TRPM 343

chapter 343

The hotel staff brought the food I ordered through room service, so I took it and set everything up on the table in the room.

As I did, I glanced at the dishes that held the food.

‘These are enchanted with preservation magic.’

They weren’t rare, but I knew they were fairly expensive items.
Still, I liked the fact that the food wouldn’t get cold before the others returned.

Thinking that, I pulled out my smartphone.

“Let’s see….”

First, I left a message for the three who had gone out with their phones, telling them room service had arrived.

As for Ryu Amin, who didn’t bring his phone with him… all I could do was hope he had joined the other three.

And…

‘Since the festival grounds must be noisy right now, they might not even notice their phones vibrating….’

So, I called Teacher Son Ji-hye.

She picked up immediately.

[Yeah, Geon-woo. I saw your message! I’ll come in with the others!]

Behind her voice, I could hear loud music and the chatter of people.
Apparently, she had somehow felt the vibration despite the noise.

“Ryu Amin went out too. Is he nearby?”
[Amin? No, I haven’t seen him. Did you try calling?]
“… His phone’s charging here in the room.”
[Ah….]

Well, that’s… troublesome.

“I’ll go look for—”

Just as I was about to say that, the enchanted dishes caught my eye again.

“… Maybe I can wait until the festival’s over to look for him.”
[Huh? Didn’t you say the food’s here?]
“It’s in dishes with preservation magic.”
[…Wait, is this hotel really that expensive? For the price we paid, the service seems way too good.]

I had thought the same thing.
The hotel wasn’t even that big, yet the room service menu was surprisingly varied.

Getting high-quality service for a low price was great, but this was too good for the price, which felt a bit suspicious….

“As long as they don’t suddenly slap us with some ridiculous hidden fees later, I won’t complain.”

Well, even if they did charge extra, the quality of service so far would make it somewhat understandable.

“Anyway, because of that, even if Amin comes back late, the food will still be as fresh as if it was just made.”
[Really? In that case… wait a second.]

If that was true, then even they didn’t need to come back right away.

[Our food is in those enchanted dishes too, right?]
“That’s right.”
[Hmm… then, could we stay at the festival a little longer? Ah-young and Ha-eun are giving me looks—they want to play a bit more before heading back.]
“Go ahead.”

With that, I ended the call.

The preservation magic on those dishes seemed strong enough that it wouldn’t be a problem unless the festival went on all night.
And even if it did, since they had gone without dinner, hunger would eventually drive them back.

With that in mind, I decided to pull aside just my own order—the tenderloin steak—and eat it.

“Whew! That was fun! Right?”
“I even got an autograph!”
“I can’t believe that group was performing at the festival. Right?”

Ryu Ah-young, Lee Ha-eun, and Teacher Son Ji-hye chatted happily after enjoying the event for a long while.

They felt a little guilty about leaving Han Geon-woo alone in the room while they had fun, but….

“By the way, do you think Amin went back to the hotel?”
“Not sure. But he was definitely still at the festival earlier. You know that girl group that performed? He’s a fan, so he probably went to get their autographs.”

As Ha-eun muttered that, Ah-young replied.

Then suddenly—

[This is the Lost Child Center…. Would the guardian of student Ryu Amin please come to the Lost Child Center? Once again, the guardian of student Ryu Amin….]

“Pfft…!”
“Huh? Amin?”

The sudden announcement left them speechless.

… It wasn’t like he was an elementary school kid. He was a high schooler. Yet they were announcing him as a lost child.

“No way. Must be someone with the same name. Do you know how many people are here right now?”
“But didn’t you say Amin left his phone in the room?”
“… Still, he should remember the way back to the hotel—”
“Does he even remember the name of the hotel?”
“…”

Ah-young’s words were met with Ha-eun’s sharp rebuttals.
And the likelihood that the “lost child” was indeed their Amin grew stronger.

“… Let’s just go check. If it’s him, we’ll bring him back.”
“Hold on.”

As the two moved, Ji-hye stopped them, and Ah-young pulled out her phone, preparing to record a video.

“Why record this?”
“So we can send a video of him at the Lost Child Center to our parents and classmates.”

Hearing that, Ha-eun and Ji-hye couldn’t help but pity Amin, whose embarrassing memory was about to be immortalized.

For a high schooler to end up as a “lost child”… seriously.

With that thought, the three of them headed to the Lost Child Center.

“Ah, student Ryu Amin? Pfft… he’s over there.”

Guided by a staff member who was clearly suppressing laughter, they found him.

