When The Phone Rings

Chapter 57

/contains sensitive words/

“…That child should never have been born.”

Baek Jang-ho’s voice wavered, and he staggered slightly.

“It started with cats.”

In the pitch-black darkness of the riverside, his face was barely visible.

“I was the first to realize that boy was different from others. After that, I never let him out. I thought, somehow, I could correct him—”
“…….”
“But all that grew was the number of bags.”
“…….”
“Do you know what was inside those bags?”

Those large, heavy bags—the ones that stirred the water violently when thrown in. The boy, clever as he was, had his suspicions, but his voice caught in his throat.

“People.”
“……!”
“People smaller than him, and sometimes even bigger than him.”
“…….”
“He would throw animals into the washing machine, causing havoc in the house. He drugged the housemaids, and at the playground… he targeted kids younger than him. He was a vicious monster.”

Baek Jang-ho’s face twisted in disgust.

“Monsters are sometimes made, but they can also simply be born. And this one, under my roof, under my name…!”

The old man’s face contorted into something inhuman.

“The presidential election is just around the corner. I can’t afford any scandal or dirt sticking to my name…!”
“…….”
“Even if he grew up, he would only destroy our family one day.”

The boy could barely breathe.

‘What about you, then…? What about you, who killed your own grandson…?’

The question rose to his lips but remained unspoken. His body trembled violently.

Just then, those eerie eyes turned to the boy still crouched by the water. As the boy instinctively shuffled backward on his hands, the cold river lapped at his chin.

“I never gave you a name because—”

Baek Jang-ho’s eyes gleamed as his lips curled into a cruel smile.

“At my age, a child I’ve only recently found is utterly useless.”
“……!”

The boy’s eyes widened in shock.

“But…”

Those hands, the ones that had just killed his grandson, suddenly grabbed the boy by the collar and hoisted him up.

“As soon as I realized my one and only grandson was defective, I hid his face. I made sure no one but the family knew of him.”
“…….”
“Do you know why I did that, boy?”

His grin stretched further, carving deep wrinkles around his eyes.

“Because my house cannot afford a single rusty spoon.”
“……!”
“Especially not in the name I have carefully built—!”

Perhaps this plan had been in motion for a long time. As soon as Baek Jang-ho realized his grandson was flawed, he must have started thinking about replacing him.

“So, I’ll give you a name.”

The river, dark and deep, witnessed the naming of the boy.

Sa-eon.

A name that would forever remind him of the boy who had died.

That night, he gained a name born of death and lost everything that truly belonged to the living.

 

***

 

As they entered the grand mansion, the scent of freshly dried linens filled the air. The stench of fish that had once clung to his hair and skin was gone without a trace.

“It’s not even a month since Sa-eon is gone!”

A young woman’s scream echoed through the halls.

“How can you bring some nameless boy into this house, Father?!”

Tears were rolling down her face. While observing her tears with detachment, the boy’s eyes met those of Sim Gyu-jin. Her expression immediately twisted in disgust, as if she had seen something repulsive.

“I can’t accept this! How could you do this!”
“My dear.”

Even as Baek Jang-ho’s tone turned stern, she thrashed in defiance.

“We haven’t even found his body yet, Father! We haven’t even held a proper funeral!”
“That’s why we’re scouring the riverbed, are we not?”
“But I still can’t. Not until the funeral is over—”
“Are you truly incapable of understanding my words?”

Baek Jang-ho’s face suddenly hardened, his voice icy as his cane struck the floor with a sharp thud.

“Dear, I’ve been patient with you thus far, but—”

He regarded her with cold disdain.

“Your son is nothing.”
“……!”
“But my son must endure, and my grandson must carry on the family name. That inheritance, my grandson’s position, is far more important than your little boy.”

Sim Gyu-jin clenched her teeth, suppressed her sobs, and lowered her head in silent submission.

“Or perhaps you would prefer to give birth to another, this time a proper heir?”

Gyu-jin shivered.

Thus, “Baek Sa-eon” filled the vacant seat.

