I enter the lobby and the smell of lemon grass enters my nostrils. The lobby has shiny marble tiles, and clean wallpaper, but it isn't very big. There's one reception desk in the corner and a few sofas on my right. There's a dartboard and a few notices nailed onto the wall, as well as a few beautiful paintings.

Well it isn't that bad.

As I make my way towards the reception desk, Jeongguk calls me.

"You go ahead and get a room, I already have someone waiting for me. Hopefully I'll see you around, thanks again for the ride, Jiyun." he says with a bow and walks away from me. He disappears around the corner and I my head to the side.

He already has someone waiting for him?

I keep that in my mind and ring the bell on the desk. I ring it twice as I normally would do, and the door swings open.

A young looking man steps out. He looks to be about in his mid twenties with black short hair and a slender body beneath his black blazer and jeans. Without taking a good look at me, he huffs. "Damn it Felix, can't even give me a break while I'm watching something?" he sighs and then picks his head up to meet eyes with me. He furrows his brows. "Wait a minute, you're not Felix."

"Nope, that's a boy, I'm a girl." I say, with a gentle smile.

The young man clears his throat and sighs, bowing to me a little bit. "Anyways, I apologize for whatever you heard, welcome to Sunrise Hotel."

"Looks more like a motel to me." I say, looking around.

"Look, do you want a room or not?" he asks, giving me a crooked smile.

"Who's Felix?"

"Oh, Lee Felix, yeah, he's the maid, belhop and cook of this hotel. Him and another woman, Choi Jisu . They keep this place up and running from the inside." he says, smiling. His teeth are very white.

"Ah, okay," I say. "And yeah I'd like a room. Do you still have any vacant rooms by any chance?"

"Woman I can see ya ain't the sharpest knife in the knife cabinet." he says, folding his slender arms.

I raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me? What's that suppose to mean now?"

"My dear, what hotel doesn't have a vacant room?"

"How should I know, maybe the rooms are all taken for all I know." I say, folding my arms.

He eyes me for a second and chuckles. "Yeah there are a few vacant rooms, but it's gonna cost you per day obviously."

I think for a moment. I still have the package to wait for and it'll arrive in about three days or two, and I also want to rest around and search for Taehyung so... I think it's best if I stay for a week.

"Seven days. How much is that?"

He smiles. "Yeah well it's gonna cost you at least 203,421.73 won."

"You might as well be robbing me blind." I say. That's a lot of money to pay for a week.. but I guess it's fair.

"Considering the special room I'm about to give you, I'd say it's a fine price."

"What special room?"

He looks at me with a gentle smile and hands me a sign in sheet. "Write your full name, hangul and roman, date of birth and everything on this sheet and then I'll tell ya."

"Fine. Give me a pen." I say. He hands me a blue pen and I start writing down everything.

김지윤
Kim Jiyun
March 13th
Seoul, South Korea

 

I hand him back the pen and paper. "There."

 

He takes a good look at the paper. "Kim Jiyun... That's your name?"

 

"Yeah, what about it?"

 

He doesn't say anything but just looks away from me. He looks a bit distressed. I snap my fingers. "Hey, answer me."

 

"Nothing, just sounds familiar." he says, opening the drawer beside him and pulling out a set of room keys. He slides it towards me and smiles. "Your room is 1111, and about why it's special, it's because it grants wishes."

 

I start laughing and he frowns. I take the keys and run my hands through my hair. "Oh please, just because it's 1111?"

 

"No, there's a story behind it, but since you laughed about that, I don't think you're worthy to know about that." he says with a noticeable frown.

 

"Hey don't be like that, come on tell me."

 

He shakes his head and shuts the drawer. "No no, I don't wanna waste your very valuable time with my fairytales am I right?"

 

I sigh. I really don't have time for this. I need to call my boss, but I want to know the story behind the room I'll be staying in. "I'm sorry mister."

 

"The name's Han Jisung and you're forgiven, but if you really wanna know, I'll tell ya." he says and his smile returns. He seems really childish. "There was a man who came here not to long ago. His name was Kim something, that's why I said your name sounded familiar. I don't remember what his full name was though, and I lost the sign up sheet I gave him, so I don't have a way of remembering. However, he took room 1111 because he knew it granted wishes. He said he wanted that room because he had a very special wish to make. He never told me what. Days passed and when I saw him, he said he felt that his wish was granted. He thanked me and even payed me lots of money for giving him that room, but he then asked me to change his room because he wanted to leave it vacant for the next person who comes here, and that's you so that's why this room is for you now."

 

Wait a moment... Another person, a boy, surname Kim... Could it be Taehyung...?

 

"Is he still here?" I ask, trying not to sound suspicious.

 

"Well that's the thing, I'm not sure. I never saw him after he switched rooms." he says, shrugging his shoulders.

 

"Which room did he switch to?" I ask, eager to know if it was Taehyung and if he was still here.

 

"It was room 1114 or 1115 I think... I'm not sure, but why do you want to know anyway?" he asks, looking at me.

 

I shake my head. "It's nothing."

 

He hums. "You know, this hotel has many secrets. Many things happened in this hotel, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were some kind of detective or something that would ruin my hotel or something."

 

I quickly shake my head and smile at him. "Oh no, I'm not a detective. I'm a saleswoman."

 

He sighs, probably in relief. "Alright well, that's good too. Anyway, welcome to Sunrise Hotel and if you have any questions, please do call me at the front desk. Hope you enjoy your stay, and if you feel like making new friends, come attend the banquet dinner inside the ballroom later at 9PM."

 

"9PM, got it." I nod my head.

 

"Any other questions?" he asks. I shake my head and he nods his. "Alright then Ms. Kim. Enjoy your stay at Sunrise Hotel. I hope to see you around." with that, he takes my sign up sheet and neatly stores it inside another drawer and goes back into his office.

Once he's gone, I start thinking about the possibilities of Taehyung being here. Could he possibly still be alive? Could he be here? Room 1114 and room 1115, that's where I'll start looking I guess.

Do you hear me Taehyung? Wherever you are, I hope I can find you.