Floor 1 - Hotel (2)

The hotel room was immaculate and luxurious.
Expensive furniture and an elegant, refined interior.
Against that polished backdrop, I stood blankly before the mirror.
There was a homeless guy staring back at me.
My hair was dry and unkempt after days without washing, and my clothes were black with grime and coated in dust…
My hollow, exhausted face completed the full-on beggar look.
I felt so filthy that I wanted to shower immediately.
Unfortunately, that was impossible.

Clink-
Because of these.
The silver bracelets Gyeong-ah had so generously gifted me.
I was so touched by her generosity that I could barely move my arms.

“How am I supposed to shower like this…?”

I fiddled with the cuffs in frustration. They were incredibly sturdy, their joints locked together without the slightest gap.
I’d already tried every trick I could think of to break them while I was trapped underground, and every attempt had failed.
Their durability was beyond question. Getting out of them on my own was practically impossible.
It’s not like I was a magician…

“Damn.”

In the end, I gave up.
I couldn’t even take off my shirt with my hands cuffed like this.
At least I could take off my pants.
Should I just wash the lower half?

“Hmm.”

I seriously considered it, then abandoned the idea. Washing only my lower half while leaving my upper body filthy?
That would look even weirder.
I’d look like some kind of pervert.
I looked for another option and headed into the bathroom to see if anything might help.
As befitted such a luxurious room, the shower booth was stylishly designed with full glass walls.
And I couldn’t use it.
Was this how the fox felt looking up at the grapes?

‘That shower must be sour.’

Leaving the large shower booth behind, I stood at the sink. Even with both hands bound, I could at least wash my face.

Whoosh-
Warm water came out the moment I turned on the tap. The cuffs made it awkward, but I struggled through washing my face.

“Phew…”

Maybe I’d just been that filthy, because even washing my face made me feel much better.
Unfortunately, this was the best I could do for now.

“Guess I’ll have to wait until Gyeong-ah gets back…”

I returned to the living room and sprawled out on the floor. I was too dirty to sit on the bed or sofa.
Even the floor had a sleek finish, probably because this was a hotel.
Compared to the underground prison, this place was heaven. More than anything, I actually felt alive.
Back then, every day had felt like I was slowly dying.
Now that my surroundings had changed, everything felt new. She said she’d be back in about twenty minutes…

‘Maybe I’ll just take a quick look around.’

Curiosity suddenly got the better of me.
Maybe I could find some hidden clue while searching the room.
It wasn’t like I had some creepy hobby of rummaging through women’s rooms. This was an investigation.

“Mm-hmm. Exactly…”

After piling up one flimsy excuse after another, I got to work.
The first thing that caught my eye was the bed.
The bedding was neatly arranged over a mattress that looked soft and comfortable.

‘Guess Gyeong-ah is the type to make her bed first thing in the morning.’

She was as diligent as she was meticulous. If only she could use some of that effort to be a little less scatterbrained.
I checked under the bed, but there was nothing there. Next, I opened the drawer beside it.

Slide-
It contained daily necessities and various miscellaneous supplies.
Nothing seemed important, but I did find something mildly interesting.

[Seoul Police Station]
Mobile Patrol Unit, Team 2
Officer Han Gyeong-ah
++

Someone’s police ID.
The photo showed a somewhat fresh-faced, youthful young woman.
She wore a fierce expression like she was ready to wipe every criminal off the face of the earth.
Her innocent-looking face ruined the intimidation, making her look more like an angry little rookie chick.

‘Was this when she was a rookie?’

A chuckle slipped out. The photo could only have been from a year or two ago, so she didn’t look all that different from now.
I put her ID back in the drawer.
I kept searching the room after that, but found nothing useful.
Then again, if there had been a hidden clue here, there was no way Gyeong-ah would’ve overlooked it.
Before I knew it, it was almost time for her to return.
I carefully put everything back so she wouldn’t notice I’d been snooping around.
It wasn’t even a crime, yet somehow I felt nervous about getting caught.

Click-
Right on cue, Han Gyeong-ah returned to her Private Room after finishing her business. I checked the time. Exactly twenty minutes had passed.

“Did you wait long?”
She stepped into the living room, saw me, and flinched.

“You still haven’t washed up?”
“Whose fault do you think that is?”

I raised both arms to show her the cuffs. Only then did Han Gyeong-ah realize the problem and let out a short gasp.

“Ah! Right. You can’t shower with the cuffs on…”

Judging by her reaction, she’d genuinely forgotten, not left me like this on purpose to mess with me.
She never failed to live up to my expectations. No matter how meticulous she seemed, there was always something slightly clumsy about her.

“Now that you know, hurry up and take them off.”

Han Gyeong-ah hesitated.
She couldn’t casually remove my restraints.
Who knew what I might do if she dared give me freedom?

“Or do you want to wash me yourself?”
“Don’t say stupid things…”

After some serious consideration, she made her decision and unlocked the cuffs around my wrists.

Click-
With a cheerful click, the cuffs came free from both wrists.
At last, I was free. I rubbed my aching wrists after having them bound in the same position for so long.

“Now that’s better…”

Han Gyeong-ah watched me with hawk-like eyes, her right hand subtly resting near her waist.

“Behave yourself. Got it?”

It was a warning that she could subdue me by force at any moment.
Not that I had any intention of resisting. I stayed as docile and obedient as possible.

“Can I go shower now?”
“You have five minutes.”
“That’s way too short.”
“Just do as you’re told.”

Firm and authoritarian as ever.
I was heading for the bathroom when a question suddenly occurred to me.

“You’re not going to make me shower with the door open, are you?”
“…Close it!”

