When The Phone Rings

Chapter 60

“What did you say about Heeju?”

Baek Sa-eon stared at the sentence intently. The more he read it, the more his expression twisted. An inexplicable surge of irritation bubbled up within him.

“Are you out of your mind right now?”
“……!”

He abruptly stood up and crushed his cigarette against the very paper containing that sentence.

Maybe it was the nicotine clouding his brain, or something else, but his impulses took over. He could feel his mind and body boiling in chaos. It was a phenomenon he couldn’t even comprehend himself.

“I’ll help you escape.”
“……!”

Drawing the curtains by the window, he lowered his voice.

“I’ll help you escape safely, without needing to go through this arranged marriage.”
“……!”
“And without Chairman Hong ever finding out.”

In-ah’s body was rigid with tension.

“But in return, keep your mouth shut. No revelations, no leaks… nothing”
“…….”

After a long pause, Hong In-ah nodded hesitantly.

“You should have started with negotiations instead of resorting to threats,” he said with a sharp click of his tongue.
“Fortunately for you, I’m not like that old man. I’m someone you can reason with.”
“…….”
“Now, let’s settle the deal.”

He held up a blank sheet of paper and spoke.

“I need insurance in case you break your promise and try to expose me.”

For the first time, a warning bell went off in his head: He couldn’t let go of the name “Baek Sa-eon,” not here, not now.

“As collateral for your silence, give me your younger sister.”
“……!”

Without the identity of “Baek Sa-eon,” he would no longer be Hong Heeju’s neighbor, tutor, or brother-in-law—he’d be nothing. The thought of her discovering his secret, no, his filthy, shameful truth, filled him with dread.

That fear alone sent a chill down his spine.

So instead of abandoning this name, he decided to claim it fully. A strange, unfamiliar greed surged within him.

“Hand her over to me.”

Although his original plan had been derailed, his voice brimmed with conviction like never before.

“If you don’t agree, you’ll be marrying this nameless b*stard tomorrow.”

***

Three years passed since he had taken Hong Heeju under his wing.

One day, an anonymous threatening call came in.

He completely dismissed Hong In-ah as a possibility, convinced that a person who abandoned their sister to save themselves wouldn’t have the guts to fight back.

Before she disappeared, Hong In-ah had left one final message for Kim Yeon-hee.

Sa-eon didn’t even need to read it to know what it said. She must have incited her stepmother, using her as a card to manipulate Chairman Hong. And her mother-in-law wasn’t the type to throw away a golden opportunity.

If her biological daughter, not her stepdaughter, married into the family, Kim Yeon-hee would stand to gain much more.

Poor Hong Heeju. Everyone was using her as a pawn—

『Sis, keep calling him. Keep doing it.』
『You’re going to keep being my voice.』
『You’ll be my messenger.』

Choices always seemed to appear suddenly, at unexpected turns.

How was he still alive? Baek Sa-eon’s name, his life—it had already become his. If it were taken back now, then… What would happen to Heeju?

My wife, Hong Heeju—

Even someone as emotionally detached as him felt the fine hairs on his body stand on end. When he realized the person behind the threatening calls was his own nephew, the real Baek Sa-eon, his world began to crumble uncontrollably.

His life was a house of cards, built on a foundation of lies, and he could comprehend its inevitable collapse.

“……”

When the rightful owner returned, he could only be driven out. Lowering his head, Baek Sa-eon took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. And, as always, he didn’t look back.

Descending directly into the underground section of the Blue House, he swiped his keycard and swiftly moved through the passage. When the doors opened, an office filled with monitors on all sides came into view.

Hundreds of computers emitted an eerie greenish glow, creating an almost dawn-like atmosphere.

“Team Leader, where’s Park Do-jae? Why are you alone?”

A member slumped at their desk asked.

Sa-eon’s face hardened as he replied, “From now on, Park Do-jae is excluded from all operations we’re planning.”

“What?”
“Gather around.”

He finally stood in front of the Blue House planning task force.

“On the day of the screening of the special documentary on the late Baek Jang-ho…-”

He began crafting a plan solely to protect Heeju, to ensure her freedom. In this world, the existence of two Baek Sa-eons had to be completely erased, so that no other Baek Sa-eon could shackle her again.

If he couldn’t completely claim the name, wouldn’t it be better to destroy it?

‘I really am my father’s bloodline, after all,’ he thought, letting out a bitter laugh.

Even so… At least one person should be used as a pawn for your sake. Wouldn’t you agree, Heeju?

 

***

 

The press conference venue was a frenzy of flashing cameras.

The sudden voice ripped me from my thoughts of the past.

