Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 314



Was it really that much?!

“What happened?”

“Ah, I wanted to eat that salad.”

—

As they gazed at the scattered remnants of food strewn across the floor, Oh Yoon-ji and Choi Jin-ah let out deep sighs.

It was me, Seo Ye-rin, and Yoo Ah-rin who were cleaning up, while Choi Yi-seo stood with her arms crossed, watching the two of them.

“They spilled all the food and just ordered room service.”

“Room service again.”

“Ugh, I wanted a salad.”

“Ah, stop whining so much.”

Muttering under my breath, I picked up the food that had been dropped.

I knew I was in the wrong, but still, I wanted to act brazenly for no reason.

After we cleared away the food, Senior Joo-hee arrived, having just finished a call.

“For the last night in Hawaii!”

With someone’s enthusiastic shout, the drinking began.

Though we often ordered room service, the quality of the hotel food was decent, so we had no shortage of snacks.

“Make sure to drink in moderation; we need to be at the airport before lunch tomorrow.”

“Ugh, does she think she’s our mother?”

“Ahem.”

Choi Yi-seo cleared her throat at Yoo Ah-rin’s remark. She had been a bit sensitive to the word “mother” since the last time.

I figured everyone would enjoy themselves in moderation and was about to take a sip when a forgotten issue resurfaced in my mind.

“Wait, the problem hasn’t been resolved yet.”

I pulled out my phone, checking the messages still flooding in regarding my profile picture.

Starting from questions about why there was no reply to inquiries about what I was doing now.

I wanted to block them all, but who knew how the rumors would twist if I did?

“Just do what I said earlier.”

Choi Yi-seo replied cheerfully, taking a sip of her drink.

Was she deliberately being vague to keep Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin from hearing?

But the problem was that Yoo Ah-rin had overheard us talking earlier.

“What do you mean by ‘do what I said’? Hey, come here. Let’s take another selfie. Post it with me as your profile picture.”

Yoo Ah-rin quickly clung to me, pushing Seo Ye-rin aside. Yet, Seo Ye-rin leaned in, determined to get into the camera frame.

“I want to be in it too!”

“If you do that, rumors will spread that you’re two-timing!”

“That’s right! Technically, it’s three-timing! Left leg, right leg, and… you know.”

“Right, but you don’t go telling others about it.”

I’ve been thinking about this since last time.

Subtly, the kids have started to accept the idea of dating three people at once.

Surely, before the journey began, Yoorin had vehemently denied being anyone’s girlfriend.

And now, aren’t they the ones bringing it up?

‘A good change.’

There’s a twinge of guilt, but still, isn’t this good news for me?

“Oh, what’s this?”

Snapping back to reality at Yoorin’s grumbling voice, I look ahead.

I was holding my phone, taking a selfie, and before I knew it, the screen was filled with four faces.

Yoorin and Seoyeon, of course, but now even Choi Iseo had quietly joined in from behind to snap a picture.

Click.

A photo taken amidst complaints of sore arms.

The moment I see the three of them positioned around me, I can’t help but exclaim.

“Should I just use this as my profile picture?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Haha! Ujini, the Harem King!”

“Ugh, if I use this, I’m dropping out of college.”

I wasn’t entirely serious either, so I let it slide as a joke.

Still, it seems like a good photo to keep for memories.

“Hmm.”

At that moment, Yoorin was staring intently at my phone.

I wondered what she was doing, but with a slight furrow in her brow, she glanced at me and asked.

“Hey, can I dig through your phone?”

“Why?”

“Just curious if you have anything weird on there.”

Weird?

“What’s this, are you saying you’ll manage my phone because you’re my girlfriend?”

“No, I’m just curious, okay?”

It was funny, but seeing her hesitate and be so cautious made her seem oddly cute.

“Look as you please. I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Really?”

“Ah, of course. It doesn’t matter.”

As I stepped aside to make room, Seo Ye-rin and Choi Yi-seo joined Yu Ah-rin on either side.

“What makes her so confident?”

“There’s no way U-Jini isn’t strange.”

How do they see me?

I shifted to sit next to Senior Joo-hee, who flinched slightly and handed me a drink.

“Here… drink this.”

“Ahem, thank you.”

Things had felt a bit awkward since last night, but it wasn’t impossible to talk.

I hoped that with time, the awkwardness would fade.

“Who were you on the phone with earlier? Was it your siblings?”

“Ah, that—”

“That?”

“With the vice president.”

“…….”

I shouldn’t have asked.

“The vice president called to say you did well. That you managed to prevent any trouble.”

“Ahem, ahem!”

An awkward tension filled the air.

Sitting across from us, Oh Yoon-ji and Choi Jin-ah stared intently, each throwing in their comments.

“That’s true. I mean, you did stop it.”

“Wow.”

“Don’t say that!”

Senior covered her face with both hands, embarrassed.

I, too, braved my own embarrassment, trying to turn it into laughter as I said, “You were just dedicated to your duties. Kind of like a bodyguard who took a bullet for Arin.”

Not a bullet, but… well, you know.

“…….”

The senior glared at me, as if ready to tear me apart with a single glance.

I must have misspoken.

