when the phone rings novel

"Has she lost consciousness? Is she injured?"

"...I... I don't know. But with this cold weather... maybe..." Hee-joo's voice trailed off, her words stretching out. He urgently shouted:

"Stay awake!"

"Oh, oh! Hurry and come over... I'm here, in a crevice beneath this cliff..." Her chin began to tremble, teeth chattering incessantly. "Below the summit, under four or five trees... there's a cave between the cliffs..."

"—Four-zero-six, can you hear me?" His voice grew increasingly tense. Baek Sa-eon's clear pronunciation came through haltingly, like a broken radio signal. No... is it my problem? Her thoughts started to slow.

Baek Sa-eon... that name—I want to call it out. I want to shout his name at the top of my lungs, to vent my emotions, to cry out loud...

"...Hurry." For her, these few words were all she could muster. Then, a sharp, high-pitched sound echoed by her ear.

"—I understand, so don't hang up the phone."

"...!"

"—Please, don't hang up until I get there."

"..."

"—I'm begging you."

The moment she heard those words, her throat tightened painfully. The man she had once desperately wanted to divorce... now, the sound of his voice made her feel she wasn't alone.

"—Search the northeast direction again. We'll report our movements as we go. Don't hang up. And..."

He paused, taking a heavy breath.

"—If there's anything you can think of, let me know. Don't worry."

"...!"

"—I'll be there soon."

Bang. Pop—!

At that moment, red flares scattered across the sky.

"—Four-zero-six, you might not be able to see it, but we're on our way right now."

Even with her blurred vision, she could see the bright flames rising into the sky. She weakly curved her lips into a faint smile.

"—There's chocolate in Hee-joo's bag. I wonder if she found something to eat."

"But... I don't know..."

"—I put an emergency kit in the zippered pocket. At the very bottom, there's a portable flare. You just need to strike the cover to ignite it. I hope Hee-joo can find it and use it. Four-zero-six, do you think she will?"

Baek Sa-eon's voice grew increasingly frantic, likely because he was moving quickly, his breathing becoming more labored.

"...W-what?" she responded, her tongue stumbling over the words.

"—I'm asking because Four-zero-six knows Hee-joo."

"If she's conscious... she'll probably search for something... won't she?"

Her vision, growing more blurred, felt like a swamp pulling her under. Hee-joo desperately wiggled her toes.

"—Are you very scared?"

"...!"

Hee-joo hesitated before giving an appropriate response.

"What's there to be scared of..."

"Is that so? Because I'm scared to death."

"...!"

His voice was as calm and flat as always, almost like a confession. Her heart jolted violently. She moved her aching waist and started rummaging through her bag again. When she finally saw the small emergency kit, strangely enough, it wasn't her body that reacted first, but her eyes—they burned.

"I thought you didn't care whether I lived or died."

"..."

"That's how it seemed back then. That's why Hong Hee-joo felt so wronged."

"...Did you cry because of that?"

He naturally softened his tone, though it remained stiff, making Hee-joo feel oddly at ease.

"I don't remember."

Finally, Hee-joo sent out the distress signal. Her flare seemed to be answered; another flare exploded in the sky above.

Woof woof—

The sound of dogs barking echoed from the distance, reverberating like ripples. Trapped in the crevice of the cliff, Hee-joo no longer felt the darkness. She smiled faintly and finished her sentence.

"If you don't hurry, I... I'll expose everything. I'll reveal just how two-faced you are."

"..."

"I really do have solid evidence..."

"Alright."

"What?"

"Please continue"......"
"Make sure to call me."

What exactly is Baek Sa-eon talking about? Even in her hazy state of consciousness, Hee-joo found herself wondering this.

"Hurry..."

"...406, can you hear me?"

"......"

"406!"

threatening me like this tomorrow too."

"Severe dehydration and hypothermia! Quickly, get an IV started! There's bleeding at the back of the head—schedule a CT immediately!"

The rescue team carefully pulled Hee-joo from the crevice she had fallen into and carried her to the waiting helicopter, which rushed her to the hospital.

It had been a four-hour nightmare.

The man who remained stoic even when faced with bodies torn apart by explosions now trembled at the sight of Hee-joo, covered in blood. His eyelids quivered, and his face, usually as impassive as a ghost, twisted vividly with emotion—almost human.

"Fortunately, there's no major damage to the brain. Just a ruptured blood vessel. Her head required 10 stitches, and her limbs were stitched 7 and 8 times, respectively. She appears to have fallen into a coma due to dehydration shock, but we'll conduct further examinations as soon as she regains consciousness," the doctor explained.

