Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 12



12 – 12. I’ll see

-Anonymous69: You idiot!!

Ah, this is driving me crazy.

I sent a message to Yerin to make her escape from a difficult situation, but the number of inquiries I receive is not insignificant.

Even if I only look at my phone, people in the karaoke room won’t pay any attention.

But still, it feels somewhat subtle, doesn’t it?

-Anonymous69: Where do you live, Admin? Choose between up and down, and I’ll give you a kiss.

– Administrator: You mentioned that you were s*xually harassed in the post. Do you really want to be permanently banned?

– Anonymous69: Oh please, just give me one more chance (pouts)

“He must be crazy.”

I understand that he wants to be seen as a man, but isn’t this too vulgar?

It’s hard to disregard such vulgarity as a sign of feeling good.

– Administrator: You’re really vulgar.

– Anonymous69: I said my heart is fluttering. What do you think?

– Administrator: You’re a man, though.

But since I know you want to pretend to be a man, let’s just go along with the flow for now.

I don’t have any desire to reveal that I am the administrator of the Bamboo Forest.

– Anonymous69: ? My heart is fluttering, you know?

– Administrator: You think I should believe you’re a woman? That you’re a college girl who engages in s*x every day?

Actually, there’s not much discrimination between genders. Of course, women can be like that too.

But for now, I purposely pretended to have bias to put Anonymous69 at ease.

– Anonymous69: Women can be like that too.

But did that actually stimulate Seo Yerim? It seemed like she didn’t think strangely of her own existence.

“Well, it’s complicated.”

I felt like I became a psychological counselor. I didn’t have any special feelings towards Seo Yerim, but just now, didn’t I see a glimpse of her troubled life?

She might have found Anonymous69 more stimulating because she was swayed by various things and had to be a good person.

– Administrator: That’s right. I made a mistake. Women can be like that too.

Let’s correct my thoughts here. It’s a difficult emotion to not want to reveal your identity while also not wanting to be denied.

Well, I understand.

Humans are naturally complex creatures, aren’t they?

“But won’t this reveal that she is a woman?”

Since Seo Yerim wasn’t someone who wanted to reveal any information about herself, I naturally thought that she wouldn’t want to hide whether she was a man or a woman.

– Anonymous69: But I’m a man.

It’s amusing how he forcefully adds a remark to cover it up.

– Administrator: You said your heart is fluttering.

– Anonymous69: Is it just a syndrome? Thump thump.

“Ah.”

I covered my mouth with laughter that burst out without my realizing it, and laughed it off. What kind of expression is this person writing with?

Whatever it was, it was funny.

Adding to that, the sound of breath that is unique to otaku, also known as a meme.

I couldn’t answer because I was laughing uncontrollably, but I could feel strange gazes.

Choi Iseo, who was staring at me from the side.

She had a look of wonderment on her face as she saw me laughing for the first time.

“Do you have something funny?”

While being dragged away by other girls, they suddenly all began singing “Tiara” together.

The atmosphere changes in an instant.

Choi Iseo was attempting to move her buttocks to the side, but I signal her to go away with a nod.

“He’s watching.”

We may not hear what they are saying because of the singing, but Ahn Hyunho is once again glaring at us from the direction of Anhyeonho.

But earlier, he was looking at Seo Yerim…

“I thought about that.”

As she said that, Choi Iseo finally closed the distance. She seemed somewhat upset.

“Why do we have to be cautious about talking to other friends because of a guy we’re not interested in?”

“That’s… true.”

“That’s right. Besides, he didn’t confess to me. He doesn’t see only me with complete devotion.”

She was referring to what happened earlier when she saw Seo Yerim.

“Are you upset?”

I wondered if Ahn Hyunho was upset because he was looking at someone else instead of himself, but Choi Iseo stiffened her expression and punched my thigh with her fist.

“Ouch?!”

“I’ll really kill you.”

“What kind of person uses their fist so carelessly?”

I knew she didn’t hit with all her strength, but I still rubbed my knee with my hand and groaned.

Anyway, I understand that she won’t be cautious anymore.

“I told you to be careful.”

Since Ahn Hyunho was a power figure in high school, didn’t he tell me to be careful last time?

“Oh, that.”

Choi Iseo hesitates for a moment and glances around. Our eyes met briefly, but she quickly turns her head and whispers to me.

“Have you seen the pine forest often?”

“……I have.”

“Do you know Anonymous 287?”

Anonymous 287.

An Hyun-ho was the username that had been spewing insults at me on the pine forest board.

Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised.

If he had told me to look at the pine forest, of course, I would have seen it.

Therefore, there was no reason not to know about the movements of Anonymous 287.

It was a post that was clearly targeting me and Lee Jae-seok.

“……”

“Did you know?”

As I didn’t respond, Lee Jae-seok made a smug smile.

“Since you’re friends with him, you should tell him to stop. It’s embarrassing.”

I exhaled and replied, “Is it really that funny?”

Lee Jae-seok covered his mouth and answered, “Act like you don’t know. Didn’t you know? Just by looking at it, you can tell that he won’t move if you don’t move first.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Lee Jae-seok was poking my shoulder lightly, as if trying to make me angrier.

But if he didn’t have any feelings for me, he wouldn’t have gone this far.

From the bullying of high school classmates to Anonymous 287, we were connected in a strange way.

Weren’t we naturally a secret that was intertwined?

It must be a strange intimacy that washes over me.

“So what were you doing?”

“Ah.”

I was momentarily confused by Lee Jae-seok, but I remembered that I was texting Seo Yerin.

She still hadn’t replied yet, so I guess she must be waiting.

“Just chatting with someone.”

“Oh, a friend?”

“No, not that.”

“Really?”

