When The Phone Rings

On the way home:
"..."
"..."

As soon as Heeju got into the car, she fell asleep almost immediately due to the warmth. Clutching her purse tightly, she opened her eyes cautiously, as if on guard, only to fall asleep again moments later.

The faint scent of champagne lingered on her breath.

Baek Sa-eon gently steadied her head every time it tilted sideways and fastened her seatbelt tightly.

'...!'

He then pulled his mobile out of his pocket and stared coldly at the now ended call on the screen.

"406..."

It was the first time he had shared anything so personal, and the harshness of his rebuke was unintentional.

I was just trying to make up a plausible story to build a relationship...'

But when the blackmailer started insulting Heeju, things got out of hand.

If he had joined in the criticism, the situation might have turned out differently. But Baek Sa-eon couldn't bring himself to do so.

His eyes wandered to the rapidly passing scenery outside. He realised that he couldn't hold back.

"That foul-mouthed..."

His thoughts were interrupted as his phone suddenly vibrated. Sa-eon answered the call before glancing at Heeju.

A voice on the other end interrupted him, preventing him from speaking.

"Sir! We found them! We finally found their location!"
"Speak slowly."

Quickly lowering the volume so as not to disturb Heeju, he carefully brushed her hair behind her ear.

"It's the blackmailer! Sir, the call duration was more than 10 minutes this time. We successfully tracked their location. We have her!"

The assistant's voice brimmed with excitement, but Baek Sa-eon merely raised an eyebrow in doubt.

Ten minutes...? It was an unexpected gain, as the blackmailer always used a timer.

"He was close to you. Right at the Sogong-dong Hotel where today's event took place!"
"What?"

His gaze shifted away from Heeju for the first time.

"It seems he was one of the attendees at Sankyung's event."

A cold, bitter laugh escaped him.

It was nothing less than mockery. A twisted game had been set up just to play with him.

Baek Sa-eon was no stranger to dealing with criminals, but 406 was different. He was a peculiar being who targeted his most hidden vulnerabilities in order to provoke him.

He decided to investigate everyone who attended the event: guests, temporary staff, full-time employees, to find any anomalies.

"How's the voice modulation analysis coming?" he asked in a low tone.
"T- That...! The audio is encrypted, but not using standard modulation. It's tricky, but the team is working on decoding it layer by layer!"

Baek Sa-eon adjusted the scarf that had slipped from Heeju's shoulders, but the worry on his face remained.

***

After dropping her off at home, he went straight to the third division.

In the dimly lit office, some of the staff were still working overtime.

As soon as he stepped inside, his exhausted assistant, Park Do-jae, approached with a pile of reports in his hand.

"Sir, did you get a call from the police?"
"That..."

Halfway through taking off his coat, Baek Sa-eon stopped. It concerned the matter of Heeju's biological father, a matter he had left to his assistant in the midst of the chaos of the Sankyung Daily event.

He hadn't put much hope in the matter, treating it as a mere formality.

But now...

Baek Sa-eon remembered Heeju's strange behaviour during the phone call earlier, how she had pressed the phone to her ear.

Something sharp flickered in his eyes like a hunter catching the scent of prey.

"998GA 4568."

"Pardon?"

"A police car's licence plate. 14 October, around 3pm... I want the black box footage."

It was an impulsive order.

"Why the sudden request...?" Park Do-jae looked puzzled, prompting Baek Sa-eon to answer casually.
"I want to see my wife's face."
"Excuse me?"
"Is there a problem?"

Park Do-jae was speechless.

He knew that all black box footage from patrol cars and mobile task force vehicles was filtered through the National Intelligence Service's hacking programmes.@@novelbin@@

"How much time do you need?"

Hurriedly, Park Do-jae retreated to his station. But as he turned away, his once clueless expression turned cold and calculating.

"Let me out."
"Sorry?"
"I can't stay here... Please, let me out of here."

The faint glow of the monitor illuminated Baek Sa-eon's face in the dark office. His eyes were fixed on Heeju's video.

