The first wave of check-outs had finally subsided.
The sound of rolling suitcases that had echoed through the lobby since dawn was beginning to fade. The staff-only elevator was busy again, carrying supervisors from the operational floors up to the executive meeting room.
The meeting room on the fifth floor closed with the soft click of its magnetic door. The curtains were half open. Seoul's morning light reflected across the long walnut conference table. On the television mounted to the wall, the hotel logo slowly disappeared. It was replaced by a simple table.
Premium Valet & Customer Care Recruitment
Final Candidate Review.
Four people were already in their seats.
Kim Do-hyun didn't lean back immediately. Instead, he nudged his tablet a few centimeters until it aligned perfectly with the edge of the table.
Beside him, Lee Sung-min opened his laptop without making a sound. His fingers didn't touch the trackpad right away. He first arranged the four CVs by starting a year of employment, then slipped gray sticky notes onto the two résumés with the longest employment gaps.
Chief Valet Kang placed a pair of black leather gloves beside his water bottle—a habit he had never lost since his days working the valet stand.
Assistant General Manager Choi arrived last. He didn't sit until he had straightened the hotel-branded folder so it sat perfectly parallel with the edge of the table.
Beyond the glass wall came the clatter of the ice machine in the pantry dropping its final cubes into a stainless-steel bin. Lee Sung-min touched the trackpad. The evaluation matrix filled the screen. The first name appeared.
Beneath the last candidate's name, a small yellow notification box lit up.
*Final Score Table
- Han Joon-seok : 95.7
- Jung Min-jae : 91
- Oh Seung-woo : 88.2
- Kim Seung-ho : 78.6
Executive Director Recommendation
Chief Valet Kang didn't look at the candidate's name first. He looked at the score gap.
"Fifteen points."
Even the presentation cursor stopped changing slides. He raised his chin slightly toward the screen.
"A gap like that usually ends the discussion."
Assistant GM Choi opened the meeting agenda and marked a line with his thumbnail.
"There are two openings."
Kim Do-hyun gave a short nod.
"If we follow the assessment results..."
The sentence faded before he finished. The top line on the screen drew everyone's attention again.
Han Joon-seok. Jung Min-jae.
Outside, a housekeeping cart rolled down the hallway before disappearing around the corner. Assistant GM Choi straightened the cuff of his left sleeve. His eyes never left the agenda.
"Last night Executive Director Moon called the General Manager."
Chief Valet Kang slipped one of the leather gloves onto his hand. Lee Sung-min quietly removed a sticky note from Kim Seung-ho's résumé.
"...I suspected as much."
"He requested that Kim Seung-ho be given consideration."
The word consideration settled over the table. The only sound left was the projector fan. Kim Do-hyun picked up the laser pointer and drew a horizontal line beneath the top two names.
"If we honor that recommendation..."
He crossed out the mark beside Jung Min-jae's name.
"...then second place drops out."
Chief Valet Kang shook his head before Kim even finished.
"That still makes sense."
"For a four- or five-point difference," Lee cut in.
Choi's finger stopped over the agenda. Kang rested both elbows on the table.
"A candidate with ninety-one points can still lose."
He pointed at the screen again.
"That happens."
The laser shifted to the top name.
"Fifteen points doesn't."
The table remained on the screen. Kim Do-hyun clicked the presentation remote once. The three lower-ranked names dimmed, leaving only the first line illuminated.
Han Joon-seok.
Only then did he lean back.
"I've recruited operations staff for fifteen years."
The laser rested on the 95.7 printed on the evaluation sheet.
"You can teach someone how to park. You can rewrite SOPs."
The laser tapped the document once.
"But a score like this..."
He stopped.
"...is rarely wrong."
Lee Sung-min still hadn't joined the discussion. Instead, he flipped directly to the final interview pages—the section crowded with handwritten notes, pauses, and corrections.
"It's not the score that's bothering me."
Lee wasn't looking at Kim. He laid five sticky notes side by side between himself and Chief Valet Kang.
