When The Phone Rings – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review

Trust, Love & Sacrifice

Episode 10 of When the Phone Rings starts where we left off with Hee-joo unconscious at the back of Do-jae’s car. Hee-joo imagines how life would have been if she and Sa-eon were a normal, happy couple. However, their life is much more complicated than that.

Meanwhile, the kidnapper arrives at the fish shop where his master, Do-jae asked to meet. However, Do-jae is not here to update him on the plan, but to attack the kidnapper. In a flashback, we see that Do-jae figured out that the kidnapper is the real Paik Sa-eon. Although they were working together, the kidnapper often frustrated him by going rogue. Do-jae hits the kidnapper on the head with a bat.

We are taken to another flashback to the day when Sang-hoon called Sa-eon’s office and Young-woo took the message. Although Young-woo tried to hide the message, Do-jae used his meticulous tricks and went to Juan Fishing. On arrival, he heard the kidnapper and Sang-hoon arguing and realised that the kidnapper was the real Sa-eon—the person who killed his twin brother.

Currently, a fight ensues between Do-jae and the kidnapper, but the kidnapper is too strong. He manages to overpower Do-jae, beats him almost to a pulp with the metal bat and puts him in a black bag on the boat. By the time Sa-eon arrives, Do-jae is in a black body bag and, thinking it is Hee-joo, he frantically runs to the boat to rescue her.

The kidnapper attempts to drive away with Hee-joo still in the backseat, but she regains consciousness. Hee-joo fights the kidnapper, making the car veer off the road and hit a rock. Hee-joo gets out of the car and runs into Sa-eon’s arms. The kidnapper reverses, aiming to kill both Hee-joo and Sa-eon, but Sa-eon manages to get them out of the way.

Sa-eon confronts the kidnapper, and he tells him that if he wants his name back and everything else, he can take it since Sa-eon never wanted them in the first place. The kidnapper asks if Sa-eon will give him Hee-joo and let her be his wife. Sa-eon loses it and starts bashing the kidnapper’s face in. The kidnapper attacks Sa-eon with a knife, but Do-jae saves Sa-eon and gets stabbed in his stomach. 

Do-jae starts bleeding heavily and Sa-eon tries to press the wound. Do-jae confesses that he is the one who sent the kidnapper after Hee-joo and also pushed Hee-joo off the cliff. He wanted Sa-eon to feel the pain of losing someone he loved since he believed he was the one who killed his twin brother. Do-jae feels regret since he has put in a lot of effort to go after the wrong person all this time. Do-jae passes out at the fish shop and the police arrive to investigate. 

Sa-eon flashes back to when Do-jae joined his team. Sa-eon liked Do-jae and even recruited him to the president’s office when he got the spokesperson role. Sa-eon felt responsible for Hee-joo’s suffering since he entrusted everything to Do-jae. Sa-eon had Do-jae track the phone’s location, assign bodyguards to Hee-joo, and even entrusted him with Hee-joo’s safety. Hee-joo comforts Sa-eon, telling him that he is not to blame for everything that happened. Sa-eon tells Hee-joo that he used to live at the fish shop, catching fish with his bare hands just as the kidnapper had said before he fled. 

While the kidnapper is treating his wound in a bathroom, the scene cuts to when Kyu-jin finds him at Paik Jang-ho’s house. Kyu-jin knew that the kidnapper was her son. The kidnapper tells her that he had regained his memories a year ago after Jang-ho’s death. Seeing his grandfather’s face all over the news channels reminded him of the time he tried to drown him. Kyu-jin tells the kidnapper that Jang-ho had tricked her into believing that her real son was dead. Suddenly, Mr Min arrives with Ui-yong’s men and the kidnapper is forced to escape. Back in the bathroom, the kidnapper vows to make all of them pay. 

Meanwhile, Kyu-jin is anxiously waiting for Ui-yong to find their son, but he has no intention to. While Kyu-jin thinks their son has suffered enough, Ui-yong believes he is making their lives a living hell. Ui-yong asks Kyu-jin if she can proudly announce the kidnapper as their son to the world or if she can take care of him all her life. Ui-yong thinks their son is nothing more than a monster they created. 

Kyu-jin takes a jab at Ui-yong. She tells him that their son takes after him in many ways, but neither he nor their son takes after Jang-ho. However, Sa-eon takes after Jang-ho and he is rising faster than Ui-yong. Kyu-jin reminds Ui-yong that the Paik family values the presidential race more than their life and there is nothing else that Ui-yong can do if he has to give up running for President. 

The police investigate Do-jae who is now recovering at the hospital. However, Do-jae refuses to cooperate. Sa-eon tries to get him to help catch the kidnapper, but Do-jae thinks Sa-eon cannot agree to expose the secrets of the Paik family and give up his privilege. When Do-jae asks if Sa-eon even saw through the facade and maybe started to suspect him, Sa-eon assures Do-jae that he trusted him. Even though he does not trust easily, Sa-eon completely trusted Do-jae. Sa-eon asks Do-jae to trust him too so they can catch the kidnapper.