Hearing this, Baek Sa-eon slumped into a chair in the hospital room. He wiped his face with his hand and stared at Hee-joo, lying there as though lifeless.

"......"

He hadn't gone through all this to become a lonely widower. He hadn't endured this pain just to feel such torment.

"We're not pretending to be married anymore... We should've ended this a long time ago."

Those were the words he had told himself. His fragile pride, which he had once tried to protect in such a pathetic way, was now utterly shattered.

At that moment, knock, knock—someone rapped on the door.

"Please wait there for a moment," Baek Sa-eon responded sharply. He opened the door himself and stepped out. Standing at the doorway, he blocked the entrance, his gaze fixed on the visitor.

"Ah, senior, this..." Assistant Park held out Hee-joo's dirty bag. "It's a bit late, but we managed to retrieve it from the firefighters."

Instantly, Baek Sa-eon's sharp eyes flickered as he turned the bag upside down, dumping all its contents onto the floor.

"Se-senior...?!"

An empty bottle, chocolate, the emergency kit, a towel, a powered-off phone... His eyes scanned the scattered items on the floor with precision.

He looked back at Assistant Park and asked coldly, "Are these all the items?"

"Y-yes. Are you looking for something in particular...?"

"Is there another phone? Apart from this one?"

"Phone?" Assistant Park shook his head in confusion. Baek Sa-eon dropped the topic, pivoting to something else.

"How did the analysis go for the item you submitted?"

"Ah..." Assistant Park looked troubled.

"Assistant Park." Baek Sa-eon's expression turned firm, his patience clearly at its limit.

"It's... a bit unclear."

"What do you mean?"

"The result was 79.35%."

"......"

"Although this percentage isn't enough to definitively confirm a match between the voices, it's above average, suggesting a significant possibility that—"

"It's fine," Baek Sa-eon cut him off, his eyes gleaming darkly. "I can confirm the rest myself."

After sending away all the visitors, Baek Sa-eon re-entered the room, now quiet except for the sound of the machines. He needed stronger proof. If her prolonged mutism was truly just a selective condition...

Gently stroking the back of Hee-joo's injured hand, he murmured, "I need to hear your voice." His gaze remained cold, fixed on her as she lay motionless.

"Don't run away, Hong Hee-joo."

Hee-joo hadn't just lost her voice; she'd lost other things too—things only she remembered now, like her birthday.

"Don't hover around in front of me—it's annoying!"

Slap!

The sting of her mother's hand across her cheek burned like a flint striking steel.

"Get out, all of you—get out!"

Her mother was prone to severe bouts of depression, and today was one of those days. It was the anniversary of her younger son's death—and Hee-joo's birthday.

A sensitive child, Hee-joo had hovered nearby in concern, only to be slapped and sent running off.

Nowhere to go.

All she could do was hide in the alley, burying her face in her knees.

"When did it start...?"

Not celebrating her birthday hadn't begun after her brother's death. It had always been this way.

The moment they moved into the mansion, her stepmother stopped acknowledging it. After remarrying, her mother never celebrated Hee-joo's birthday, claiming there was no need to flaunt being someone else's child.

No one asked about her birthday. They prepared grand parties for her sister and a first-year celebration for her brother, but no one cared about Hee-joo's birthday.

Perhaps that's how they treated someone who didn't belong.

"Woof, woof—!"

The dejected child lifted her head at the sound of barking in the distance.

"Woof! Woof, woof—!"

"General...! Stop it, this guy...! Can someone catch it? No, run!"

Hearing the frantic shouts, Hee-joo's heart began to race. She quickly patted her bottom and stood up. Just then—

"Woof, woof, woof!"

The rough barking grew louder—

"Urgh... growl..."

A pair of blood-red eyes, black fur, and long, sharp fangs dripping saliva lunged at her.

Before she could think, Hee-joo took off running toward the other end of the alley.

"Woof, woof—!"

The excited dog chased her relentlessly. Despite the searing pain in her thighs, she couldn't stop.

"Ah...!"

The guard dog's teeth grazed her calf. She ran with every ounce of strength she had left, but her stamina was fading fast. Her pupils, wide with fear, couldn't take in anything else when suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up.

"Woof—!"

A sharp, agonized howl echoed as she was pulled high off the ground. Instinctively, Hee-joo clung tightly to the neck of the person who had saved her.

"Ha... ha..."

She met the gaze of her rescuer, breathless.

"......!"

But the stern face wasn't an uncle's—it was the boy from next door.

