Episode 1 of "When the Phone Rings" kicks off with a bang as Presidential Spokesperson Baek Sa-eon arrives at a soiree, capturing the admiration of all present. His entrance is nothing short of a spectacle, turning heads and evoking awe. Shortly after, his wife, Hong Hee-joo, joins him, and the duo becomes the center of attention, with guests continuously showering them with admiring glances. Hee-joo appears somewhat nervous, but Sa-eon reassuringly whispers into her ear that the attendees are merely fascinated by her presence, urging her to stay composed and ensure a flawless appearance. Together, they ascend the stairs, with every eye and phone camera trained on them.
The scene then shifts to Hee-joo's workplace, where she serves as a sign-language interpreter at a bustling news station. During a crucial moment in a broadcast, an unexpected glitch occurs, but Hee-joo remains unaware and continues to perform her duties flawlessly. However, her day is cut short when a live broadcast from the President’s office interrupts the regular news reporting.
In the live broadcast, Sa-eon delivers shocking news of an abduction orchestrated by a terror group. The kidnappers demand the withdrawal of South Korean troops and a ransom payment, threatening to execute the hostages if their demands are not met. The mention of killing hostages sparks a strong reaction from everyone, including the news station's staff.
Addressing the nation, Sa-eon outlines the government's stance on the kidnappers' demands, stating unequivocally that the government is unwilling to negotiate. The government views the kidnappers' actions as utterly inhumane and beyond the pale of tolerance.
In this dire situation, the government stands firm, refusing to negotiate and instead marshaling every resource at its disposal to secure the release of the hostages. Hee-joo, momentarily halted at the news station to catch the broadcast before departing, finds Sa-eon's declaration far from gratifying. In response, she flips him the bird and storms out, leaving no room for doubt about her dissatisfaction. Concluding his address, Sa-eon imposes a temporary media blackout, shrouding the incident in an air of secrecy.
Elsewhere, Hee-joo finds herself in a tense gathering with her mother and mother-in-law. The latter, stern and unyielding, insists that Hee-joo quit her job to devote herself fully to supporting her husband in his upcoming presidential campaign. The conversation veers into Hee-joo's selective mutism, prompting a question about her intentions to overcome it. Yet, in a swift reversal, she asserts that choosing silence remains her wisest course of action. Once the mother-in-law exits the scene, Hee-joo's mother reproaches her for failing to sufficiently endeavor to retain the man she perceived as stolen from another.
Following the meeting, Hee-joo retreats to her car, parked beneath the relentless downpour, lost in contemplation for an indeterminate period. She punches in her destination on the GPS and sets off, seeking solace in the radio's commentary on the governmental stance regarding the abduction. Suddenly, her radio starts malfunctioning, heralding the loss of control over her vehicle. Panic sets in as Hee-joo realizes that neither the brakes nor the navigation system are responding. She grapples with the steering wheel, veering off her intended path until the car comes to an abrupt halt at a busy intersection.
Desperately attempting to exit, Hee-joo finds the door firmly locked against her. A flash of recall hits her—a news report they had covered on malware enabling remote control of vehicles. The realization dawns on her with chilling clarity. Her anxiety spikes; she wrenches and pulls, but the door remains steadfast.Back in his office, Sa-eon finds himself immersed in a meeting with his team, scrutinizing the media's response to his earlier pronouncement. Amidst the discussions, Young-woo, one of his loyal subordinates, brings to his attention that the newer media outlets have delved deep into his background, uncovering details of his FBI training and courses he had attended in NYPD negotiations. As a seasoned negotiation expert, Sa-eon has now garnered the attention of netizens, who earnestly desire him to spearhead the negotiation team.
Elsewhere, a truck narrowly skims past Hee-joo's vehicle, sending a chill down her spine. Under the relentless downpour, a mysterious figure clad in all black, with a mask obscuring his identity, casts a eerie gaze towards her. Without hesitation, he strides towards her car and unlocks it with a nonchalant flick of a wrist.
Meanwhile, in the office, Sa-eon's phone buzzes with an incoming call from an unknown number. The caller's voice, filled with menace, issues a chilling ultimatum – Hee-joo's life hangs in the balance. But before the caller can finish, Sa-eon's phone sputters and dies, cutting off the conversation abruptly. When he finally juices it back to life, Sa-eon hastily dials his mother's number, seeking reassurance about Hee-joo's whereabouts. His mother assures him that Hee-joo is safe with her mother.
