Overview of When the Phone Rings

‘When the Phone Rings’ is a romance comedy drama starring Chae Soo-bin and Yoo Yeon-seok in lead roles. The drama was penned by Kim Ji-woon and co-directed by Park Sang-woo and Wi Deuk-gyu. It revolves around the story of the married couple Hang Hee-joo and Baek Sa-eon.

Profile

Cast

Main Cast

Supporting

• Jung dong-hwan as Baek Jang-ho
• Chu sang-mi as Shim Kyu-jin
• Yoo Sung-joo as Baek Ui-yong
• Choi Kwang-il as Hong Il-kyung
• Han Jae-yi as Hong In-ah
• Oh Hyun-kyung as Kim Yeon-hui
• Park Won-sang
• Im Chul-soo as Kang Young-woo
• Song Jin-hee as Ahn Jin-hee
• Park Sun-young as Kim Soo-young
• Choi Woo-jin as Park Do-jae
• Jung Ji-hwan as Jeong Won-bin
• Ko Sang-ho as Jang Hyuk-jin
• Hong Seo-jun as Min Do-ki
• Kim Jun-bae as Jung Sang-hoon
• Yang Jo-ah as Han Ji-yi

Synopsis

Baek Sa-eon and Hang Hee-joo are the victims of an unhappy married life. They had a private wedding three years ago and live a private life, minding their own business. Since the couple is from renowned families that hold political and social responsibilities, their relationship status creates great impacts on their political and social status.

They agree to the marriage to meet the social and political goals of their families.

Baek Sa-eon works as the youngest presidential spokesperson and is always busy with his work. Hang Hee-joo, on the flip side, is affected by selective mutism due to her past traumas caused by an accident. Currently, she works as a sign language interpreter.

Initially, Baek Sa-eon’s marriage was fixed with Hee-joo’s elder sister, but he married Hee-joo when her sister left the home on the wedding night. Hee-joo was forced to marry Baek Sa-eon, locking up all her emotions, opinions, and happiness by signing the contract paper that her future husband had given to her.

Despite the title of Baek Sa-eon’s wife, she has been denied all the privileges of a wife.

Even after marriage Baek Sa-eon and his family conceal the identity of Hee-joo as Sa-eon’s wife from the public. Therefore, they have prevented all possibilities of getting the public’s hands on Baek Sa-eon’s personal life despite the news that Baek Sa-eon is married.

On a rainy night, when Hee-joo is driving back home after work, her car gets hacked, and an anonymous man dressed in black with a mask and a hat gets in without her permission. He has fully planned his operation and has clear knowledge of Hee-joo, that she is Sa-eon’s wife. He intends to grab money in ransom from Baek Sa-eon.

Baek Sa-eon receives the kidnapper’s call when he is busy doing his work. However, seeing the call from an unusual number, he does not take the call seriously and considers it a scam. When the kidnapper tries to threaten him by telling him that he will kill Hee-joo, Baek Sa-eon casually tells the kidnapper to kill her if he dares.

On the flip side, Hee-joo was listening to the conversation between Baek Sa-eon and the kidnapper and became very downhearted. She feels equally frustrated and sad when she hears the unemotional replies of her husband. An angry Hee-joo races her car and gets into an accident.

Due to the sudden shock caused by the accident, the kidnapper faints inside the car, but Hee-joo manages to escape to her home, stealing the kidnapper’s phone. After reaching her room, she calls Sa-eon using the stolen phone. She showers her frustration in the phone call, making Sa-eon a little scared. Later, she started to threaten him daily by scheduling a fixed time for the call.

One day, she sent him a photo of her bare legs, focusing on the mole on her thigh, but being an estranged husband, he could not identify that it was his wife’s. The incident distracts him, and he decides to give her more attention. Sa-eon’s jealousy spikes to its peak whenever he thinks that there is a lot more for him to learn about his wife.

The kidnapper, who has been witnessing the new game, appears uninvited and sets a bomb in Sa-eon’s office. Also, he set fire in public places.

