Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 45



45 – 45. Apple

– Woojin: I’m busy today, so it might not work.

“Ah.”

Upon receiving a response after several hours, Ye-rin felt a deep sense of disappointment.

Her excitement about going to Kim Woojin’s house waned and turned into intense regret.

With the feeling that the dinner time had already passed, she felt that the day was coming to an end.

“Should I have a drink or something.”

Wanting to calm her restless mind, Ye-rin was about to send a message to her friend asking if she wanted to have a drink.

“Hmm? Arin changed her profile picture.”

She noticed that Arin had changed her profile picture, so she quickly checked it.

“Huh?”

Unintentionally, Ye-rin let out a sound. It was because there was Arin sitting on a familiar mattress along with a profile message saying “Just lounging at a friend’s house.”

“Woojin’s house…?”

At a glance.

Looking here and there, it was definitely Kim Woojin’s house. Although the background wasn’t clear, the distinct atmosphere and the mattress were unmistakable.

Because she herself had slept there once before.

Thinking back to that time, her face heated up, but soon she calmed down.

– Woojin: I’m busy today, so it might not work.

Checking Kim Woojin’s message again, she looked at Arin’s profile picture.

“So this was the busy thing.”

Sighing deeply, she couldn’t help but clench her teeth. However, it didn’t have a positive meaning.

Had they made plans to drink together at a pig intestine restaurant after all the noise they made for her sake?

Or had they already made plans to meet separately with Arin on the weekend?

With various thoughts in her mind, Ye-rin felt a stuffy feeling in her chest and her mood worsened.

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She even tried expressing her anger on the anonymous message board, but it didn’t relieve her at all.

In the end, she decided to have a drink and contacted her friends again.

– Sorry, I’m with my boyfriend.

One of her friends refused, saying that she was with her boyfriend.

She immediately contacted another friend.

– Huh, huh! Eh? Yerin! Why?

A voice that seemed extremely urgent. Along with the hurried sound of breath, it seemed like they wanted to cut the call quickly.

Why does this situation seem familiar, like something I’ve seen before?

“Are you with a guy?”

Thud.

I hung up, asking just in case. I was caught.

“So, you’re with a guy.”

Four friends who came up from high school. Two of them have boyfriends, and one is presumed to be with Kim Woo-jin.

In the end, I plan to meet with my friends from the same major. It’s a bit awkward because of what happened yesterday.

“Oh, should I meet with Seo-han?”

I’ve become close enough with Seo Choe-i, a senior in my major, and I should thank him for helping me resolve yesterday’s issue, so I decided to call him immediately.

“Yerin?”

His voice also seemed quite unhappy for some reason. However, Seo Yerin sensed that it wasn’t because of her, but for another reason.

Skipping the greetings, she goes straight to the point.

“Do you want to drink?”

“…Where should we go?”

They understood each other without saying a word.

* * *

It was already 6 pm when Yerin met Sunbae Minju-hee. They had dinner earlier, so there was enough time to meet someone else.

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Minju-hee came wearing the same jacket with a drawing of a dragon as before. She touched her long black hair and put her hands in the jacket pockets, giving off a vibe that she was ready to fight.

“Have you eaten, sunbae?”

Politely asking, Yerin noticed that Minju-hee’s eyes flickered as she answered.

“When you’re fasting, it’s easier.”

“I see.”

Feeling like she shouldn’t have brought up that topic, Yerin understood Minju-hee’s determination regardless.

Yuarin, who kept snickering next to them, and finally.

“Juhee, try to end it with a conversation as much as possible.”

Even Han River sunbae who came to greet us.

All the second-year female seniors are at a karaoke, but Han River sunbae was worried about Minju-hee’s runaway.

“If you plan to end it with a conversation over there.”

As Junhee senior passed by Hangang senior and entered the noraebang, she went straight into room number four after explaining the situation to the noraebang owner.

“Turn off the music.”

The chilly voice completely silenced the noisy accompaniment.

Even the senior girls who were singing happily put down their microphones and prepared themselves, adjusting their expressions.

Junhee senior stepped forward first.

“If I wanted to end it with a conversation, couldn’t I have handled it alone if it was something like a PPT presentation? But the professor said that everyone except the person editing the short film should be present.”

I wondered if the professor had considered the possibility of excluding three people from the assignment even when they had already considered it.

Indeed, their handling of tasks is always quick.

“You don’t want to mess up your grades either, do you? Are you going to take the same course again next year? If you give us a short film shooting assignment then, do you think you can meet a group leader like me?”

And she even had confidence in herself. She definitely couldn’t meet a group leader like her anywhere else.

“I’ll minimize the number of roles, so let’s just do it. If we do it, we’ll at least get an A.”

Contrary to the atmosphere that seemed like it would explode, Junhee senior calmly suggested a negotiation.

Even Hangang senior, who followed along, was surprised by her structured argument.

“Ridiculous.”

It seemed like it wasn’t even worth considering over there.

Especially, it seemed like there was complete animosity toward me as I walked in behind them.

“Because you don’t want to do it? Because of her?”

“Anyway, we’ll just retake the course. It doesn’t matter at all.”

I wondered if I should have stopped Junhee senior’s audacious behavior, but…

“I’m begging you. I have to get good grades to receive a scholarship.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Because it was Min Juhee senior.

She, who acted audaciously and seemed like she would squeeze you to death, lowered her head.