I could see the confusion on Lee Jae-seok’s face, but I checked my phone anyway.

Choi Iseo subtly leaned back, signaling that he would not look at his phone.

If it’s consideration, it’s also a kind of manners.

“Wow.”

As expected, there were a lot of messages from Anonymous69 within a short period of time.

– Anonymous69: Ignoring?

– Anonymous69: Just kidding?

– Anonymous69: Because I’m a man with a lot of free time, you’re ignoring me right away.

– Anonymous69: I took a screenshot of this and preserved it in the bamboo forest.

– Anonymous69: Seriously, you’re ignoring me?

– Anonymous69: Actually, I’m a girl!

– Anonymous69: Sh*t! I’m a popular girl! I get messages from three guys every day asking to have a meal together!

– Anonymous69: Trash!

“Huh.”

A smile appeared once again. This time, it was clear from his eyes how Seoyerin would be making a certain expression.

Perhaps she would be blushing and typing with determination?

– Administrator: No, I couldn’t see it because I was laughing because of you. Anonymous69 with a lot of free time.

– Anonymous69: hahahaha, you found it funny?

Once again, he immediately responded with something positive. Saying it was funny made the chat become light-hearted.

– Administrator: That’s why please refrain from chatting too much. What’s this three messages a day?

– Anonymous69: hahahaha, sorry.

“When will Yerin come?”

“Yeah, she’s taking a long time.”

I could see that there were discussions about Seoyerin from the guys’ side. It was about time to let her enter.

– Administrator: Since I laughed it off, I’ll just let it go this time. But please don’t make any strange jokes next time.

– Anonymous69: ……

With the last sentence that felt somewhat disappointing, I put my phone back into my pocket.

In reality, since I had no response, Seoyerin quietly entered and was wearing a awkward smile.

“Yerin, I received a call from the PT teacher. They said today was the first day of PT?”

Choi Iseo called Seoyerin, who had quietly entered. And naturally, Choi Iseo brought her to sit beside him instead of sitting next to Han Kang, the senior who was about to sit next to him.

It was thanks to Seoyerin coming to sit beside me earlier that a seat became available.

“Ah, yes! That’s right! The teacher was so kind and thorough in teaching!”

Seo Yerin started talking with Choi Iseo about the PT teacher and the gym.

As I pressed my tired eyes, I half-listened to the two women’s conversation next to me, mumbling.

“Ah, I want to go home already.”

I had been here for too long.

Since I didn’t really have any presence anyway, I thought about pretending to go to the bathroom and quietly going home.

“Hey, friend.”

A shadow loomed in front of me.

Although Han Kang sunbae had a pleasant smile on his face for no apparent reason, there was a sense of artificiality that oozed out.

Due to Han Kang sunbae’s sudden actions, everyone’s attention was focused, and even the song abruptly stopped, creating a stillness.

I wondered if he had come for Seo Yerin.

I thought maybe he didn’t like that Seo Yerin sat next to Choi Iseo, whom he had brought along, but that wasn’t the case.

Han Kang sunbae was looking directly at me.

He asked without hesitation.

“Did you call Yerin?”

“Huh?”

Out of the blue, a piercing statement stabbed my chest. I wondered how he knew, but instead, my expression froze like ice because it struck a nerve.

“No, I saw you touching your phone when Yerin left earlier.”

“….”

“But when you put your phone down, Yerin came back again, right?”

His intuition was sharp.

From Noble mtl dot com

Although I had heard that he was a friendly person who got along well with everyone, there was an underlying pressure that was strong.

“Sunbae, why all of a sudden…!”

“Yerin, just stay still.”

“Ah.”

Seo Yerin hurriedly tried to deny it, but she crumbled under Han Kang sunbae’s cutting words, immediately biting her lip.

At the same time, her gaze was apologetically directed towards me.

“Do something like you do to me.”

A completely different side from the confident and flirty anonymous69.

The surrounding students began to stir at Han River senior’s words. Especially, the group of male troublemakers near Ahn Hyunho started pouring out various stories towards me.

“Wow, gives me the chills. What is it?”

“Why do you do things that you shouldn’t and make us look weird?”

“Isn’t it like gaslighting or something? Damn, he didn’t take off your clothes and attack you, he just asked to sing in the karaoke, this asshole has become something completely different.”

When the men created that kind of atmosphere, the women naturally started looking at me strangely too.

Thinking the atmosphere was good, Han River senior smiled and spoke in a somewhat softened tone.

“No, I’m not trying to say anything. I feel like I’ve become a bad person. You’re also misunderstanding me too much. I didn’t force Ye Rin to come, I just invited her to hang out…”

Snap.

Han River senior’s words abruptly cut off.

The phone I threw lightly tapped his chest and fell onto his thigh.

“What is this….”

To Han River senior, who was dumbfoundedly looking down at the phone I threw.

“1234.”

I told him the phone password as I spoke.

“Check it. Do I have Ye Rin’s number or any messages?”

“….”

“Hurry up. I told you my password.”

Stood up abruptly, I looked down at Han River senior, who sat down at the table, and asked him indignantly.

“You won’t do it?”

Sorry.

There isn’t anyone with a phone number in our department. Maybe there are people who are messenger friends through group chats, but there isn’t a single person with a phone number.

Of course, I’ve never personally had a text conversation with Seo Ye Rin either.

All of our conversations were through Daenamu Forest, through anonymity.

Just in case, even if Han River senior, who went crazy, opens the Daenamu Forest app and finds out that I am the administrator.

He will never know that Anonymous69 is Seo Ye Rin.

The echoing voice of grumbling irritates me.

I wonder why.

“Hey.”

Unconsciously, my tone of speech became a bit rough.

“Check it, you bastard.”