"Do you think it's a taxi or something, ma'am?"
"Let me out. Just let me out!"
"Look, we're in the middle of the road, you can't just..."
"Just let me out and everything will be fine. Just let me out and I'll be fine."
"Ma'am... wait, hey-what are you doing?"

On the screen, Heeju was banging on the car door, even kicking it in full panic.

At the same time, her voice rang out clearly.

"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"

"Ha..."

As Baek Sa-eon grabbed the back of his neck, the coffee cup on his desk toppled over and spilled everywhere.

The scattered papers quickly absorbed the dark liquid, leaving them stained and ruined. But Baek Sa-eon didn't even notice. His burning eyes remained glued to the screen.

Heeju can talk? Since when?'

He ran his hands over his tense face, his erratic, trembling eyes betraying the turmoil inside.

'How...?'

Ignoring the coffee soaking into his sleeve, he replayed the video. His face, gripped by shock, remained unnaturally contorted.

"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"
"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"
"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"

The voice was crystal clear, without any distortion.

He replayed the scene over and over again. But no matter how many times he replayed it, the disbelief remained.

That mouth, which had been silent for most of its life... how could it produce such a sound? How could it sound so soft, so delicate, so fragile?

"Ha..."

His fingers hit the rewind button again.

"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"
"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"
"Just let me out! Please, just let me out!"

Sa-eon's obsessive gaze remained on her lips the whole time.

Twenty years... it had been twenty years since Heeju had lived in silence. Maybe that was why he had never doubted her silence.

Maybe it was because of this silence that he had never doubted her muteness. Now his trust came back to him.

"♪ You can ring my be-e-ell... ♪"

As a faint pop song played in the background, he played the video again.

The man stayed up all night, replaying it, until he finally arrived at a single, undeniable truth.

Heeju can talk.

Sa-eon's eyebrows furrowed into a stern scowl.

***

The moment the morning sunlight hit her eyes, Heeju nearly screamed.

"-!"

But the sound stuck in her throat turned into a violent cough instead.

Wh- Why is he here...?

Standing next to the bed, Baek Sa-eon stared at her with an expressionless face.

But even more disturbing than his sharp gaze was his unnatural posture, which made Heeju think that he had been standing there for a long time.

His clothes were the same as yesterday, but slightly dishevelled - his bow tie was gone and his sleeves were stained.

What had happened last night? How had his usually immaculate appearance become so dishevelled?

Clutching her flushed neck, Heeju instinctively moved to put some distance between them. His eyes, however, silently followed her movements.

"Heeju Hong, did you sleep well?"
"..."

His tone didn't sound like he was asking out of concern. Beneath it lay a wave of strange, seething anger.

Sensing that something was wrong, Heeju furrowed her brow. Her lack of response caused Sa-eon to let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

"This... feels worse than I thought."

He laughed softly and rubbed his temples as if fighting a severe headache. A faint wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows, his frustration evident.

"I always thought Hong Heeju was just a quiet person..."

His voice trailed off, thick with an indescribable weight as he murmured, "I really believed it."

His gaze lingered on her lips.

"Shall I start by making it resonate?"
"...!"
"Perhaps I should."

As if thinking seriously, he licked his lower lip and blinked his tired eyes.

"I thought I knew everything, that there wasn't a secret in the world that could surprise me. Then I got a slap in the face."

He leaned his head back against the wall with a loud thud and muttered, "What a mess! Even Hong Heeju has his moments."

He climbed onto the bed on his knees and collapsed beside her with a heavy thud. A subtle aroma of coffee lingered around him.

When Heeju tried to get out of bed, his hand gripped her ankle tightly. She couldn't move against his strength.

He straightened her leg, pulled the blanket around her and murmured under his breath.

"Crafty little Hong Heeju... knows exactly how to pick her battles..."

With a faint smirk and venom dripping from his words, he cursed softly before turning away.

"Surely that mouth comes at a high price."

All Heeju could manage was a blank stare in his direction.