When The Phone Rings – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review

D-day

Episode 6 of When the Phone Rings starts with Sa-eon having a dream about being droned when he was young. He wakes up and is startled to find Hee-joo sleeping beside him on the floor.

She also wakes up, and they quickly pull away from each other. Sa-eon rushes to his room to clean up and tries but fails to remember the events of the previous night. He notices his phone is off and he quickly charges it.

At breakfast, he asks Hee-joo what happened, and she questions if he wants an honest answer. In the end, she doesn’t tell him anything and a call from Do-jae distracts Sa-eon.

On the call, Do-jae asks Sa-eon to check his messages. After Sa-eon learns that Hee-joo is 406, he is shocked but doesn’t reveal the truth to Do-jae or confront his wife. He tries to resume his normal life while Do-jae continues to update him on the case.

Sa-eon later admits that the revelation has rocked his world, and he is unsure of how to proceed. All his life, he thought he was in control but never saw Hee-joo’s twist coming. He and Do-jae also realise they are two callers, and 406 is not related to the bombing or the break-in.

Later that day, Sa-eon and Hee-joo continue their sign language lessons. Sa-eon asks his wife to teach him how to sign, ” I forgive your wrongdoings.” Hee-joo teaches him, but he gives up since it is hard and abruptly ends their lesson.

On his way out, he drops the files, and when he picks the papers up, he sees that Hee-joo was planning to teach him how to sign something different. After the lesson, Hee-joo gets a text from I-na asking to meet up.

Elsewhere, Ui-yong has his men look into I-na and is relieved to learn she is back in the country. He rushes to tell Kyu-jin, but she is unbothered. She is in her feelings about what happened to their family 20 years ago.

Ui-hyong calls her a hypocrite, stating that they both felt relief after doing what they did all those years ago. In a flashback, we learn they are the parents of the young master Sang-woo met in the now abandoned mansion. That little boy had the habit of killing his pets, and Ui-hyong and Ky-jin were scared of him. What did they do to their son? When the families meet up a few days later, Ui-hyong surprises II-kyeong by asking about I-na.

In the meantime, Hee-joo and I-na meet at an aquarium. I-na reveals that she knew all along that Hee-joo could talk. I-na finally got surgery, and she can hear. She now wants Hee-joo to stop acting mute.

However, Hee-joo is offended that I-na thinks she can decide when Hee-joo is ready to talk or not. Using sign language, Hee-joo tells her off and says it will be her decision. She adds that she is tired of I-na butting into her life. Of course, I-na doesn’t understand Hee-joo’s words.

After Hee-joo storms off, refusing to watch the little mermaid presentation, I-na texts her again. This time, she tells Hee-joo about her deal with Sa-eon. She reveals that Sa-eon specifically asked to marry Hee-joo and took her hostage.

At home, Sa-eon goes through Hee-joo’s bags looking for the phone. In hindsight, he realises there were so many clues that Hee-joo is 406, but he ignored them. Still, he is not sure what her motives are. Hee-joo finds him rummaging through her drawer and is shocked. He lies that he is looking for his phone, so Hee-joo calls him. His phone rings in the other room, and she points him in that direction.

Sa-eon continues looking inside her drawer and finds lingerie. He starts teasing her, and she moves to grab the bra from his hands. He continues teasing her, and they fall onto the bed. This time, Sa-eon gets a flashback to the previous night when he and Hee-joo accidentally touched their lips. (I am not sure we can call that their first kiss.) He tries to ask her if they kissed, but he is too flustered and rushes out of the room.

He goes for a run, and at 10 pm, 406 calls him. This time, they agree to ask each other one question at a time and to answer honestly. Hee-joo asks him about the deal with I-na. He shares with her that Hee-joo was the one thing that brought him peace, particularly after the recurring nightmares that plagued him since childhood.

He admits that he asked for her hand in marriage because he wanted to help her gain her freedom. Unfortunately, he realised too late that he had become Hee-joo’s second prison. He also promises that he can give Hee-joo a real marriage if she wants one.

Sa-eon asks Hee-joo if she wants a divorce, and she responds that she’s had enough of waiting for things to improve. She explains that for three years, Sa-eon has only pushed her away. As they talk, they gain a better understanding of each other.

Sa-eon asks if Hee-joo is being threatened, and she reveals that she is partially being threatened. Sa-eon ends the call by asking if he can have the chance to give Hee-joo the affection she needs. Hee-joo is overwhelmed and hangs up, saying that it will depend on Sa-eon’s actions moving forward.

The next day, Sa-eon and his colleagues head out for their team retreat. Sa-eon starts getting jealous when one of the recruits pays more attention to Hee-joo. He tries his best to get Hee-joo all to himself. He also orders cute, lovey-dovey lunches for the whole team. Later, during the games, he ensures that he teams up with Hee-joo. Once they win, he asks Young-woo to take a picture of them.

