Love Hotel

day.two

"Housekeeping."

The look Jieun gives her is one for the ages.

"Suyin, you are not doing housekeeping too," the now-officially-a-part-time-model sighs. "You work front desk for the midnight shifts, get maybe four hours of sleep, cover for Heejae's desk shift and laundry duties, and then get maybe three more hours of sleep if you even go back to your apartment, which lately you haven't, before showing up again for the midnight shift."

"So?"

"So?!" Jieun stares at her. "What do you mean so? That's not healthy!"

Suyin's non-verbal reaction is apparently the wrong one because Jieun simply will not let up on the subject.

"Midnight shifts are not healthy for anyone! It messes with your circadian system and, in the long term, shortens your life expectancy. And also, you're not an employee, you're the owner of this hotel..."

"And you're a model!"

Jieun makes a noise loud enough to echo through the deserted lobby, throwing her head skyward in a not-so-silent plea for patience whilst Suyin simply stares at her.

"First off, I am not a model - my boyfriend took two photos of me and a low budget magazine used them in an ad. That is not modeling, that's extra cash. And secondly, no! You are not helping with housekeeping."

"Please?"

"No!"

"I'm here already."

"I can take care of it!"

"Jieun, you're already working overtime. Didn't you say you and your boyfriend had dinner reservations at 6? Cleaning all three floors will take forever at it's already 2:30 pm."

The self-proclaimed-not-a-model narrows her eyes, drawing a deep breath in before letting it back out in a huff.

"Fine. But then I am taking Heejae's shift tomorrow."

"Jieun..."

"No, you are not going to 'but' me. If I so much as see you around here tomorrow afternoon I am changing the locks."

"That's..."

Jieun simply stretches out her hand, unrelenting.

"Deal?"

With a quiet nod, Suyin accepts the terms as provided. A firm handshake is administered to seal her fate.

"Good. Now, you only get to do second floor because there's fewer people on third and I can take care of first by myself. Plus, the man in 23 is still there and I can't seem to get him out."

Suyin widens her eyes as she and Jieun head towards the stairwell. The soft lullaby trilling through the lobby - Suyin mindlessly catalogues it as Lim Kim's "Paper Bird" - fades away as they ascend the stairs.

"Really? Same guy?"

"Yeah, he looked super hungover and just yelled at me to go away," Jieun remarks with a shake of her head. "Barely even opened the door. Can you believe it?"

Suyin hisses through her teeth with an accompanying eye-roll. Some customers...

"I'd start with him."

"Yeah, I'm going to," she replies, turning off for the second floor landing.

"Good luck!"

She pulls open the door, stepping out into the quiet hallway and fetching the small cart from the cleaning closet. Her watch reads 2:40 pm. In the back of her mind a voice wonders if he remember her. Aish, she hopes not because that would mean he remembered that awkward conversation where she attempted to console him on his terrible breakup. Empahsis on attempt.

Suyin fixes her floppy ponytail, takes a deep breath and knocks on the door of room 23.

"Housekeeping."

"Go away!"

She knocks again.

"Sir?"

A noise - was that a crash? - and then the muffled sound of footsteps make their way to where she stands. After a brief fumble with the chain, the door is unceremoniously yanked open. Kiwoon stands on the other side, either drunk, hungover or both. Suyin dares not peek around him to view the state of her once favorite room.

"Ya, leave me alone."

Suyin blinks up at the man who one, remains intoxicated and two, obviously does not recognize her in the slightest. She stifles a sigh; thank goodness he doesn't remember the chain of events that happened the day before.

"Just housekeeping, sir," Suyin replies. "Also this is the second day that you have been here and it's almost 3 pm so you'll need to leave unless..."

"Unless I pay, right, right. Yeesh, you guys are pushy," he muses, reaching into his pocket to pull out a few bills. "Here."

The money is tossed at her and she struggles to bite her tongue as she pockets it.

"Do you need anything, sir?"

Kiwoon shakes his head moving to shuffle back inside but then suddenly turns and stares directly at her. Has her recognized her? Please don't tell me that...

"Can I have some towels?"

Suyin snaps out of her frozen state, fear dissipating as quickly as it came.

"Ah, yes, of course," she stutters, ever so thankful that he has no idea who she is. "Here you are. Will that..."

The towels are snatched from her hands and the door slammed shut before she can finish her sentence.

"...be all."

Suyin swallows a retort, blinks at the door, turns back to her cart and moves to the next room.

"Housekeeping."

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter - leave a vote if you did! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on Jieun now that you've met her a little more. And what do you think of Kiwoon? Is he still hung up on his ex-girlfriend? Does he really not remember Suyin or is he just faking it? Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a week! Thanks again for reading!