The man led them naturally to the front desk. The mont he stepped behind it and straightened his posture, it felt as though even the flow of the air had been put in order.
“How may I assist you?”
The absurdity of the situation made the director laugh.
“You’re asking us that again?”
“It is occupational habit. When I stand in a place ant for a certain role, the words tied to it co out naturally.”
“Ah... right. That sort of thing slips out sotis. It’s what happens when you get older.”
Lee Seon-hae, who herself often had filming terminology slip into everyday speech, understood at once what he ant. It was a trait common to people whose language at work had almost split into a separate register.
“We’d like to stay here.”
“May I ask how many days you are considering?”
“Mm, let
see first....”
The director turned to the others standing behind her.
“Guys, how long was our scouting trip supposed to last again?”
“If you an the guesthouse, we had it booked for a week.”
The director looked back at the man.
“We’d like to stay for a week. Is that possible?”
“Of course. Do you have a preferred floor or location?”
“No, nothing like that. If I had to pick, maybe a high floor? I feel like the view would be nice.”
“Understood. I’ll reflect that preference as much as possible in your room assignnt.”
What he handed over was an old-fashioned room key attached to a rectangular key tag. The solid weight of it settling into her palm felt unfamiliar, and Director Lee Seon-hae found it strangely fascinating.
‘It all feels unreal in more ways than one.’
Like handling a prop from a movie....
“I will place you on the twenty-first floor.”
“Oh, that’s really high up.”
“However, our hotel operates all guest rooms with a maximum occupancy of two. Would it be acceptable to divide your party between the adjacent Room 1 and Room 2?”
“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”
“Thank you. In that case, before check-in, there are a few precautions I should explain.”
A smooth explanation followed.
“As I ntioned earlier, we are presently in a soft-opening period, so there may be shortcomings across the service as a whole. Your use of the rooms themselves should not present any great inconvenience, but so shared facilities are currently unavailable.”
Having listened quietly, Writer Hong carefully interjected,
“Excuse , then what about als?”
“I apologize for the inconvenience. Most of the guests currently staying with us were inford of the soft-opening conditions in advance and have, in most cases, brought their own food supplies.”
“You an... we’ll need to prepare our als ourselves?”
“It is regrettable that you have found yourselves in such an exceptional circumstance. Would it be acceptable if I first checked whether there is any convenience we may be able to provide on our end, and then inford you again?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Thank you for your generous understanding. We will do our utmost to minimize any inconvenience.”
Behind them, the staff whispered quietly among themselves.
“This place looks really expensive....”
“Oh, don’t you worry, darlings. I’m paying.”
“Director, I love you.”
“When else am I supposed to show off my money if not tis like this?”
The director pulled out her card.
“Please charge it. How much is it?”
“…….”
“...Excuse ?”
“We will not be charging a separate accommodation fee.”
“What?”
“We are still in the soft-opening period.”
As the man’s eyes curved like crescent moons, Director Lee Seon-hae—who had seen no shortage of entertainers in her life—found herself thinking,
‘He really knows how to use his body.’
In their industry, saying that soone “used their body well” did not an they had good reflexes or good posture. It ant everything from the angle of a smile, to the tilt of the head, to the amount of ti the gaze rested in one place.
‘He knows exactly how he ought to smile to look his best.’
She had been thinking it all along, but he truly was soone who smiled with consummate skill.
“To demand paynt when we are unable to provide services beyond the guest rooms would be unreasonable even by my standards.”
“Oh my. Is that so?”
“If, instead, you would share with us any inconveniences you experience during your stay, it would be of the greatest help to us.”
The director glanced toward the other guests in the lobby.
“But wouldn’t the other guests complain that it’s unfair?”
“Those currently staying in this hotel already understand what kind of hotel this is.”
“What kind of hotel?”
“A place that does not operate service facilities, and where even al service is highly restricted. I regret that I was unable to explain that point to you beforehand.”