For the next three years, Baek Jang-ho poured his efforts into transforming the unpolished boy into someone who could convincingly take on the name.

From the family’s history and basic public education to ‘The Art of War’, ‘Zhenguan Zhengyao’, ‘The Great Learning’, and ‘The Doctrine of the Mean’— and even general knowledge spanning history, world affairs, and economics.

This time, it was the boy’s turn to struggle, as it was a matter of survival.

Baek Sa-eon absorbed and grew without a single act of defiance. Because, on that pitch-black riverside, he had learned whose words he had to obey if he wanted to avoid a meaningless death.

Even so, his gaze would often linger on the back of Baek Jang-ho’s neck.

Someday, he would sink his teeth into it, tear it apart, and claim his freedom. But he wasn’t foolish enough to act recklessly, like the late Baek Sa-eon, who failed to hide his cruelty.

He always concealed it with composure. Hiding was the most basic form of survival, after all.

 

***

“It’s because you’re always working instead of raising the child that Sa-eon turned out the way he did!”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop spewing nonsense! How is this my fault? Did I have that child on my own? What about you? What did you even do for him?”
“What?”
“You can’t even hold a candle to Father’s abilities, yet you think throwing money and drinks around will make you look respectable?”
“You dare…!”

The couple fought endlessly every night.

Baek Sa-eon passed through the dim hallways with a blank expression, pretending not to notice.

“Shim Gyu-jin, be honest with yourself. You were relieved when that cursed child died, weren’t you?”
“W- What did you just say…?”
“Despite Father’s strict watch, by the age of twelve, he had attacked dozens of people and killed four. Imagine if that ticking time bomb had been let loose on society.”
“……”
“All those lectures you give at the police academy? They’ll be meaningless. You’ll be branded as the mother of a murderer overnight.”
“……”
“You’re too smart not to have realized that. Deep down, you were glad he died, weren’t you?”

At that moment, her husband’s face was marked with a heavy slap.

“My son was perfect! Perfect, I tell you!”

She screamed in agony.

Perhaps it was from that moment onward. The woman, who had been mired in depression, suddenly became obsessed with the new Baek Sa-eon.

“My son doesn’t eat such things.”

She interfered with and dictated every aspect of the boy’s life.

“My son wouldn’t care for such trifles.”

His posture, gaze, tone of voice, preferences, hobbies, cherished items— everything was controlled.

Baek Sa-eon was left with no choices of his own.

Little by little, the food he often ate, the comfortable clothes he wore, and the belongings he found solace in disappeared from his life.

The house became a prison where choices were forbidden. Everything had to be decided under the name of “Baek Sa-eon,” until he became the perfect heir.

But knowing that everything granted to him under that name was false and hollow sometimes made it hard to swallow his meals.

“Urgh…!”

When he covered his mouth to stifle the nausea, a sharp reprimand would immediately follow.

“What on earth are you doing at the table?”
“See? How can you turn a stray into one of our family? This time, Father is wrong.”
“If you want to appear like my son, eat as if your life depended on it.”

Seeing the family’s cold glares, every act of eating or speaking became unbearable. And yet, he endured. He wanted to survive and win. To be the strong one who used others, not the weak one being used.

In the end, his appearance, intelligence, and personality became what Baek Jang-ho proudly declared as his ideal grandson.

“You’re fifteen now. You’ll transfer directly to middle school. Don’t cause trouble or embarrass the family.”

Baek Sa-eon nodded without emotion.

The family appreciated his calm and unflappable demeanor the most, but in truth, he saw all of them as insects.

Whenever an impulse to destroy something surged, he quietly recalled the sensation of threading insects, one by one, onto a fishing hook.

It brought a bit of solace to the world

 

***

 

“Hey, class president! Jong-su sprained his ankle while messing around on the stairs…!”
“What task was he supposed to be doing?”
“Huh?”
“Jong-su was assigned to the teacher’s office, wasn’t he?”

Without even glancing up from his book, Baek Sa-eon responded indifferently. He was simply detached from everything.

Nothing was interesting, surprising, or frightening anymore.

As time passed, the boy became someone who felt absolutely nothing.