Fortunately, instead of lunging at me, she began to drink, her anger manifesting in the clinking of her glass.

Choi Jin-ah poured another drink for Joo-hee, her empty cup now full, and shot me a teasing look.

“I really think you’re something else.”

“Oh, come on.”

“That’s not a compliment, you know.”

Well, whatever.

“But is it really okay for you to show your phone like that?”

Oh Yoon-ji, having clinked glasses with Joo-hee, asked in a small voice.

I glanced over; the others were still huddled around my phone, chatting about this and that.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. What do I have to hide?”

Even if I was from a wealthy family, I wasn’t using black money or pulling strings behind anyone’s back.

In fact, I was living more like an ordinary citizen than anyone else.

There was no need to hide anything; I felt proud of that.

“You were like this back in the day too.”

I had shown my phone to Yoon-ji before. It wasn’t that she had asked to see it; we had been lying together, flipping through my gallery, and it just happened.

“Don’t you remember? You saved those… what were they called? The ones with seven people?”

“Pfft!”

Choi Jin-ah, mid-sip of her beer, was caught off guard and sprayed it everywhere, splattering Joo-hee’s face in the process.

The two of them hurried off to the bathroom.

“Oh, I saved that because it was so fascinating. I even found the model number later.”

“Ugh, enough. I guess being from a wealthy family makes your standards a bit different from ordinary folks.”

“What are you talking about?”

We clinked our glasses again and poured the drink into our mouths.

I never thought I’d be drinking with Yoon-ji like this again.

Am I feeling a bit tipsy?

Yoon-ji grinned and asked, “Hey, but you’ve got some stamina. Two days in a row. And one of those days was with both of us, right?”

“Are you bringing that up just because Joo-hee left?”

“I was curious. We were having a hard time back then, weren’t we?”

“It’s because I’ve been exercising. I did it because I wanted to make Seo Yerin’s 2-day, 3-night fantasy come true.”

“Erin is brutal. I exercised because I wanted to have s*x, not because I wanted to get fit.”

“Yeah, I was planning to have s*x with the personal trainer at the gym for a long time, but I asked what exercises I should do and almost got reported for s*xual harassment.”

“I should have been stopped.”

O Yoon-ji’s eyes lit up with a hint of disappointment.

“Ah, yes. Now that I see Kim Woo-jin crying over every girl, my sister’s heart is aching.”

This time, I responded by taking a drink and matching his tone.

“Nonsense. I still remember. You’re too big, Woo-jin! You were shouting and crying like that.”

“I remember too. Yoon-ji, what do you mean by this?”

Damn it, we’re having a counterattack.

“I thought you were impotent at first. I put it in and then pulled out.”

“There was nothing I could do. Someone’s father was crying and screaming, and I was stuck.”

“Huh?”

“Ah!”

The sound of the glasses clinking is a bit rough.

We continued talking with our mouths full.

“Ah, I should have been the one who did it! Then I would have taught you how to handle Ah-rin.”

“That’s an old trick. Yoon-ji, I assure you. If we do it again now, you’ll die.”

“Ah, you’ve grown up to be a real man, haven’t you? But Woo-jin, do you know? Guys who can’t do it only show off to girls.”

“Hey, you’re leaving. What did I do in my dorm room? You’ve been busy working while I’ve been training my s*x images for a month.”

“It’s all about having a plan before getting hit in real life.”

“That’s true, but the one who does the hitting is me.”

We both looked at each other, and then O Yoon-ji suddenly started unbuttoning her shirt.

“Hey, Kim Woo-jin. You’re dead today.”

I quickly take off my pants too.

“Show the kids what you taught me today was just empty words.”

“Ah, ah, ah!”

“…….”

At that moment, Choi Jin-ah emerged from the restroom, her eyes wide, and let out a scream before darting back inside.

“Put it back on.”

Joo-hee, who had come out with me, warned through clenched teeth.

“Cough.”

I quickly pulled my pants back up, while Oh Yoon-ji clicked her tongue and fastened her buttons as well.

“Just how far was that b*stard watching?”

“Ugh.”

“The battle of the century! My heart swells with grandeur!”

Glancing to the side, I noticed three others had set their phones down and were now watching us intently.

‘Crazy Kim Woo-jin.’

Anyway, I shouldn’t be drinking.

Alcohol is the main culprit ruining my life.

Yoo Ah-rin suddenly tossed her phone at me.

I caught it cleanly, only to find a picture of a woman in a cow costume, her face obscured, bouncing her chest.

“And you, you b*stard. You said you had no shame. The world is full of shame, so there’s nothing to see.”

“Woo-jin, how do you have over six hundred lewd photos…?”

“…….”

“What’s the big deal? We’re adults, right? It’s not like we can’t have some naughty pictures. Do you have any idea how much stuff gets posted in the bamboo forest?”

Collecting those memes over time had naturally led to an accumulation.

“Besides, look at this.”

I showed them the picture of the cow-costumed girl that had popped up on my phone.

“It’s Seo Ye-rin.”

A sudden silence enveloped the room.

All eyes turned to Seo Ye-rin, who was bowing her head in embarrassment.

“Damn, was it really that bad?!”

Yoo Ah-rin exclaimed, her shock echoing in the air.