"Has she lost consciousness? Is she injured?"

"...I... I don't know. But with this cold weather... maybe..." Hee-joo's voice trailed off, her words stretching out. He urgently shouted:

"Stay awake!"

"Oh, oh! Hurry and come over... I'm here, in a crevice beneath this cliff..." Her chin began to tremble, teeth chattering incessantly. "Below the summit, under four or five trees... there's a cave between the cliffs..."

"—Four-zero-six, can you hear me?" His voice grew increasingly tense. Baek Sa-eon's clear pronunciation came through haltingly, like a broken radio signal. No... is it my problem? Her thoughts started to slow.

Baek Sa-eon... that name—I want to call it out. I want to shout his name at the top of my lungs, to vent my emotions, to cry out loud...

"...Hurry." For her, these few words were all she could muster. Then, a sharp, high-pitched sound echoed by her ear.

"—I understand, so don't hang up the phone."

"...!"

"—Please, don't hang up until I get there."

"..."

"—I'm begging you."

The moment she heard those words, her throat tightened painfully. The man she had once desperately wanted to divorce... now, the sound of his voice made her feel she wasn't alone.

"—Search the northeast direction again. We'll report our movements as we go. Don't hang up. And..."

He paused, taking a heavy breath.

"—If there's anything you can think of, let me know. Don't worry."

"...!"

"—I'll be there soon."

Bang. Pop—!

At that moment, red flares scattered across the sky.

"—Four-zero-six, you might not be able to see it, but we're on our way right now."

Even with her blurred vision, she could see the bright flames rising into the sky. She weakly curved her lips into a faint smile.

"—There's chocolate in Hee-joo's bag. I wonder if she found something to eat."

"But... I don't know..."

"—I put an emergency kit in the zippered pocket. At the very bottom, there's a portable flare. You just need to strike the cover to ignite it. I hope Hee-joo can find it and use it. Four-zero-six, do you think she will?"

Baek Sa-eon's voice grew increasingly frantic, likely because he was moving quickly, his breathing becoming more labored.

"...W-what?" she responded, her tongue stumbling over the words.

"—I'm asking because Four-zero-six knows Hee-joo."

"If she's conscious... she'll probably search for something... won't she?"

Her vision, growing more blurred, felt like a swamp pulling her under. Hee-joo desperately wiggled her toes.

"—Are you very scared?"

"...!"

Hee-joo hesitated before giving an appropriate response.

"What's there to be scared of..."

"Is that so? Because I'm scared to death."

"...!"

His voice was as calm and flat as always, almost like a confession. Her heart jolted violently. She moved her aching waist and started rummaging through her bag again. When she finally saw the small emergency kit, strangely enough, it wasn't her body that reacted first, but her eyes—they burned.

"I thought you didn't care whether I lived or died."

"..."

"That's how it seemed back then. That's why Hong Hee-joo felt so wronged."

"...Did you cry because of that?"

He naturally softened his tone, though it remained stiff, making Hee-joo feel oddly at ease.

"I don't remember."

Finally, Hee-joo sent out the distress signal. Her flare seemed to be answered; another flare exploded in the sky above.

Woof woof—

The sound of dogs barking echoed from the distance, reverberating like ripples. Trapped in the crevice of the cliff, Hee-joo no longer felt the darkness. She smiled faintly and finished her sentence.

"If you don't hurry, I... I'll expose everything. I'll reveal just how two-faced you are."

"..."

"I really do have solid evidence..."

"Alright."

"What?"

"Please continue"......"
"Make sure to call me."

What exactly is Baek Sa-eon talking about? Even in her hazy state of consciousness, Hee-joo found herself wondering this.

"Hurry..."

"...406, can you hear me?"

"......"

"406!"

threatening me like this tomorrow too."

"Severe dehydration and hypothermia! Quickly, get an IV started! There's bleeding at the back of the head—schedule a CT immediately!"

The rescue team carefully pulled Hee-joo from the crevice she had fallen into and carried her to the waiting helicopter, which rushed her to the hospital.

It had been a four-hour nightmare.

The man who remained stoic even when faced with bodies torn apart by explosions now trembled at the sight of Hee-joo, covered in blood. His eyelids quivered, and his face, usually as impassive as a ghost, twisted vividly with emotion—almost human.

"Fortunately, there's no major damage to the brain. Just a ruptured blood vessel. Her head required 10 stitches, and her limbs were stitched 7 and 8 times, respectively. She appears to have fallen into a coma due to dehydration shock, but we'll conduct further examinations as soon as she regains consciousness," the doctor explained.

