When The Phone Rings – K-drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

Call Him!

Episode 3 of When the Phone Rings takes us back a few minutes before the bombing. Sa-eon was on the phone with Hee-joo, still posing as her kidnapper. In the meantime, the real kidnapper delivers a pizza to Sa-eon’s office. Only it is not a pizza but a bomb, and it goes off as Sa-eon is on the phone with Hee-joo.

Do-jae informs him at the hospital, after he wakes up, that no one was seriously hurt in the bombing. However, Sa-eon is not happy that the kidnapper has him in a tough spot. He can’t publicly come out and admit he is being threatened, so he sets a different plan in motion.

He has part of his conversation with the kidnapper aired in the news. He also checks the updates from Hee-joo’s bodyguard to make sure she is safe.

We circle back to where we left off in the last episode with Sa-eon arriving home and trying to look at Hee-joo’s unique birthmark. However, Hee-joo stops him. He carries her to the bedroom and tries again.

Our girl quickly thinks on her feet and asks him what he is looking for. Hee-joo’s reaction and her questions lead Sa-eon to believe she has no idea what he is trying to confirm. Hee-joo, concerned about his injury, is relieved when he denies being hurt and walks away.

Sa-eon goes to his home office and receives a phone call from Do-jae, who tells him that the police believe the bombing is connected to the recent arson attacks in the area. However, Sa-eon is certain that the kidnapper is pig-riding on the real arsonist and orders Do-jae to run a separate investigation.

Hee-joo eavesdrops and learns that Sa-eon was the one who edited the conversation the media played in their clip. Later, S-eon asks for her phone to check if it has been hacked. Hee-joo panics when she realises it is because of the photo she sent. She runs to her room and deletes the photo from the black phone. (We will be calling it this !)

Elsewhere, Sa-eon’s parents hang out with Hee-joo’s parents. Chairman II-kyeong seems curious to know how Ui-yong will use Sa-eon to win the presidential campaign.

As for the moms, Kyung-jin is offended when Yeon-hui tries to snoop on her phone. She ends up pouring hot tea on Yeon-hui and abruptly leaves without apologising after seeing the bombing news. Even though the media didn’t reveal Sa-eon’s name, she recognised his office. Ui-hyong remains behind to give Yeon-hui first aid, but his reaction seems strange. I felt like II-kyeong picked up on the awkward vibe, too!

At the TV station, Sang-woo meets with the team to discuss his appearance on You-ri’s show. The producer asks if there is a case that Sang-woo has never covered, and he says yes. He takes us back to when he was a kid living at Nuri Dream Centre orphanage. He narrates how he snuck out and met the Chairman’s son, who was staying at one of the family’s properties near the area.

According to Sang-woo, he and the young master got close and played every day. This was until one day, he came across something terrible. Unfortunately, Sang-woo leaves everyone hanging as his alarm goes off and he rushes out for his lunch date.

You guessed it right, Sang-woo leaves to meet Hee-joo for lunch. In the meantime, Sa-eon goes through Hee-joo’s phone and comes across her plans to meet with Sang-woo. Before leaving, he meets with Do-jae, who updates him on the bomb materials and says that they are nowhere close to identifying the kidnapper’s voice. Sa-eon is glad that Do-jae is dedicated to helping him.

After that, he chucks out and gets a message from You-ri. Being the opportunist that he is, he invites You-ri to lunch at the same restaurant where Hee-joo and Sang-woo are meeting. Hee-joo is shocked when he shows up and casually interrupts her lunch with Sang-woo. He acts like it is a coincidence, but never reveals she is his wife.

In the end, the four have lunch together, and Sa-eon uses this opportunity to grill Sang-woo as if he is a criminal. Thankfully, Sang-woo handles it like a pro even though Hee-joo gets nervous. You-ri also helps by answering some of the questions as Sang-woo daringly takes care of Hee-joo. It is a wonder how Sa-eon never choked from jealousy!

Once Hee-joo excuses herself, Sa-eon gets a call from Do-jae. Do-jae managed to get the culprit after he set another fire while the police were investigating the office bombing.

After his call, Hee-joo confronts him and asks if he suspects she is having an affair with Sang-woo. She comes to Sang-woo’s defence. Sa-eon is pissed by Hee-joo’s song of praise for Sang-woo. He starts questioning how well she knows him and admits that maybe he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks. On this front, he is right. He is Jon Snow; he knows nothing!

After the confrontation, Hee-joo gets a message from the centre asking her to come. Sa-eon heads back to the table and asks for Sang-woo’s business card before paying for the meal and leaving. Hee-joo also leaves shortly after.

At the centre, Jin-yi excitedly shows Hee-joo the job application documents to become an interpreter at the President’s office. Jin-yi is surprised when Hee-joo says she doesn’t like the job and asks about a divorce.

She proceeds to tell Jin-yi that her husband wants her dead. Jin-yi misunderstands and thinks it is the occasional passionate fight between a couple. However, when Hee-joo insists, she advises her to apply for the job so she can be able to eke out a living without her husband.

Back at the office, Do-jae informs Sa-eon that he is right about the arsonist. He is not the man they are looking for. Fortunately, the real arsonist reveals that he ran into the impostor while the latter was running a trial run. The police failed to report the first bombing, and the arsonist never saw the impostor’s face.

Sa-eon asks Do-jae to look into Sang-woo and is surprised when his assistant shows him Sang-woo’s YouTube page. Sang-woo is a well-known psychiatrist who majors in psychology. He also does true crime shows and is a huge healthy-living advocate. Do-jae explains that he is liked by women because of his physique, and Sa-eon gets more jealous.

