly thought of her sister.

‘Sister…’

Heeju and Hong In-ah had started growing close after the accident in their childhood.

At first, her sister had treated her like an unwelcome stranger. But after the incident, things changed completely. The once-haughty daughter of a wealthy family began to cling to her insignificant stepsister, the only one who had survived the wreckage with her.

‘Why did she disappear…?’

What she had chalked up to rebellion or a passing whim suddenly felt much more suspicious. Alone, her thoughts drifted.

Heeju and her sister weren’t affectionate siblings. However, they had been inseparable, existing in a mutually beneficial relationship.

‘When she disappeared, what was going through her mind?’

Heeju was lost in thoughts. And soon, it was time to make a call.

“Don’t call me again.”

His warning echoed in her mind, but she shrugged it off.

‘It’s just a phone call. What can he really do?’

The dial tone buzzed in her ear, and the energy returned to her weary eyes.

Despite the tension, the truth was threatening the only way she could get information with Baek Sa-eon.

A soft click indicated the call had connected.

“Hello?”
Shaaaa!
“H- Hello?”

Suddenly, an unexpected background noise made her freeze. The sound of rushing water, loud and constant, was all that reached her ears.

“…Are you there?”

Heeju finally pulled the phone away from her ear. She checked the screen and saw that the call had passed without incident.

She narrowed her eyes and put the phone back to her ear, feeling a chill run down her spine.

― “Haa.. mmm..”

Her pulse quickened as a faint, sticky groan seeped through the line.

‘What the h*ll’

She doubted her ears.

“He- Hello?!”
― “Ah… f*ck…”
“…!”

Heeju’s grip faltered, and the phone almost slipped from her fingers.

‘What… what is happening?’

Heeju barely managed to grab the phone before it slipped out of her grasp. Her ears were getting hot hearing the noise.

“W- What are you doing right now?”

Her heart pounded as a sudden premonition flashed through her mind.

Thump! Thump!

A cacophony of noises filled the room: the steady cascade of water, deep groans, and the unsettling rhythm of impacts.

— “Mm… hah…”
“Baek Sa-eon, what are you doing right now?!”
— “I told you.”

His voice, strained and tense, suggested a high level of emotional turmoil.

— “Don’t call me.”
“What…!”
— “Haah… you’ll regret it.”

The low, heavy groans mixed with soft chuckles only grew hotter. The unseen took shape in her mind’s eye.

Heeju turned pale thinking what was unfolding on the other side.

“Whatever you’re doing, stop it right now…!”
— “Talk a little more.”
“What?”
— “Before I… say something…”
“…!”

His voice, rough and urgent, sent a shiver of fear through her. She swallowed nervously.

“I have something to say. We need to talk seriously…!” she stammered.
— “Talk louder.”
“W- What?”
— “I said, louder.”

She was plagued by numerous questions, but her mind was a mess.

— “So I can do it all the way…”
“…!”

The overwhelming shame caused Heeju to tremble.

— “406, don’t tell me.. Are you trembling?”

The slick, wet sounds grew faster and faster. Boiling breaths, like molten iron, poured into her ears, overwhelming her.

“You… you crazy b*stard…!”
—”Back then, you kept moaning so confidently.”
“…….”
—”Why don’t you show the same guts now?”

His exhalations, sharp and damp, echoed softly. Each frantic breath fanned the flames of her rising temperature.

She felt suffocated, like a fish gasping on dry land. Her earlobes, even the corners of her eyes, turned crimson.

— “When someone gives you advice, you should listen carefully.”
“…”
— ”Thanks to a disobedient 406, hmph… it’s been a long time since I felt this excited.”
“…!”
— “I haven’t felt like this even in front of my wife.”

His gritted teeth and the restrained, pained groans sounded like a violent struggle.

— “As a husband, I really am inadequate.”
“…!”
— “After all, Heeju and I are only husband and wife in name.”

The smacking, rhythmic collision sounds intensified.

— “You’re the first I’ve ever let hear something like this, 406.”

Baek Sa-eon took a deep breath, and all the noise abruptly stopped. Only the rushing sound of water filled the receiver.

Heeju, frozen in place, immediately furrowed her brows as if she could almost smell the metallic tang of the scene through the phone.

“Are you even sane right now?”

Her voice wavered as she finally managed to speak, belatedly feeling a surge of heat rush to the top of her head.

Just.. just what did he do.. On the call..

— “Will you call again tomorrow?”

His voice, husky and deliberate, broke the silence as the shower turned off, leaving the air heavy with the bathroom’s unique echo.

“You… you…”

Heeju was utterly stunned, her mind a whirlwind.

‘Is this really the Baek Sa-eon I thought I knew?’

The man who stood so neatly dressed at the podium, composed and professional… Is this how he really is?!

Her face flushed, then turned pale, swinging between extremes as the implications sank in.

— “If you call again, I’ll do this again too.”
“You perverted freak!”

‘Was he acting this impudent because he found out I was a woman?’
— “And…”

His lazy, velvety tone slid through the phone like a predator creeping toward its prey.

— “And the ringing of your voice, will only make me more excited.
“……!”

 

***

 

“Good heavens! Someone yank the hair out of that sc*undrel’s head!”

Having abruptly ended the call, Heeju now wandered through the hospital corridors with a pale face. Feeling stifled, she headed downstairs, only to overhear lively chatter coming from the lounge.

“How could he do that with his devoted wife still around?”
“He’s crossed the line! It’s over!”

The elderly women, each tethered to their IV stands, engaged in a heated verbal exchange.

Without meaning to, Heeju found herself sitting in a back seat, head drooping like a wilted flower. Her spirit, wrung dry, left her slumped and weary.

“Men’s loyalty has always been located below the waist, you know.”
“Of course! And now, what’ll happen to that poor, proper wife of his?”
“What else? If he doesn’t knock it off, she should put him in his place!”

Heeju flinched at their fierce declarations.

Her temper, already volatile, had led her to throw her phone earlier. Heeju didn’t even remember if she cut the call.

The TV was showing a typical cable drama scene: an ambitious man betraying his loyal wife to spend the night with a mistress.

Oddly, her leg began to tremble involuntarily.

“Good grief! Look at that scoundrel, flaunting it after making his wife wait for years!”
“Watch, now he’ll try to smooth it over with flowers and gifts.”
“Typical. Regret comes too late when you misuse your ‘equipment.’”

The women’s vehement reactions were almost comical, their IV lines shaking with the fervor of their protests.

Clutching her forehead, Heeju let out a heavy sigh.

‘What on earth just happened?’

The surreal events of the ninth phone call felt like a distant, hazy dream.

Even recalling his voice, so thick and rich, made one side of her head burn, her ears flushed hot. It was too much, far too much for her to process.

‘What did Baek Sa-eon just do?! And why… to 406 of all people?! Although 406 is technically me.’

Her face contorted with frustration and disbelief.

To her own surprise, what she felt most acutely was betrayal. It felt like witnessing the first cracks of infidelity— the kind you desperately don’t want to believe in.