'When The Phone Rings' Episode 4 Recap & Ending Explained: Does Sa-Eon Know Hee-Joo’s 406?

When The Phone Rings really takes you back to the old days, with the way it’s yellow-toned and the nearly “makjang” plotline. I suppose that’s what we get while watching shows based by webtoons. In episode 3, Hee-Joo is rescued by Sa-Eon after she visits her father in his nursing home because she thinks the kidnapper got to him. Fortunately, her father is unharmed, but the stress of the whole thing has her breaking down in the middle of nowhere while the police are taking her down to the station for a statement. In episode 4 we learn a little bit more about Sa-Eon and Hee-Joo’s connections, which truly run much farther back than the marriage itself. Sa-Eon gets a call from the nursing home saying his father-in-law has disappeared. The reason he had an entourage was because the chief of police himself offered him his car. It took me this long to realize that Hee-Joo’s dad, the one in the nursing home, isn’t the “chairman.” But it seems her adoptive dad, i.e., the chairman, knows of her origins. With that said, let’s get straight into the recap of episode 4.

Spoiler Alert

When Hee-Joo sits in the car with Sa-Eon, she can’t stop crying. She’s been through so much, and this is the only way she can express herself, because everybody believes she’s mute, especially Sa-Eon. On the other hand, Yu-Ri and Sang-Woo end up having dinner together at a random local restaurant because they live in the same neighborhood. She tells him immediately that she could tell Hee-Joo was his first love. He then asks about Sa-Eon, and she explains how he was a scary senior at work at first, but then he essentially held her hand through work till she became an established reporter. But then he disappeared after getting a job at the presidential office, got married, and now she can’t see him as often. In the meanwhile, Sa-Eon and Hee-Joo are meant to meet his parents for dinner, but he tells her to take her time showing up because her face is all puffy from crying. At the dinner itself, it’s clear that his father doesn’t really care about him. He can’t stop insulting Hee-Joo because she’s the “substitute” daughter, but Sa-Eon can’t take the insults to his wife. Additionally, there’s a man taking pictures of the dinner because his parents want to put out a story about him participating in the next election. When Hee-Joo arrives at dinner, he defends her, and his father throws them out. When they’re alone, he asks her why she takes everything like a doormat and never defends herself. She obviously can’t answer him. 

Back home Hee-Joo decides to get rid of the phone because she doesn’t want to do this anymore; however, Sa-Eon sees her and stops her from taking out the trash. She then gets a call from her colleagues wishing her luck for the interview to become the interpreter for the president’s spokesperson. Through this episode, Sa-Eon also does his research on Sang-Woo. He wants to know everything there is to know about this man. He learns that he has an online channel where he talks about unsolved cases. 

During the interview, Sa-Eon watches Hee-Joo from his computer screen while his juniors interview the candidates. He notices that occasionally she’s even quicker than he is with his words and decides to show up to interview her himself. Hee-Joo says that she’s practiced with all of his videos, and whatever video they play, she’ll be able to interpret it with precision. She also says that she can read the pattern of his lips by now and can predict what he’s going to say next. Sa-Eon then says he’s going to read something out right there, and she needs to prove herself. Somehow it happens to be about “couple’s day,” and it almost sounds like he’s telling her how he feels. Everyone thinks she’s perfect for the job, and the employees even place bets on whether Sa-Eon liked Hee-Joo or not. He admits for once that he did like her to his assistant. 

In a flashback, we see that Sa-Eon was treated badly at home since childhood, and he watched Hee-Joo being treated in a similar manner when her family came over. When Hee-Joo wanted to eat properly (very unladylike), he helped her sneak in some good food because he wasn’t going to eat it anyway (since he doesn’t like fish). Guess he’s wanted to protect her ever since childhood. On the other hand, Hee-Joo sees an Instagram post by her sister In-A, realizing she’s back in Seoul. While waiting for the kidnapper’s call, Sa-Eon calls Yu-Ri and learns that Sang-Woo grew up in the same orphanage from the picture. Before they can talk further, he tells her that his time is up and cuts the call. 

Hee-Joo tells Sa-Eon, as the kidnapper, that the reason she wants them to get divorced is because In-A will return soon. Sa-Eon tells her that the last person In-A met before leaving was him, and they made a deal that they would never be married, so now the kidnapper has no reason to blackmail him. Hee-Joo doesn’t know what to say and cuts the call just as Sa-Eon makes it home. He apologizes to her for underestimating her skills and tells her she did well. The next day, Hee-Joo and Sa-Eon are meant to attend the Chungwoon Daily News anniversary event, i.e., her “dad’s” event. At the event, her mom yells at her when she learns that Sa-Eon found out about Hee-Joo’s dad and moved him to a different nursing home. If the chairman finds out, she’ll be done for. 

At the end of When The Phone Rings episode 4, Hee-Joo calls Sa-Eon from the roof of the building where the event’s being held. She’s had a bit too much to drink and asks him how he felt when he realized the bride had changed on his wedding day. She then goes on a self-deprecating rant, which he of course doesn’t know is coming from her. Surprisingly, he’s got an answer for everything and rebukes all her claims. By the end of his statement, he’s on the roof too and sees that Hee-Joo is too close to the edge, standing on a bench in her high heels with a phone to her ear. Now, I have a feeling Sa-Eon has known for some time that Hee-Joo’s the one calling him, but will he let on, or will he feign ignorance? 

In an epilogue, we see Hee-Joo taking a picture with the cops who drove Hee-Joo as he had promised. While talking, one of them says that Hee-Joo was screaming to be let out of the car. Sa-Eon is shocked to hear this, but the cops show him the dash cam footage. Now he knows that she’s been lying about not being able to talk. I guess before the interpreter interview, Sa-Eon already knew Hee-Joo could talk; this is why he asked her whether she could talk. He’s clearly angry she isn’t telling him the truth, but what will he do about it? From the preview of the next episode, I can guess that a lot of secrets are out in the open, but will this lead to love between the duo? Or will they actually get divorced? Also, is In-A good? She comes across as a typical villain, but I think she’s a good older sister and might actually be on Hee-Joo’s side. I hope this is the case anyway, but we’ll find out in episode 5 of When The Phone Rings.