Memories That Should Stay Buried
Room 407 was at the very end of the hallway. Standing in front of the door, Yeo-won pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
She had stayed in hotels for work reasons during her company days, but this was her first time in a motel like this.
Or… was it really her first time?
A hazy memory flickered at the edge of her mind. Yeo-won pressed hard against her temple.
When had she come here before?
Ah.
It came back to her, but it was far from a pleasant memory. Yeo-won’s face twisted with displeasure.
No wonder I tried to forget it.
She shoved the unpleasant recollection out of her head and took a short, deep breath. When she opened the door with the plastic key attached to the fob, the pitch-black interior greeted her.
“The light… is this it?”
She felt along the wall until her fingers brushed something raised. A light tap, and the dark room flooded with illumination.
Calling this a “light” felt generous. The glow was an unnaturally deep, bloody red.
Wondering if that was all there was, she glanced at the switch. There was only one. That was it, then.
Yeo-won made a slightly sour face, but soon gave up.
Well, at least I have a place to sleep.
Telling herself it didn’t matter since she was only going to sleep, she bent to take off her shoes.
Shin-wol, who had been standing beside her, stepped inside without hesitation and looked around with open curiosity.
“Is this place a butcher’s shop?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“……”
“Or perhaps a courtesan house?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“Just take off your shoes.”
When Yeo-won glared at him, Shin-wol let out a small laugh.
She might not know much else about him, but she could tell he was teasing her right now. It seemed he rather enjoyed playing these little games.
As she slipped off her shoes and stepped inside, Yeo-won muttered defensively.
“In case you didn’t know, all motels look like this these days.”
His words had eased some of her tension, but she couldn’t bring herself to laugh at the mention of butcher shops and courtesan houses.
At least it wasn’t a stable. That was something.
“Ah, I see.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
His half-hearted reply came with a mischievous curl at the corner of his mouth. His hand rose slowly, and he pointed a slender finger behind her.
“Then does that also fall under what you call ‘these days’?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
Yeo-won turned to look where he pointed and froze on the spot. Her mouth clamped shut, disbelief written across her face.
The bathroom was made of clear glass. A band of frosted glass ran across the middle, but it was woefully insufficient to hide anything.
Staring at the bizarre bathroom that might as well not have existed at all, Yeo-won clenched both fists tight.
I just won’t wash. I won’t even use the toilet.
Having settled the matter in her mind, she answered as casually as she could.
“Yeah, well. That’s how it is.”
“Hmm.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
Ignoring Shin-wol as he tilted his head and stared at the bathroom, Yeo-won began looking around the room.
Aside from the bathroom, it was mostly ordinary. A massive bed dominated most of the space, along with a round table, an old chair, and a small refrigerator beside them.
When she opened the fridge, two bottles of water and two cans of soda were neatly lined up against the back wall.
Her throat was parched. She grabbed a bottle, twisted the cap off, and drank it down in one go.
Of all the rooms they could have given her, why did it have to be this one?
Had it always been like this?
Frowning, Yeo-won rewound her memory to the first time she had ever set foot in a motel.
It had been during the freshman welcome party at university. Determined to fit in with her classmates, she had kept drinking even though she couldn’t hold her liquor. Because she had no idea what her tolerance was, she had ended up completely blacked out. The last thing she remembered was someone helping her into a taxi.
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying under a gaudily patterned ceiling. The sound of a running shower came from somewhere.
Still disoriented, she lay there for several seconds until the water stopped.
The man who emerged from the bathroom was a senior from her department—the same one who had forced drinks on her at the bar.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
He toweled his wet hair as he casually sat on the edge of the bed.
“I was going to wake you after I washed up. Good thing you’re already awake. It feels a bit criminal doing it with someone who’s asleep.”
At those words, Yeo-won immediately looked down at herself. Thankfully, she was still fully dressed. It didn’t seem like anything had happened.
But the situation was chilling enough to send ice down her spine.
“How… after you wash up…”
“No. I’m going home.”
“What?”
“Goodbye.”
Yeo-won snatched her bag from the nightstand and practically fled the room.
“Hey!”
She ignored the furious shout behind her, pale as a ghost, and left the motel. A taxi had conveniently been passing by, and she made it home safely.
After that, the senior spread strange rumors around the department, and her determination to make friends shattered completely.
“Motels these days are quite fascinating.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
The soft voice snapped her out of her useless thoughts. Yeo-won answered reflexively.
“Are they? What were they like in the old days?”
“A little more boisterous. Compared to back then, they’ve become quite quiet.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
Shin-wol settled naturally into the chair and crossed one leg over the other. With his hands resting neatly on his knee, he gazed out the window. His seductive figure made the cheap motel room feel almost elegant.
“Even now, the noisy places are still noisy. Maybe this one is quiet because there aren’t any guests. Here, water.”