But when he follows up with a call to his mother-in-law, she craftily fabricates a tale, claiming Hee-joo is indeed with her and will be sent home post-dinner. Consequently, when the enigmatic number rings again, Sa-eon dismisses it as a mere prank, failing to take the caller's threats seriously. When the caller persists, demanding a ransom, Sa-eon sternly refuses and hangs up, leaving no room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, in the confined space of the car, the caller's frustration boils over. With a fierce grip, he starts choking Hee-joo, only to abruptly halt and deliver a grim ultimatum – Hee-joo's survival hinges on Sa-eon's level of concern for her. As they roam the rain-slicked streets, the caller repeatedly tries to reconnect with Sa-eon, but to no avail. Unaware of the impending danger, Sa-eon ignores the persistent calls, leaving Hee-joo's fate hanging in a perilous balance.
As Young-woo inadvertently picks up the phone during another attempt of his, Sa-eon, much to Hee-joo's dread, instructs him to call back only when a corpse is involved. Urgently summoned to a meeting, Sa-eon forgets his phone in his office, leaving subsequent calls from the mysterious caller unanswered. Frustration mounts within Hee-joo, compelling her to contemplate driving off the road. Suddenly, the car radio blares to life, announcing the triumphant conclusion of negotiations with the kidnappers and the release of the hostages.
Sa-eon delivers his final address for the day, cloaking himself in an air of finality before exiting. Reporter Hyuk-jin hustles to catch up with him in the parking lot, aiming to secure an exclusive interview, but to no avail. Just as Hyuk-jin is about to relent, Sa-eon halts and enlists his help with a pressing matter.
The scene shifts to Sa-eon driving with reckless abandon, weaving through traffic with practiced precision, leaving Hyuk-jin terror-stricken. Sa-eon urges Hyuk-jin to track the phone number, confessing his suspicion of a scam but acknowledging a lingering unease, given the caller's resort to a foreign number and voice modulator.
Sa-eon rushes home, finding solace only in the sight of Hee-joo in the kitchen. He casually mentions the bizarre phone call but trails off as Do-jae interrupts with progress on tracing the number. After Hee-joo concludes her meal, she retreats to her room, where she receives a call from her mother, pestering her about marriage and pregnancy.
The memory of their wedding floods back to Hee-joo. It transpires that she is a surrogate wife; the wedding was intended for Sa-eon and another, yet it was Hee-joo who wore the wedding gown. Sa-eon presents her with a contract outlining three stringent conditions she must abide by.
Hee-joo steadfastly refuses to initiate divorce, particularly during the tumultuous election season, and she is strictly forbidden from revealing to anyone that she is Sa-eon's wife. Any deviation from these terms will result in a penalty of two billion won.
At the lavish party, Hee-joo plays the role of Sa-eon's sign language interpreter, standing by his side. The ambassador's wife mistakes Hee-joo for Sa-eon's wife, but Hee-joo quickly corrects her, explaining that she is merely his interpreter. Enraged, Hee-joo storms out of the party after Sa-eon incriminates her as his weakness to the ambassador.
As Hee-joo exits, Sa-eon receives a chilling call from an unknown number. This time, the caller is not only familiar with the party's attendees but also intimate details of Sa-eon's personal life. The caller threatens to kill not Hee-joo, the stand-in, but Hong In-a, Hee-joo's sister and Sa-eon's true fiancée who fled on their wedding day. To preserve the political alliance between their families, Hee-joo was forced into a loveless marriage with Sa-eon.
In a dramatic twist, the caller is revealed to be Hee-joo herself. Sa-eon, now paralyzed with fear, tremulously inquiries about the caller's demands. The caller, in no uncertain terms, insists that Sa-eon abandon Hee-joo and reunite with his true love, Hong In-a, as he no longer needs Hee-joo.
Flashing back to a harrowing incident, Hee-joo recalls how Sa-eon instructed the kidnapper to murder her and call him back once the deed was done. Desperate, Hee-joo tried calling him back after crashing the car, but he didn't answer. In a moment of desperation, she seized the kidnapper's phone and fled.
Returning to the present call, Sa-eon's demeanor shifts abruptly from pleading to menacing. Hee-joo gives him until the next day to make a decision, but he soon reverses his stance, saying that if Hee-joo intended to blackmail him, she should have researched him better instead of threatening his loved ones. Hee-joo nearly hangs up but pauses when she hears Sa-eon refer to her as "his person."
With sarcasm dripping from her words, Hee-joo recounts her harrowing kidnapping ordeal. By the episode's end, Sa-eon is visibly shaken and vows to capture this mysterious caller, vowing to seek justice for what Hee-joo has been through. .
