Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 362



We Are Robbers

“I, I, I don’t want to.”

Suddenly trembling and stepping back, Choi Jina.

I wondered what she was talking about out of the blue.

Her legs gave out, and she crouched down, like a turtle retreating into its shell for protection.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“I, I’m not tasty. I’m a human. I’m not food.”

“No, I know that. Why are you acting like this?”

Seeing her trembling alone, I felt like I was doing something really bad.

I was about to tell her to get up when Oh Yoonji stopped me.

“Wait a moment. I’ll take care of it.”

“…Just using the word ‘take care’ already makes me uneasy.”

Oh Yoon-ji approached Choi Jin-ah.

She started whispering something into Choi Jin-ah’s ear, who was crouched against the wall.

Every time she did, Jin-ah’s shoulders trembled. Meanwhile, I grabbed some chicken to eat.

‘Oh, it’s boneless.’

I took a quick bite and opened a can of cola.

Psssh!

“Ah, damn it!”

The cola must have been shaken when Jin-ah dropped it earlier, and it sprayed everywhere.

Thanks to that, the clothes I just changed into got soaked with cola.

“Annoying.”

I opened the wardrobe, grumbling.

I took off the wet top and looked for something else to wear.

“Eek!”

A scream came from behind me.

When I turned around, Jin-ah’s face was bright red, and she was waving her hands.

“N-no, I can’t! Something that big won’t fit!”

“What are you talking about?”

I glared at Yoon-ji, who was covering her mouth but laughing.

“Wo-jin, your body has improved a lot.”

“I’ve been working out.”

“You’re very different from a year ago.”

“I plan to do more.”

I clearly understood what it meant to date three people at once.

I need to work out more to build my stamina.

I was still lacking in many ways.

No, more importantly…

“What did you say to Jin-ah to make her tremble like that? It looks like she’s got the wrong idea.”

“What wrong idea? If you tell a girl not to leave her room in the middle of the night, it can only mean one thing.”

“……”

“Don’t worry too much, Jina. It only hurts a little at first, but after that, you’ll like it so much you’ll keep asking for more.”

“Eek?! N-no! I don’t want to be corrupted!”

“Once you entrust your body to these strong muscles, you’ll actually feel relieved. It’s a whole different level from hugging a teddy bear. You’ll become someone who can’t sleep without Woojin.”

“No! No! I absolutely don’t want that! I want to live without Woojin!”

“Ah, seriously.”

As soon as he put on his top and got annoyed, Oh Yoonji ran away, holding back her laughter.

I knew it was a joke, but it was a bit much.

“Jina, calm down and eat some chicken. I would never do that to you, okay?”

“Y-you’re just saying that to reassure me?! Yoonji was right!”

“……”

I looked at Oh Yoonji in disbelief, and she shrugged with a piece of chicken in her mouth.

“Typical, Kim Woojin.”

“Should I just hit her?”

She had already told Choi Jina what I was going to say.

She really understands me well.

It took some time to clear up the misunderstanding, though.

Anyway, we ended up sitting around eating chicken.

“Didn’t you say you can’t order late-night snacks anymore because of Senior Joohee?”

“Today was really tough. But all I could eat was chicken breast.”

Choi Jina complained.

She had definitely lost some weight in the few days I hadn’t seen her.

At least her double chin was gone.

‘Senior Joohee is really keeping her in check.’

“She has gained a bit since I last saw her.”

But to Oh Yoonji, who hadn’t seen Choi Jina in a while, she still looked a bit chubby.

“But you’re not that surprised to see Jina?”

“We’ve been talking a lot since Hawaii. We’ve gotten pretty close.”

“That’s right. Whenever something happened, I would consult Yoonji.”

I see.

In the midst of marveling at how they became close without me even knowing.

Buzz!

A message came in.

Joo Captain: Is Jina there by any chance?

“……”

Quite a strong statement.

I was wondering how to reply to this when Oh Yoonji timely asked Choi Jina.

“But where is Senior Joohee?”

“I sneaked out. I came out to get the chicken, but then I got a message and hid here.”

So that’s what happened.

But what should I do about this?

It seems like Senior Joohee has roughly figured it out.

While I was debating whether to tell or not.

– Joo Captain: Confirmed.

Even though I didn’t reply, the senior who saw that I had checked the message but didn’t respond left a confident reply.

A moment later.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Jina, come out.”

Choi Jina, who was munching on chicken, looked at the door with frightened eyes.

“She’s really scared.”

“Did you tell her?”

“No, I didn’t say anything. But she figured it out right away because there was no reply.”

Yoonji and I, becoming bystanders, continued eating our chicken.

“If Jina leaves, one less mouth to feed, awesome.”

“If Jina leaves, it’ll be just Woojin and me, awesome.”

