When The Phone Rings

Chapter 1

Broadcast Accident

It was a broadcasting accident.

『Record-breaking torrential rain. Landslides have devastated nearby mountains, forcing over 500 villagers to evacuate to temporary shelters...―』

The interruption during the disaster broadcast was nothing more than a simple accident.

A trivial mistake, if anything.

The issue wasn’t the top of the screen but the bottom.

A small circle, occupying barely one-sixteenth of the screen.

Inside it, Hong Heeju was frozen mid-sign, flipping her middle finger.

“What...!”

She was so stunned her mind went blank.

Outside the studio, the muffled sound of the producer leaping to his feet and shouting filtered faintly through the thick glass walls.

“This has never happened before...!”

Her trembling gaze was fleeting. Not knowing when the screen would recover, she resolutely continued interpreting in sign language. Her expression, focused on the prompter, didn’t waver.

But one second, two seconds, three seconds passed.

As her image, middle finger raised, lingered on the screen for nearly ten seconds, sweat began to bead on her forehead.

“I’m screwed...”

Though her hands moved steadfastly, her eyes darted around in quiet panic.

On-screen, she was still passionately signing the word mountain, vigorously gesturing as if shouting it aloud. Meanwhile, chaos reigned in the control room.

The writer was pulling her hair out, and the assistant director hurriedly nodded over frantic phone calls.

Fortunately, the screen finally transitioned to a field report.

Only then did Heeju exhale, wiping her flushed face with a trembling hand.

“Are you okay, Interpreter Hong?”

The newsroom writer approached cautiously, and Heeju numbly nodded.

“I think... I need to take my medication.”

The producer, tangled in a flurry of apologies to higher-ups, ruffled his already disheveled hair.

To sign mountain, one is supposed to extend both the middle finger and thumb. But an unfortunate glitch had left only her middle finger raised.

One could only hope the mistake would be seen as unintentional. However, loud voices often win in these situations.

Unsurprisingly, the producer’s face darkened after he ended the call.

“Heeju, I’m so sorry, but...”

Scratching his head nervously, his voice trailed off.

“―Breaking news!”

The control room door burst open with a bang as the assistant director rushed in, his urgency palpable.

“There’s a kidnapping case! The Blue House spokesperson is giving an emergency briefing!”

“What?”

“A directive just came directly from the Blue House. They’re requesting simultaneous live broadcasts across all networks!”

The producer’s expression changed instantly. Hastily grabbing the headset around his neck, he barked orders.

“Get a breaking news banner up! Have Anchor Park transition smoothly to the briefing!”

The screen shifted to a deep navy background.

A blue podium bearing the Blue House emblem appeared.

Standing tall behind it was the Blue House spokesperson, his commanding presence erasing the earlier turmoil like waves washing away footprints.

He was the message itself.

『There will be no negotiations for ransom with the kidnappers.』

His gaze, sharp enough to pierce through the lens, startled Heeju.

“We’re not husband and wife. Don’t forget that.”

His merciless words replayed in her mind, laced with disdain.

“You were sent to me as a hostage.”

The cold eyes that had glanced at her three years ago, when she had just become his wife, still haunted her.

That was their last conversation as a married couple.

Three years of a political marriage.

Three years of silence.

They were merely representatives for others, never for each other.

Heeju barely spoke, and her husband treated her as if she were invisible.

Seventy square meters of icy newlywed space. A husband seen more often on TV than at home.

Was this what an unhappy marriage looked like?

『On matters of principle, there will be no compromise.』

Habitually, Heeju touched her bare ring finger, devoid of any wedding band.

Yet, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

It was a foolish attachment she had carried from the moment she first saw him.

+++++

"Dear, how about quitting your job now?"

"......!"

The inevitable had come.

Heeju hesitated, her hands hovering over the steaming teacup before withdrawing.

After rushing out of the broadcasting station, she’d tried to avoid her mother’s calls. Yet her mother, persistent as ever, arranged a meeting using her mother-in-law as leverage.

Sitting across from her, Heeju found the sight of her mother and mother-in-law together distinctly odd.

Her mother-in-law, a professor at Korea University from a distinguished academic family, sat beside Kim Yeonhee, a former nightclub singer at Club Siren who had climbed her way up to become the official wife of a chairman after years as his mistress.

The contrast between the two was jarring, yet here they were, united in purpose, pressing Heeju together.

"In a month, the presidential campaign team will be formed. So it’s time for you to leave your job and join your father-in-law's campaign."

Her mother-in-law’s voice was gentle, but Heeju already felt the beginnings of a headache.

She had known this was coming.

She had also known exactly what her role was.

"Since Sa-eon is part of the Blue House, it’s unrealistic for him to participate in election activities. But if you step in, you’ll be an invaluable ally."

Heeju clenched and unclenched her tingling hands.

Their marriage had been a collaboration between her father-in-law, a leading presidential candidate, and a newspaper mogul with aspirations of becoming a kingmaker.

Baek Sa-eon’s family was a political dynasty, with ancestors who had held nearly every significant position in the country: his great-grandfather was South Korea’s first vice president, and his grandfather had served as a prime minister, chief justice, member of the National Assembly, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and even the chair of the National Election Commission. The family often joked that the only office their grandfather hadn’t held was the presidency itself.

Beyond that, the elders of the family were towering figures who had left indelible marks on the country’s political history.

Their singular goal was to finally win the presidential election that their grandfather had failed to secure in three previous attempts.

And for that relentless pursuit, Heeju had been "urgently dispatched" as a bride.

The day before the wedding.

Because Baek Sa-eon’s real fiancée—the woman who was meant to be his bride—her stepsister, had vanished.