Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 30



30 – 30. Drinking party

“No, no. If you go like that, the minor role will become more important.”

“….”

I don’t really want to hear what Yuarin is whining about next to me, but surprisingly.

Really surprisingly, Yuarin’s words were all like precious gems.

Even if I wanted to say something snarky, I couldn’t because he was saying things that would actually help with the assignment.

‘I heard that the most painful words are the ones that are right.’

I’ve heard that smart people who speak the truth are the most unfortunate, but I didn’t know it would annoy me this much.

“Don’t forget that it’s a 40-minute movie. Got it?”

“Mhm.”

Yuarin pouted and clicked his tongue as he struggled to reply with his lips tightly shut.

As I was reading the script, I blurted out a word just because I wanted to pick a fight.

“But why are you including romance? We could just go with a horror genre.”

“Hmm? It’s better to add a little something like this to help with concentration.”

“Then does it have to be a female lead? We have more male members in our group, don’t we?”

“What?! Oh, I didn’t think of that!”

Without even thinking about who would play the roles, Yoo Arin complained while she relentlessly wrote the script.

“Do any of you know someone in our group?”

“Most of them are probably acquaintances, right?”

Anyway, since our group is mostly made up of English literature majors. I don’t know if they know the seniors, but let’s start with senior Han Kang and Senior Min Juhee.

“What’s wrong?”

Yoo Arin looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

I wondered what the problem was, but she lightly kicked my thigh.

“Ow! Are you crazy?!”

It hurt a little, so I asked her what she was doing. Yoo Arin started erasing everything she had written.

“What the hell! Making a horror film with those perfect faces? Ruining the actors who rely on their looks?!””No one knows who will play the roles.”

“As long as it’s not you, it doesn’t matter. You’re the editor, right? If Ahn Hyunho or Senior Han Kang take on the male lead, and Yeojoo is definitely Seo Yerin.”

“…Are you the leader of the group?”

I looked at Yoo Arin in disbelief, but she just stuck out her tongue.

“Don’t you know how many love calls Yerin has been getting since high school?”

“…”

It doesn’t feel like showing off at all.

“People who have been eating half of their lives with their faces alone have already been cast, and you can’t even take advantage of that.”

“Shut up.”

Even though she was a bit behind Seo Yerin, Yoo Arin was definitely not unattractive.

Although I wanted to say something, it felt like there was a part that I shouldn’t touch for some reason.

“Just filming the cute interactions between handsome and pretty people can guarantee success. And if we move towards romance, it’s easy for the viewers to immerse themselves, so we should focus on the female lead…”

As she said that, Yoo Arin started writing various things.

She was already leaning forward, typing on my computer keyboard as if it were second nature.

“Let’s increase the romance aspect compared to what we wrote earlier. That way, we can also maintain the tension in the horror part.”

Although horror and romance were being combined, this time, the emphasis was more on romance.

I just watched without saying anything.

“Oh?”

A voice full of interest could be heard from behind our chairs.

When we both turned our heads at the same time, there was Min Ju-hee senior wearing a white cap and a smile that hinted at something funny.

“Min Ju-hee senior?”

Surprised, Yu-Arin wondered what was going on, and I explained, raising my hand slightly.

“I told you she was coming.”

Smack!

“Why are you telling me now!”

Yu-Arin scolded me, hitting her thigh with her palm, but I simply shrugged my shoulders.

“They said she was coming before you arrived. Why do you need such an explanation?”

“Ugh, you’re just mean. How did Ye-rin become friends with someone like her?”

“Aren’t you being nosy? Interfering in other people’s homework like this?”

Even though we were arguing back and forth, Min Ju-hee senior stayed leaning on my chair and continued reading the text on the screen.

Then.

“Sorry, junior. What was your name again?”

Min Ju-hee senior directly addressed Yu-Arin.

“I’m Yu-Arin. Same first-year English Language and Literature major as her.”

“Yeah, sorry. We had a drink together at the freshman orientation, but I forgot your name.”

So they had briefly met at the orientation.

