Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 22

Hong Gyeongyeon poured out everything he knew.

 

“He looked extremely exhausted.” 

 

First was the conversation he heard from behind the lobby pillar between Lee Yeonwoo and someone else.

 

“He wasn’t smiling. His impression was completely different.”

 

For example, that face.

 

“He appeared to be an authorized manager who could run the hotel autonomously. But it felt like it was granted to him regardless of his own will, not a voluntary choice.” 

 

“So he isn’t a helpless victim?” 

 

“But he was being coerced. Because clear hierarchy and conflict were visible between the two conversing parties. They looked strangely intimate, but the distrust seemed stronger…”

 

For example, his role and authority.

 

“He was trying his best to protect outsiders. It seemed he felt a sense of responsibility or guilt because he knew this hotel is very dangerous.” 

 

“Was it not a desire to control?” 

 

“…I can’t say it wasn’t that either, but it was an attitude of protecting outsiders like us even if it meant enduring suffering himself. So that there would be no victims.” 

 

“Aha, right. ‘Protect’.”

 

For example, his attitude towards them.

 

“He asked why it had to be him… but still, he said it was right for him to be in this position rather than anyone else. That’s what he said.” 

 

“He understands his role, but hasn’t accepted it.” 

 

“Yes, he did say he understands it, too.” 

 

“He went out of his way to put that into words. Is it a self-persuasion born of desperation?” 

 

“Wouldn’t it be similar either way.” 

 

“He is in a position of analyzing both this hotel and the system while already knowing everything about them.” 

 

Self-awareness. Self-deprecation.

 

“He called it an event. It sounded like there are patterned dangers that repeatedly occur in this hotel. And that is a matter outside of Lee Yeonwoo-ssi’s control.” 

 

“Can that be included in the rules, too? Or is it a danger outside the rules?” 

 

“Well, seeing as he called it a game, it seems like a system closer to… an experiment or amusement… I’m not exactly sure what it is myself…” 

 

“Oh, a game? How creepy.”

 

And, the structure of the hotel.

 

“And?” 

 

“…When I went to the 7th floor, I heard a loud sound of water. As if something huge fell into the water…” 

 

“And so.” 

 

“It was a sound coming from Room 703. The door was slightly open. I heard a splashing sound. I also heard the sound of scratching the floor tiles or bumping against the bathtub, as if trying not to fall in completely.” 

 

“Naturally, it would be a sound coming from the bathroom.” 

 

“Then eventually, with a splash….” 

 

“It fell in completely.” 

 

“…It became quiet.”

 

The dull sound of water he heard in front of Room 703.

 

“…Then as I was trying to go to the elevator without making footsteps to call you, Director. That person came out. Holding a knife… But you saw it, there was blood on his clothes. How do we know who he might have stabbed with that knife?” 

 

“There was no blood on the knife.” 

 

“But he’s someone who came out of the bathroom; he could have brought it out after washing it. I-It was the look of someone out of his mind. He didn’t seem like someone who could be reasoned with. And of all places, on his mouth… there was blood all over his mouth…” 

 

“Blood on his mouth.” 

 

“The inside of his mouth was red. His teeth were bright red, like, blood was stuck in them. So I thought maybe that person had eaten something. I—I am really, just. Where would anyone see something like this? How could I… how could I possibly calm down….” 

 

“Blood was stuck in them?” 

 

“It doesn’t turn out like that just from drinking it or touching it to your mouth. It has to be put in the mouth and chewed for it to—no, I’m sorry. Actually, I don’t really know. I was so flustered… what with suffocation by water, and injuries, I thought that, truly, Lee Yeonwoo-ssi might have died.” 

 

“But he was alive.” 

 

“…Yes.”

 

It was a story about such things.

 

“….”

 

Lee Seonhae just had this thought.

 

“If this were a horror movie, we’d already be dead.” 

 

“…Uh… Right…” 

 

“Usually it goes like that, a killer murder case in a mountain hotel happening to guests who were drawn in by the thrill….” 

 

“It’s a scene from a typical thriller movie.” 

 

“I’m feeling sorry all over again.” 

 

Lee Seonhae couldn’t help but laugh. It was a self-deprecation mixed with guilt and amusement.

 

“Living only in safe places must have made me lose all my edge. Did my sense of reality drop, or did I just become too complacent? Stirring things up without having prepared a single 

 

She recalled when she first discovered this hotel a few days ago. 

 

“It was a subject that people like us would completely lose our minds over, wasn’t it? A mystery inside an unrealistic hotel encountered by accidentally getting lost… isn’t something like this interesting?” 

 

“……” 

 

“A murder hotel in the rainy mountains. It’s an interesting subject if it’s a movie. But when it becomes reality, the shame inside it becomes plainly visible. It can’t be a matter of simple interest.” 

 

“…It’s not that I didn’t know….” 

 

“Could this also have been a type of arrogance.” 

 

“…I suppose so.”

 

It wouldn’t be a place dangerous enough to become a problem. Even if it is dangerous, we have a lot of experience, so it’ll be fine. Just as it has been in the past, it can be resolved well this time too. 

 

Those kinds of thoughts. 

 

“I definitely lost my mind facing some intense dopamine after a long time. Can’t we report this somewhere? Like reporting drug addiction… I feel like I should have just kept going to counseling.” 

