Chapter Text
Bang Shihyuk was happy. You could even say he was ecstatic. Five reservations for today! And already two guests present! Eight people! The hotel hadn't been filled that much for years now. He just hoped the new comers would be more like the doctor than the other guest. That man had complained about almost everything, from the smell of his room to the softness of his sheets, passing by the taste of the water. The whole staff was praying for his departure, even more now that they knew other people were coming, including three regulars who were already known as good guests.
The Optatum's owner was at the reception desk, wanting to see with his own eyes his patrons' arrival. At that moment, the big lift was activated and after a few seconds of mechanical rumbling, the doctor Kim was exiting the scissor gates and heading towards the glass revolving door, probably going to visit his patient. But when he was about to go through the door, someone from outside also entered and pushed the glass wall right into the doctor. The poor man was ejected back in the hall while his aggressor quickly went in, kneeling next to the scientist and apologizing profusely.
Mr Bang quickly joined them, noticing the military uniform of the person he had already recognized thanks to his clumsiness. The doctor was covering the bottom half of his face with his hand.
"Dr Kim is everything alright ?" Shihyuk asked, worried.
"Yeah, yeah, just a bit stunned, don't worry." Seokjin answered finally revealing his slightly red nose.
The officer excused himself a few more times before getting up and helping the doctor to do the same. Each went his way, the Colonel Kim Namjoon coming shyly to the reception desk. The receptionist gave him the key to his room, indicating it was on the sixth floor.
Just a few minutes had passed when another person came in. It was the young police officer. He grabbed his key and went to the elevator. His room was also on the sixth. Contrary to the military man who had stayed up there, the police officer went out almost immediately, without his duffel bag but with a clipboard and a radio in his hand. The young man always tried to finish his patrol during the morning to be free during the afternoon... or more exactly be free to help the people he had seen in the morning.
At the same time, in Jjeoreo's train station, a boy was struggling with his heavy baggage. Maybe he shouldn't have brought that much. But all his thoughts were stopped when he noticed bright red hair passing by him. He loved the color so much he thought about changing his hair to that shade. Such good tastes were worthy of his interest, he had to become friend with the other boy. So Taehyung momentarily forgot all his things and ran after the cool stranger.
Jimin was so occupied balancing his pile of papers that he didn't notice the grey flash until he was in front of him, smiling with the biggest smile Jimin had ever seen.
"Er, can I help you?" He asked.
"You look cool! Can we be friend? Please?" The other one answered, his face bright with happiness and expectation.
Jimin blinked a few times, wondering what was that guy's problem and doing his best to not think about how he looked cute with his suit and his curly hair. He concluded the other must be either an idiot or a scammer and just ignored him, heading toward the station's exit.
Sadly, it seemed like the guy took Jimin's behavior as acceptance as a few seconds later he was walking with him, dragging big baggage behind him.
"Hey, hey, I have a room in a hotel, what about you? Are you from here? Do you know the locality? You see, I'm on a case, the Jjeoreo missing children, do you know anything about that? It's about..."
"Leave me alone!"
Jimin was usually very polite and respectful but that guy was making him feel uncomfortable, so his shyness had got the upper hand. But all his previous feelings were forgotten when he saw the pout of deception on the other's face...
Bang Shihyuk watched with round eyes as the familiar office worker with red hair entered, accompanied by someone he didn't know. Mr Park looked quite confused, almost lost as he headed to the counter, with his talkative companion following him like a puppy with his mother.
They both took their respective room key and went to the lift, Mr Kim Taehyung - as the young person had announced himself at the reception desk - lamenting about the fact they were on different floors: himself on the tenth and Mr Park in his usual room with the best city view, on the seventh. The owner just couldn't decide if the two were close friends or complete strangers.
The lift took them to their floor with the usual rumbling. It was loud but Mr Bang saw it as the building breathing, a low peaceful sound of life.
The maids exited from the staff room to prepare the diner hall for lunch, bringing with them silverware, plates and glasses as well as fresh slices of bread in little wicker baskets.
Through one of the windows, Shihyuk noticed movement in the parking lot. A black car was now occupying the place. It had to be Jung Hoseok, the famous car racer. He remembered that while Mrs Kim, Kim Taehyung's mother, had asked him to keep an eye on his son, Mr Jung's manager had asked for his star to be left alone as much as possible.
The young man entered the hotel with the ease of his confidence, his white helmet under his right arm and his jacket on his left shoulder. He went up to the eleventh without a word, a bit of tiredness finally showing on his face when he entered the purring elevator.
They were only lacking one guest now, Mr Bang remembered his name was Min Yoongi, another person who had asked for absolute tranquility - and their biggest bathtub.
The big clock tower above the train station, at the center of the city, struck noon. The staff door opened, letting the kitchen's noise fill the hall for a second.
The doctor went back, directly heading for his chair in the dining hall, still on time when it came to food. The racer and the colonel descended together, soon followed by the rude man, the office employee and the young boy. They all sat together, Mr Kim not leaving Mr Park while Dr Kim greeted a still embarrassed Colonel Kim. Mr Jung sat next to the rude man, immediately regretting his decision when this one started complaining about the increasing population of the hotel. The racer quickly changed seat to go near the two most eminent guests.
The first course disappeared as soon as it was served. Each guest was getting along with the other, Mr Park finally opening up to Mr Kim while Mr Jung talked with the doctor about politics, attentively watched by the colonel Kim who was making sure to not stain his uniform.