By the way, I didn’t go to the orientation.

My ex-girlfriend didn’t want me to go unnecessarily and be with other girls, so I remember just hanging out with Yu-Arin.

“Have you eaten? Won-jin and I were going to have a meal together, would you like to join us? I’ll treat you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but could you send me what you wrote by email? I want to discuss it.”

“….”

Seeing my anxious expression, Yu-Arin next to me smirked.

As if to say, “Look at that,” she raised her hand to stop Min Ju-hee senior.

* * *

“Ha.”

Min Ju-hee senior said she was a chicken, but in the end, we ended up at a pork belly restaurant.

As we ate samgyeopsal, I became increasingly irritated while reading the remaining scripts.

Although it had only been a day since they sent in the scripts, this wasn’t some fairy tale, after all.

The romance scenes were too emotional and explicit, and the horror parts were completely overdone.

Compared to the scripts that Yoorin had just finished, there was quite a significant difference.

“What the hell is this…”

As I muttered to myself, Senior Minjuhee slammed down the empty soju glass and shouted.

“They just quickly wrote these scripts for the assignment. There are even some that plagiarized, and I saved those.”

“Huh.”

“Even if they plagiarized, they should have done it more discreetly. They’re just imitating the currently trending dramas… sigh.”

Senior Juhee complained in disbelief. I thought they would at least do well, but it seems like there are more overt people than I expected.

“And Han Kang, he even included a scene where the main characters kiss? He says it’s okay because he won’t get caught up in it. Did he really say he just wants to kiss Seyerin?”

“Wow, you’ve had quite a bit to drink.”

When I glanced ahead, the bottles were lined up like dominos. Eating samgyeopsal naturally led us to ordering soju.

As I had only sipped a few glasses while reading the scripts, I left it to them while Senior Minjuhee stormed off.

“hahahaha! You haven’t even had your first kiss, and you want to do it there?!”

And even Yoorin, who was sitting next to me as a pacemaker.

“How many glasses is this? Two, three, four, five…”

Look at them babbling after getting drunk together. Even if I take it into account that I drank one bottle, the two of them had drunk two each.

“Compared to them, your script is really good! Arin should have been a team member too!”

“Me too! I should’ve applied for that lecture!”

“Huijin as the editor, Arin as the scriptwriter! Ah, it would have been so easy if we only had the two pretty ones with us!”

They were singing and dancing together, both becoming excited.

Since there was still meat left that we had ordered, I quickly finished eating and thought about getting up.

“Look at our pretty girl working again! She’s so pretty, I’m going to die?!”

Senior Minjuhee, heavily drunk, pulled the chair towards me and sat down beside me.

It was quite an unusual sight to see her giggling and leaning on my shoulder.

“Hey! I heard everything you guys agreed on?!”

“Oh, well. Yeah.”

Come to think of it, those delinquents I hit earlier were acquaintances of Senior Minjuhee.

“Aww! So nice! Aww! So nice!”

The senior raises his hand and pats his head, as if to comfort himself. I might lose all my hair if he keeps doing this.

“What is this annoying guy doing?!”

This time, the opposite.

Yoo Arin comes over to my empty seat, dragging a chair and handing me a bottle and a glass.

“When did you order another bottle?”

While I receive a pat from Senior Juhee, I glare at her and Yoo Arin immediately sticks her tongue out at me.

“She’s mine!”

Then she pours a drink into the glass and tries to drink it right away.

“…But why am I the only one drinking?”

Suddenly, she starts questioning herself.

“You should drink too!”

Quickly, she hands me her glass. I sigh, take the glass, and think to myself that if she drinks more here, she won’t be able to walk alone. Then, I would have to take care of her.

“I really hate that.”

I am not a gentleman who takes care of a drunk girl I don’t even have a romantic relationship with, after only having a few conversations with her today.

“Chug! All of it!”

I gulp down the drink and then put a piece of grilled pork belly into my mouth. It was definitely a pleasurable moment, but…

“Ouch! Cutie! You eat so well! Eat more! More! We need two more servings of pork belly here!”

