Chapter 12
“W-What?!”
The staff member holding the steering wheel was startled.
“Y-You… your hands were injured that badly?”
“Yes.”
The director in the back seat nodded.
“I didn’t say anything earlier because I thought you’d be too shocked, sorry.”
“Oh, no… there’s no need to apologize… I was just surprised…”
“Who wouldn’t be? I’m serious—it made my heart drop. Blood dripping like that, I thought my eyes were deceiving me.”
Another staff member asked the writer.
“You saw it too, right?”
“Yes, I did. If the blood fell to the floor like that, it must have been dangerous, so I couldn’t help looking. The director was composed, but I guess I showed some shock.”
“That… doesn’t that seem really dangerous? Given the situation, and the injury itself…”
“Very dangerous, yes. He hid it behind his back so we couldn’t see it properly, but he was wearing gloves. Those white gloves we saw yesterday.”
“They looked thick.”
“If blood seeped through cloth gloves, it must have been a deep cut or puncture. In terms of blood vessels, probably a vein or something ruptured to produce that much bleeding.”
“A vein?”
“I don’t know how it’s possible.”
“But… he didn’t show any sign of pain or trouble.”
“Exactly. How that’s possible, I have no idea.”
The director laughed faintly.
“Always making a fuss, yet when something happens, he stays so calm?”
“After years of working with the director, you get used to it…”
“Remember when we went to Mexico?”
“Oh, don’t remind me, just imagining it makes me nauseous.”
The writer spoke in a tired voice. Lee Sun-hae debuted as a documentary director. Her emphasis on field research came from that background.
They made realistic, detailed films. Films where the audience would be fully immersed in the world.
“Still, this time it was truly chilling. Even in a war zone or a drug den, I was mentally prepared for danger. But here? In a hotel in the mountains?”
“I told you, that hotel is really strange…”
“Exactly. What chance is there of getting injured in a hotel?”
That was the point.
“If he didn’t want to show us, why would he come to the lobby injured?”
“It’s possible he wanted to show us, isn’t it?”
“Why do you think that?”
“He wanted us to leave the hotel, that much was clear.”
“So… the hotel is dangerous, so leave?”
“Maybe not that extreme… but something along those lines, perhaps.”
The writer shifted thoughts.
“Oh, maybe that’s not it.”
“Right. He didn’t welcome us being in the hotel, but he also didn’t explain why. He actually tried to hide it.”
“Someone like that wouldn’t display such an injury publicly. Besides, it may have nothing to do with the hotel’s strangeness.”
The staff member in the front seat nearly choked.
“What? You two know something we don’t? We just stayed and slept…”
“By the way, you guys should stay at the guesthouse starting today. You haven’t canceled yet, right?”
“We just left it as is, thinking we might not get in often. But… is the hotel really that dangerous?”
“Right now it’s just speculation.”
“Just speculation?”
“Yes.”
The director counted on his fingers.
“Even though the hotel is hidden in the mountains, overly luxurious, has few guests even in trial operation, the general manager subtly refuses guests, and even though he was seriously injured, he remained calm!”
“…….”
“All of that could still be coincidence, right?”
“…Coincidences stacked become inevitability.”
“Is that how the saying goes?”
“Why don’t you two just go to the guesthouse too?”
“At first, we just wanted some inspiration or material.”
The director recalled the first time they saw the hotel.
“You don’t see something like this often.”
A hotel in the rain-drenched mountains.
Vacant yet luxurious air.
Eccentric staff.
“But now… I’m just curious.”
“Ah, director…”
“Most of all, it bothers me. No solid reason, but the general manager has been friendly. And this time, he was badly injured.”
“That has nothing to do with us.”
“I’m not trying to intervene, I just feel uneasy if we leave it like this. And beyond that… it’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“You’re going to have him hospitalized again.”
“If it gets bad, he’ll step back, don’t worry too much.”
“The moment you mentioned that, I started worrying immensely.”
“I want to know more.”
Lee Sun-hae smirked mischievously.
“So, what do you think?”
“Huh? About what?”
“Huh? Writer, why did the general manager get injured like that?”
“…Oh, me?”
The writer, looking out the window, scratched the back of his neck.
“I’m not a profiler.”
“But for story planning, you’re the best. Research too.”
“…I don’t know if I should, but… okay, if we treat this as a story scenario…”
“A story scenario?”
“Wait, let me think.”
He frowned, the kind of reaction that comes when drafting scripts.
“…We need material first.”
“Material?”
“For a mystery, it would be the clue.”
“Right, with only what we have now, detailed plotting is impossible.”
The director tapped his chin.
“No elevators were moving when we left.”
“Ah, one was moving.”
“Really?”
“No, not when we rode, but we saw it in the lobby.”
“You actually saw it moving?”
“Yes, it stopped at the 7th floor.”
“7th floor?”
The director muttered, and the writer interjected.
“Wasn’t that the floor the GM mentioned?”
“I think he said there were many guests because of the rain.”
“Seems a little odd.”
“Memorable statement, at least. Anything else?”
“If so, we can sequence events…”
“The hotel elevators are really fast.”
“We rode from the 21st floor.”
“No matter how fast, 21 to 1 takes time. If the GM was injured in the lobby…”
“Then he could see us descending from the 21st floor.”
“And the guest went up to the 7th floor.”
Conclusion:
“The GM saw us coming down and sent someone to the 7th floor?”
“To avoid meeting us. Likely. With that injury, he should have gone to treatment first, not face us.”
