Novel Translation: When the phone rings

Thanks so much !! 

 funnytiger:

I purchased the rest of the side story from novelight

Could you spoil if the side story ends happily? 😭

 funnytiger:

They have a happy ending. No children yet though. Just koi fish hahhaa

Also, is Saeon open to children in the end though? 👀

Special side story Chapter 13
It felt like she had been sorting out her thoughts in the car for a long time. By the time Heeju arrived home, the sun was already sinking low on the horizon.
She had spent the entire day scouring fish markets and aquarium shops, tirelessly searching without noticing the passage of time. Only after turning off the car’s engine did she realize she’d had her phone off the whole day.
“Oh…!”
She hurriedly turned on her phone and stepped out of the car. At the same time, a forceful grip yanked her around. Covered in sweat despite the chilly weather, Baek Saeon stood before her, his face pale and drawn.
“You… this whole time… phone off?”
His hands trembled.
“Where have you been, doing what?”
The parking lot echoed with his thunderous voice, a roar that felt like a lightning strike.
“For the first hour, fine. Maybe Hong Heeju is just busy. By the second hour, damn it, something must’ve happened. By the third hour, I was checking for accident reports and frantically searching emergency rooms. By the fifth, I reported you missing to the police.”
“O-Oppa, it’s not…”
“They asked me if we’d had a fight recently.”
There was a biting bitterness in his tone.
“My wife, abandoning me? Not impossible, after the mess I caused last night.”
“No, what are you talking about!”
She barely had time to interject.
“Reporting you to the police felt like hell. I regretted it immediately, thinking, ‘I shouldn’t have. I’m just burdening her more.’ What kind of husband am I? So pathetic. Even someone as sweet as you wouldn’t want to start a family with a man planning to tie himself off before anything begins—”
“Stop spouting nonsense and give me a baby!”
Out of breath, she shouted back. Baek Saeon froze, his bewildered gaze slowly meeting hers. Heeju tapped her lips repeatedly before beginning to explain.
“I’m fine. I just… I went to see your mother—well, Shim Gyujin, actually.”
His face instantly hardened. Baek Saeon scrutinized her, turning her around, inspecting every inch as if ensuring she hadn’t been harmed. His examination was almost rough, yet oddly meticulous.
“I’m really okay. I promise.”
She stretched her arm toward the driver’s seat and pressed the trunk release button.
“So, I brought you a present. Open the trunk.”
“…What?”
Baek Saeon hesitated, suspicion clouding his eyes.
“This doesn’t feel right.”
“What?”
“Do you even know what people usually keep in trunks?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You go see Shim Gyujin, and then you tell me to check the trunk? Hong Heeju, be honest. Do you need my help?”
Baek Saeon’s voice grew colder.
“What? What are you even saying right now?”
Despite her frantic denial, he didn’t let his wariness drop. Baek Saeon shot her a glance, then turned to the trunk.
Standing before it, he yanked the half-open lid up like someone searching for evidence.
“….”
His eyes locked onto something dark inside. Baek Saeon stood motionless, staring at the contents.
“It’s a gift. Koi fish.”
Inside was a pitch-black tank. It filled the trunk, old and grimy with patches of grime. Seaweed and coral lay tangled together, emanating a faintly briny odor. A few koi with glimmering red scales swam energetically within.
For a moment, Baek Saeon was transported back to his childhood—a dilapidated fishing pond. Calloused hands threading bait, a creaky rowboat groaning underfoot, and the pervasive stench of fish.
The memory he wished to bury had resurfaced in an instant. He loosened his tie.
A clear voice cut through the haze.
“Oppa, do you know what purifies polluted water?”
She smiled gently beside him.
“These guys. Koi.”
“….”
Her delicate finger pointed toward the fish.
“Do you know how incredible they are? Just by moving along the bottom, they prevent harmful substances from spreading. They help purify the water. Oh, and they…”
Her alabaster brow furrowed slightly as she tilted her head, trying to recall the details. Baek Saeon still stood there, utterly dazed.
The refreshing cadence of her voice grounded him again. The stench vanished, replaced by clarity and light.
“Oh! They stir up sediment, introducing new oxygen to the water.”
“….”
“Even their waste is useful! It serves as nutrients for other fish, contributing to the ecosystem. Isn’t that amazing?”