Han Gyeong-ah flushed and snapped at me.
I’d wondered if she’d insist on monitoring me like a security camera, but apparently she respected at least some privacy.

At last, I could finally shower.
In reality, only two days had passed…
but after feeling like I’d gone more than a week without washing, it was almost moving.

**

That first shower in what felt like forever was absolutely incredible.
As warm water poured over me, it felt like the lingering filth and accumulated exhaustion were being washed away with it.
Once I’d scrubbed away every trace of grime, I looked into the bathroom mirror clouded with steam.
At last, I’d shed the beggar look and started resembling a human being again.

“Phew…”

Now that I was clean, I felt refreshed and fantastic.
Relaxed and pleasantly drowsy, I stepped back into the living room.
Han Gyeong-ah was busily writing something in her notebook.

“Gyeong-ah, what are you doing?”
“You’re already done sh… Kyaa!!”

She suddenly screamed. The moment she saw me, she froze and began sputtering.

“W-Why are you dressed like that?!”
“What’s wrong with a bathrobe?”
“No… Why did you come out without getting dressed?!”
“My old clothes were so filthy I couldn’t bring myself to put them back on.”

After days of rolling around on the floor, they were torn, ragged, and practically rags.
Putting them back on would defeat the whole point of showering.
Han Gyeong-ah hurriedly pointed toward the wardrobe while averting her eyes.

“There are spare clothes in there! Put those on!”

It wasn’t like I’d walked out naked. Was that really worth getting so worked up over?
Unable to withstand her fussing, I changed into the spare clothes from the wardrobe.
It was a white dress shirt and black pants, not much different from Kim Yohan’s original outfit.

“There. Happy now?”
“Ugh… Come here. I’m putting the cuffs back on!”

Still fuming, Han Gyeong-ah cuffed my wrists again.
And just like that, my brief taste of sweet freedom came to an end.
The cuffs had apparently been designed without the wearer’s comfort in mind, because the edges dug painfully into me whenever they shifted.
Didn’t they make furry handcuffs?
Even while I was thinking that, Han Gyeong-ah was still bright red.
As if trying desperately to forget what had just happened, she calmly opened her notebook and pretended nothing was wrong.

“…Sit down. I’ll tell you what happened while you were in here.”

Finally, the main topic. I’d completely forgotten about it because of the shower.
I listened carefully as she spoke. Roughly summarized, this was what had happened.

1. Everyone here except Kang Se-rim and Lee Sa-hyuk had gone up to Floor 2.
   Kang Se-rim had been left behind because she was young and it was considered too dangerous,
   while Lee Sa-hyuk… simply couldn’t be bothered to go.

2. Han Gyeong-ah told the two of them what had happened before dawn.
   About the severed right arm that had been hanging from the doorknob of my Private Room.
   Neither of them seemed willing to believe her, so they went to my room to verify it, but…

“…It was locked.”
“You said it was wide open before dawn.”
“Exactly!”

Frustrated, Han Gyeong-ah pressed the back of her hand to her forehead.
For some reason, Kim Yohan’s Private Room was firmly locked.
As though nothing had happened there before dawn.

“That’s strange.”
“Sa-hyuk ended up treating me like some coward! He asked if I’d been so scared that I saw wrong…”

Han Gyeong-ah pursed her lips.

“I really saw it. I can still remember exactly how that creepy right arm felt…”

She seemed genuinely upset that they didn’t believe her.
Gyeong-ah might be a coward, but there was no way she’d imagined it.
She was terrible at lying, after all.

‘My Private Room is locked…’

Was this another phenomenon caused by the Tower, like what happened on B1?
There was no way to know. And there was something more important anyway.
The people who had gone up to Floor 2.
With no clues left in the hotel, all we could do was wait for them to finish investigating and come back down.

“Anyway, I’ll tell the others when they come back too. Whether they’ll believe me is another matter…”

As she said that, Han Gyeong-ah handed me a familiar paper bag.

“You haven’t eaten a single meal today, right? Eat this for now.”

Today’s food ration?
I peeked inside and found the same bread as always. I’d made it from the prison to a hotel, but apparently some things never changed.
One hard, dry piece of bread that wasn’t fit to eat unless you were literally starving.

“Huh?”

But this time, something was different. A small packet of strawberry jam had been tucked into the corner beside the bread.

“What? You’re not eating?”
“No, it’s just…”

When I glanced at her, Gyeong-ah pretended not to notice and looked away.
Her impression of me really had improved, at least a little.
After all that cold treatment, seeing her quietly look out for me in such a small way felt strange enough to make me smile.

“No milk?”
“…”

At my joke, Han Gyeong-ah snapped as if scandalized.

“Just eat what you’re given!”

So tsundere.
Exactly the reaction I’d expected.
There was no milk, but the bread did a decent job of filling my stomach.
With strawberry jam spread over it, the sweetness finally pushed it past the minimum threshold for something I’d call food.
Now all that remained was waiting for everyone to come back down.
That would probably be the end of me.
Was this how a death-row inmate felt with execution day approaching?
My trial was coming soon.
I started coming up with pathetic excuses in preparation for the beating I was probably about to receive.
If things got genuinely dangerous, Gyeong-ah would help me, right?
Then again, considering her persuasive skills, I probably shouldn’t expect too much.

“Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”
“I’m a little nervous.”
“Because of the others? Then you should’ve behaved yourself from the beginning!”

I had no comeback no matter how much she scolded me.
Kim Yohan was the bastard responsible for all of this in the first place.
And so time passed, slowly but surely.
But even after one hour passed, then several more…

There was still no word from the others.