Lift privat. Investor. Basement. VIP. Wartawan.
"Look at the pattern."
Kang lowered his gaze from the screen. This time he read every one.
"He never tried to sound impressive."
On Jung's interview record, nearly every answer filled an entire note box. Han's file contained only a handful of short sentences.
"Most applicants try to sell their experience. He kept trimming his down."
Chief Valet Kang let out a quiet grunt.
"That's good."
Lee wrote a single word on a fresh sticky note.
Anomali.
Kim never looked at the note. His attention remained fixed on Kang.
"That wasn't a compliment," Lee said.
Kang rubbed his thumb slowly across the leather glove.
"People from operations are like that. If you ask someone how to open the door of a Rolls-Royce..."
"...I'd trust the person who answers in two sentences more than the one who needs twenty."
Kim Do-hyun finally looked away from the screen. His eyes settled on Kang.
"The problem is..."
He folded his arms for the first time since the meeting began—the first gesture unrelated to data.
"...he answered like someone who's already stood on the other side of that door."
Assistant General Manager Choi slowly removed his glasses. He wasn't looking at Han's name anymore. He looked from Kang to Kim.
"I don't care who his family is."
"Neither do I," Kang replied.
The silence lingered longer than before. Kim Do-hyun didn't nod. He pulled an assessment sheet from beneath Han's folder and slid it across the table.
"Then explain this."
The page stopped directly in front of Chief Valet Kang.
Luxury Customer Instinct. Exceptional Situational Judgment. VIP Handling
Chief Valet Kang read the three notes without touching the paper. Kim never looked down. He watched Kang's face instead, waiting for even the slightest reaction.
"Valet candidates usually learn these after they start working."
Kim raised his eyes.
"He showed up already carrying them."
Chief Valet Kang pushed the assessment sheet back using only two fingers.
"Good. That's efficient."
Kim exhaled quietly.
"You always look at the operations floor."
"Who else should?"
Kang finally lifted his eyes from the paper. They met Kim's directly.
"If guests have to wait five minutes..."
A pause.
"...they won't ask who recruited the valet."
Another pause.
"They'll leave a one-star review."
No one shifted in their seat. Assistant GM Choi still hadn't touched his folder. He waited until Kang had finished.
"And what if we're wrong?"
Kang turned toward him.
"Wrong about what?"
Choi held his gaze.
"Wrong to reject him..."
"...or wrong to hire him."
This time Kang didn't answer immediately. Lee Sung-min pulled Han's CV from the stack and placed it alone in the middle of the table.
"HR teaches us one thing."
Kang let out a flat sigh.
"Don't tell me instinct again."
Lee inhaled just as Kim Do-hyun lifted his head from the evaluation sheets.
"A resume can be polished. Answers can be rehearsed. Habits are never that disciplined."
The final sticky note came to rest beneath one sentence highlighted in yellow.
'Car first. Pride later.'
"No applicant walks into an interview with an answer like that."
Chief Valet Kang smiled faintly for the first time since the meeting began.
"There is one."
Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Someone who's been yelled at by customers?"
Kang shook his head.
"No. Someone who's been yelled at by their boss."
The corner of Kim Do-hyun's mouth moved almost imperceptibly.
"That's exactly what makes me uneasy."
Kang looked over.
"Why?"
Kim rested both hands on the table.
"Because he's far too prepared for a part-time job."
The room fell silent again. Assistant General Manager Choi finally spoke.
"You're debating competence."
He wasn't looking at the screen anymore. He was looking at the people who had to make the decision.
"I'm debating the consequences."
He clasped his hands together.
"If we hire the wrong candidate..."
He glanced at his watch.
"...we could lose far more than this."
He let the sentence settle. Each person around the table calculated the cost differently. The silence was finally broken by a printer in the neighboring administration office. Chief Valet Kang leaned back. His eyes shifted between the screen and Han's folder.
"Let's say he turns out to be average."