“….”
“So, I bought a tank. Not a pretty, clean one, but an old and dirty one. That’s why it took so long. I’m sorry for not contacting you and worrying you.”
Heeju hugged him briefly, though he remained stiff. When she pulled away, his hand involuntarily reached out, gripping hers tightly. She smiled brightly.
“From now on, you and I are going to raise these koi together. And…”
She took a step closer, her gaze fixed on him as he stared at the murky tank.
“When the tank becomes clean…”
When Baek Saeon’s heart finally felt unburdened…
“You won’t be able to run anymore. I promise you that.”
His expression was unreadable. His eyes remained fixed on the koi, their mouths opening and closing as they swam. Frozen in place, he watched their every move.
A soft breeze passed between them. Heeju absently nudged her shoe against the pavement and asked,
“Oppa, if a child asked you what love is, what would you say?”
“A child? Asking something so cheeky?”
He scoffed, though his tone quickly turned serious. His gaze flitted from the crimson koi to the deepening hues of the sunset. At some point, he bent over, tapping the side of the tank in concern.
“The water’s too murky…” he muttered to himself, oddly gentle. After a long pause, he finally spoke again.
“I don’t know who’d ask me such a thing, but…”
He brushed her cheek with one hand, the setting sun casting a warm glow on his touch. The redness of the light seemed to soak into his fingers.
“I’d tell them to look at you.”
Heeju held her breath as his face drew closer.
“If they’re still unsure, I’d say, ‘Look at Hong Heeju.’”
His warm lips briefly met hers before pulling away.
“You are my love.”
This time, he kissed the corner of her eye.
“All the love in the world is here. What more explanation do they need?”
Heeju’s nose tingled with emotion, and her voice quavered.
“But… what if the cheeky one asking that is our child…?”
“Then I’d say, ‘Look at your mom.’”
“…!”
“My answer will always be the same, Heeju.”
As he gently pinched her blushing nose, his voice faltered, as though grappling with something profound.
“All the answers have always been with you.”
He stopped mid-sentence, his once-unwavering gaze beginning to tremble, cracks forming in the armor he had carefully constructed. Heeju didn’t fully understand what had changed, but she sensed the shift.
In that moment, he seemed to find the final missing piece, breaking down old beliefs to rebuild them anew.
Baek Saeon was imperfect, far from complete. And yet, he had found something resembling perfect love.
The man exhaled roughly, coughing as though expelling years of suffocating weight. Finally, he drew in a clean, deep breath.
“….”
Winter was on its way. The rivers would soon freeze, lying silent in preparation for a new season.
And for the first time, Baek Saeon let out a visible breath into the cold air.
“Oppa, let’s go home now, okay?”
Soon after, Heeju retrieved a collapsible cart from the backseat. Together, they loaded the large tank onto it and began wheeling it toward their home. The sound of the cart’s wheels rumbling over the pavement was cheerful and lively.
As Baek Saeon pushed the cart, the tank swayed wildly with every step. It seemed the koi were stronger than they looked. Splash! The murky water lapped against the edges, occasionally spilling over.
No one could say who laughed first. But the sound of their shared laughter resonated, mingling with the rhythmic sloshing of the water.
Within the tank swam small koi, still unshaped by time. One day, they would ride those waves of laughter, ascending upstream to fulfill their destiny.
“We should name them Hee and Ju,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
He looked entirely serious. Heeju clapped her hands in mock exasperation before asking,
“Oh! By the way, what happened with your lies?”
“Ah, about that.”
The sun painted the sky in fiery hues, casting the world in a warm glow.
* The End*

 KayesDramas:

Thank you for the spoiler!! It made my heart drop to know the side story started off with them “going back to square 1” 😭

 funnytiger:

i love the angst so much at the special side stories ahhh

So the special side story is an extra 13 chapters right? Ahh I cannot believe there is even more 😭 the novel is the only thing keeping me sane during this two week wait!!

Thank you soooo muchh💘🥹

 KayesDramas:

So the special side story is an extra 13 chapters right? Ahh I cannot believe there is even more 😭 the novel is the only thing keeping me sane during this two week wait!!

Same! The novel is keeping me sane 🤣