Welcome to Dungeon Hotel Chapter 282

276. What a Good Golden Retriever! 

 

Inside Yeongchun Hotel.

 

Alex was still in the middle of cleaning up the mess. 

 

He was forced to confess the truth after being questioned by four baby Junghyo fans. 

 

At first, he tried his best to avoid answering, but once Hunter Moon Heeyoung joined in, the entire plan fell apart. 

 

“Right now, Lee Junghyo is staying at Dungeon International and…” 

 

“Hmm… that’s a lie, right now.” 

 

Hunter Moon Heeyoung, despite not even having regained her memories yet, came straight over the moment she sensed something strange and began interrogating Alex alongside them. 

 

To make matters worse, she happened to possess a skill that could detect lies, leaving Alex completely defenseless against her interrogation. 

 

‘Why on earth doesn’t this woman’s skill ever get blocked…?!’ 

 

Damn it.

 

Alex had no choice but to tell some of the truth.

 

“Our Junghyo is doing a quest? Inside some weird dungeon? And the memories we have are actually from inside that dungeon? And Lee Semyung is there too?” 

 

“Yes…” 

 

When Moon Heeyoung’s sharp, fiery eyes locked onto him, Alex instinctively shriveled up in his seat. 

 

I missed my dad. I have a dad too. But Lee Junghyo… it feels like she has about four dads and moms.

 

“Then let me go in there too.” 

 

At that moment, Han Woohyun said this.  

 

There’s no way that would work…!

 

He wanted to say that—but Alex actually knew one way. 

 

“Synchronization… would that not be enough? We can’t actually go inside…” 

 

It was at that moment that the young Han Woohyun began to remember.

 

* * *

 

“Please bring it, boss!”

 

“….”

 

The boss hesitated for a moment before accepting the tray I handed over. 

 

Before accepting it, the boss washed their hands, took off their apron, dried the water on their hands with it, and then set it down. 

 

The way she took a deep breath after accepting the tray looked like a marathon runner or a nervous action actor.

 

To be exact, she looked like a first-time athlete or a rookie actor.

 

She was… making a lot of clattering sounds.

 

I’m usually good at reading customers’ feelings, but sometimes I just can’t figure out what the boss is thinking.

 

“The jjajang rice is here.” 

 

Is it because the boss is good at hiding their feelings? Or is it because, at times like this, the emotions that show on their face are just too much for a spirit like me to understand? 

 

I stood quietly and watched as the boss placed the tableware in front of the guest in Room 301 and our hotel’s doordeskman, and set down the jjajang rice. 

 

Her movements were so awkward compared to usual that I was worried she might make a mistake while setting down the egg soup. 

 

“…Shouldn’t I be helping…?”

 

Boss Grey patted me on the shoulder. 

 

“What are you going to help with? Breathing?” 

 

“….”

 

Boss Grey often used to say things that were hard to understand, and even now, after all this time, I still find it difficult to grasp what he means. 

 

“Dad jokes… no, more like grandpa jokes…”

 

Of course, the manager seemed to understand it a little.

 

“I can hear everything, you know?”

 

“I said it so you’d hear. ‘Our’ boss said that a general manager should be good at speaking frankly.”

 

Is it just my imagination, or did the word “our” have an oddly strong emphasis on it? 

 

The manager has been on guard against boss Grey the entire time. 

 

An hour ago, the manager called me out to the back door and firmly warned, “There can’t be two bosses under the same sky.” 

 

…I was scared. 

 

“Manager, you don’t like me, do you?”

 

Boss Grey is the same. 

 

“Boss, why don’t you eat with us? I heard… today is a special day.”

 

At that moment, a small voice was heard from the lounge.

 

Room 301’s guest—someone with jet-black eyes and a calm gaze that seemed like they could see straight through another person’s heart—

 

Like a wise old cat at times, but then suddenly, when they seemed a bit puzzled, they came off as innocent and endearing…

 

It was the voice of that guest whose eyes were exactly like the boss’s.

 

“A special day?”

 

“Well… it’s just a special day for me. Because I found my family.”

 

The “family” that the guest in Room 301 mentioned was the Hunter Lee Semyung sitting right next to him, but upon hearing that, the boss’s pupils shook uncontrollably.

 

The boss initially waved a hand as if to decline, then stepped back slightly, looked around to confirm that there were no other guests nearby, and finally gave a small nod. 

 

“Yes.”

 

Then, she looked at me, but by then, I had already prepared a bowl of Jajjang rice that Boss Grey had handed me! 

 

What a great dog! A great golden retriever! 

 

I’m sure that when I return to the Yeongchun Hotel, the concierge will praise me! 