The only thing moving now was the projector's indicator light. He continued.
"I still need two people standing in the valet zone this week."
Kim Do-hyun nodded slowly.
"Operations always move forward. The question is..."
He turned off the tablet.
"...today's decision will outlive tomorrow morning."
Assistant General Manager Choi watched Kim's hand leave the tablet. Only then did he put his glasses back on.
"The right decision can still create problems."
His eyes settled on Kim.
"What must never happen is creating problems because we stopped verifying."
Choi slid the meeting agenda back until it was perfectly aligned with the edge of the table. Kang stared silently at the hotel logo in the corner of the screen. Lee Sung-min pulled his laptop closer and opened the recruitment procedures. Chief Valet Kang let out a short breath.
"Have you noticed something? Not one of us is looking for his weaknesses."
The room fell silent once more. Kim Do-hyun looked at Han Joon-seok's name for several long moments. Then he slowly closed the folder.
"Let's make sure we're not making a decision based on a story we've invented ourselves."
Kim Do-hyun stood. He straightened the edge of his suit. Han's folder rested in his left hand.
"Lee."
Lee Sung-min looked up. Kim's gaze briefly dropped to the NOVA Entertainment logo printed on the front page of the résumé. Lee immediately closed his laptop.
"I'll contact the agency right away."
Kim slowly shook his head.
"No."
He looked once more at the entertainment agency's logo.
"This time I'll handle it myself."
Kim had already opened the door before anyone could answer. Morning supervisors were once again heading back down to the operations floors. The hotel resumed its usual rhythm. Meanwhile, in Kim Do-hyun's hand, one thin folder was slowly becoming the heaviest decision of the morning.
The door closed quietly behind him.
***
The door to the Executive Operations office closed softly behind him. Kim Do-hyun did not sit down right away. He placed Han Joon-seok's folder on the desk, opened the first page of the résumé, then reached for the black desk phone in the upper-right corner.
The agency's number was printed at the bottom of the page. One dial tone. The call connected on the third ring.
"Good morning. NOVA Entertainment. How may I assist you?"
A woman's voice. Calm. Trained.
"This is Kim Do-hyun, Operations Manager at Grand Haneul Hotel Seoul. I'm calling to conduct a reference check on one of your employees."
The voice on the other end became slightly more formal.
"Of course, sir. May I have the candidate's name?"
Kim opened the folder.
"Han Joon-seok."
A fraction of a second of silence. The receptionist recovered immediately.
"Please hold for a moment, Mr. Kim. I'll connect you with Human Resources."
A brief burst of hold music. Less than fifteen seconds.
Click.
"Yoon Jae-hyun, Human Resources Director."
"Kim Do-hyun, Grand Haneul Hotel."
"Of course, Mr. Kim. How can I help?"
Kim looked down at the resume in front of him again.
"We're conducting a reference check on one of your staff members. Han Joon-seok."
For the second time, silence. Yoon did not answer immediately.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Kim?"
"Oh—no."
Kim's voice remained steady.
"It's just that… I'd like to make sure I heard the information correctly."
He turned toward the glass wall of the HR office.
"One moment, Mr. Kim."
Yoon pressed the hold button, then called out to someone beyond the room.
"Mr. Park, we have a reference check for Han Joon-seok."
His tone remained flat.
"Could you come in for a moment?"
The HR office door opened. A man in his late fifties entered at an unhurried pace. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows. Reading glasses still hung from his neck. Several staff members who had been in the middle of a discussion automatically stepped aside to let him pass.
"Sir."
"Mr. Park."
Park gave a single nod, then looked at the red light blinking on the phone line still on hold.
"Who's calling?"
"Operations Manager from Grand Haneul Hotel."
Park stopped walking.
"What for?"
"A reference check on Han Joon-seok."
Yoon waited for something to shift in Park's expression. Nothing did. Park stared at the red light for a second, then turned toward the filing cabinet.
Click.
