when the phone rings novel
"Pazar, stop fooling around and sit down."
"That hurts!"
"I won't repeat myself," Baek Sa-eon said coldly.
The soldier, Pazar, shrugged, put the cup down, and sat beside Baek Sa-eon. "This woman is also from the East. Are you from the same country?"
Hee-joo rubbed her sore jaw, stealing a glance across the table, only to meet his piercing gaze.
"How would I know?" Baek Sa-eon's sharp tone cut through the air like a blade, his cold stare going straight to her core. Hee-joo felt tears threatening to fall as she bit down on her trembling lips.
She had so much to say to him, words piled up like mountains in her heart. But now—seeing him in front of her—everything seemed to blur.
Just as her vision began to swim, an angry outburst in Korean startled her.
"To hell with negotiations!"
Baek Sa-eon raked his hand through his hair, his face contorted with frustration. He exhaled sharply, his gaze lifting to the ceiling as he muttered something under his breath.
"Ask him where he's reached now."
"...!"
Hee-joo's expression shifted. She didn't fully understand his words, but she recognized the code in his tone. Struggling to maintain her composure, she conveyed the message to the chairman.
The older man's eyes widened, locking onto her with suspicion.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, hitting the space between Hee-joo and the chairman.
"Ah!" Hee-joo instinctively shielded her head. Smoke wafted from Pazar's gun, a warning shot fired deliberately.
"Stop staring at each other," Pazar sneered, the acrid scent of gunpowder filling the air.
Hee-joo was too terrified to breathe.
Baek Sa-eon, staring at the ceiling, suddenly clenched his jaw and cursed under his breath. In an instant, he grabbed Pazar's head and slammed it against the table repeatedly.
"Ugh...!"
Bang, bang!
The sickening thuds sounded like a watermelon splitting open.
Pazar groaned and fought back, but before he could regain control, the chairman snatched up a gun from the ground and shot Baek Sa-eon in the shoulder.
Baek Sa-eon managed to grab Hee-joo, pulling her along as they bolted from the warehouse.
"Get that traitor! Don't let him escape!" someone screamed hysterically from inside.
The guards gave chase as Baek Sa-eon shoved Hee-joo into a military jeep.
The roar of the engine cut through the chaos, and the jeep sped off into the endless wilderness.
"Ugh...!"
The rough terrain made Hee-joo's body bounce against the car's interior, her muffled groans slipping out despite her clenched lips.
Baek Sa-eon's face twisted into something feral, his grip on the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.
"Hong Hee-joo, who the hell are you?"
His cold, furious tone bore down on her.
"Are you out of your mind?" he growled, his voice shaking with barely contained anger. "Why are you here?"
His words were harsh, but Hee-joo could only stare at him, tears brimming in her eyes.
It was him. It was really him.
She thought she was seeing a mirage—until his hand reached out suddenly, cradling her face, her neck, and her ears.
"Damn it, it's really you," he muttered under his breath, the tension in his face betraying an overwhelming mix of emotions. His pain wasn't just anger—it was a profound sadness he could no longer suppress.
"You were the one who called me first," Hee-joo choked out, her voice trembling.
Baek Sa-eon said nothing, his jaw clenched as he focused on the road ahead.
"You made such a big show of 'dying,' so why are you here now?!" she shouted, her voice breaking with resentment. "Why did you keep calling me?!"
"..."
"You called, didn't you? Admit it!" she demanded, her voice rising. But his silence—neither confirming nor denying—was answer enough.
Her anger surged, her nose stinging as tears threatened to spill.
"What if I had actually remarried?" she lashed out. "Were you just going to keep calling like some ghost? Until when—"
The car swerved sharply, cutting her off as she slammed against the door with a grunt.
Baek Sa-eon's voice, icy and low, filled the tense air.
"Hong Hee-joo, you're speaking nonsense."
"What nonsense—!"
"Remarry? I never gave you permission to remarry."
"...!"
"Are you meeting another man?"
"...!"
"How could Hong Hee-joo even entertain such an absurd thought?"
"Watch the road—!"
"You think I faked my death so you could remarry?"
"Watch the road!" Hee-joo pounded the dashboard, her voice frantic.
"Even if I disappear, I'll die as Hong Hee-joo's husband—"
"Stop talking about dying!" she screamed, her face pale with panic.
A wry smirk tugged at Baek Sa-eon's lips.
"Hong Hee-joo, your words are so grating," he said, his tone edged with bitter amusement.
"...!"
"Keep talking; my eardrums are about to burst," Hee-joo shouted at Baek Sa-eon without restraint, her heart pounding in her chest.
Bang, bang, bang!
Bullets rained down on the car.
"Ah...!" Startled, Hee-joo clung tightly to the door handle. The pursuing rebels fired through the windows, and the jeeps on both sides closed in fiercely.