“Oh, no, there’s nothing for you to apologize for. If anything, we’re the ones....”
“Our side was at fault in the breach of courtesy, so sothing of this level is a benefit quite easily extended within my discretion.”
“...If you put it that way, I suppose there’s nothing else to say.”
She had been curious to see just how much the place charged, but after he said it like that, it beca difficult to press the point.
‘Maybe they haven’t even settled on an exact price yet?’
If it was still in soft opening, that was possible.
‘Or if not....’
As she was thinking, the man continued smoothly,
“We will have your luggage carried to the rooms.”
“Ah, it’s still in the car.”
The man glanced once over the staff standing beside her, then smiled again at Director Lee Seon-hae.
“If you would only open the car doors, our staff can carry in whatever items you require.”
“Our things are all mixed together.”
“If you are concerned about private belongings being exposed, you may personally sort out only the luggage you wish to bring inside, and we will carry just those items in.”
“Ah, then let’s do that.”
The group brought in their suitcases and bags from the car, having packed with a week-long scouting trip in mind.
As they dragged the luggage into the hotel lobby, the waiting staff approached soundlessly.
“Our staff will take responsibility for carrying everything up to your rooms.”
“Thank you.”
“It is only natural that we do so.”
“Mm. Is there anything else we ought to hear?”
“By anything else... what do you an?”
“You said you’re still in soft opening. It feels like there ought to be other precautions besides not being able to use the service facilities.”
“…….”
Instead of answering imdiately, the man extended a hand and courteously indicated the direction of the elevator.
“...I hope you have not forgotten what I told you a mont ago.”
The director looked at him. I hope you have not forgotten. It was not the sort of phrasing that suited him. They had only just t, but throughout their entire encounter he had maintained a thoroughly professional tone.
And yet that was unmistakably a personal warning.
“...Anything else?”
“Perhaps because of the rain, a great many guests are currently concentrated on the seventh-floor rooms.”
“Because of the rain?”
“There are guests who are particularly fond of rainy days.”
“I see, but....”
“If you require anything further or have any questions, please contact the front desk. We will respond imdiately.”
“Ah, all right.”
“I hope your ti here will be a peaceful one.”
The intonation was natural. The flow, however, was not. Through posture and tone alone, the man skillfully dictated the atmosphere.
The group watched the manager’s back as he walked away.
“…….”
...It all felt strangely unreal.
“...Director, what are we doing about dinner?”
“Ah, I should’ve asked that too.”
She said that, but her body felt heavy. Driving through a torrential downpour was exhausting work.
‘And he only just said he would look into als for us.’
Even if they asked now, it was not as though a different answer would appear.
“Shall we go upstairs and sort out the luggage first?”
“Yes, let’s.”
“Isn’t it strange? Keys instead of cards?”
“You don’t often see that in a hotel this size.”
Normally, they used cards.
“For the atmosphere, maybe?”
“It certainly is a classical atmosphere.”
“Exactly.”
Just then, the elevator arrived.
The gold doors opened smoothly, without the slightest scrape.
“What a peculiar hotel.”
***
“Oh, my God.”
The mont the door opened, Director Lee Seon-hae exclaid.
“Were we assigned a suite?”
“At this point... isn’t this basically a house?”
“Honestly, it might be better than my house.”
One of the staff, who had only recently managed to buy a ho by stretching every last resource to the limit, added bitterly,
“It looks well over three hundred square ters.”
“What kind of hotel room even is this....”
“It really does look like a suite.”
“But didn’t he say this place only had a hundred-sothing rooms?”
“One hundred thirty-five.”
“He said each room was spacious. Then are all the rooms like this?”
“Oh, co on. Who would stay here if that were true? It would cost a fortune....”
At the staff’s chatter, the director’s expression turned slightly odd.
“Director?”
“Ah, well. I couldn’t say it earlier.”
“What is it? Why do you look like that?”
“The lounge table in the lobby was designer.”
“What designer?”