 

This winter, my master… no, the boss might give me a whole box of sweet potatoes as a gift! What should I do?! If I don’t want to disappoint the master, I guess I’ll have to eat them all, right?! 

 

With a proud heart, I put the bowl down in front of the boss and stole a glance at the side of their face— 

 

“….” 

 

My heart felt strange.

 

Sometimes, when the boss’s emotions shift dramatically, my heart pounds along with it. That’s because the hotel where the boss resides always reflects their feelings—and I’m the spirit of that hotel. 

 

My heart was beating wildly just now.

 

“…Thank you.” 

 

“Yes? For what?” 

 

“Thank you for letting me eat with you.”

 

At the sound of a voice that seemed choked up, I quickly turned my head away and hurriedly left the spot. 

 

“Sometimes, I just wanted to eat together.”

 

“With the guest?” 

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Being a hotelier is a lonely job, isn’t it?”

 

“No. There are more joyful moments. Like today.”

 

I could clearly see Room 301 guest’s smiling face even from a distance. 

 

I could only see the boss’s back, but judging from the way Hunter Lee Semyung, who could see the boss’s face, turned his head, it seemed that the boss’s expression wasn’t just a smiling one. 

 

I asked Boss Grey, who was also a great wizard. 

 

“Does this world… disappear when you leave, Boss?” 

 

“Mhm.” 

 

“But Boss Grey, you know how to keep this world still, right?”

 

At my question, Boss Grey’s expression became strange. It was a look similar to when I secretly stole a snack and hid it, and he knew exactly where it was, yet gently patted me as if understanding. 

 

“Human time is beautiful because it flows.”

 

When Boss Grey makes that expression, I wonder how many more thousands of years I’ll have to live to understand what he’s saying. I guess I’ll never know. 

 

I quietly watched Hunter Lee Semyung, the guest in Room 301, and our boss, as they conversed with expressions of joy, sadness, concern, and sympathy. 

 

In the meantime, someone poked their head up the stairs. It was the little guest in room 204.

 

But that guest was a bit strange. At some point, those brown eyes became very calm.

 

Even after he came down to eat breakfast in the boss’s arms earlier, he suddenly went upstairs to see the guest in room 301, and now he came back down and made eye contact with me—

 

‘Shh.’

 

The way he covered his lips with his finger was a bit…creepy.

 

I definitely saw him acting cute on the second floor, making sure the other guests couldn’t come down. 

 

Of course, it was quite cute when the small human was acting all adorable, but when I think of the penthouse guest after they’ve grown up, it was certainly a bizarre sight. 

 

And just now—

 

“I enjoyed the meal.”

 

At that moment, I heard the sound of the guest in room 301 putting down her dishes.

 

The boss lingered in front of the guests who had finished their meal for quite a while before finally getting up from their seat. 

 

“Can I have dessert in my room?” 

 

“Yes, of course.”

 

“Thank you. Oh, and….”

 

“….?”

 

“Thank you again. Um… uh….”

 

The guest from room 301 hesitated for a moment before extending their hand towards the manager.

 

At first, I thought the manager was trying to take the tray that the boss had lifted. 

 

But soon, seeing the manager wrap their arms around the boss, I realized that wasn’t the case. 

 

“Thank you for being born. Thank you.”

 

“….!”

 

Seeing the boss’s back stiffen, I couldn’t help but peek through the gap in the stair railing, searching for the brown eyes that were watching.

 

Room 204’s guest, wearing the boss’s T-shirt, was gripping the railing tightly with tense hands.

 

‘Aunt.’

 

‘Mhm?’

 

‘Today is actually the boss’s birthday. And apparently, there’s something she’s always wanted to hear on her birthday.’

 

‘What is it?’

 

Actually, I overheard Room 204 secretly saying this to Room 301, whom they’ve somehow gotten close to recently. 

 

Of course, I’m a good bellboy, so I never eavesdrop on guests’ conversations. Never ever!

 

‘…Thank you for being born. That’s what she really wanted to hear.’

 

But I’m really curious.

 

How did the guest in Room 204 know? That those words were exactly what the boss had always wanted to hear. 

 

“…H, heuk…” 

 

After Hunter Lee Semyung, the door deskman, and the guest in Room 301 returned to their room, I watched the boss stand there for a long while, quietly sobbing—and in that moment, I suddenly realized something. 

 

That’s it.

 

Feeling sorry.

 

The emotion that filled the boss’s expression completely—that was it. 

 

And I remember that a long time ago, Boss Gray once told me that the best response to “I’m sorry” is “Thank you.”