The speaker sitting in the back seat patted Hee-joo's shoulder and made a gesture.
"If we can just buy time, our government forces will arrive!"
Hee-joo quickly relayed the message. "If we can just buy time, government forces will arrive!"
"I couldn't care less if that old man lives or dies, as long as you're safe," Baek Sa-eon retorted coldly.
"Why are you even here?" Hee-joo asked angrily.
"Doing what I do best."
The jeeps on either side tried to box them in as Baek Sa-eon accelerated.
"Driving?" Hee-joo asked, confused.
He chuckled darkly. "No, scheming."
"...!"
"Exploiting weaknesses on one side to sell information to the other—it's what I'm best at."
The rear window shattered with a loud crash. He swerved sharply, causing Hee-joo to hit her head against the door.
"Back when I lived here for a while, I partnered with a group of international journalists to set up a shell company. Whether it was rebels or government forces, we gathered intel and traded it for favors," he explained, shifting gears roughly. "That interrogation video I shot back then? It was what got this chairman released from the prisoner-of-war camp. His hearing probably got damaged during that ordeal."
"...!"
Hee-joo's eyes widened as she darted glances between the chairman and Baek Sa-eon.
"But Hong Hee-joo always ruins my plans."
"...!"
The statement hit her like a punch to the chest. She bit down on her trembling lip.
"Do you know how many times my plans have changed because of you? Plans mean nothing in front of you. The moment you get involved, everything goes to hell," he muttered irritably.
A few hundred meters away, more jeeps were closing in, their long gun barrels aimed at the car.
Bang, bang, bang!
The car jolted violently under the relentless assault. Hee-joo felt an inexplicable wave of anxiety grip her.
"...I told you to come find me!" she burst out.
"..."
"Oppa, I told you to come find me!"
The car wobbled precariously for a moment before Baek Sa-eon regained control.
Clutching her chest, Hee-joo yelled, "You're always so confusing, acting like you care about me! Why? Why are you like this? I've liked you for so long, but I can't even hate you properly, nor can I let go. Why do you treat me this way?"
Her voice cracked with a mix of anger and desperation. For two months, her parched throat had become a constant, but now tears finally began to well up.
"You always make it seem like you care about me...!"
"..."
"You know everything about me—even the sides no one else could ever imagine!"
"..."
"And we've even kissed!"
"..."
"We've even slept together!"
At that moment, Baek Sa-eon froze entirely, his expression unreadable.
His lack of response only made Hee-joo feel more indignant, her chest aching with suppressed emotions. Despite her pride, she couldn't hold back.
"You're the one who made me think I could be greedier! You bastard!"
Baek Sa-eon's neck flushed red, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged as he gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity.
Am I the crazy woman who chased him all the way to Argan? How could I let something like this intimidate me!
"If you'd just been cold to me like before, I might've let it go...! But why did you have to shake me like this?"
Words carried tremendous weight. As she poured out her deepest emotions in a torrent, she felt herself drawn toward him, her burdens suddenly lighter.
Closer. Just a little closer.
"I have nowhere else to go now...! I've cut ties with my mom, and I don't want to go back to living alone. I have no friends, no boyfriend, and no husband."
"..."
"So who am I supposed to live with now?"
The car swerved violently, shaking from side to side.
"If you're planning to die, let's die together this time," she said.
The acrid smell of burning tires filled the air as bullets rained down on the vehicle.
Amid the chaos, Baek Sa-eon floored the accelerator, speeding away.
The seats rattled as more bullets struck the car.
"Government forces are here! They're closing in behind us!" Hee-joo relayed the news with excitement.
"Ah—!"
Before Hee-joo could finish her words, a bullet tore through the dashboard and shredded the seats. The three occupants ducked instinctively as the car swerved sharply, narrowly avoiding the relentless gunfire. Finally, the pursuing vehicles were shaken off after a sudden, sharp turn.
The deafening barrage of bullets seemed to tear through their eardrums.
"Ah...!"
At that moment, one side of the car abruptly sank with a heavy thud, accompanied by an alarming sensation. The car's warning alarms blared incessantly.
A tire had burst, causing the car to lose speed drastically.
"...!"
The relentless gunfire claimed yet another tire, sending the car spiralling out of control, violently jerking from side to side.
"Hee-joo—!"
Baek Sa-eon immediately unfastened his seatbelt and turned to shield her with his arms.
The vehicle, now completely out of control, hurtled toward the lush, green riverside slope below. It was too late to steer or brake.
Baek Sa-eon could only hold the stiffened Hee-joo tightly in his arms, his expression filled with helpless resolve.
"—!"
With a thunderous crash, the car plummeted into the river, submerging rapidly under the water's surface.