“...An expensive one.”
The writer asked,
“Do you know the na?”
“Co closer.”
After hearing the na, the writer looked horrified.
“...Why on earth is sothing like that sitting in a hotel lobby?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“It must’ve gotten drenched by the rain.”
“They covered it with towels, more or less, so maybe it’ll be all right.”
“No, really, why would that be in a lobby....”
“Let’s look around the room first.”
The group began inspecting the interior with noticeably more careful steps. A bedroom, bathroom, and toilet were there as expected, but beyond those lay unfamiliar spaces.
“...What is this room?”
“An office, maybe?”
“Why would a hotel room have an office?”
“Suites sotis do.”
There was one office, and one dining room.
“What’s this, then?”
“A place to eat...?”
And one sitting room.
“What is this room supposed to be for?”
“Let’s just call it a living room.”
“What do you an, let’s just call it that?”
“It’s just a living room.”
“Ah. Right....”
The group looked at one another.
“Were we really supposed to accept this room?”
“At this rate, who knows, we might wake up hauled off onto so little boat.”
“At this level, I’d almost accept it even if they harvested my organs.”
“Accept what, exactly? Honestly, what is wrong with you people?”
“Director, Director. Let’s just go pay. I’ll contribute too.”
“So will I.”
“I’m feeling way too burdened now.”
“And now I’m finally starting to get suspicious.”
“Now? I found it suspicious from the lobby onward.”
“The writer is secretly a lot more timid than he looks.”
“Please call it caution.”
After the uproar, the staff moved on to the practical issue.
“So how are we splitting the rooms? Three won and one man.”
“There are two beds, so we just split two and two. Writer Hong and I can share, and you two can sleep together.”
“We don’t mind, but... Writer, are you all right with that?”
“...Yes, well... we were supposed to sleep together at the guesthouse anyway....”
If anything, it was better this way, since the rooms were separated from each other. It would be far more comfortable than the guesthouse. Naturally. It rivaled an ordinary suite with ease.
Once they had finished dividing the team and sorting out the luggage—
“Darling.”
The director called to the writer.
“Writer Hong, co talk with .”
“I was wondering when you’d bring it up. Did you find sothing out?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds like we’re undercover investigators.”
“That’s honestly not far from how I feel.”
The two sank deep into the sofa in the sitting room.
“My first guess is... this feels like a mbers-only hotel.”
“A mbers-only hotel...?”
Writer Hong was serious about research, so he understood the aning at once.
“Do places like that usually exist in locations like this? In Gapyeong, no less?”
“In sparsely populated places, they do crop up from ti to ti.”
There were spaces in this world whose nas and locations were not made public. Thoroughly private hotels one could not even step into without a recomndation from an existing mber, no matter how rich one might be.
“Places like that usually run on a mbership system, or mber invitations.”
“...It’s not really my area of expertise, so I don’t know much about them.”
“They’re not the sort of background that cos up often in our genre.”
The director recalled what she had seen earlier.
“You saw the lobby staff, right? Not to ntion the manager who guided us. Every last one of them looked extraordinary. And the service was impeccable.”
“Yes, well, that much is true.”
“There are places like that—facilities built so their owners can use them among themselves without sharing with outsiders.”
“By outsiders, do you an ordinary common people?”
“That’s right. Or maybe they built it as a hobby.”
“Who builds a hotel as a hobby?”
“If you have too much money, maybe you do. I think this place may be one of those.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Still, this place doesn’t seem quite that strict....”
“It looks strict enough to .”
“No, think about it. They let nonmbers like us in without much trouble, didn’t they? He said it was within the manager’s discretion, sure, but even getting through the entrance wasn’t especially difficult.”
It was a place in the mountains they could never have reached if they had not gotten lost. Put another way, it was a place one could stumble into by chance if one did get lost.
“Usually places like that either hide the entrance entirely, or block it off.”
“...Doesn’t it feel like we’ve co sowhere we weren’t supposed to, just in a different sense from what we were thinking before?”
