The last episode of When the Phone Rings begins with complete chaos and ends with what fans are calling “one of the best K-drama finales of all time”. A Netflix series that weaponises the protagonists’ complicated marriage to deconstruct the link between identity, politics and love, When the Phone Rings showcased its action-packed ending on 4 January 2025. Find out all the details below.
Another gem from the screenwriter of Melancholia, When the Phone Rings is a Korean drama adaptation of the web novel The Number You Have Dialed by Geon Eomul-nyeo. Co-directed by Park Sang-woo and Wi Deuk-gyu, the Netflix thriller K-drama focuses on the unhappy marriage of presidential spokesman Baek Sa-eon (played by Yoo Yeon-seok) and his mute wife, sign language interpreter Hong Hee-joo (played by Chae Soo-bin). While the couple works hard to maintain the facade of a happy relationship, a sudden call from a kidnapper rocks the foundation of their marriage of convenience.
One of the most-watched K-dramas on Netflix, the show has maintained its position on the streaming platform’s Global Top 10 Non-English Shows chart for six consecutive weeks. Additionally, it has recorded over 44,00,000 views as of 5 January 2025.
Spoilers ahead!
When the Phone Rings ending explained: The cast and the characters they play
Romance thriller alert!#YooYeonseok and #ChaeSoobin star as a couple in a “marriage of convenience” in WHEN THE PHONE RINGS. Korea’s youngest presidential spokesperson finds his cold, calculated three-year marriage thrown into questions when his wife, a sign language… pic.twitter.com/RLUjWZZbJH
— Netflix K-Content (@netflixkcontent) October 1, 2024
- Yoo Yeon-seok as Baek Sa-eon/Baek Yu-yeon
- Chae Soo-bin as Hong Hee-joo
- Heo Nam-jun as Ji Sang-woo
- Yoo Sung-joo as Baek Ui-young
- Jang Gyu-ri as Na Yu-ri
- Jung Dong-hwan as Baek Jang-ho
- Chu Sang-mi as Shim Kyu-jin
- Choi Kwang-il as Hong Il-kyung
- Oh Hyun-kyung as Kim Yeon-Hui
- Han Jae-yi as Hong In-ah
- Park Jae-yoon as the kidnapper/real Baek Sa-eon
When the Phone Rings ending explained: What happens to Hong Hee-joo?
been waiting so long for this moment #whenthephonerings#whenthephoneringsep8 pic.twitter.com/NVndFdhlWP
— Netflix Philippines (@Netflix_PH) December 22, 2024
In the penultimate episode, viewers discover that Shim Kyu-jin has kidnapped Hong Hee-joo and has ordered her butler to kill her if the former gets arrested (which she does). However, the butler has a change of heart and lets Hee-joo escape. She crosses a forest to reach the main road and finally is reunited with her husband, Sa-eon. As the duo leave for the hospital in their car, the kidnapper from episode one, who is revealed to be the real Baek Sa-eon and Kyu-jin’s only son, finds the couple. Not just that, he orders Hee-joo’s husband to get out of the car. The episode ends with the kidnapper whispering something to Sa-eon as the police order the former to let his gun down.
In the final episode of the Netflix Korean drama, Hee-joo returns to safety but spends a few days in the hospital recovering from her wounds, with her husband by her side.
However, happiness doesn’t last long for Hee-joo. In one of the biggest twists of When the Phone Rings, her husband disappears. After Hee-joo recovers, she returns to an empty home. But as Christmas nears, she holds onto hope and awaits her husband’s return.
Elsewhere, news and media publications inform the local public in South Korea that Presidential Spokesperson Baek Sa-eon has resigned from his position. He has also donated all the assets he inherited from the late Chairman Baek Jang-ho to society.
The narrative then takes a six-month leap.
Hee-joo’s sister In-ha begs her to move and informs her that her husband will never return. Hee-joo however, is adamant about finding Sa-eon. One day, she gets a call from an unknown number and suspects it to be her missing husband. She traces it and discovers the call was made from the Argan Republic (a war-prone fictional country in the K-drama). A few days later Hee-joo also learns that a sign language school in the Argan Republic has received a donation of 2 billion won in her name.
