When the Phone Rings

지금 거신 전화는 ‧ Drama ‧ 2024 - 2025
-Korean romance dramas
-‘Evil’ family
-Action
-Mystery

Overall, the two have very similar vibes and atmospheres.
Recommended by Mittyneko
Baek Sa Eon comes from a prestigious political family, and he became the youngest presidential spokesman in Korea. His background also includes time spent as a war correspondent, hostage negotiator, and main anchorman. He married Hong Hui Ju 3 years ago. She is the daughter of a newspaper proprietor. She has mutism due to an accident she had when she was little. She works as a sign language interpreter in court and on television.

Sa Eon and Hui Ju got married largely due to convenience. For the past 3 years, they haven't communicated with each other or have meals together. They pretend they are a happily married couple. One day, Hui Ju is kidnapped by an unidentified person. This changes their marriage life.
Recommended by 73n5h1k015h173
Both are thriller/action romances with a male lead who is absolutely head over heels for the female lead.
Recommended by EarlGayTea
Although the storylines are very different, the intense longing and protective love that the male lead has for the female lead makes both a feast for Romance Enthusiasts.

The series starts with ambiguous relationship between the leads, the viewers cannot comprehend how these two people would have a future with such dissimilar background. However as the series progresses, viewers find the leads have a deep connection with eachother. Their relationship and the undeniable chemistry between the leads, captivates and enthralls the viewers.
Recommended by MsDarkqueen
There's not much in common between these two shows but I will say there is one key detail that makes them similar...

In Secret Garden,
the second lead, Choi Woo Young (also known as 'OSKA'), has a difficult relationship with the second female lead, Yoon Seul, after she overhears him dismissively telling a mutual friend—who happens to be interested in her—that she was just a fling and meant nothing significant. This deeply upset her, prompting her to break up with him and take a long trip to work on herself. Upon her return, she sought revenge by making herself an unavoidable presence in his life, serving as a constant reminder that he wasn’t the only one affected by their breakup. Her actions eventually drove him to make reckless decisions.

In When the Phone Rings,
the leads Baek Sa Eon and Hong Hui Ju are two married strangers, who happen to be put in a hostage situation over the phone. Baek Sa Eon response leaves Hong Hui Ju devastated and disappointed. Right then and there she decides to seek an opportunity for revenge. She impersonates her kidnapper by calling him through the phone the kidnapper used. She seeks an opportunity to make him miserable for not caring enough for her on the day of the kidnapping. While seeking freedom from her marriage she is given the chance to speak out her bottled-up feelings.

These stories are not the case of a usual misunderstanding in dramas but a case of miscommunication of feelings.
Recommended by Yendigar
- both are romantic thrillers
- in both the woman are in marriages they don't want to be in
- in both, the fl's leads weakness is their parent in a hospital
however Love in Sadness is a toxic love story in which the husband and wife do not stay together
Recommended by DramaLover1707
Both series have a seemingly cold/uncaring male lead that gets into dangerous situations and hides secrets but in actuality cares deeply for the female lead. Both series have a mystery element and both series have great visuals. The chemistry/tention between the lead characters is uncharted and it keeps the viewers in a chokehold.
Recommended by emmasdramas3
Features a cold seething red flag ML and over the top plot.

Both are thriller romances. Unfortunately the Chinese drama is a little padded like most Chinese dramas.
Recommended by thehepburn
"Call for Love" (2025) is a vertical drama remake of When the Phone Rings. It's a well-done adaptation that retains all the important scenes from the original. The essence of the story has been preserved just as it was in the original.
Recommended by ASTER
It also involves orphanage kids in their plotline in a somewhat similar matter.

And no Argan plotline, so yay!
Recommended by Korean White Truck of Do
-Both have hidden / fakeidentity main charachter
-both have suspence element and mystery
-both are enemies to lovers trope
Recommended by lumiere0
When the Phone Rings poster

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