[A Sip of a Book] "The Door Opened" 10 Minutes After Motel Check-In

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader, creating a connection with the book. Here, we excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

The author of this book has been running a motel for seven years. Though seasoned by all kinds of experiences, they still get nervous when a guest checks out within 10 minutes. They never know what reason the guest might have for requesting a room change or refund. Too much cigarette smell in the room? It’s a smoking room... Too cold? It’s natural to feel cold when the window is open in the middle of winter... Of course, it’s not always like that. Sometimes, it’s when a couple with sleepy smiles on their faces checks out. Whether the stay was 10 minutes or an hour, the author just looks on with a content expression. "I Love Motel" has a double meaning. It means both "I love the motel" and "I and the love motel." It conveys the author’s earnest struggle to care for the motel with affection despite being inexperienced, and the stories gathered humbly as a backdrop to someone’s love.

Before I could finish my answer, the man threw a crisp bill at me and gently pulled the woman’s white, soft hand. It’s strange. The feet are what bring you to the one you love, but love is all about the hands. Holding hands, caressing that person with hands, kissing the back of the hand. - From "Desire is Precious"

My fever kept rising, but I wasn’t in a position to talk at home. Even now, Mandu must be scrubbing the bathroom floor alone in the room. I came to Jeju to show off my skills, but is this Jeju or a prison? Will I be able to finish my schedule safely and return? Since running the motel, I haven’t had any time for my own work. I just needed a ‘room of my own.’ A room just for writing. I only wanted to put aside thoughts about the motel for a while to write about the store. - From "Jeju-Jaeju-Joeju"

We pondered for a long time. If we rented it out, the monthly rent revenue would be about 10 million won, roughly twice the motel’s revenue before remodeling. But if we handed over the store we had spent so much money remodeling, the building wouldn’t be properly managed. And above all, we didn’t want to quit the business like this. What we needed was a breakthrough, not an emergency exit. - From "The Motel is All About the Atmosphere"

Breathless Mandu safely attended to them at the front desk, and even after that, I deliberately ignored her several times. Ignoring was the smallest kindness I could offer her as a minimum form of consideration. Who is without any creases? If something is festering, it must be burst to survive, but who am I to judge her? Because we are imperfect, aren’t we humans flowing from imperfection toward perfection? It’s better not to know the intimate circumstances of customers. - From "A Parent I Met at the Front Desk"

Handing the key to room 706 to Yuhee, I was confused about what was right. As Yuhee’s friend, was it my duty to protect her love, or was it better to treat her coldly so she could keep her family? But since her love was so pure that she didn’t even know how to hide an affair quietly, and even brought her lover to her friend’s store, I decided to watch over her. Love is so cruel. It pours out as if to give everything, then takes everything away. - From "Love Here is More Cruel Than You Think"

It was a strange thing. On the day we first met in a motel room, we loved each other more passionately than anyone else. That love was impulsive and instinctive, but not a shameful secret. We had longed for each other so much that we came down riding the intense starlight of fate from the distant universe to here. And that was also the starting point of a very long love story to come. We slept in the motel on the first day we met, got married on that occasion, and now run the motel. Perhaps the motel is our palace? Yes, starting from opposite ends of the vast universe, we finally arrived. Here, the center of the universe, where love begins. Not a motel, but the palace of the universe! That is why the motel holds a special meaning for us. - From "What Does a Motel Mean to People?"

A man boards the subway. Shortly after, a woman boards at the next station. They share the same car for a moment, breathing together. They pass through the station called Desire together. The man gets off at the next station. The woman gets off at the station after that. For the two, the subway is a place where they briefly touched, nothing more, nothing less. I just need to collect the subway fare from them. - From "I am a Motel Profiler"

I Love Motel | Written by Baek Eun-jeong | Dal | 368 pages | 17,000 won

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.