Hearing this, Baek Sa-eon slumped into a chair in the hospital room. He wiped his face with his hand and stared at Hee-joo, lying there as though lifeless.

"......"

He hadn't gone through all this to become a lonely widower. He hadn't endured this pain just to feel such torment.

"We're not pretending to be married anymore... We should've ended this a long time ago."

Those were the words he had told himself. His fragile pride, which he had once tried to protect in such a pathetic way, was now utterly shattered.

At that moment, knock, knock—someone rapped on the door.

"Please wait there for a moment," Baek Sa-eon responded sharply. He opened the door himself and stepped out. Standing at the doorway, he blocked the entrance, his gaze fixed on the visitor.

"Ah, senior, this..." Assistant Park held out Hee-joo's dirty bag. "It's a bit late, but we managed to retrieve it from the firefighters."

Instantly, Baek Sa-eon's sharp eyes flickered as he turned the bag upside down, dumping all its contents onto the floor.

"Se-senior...?!"

An empty bottle, chocolate, the emergency kit, a towel, a powered-off phone... His eyes scanned the scattered items on the floor with precision.

He looked back at Assistant Park and asked coldly, "Are these all the items?"

"Y-yes. Are you looking for something in particular...?"

"Is there another phone? Apart from this one?"

"Phone?" Assistant Park shook his head in confusion. Baek Sa-eon dropped the topic, pivoting to something else.

"How did the analysis go for the item you submitted?"

"Ah..." Assistant Park looked troubled.

"Assistant Park." Baek Sa-eon's expression turned firm, his patience clearly at its limit.

"It's... a bit unclear."

"What do you mean?"

"The result was 79.35%."

"......"

"Although this percentage isn't enough to definitively confirm a match between the voices, it's above average, suggesting a significant possibility that—"

"It's fine," Baek Sa-eon cut him off, his eyes gleaming darkly. "I can confirm the rest myself."

After sending away all the visitors, Baek Sa-eon re-entered the room, now quiet except for the sound of the machines. He needed stronger proof. If her prolonged mutism was truly just a selective condition...

Gently stroking the back of Hee-joo's injured hand, he murmured, "I need to hear your voice." His gaze remained cold, fixed on her as she lay motionless.

"Don't run away, Hong Hee-joo."

Hee-joo hadn't just lost her voice; she'd lost other things too—things only she remembered now, like her birthday.

"Don't hover around in front of me—it's annoying!"

Slap!

The sting of her mother's hand across her cheek burned like a flint striking steel.

"Get out, all of you—get out!"

Her mother was prone to severe bouts of depression, and today was one of those days. It was the anniversary of her younger son's death—and Hee-joo's birthday.

A sensitive child, Hee-joo had hovered nearby in concern, only to be slapped and sent running off.

Nowhere to go.

All she could do was hide in the alley, burying her face in her knees.

"When did it start...?"

Not celebrating her birthday hadn't begun after her brother's death. It had always been this way.

The moment they moved into the mansion, her stepmother stopped acknowledging it. After remarrying, her mother never celebrated Hee-joo's birthday, claiming there was no need to flaunt being someone else's child.

No one asked about her birthday. They prepared grand parties for her sister and a first-year celebration for her brother, but no one cared about Hee-joo's birthday.

Perhaps that's how they treated someone who didn't belong.

"Woof, woof—!"

The dejected child lifted her head at the sound of barking in the distance.

"Woof! Woof, woof—!"

"General...! Stop it, this guy...! Can someone catch it? No, run!"

Hearing the frantic shouts, Hee-joo's heart began to race. She quickly patted her bottom and stood up. Just then—

"Woof, woof, woof!"

The rough barking grew louder—

"Urgh... growl..."

A pair of blood-red eyes, black fur, and long, sharp fangs dripping saliva lunged at her.

Before she could think, Hee-joo took off running toward the other end of the alley.

"Woof, woof—!"

The excited dog chased her relentlessly. Despite the searing pain in her thighs, she couldn't stop.

"Ah...!"

The guard dog's teeth grazed her calf. She ran with every ounce of strength she had left, but her stamina was fading fast. Her pupils, wide with fear, couldn't take in anything else when suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her under the arms and lifted her up.

"Woof—!"

A sharp, agonized howl echoed as she was pulled high off the ground. Instinctively, Hee-joo clung tightly to the neck of the person who had saved her.

"Ha... ha..."

She met the gaze of her rescuer, breathless.

"......!"

But the stern face wasn't an uncle's—it was the boy from next door.