French Cup: A Neighborhood Story

Chapter 41: -Gyeong-Wan- Like a Goldfish in Salty Water

Across from the front desk, the giant tropical fish tank was mesmerizing me as I was lost in my thoughts. The many colors, the clown fish darting this way and that. Their oranges were like little dots flicking around. Memories of the giant fish from the grocery store, cramped in their quarters as they were meant for food, crowded my mind. How different those environments were. Strangely, our fish tank reminded me of our neighborhood. All those different colors, living in harmony and seeing friends. So much space to breathe and be themselves, joyful to observe. But, the fish tank at the grocery store. They surged and went on top of one another, desperate to move, as if they knew they'd soon be swallowed. That was like my world back home, and the one that had followed me here as I stood behind the desk. 

My tie was choking me all of a sudden. My suit jacket was too hot. I wanted to take a finger and pull at my collar. 

Another memory. Kazuya invading this world, bringing me a cake. I still had the plate in my locker. I'd never given back, and now it was a reminder that there was somewhere else beyond this place. It was still here, an invader in this otherwise stifling world.

Beside me, I heard Korean words all of a sudden. My head flicked to the side, trying to understand. 

Minami was typing away, some guest request into her daily log, muttering the words to Red Velvet's "Russian Roulette" under breath. Maybe not even aware she was doing it. I stopped what I was doing. 

"Do you like K-pop?" I asked, a strange smile there. How strange to smile today, after everything that had happened recently. A weird happiness among all of it.

"Oh, oops," she breathed, looking up at me. She was so short compared, maybe five foot. 

"It's okay. Do you like Red Velvet?"

She was sheepish, smiling, too. She put her lips in her mouth, that tiny smile, trying to look back at her computer to act like she was working. "Yeah, I like them. I like a lot of other groups, too. I listened to them a lot when I was in high school."

"That's so cool. I'm happy that you like Korean culture." 

She let out a little giggle. "That's right, I forgot you're Korean. I forget sometimes. I like other Korean stuff, too, like dramas. There's a lot of good TV."

"Yeah?" I was grinning now. How unexpected, to connect with her this way. "What do you like? I like Strong Girl Bong-Soon-"

Someone cleared their throat. We both snapped our heads up, Tomoko next to me doing it as well. A heavyset man of advanced middle age was standing there in front of us. Balding, wearing glasses. He wore a no nonsense kind of suit, absolutely tailored for him. It looked expensive. He was holding a suitcase in one hand. Behind him, we saw one of our valets struggling with a large dolly filled with stuff. It must have been his, because he was the only guest at the desk. A logical conclusion.

"Yes, sir. How may I help you?" I asked brightly. Giving him some of the smile that I'd had when speaking to Minami.

"If you are finished with your conversation." He looked at me pointedly, demanding my full attention. It wasn't friendly. I steeled myself, preparing. Next to me, Minami and Tomoko straightened up. The way he'd said "conversation" was almost mocking. "I need to check in. My family is waiting for our keys. Your valets were not attentive either. Quite disappointing. We were not very happy with your hotel already. We saw the news a couple of days ago, however it was too late to arrange our group with a different hotel. The other hotels our group are staying with are all booked, as such we had no choice. I must say, we are displeased already. Please make sure to make note of it. Staying here is now a quite...embarrassing reflection on us." 

Matsuda-san. This had to be Matsuda-san, who was in charge of the large lawyer group. It was some kind of convention, or a large series of meetings. He was very important in his own world, so of course was demanding this kind of service from us. I had to put myself in his mindset to understand him. It made things easier to do that.

I bowed deeply to him, and Minami and Tomoko followed, catching my cues. "Of course, Matsuda-san. Pleased to meet you. We have been anticipating you and your group. We have pre-made the keys. You do not need to show us your ID, or use your card, as we have it on file. It has all been arranged. Thank you very much for your patience."

I straightened up and saw he had not bowed to me in kind. He gave no response after a couple of seconds, staring at us and silently demanding that we move. 

Tomoko flicked through the basket of alphabetically ordered keys. Normally, I'd make small chat through this process, but the way Matsuda-san was observing us made me silent. This wasn't a time to talk. He was upset at us. I'd have to send an e-mail to everyone about it to make them aware that his group was already unhappy with us. It would make things much more difficult, making it up to them before they even got here. 

In that one minute as Tomoko searched for his card key, we saw what must be his family file into the lobby. His sons were wearing plain t-shirts and jeans, his wife wearing a pants suit that wasn't flattering on her shape. His sons looked to be maybe an older appearing ten to maybe fourteen or fifteen, two boys. One of them was playing a Nintendo Switch, not paying attention, almost bumping into a well dressed lady. They were wearing backpacks, and what must be Matsuda-san's wife was carrying her purse, which was a loud shouting Michael Kors, and a weekender bag.

Tomoko found the card key packet with his name Post-it on it. She handed it to me, and I ripped the Post-It off. Bowing deeply again, Tomoko and Minami following once more, I handed the card key packet to him with both hands. "My apologies, sir. Welcome to the Modern. If you need anything, please call down to the front desk. We will be happy to arrange-"

He snatched the packet from me. Without a word, he turned an about face and walked with frustrated purpose to his family. 

We watched them go. They started walking past the fish tank. The younger boy lingered, staring into the many colors. It made my eyebrow raise, him being interested in it. Not a lot of people stopped to watch it, always so fast paced, trying to get to their next destination. Matsuda-san backtracked. He cuffed him about the ear, the boy giving him a small bow in acknowledgement. They walked away together. 

"Well," Tomoko said in a huff. There was nothing else to say. We were all thinking it. 

The afternoon went on, inching closer to three o'clock. We knew the majority of the group would be arriving in the evening, so it was beyond us besides having worked all morning making sure the key card packets were arranged and correct. A few of the group trickled in, similarly voicing their complaints, telling us what they'd seen on the news. 

"Quite embarrassing for you, don't you think?" A very skinny, older woman told us. I recognized her suit as a pink Chanel. It reminded me of something my mother would wear, complete with a strand of pearls around her neck. "We will soon put this fiasco behind us, but you can't do that, can you?" It sounded respectful and sympathetic, but it was really a shot at us. Making fun of us politely. She let out a small snort as Tomoko handed her the correct key card packet. I could tell now that these small talks between finding out their names and handing them their key card packets would be excruciating. She went to go. "How you'll recover from this, I don't know. Well, I'll take my leave."

We watched her go, relieved to see her back turned to us finally, though she'd only been at the desk for a couple of minutes. Her presence had been a heavy weight. When she was out of earshot, Minami sighed in a high pitched voice beside me.

"Come on, three o'clock, where are you? Auughh," she let out.

"My god, I know," Tomoko called to her. "I want a smoothie and some sweet time with Netflix, put my feet up. It's going to be hell the whole time they're here."

I wanted to join them in griping, but I was the boss. Just the fact that they had the courage to say this around me felt good, though. They were relaxed enough. I let out a long, silent breath, getting out my own feelings in my way. I took the guest list from between Minami and I, and tapped it against the desk, making it neat though it was already pinpoint neat. Needing to do something with my nervous hands. 

I personally wanted three o'clock to come, too. Needing it to rush ahead. I wanted to run out of here, far away from Matsuda-san and his family. Run around the corner, straight to French Cup.