Meanwhile, Sang-woo and You-ri visit the orphanage. The kids excitedly welcome Yoo-ri and get her autographs. They are convinced she is Sang-woo’s girlfriend, and they show her some embarrassing photos of him.

While they are looking at the album, an old picture falls out. Sang-woo realises it is from his young days at the orphanage. They talk to the sister in charge, but she came after the disappearance of the kids and didn’t know what happened. However, she notes that it was four and not three kids who went missing.

Apparently, one of the twin boys in the picture went missing. You-ri is sad that no one remembers or is looking for the kids, but Sang-woo tells her that he is.

The scene shifts to the kidnapper receiving a notification that the situation has changed, and it is now D-day. On their way back to the city, Sang-woo and You-ri plan on the best way to find out more information about the missing kids. Sang-woo promises to contact the other twin brother to see if he has more information on his missing twin.

Back at the retreat, the team goes hiking, and Sa-eon and Hee-joo take the lead. The others take their time, slowly climbing to the peak. On the way, Sa-eon gives Hee-joo his jacket in case it gets cold later.

The team starts questioning the chemistry between Sa-eon and Hee-joo, and Young-woo comes to his boss’s defence. Once the whole team gets to the peak, they decide to take a photo. Unfortunately, other hikers recognise Sa-eon and start pushing to get a picture with him. In the chaos, Hee-joo falls from the platform.

Sa-eon loses it and hikes down, searching for Hee-joo even before help gets there. He returns and reports that he saw a broken tree but couldn’t find Hee-joo. He gives them his other jacket to help the search dogs get her scent.

As the sun sets, the rescuers and Sa-eon get more anxious. News of the incident hit the media, and reporters start calling Sa-eon. He refuses to take their calls, and Do-jae promises to handle the media.

After gaining consciousness, Hee-joo checks her phone, but it crashed on her way down. She is also hurt and can barely move. She tries to call for help by using the black phone, but her calls don’t go through. She remembers that the kidnapper told her that the phone could only call Sa-eon.

For a while, she remains undecided about whether she should call him or not. Finally, she decides to call him, and Sa-eon tries to hide the fact that he knows she is 406. He acts like he thinks Hee-joo is with the kidnapper.

On the call, he tells her to use the first-aid kit and flare he put in her bag. Hee-joo struggles to open her bag and uses the flare. Once Sa-eon sees it, he thanks 406 and promises to get to Hee-joo quickly. Hee-joo begs him to get there as soon as he can.

In the epilogue, we learn that on the night Sa-eon got drunk, Hee-joo asked him about his true feelings. She was moved when he confessed that he likes her.

The Episode Review

We can see that Sa-eon is scared out of his mind to lose Hee-joo. In the scene in which Hee-joo reminds him that he asked to be called once, there is a dead body, and a flash of regret on his face. He is even crying as he rushes toward the flare to save Hee-joo.

In retrospect, Sa-eon was cruel to Hee-joo because he thought if he got attached, he wouldn’t be able to let her go. He didn’t know that Hee-joo was in love with him. These two wasted three years because they couldn’t honestly communicate and confess their feelings. To think all these complications and misunderstandings could have ended years ago! Nevertheless, Sa-eon is ready to forgive Hee-joo and work on their relationship. 

This episode saw Sa-eon trying to show his real feelings for Hee-joo. Now that he knows she wants a real marriage, he is ready to show his love for her publicly. He has gone from Mr I don’t want rumours about us to hugging her publicly. Is he trying to start the rumours himself?

Jokes aside, this is worthwhile progress between our main leads. This marks the turning point in their relationship. Sadly, they are still keeping secrets and playing games.

As the romantic aspect of the show progresses, the mystery keeps us on our toes. Who pushed Hee-joo and was the plan to kill her or just scare the couple? Also, am I the only one who finds Do-jae suspicious? He didn’t seem eager to take a group picture.

On the other hand, we get another piece of the puzzle. The young master of the mansion is Kyu-jin and Ui-hyong’s son. What if they took Sa-eon from the orphanage to replace their son, and he is the twin everyone thinks is missing? What if the kidnapper is his other twin? This is only a theory, but whatever the case, Sa-eon’s parents seem to be at the heart of the mystery.

It is heartbreaking that Hee-joo has lived her life in I-na’s shadow. I can’t imagine all the suffering and pain she endured in silence. What Yeon-hui asked of Hee-joo was too cruel. Sa-eon saw her pain and wanted to save her.

In a way, Sa-eon and Hee-joo are kindred spirits. They were hostages in their own families. I wonder what is the story behind Sa-eon’s recurring nightmare.