Finding the hotel was an adventure all in itself. Every taxi Jihoon got into had no idea where he was headed to. “Chuck Inn? Nope never heard of it.” was the response he was give every single time. After what felt like the twentieth cab to not know where he was going to, he decided to give up.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Jeonghan’s number. “Hey, could you help me?”

“Aren't you supposed to be on your adventure right now?” Jeonghan asked, completely ignoring Jihoon's question.

“I'm trying to start my adventure but no taxi I get into knows where Chuck Inn is or has even heard of it.” Jihoon explained as he began walking back towards his apartment complex. “How am I supposed to find Seungcheol if he gave me a fake place?”

“But it's not fake,” Jeonghan laughed into the phone. “I know where it is,”

“Why the hell am I out here looking for a taxi if you knew where it was the entire time?” Jihoon yelled into the mouth piece. “Come give me a ride!”

Jeonghan hung up and a few minutes later pulled up outside of the apartment complex. Jihoon climbed into the passenger side quickly. “Why didn't you tell me you knew where it was?” He asked as Jeonghan started to pull away.

“I figured finding the place was a part of your adventure.” Jeonghan smiled making Jihoon want to slap him.

“How come no one has heard of the place except for you?” Jihoon wondered out loud after a few minutes of driving in silence.

“It's a really small inn. I only know of it because two years ago when I was just starting out in my dad's company, he sent me over there to try and buy it off of the owners because we needed the land, but the staff wouldn't hear of it. They would have thrown me off the balcony if I hadn't revoked the offer and made a donation to keep the place open,” Jeonghan laughed at the memory. “I'm really surprised he's making you meet him there. It's not the most romantic of places,”

Jihoon's face felt hot as he punched his driver in the arm. “This is not a romantic thing Yoon Jeonghan. This is a crazy ‘get to meet your insane roommate’ quest. That's all,”

They pulled up to a small old wooden building the had a crooked, faded sign hanging out front reading “CH  CK I N”. The yard was very overgrown and the pathway to the front door was almost completely covered with weeds. “Have fun,” Jeonghan winked as Jihoon got out of the car. He sped off before Jihoon could ask him to wait around. Some friend.

He walked cautiously up to the front door, a sign reading "Closed" hanging next to it, and gave a loud knock. The door swung open to reveal the most unexpected thing. The inside of the inn was completely polished and cleaned. White carpet with golden trim lay on the floor while the dark wooden walls were covered in gorgeous artworks. There was a giant staircase that looked like it was straight out of a fairytale leading to the upstairs where Jihoon expected were the rooms. To his left he could see a door with a plaque reading “Dining Hall” and on his right were two doors, one labeled “Staff Only” and the other read “Entertainment Hall”. Jihoon glanced around before walking towards the staircase to explore.

He took two steps up when a sudden banging sound was heard from the dining hall. Forgetting to be scared, Jihoon raced into the room and saw a light on coming from the room on the far left labeled “Kitchen”. He ran towards the room, expecting to see Seungcheol or a wild animal of some sort, but instead was met with two unfamiliar faces both covered in pots and pans.

“Intruder!” The darker haired boy yelled pointing at Jihoon before attempting to get up but slipped on a pan falling back on top of the other boy.

“Mingyu, get off of me!” the other boy yelled, attempting to shove the clumsy one off of him with little luck.

Jihoon stared, bewilderedly at the scene before bursting out laughing causing both boys to look at him sharply. “I'm so sorry for being rude, but this is just so funny looking.”

The boys frowned before the one named  Mingyu crossed his arms with a huff and sat up slowly. “Laugh while you can. You're trespassing on private property right now.”

“Actually, my friend invited me here. I'm looking for him.” Jihoon said, extending a hand to help Mingyu off the other boy and then helped the other boy up. “And it looks like you two could use the help with whatever you're doing.”

“Yeah, we keep making more messes than necessary,” the other boy laughed embarrassed. “I'm Jeon Wonwoo.” he grinned shaking Jihoon's hand. “And this Kim Mingyu. We’re employees here at Chuck Inn.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Lee Jihoon,” Jihoon smiled. “Happy to help while I wait for my friend,”

“What do you mean he invited you here?” Wonwoo asked as he began picking up some pots. Jihoon pulled the letter out of his pocket and held it out for him to see. Wonwoo merely glanced down for a second before continuing to clean up. “It's written in cursive so it seems formal enough.”

Jihoon laughed and put the letter back inside his pocket. “So, why are you two here working when this inn is closed?”

“We’re having to clean up the place since we’re getting some renovations done.” Mingyu explained as the three of them finished picking up the pots and pans off of the ground. “It's really a pain though for just two people,”

“I see. What all do you have to do?” Jihoon asked, putting the last dish away.

“In this room,” Mingyu started, looking around. “Mopping the floor and then it's done. Wonwoo can do that. Follow me to the dining room, I'll show you what you need to do.” He said, starting towards the door, not hesitating to put Jihoon to work.