Concurrently, the kidnapper gives Hee-joo another scare when he hacks her car. He asks her to call him and plays Song Hyun-joo’s song, Call Me Now.

After the scare, Hee-joo worriedly drives home, but she gets there at 9:55 and Sa-eon arrives a few seconds later. As 10 o’clock is almost approaching, Hee-joo tries to leave, but Sa-eon stops her and offers to go to the convenience store to get what she needs. Once he leaves, Hee-joo calls him as the kidnapper. This time, Sa-eon asks what the kidnapper gains if he leaves Hee-joo.

She is flustered and says that evidently, Sa-eon doesn’t love his wife, so why would he keep her? Sa-eon refuses to give up on Hee-joo and claims he will never let her go. He hangs up without waiting for the kidnapper’s response.

After returning from the store, he tells Hee-joo he won’t divorce her and have his name dragged through the mud. Hee-joo is offended, as she believes, which is why he is keeping her. He also brings up the job at the president’s office and demands she does her best. She grabs his arm before he leaves and asks why it is important she stays by his side.

She argues that the job will make her a public person and that might put him at risk. Still, Sa-eon says that it is not important. He admits that he got offended because the kidnapper was right about them being strangers. He heads into her bedroom and gets into the bed. Hee-joo starts protesting, and he dares her to get into bed if she can resist him.

Hee-joo begrudgingly obliges. He then asks her to forget what happened when she was kidnapped and what he said. He promises to keep her safe, since he is not sure if their house is safe anymore. He leaves after she falls asleep and doesn’t realise she is crying in her dream.

This time, Hee-joo has a dream about what happened when she was young. She had an accident, and the only son of the chairman died. To protect themselves, Hee-joo’s mom insisted she faked her mutism so the chairman could have mercy on them. Yeon-hui thought it was the only way they could stay with the Chairman. She forced Hee-joo to lose her voice.

The next morning, Sa-eon and Hyeok-jin meet to play indoor tennis. Hyeok-jin brings up the story about the cheating wife inquiring about what happened. Sa-eon replies that the husband never checked because he wants to find out on his own. Hyeok-jin jokes that the husband must love his wife or he must be a pervert to go to such measures.

Unfortunately, since Hee-joo never called, the kidnapper resorts to a different approach. He visits Hee-joo’s dad at the nursing home and briefly kidnaps him when he is left unattended. He then uses the man’s phone to video call Hee-joo.

Poor Hee-joo is shaken to her core. The kidnapper asks why Hee-joo is using the phone to threaten Sa-eon. He is entertained when he learns that Hee-joo is using the phone to get a divorce. He excitedly says they are on the same side but cautions her not to give up the fight.

To scare Hee-joo more, he shows her four bloody teeth, and Hee-joo assumes they belong to her dad. After the call, she rushes to the nursing home and finds the police there. Thankfully, her dad was not harmed, but he heard the kidnapper telling Hee-joo to call Sa-eon and continue threatening him.

Hee-joo’s dad keeps repeating the kidnapper’s message, and this shakes her up even further. The police offer to drive her to the station to get her statement. On the way, the police radio starts acting up, and Hee-joo gets car sick. The police officers stop to help her.

Hee-joo quickly jumps out of the car and starts vomiting. She later starts crying as she reflects on how hard her life has been and how she has no one on her side.

Suddenly, as if he is Prince Charming, Sa-eon shows up with an entourage. He dismisses the officers after thanking them. He offers to go give a statement on Hee-joo’s behalf. Of course, the police officers recognise him and are shocked by his presence. They ask how he is related to Hee-joo, and he proudly responds that she is his wife. Hee-joo is stunned, and so are we!

The Episode Review

We have a lot to talk about, so let us get into it. So far, we know that Yeon-hui forced Hee-joo to act mute to stay by Chairman II-Hyeong’s side. We also know that Hee-joo and the only son of the chairman go into an accident, and only Hee-joo survives. What we don’t know is whether the accident was planned and if this is all tied to what is happening to Hee-joo with the kidnapper.

We also know that the kidnapper is not working alone. Based on the message the kidnapper exchanged on the phone with his accomplice, it seems the target is ultimately Sa-eon. Now, Sa-eon and his family don’t have a shortage of enemies, so it can be anyone. However, this might be about something that happened years ago. It might also have to do with arson because the kidnapper has a burn mark on his neck.

As for Sang-woo, he remains an enigma. What happened to the Chairman’s son whom he met when he was a kid? What terrible thing did he witness? Why is he approaching Hee-joo? Is it because he has liked her for a long time or is there more at play?

I know Do-jae is fine, and he seems loyal, but could be the closest person to Sa-eon who betrayed him? Something about him seems off, but it might be too early to tell. He seems too eager to help Sa-eon.

Now, let us dissect Sa-eon’s actions in this episode. First, he is hot when jealous. I suppose the thought of losing Hee-joo to the Grim Reaper or Sang-woo has him reconsidering the dynamics of their relationship. This is a good thing because he is whipped.

However, his on-and-off behaviour is confusing Hee-joo and pushing her further away from him. She thinks he is keeping her for selfish reasons when he is in love with her. He is jealous and protective because he wants to get close to her.

The problem is that he doesn’t know how to do it, and it is frustratingly good to watch him struggle to hide it. The last scene has us gagged!

Why did he reveal she is his wife and what is his next plan? Things are getting hotter, and we are at the edge of our seats, begging for more.