Amin kept his head bowed, clearly ashamed of himself.

Seeing him, Ah-young began recording.

“… You really are something else.”
“Hey, I couldn’t help it! I left without my phone, and the hotel’s name was in English, so I couldn’t memorize it…”
“You could’ve asked a staff member to borrow a phone and call us to ask the hotel’s name. And besides, the sign was written in Korean too.”
“I don’t memorize phone numbers….”
“Then you could’ve just called your own number. Geon-woo would’ve answered in the room.”
“…Ah!”

Only then did Amin’s eyes widen in realization.

Even people who never memorize others’ numbers usually remember their own. Of course Amin did too.

“…”

Realizing this far too late, he ducked his head again, overcome with shame.

Naturally, Ah-young filmed all of it.

‘… Perfect.’

Just as she had promised earlier, she sent the video to their parents and classmates.

The next day.

Bzzz….

“Yawn….”

“…”

When a phone vibrated, its presumed owner turned it off.

Stretching, they got up from bed, and the movement woke me as well.

“… Ah.”

It was Teacher Son Ji-hye.
Looking blankly around, she noticed me, then seemed to realize she wasn’t at home but in a hotel.

“Did you sleep well, Geon-woo?”
“You look like you did too, Teacher.”
“Yeah… though I’m still a little groggy….”

But she said the fatigue from driving was completely gone.

She pulled out some things from her luggage and spoke.

“Mind if I shower first?”
“Go ahead.”

As I got up, I picked up the room service menu.
I planned to order breakfast.

“… Huh?”

While she went into the bathroom, I noticed something on the menu I hadn’t seen yesterday.

“Oh… room service is only available in the evening?”

Breakfast… was just toast, apparently.

So I got ready to head out.
Though really, I was just preparing to go downstairs to eat toast.

“Mmm….”
“Yawn….”

As I moved around, the others started waking one by one, probably from my noise and the sound of water in the bathroom.

“If you’re still sleepy, keep resting.”
“… What about you, Geon-woo?”
“I’m going to grab breakfast. Don’t worry, I’ll bring yours too.”

I didn’t know exactly how the hotel handled breakfast, but surely they’d let us take it back to the room.
Since the staff knew how many guests were in our room, I should be able to get five servings of toast.

“Oh, and open the door if I knock later, okay?”

Without the room key, I wouldn’t be able to get back in.

“Mm-hm….”
“Okay….”

Still half-asleep, they mumbled their replies.

Leaving them behind, I headed straight to the first floor.

‘… There it is.’

I spotted staff preparing toast—bread, toasters, jam, butter.

Looking around, I realized the space was too small for people to eat there.

‘Ah, so we toast it ourselves and bring it back.’

Realizing that, I started right away, since making toast for five would take time.
Better to do it before the crowd came.

“Ah, hello.”

One of the staff approached cautiously and handed me paper and a pen.

“Could I get your autograph, Artist?”
“Sure.”

While waiting for the toast, I signed.

And of course, he wasn’t the only one.
Other staff members, whose children or parents were fans, asked for autographs and even photos. I agreed to all of them.

“Thank you!”
“My mom will be thrilled.”
“By the way, isn’t this tray too small to carry five servings of toast? And you’ll want milk too… Should we bring it up to your room for you?”

I declined their offers, demonstrating telekinesis by levitating two trays steadily.

Instead, I decided to ask them something I was curious about.

“About yesterday’s room service….”
“Ah, was there something wrong?”
“No, I liked it. But considering the size of this hotel, I don’t quite get it.”

After all, the breakfast area was small.
Surely there wasn’t space for a full kitchen capable of producing such a menu.

“Oh, that? It’s simple. The food is actually provided in partnership with local restaurants.”

… Partnerships with restaurants?

“Yes. The dishes you got through room service were all cooked at nearby restaurants. We just deliver them to the rooms. We charge a small commission, of course…. Actually, most hotels around here do the same. Otherwise, some guests would claim they never got their food and cause problems….”

So basically, the hotels acted as middlemen to protect the local restaurants from troublesome customers.
Since delivery was handled by hotel staff, any disputes could be checked with the hallway CCTV.

‘So that’s why they used enchanted dishes.’

Even though it was essentially delivery, the preservation magic kept the food from losing quality.
Short-term loss, but long-term benefits for both the hotels and the restaurants.

‘Honestly, it does feel a little like a scam.’

When I ordered room service, I thought it was made by the hotel’s own chefs.
Finding out it was just restaurant food was a bit disappointing.

But aside from that, the quality and price were good, so it was hard to complain.