From inside, he took out a thin folder labeled:
Immersive Role Development Program (IRDP)
Yoon glanced at the calendar.
"…You still have that?"
Park looked at him without expression.
"It hasn't passed the retention period."
Yoon gave a small nod. Park opened the folder. His expression did not change. He simply turned several pages. Stopped.
"Who did you say was calling?"
"Operations Manager from Grand Haneul."
Park nodded slowly.
"A good hotel."
Yoon exhaled.
"So…"
Park closed the folder and looked at him. One hand rose to table height.
"Don't answer anything yet."
He pulled out the chair beside the phone, adjusted it until it sat square with the table, and only then sat down. Yoon said nothing. The entire HR office seemed to follow his lead. Park opened the IRDP folder again. This time, more slowly.
"All right."
He nodded to himself.
"Now we can begin."
Park pressed the speaker button.
"Mr. Kim, thank you for waiting."
"The thanks are mine, Mr. Park."
Kim turned to the next page of the reference-check form.
"I only need to verify a few details so that our decision remains consistent with procedure."
"Of course."
"The position we're hiring for is a part-time role in Premium Valet and Customer Care."
Park gave a small nod.
"Understood. I'll answer according to the company's official records."
A faint smile touched Kim's face.
"That's exactly what we're hoping for."
He looked at Han's résumé once more.
"Han Joon-seok is employed as Facilities and Administrative Staff?"
"That is correct."
"And the six-month period of employment listed on his résumé is accurate?"
"Yes."
"Were there any unrecorded changes in position?"
"No."
Kim checked a box. His next question came more slowly.
"During his employment, were there any disciplinary issues, SOP violations, internal conflicts, or restrictions placed on his access?"
Park did not even look at the screen.
"No."
Kim lifted his head.
"May I ask one question outside the formal checklist?"
"Of course."
Kim chose his words carefully.
"Our internal assessment indicates that his ability to read guest situations is significantly above average."
Park was silent for several seconds.
"That is not an easy question to answer."
Kim capped his pen.
"I understand."
"But I can answer based on the facts."
Park looked at Yoon.
"During his time here…"
A pause.
"…there was never a report that required us to revise the level of operational trust placed in him."
Yoon looked at the staff-performance data on the screen. Kim did not write immediately.
"So the company maintained his level of access until the end of his employment period."
"That is correct."
A brief silence. Kim opened the form again.
"One final question."
Park waited.
"If a suitable position were available, would NOVA Entertainment be willing to continue employing Han Joon-seok?"
Park did not answer at once. His gaze shifted toward the office window.
"Based on the company record…"
A pause.
"…yes."
Kim smiled faintly.
"That's all I needed."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Park."
"You're welcome, Mr. Kim."
"I appreciate your professionalism."
Park answered in the same calm tone.
"I hope you find the right person."
The call ended. Yoon switched off the speaker. For several seconds, no one spoke. Park was still looking at the HRIS screen when Yoon turned toward him.
"Did Han Joon-seok ever tell you about this?"
Park removed his glasses.
"He did."
Yoon waited for more.
"A few weeks ago, he asked for permission to look for part-time work outside office hours."
"And you approved it?"
"As long as it did not interfere with his work schedule, involve company assets, or create a conflict of interest."
"Did he mention Grand Haneul?"
Park paused.
"Not specifically."
Yoon glanced at the screen. Silence settled briefly between them. Park put his glasses back on. At the time, Han Joon-seok had simply stood in front of his desk and said he needed additional income.
Park had assumed the man would pick up a few evening shifts at a restaurant, a convenience store, or a delivery warehouse. Not apply to one of the largest hotels in Seoul. And certainly not enter a formal selection process to serve premium guests. Yoon was still waiting.
"So you didn't know he had applied there?"
"I knew he was considering several options."
It was not an answer to the question. But Yoon had worked in HR long enough to recognize a sentence that was not meant to be pressed any further.
"They seem very serious about him."
"That's why they called."
"And his assessment score is apparently very high."
