When The Phone Rings

Chapter 45

“You found the perfect spot at once.”

Sa-eon sat down across from her.

“I liked looking out this window. Why do you think that is?”

She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his indifferent face as he looked out the window. The elegant lines of his profile, like a sculpture, held an enigmatic grace. Within those refined curves, a history flowed that Heeju could never hope to conceive.

“Whenever I woke up from that recurring dream of drowning in the river, I would see you over there, moving your hands. A little kid, up all night, bold as brass.”
“…!”
“And yet, I could never understand what you were saying. It felt like I was underwater. Like being in an aquarium. Or maybe… I was still drowning.”

It was the first time she had heard this.

“Still, watching you practice made me feel at ease.”
“…”
“Your swaying hands told me the dream was over, and this was reality.”

He covered her small, maple leaf-like hand with his as he spoke. Heeju’s heart raced suddenly, spurred by the warmth spreading through her hand.

“Teach me a sign.”
“…!”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, startled. He tilted his head, seemingly intrigued by her reaction.

“I’m curious about Hong Heeju’s language.”

You… Why are you curious now of all times?

“When you were little. You kept repeating this.”

He tapped his chin lightly with his pinky finger, mimicking Heeju.

Heeju bit the inside of her cheek. The words of the old woman she once overheard came to mind: “When men cheat, they buy their wives flowers and gifts.”

Truly, what a b*stard…

The sign, ingrained through countless repetitions, was her armor, a facade she used to mask her true feelings, to convince both herself and the world that she was coping. It meant, “I’m fine.”

“I’m still waiting.”

Their gazes clashed in the darkness.

“For you to say it first.”

While Heeju bit her lip, his piercing eyes bore into her.

It was a night of statuesque dreams.

 

***

 

Heeju’s mother stood in the doorway, dressed in a velvet dress.

It all started with a gift set that her mother-in-law had handed over like a homework assignment.

After the ancestral rites, Baek Sa-eon, who was ready to leave without delay, had been stopped by his mother-in-law with a parting gift of food, insisting, “It wouldn’t be polite to leave empty-handed after coming all this way.”

This unexpected gesture had led Heeju and Sa-eon to drop by her parents’ house, which wasn’t part of the plan.

“You must be tired. What brings you here?”

Her mother’s eyes curved kindly, as if genuinely moved. Heeju fidgeted as she awkwardly took off her shoes, clearly uneasy with her mother’s warm welcome.

Kim Yeon-hee fussed as she accepted the gifts, ushering the couple into the living room with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Is father-in-law not home?”
“Oh.. he’s…”

For a brief moment, she glanced at Heeju. The fleeting eye contact held a strange nuance. Elegant, dark eyes—yet they seemed almost mocking, or perhaps faintly conflicted.

Her mother was always honest about her feelings, but now, her thoughts were impossible to discern.

Still, an uneasy sensation crept down Heeju’s spine.

It was a subtle shift only Heeju, who had learned to interpret her mother’s emotions with precision through years of careful observation, could detect. Her throat felt dry all of a sudden. A foreboding sense of discomfort settled over her.

Kim Yeon-hee quickly masked her expression and changed the subject.

“Let’s start with some tea.”

With refined grace, Kim Yon-hee seated the couple before arranging the refreshments. Once the tea was served, she took her seat on an expensive sofa, casting glances between the two.

“It’s been over three years since you two got married, but this is the first time we’ve gathered as a trio.”

As Heeju reached for her teacup, a firm hand grabbed her wrist.

“Drink mine.”

Baek Sa-eon gestured toward his cup, which he had cooled beforehand by removing the lid.

“Don’t scald your mouth by drinking it too fast.”

Indeed, his tea emitted much less steam. Caught off guard, Heeju accepted his cup and brought it to her lips. Kim Yeon-hee, watching the two silently, had a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

“Son-in-law, be honest… Do you find living with Heeju boring?”
“…!”

Heeju’s hand paused mid-air, but she quickly resumed sipping her tea, maintaining her composure.

“Given her limitations, it’s understandable if she wasn’t the ideal partner for you.”

The tea had no flavor. Heeju simply swallowed the hot liquid in small sips.

She was accustomed to her mother’s belittling remarks, whether aimed at family or strangers, but today, the humiliation was overwhelming.

“That’s not true.”
“What?”
Baek Sa-eon set his teacup down with a deliberate clink.

“Just watching Heeju is enough to keep me entertained. And—”

Leaning forward, he clasped his hands just above his knees. Despite lowering his gaze with the motion, the weight of his presence remained unchanged.

His stern, cold gaze fixed directly on his mother-in-law.