She soon meets her husband’s former colleague, a reporter, and informs him about her suspicions. He reveals that her husband Baek Sa-eon loved the sunsets of Argan while the duo were stationed there as reporters. A determined Hee-joo then decides to visit the dangerous country to find her husband.
Is Baek Sa-eon dead at the end of the K-drama?
In both a technical and metaphorical sense, yes.
The finale of When the Phone Rings saw the end of the real Baek Sa-eon — the actual son of Baek Ui-young and Shim Kyu-jin who was behind the kidnapping of Hee-joo. For context, Baek Sa-eon grew up to be a monster, a young boy with killer instincts. This made his grandfather Baek Jang-ho angry, so much so that he tried to kill his grandson once and for all. He then raised his illegitimate son as Baek Sa-eon, Hong Hee-joo’s husband and the Presidential Spokesperson everyone knows and respects.
However, the young Sa-eon survived and grew up vowing revenge upon the Baek family, which is why he planned Hee-joo’s kidnapping in the first place.
In the finale episode, as Sa-eon aims his gun at Hee-joo’s husband, the police shoot him dead to avoid casualties.
Viewers also see the metaphorical death of Baek Sa-eon, when Hee-joo’s husband finally lets go of that identity and changes his name to Baek Yu-yeon.
What happens to Shim Kyu-jin and Baek Ui-young at the end of the K-drama?
Shim Kyu-Jin is arrested for the murder of her father-in-law Baek Jang-ho as well as for inciting murder and kidnapping, which eventually led to other casualties.
In prison, Kyu-jin also learns about her son’s death and breaks down recalling their past. Later, on her judgement day, Kyu-Jin is sentenced to life imprisonment, though the news reveals that she ends up appealing for the death penalty.
Meanwhile, her butler, who was involved in Hee-joo’s kidnapping but eventually had a change of heart and let her escape, is sentenced to five years in prison.
On the other hand, Kyu-jin’s husband Baek Ui-young, who too was arrested for his involvement in the former’s plan, is ultimately released from jail. Soon after, he holds a press conference and repents his and his father’s sins. He also denounces his title and ties to the powerful Baek family and promises to continue his life as an ordinary man.
When the Phone Rings ending explained: Do Baek Yu-yeon and Hong Hee-joo get their happily ever after?
When Hee-joo reaches the Argan Republic, she is abducted by a group of rebels. But her husband arrives just in time to save her. When an emotionally vulnerable Hee-joo questions her husband about his disappearance, the latter reveals that he never wanted to leave her and was only punishing himself. The viewers then learn that, before being shot by the police, kidnapper Sa-eon had told Hee-joo’s husband the heartbreaking truth about her dead brother. It was Baek Jang-ho who had deliberately caused the accident that led to the death of Hee-joo’s brother during her childhood. Realising that it was his grandfather who had ruined his wife’s childhood, Hee-joo’s husband was ashamed of himself and hence decided to disappear from her life.
After her husband’s confession, Hee-joo breaks down in tears. She finally admits that she cannot survive without him and that they should waste no more years in separation and move on from their traumatic past. The duo then spend multiple intimate moments together, following which Hee-joo’s husband vows to remarry her, this time not as the fake Baek Sa-eon but as himself.
The narrative then shifts to South Korea.
Hee-joo and her husband are back together in their new home in Seoul. Hee-joo also takes up the job of a sign language interpreter at a news broadcasting TV station. Meanwhile, her husband changes his name to Baek Yu-yeon and becomes a negotiator under the South Korean government.
The romance thriller K-drama ends with Hee-joo and Yu-yeon walking hand in hand through a steep road in the woods as their voiceover expresses, “There’s a couple here now. They don’t hide their true feelings and are honest with each other. They have promised to make an effort to be happy together.”
(Hero and featured image credit: Netflixkcontent/X)
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Sushmita Mahanta
Digital Writer (Growth) - Entertainment
Sushmita is a writer with a passion for crafting engaging and informative stories. An avid fan of K-pop and K-dramas, Sushmita mostly writes about Korean culture and entertainment. When not writing, you can find Sushmita dancing, reading, collecting books, learning about fashion, art, motion pictures, and appreciating BTS.