“No! Don’t give it to me! I don’t want it!”

Min Joohee senior orders more food, insisting to feed me.

“Hey! Why aren’t you drinking?! Bring me another bottle of soju!”

“No! I won’t drink it! Don’t give it to me!”

Yoo Arin keeps pouring more alcohol into my glass like an inexhaustible source, making me drink it.

“Ugh, I’m so tired.”

I wanted to go home.

From Noble mtl dot com

* * *

“Ah, seriously!”

After leaving the pork belly restaurant, I had a rough idea of how it would end.

“Why is it so heavy like this! I’m going to die!”

Grunting and walking the streets sandwiched between two drunken girls.

Both of them are clinging to me and being dragged almost pitifully.

“Where is Yoo Arin’s house! Seniors can just go to the dormitory, right?!”

Since the senior lives in the dormitory, they can just take her there, but Yoo Arin is the problem.

“Anyu! Anyu! To the motel!”

“What?”

Min Joohee, the senior, waves her arms in the air.

“Do you have curfew?!”

She nods happily in response to my question.

“Ah, I’m going crazy.”

I was planning to take Yoo Arin first and then think about it, but…

“Kuu.”

Suddenly, she leans on my shoulder and falls asleep, drooling.

The saliva stains my clothes, and I unintentionally grip Yoo Arin’s hand tightly.

“This girl…”

Should I just leave them both here and go?

At that moment, I had an idea to solve the problem.

Leaving them both at a motel would waste my money, and just leaving them on the ground would be risky.

But bringing them to my house would be too cramped.

So.

I took out my phone.

A few minutes later.

In front of the villa I arrived at.

A short-haired woman is glaring at me with a displeased expression, arms crossed.

“hahahaha, hello.”

Feeling awkward towards Choi Iseo, I greet her with a smile, and she turns her head slightly and asks.

“What’s with the hello?”

“….”

“Are you boasting about going out drinking with two girls?”

Today, you seem to be in a bad mood.

You called for no reason.

“Oh? Just a while ago, you ignored my text about exercising, and now you’re contacting me?”

“Oh, I texted? I didn’t see it because I was busy.”

Because I didn’t properly read the text due to the collision earlier, I just made a phone call and it turned into a disaster.

“So what? What do you want me to do about it?”

To the cold reaction of Choei, which was even colder than when I first saw her, I awkwardly smiled and replied.

“Well, your place is spacious. I thought maybe I could let the two of them stay over.”

“hahahaha! Pretty girl, your cheeks are so soft!”

Senior Min Ju-hee tugged her cheek from the side, causing Choei’s pronunciation to slip. Seeing that, Choei briskly walked over and greeted Senior Min Ju-hee.

“Minji! Help me out here!”

Minji, who had gone to the police station.

Whether it ended with a fine or not, she also ran hastily and took Yooarin with her.

“Oh, hello!”

Answering her greeting awkwardly, I looked at Choei.

“Wow! Thank you so much. If it wasn’t for you, I was planning to go to a motel and abandon the two of them.”

“You weren’t planning to do something strange, were you?”

“Me? To the two of them? Are you crazy?”

“……Never mind.”

At my firm response, Choei stops doubting and leans on Senior Min Ju-hee.

Maybe because she had been exercising, she clearly had good strength and didn’t seem to be exhausted.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

Choei suddenly asks.

“Yeah, tomorrow is my day off.”

Since tomorrow was Friday, I answered that it was my day off. She hesitates for a moment and then asks.

“If you’re free tomorrow, do you want to go somewhere with me?”

“Hmm?”

“Not somewhere strange. Just… I want to go with you.”

Looking at Choei, who is shyly speaking, I had a suspicion, but I replied, “Sure, let’s do that.”

“Really? You won’t back down!”

Worried that I might be teased, I grabbed Min Juhee and quickly left.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?”

Even though I wondered why she was acting like that, I decided it was a good thing since I was bored tomorrow anyway and I hummed a tune.

* * *

The next day.

“Damn.”

The place Cho Iseo took me was a gym.