— “When your reputation hits rock bottom, that name will belong to me again.”
“…….”
— “You must be exposed for the fraud that you are so that I can take the position without repercussions! So accept your well deserved infamy!”

A sneering voice rang in my ears.

— “I lived as an idiot for a very long time. Tidying up fishing rods, baiting hooks with worms, scrubbing the dock every day. I just smiled when customers kicked me around.”
“……”
— “Did you know the day I almost died, a fisherman was the one who pulled me out?”
“……!”

The image of a burly, taciturn man surfaced in his memory for the first time in a long while.

— “Water had clogged every part of my body and they said my brain had been deprived of oxygen for quite a while. That’s why I became a fool. A useless idiot who remembered nothing.”

He chuckled self-deprecatingly.

— “One day, I saw Baek Jang-ho on the TV. After that, I started getting these awful headaches. Every time I saw a TV, I’d smash it with a hammer, but I never regretted those years.”
“……”
— “I should have remembered it sooner. When I finally recalled everything the whole nation was chanting your name…Damn it!”

The man maintained silence as the journalists’ questions grew louder and more chaotic. Cameras flashed incessantly, but Baek Sa-eon seemed oblivious to the commotion. He was entirely focused on the unstable voice crackling through his earpiece.

— “One of us lived as a fool, and the other was worshipped by the entire nation. You should’ve been the one baiting worms…! You stole everything from me!”
“……”
— “You used my name to study, became an anchor, entered the Blue House, even got married, for f*cks sake!”

Sa-eon’s expression, which had been stone-cold, wavered slightly at the mention of marriage.

— “Even that bastard Baek Jang-ho, he should’ve died in my hands…! I can’t let go of this grudge!”

Turning off the mic in his hand for a moment, he muttered coldly, “When did you make contact with your mother?”

— “…..!”

Baek Sa-eon’s mother operated a consultancy specializing in crisis negotiation, accepting commissions from institutions while concurrently providing financial support to the families of those affected by crime.

One of the beneficiaries was Park Do-jae. Sa-eon had let it slide. After all, one always needed bait for the hook. Suddenly, the other person on the line began laughing strangely.

— “You m*ron, you don’t even know what you should prioritize…”

His eyes twitched at the unexpected remark.

— “That phone is going to explode.”
“……!”
— “The phone I gave to Hong Heeju, it will blow up.”

The kidnapper mimicked the sound of a clicking timer with his mouth.

— “If you want to stop it, pay up with your words.”
“……”
— “Confess all your sins right here and step aside. Admit you’re not Baek Jang-ho’s grandson. Say you’re just the son of a fisherman. Admit what a pathetic fraud you really are!”

A booming voice roared through the line.

— “Give me back my name, you piece of sh*t!”

Sa-eon’s jaw tightened.

He turned the microphone back on, his expression now icy, and fixed his gaze on the broadcast camera. He began to speak.

“I first want to apologize for the lack of smooth communication during this Q&A session.”

At that moment, the other earpiece in his ear blinked red.

— “We’ve located the target…! The sound technician for the National Theater rehearsal is currently…”

Baek Sa-eon continued his speech without a change in expression.

Looking at the reporters gathered before him—or rather, at the pre-coordinated personnel among them—he addressed the room.

Those who had been clamoring like predators suddenly began slipping out one by one.

“The allegations of infidelity are entirely unfounded, and I deeply regret that the media chose to expose my private life first.”

As the planted staff vacated the scene like a receding tide, the room was left empty except for him. He spoke as if confessing to someone watching from somewhere.

“The individual in question is not my mistress. I have never once betrayed the duties or fidelity of marriage. Even such speculation is offensive.”

Perhaps he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Baek Sa-eon felt a peculiar sense of relief.

“The number in the recording belongs to my wife. She is 406.”

Exposing his flaws and lies, abandoning the name—

“However, this press conference is not to address allegations of infidelity.”

What came next… was exposing his true self.

“I am here today to expose the corruption of the late Baek Jang-ho and his family.”

He had wanted to become “Baek Sa-eon” for her, but the truth was, being Baek Sa-eon was what made it impossible to approach her.

Knowing of his biological father’s crimes, including murder and orchestrated accidents, he couldn’t dare to speak of love.

Hong Heeju was forever beyond his reach. His conscience, however faint, stirred only in her presence. He had vowed to forever conceal his true, shameful self.
But—

What expression will you make when you hear of my filthy sins?

The thought alone made his throat tighten painfully.

“I am not the son of Baek Ui-yong, nor the grandson of Baek Jang-ho.”

Perhaps not seeing your face filled with contempt is the only salvation granted to me.

“I am an illegitimate child born to Assemblyman Baek Jang-ho in his seventies.”

This was the final briefing.