Elsewhere, You-ri accompanies Sang-woo to the police station, where he identifies the belongings of the children abducted from the children’s home. At home, Hee-joo updates I-na about the switch between the Sa-eon and the kidnapper. I-na remembers that their little brother Yu-jin might have seen the face of the real Sa-eon when they were younger and it could be the reason why he was killed in the accident. 

When Hee-joo’s mother comes to scold her about the recent events and how it might cost Ui-yong the presidency, Hee-joo fights back for the first time. She tells Yeon-hui she will never be the president’s daughter-in-law. Hee-joo says that she now understands love and knows that Yeon-hui has never loved her. Something Yeon-hui says about wishing she had married Hee-joo off to the son of Yeonhwa Construction helps I-na have an idea of who might have sent her the DNA report.

When Sa-eon arrives home, he finds the house lined with candles. Hee-joo emerges from the bedroom all dressed up and she hands their marriage contract. Hee-joo knows that Sa-eon was the one who sent the DNA report. Hee-joo was never the stand-in, but the one who Sa-eon wanted to marry all along. Sa-eon promises an official proposal to Hee-joo after they overcome their current difficulties and the couple embraces and kisses. 

At the hospital, Do-jae receives a police report about the remains found at the gravesite. Do-jae cannot hold his tears back when he sees his brother’s shoe among the found items. Do-jae agrees to help Sa-eon catch the kidnapper. Luckily, Do-jae had installed trackers in everything he had given to the kidnapper so the detectives could use them to find his location. 

Elsewhere, I-na and Hee-joo confront their father about the accident that killed their baby brother. Learning that the real Sa-eon is alive, II-kyeong storms into Jang-ho’s memorial service threatening Ui-yong with a gun to hand over the real Sa-eon. Just then, an explosion occurs orchestrated by the kidnapper. Kyu-jin had seen him outside the memorial place but chose not to inform anyone. 

Hee-joo quickly texts Sa-eon, asking him to come to the venue since she has a bad feeling that something might happen. He arrives just as the detectives send him the location of the kidnapper, which happens to be the same place. Sa-eon rushes inside, but Hee-joo is missing. The kidnapper calls him. He has Hee-joo in her car, threatening her with a knife. The kidnapper tells Sa-eon that he will make him suffer because he watched Jang-ho drown him and did not help.

Sa-eon gets to the kidnapper’s location and tells Hee-joo to hold on and that he will save her. However, Hee-joo stops him. She reminds Sa-eon that she had vowed to protect him. Hee-joo tells Sa-eon that she loves him and will make sure that he will no longer suffer at the hands of the kidnapper. Hee-joo steps on the gas,  accelerating the car and intentionally driving off a cliff into the river. The last thing Sa-eon hears is a bang and then everything is quiet. 

The police find Hee-joo’s car but she and the kidnapper are both missing. Two days later, Sa-eon holds a press conference. He starts by revealing that he is not the real son of Ui-yong and Kyu-jin and that Hee-joo is his wife. Sa-eon urges everyone to help bring his wife back home safely.

The episode ends by returning to the romantic scene at Sa-eon’s home. He tells Hee-joo that he was born to become Paik Sa-eon just so he could meet her, and Hee-joo hugs Sa-eon. 

The Episode Review

What a rollercoaster of an episode! We covered a lot in this episode. For starters, we now know Do-jae only recently discovered the switch. He pushed Hee-joo off the cliff and he regrets what he did to his boss. Still, his heart seeks revenge, and he wants the kidnapper to be found soon. We also figured out that the Paik family had something to do with the accident that cost the life of II-kyeong’s son.

What we don’t know is the fate of Hee-joo and the kidnapper. We are also curious about how the media and the public will treat Sa-eon after his big revelation. What happens now? However, there is one big plot hole that is too glaring to ignore. If the real Sa-eon had surgery to fix his heterochromia, why does the kidnapper still have odd eyes? What are we missing?

On the other hand, we have Sang-woo. He still is suspicious and might be the real Sa-eon. Think about it for a second. Why did he wait 20 years to look into this case? Especially just when the elections are right around the corner and Ui-hyong is a running candidate? He is a psychiatrist and has an obsession with crime, in particular cold cases. He also likes Hee-joo, so destroying Sa-eon would seem beneficial to him.

How did he not know about the other twin missing? Was it just another thing plothole or him trying to act uninformed in front of You-ri? Maybe we are overthinking and Sang-woo is a good guy. We might be  misunderstanding him. However, he is suspicious and gives that eerie vibe we get any time we see a white truck in any K-Drama!