Yeo-won took another bottle from the fridge and held it out naturally. Shin-wol stared at it quietly, then unscrewed the cap and handed it back to her.
“I gave it to you so you could drink it.”
“Ah.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
With a short sound of realization, Shin-wol set the bottle down on the table. When Yeo-won sat across from him, he asked as if he had been waiting.
“Do you come to places like this often?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“No. I’ve never come here of my own free will.”
“So you have been here before.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“I’m not sure it counts as a proper visit.”
“……”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
Shin-wol tilted his head slowly. Seeing him listen so attentively, Yeo-won found herself speaking without thinking.
“It was during the freshman welcome party. I got really drunk and ended up here once. But it wasn’t by choice. When I came to my senses, I was already in a place like this. I’d blacked out from drinking too much. I found out later that a senior from another department had brought me here. The moment I realized, I ran away.”
As she spoke, Yeo-won’s gaze gradually dropped to the floor.
She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she was afraid he might misunderstand. She stole a quick glance at him.
He still wore an expression devoid of emotion as he murmured in a low voice.
“That bastard is trash.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
His gaze slid toward the window, and he added calmly.
“Shall I kill him for you?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“……”
The words didn’t sound like a joke at all. Yeo-won stiffened in shock.
For a moment, time seemed to stop. Then she burst into a dry laugh, and suddenly she was laughing in earnest.
Seeing her shake with laughter, Shin-wol looked at her with puzzled eyes.
“Was there something amusing in our conversation?”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“No. It’s just… an old memory came back to me.”
She remembered now. This was the real reason she had tried to forget the whole thing.
Once the rumors spread, even the classmate she had grown somewhat close to began avoiding her.
Yeo-won had mustered the courage to explain the situation, but the reply that came back only deepened the wound.
“Everyone saw you getting in a taxi with that senior. Whether it’s true or not, what does it matter? People have already started believing it. And there’s no smoke without fire, right?”
The girl she had thought was her friend left her sitting alone in the café and walked out first.
Yeo-won hadn’t been able to say a single word until she was gone.
She hadn’t expected some grand gesture of comfort. She had simply wanted one person to stand with her and curse that awful senior. That was all.
The laughter kept coming. She didn’t even know what was so funny, but it felt strangely joyful.
Eight years later, hearing the words she had wanted to hear back then from Shin-wol brought an unexpected sense of relief.
With laughter still lingering in her voice, Yeo-won murmured softly.
“Haha… yeah. That senior really was trash…”
The very first emotion she had felt after hearing her friend’s words that day was, absurdly enough, acceptance.
She had always found it easier to blame herself than others. So she had simply accepted the situation as it was.
Because she had drunk too much. Because she had blacked out. Because she hadn’t tried hard enough to explain herself.
She had known her thinking was wrong, but there had been no one to tell her otherwise.
Because there was no one by her side to call him trash… the only choice left had been to forget.
And now, eight years later, the fact that this mysterious being—who wasn’t even human—had given her the words she had most wanted to hear back then felt both ridiculous and so joyful it brought tears to her eyes.
Yeo-won deliberately put on a bright smile.
“But in the end, nothing happened, and it’s been eight years. I’m fine now.”
“Eight years is not so long ago.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“For humans, it’s long enough to bury unpleasant memories.”
“Burying them does not mean they are forgotten.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
“Then I’ll just cover them with better memories.”
Yeo-won set down the water bottle and pulled her legs up onto the chair, hugging them to her chest.
Outside the window, most of the view was blocked by buildings, leaving only darkness. Yet through a narrow gap about the width of a hand, scattered lights flickered.
The scenery she was looking at seemed to perfectly represent today.
“Honestly, today was a pretty tough day.”
Resting her cheek on her knees as she gazed outside, Yeo-won spoke with a voice still laced with laughter.
“Suddenly the rain poured down, and no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find a place to stay.”
And after all that trouble, the room she finally found looked like this. It had made her even more depressed.
“If I had been alone, I definitely would have felt worse. But since someone was with me, it’s a little better.”
She had thought the day would end in pure exhaustion.
“I probably won’t come here again, but if something like this ever happens in the future, I think today will come to mind instead of that day.”
Yeo-won lifted her head to look at him and smiled brightly. Thin tears glistened at the corners of her gently curved eyes.
“It’s okay if it doesn’t fade away. Because I’ve made an even better memory. Thank you. For listening to me.”
At those words, Shin-wol flinched.
Her words sent a sharp pang through his chest.
Memories. She had already begun preparing them. Or perhaps she had finished preparing long ago.
Because in her stories, there was no future.
“Yes… I see.”
⟨ Shin-wol ⟩
Bad memories should be covered with good ones.
He agreed with her words.
But if there was one difference between them, it was that Shin-wol had no intention of leaving any of this as nothing more than a memory.