When the Phone Rings is the series that lured me back to K-drama from C-drama (today’s hottest Chinese actor Xiao Zhan is binge-worthy, but that’s another story). And, to me, the bigger test of its appeal was how my friend Annie, who watches K-drama series by fast-forwarding it (a human being’s weird trait in this digital age), did not—did not—press the fast-forward remote this time, and instead sat through each episode. When the Phone Rings must be such antidote to an adult’s ADHD.
It is a cliffhanger whose love story isn’t only touching but is also as riveting as the plot. And—it doesn’t hurt that the chemistry between the male and female leads is intense enough to leap through your small screen. (Watch the scene where he, with self-restraint and self-doubt, tries to slide up her skirt, dying to see if there’s indeed a mole on her thigh, as the “kidnapper” claims.) How the lead couple is able to balance the tension and the tenderness of romance could only be the result of seasoned acting. Male lead Yoo Yeon Seok is popular for Hospital Playlist, Mr. Romantic, Mr. Sunshine; we even followed his reality show, Coffee Friends. The female is Chae Soo Bin, whom we loved in the underrated A Piece of Your Mind (with Jung Hae In) and Love In The Moonlight.
When the Phone Rings lost no time in hooking the viewer. Yoo Yeon Seok is Baek Sa-eon, the presidential spokesperson who comes from a powerful clan (don’t almost all male leads do?), whose patriarch is eyeing the presidency (if only we had telegenic political material other than Robin Padilla). Sa-eon is also a heartthrob, his face a fixture on national TV.
Chae Soo Bin, as Heejoo, is mute (from an accident), who works as a sign language interpreter both on-cam and off—and she is the wife of Sa-eon, the secret wife. She’s the stepdaughter of another powerful family. It’s a fixed marriage between two leading clans, and Sa-eon works hard to keep his wife hidden.
Yoo Yeon Seok’s IG post of him and co-star Chae Soo Bin in the series’ wedding scene
The opening episode shows Sa-eon talking to the British ambassador, with Heejoo working as interpreter beside him. Sa-eon is asked who his wife is, and he replies that she is “a weakness” he keeps away from the public eye, to protect her from all the attacks. In that early scene, Heejoo’s resentment of being the non-entity wife becomes palpable, a wife whose existence Sa-eon doesn’t acknowledge in public. The country wrongly believes he married the clan’s elder daughter, not the younger Heejoo.
In episode one, the action begins. Driving herself alone, Heejoo is kidnapped by a hooded man who then calls her husband on a VPN (virtual private network) phone with a voice modulator. Behind the wheel, a knife at her neck, Heejoo listens to the kidnapper negotiate with her husband, who’s seemingly unmoved by the threat. “Call me when there’s a corpse,” Sa-eon tells the kidnapper, his voice icy cold.
Provoked by her husband’s unmoving stance, Heejoo flies into a rage and curses out loud—she’s not mute, contrary to what her husband and the whole world know. The mystery begins. She steps on the brake, rams the car, leaves her kidnapper knocked out—and takes his phone with her.
She comes home as if nothing has happened, while husband Sa-eon tries to get his trusted aide to trace the calls and the phone. It is only shortly after this, seeing the mark left by the knife on her neck, that Sa-eon confronts his wife about the kidnapping. Sa-eon doesn’t know that his wife now has the kidnapper’s phone.
In this early episode the charade begins. She uses the kidnapper’s phone to call her husband, pretending to be the kidnapper, and pries into his feelings for her—if he cares at all about her existence. The “kidnapper” demands that Sa-eon divorces and sets his wife free.
The regular calls become a free exchange between the husband Sa-eon and the “kidnapper” wife—a comic irony unfolding every time the phone rings. Wife Heejoo can’t get over the fact that Sa-eon has chosen her to be his mere “stand-in bride.” In the agreement between the two families, Heejoo’s older stepsister was the first choice, but on the eve of the wedding, the groom Sa-eon demands that he marries instead the younger Heejoo, and sets the older sister free to leave the country. Heejoo’s cunning and power-hungry mother, now the second wife of this powerful businessman, has planned to marry off Heejoo to another scion. But that night, upon learning of the mother’s plan and the fact that the scion is a jerk, Sa-eon demands that the mute Heejoo becomes his wife instead. Why the groom-to-be Sa-eon decides to switch brides becomes an early clue to his feelings, and his plan.
What follows is the pre-wedding scene in a private room, of Heejoo, so lovely in a wedding dress, face to face with the groom Sa-eon. He presents her a contract stipulating that Heejoo cannot be known to the public, only to his immediate family, and that the marriage shall remain hidden. She can’t get in the way of his plan.
What keeps you glued are the characters, how they develop along with the truths that unfold and the lies unmasked
From that flashback, the scene moves to Heejoo now pretending to be the kidnapper’s voice, and demanding that Sa-eon divorces his wife and sets her free.
Yoo Yeon Seok’s IG post of behind the scenes in ‘When the Phone Rings’
Apart from the mystery plot, what keeps you glued to the series are the characters, how they develop along with the truths that unfold and the lies unmasked. Se-on is cold, with the charisma of power and appeal of good looks, seemingly uncaring of Heejoo. The exterior belies his deep, lasting love for her—how his character reveals it, episode by episode, is a cliffhanger in itself. At the onset of their arranged marriage, he admits to a long-term plan not known to her or to his family. It is tied to his true identity.
The hidden wife, Heejoo, mute, seemingly defenseless and servile to her husband, is actually strong and smart enough to keep up the falsehood of her disability, and is determined to know if her husband indeed loves her or not. It is engaging to watch and hear her switch from hostage/victim to assailant on the phone, threatening or provoking her husband as he gets more and more intrigued by the caller’s identity. She’s actually making him lose his mind.
When will he find out that she can actually speak? And that it is she who has the kidnapper’s phone? How were their lives intertwined in childhood (If today’s parties have gender reveals, K-drama has “childhood reveals,” always)? Why did Heejoo lose—or give up—her ability to speak? Who is the kidnapper? What is the dark secret of Sa-eon’s powerful family? Who is Sa-eon really? Just as suspenseful, who is the person most trusted by Sa-eon, but who is actually out to betray him?
What happens when Heejoo is indeed taken hostage, and Sa-eon has to admit to the truth before the entire country?
This would have been a stressful whodunit—if not for the comic relief scenes, and there are many, thanks to a versatile and funny supporting cast, and a snappy fast-paced direction. Directors Park Sang Woo and Wi Deuk Gyu, writer Kim Ji Woon apparently made sure every minute has its twists and turns. (Actually, you can cut them some slack and overlook the long drawn-out ending.)
Their feat is how they’ve turned a crime suspense into a love story. He wants her close by. Aww…
