when the phone rings novel
Under the shower, Hee-joo lowered her gaze to her bare body and suddenly remembered her husband's request for the photos. Her ears flushed red at the thought.
"Only someone crazy would take those kinds of pictures again!"
She roughly dried her wet hair with a towel.
Back in the bedroom, she read over the Cheongwadae interview announcement and began practicing sign language again for the first time in a while. She played one of Baek Sa-eon's videos in the background—out of habit, perhaps. A bad habit.
"—Regarding the suspicions, the prosecution is conducting a thorough investigation..."
Suspicion... prosecution... conducting a thorough investigation...
Her signing was neither smooth nor accurate. The terms weren't part of her everyday vocabulary, and her hands couldn't keep up with his pace. Frustrated, she shook her wrists.
Nothing seemed to be going her way lately. The inexplicable irritation drove her to collapse onto the bed, where she fell asleep without realizing it.
A chill woke her suddenly, and she reached for the blanket.
"What is this?"
It wasn't soft like a blanket but rather something...
"...Hard?"
She fumbled at the solid object, squinting as her blurry vision adjusted. Startled, she flung it away.
"Ouch."
"...!"
The cold voice was laced with exaggerated annoyance.
"Since I couldn't find you, I came here instead."
What she had grabbed wasn't a blanket—it was a large hand.
"You didn't cover yourself with a blanket or even turn off the lights," Baek Sa-eon said, tilting his head as he gazed at her gently.
One hand was shoved into his pocket, a jacket hanging casually from his wrist. Standing there lazily, he looked utterly exhausted.
Why was it that the impeccable figure she saw in the media became so lax the moment he was home?
Hee-joo studied his face as she sat up.
"Now that you're awake, come with me."
"Huh?"
Her eyes widened as he added, "To my room. Sleep there."
"...!"
"Be grateful I didn't carry you over like luggage," he muttered, half-closing his heavy-lidded eyes, his voice growing softer and slower with fatigue.
"If you really don't want to, you can bring that pillow you like."
Baek Sa-eon turned and walked away. His expression made it clear that if she didn't follow, he would indeed come back and carry her over. Startled, Hee-joo hurried after him.
She trailed him through the gallery-like hallway into the dimly lit bedroom, where a musky scent filled the air.
Standing by the bed, he loosened his tie with deliberate boredom and glanced at her.
"You look like an egg."
The sudden insult caught Hee-joo off guard.
"You're just as obedient with others too, aren't you?"
"..."
"When someone tells you to come, you come. When they tell you to leave, you leave," he said, frowning as he flung his tie aside. His arrogant gaze held both reproach and self-reproach.
His quiet, burning eyes seemed so unfamiliar to Hee-joo.
He stepped into the walk-in closet and quickly returned wearing only light pajama pants.
His shirt? Gone.
Seeing his broader-than-expected shoulders, tapering waist, and defined abdominal muscles made Hee-joo dizzy. She immediately lowered her head.
"Since the time you were running around with Hong In-ah, I haven't liked you," he said, pulling back the covers sharply, gesturing for her to get in.
"It's no wonder you picked up bad habits, hanging out with elementary and middle schoolers. At an age when you should've been doing homework, you learned all the wrong things."
His scolding, mixed with his bare chest and proximity, made it hard for Hee-joo to focus. She climbed under the blanket, only to be enveloped by his scent instead of the usual warmth of her bed.
Her heart began pounding uncontrollably.
"I hoped you'd grow at a slower pace, age more gradually. If possible, I wanted you to linger in that phase a little longer. Childhood is always so fleeting it feels meaningless."
"...!"
"If you've already lost your voice, cutting your childhood short too... wouldn't that be too unfair?"
The light clicked off with a sharp snap.
The darkness carried his piercing words deep into her heart.
The mattress dipped heavily on one side as he sat down.
Hee-joo's fingers froze in place.
Would it have been better for him to stay distant, observing and silently judging her from afar?
But as he crossed the line and came closer, the dizziness she felt intensified—an overpowering need to escape surged within her.
Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over her.
"...Even so, how could you end up meeting someone like that?"
His knee slid between her legs, the brief contact of his skin burning like fire.
"Always picking the most infuriating ones," he muttered.