“Exactly, the GM doesn’t need to personally greet guests.”
“He must have judged there was no time to treat his hand. Even descending from 21 floors, the elevator is fast… wait.”
The writer paused, recalling something.
“The GM had no reason to come out before us. As head manager, not guest-facing staff.”
“Even special hotels don’t usually have the GM personally greet guests. We’re not that high-priority.”
“Then perhaps he diverted attention. Sent someone to 7th floor, yet something remained in the lobby we shouldn’t see.”
The writer asked staff.
“Did you see anything else?”
“…I’m exhausted, wait.”
The front-seat staff spoke.
“Uh, there was a lot of water?”
“Water?”
“On the floor.”
His voice was uneasy, the atmosphere tense.
“From the entrance, like a water path. Someone came in drenched by the rain.”
“There aren’t many guests… wait, again?”
“…Yesterday, remember what we saw?”
“I remember… what? This is creepy. What’s happening?”
“We, director. We just looked around and slept yesterday.”
The staff looked back.
“In such a nice room, 21st floor… thought, when will we see this again? So we looked outside, enjoyed the scenery, mountain views.”
“But?”
“But heavy rain blocked the view. Felt a shame, so we went to the lobby. Service areas were inaccessible; elevators weren’t running anyway.”
“You actually went out?”
“Yes, only the lobby was reachable.”
The writer interjected.
“What did you see there?”
“When we got off the elevator, the lobby was empty except staff. Someone entered. Door opened.”
The staff looked tense.
“A man, soaked in rain…”
Long, messy hair. Winter-like clothes in summer. Boots full of water.
“Very tall. Even bent, still taller than us. Don’t know why he was that wet, but normally… wouldn’t you do something? Remove water from boots, wipe face?”
“His hair plastered to his face, hard to breathe, yet he just walked.”
“We got creeped out, immediately took the elevator back up. GM told us to be careful with the guests. Remembered that…”
The director asked carefully.
“Did he see your faces?”
“No, we barely got off and went straight up. Maybe a minute or two in the lobby, not more than three.”
“Good.”
“But now, thinking back… a little odd.”
The staff looked uneasy.
“Many staff present, yet none… acknowledged him.”
“Acknowledged?”
“Guests drenched, no towels. Could be service issue, fine. But they didn’t react at all. Not one.”
“That’s… unsettling.”
Director asked.
“What time was that?”
“Uh… early morning, stayed up late.”
“Approximately?”
“Around 3 a.m.?”
“Okay.”
Director looked at writer.
“Can you summarize?”
“…When did we leave?”
“Around 6 a.m.”
“The water path at the entrance, probably that guest made it?”
“Unless there’s another strange person…”
“…Let’s assume that guest only walks outside in deserted hours.”
“True, 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.”
“We descended at 6, so he must have returned before that. Regardless of timing, the guest and GM must have met in the lobby.”
“The guest arrived first, or GM saw him enter.”
“And for some reason, GM sent him to the 7th floor. Probably a guest who enjoys rainy walks.”
“Not many people stroll in the rain like that, especially tall adults.”
“Unknown, but who else could inflict such injuries? Time, location, GM’s actions…”
“Most likely, the 7th-floor guest.”
“Not direct evidence, but circumstantial points to it.”
The driver asked.
“Could the injury have occurred before meeting the 7th-floor guest?”
“Then treatment would have occurred first.”
“Right?”
“He wasn’t in a guest-facing role. Head manager. And injured, treatment first.”
“But…”
“If normal human.”
“If GM were abnormal, might act differently, prioritize other things over his own injury.”
“But still, would the diligent GM leave hand injury untreated?”
“Before meeting the 7th-floor guest, he would have treated it first. Must have had a reason to face the guest.”
Staff continued.
“Could he have been injured elsewhere… something we shouldn’t see… no time to hide it?”
“Lack of time. The injury happened after the 7th-floor guest interaction. Earlier injury would have been treated.”
“And something we shouldn’t see? Nothing could appear overnight in the lobby. At 3 a.m., GM was there?”
“No, only staff.”
“So nothing for us to see, means something appeared within 3 hours. Biggest event: GM’s hand injury.”
The director muttered.
“While hand injured, something we shouldn’t see appeared… at the scene?”
“Could leave indelible traces. Blood, perhaps.”
“A few drops wouldn’t require blocking us. Maybe it was conspicuous, or no time to hide it?”
“Limited info, can’t be certain. But in extreme summary…”
The writer summarized.
“GM acted to prevent us from meeting 7th-floor guest. That guest is likely the one who injured GM’s hand.”
“Caught.”
“Yes.”
“Blocked too openly. GM’s pride…”
“Yes.”
Coco never lies. Lee Yeon-woo’s mind and body were exhausted. Coco gnawed at his heart, the monster guest tore at his body.
Still, once they safely exited the main gate, a delayed relief washed over.
“Yes, survival matters most, right?”
“No.”
“Naughty cat.”
“No.”
Ignoring the teasing, Yeon-woo rang the bell to summon staff.
Soon, mop-wielding staff approached expressionlessly, scrubbing the floor. Rainwater mixed with thick blood. Too gruesome to call a simple hand injury.
Glancing at the large mirror behind him…
“…….”
His back was torn open.
Marks as if a predator had torn flesh.
Revival takes time. If he had died, the next targets would have been the guests who just left.
“…Lucky the guests survived. That was close.”
A strong life force, thankfully.
“I never imagined blood magic would be used this way.”
“Yes.”
“Still, quite useful, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”