“……”

“……”

We exchanged playful banter while watching how Choi Jina would respond.

Knock, knock, knock.

At the sound of the calling knock, Choi Jina nervously approached and whispered in response.

“I’m, I’m busy right now.”

“Jinah, you’ve lost a lot of weight so far. You said you wanted to lose more. Are you going to eat late-night snacks like this?”

“I’m not eating late-night snacks. I’m exercising.”

“Exercising?”

“I’m doing an exercise with Woojin that can only be done at night.”

Is she crazy?

I was about to say something to stop her from dragging me into this.

But what came out of Joohee’s mouth was a kind of mocking laugh.

“If you were doing it with him, you wouldn’t be able to talk so comfortably right now.”

“……”

“It feels like your body is splitting apart.”

Oh Yoonji glares at me.

Choi Jinah also looks at me with a disgusted expression.

“Ahem, senior?”

As I awkwardly cleared my throat and approached the front door, the senior was silent for a moment.

“……Can you pretend you didn’t hear that?”

She made a secretive suggestion, seemingly embarrassed.

* * *

Back in my room again.

This time, even senior Joohee was eating chicken with us.

But Choi Jinah, who had bought the chicken, was only munching on a few pieces of pickled radish by herself.

She couldn’t even touch the chicken.

“Jinah, you shouldn’t eat too much pickled radish either.”

“I bought it.”

Choi Jinah grumbled while kneeling. I wondered when she had become so broken.

The senior, who had warned Jinah, glanced at me and Oh Yoonji.

I had changed my clothes, but Yoonji was still in her underwear.

“Yoonji, do you exercise separately? Your body has no excess fat.”

Senior Joohee spoke as if she wanted Jinah to hear, and Yoonji shrugged and replied.

“I exercise with the affiliated broadcasters when they receive personal training. It turns out that exercising is essential if you want to work for long hours sitting down.”

“Yeah, that’s right. In the end, exercise is essential no matter what you do.”

An awkward piece of advice from Senior Joohee.

She glances at me and Yoonji, seemingly thinking she has intruded into an awkward atmosphere.

“Sigh.”

In the end, Senior Joohee sighs and puts down the chicken.

Usually, when something happens, Senior Joohee tends to push forward rather than back down.

“Are you two dating again?”

She asked without backing down.

“No, we’re not.”

“Not yet.”

In contrast to my firm answer, Oh Yoonji’s vague response of “not yet” adds to the confusion.

Senior Joohee glares at me and scolds me a bit harshly.

“Woojin, you’re dating someone from Yerin’s group, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then isn’t it wrong to bring other girls into your room like this?”

“Ahem, that’s correct.”

It’s a valid point.

But I hope she considers that there’s an unfair part to this.

“I woke up to find Oh Yoonji here. I’m a victim in this incident.”

“Jina said she couldn’t leave. What’s that about?”

“I wanted to keep her as a witness to prove I didn’t do anything with Yoonji.”

“Sigh, is this how chaebol families think? Their way of thinking is so extraordinary.”

Is that a compliment?

From noble mtl dot com

“Anyway, it’s a relief that you’re here, Senior. Thanks to you, I won’t be misunderstood.”

“Really?”

Senior Joohee answered awkwardly, not quite convinced.

At that moment.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Oh Yoonji, who now seems more natural without clothes, clapped her hands and said.

“All our first loves are here.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence descends.

Just like Yoonji said.

Yoonji and I were each other’s first love.

And Juhui sunbae and Jina-ssi had once said I was *their* first love.

We all eye each other warily.

The window’s clearly open, the weather outside is cold, wind is blowing.

So why does it feel like I’m breaking into a sweat?

I don’t get it.

“Why are you stirring up trouble like this today?”

I snap, annoyed, and Oh Yoonji smirks, inching closer to me.

“I was just thinking something.”

Yoonji, walking on all fours like a cat, has a more mischievous glint in her eyes than usual.

“If the timing had been just a bit faster… wouldn’t the one next to you, not those three… be us three?”

“What kind of-”

What kind of nonsense is that.

I was about to retort.

But the eyes of Juhui sunbae and Choi Jina, looking at me, were slightly trembling.

“What are you saying about things that are already over?”

I push her away, telling her to stop, but.

Oh Yoonji doesn’t back down, shoving me and climbing right on top of me.

“Just because it’s over doesn’t mean it’s really over.”

The first love that remains in your heart.

“It’s always like that, isn’t it?”

I didn’t even get a chance to answer.

Yoonji, on top of me, was already forcefully kissing me.

“Mmph?!”

I’m so shocked I push Yoonji away urgently. No matter what, this isn’t right.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

Anyway, the kiss was so good that it startled me for a moment.

As I wiped my mouth and retreated as if to escape, Oh Yoonji smirked and replied.

“I’m a robber.”