Only the rude man was keeping to himself, glaring at the others, even growling when the young Mr Kim finally realised a car racing celebrity was at the same table as him and yelled happily, shaking the poor Mr Park in excitement.
They were all so focused on the events around the table, trying to help themselves to a portion of beef bulgogi, the plates emptying quickly, that none of them noticed the blond man entering the hotel with just a thin suitcase.
He silently got his key but when he realized his new neighbours were engulfing food at light speed, he decided to join the table.
The others finally noticed him, welcoming him warmly, except for the eternally grumpy character. The captain Min Yoongi bowed lightly, sitting next to the racer but also making sure to absolutely not look at him.
The discussion hadn't even begun again when the officer Jeon rushed into the hall, his excuse for being late dying on his lips when he realised how much people were there - and currently looking at him.
Jimin was smitten at first sight. However he was rudely interrupted in his admiration of the boy's bunny-caught-in-the-headlights face by the man who had stayed away from all of them until now.
"It's intolerable! Where are we?! In a youth hostel?! I came here to have some peace, in that pitiful rundown hotel, yet you all keep harassing me!" The man yelled, knocking his chair down as he stood up. The dining room had become deadly silent.
"That establishment is a joke frequented by wild monkeys! I can't stand it! I'm going in my room and you'd better not disturb me if you don't want to meet with my lawyer!" He concluded, taking his leave, his audience still silent and shocked.
Shihyuk was the first to recover, asking for the remaining guests to not mind the background noise and to rather enjoy their meal - or more like wait for the dessert as the bulgogi had been completely devoured.
Jungkook received a big bowl of bibimbap that he swallowed voraciously, determined to have a bit of the bungeo-ppang that had been served for dessert.
The hotel's owner was glad to see his seven guests getting along so well - if he omitted the moment Mr Kim had tried to steal a bit of bulgogi from Dr Kim who had in exchange tried to stab the guilty hand.
Once all the pastries had served their purpose and once Mr Bang had decided to raise the food bill - these young men had eaten enough to feed two tens of people - everyone got up to attend to their business.
The captain Min was curiously staying next to Hoseok, still making sure to not actually look at the man.
Taehyung, for Jimin's utmost relief, went to Jungkook to ask him about his mystery. Even though the police officier explained him he knew nothing about the missing children, the detective kept on asking him all sort of questions about the vicinity.
Jimin, as for him, returned to his room, accompanied by Jin.
Namjoon went out to take a walk, after taking a detour by his room to grab his cap and having fixed an appointment with Mr Bang to talk about the latest hip hop releases.
After Hoseok had gone back to his room, Yoongi went out too, taking his suitcase with him. Outside, he was met with the sight of the detective and the police officer facing an enraged little dog, barking at them with all he got while they tried to have a talk with its owner. The dark-haired officer attempted to calm the savage creature but he was almost bitten instead. At that moment, something unexpected happened. The other kid knelt in front of Goliath, offering his palm and just saying "paw."
And the dog obeyed, finally silent and calm.
"How did you do that ?!" The policeman exclaimed.
The dog master simply stood up and offered him his palm.
"Jungkook, paw."
And the officer actually put his hand in the other's.
"How... How did you do that?! Why is it also working on me?!"
Yoongi decided those two were so stupid it was probably contagious and decided to leave, throwing them a last judging look.
In the hotel, the hall was once again calm, save for the maids who were cleaning in the dining hall.
Namjoon came back from his second walk and went directly to the elevator. He looked at his reflection on the mirror on the right side. Noticing the golden watch on his right wrist, he checked the time, it was 6:45 pm. As he was about to push the button for his floor, Yoongi joined him, soon followed by Hoseok who was carrying his helmet.
They had barely the time to adjust in the space, the captain sitting on his suitcase, when the doctor joined them after his evening visit to his patient, his radiology book in hand.
Jungkook and Taehyung entered the hall while faking a fencing match, one armed with his baton, the other with his magnifier. They joined them in the elevator, the place getting a bit cramped and Yoongi pouting slightly when Jin moved between him and the racer.
Hoseok was about to close the scissor gates when Jimin ran to them, his little hands holding securely a handful of sheets against his chest. Namjoon couldn't help his soft smile at the cute sight.
The office employee fitted himself in the lift.
"'Jumping with love'? What's that?" Taehyung asked after reading the words on Jimin's paper.
The other boy got almost as red as his hair, suddenly trying to cover the source of his embarrassment with his body.
"Whoa it sounds like some cliché romance." Jungkook laughed.
Cut to the quick, Jimin turned to his two opponents, his face void of his usual happiness. He calmly explained.
"It's a personal project and you two are being really disrespectful toward it. I don't think I did anything to deserve that from you so please stop it, you're being rude, especially for people of the justice."
At that moment the other two felt horrible. They had never felt so bad, as if they had killed a litter of young chickens, blinded an innocent soul or caused an eternal winter. Jimin hadn't raised his voice at all, he wasn't even particularly cold but the deception in his tone was obvious and now the two youngest ones looked like scolded children, shyly muttering apologies.
Yoongi was about to praise the little employee's reaction when a panicked high scream resonated in the whole building. The seven guests from the Optatum raised their head toward the source of the sound.
As soon as Mr bang told them it was the maid charged to clean the rude man's room, they went to the eighth floor, worried about the poor girl being attacked for no reason.
When they reached their destination, they found the maid on her knees, at the door and the rude man in his room, lying on the floor, his face blue...