One day, the kidnapper goes to the nursing home where Hee-joo’s mentally unstable biological father lives. He kidnaps him and threatens Hee-joo to continue blackmailing Sa-eon.

Sa-eon’s family hides secrets that are powerful enough to destroy his family and their reputation. In reality, Sa-eon is the adopted son of his parents. He is the real son of the elderly man in the family, whom he calls his grandfather. Before becoming a member of his new family, he lived without a name or identity with his guardian near a riverside till the age of fifteen.

On the other hand, the real Sa-eon in the family is a psychopath. He was born with unique eyes with different colours in each eyeball. When he was a young boy, he started behaving weirdly by killing the fish in the aquarium. Later, his cruelty increased, and he started killing orphan children living near his mansion. When his crimes started to increase, the grandfather decided to kill him.

One night, the grandfather takes the real Sa-eon to the riverside where Sa-eon (Hee-joo’s husband and the current spokesperson) lives. It is the same place where the grandfather brings the dead bodies of the murdered orphan children. He used to bury their bodies with the help of Sa-eon’s guardian.

That night, Sa-eon hears the cries of someone calling for help. When he goes to check, he sees the grandfather attempting to kill the real Sa-eon. Later, the grandfather raises Sa-eon as his grandson after killing the real Sa-eon.

However, the real Sa-eon escapes the murder attempt and prepares himself to avenge Sa-eon, who snatched his fortune from his hands.

Sa-eon’s adopted mother, who still has love for her son, decides to stand by his side even though she knows that there is no mercy left in him. However, Sa-eon (Hee-joo’s husband) sends her to jail by providing evidence for killing the grandfather.

When Sa-eon and the kidnapper meet in person, he tries to destroy Sa-eon’s peace by telling him all the cruelties that his biological father (the grandfather) has done in the past. Later, Sa-eon disappears from the country as a means of punishing himself and leaves Hee-joo alone.

Nonetheless, Hee-joo finds him and takes him back to South Korea. Later, they resign from their elite reputations and start to live happily. Also, Sa-eon changes his name and remarries Hee-joo to create his own identity.

Theme

The romantic drama ‘When the Phone Rings’ discusses a wide range of themes like love, family, insecurities, childhood traumas, and marriage to name a few. However, the efforts of Sa-eon and Hee-joo to build a healthy relationship and a family serve as the central theme. The couple were living an estranged life even though they had love for each other.

The story is told with a touch of mystery that makes the show more enjoyable.

Awards

• MBC Drama Awards 2024
  Best Couple Award – Chae Soo-bi and Yoo Yeon-seok
  Best New Actor – Heo Nam-jun
  Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries – Chae Soo-bin
  Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries – Yoo Yeon-seok

Interesting Facts about When the Phone Rings

1. ‘When the Phone Rings’ is inspired by the famous web novel ‘The Number You Have Dialed’ released on Kakao Page.
2. The final cast of ‘When the Phone Rings’ was confirmed on 8 May 2024.
3. ‘When the Phone Rings’ was aired on MBC TV. Also, it is available on Netflix.
4. The audience’s attention to the drama adaption of ‘When the Phone Rings’ initiated a spontaneous elevation of fans’ interest in the webtoon and web novel which the television series was originally inspired from.
5. The television series ‘When the Phone Rings’ was released soon after the webtoon adaptation of the web novel.

FAQs

1. When was the drama ‘When the Phone Rings’ released?
   22 November 2024.
   
2. Which actors play the lead roles in the drama ‘When the Phone Rings’?
   Chae Soo-bin and Yoo Yeon-seok play the lead roles in ‘When the Phone Rings’.
   
3. What is the Instagram ID of Chae Soo-bin?
   @soobinms.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Yoo Yeon-seok?
   @yoo_yeonseok.
5. Is the drama ‘When the Phone Rings’ available on Netflix?
   Yes, ‘When the Phone Rings’ is available on Netflix.
6. How many episodes are there in the drama ‘When the Phone Rings’?
   12 episodes.