“But the manager said this, didn’t he? Since he, as the Operator here, had accepted us without issue, who would object? Doesn’t that sound strange, even for an owner?”
“Well, for an owner he certainly is brimming with confidence.”
“If the people who co to a hotel like this are all a pretty formidable sort, then saying he can brush off their complaints ans quite a lot. That’s why I wondered whether it might just be a hobby.”
“The more I think about it, the more it feels like we’ve co sowhere we shouldn’t have.”
“At the very least, he’s soone who holds authority beyond that of a re owner. In other words, it isn’t a place built to make money. But at the sa ti, its security isn’t all that strict either....”
“So it’s a hobby?”
“Let’s say... that it’s a possibility.”
There were still strange points left over.
“I still don’t understand why a person like that is doing the work of a general manager. It could genuinely be a hobby, sure, but for that, he provided service far too skillfully.”
She added,
“And he smiles remarkably well.”
She did not an rely that he was kind, or that he smiled a lot.
Ordinary people rarely know what muscles they use when they smile, or how far the corners of their mouths rise. But that was clearly the smile of soone who knew exactly how he ought to appear in order to carry the most value.
“There are actors out there who do nothing but act all day and still have no idea how they look on cara.”
“So what you’re saying, Director, is....”
“That he probably isn’t just so idle rich man with too much money. It’s hard to believe a person who handles his own body that well would bury himself in a place this remote without any purpose.”
“…….”
“Why are you so quiet?”
“I think we’ve co sowhere we shouldn’t have.”
“You’re scared? How many tis have you said that now? It’s the sa world where people live, so what place is there that we can’t go?”
“It just feels like a different world.”
“If you say that, I feel terribly lonely.”
“To be honest, I sotis feel a sense of distance from you too, Director.”
“You can’t go creating distance between fellow artists, Writer Hong.”
The writer let out a pained groan.
“Have you been to places like this often?”
“Not often. Once or twice?”
“That already sounds like a lot to .”
“But the places I’ve been were far stricter than this.”
“You certainly keep saying strict a lot.”
“More importantly, they weren’t even in Korea. And even then, I only went because I followed one of my uncles when I was younger. I wasn’t a mber there either.”
“What about now?”
“Of course not now either. Do you know how much money it costs every month just to keep that kind of mbership card? If I had that kind of money, I’d make movies instead.”
“That may be true, but... I don’t know... sothing about this feels off.”
The director shrugged.
“It is unusual. Normally places like that are resorts rather than hotels. Or they only allow long-term stays, or they give you an entire floor to yourself, or they assign you a private chef or dedicated attendant....”
“You keep talking about so other world entirely.”
“Compared to those, I’d say this place is fairly free.”
“I already thought this was extravagant enough.”
“But if you follow that logic through, there’s sothing strange.”
“Everything about this place looks strange to .”
“No, listen.”
The director tapped the table.
“In the lobby, the manager said this, rember? He told us not to forget what he had said earlier.”
“...That the guests here are a bit eccentric?”
“In a place where the service is that perfect, the general manager openly spoke ill of the guests.”
“Maybe that’s just the sort of person he is.”
“If he were that sort of person, it would’ve shown the entire ti. But except for that one mont, he never said anything remotely similar, even though he’s effectively above the guests as the owner.”
“Co to think of it, if he’s the owner, why is he taking on the role of general manager himself? This isn’t so tiny guesthouse. It’s a hotel this large. Isn’t it too much for one person to handle one by one?”
“In other words, there’s a reason he has to.”
“He has to personally manage this hotel in detail?”
“That got
thinking—here, the hotel itself isn’t the main point.”
The hotel itself did not look like the true centerpiece.
“The guests—or perhaps the facilities—are the main point.”
“…….”
The writer frowned.
“In a hotel this size, aren’t the guests always the main point?”