His gaze on her was both impatient and ice-cold.
"I was just idly helping you with math problems, wasn't I?"
His deep, husky voice brushed past her ear.
"Hong Hee-joo, you don't even realize your eyes are glued to the ground. You're dealing with someone who's not just a pervert but a criminal with anger management issues."
He whipped his head around furiously. In the darkness, the sharp lines of his brows, nose, and jaw twitched one by one.
"You must've enjoyed it too, right?"
"...!"
"Hong Hee-joo, you must've had so much fun, didn't you?"
A strange sound escaped her throat, halfway between a gasp and a whimper.
Even though the blackmailer had provoked him so intensely, Baek Sa-eon hadn't interrogated her or mentioned that "the blackmailer has your photos." Hee-joo stared at him blankly.
Is he trying to protect my memories?
In the silence that followed their gaze, he was the first to break the stance.
Irritated, he rested his forehead against the tense muscles of his neck.
"And you still smell like lotion..." he muttered vaguely, chewing on his words.
Then, with a sudden motion, Baek Sa-eon stood up and returned to his side of the bed.
Turning his back to her, he seemed unusually obstinate.
"Don't come over here."
...What?
Blinking at the unexpected reaction, Hee-joo hesitated.
"I've never slept with anyone before," he said suddenly.
"...!"
"If you end up rolling over on me in your sleep, don't hold back—just hit me."
Hee-joo stared at his broad back, frozen in place. His deep spine and taut muscles moved subtly with his breathing. Though he was turned away, it felt like he was rejecting her entirely.
Why...
His cold indifference, which she had always felt, seemed different tonight—making her heart itch in ways it never had before. His refusal felt strangely like a longing she had never been granted.
Good night...
It was a strange night.
If they'd actually had a wedding, would it have looked something like this? Not just signing papers but holding a real ceremony—
At the Mountain View Daily 70th anniversary event, Hee-joo sat on a velvet chair in a peach-colored evening gown.
As a sign language interpreter, she was used to wearing neutral tones to emphasize her hands. But today was different.
The hall was filled with high-profile figures from the political and business worlds.
I'm not used to this...
The gown, which clung to her figure and sparkled like blooming peach blossoms, made her feel uncomfortable. Her fingers brushed her neck as memories of the previous night surfaced.
The man who had warned her not to come close had spent the night tossing and turning, only to leave for work before dawn.
Her nerves had kept her from sleeping soundly either.
I'm so tired...
At that moment, a wave of murmurs came from the entrance.
In an impeccably tailored black suit, with a crisp shirt and an elegant bow tie, Baek Sa-eon strode in.
Ignoring the cameras and phones discreetly snapping pictures, he walked directly toward her.
He looked like an actor arriving at an award show—or a groom stepping into his wedding hall.
"Hong Hee-joo."
"...!"
His soft voice brought her back to reality, and she quickly stood up.
His neatly combed hair and raised brows made him appear even more striking.
Her short, layered hair framed her face, accentuating the earrings that clung to her earlobes. The gown hugged her waist and hips naturally.
His gaze slowly dropped, landing on the clutch she was gripping tightly.
Did he notice something?
Her heart began to race as though she were hiding a weapon.
I brought the phone I used for negotiations...!
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and she felt her pulse quicken.
"In this cold weather, with your neck and shoulders bare, who chose this ridiculous dress?" he asked, his tone cutting.
His sharp gaze swept the room, causing the staff to freeze in their tracks.
"Get her a shawl."
"What?" the manager stammered, adjusting his glasses.
"It's cold outside."
"Oh...!"
"Whose idea was it to send her out dressed like this?"
"Th-the...!" The manager frantically signaled to the staff.
Moments later, an employee rushed over with a white fur shawl and draped it over Hee-joo's shoulders.
"Will this do?" the manager asked cautiously.
Baek Sa-eon tilted his head slightly, assessing.
"..."
"..."
Her gaze lingered somewhere between his pristine bow tie and Adam's apple. She couldn't see his expression at the moment, but she noticed the slight, deliberate movement of his prominent Adam's apple.
"Like a quail egg," he remarked.
From earlier until now... was he insulting her or complimenting her?
Though he was known for his blunt honesty, this comment left her utterly baffled.