Park turned.
"Score?"
Yoon slid over the note he had written during the call.
"They said his ability to read guest situations was far above average."
Park read the line once. Then again.
"Oh. Right. That."
Yoon watched his reaction.
"Is that connected to his work here?"
Park did not answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair.
"Of course it is."
Yoon raised an eyebrow.
"In what way?"
Park folded his arms across the table.
"My training did not merely require him to understand the building."
Yoon waited. Park spoke with the same calm cadence he used when reading an SOP.
"He also had to understand how people moved through it. Guest flow. Vehicle coordination. Access control. Responses to situations that could change within seconds."
He paused.
"A hotel is an excellent operational environment in which to sharpen those abilities."
Yoon nodded slowly.
"…So the part-time job…"
Park answered without hesitation.
"Is part of deeper role immersion."
Yoon stared at him for several seconds, searching for some sign that the explanation was not yet complete.
"Role… immersion?"
Park held his gaze without blinking.
"Cross-industry exposure. Field-experience enrichment. Customer-behavior observation. Adaptation to a premium service environment."
Each phrase sounded more convincing than the last. Yoon had even begun nodding as he took notes.
"When you put it that way… it does make sense."
Park took Han's folder back.
"Of course. In my program, real-world experience is often more valuable than classroom training."
Yoon looked at Han's profile on the monitor. Then he pictured Han standing outside a luxury hotel, opening car doors for VIP guests. He nodded again.
"That's a fairly extreme level of role immersion."
Park stood up from the table.
"He is a serious person."
Yoon nodded with him.
"Then I suppose the program is working."
He quickly added,
"I was only wondering whether it should be entered into his competency-development record."
"No need. It is self-directed."
Yoon typed several words.
Independent Role Immersion.
Park caught the reflection of the text on the second monitor. His gaze snapped toward Yoon.
"Don't write that."
Yoon's fingers stopped over the keyboard.
"Understood."
He deleted it.Park closed the HRIS page.
"The only thing that needs to be recorded is that Han Joon-seok informed us of his intention to seek additional employment, and that the company had no objection provided all internal conditions were met."
"Understood."
Yoon switched off the second monitor.
"Still, I didn't expect this."
Park stopped mid-step.
"Expect what?"
"Why valet?"
Park resumed walking.
"Neither did I."
Yoon turned toward him. Park returned Han Joon-seok's folder to its original place.
"…I didn't expect the selection process to move this quickly."
He headed for the door.
"Mr. Park."
Park turned back.
"If he's hired, do we need to reassess the permission?"
"We'll review the impact on attendance and workplace safety."
Yoon nodded.
***
Grand Haneul Executive Meeting Room.
Kim stepped back into the conference room. Lee Sung-min looked up.
"How did it go?"
Kim placed the reference-check form on the table.
"There were no issues in his employment record."
Chief Kang opened Han's folder.
"Rehire status?"
"Eligible."
Chief Valet Kang closed the folder slowly.
"I don't like this man."
Lee looked up. Assistant GM Choi stopped turning the page of his agenda. Kim showed no reaction. Kang tapped the cover of Han's file once, then looked at Kim.
"Because…"
He paused.
"…I still haven't found a reason for him to fail."
The room went still. Assistant GM Choi finally allowed himself a faint smile.
"That's the first time I've heard someone complain that a candidate is too good."
Lee looked down at Han's résumé.
"NOVA knows he's looking for additional work?"
"He already informed his Director."
Lee folded his arms.
"An agency the size of NOVA…"
Chief Kang picked up the thought.
"A permanent employee. Clean record. And now he's applying for a part-time valet position."
No one answered immediately. Assistant GM Choi looked at Han's final score.
"Then," he said, "there's only one question left."
Kim turned toward him.
"Why does he need a second job?"
No one opened the "Expected Salary" field again. The number remained small in the corner of the screen, barely noticed. That morning, they were far more interested in why he had come than in how much he was asking for.
—To be Continued—