They entered the table filled dining room that wasn't as glamorous as Jihoon first thought it to be. The big glass window was broken at the top creating a draft and some birds had obviously began to make nests around the room on certain tables and chairs. “We need to sweep all of this and then clean the tables and chairs off,” Mingyu explained. He ran back into the kitchen and reemerged with two brooms, a dustpan, and a cloth.

Splitting the room in half, both boys began to diligently work. “So,” Jihoon started after a while. “Where are the other employees?”

“Oh, it's just Wonwoo and I. Since this is a small place we’re really short on staff.” Mingyu explained as he swept. “Every time we get a third person they always end up quitting or something else happens and they can't work anymore just after a few weeks, so Wonwoo and I are really what keeps this place open now that's Coups isn't here. No more slacking for us,” Mingyu laughed, scrubbing his cloth harder on the table for emphasis.

“Coups?” Jihoon asked, sweeping up another abandoned bird nest. “What's that?”

“Oh sorry,” Mingyu said completely taken aback, forgetting Jihoon himself didn't work there. “He used to work here. He really had a drive for keeping the place open since his grandfather owns it,”

Jihoon finished his last pile and walked towards Mingyu, “What happened to him?”

Mingyu stopped working and sighed. “Who knows. One day he was here working his off, the next day he never showed up again. I tried asking the old man when he came to check up on us, but he said he'd rather not talk about it and that was that.” He gave a small frown before shaking his head to rid himself of the thought. He picked up his cloth and started towards the kitchen. “Hey, could you go into the staff room and bring the clipboard on the desk to me. I'm going to go check on Wonwoo,”

Jihoon gave a brisk nod and walked off towards the staff room he saw when he first got here. How strange for someone who loved this hotel so much to suddenly stop working without so much of a warning to their coworkers. They probably didn't understand how lucky they were to get this job in the first place.

Passing back by the staircase, he noticed some movement upstairs through the corner of his eye. “Hello?” Jihoon called. “Seungcheol?” he whispered after a second. He took a couple of steps up the staircase but stopped when nothing further happened. “It's probably my imagination,” he sighed.

He came here because Seungcheol told him too, not to help some run down inn get ready for inspection. He liked helping people but he wanted to see his roommate.

~~~

He got to the open staff room door and attempted to flip on the light with little success. They could add “changing light bulbs” to their list of things to do. He slowly wandered in willing his eyes to adjust to the dark room quickly when all of a suddenly the desk lamp flickered on. He jumped back with a squeak due to the sudden change.

He slowly walked towards the light until he froze mid-step. There was something sitting in the chair adjacent from the desk. A black figure was hard at work writing on the desk, not noticing Jihoon’s presence.

Jihoon could faintly make out what seemed to be the figures head and hands but the rest of it seemed to blur into the dark room. He started to slowly step forward even though every fiber of his being willed him not to. As he got closer he began to clearly make out the figures profile.

It was definitely a man that was for sure. His hands were scribbling at the speed of light on some paper on the desk. Gaining courage Jihoon took a breath and then spoke up. “Hello?” The man stopped what he was doing at once.

“Ha...ha…ha,” The man began to cackle, setting the pen down. His hands flew to his face as he began to laugh hysterically. “Hahahahahaha!” Jihoon began to back out of the room as the man staggered to his feet. His arms fell to his sides and from here Jihoon began to notice something entirely inhuman about the man. His arms were twisted and mangled, both facing opposite directions. Jihoon’s eyes ran across the rest of the man's body, lit up by the desk light, and he began to gag. His back was hunched and thrown out of whack and his neck was almost sideways, barely holding his head up. A pungent odor filled the room and the thing before Jihoon began to turn to face him. It cackled some more, out words that Jihoon couldn't understand, as it slowly drug itself towards him. Jihoon took off running needing to get away as the creature staggered towards him before-

“Jihoon!” Wonwoo yelled as Jihoon ran right into him. “What's wrong?” Jihoon staggered backwards and tried to regain his balance before falling down as Wonwoo flipped on the lights. “Could you not find the light switch?” He grinned and entered the room.

Jihoon turned around quickly in the now lit up room to see he was alone. There was no figure here at all. “Did I imagine that?” Jihoon mused, scratching his head.

“Did you say something?” Wonwoo asked, looking through some papers on the desk.

“Um, no.” Jihoon mumbled, standing up on shaking legs and stumbled over to where Wonwoo was standing. “What are you looking for?”

“Well, I need to find the inspection list, but for some reason all of these old documents are out.” Wonwoo sighed frustratedly, holding a handful of papers. “And they all have scribbles on them!”

Jihoon blinked a couple of times but couldn't register what that meant. Was that what the mangled man had been doing? Scribbling on old documents? Maybe he hadn't dreamt the whole thing up? Or maybe he is crazy and it's just a weird coincidence? He shook his head not wanting to think about it.

“Here it is!” Wonwoo finally spoke throwing all the other papers down. He grabbed a newer piece of paper from under a book pulling a yellow notebook paper with blue ink writing out as well. Jihoon grabbed it and curiously began to read it.

1•4•14

Working. Working. Working… That's all I ever do anymore.

Not that I don't like working… I just wish it was easier.

That everything was easier.

That life was easier.

But then again, who am I to complain? I need

The note ended mid-sentence due to a torn spot. Jihoon quickly grabbed his note from Seungcheol and held it up to the new note in his hand. They both were written on the same kind of paper in the same ink with what appears to be the same hand writing. It had to be Seungcheol. But what was this note from? It definitely wasn't directed at Jihoon that was for sure.

The date up top indicates that it was written two years ago. Almost like it was a diary entry. But why was it here? Jihoon pocketed the note and figured he'd ask Seungcheol later when he saw him. Jihoon grabbed what he needed and followed Wonwoo back to Mingyu.

“Took you long enough,” Mingyu frowned at Jihoon, taking the clipboard.

“Sorry,” Jihoon said rubbing the back of his neck. “I got a little distracted.”

Mingyu smiled at him after reading the clipboard. “That's okay, just messing with you. Now,” He turned to Wonwoo. “It looked like we’ve done all that was scheduled for today so we’re done!”

Wonwoo started to jump up and down clapping his hands. “Yay! Today went by fast!”

“Probably because we had Jihoon here to help.” Mingyu smiled and turnt towards him. “Thank you for that!”

“Oh, no problem. So does this mean you two are going to lock up now?” Where the hell is Seungcheol?

Mingyu and Wonwoo exchanged a glance before Wonwoo spoke again. “We’ll stay until your friend comes of course. I'll go make us some tea. Feel free to roam around if you'd like. We’ve been in the kitchen area all day so maybe he's here and we didn't even know it.” Jihoon nodded and decided that could be possible since the two of them didn't hear Jihoon when he first came into the hotel. He quickly left the room in search of his roommate.

