When The Phone Rings

- "Is she unconscious? Has she been injured?"

"Well... I don't know... Maybe. It's so cold outside..."

Heeju's speech became slurred. Sa-eon shouted in panic, "Stay awake!"

"I- If you g-guys can hurry up and come over... in a crevice under this cliff..." Heeju's teeth began to chatter in the cold. "Below the summit, under four or five trees... there's a cave between the cliffs..."

- "...406..4 0 6!" Sa-eon panicked.

Suddenly Baek Sa-eon's voice started to crack. Is the device malfunctioning or is it her... Heeju wondered.

Her head was spinning. She wanted to call Baek Sa-eon by his name, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry...

"...H- Hurry..."

Those were the only words she could say. Then a high voice scratched at her ears.

- "All right, so don't hang up."
"......!"
- "Don't hang up until I get there."
"......."
- "Please."

The moment I heard those words I felt suffocated. This was the man I'd tried so hard to divorce, and now this voice reassured me that I wasn't alone.

- "Search the north-east again. We'll report our movements as we go. Don't hang up. And..."

He paused for a moment, regaining his composure.

- "If you think of anything, let me know. Don't worry."
"...!"
- "I'll be there soon."

Bang!

At that moment, red flares lit up the sky.

- "406, you may not be able to see it, but we're on our way."

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

- "There's chocolate in Heeju's bag. I wonder if she found something to eat."
"I... I don't know..."
- "I left a first aid kit in the zip pocket. There's a portable flare at the bottom. You can light it by tapping the top. I hope Heeju noticed it. What do you think, 406?"
His hurried words came out incoherently, he was probably on his way.

"What?" Her slurred reply was barely audible.
- "I ask because 406 knows Heeju well."
"If she's conscious... she's probably looking for something... isn't she?"

Her dimming vision pulled her down like quicksand. Desperately, Heeju tried to move her toes.

- "Are you afraid?"
"...!"
Heeju hesitated, then replied evenly, "What is there to be afraid of...?"
- "Really? Because I'm scared to death right now."
"...!"

His voice, usually so monotonous, betrayed a confessional quality. This alone made Heeju's heart race.

Ignoring her pain, she rummaged through her bag once more. When her hand found the small first aid kit, it was not the physical pain that made her feel sadder, but the tears that were gathering.

"I thought you didn't care if she lived or died."
- "..."
"It seemed that way back then. That is why Hong Heeju felt so wronged."
- "Did... she cry because of that?"

He slipped into informal speech, of course, but his usual stiffness made her barely notice.

"I don't remember."

Finally, Heeju lit the flare. A bright signal burst into the sky, almost immediately met by another flare from above.

Woof! Woof!

She could finally hear dogs barking in the distance.

For the first time, the darkness wasn't so suffocating. Heeju smiled faintly and spoke with teasing defiance.

"If you don't hurry, I'll spill everything. I'll expose how duplicitous you really are."
- "...."
"I've gathered some real dirt on you this time..."
- "Good."
"What?"
- "Threaten me again tomorrow."
"...."
- "Call me, no matter what."@@novelbin@@

What on earth was Baek Sa-eon saying? Even as her consciousness faded, she couldn't help but wonder.

"Hurry..."
- "406, can you hear me?"
"...."
- "406!!!"

***

"Dehydration and hypothermia are severe! Start an IV immediately! There's a head injury, so take her for a CT scan as well!"

The rescuers lifted Heeju out of the crevice and took her by helicopter to hospital.

The gruelling four hours had finally come to an end.

A man who had remained stoic in the face of mangled corpses now trembled as he saw Heeju covered in blood. For the first time, his ghostly expression changed into something unmistakably human.

"Fortunately, there's no serious brain damage. The patient had ten stitches in her head, seven in one arm and eight in the other. We believe her loss of consciousness was due to shock from dehydration, but we'll do further tests once she wakes up.

Hearing the report, Baek Sa-eon collapsed in the sitting area. After rubbing his face, he silently looked at Heeju, who lay motionless.

He hadn't gone through all this to become a grieving widower. He hadn't endured this pain just to face this torment.

"Let go of the illusion that we're married."

Those words were a blade aimed at himself, a guard for his fragile pride. Now even that had crumbled.

Knock! Knock!

A sharp knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Please wait there for a moment," Baek Sa-eon replied sharply.
He opened the door himself and stepped out. Standing in front of him was his aide, Park Bo-jae, holding Heeju's dirty bag.

"Sir, I received this from the fire department. Sorry for the delay."

Baek Sa-eon immediately knocked the bag over, spilling its contents on the floor. Bo-jae was startled to see Sa-eon acting like that.

"Sir...!"

Empty bottles, chocolate, a first aid kit, a towel, a dead phone... His eyes scanned each item, narrowing with urgency.

"Is this everything?"
"Y- Yes... Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Another phone! Was there another phone?"
"A phone? I didn't see one..."

Without further explanation he changed the subject. "What about the analysis?"
"Ah...." Park hesitated.
"Park Bo-jae."

His tone left no room for patience.

"The result was 79.35 percent. Not definitive, but it suggests a strong possibility that the two voices match-"
"That's enough."

Baek Sa-eon's darkened gaze became determined.

"I'll confirm the rest myself."

After dismissing everyone, he returned to the quiet hospital room, where only the beeping of machines remained.

Kneeling at her side, he briefly touched the back of her bandaged hand.

"I need to hear your voice."

His icy eyes settled on her still form.

"So you can't run away, Hong Heeju."

***

Heeju had lost more than just her voice. She had also lost something else... something that only she remembered - her birthday.

"Stop hovering around me! You're so annoying!"

Smack!

Her cheek stung as if hit by a flint.

"Get out! Get out!"

There were days when her mother sank into deep despair, and today was one of them. It was her youngest son's memorial day and Heeju's birthday.

The child, always sensitive to her mother's mood, stayed nearby out of concern. In response to her efforts, she was slapped and told to leave the house.

She had nowhere to go. All she could do was hide in an alley and bury her face in her knees.

When did it start?

It wasn't after her brother's death that her birthday went uncelebrated. No, it had started the moment they moved into the mansion.

Her mother had said there was no point in celebrating the birthday of someone else's child. After remarrying, she hadn't even acknowledged Heeju's birthday.

No one else ever asked.

While elaborate parties were thrown for her older sister and baby brother's first birthday, Heeju's birthday went unnoticed, perhaps reflecting how she was treated as an outsider.

"Woof! Woof!"

Startled, the dejected child looked up. She could hear barking in the distance.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"Stop, you r*scal...! Somebody catch him - no, please, don't run away! Don't run away!"

The desperate cries made young Heeju panic. She quickly dusted herself off and stood up.

The barking grew louder and fiercer, as if the dog was getting closer.

"Grrrr... growling..."

A beast appeared, red eyes glinting against its black fur, drool dripping from its bared fangs.

Before she could think of anything else, Heeju turned and ran in the opposite direction.

"Woof! Woof!"

The excited dog followed her relentlessly. Her legs were about to give out.

"Ahh-!"

The watchdog's teeth grazed the back of her leg.

She poured every ounce of her strength into running, but her energy was fading fast. Fear widened her pupils to their limit. Just when she thought she couldn't go any further, someone suddenly grabbed her under the arms and lifted her off the ground.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!"

A piercing scream rang out.

Her gaze quickly moved upwards. Instinctively, she clung to her rescuer's neck.

"Haah... haah..."

She looked up to meet her saviour's eyes.

"...!"

But instead of a kind stranger, she found herself staring into the hardened face of the boy next door.