“This false humility is distasteful.”
“Excuse me?”
“Please don’t belittle Heeju in front of me again. Talking down to her doesn’t make me look better; it only disrespects me. It’s offensive. Don’t act like this again.”

For a moment, Kim Yeon-hee looked stunned, as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Son-in-law… Do you have another woman?”
“Cough—! C-Cough!”

Heeju choked on her tea. In the same instant, Sa-eon’s hand darted out instinctively. He caught her dripping chin, gently wiping away the tea with his bare hand.

Under her mother’s suspicious scrutiny, she flushed and continued to cough. Yeon-hee was questioning why Sa-eon was suddenly behaving so out of character.

“Heeju.”

Then, with a sharp clink, her mother put her teacup down and lifted the corner of her mouth into a faint smile.

“In-ah is coming back, I hear.”
“…!”

For a moment, Heeju couldn’t process the words, as if they were spoken in a foreign language. Her heart began pounding as if it might burst.

The words were refusing to settle in her mind. Her mother’s voice passed like a strange, distorted echo.

However, the vividness of the moment when the man’s fingers, which had been holding her chin, flinched and stiffened was undeniable.

It wasn’t a hallucination. That’s when Heeju began to piece it all together.

Her sister… was coming back?

She slowly turned her creaking head toward her mother, staring at her.

“I didn’t know what she was up to or where she had been living. But it seems Chairman Hong did.”

Her mother mumbled lightly, as if to herself, “Well, he must care a bit since she’s still his daughter.”

“She had some surgery in Germany, which apparently took quite a while,” Kim Yeon-hee added, tapping her ear lightly.
“She can hear fine now.”
“…!”

Heeju’s throat felt suffocated. Her mother shrugged at her, “I suppose, your job is done.”

Her mother’s smile lingered like a ghostly afterimage in Heeju’s mind.

Baek Sa-eon’s real fiancée was returning. Her sister was coming back.

Longing and apprehension, joy and inferiority— these feelings slammed Heeju down to her lowest depths.

***

Baek Sa-eon dropped her off in front of her house before heading back to his office. Once inside, Heeju felt as if she were curling up in a bottomless pit, her heart hollow and heavy.

She sat in the dark, clutching her phone tightly in her hand.

‘My sister is coming back…’

Heeju thought, maybe she should have stayed at the hospital longer.
Her deepest fear, the fundamental anxiety that had lain dormant within her, was now prodding her relentlessly.

Had she been deluding herself this whole time?

Even if she didn’t push for a divorce—
“If my sister…”

If her sister stepped forward, Hong In-ah’s presence alone might flip the entire situation on its own. That one thought shattered something deep within Heeju.

She couldn’t focus on anything.

Even though it was past 10 PM, she lacked the will to make a call, or even to move. The lethargy she thought she had overcome seemed to be creeping up again.

“Is there any point in making the call?”

Her dark eyes sank even further.

Ten minutes, thirty minutes, forty minutes, an hour passed… She lay on her bed, blinking at the ceiling. Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

“…!”

‘Is it the kidnapper?’
She got up and rummaged through her bag for her phone. But, contrary to her hopes, the name on the screen was—

“Why…”

She hesitated, the phone clutched tightly in her hand, as she saw the words ‘Business Husband’ flash across the screen.

Should she answer it or not? She hesitated before finally sliding her finger over the answer button.

— “Hong Heeju.”

As soon as the call connected, his voice swept over her.

— “You don’t need to say anything. Just relax and listen.”
“…!”

As if he could read her mind, Baek Sa-eon gave a calm instruction.

— “Were you sleeping? If so, just tap your phone twice.”
“…”

When she didn’t respond, he let out a low hum.

— “Director Han Joon.”
Caught off guard, Heeju’s eyes widened. Why was Director Han Jun suddenly mentioned?

— “You weren’t in the middle of talking to Director Han Joon, were you?”

What the hell…! Feeling wronged, she tapped the phone screen several times in quick succession.

As if he had been waiting for that, silence settled between them.

— “If you’re not sleeping and not talking to another guy, then why…”

His slow, murmuring question trailed off.

Heeju barely listened, staring blankly at the ceiling. The silence stretched into meaninglessness, and just as it seemed endless.

— “I’ll be home soon.”

His low voice left those words before he hung up.

Was he saying he was coming home early because no one was there to accompany him today? The thought added to her already unstable state, making her feel even more pathetic.

Her face crumpled as she reached for her phone again.

Those who stray from the path often find a perverse satisfaction in further deviance.
That was exactly how she felt at this moment.

Ring! Ring!

Unresolved emotions began to accumulate within her, growing deeper and heavier.