~~~

He walked around the downstairs for a while, not daring to go back into the staff room, with little success. “I guess I'll have to go upstairs,” he muttered to himself. Slowly, he walked up the stairs, afraid of the squeaking sound they made every time he sat his foot down. When he got up stairs he could see two long hallways to his right and left with multiple doors. He started to walk towards the hallway on his right when he heard something behind him.

Creak.

He turned around to see one of the doors on the left hallway wide open. Whispering a small prayer he walked towards the door. On the plaque outside it read “Owner's Closet”. “Maybe Wonwoo and Mingyu opened it and didn't close it well. This inn is old so there's probably a draft and that's why the door opened,” Jihoon muttered out loud to make himself feel better as he stepped into the room.

The room was a small walk in closet filled with shelves of boxes each with faded labels. He flipped on the light and walked all the way in. Immediately the room became ice cold sending a shiver up Jihoon's spine. “Yep, definitely a draft.” He began to walk back out when a slip of paper blew off one of the shelves and landed at his feet. He picked it up and read it quickly.

Jihoonie

Sorry I couldn't make it today.

I came before you I think...

Anyways, come find me at my favorite place:

Carat Café

Hope to see you soon!

Your roommate,

Seungcheol

Jihoon sighed and pocketed this note. Why did Seungcheol leave this here? What were the odds of him even finding it in this closet? Jihoon was starting to get a headache from his roommate.

Jihoon raced down the creaky stairs and back into the kitchen. “Did you find him?” Wonwoo asked as he looked for a tea kettle.

Jihoon sighed. “It looked like he was here and then left. I have to go meet him at a cafe now. Thank you both for your hospitality!” He then bowed to each Mingyu and Wonwoo specifically. “I hope this place picks up business in the future since you two are so nice.”

They both beamed at him. “You're too kind! If you need a place to stay be sure to contact us!” Wonwoo smiled, handing a piece of paper with the hotels address and number on it. “And if you just want to hang out flip the card over.” Jihoon flipped it over to see both Wonwoo and Mingyu’s cell phone numbers on it.

He smiled and slipped the card into his pocket. “I'll be sure to take you up on both of those offers!" He bowed once more and began to walk out of the hotel on to his next journey.

~~~

Mingyu sighed, slumping down into his chair. “I really hope he finds his roommate, but I don't remember anyone coming in here at all.”

“Well,” Wonwoo sat down next to him. “Maybe he knew how to use the back entrance. Remember how Coups would always sneak in through the back enterance? Maybe his roommate was one of our regulars and knew about the back way and used it.” Both began to laugh at the memory of their old friend.

“I really miss that guy,” Mingyu sighed, leaning his head onto Wonwoo’s shoulder. Wonwoo grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers, and gave him a tight squeeze.

“Me too babe, me too.”

Both of them began to shiver as a cold breeze enveloped them almost as if the wind was giving them a hug. “We really need to fix these drafts.”

♦•♦•♦

Thank you for reading chapter 2! 

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Thank you again and have the most wonderful day~!!