 

“They say addiction isn’t something you cure, but something you endure.” 

 

“Aren’t cigarettes, drugs, and gambling all like that? Right, it must be so. Quitting gambling and living wholesomely for a few years, then when dice are placed in the hand, losing one’s mind and rushing in.” 

 

“Saying it like that really makes us look pathetic, like we aren’t acting our age.” 

 

“I always think this, but it seems we’re far from becoming people of character. We never mature. I’m over forty, but I still think I’m a youth. This is an age where making mistakes isn’t easily forgiven anymore… Man…”

 

“We needed more sufficient caution.” 

 

“Even so, to make a bit of an excuse, who would have thought this hotel would be at the very rock bottom to this extent.” 

 

South Korea was a nation where public order was maintained reasonably well. Though it was said there are places that stealthily commit nonsense behind public power or hand in hand with it. Still, perhaps because the country is small, that number is relatively small. 

 

“That’s why I let my guard down.”

 

Because she didn’t know it would be a structure this terrible and complex. Because she couldn’t think a place like this would have been created while she wasn’t paying attention. 

 

“….” 

 

“Good grief….” 

 

Fatigue pressed heavily on her shoulders. It was self-reproach.

 

“If it were a typical illegal cartel instead, I’d try to do something even by mobilizing connections, but as expected, I hate this kind of place the most. When people who roll money commit foul deeds with determination, it’s difficult to intervene.” 

 

“…At least wars or illegal organizations are faithful to desire….” 

 

“There, the larger the bulk appears, the greater the profit obtained becomes, right?” 

 

But places like this are different. They keep a low profile and reduce their size. Only by doing so can they operate for a long time, because that extends the period they can reap profits.

 

“…Alright, go to sleep.” 

 

“Pardon?” 

 

“I said, sleep.” 

 

First of all, Lee Seonhae put Hong Gyeongyeon to sleep.

 

“No, in this situation, what…” 

 

“Be quiet, why are you running your mouth when you didn’t even do anything right.” 

 

“No, I… I…” 

 

“Not that I did anything right either, but you’re even worse, you punk.”

 

And then.

 

She picked up her phone.

 

“….”

 

Even though it was dawn, with the sun just rising, the other party answered the call.

 

“…Yes, Uncle.” 

 

“….” 

 

“It’s been a while.”

 

The mountain beyond the large window was beautiful as it caught the sunlight. Even though it was still drizzling, it just kept sparkling. An unknown revulsion pressed down on her heart.

 

“It’s nothing much, just that I went to Gapyeong recently and discovered a certain hotel. Yes, a hotel. Hmm… it’s not like that… I discovered it after getting lost in the mountains. Yes, yes.”

 

Lee Seonhae sat on the sofa while looking at the scenery outside the window. It was an interior design that highlighted the selfishness of wanting to monopolize nature and view it conveniently.

 

“Right, there’s nothing around. And the staff here don’t speak. Yes, probably… Yes. The General Manager, he’s here. He looks about 19 years old… and the guests are a bit strange. Yes, hmm. Yes, all of them are.”

 

The fatigue from not being able to sleep came not as drowsiness, but as pain. Her head throbbed, but she wasn’t sleepy. Lee Seonhae answered with a smile out of habit.

 

“…It’s a sickness, I suppose. You know I go crazy when I see things like this. I can’t possibly miss out on my lovely dopamine. But there’s a kid here, you see. No matter how you look at him, he’s around twenty… and this is a bit…” 

 

“….” 

 

“…He gets hurt. He gets hurt a lot. Yeah. Seeing him today, it really freaked me out. That’s right, it’s like the guests are harming the kid… No, he is the General Manager. Seems like he’s a co-owner, though. Yeah, yeah.” 

 

“….”

 

Soon after, a short exclamation, or perhaps interest, could be heard.

 

[It’s a miracle you didn’t die.]

 

He advised with a heart that loved his niece.

 

[Do it in moderation and come out, Seonhae.] 

 

“…Should I?”

 

[It was a heavenly fortune that your mind and body are intact. It seems that hotel owner showed a lot of consideration for you guys. For someone who took on such a role to show that kind of care… truly, it’s a miraculous thing. If you don’t want to let your cherished writer die, don’t touch it any further.] 

 

“Aha, yes.” 

 

[It’s not a place you can walk out of with your limbs intact just by selling my name. Don’t think about being stubborn like last time. You know how much your uncle worries about you, don’t you.] 

 

“Of course.”

 

After exchanging formal pleasantries following that, she ended the call. Lee Seonhae slumped deeply into the sofa.

 

Then she laughed.

 

“Ah, seriously.”

 

It was too funny.

 

“This damn world.”

 

When she was young, she was curious about the rock bottom of this world. 

 

But even Lee Seonhae was allowed to see only a few places. And nowhere was there a ‘rock bottom’.

 

She wanted to see the end, but admitted it was beyond her capabilities. Her cherished colleague returned to the country with her, having acquired trauma. Convictions and hopes, and wounds…

 

“….”

 

It felt like they shouldn’t have opened the door to this hotel. 

 

‘It’s too late for regrets, though.’

 

As a matter of human duty, she should try to clean up the mess.