“The hotels I was talking about earlier make the hotel itself the main point. Those oh-so-important guests co to them of their own accord. In other words, people suited to a special hotel gather there.”
“And here?”
“What if we think about it the other way around?”
“A hotel built for the guests?”
“A hotel built to suit very special guests.”
“And the general manager described those special guests as eccentric.”
The director crossed her arms and thought.
“When we asked to stay here, he didn’t look pleased. For soone that good at controlling his expression, if he showed that much, it ans he wanted us to notice.”
“Then couldn’t he have just kicked us out?”
“There must be a reason he couldn’t. But it didn’t look like fear of receiving a bad review from us, at the very least.”
“He owns a hotel like this, so that much is obvious. Then was he really, sincerely worried because the guests here are eccentric?”
“That may not have been sothing he said lightly.”
The facilities the director had ntioned were usually overseas. Korea was too small a country for that sort of privacy to be easily maintained. Building one dostically may have forced it to beco this comparatively ‘open.’
“But then why go out of the way to build it dostically in the first place?”
Was it simply to keep it nearby for enjoynt? But if so, the location was deep in the mountains. An unpaved road, with helicopters and private planes hardly an option.
“If the goal had been to create an impressive dostic retreat, they wouldn’t have built it here.”
Setting the road conditions aside, at the very least they ought to have left a route open through the sky. It would have been common sense to clear away the surrounding trees and secure even a helicopter landing pad.
“But the building and the forest practically touch, and he said the rooftop is a walking garden. That ans there isn’t even enough space to land a helicopter. The only access route is that terrible unpaved road.”
Of course, there might be so secret entrance she did not know about, but judging only from the visible conditions, this was a place that had chosen isolation for itself.
“So what is this place truly for? It feels almost as though it exists for the sake of hiding sothing....”
“...But if that were the case, wasn’t the entrance far too openly accessible?”
The writer objected.
“People like us could get lost and wander in by mistake, and there was nothing there to stop us. If the security were really tight, they’d have put up iron gates and marked it as private property.”
“Exactly. They could’ve fenced it off as private land if they wanted. But instead the road was simply left open. It may be unpaved, but the security isn’t especially tight.”
“If it were a place ant to hide sothing, it would have been sealed off far more firmly.”
“Unless letting outsiders in was one of the purposes. As in, they didn’t bother closing it because it already suits their intentions.”
“Couldn’t it be that they want so small amount of publicity even among outsiders? In the end, if nobody hears of a place, it can’t do business. Hobby or not.”
“If that were the case, he seed far too passive... if anything, he looked like he wanted us gone....”
At the director’s mutter, the writer’s face settled into a look of decision.
“Shall we leave?”
“At this hour?”
“At this hour, precisely.”
“Why? It’s interesting.”
“I’m not the sort who risks his life for the sake of entertainnt.”
“Oh, co on. It’s just a guess. Just sothing fun to talk about. People say all kinds of things in private. This is no more than the sort of ghost-story speculation people trade during orientation.”
“I hate even that. I’m already scared enough, so please don’t start talking about ghost stories and all that.”
“I keep telling you, Writer Hong, you scare too easily.”
Seon-hae teased him with a laugh.
The hotel’s general manager was clearly favorable toward them. The proof was that even while behaving as though he were bound by his role, he had still offered a private warning. At the very least, so long as he remained here, nothing dangerous would happen.
‘Probably.’
So it would be enough if they exercised caution on their own.
“Still, aren’t you curious? A place like this would make great inspiration.”
“…….”
“You’re not denying it.”
See?
Birds of a feather.
***
“...Why.”
“Hello?”
“Why couldn’t he say one simple thing with that perfectly functioning mouth and tell them to leave?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of bastard is it?”
“...Yes, no, yes....”
“What kind of bastard?”
Lee Yeon-woo, who had nearly died once from blood pressure alone, ground his teeth.
“To kidnap and confine
was bad enough, and now it wants to turn
into this kind of filthy criminal.”
That was unforgivable.
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