“We’re in the same second grade, but I’m older than you because I repeated a year. I don’t have time to retake the course.”

So she was one year older than the current second-year students. This was new information for me.

Min Juhee senior, who had such a strong presence, did this much, so I wondered if there would be any change in their attitude over there…

“She should be the one apologizing.”

The seniors declared, pointing at me.

“She talks back to us, smokes in front of us, talks bad about us behind our backs.”

“And then, she shouts and demands that we give her our phones, acting like she’s so superior!”

As soon as it started pouring out, insults towards me erupted like vomit. It was infuriating to see their shameless behavior.

When I saw Min Ju-hee, the senior who was bowing his head, my heart weakened for no reason.

‘Scholarship.’

It seems that she desperately needed a scholarship, as she was so concerned about assignments.

‘If I bow my head here…’

I still didn’t think I did anything wrong. I didn’t have an ounce of desire to apologize to those people.

But then, seeing Senior Min Ju-hee beside me, bowing her head in despair.

‘What a cool person.’

Just once.

I thought it wouldn’t hurt to bow my head for this person.

“Huh.”

In the end, even though it didn’t sit well with me, I was about to bow my head and offer a insincere apology to the seniors.

Snap!

A strong pressure on my head.

When I turned my head slightly, I saw Senior Min Ju-hee gripping my hair as if she was tearing it out, staring at me angrily.

“What are you doing?”

“Excuse me?”

“You were about to apologize, right?”

“Uh, yes…”

I thought maybe she was financially struggling since she was obsessed with scholarships.

Whack!

She pulled my hair back and prevented me from bowing my head. But her grip was so strong that my gaze was fixed on the ceiling and my neck and hair hurt.

And then.

“You f*cking b*tches!”

Bam!

With a violent uproar, Senior Min Ju-hee’s voice echoed.

“You think you’re right just because I apologized to you for everything? Don’t do it! f*ck! Stop it, you crazy b*tches!”

“You! You!”

“I could have just bowed my head, did I have to apologize to you juniors like that? I heard the whole situation before I came to meet you yesterday, you b*tches!”

The three people present seemed to have nothing to say, even when they wanted to shout something.

“The thirsty person is the beggar who digs the well. I lowered my head to you because I needed good grades. But why should someone who has done nothing wrong and doesn’t need anything lower their head to you!”

“Ju, Juhee!”

I can’t see because my neck is still bent, but it seems like she’s trying to grab the microphone and hit me with it.

In a hurry, Han Kang, the senior who stops Min Juhee, appeared.

“Se, senior! Please hold on!”

I also grab the hands of the senior who is holding my head and drag them back.

“These dog-like things! Don’t catch my eye at school! I’ll make a cigarette burn on your forehead, you selfish b*tches!”

Even though he is being held by men on both sides, he continues to struggle and pour out insults until the end. He really has the aura of a general.

In the end, we come out of the karaoke room.

Min Juhee lets go of me and takes out a cigarette, unable to suppress her anger.

“Lighter, please.”

“Sigh, calm down, Min Juhee.”

When Han Kang lights the cigarette, Min Juhee takes a deep drag and exhales smoke.

Han Kang also starts smoking.

“Ah, Woojin, sorry. You don’t smoke, right?”

“It’s okay.”

I say it doesn’t matter and tidy up my messy hair.

“Come here. I’ll do it.”

The youngest member who came out of the karaoke room last pulls my hair and starts tidying it, so I just let their touch take care of it.

“But, senior, are your grades okay?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to the professor.”

But for the sake of fairness with other groups, there will inevitably be deductions.

“Try to get good scores in other areas. Like the story and acting. Also work on editing.”

“I’ll try my best with editing.”

“I’ll help with writing the script too.”

Although we’re not in the same group, Yoorin raises their hand and interferes with the script. It still needs some more work because the last one was unfinished.

“The important thing is the roles. There are only Yerin and I as the female characters.”

“Woojin, try cross-dressing.”

“Are you crazy?”

While retorting to Yoorin’s nonsense, I feel something provoking and ask them.

“Why don’t you smoke?”

“I never smoke.”

“…Last time, didn’t you go out with the kids and Jang Chan-woo to smoke?”

“That was just to tick Chan-woo off. He asked me to do something weird.”

Sorry, Chan-woo.

“Ah, I’m in a bad mood, I want to drink. Hey, come along! Hangang will buy us drinks today.”

“…Am I the one in their group?”

Hangang, who was with the karaoke girls, hesitated before answering, while Joo-hee, annoyed, grabbed Yoo-a-rin and leaned on her shoulder.

“Kids like you who mess around with guys are supposed to prioritize pretty girls! Aren’t we much prettier than them?!”

You’re so excited that you have no filter when you speak.

But I agree too.

“Joo-hee agrees. But Yoo-a-rin looks a bit like expired organic pudding.”

As I interjected, Yoo-a-rin immediately smiled and hit me.

“Go to hell, cockroach larva.”

“Yeah, you look like you weren’t selling well at the convenience store, just gathered dust and looked moldy.”

“Yeah, you got squished accidentally while passing by, like a squashed cockroach.”

“aaah! I don’t know! You’re disgusting, so give me your money or just your wallet!”

While we fought and argued, Joo-hee kept tearing Hangang’s pride. Eventually, Hangang ended up joining us to go drink together.

When we entered a good store.

“Oh?! It’s Woo-jin!”

A familiar voice called out to me.