“SEE YOU AT CHECK-IN is not really a travel book, nor simply a 'guesthouse diary.' Instead, it’s a mosaic of lives--sometimes absurd, sometimes painful, sometimes deeply moving, yet always resonant. ... You think you’re just reading someone else’s story, until, on one page, you suddenly recognize your own.” -- Meet Eslite review

“With the author’s distinctive storytelling gift, the prose sweeps you from laughter to heartbreak in a single breath.” -- Reader Sophia on books.com.tw

Seoul is a fast-paced and ever-evolving city where global cultures collide. On the winding slopes of Itaewon in Seoul sits a small guesthouse, quietly waiting its next visitor.

Here, guests sometimes leave behind unexpected personal belongings: a frozen mouse, an urn of their grandmother’s ashes, or a steaming pot of seaweed soup from Geoje Island. Other times, they may take more than they should: hairdryers, toiletries, dishes, quilts, or even pillows.

For the host, Summer, these odd incidents are just part of her everyday life. Yet beyond the occasional chaos, her guesthouse has become a kind of tree hollow, a safe place where travelers unburden their hearts and share their most personal stories. She has celebrated her very first guest’s wedding, met survivors of Korea’s postwar adoption wave, offered refuge to queer travelers, and listened to the heartbreaking journey of a North Korean defector.

SEE YOU AT CHECK-IN is like an intimate guestbook, preserving every precious moments from the guesthouse on the Itaewon hillside—a warm and welcome space where each chapter reveals unexpected connections, witty humor, and deep human encounters that linger long after the door closes.