Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 375



Sunglasses

Crackle, crackle.

The charcoal fire is slowly dying down.

If you listen closely to the gentle sound of the grasshoppers, you can hear the secretive sounds of a man and a woman mixed in.

I, who had been bowing my head deeply, suddenly stand up and grab the flashlight on the table.

“Are you leaving?”

Choi Iseo, who had been dozing off next to me, also hurriedly puts on her clothes and follows me.

It’s cold to sleep outside.

But I couldn’t let the kids sleep inside either.

There was no space to sleep in the pension right now.

Even though a few people had left, there were still too many people, so there was no space to sleep.

Our group was sleeping in the car.

“Yawn.”

Yawning, we head towards the foot volleyball court.

Choi Iseo quietly links her arm with mine.

This kind of naturalness is quite satisfying.

Past the foot volleyball court, towards the densely packed trees.

When I shine the flashlight there, I see a man and a woman tangled together with their pants off.

“Ah!”

“What the!”

Seeing the startled couple hastily adjusting their clothes, I sigh and say,

“I told you not to do it outside. The pension owner strictly forbade it several times.”

“Ah, no, it’s just that…”

“There was no place to do it in the rooms! Even the bathrooms are full of people sleeping!”

“Then just don’t do it. Is it that hard to hold back?”

Annoyed, I gesture with my chin for them to come out quickly, and the two sheepishly come out.

“Let’s do it tomorrow, tomorrow. Wouldn’t it be better to do it at home? And it’s dangerous to do it in such a place because of the bugs.”

“Yes…”

“I’m sorry.”

This is already the fourth warning today.

Before I knew it, I had become a sniffer dog, interfering with their love.

“I heard someone got stung by a bee and had to be carried away while doing it nearby before. So, the pension owner seems to be a bit sensitive.”

As Choi Iseo, who was next to me, added and explained, the two people finally returned with a somewhat softened atmosphere.

We also went back to the table where we originally were.

I wondered if we really had to sleep here, but on the other hand, there was no other place where we could sleep.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

“How are you going to go to work tomorrow?”

“The uncle said he would take us at dawn.”

The bald uncle who had taken Hangang and Pyo Jin-ho came back again.

I saw him drinking and chatting with Ahn Hyun-ho and Jung Chan-woo.

I couldn’t join them because I was a bit busy at night.

‘It’s complicated in many ways.’

Senior Joo-hee and Oh Yoon-ji too.

It was more disturbing than I thought.

The biggest thing was that I didn’t know how to explain my feelings right now.

Unconsciously, my hand reached for the bottle, but Choi Iseo grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

“Why are you drinking again? You have to go to work tomorrow. Drink moderately.”

“Yeah, right.”

I tried to endure it while listening to Choi Iseo. I calmed my stomach by putting a few snacks that were used as side dishes into my mouth.

“Is there something else going on?”

Choi Iseo rested her chin and looked at me.

“Did it show?”

“It was like you were sending signals to be noticed.”

“Heh.”

A faint smile appeared.

In such situations, Choi Iseo always supported me.

It would be the same this time too.

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Is there really a need to deceive?

From the beginning, haven’t I been someone who got this far with honesty alone?

I told Iseo everything that happened today without hiding anything.

I don’t remember anything after that.

* * *

The next morning.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Min Juhee, Oh Yoonji, Choi Jina.

The three of them were looking at each other.

Recently, it wasn’t unusual for the three to hang out together often.

But at that moment, there was an awkwardness in the way they looked at each other.

The ramen in the center was meant for a hangover cure.

No one picked up their chopsticks, just glancing at each other.

“Excuse me.”

A man they had never seen before approached the three.

He was probably one of the people who came to the party.

Behind him, a few others could be seen.

“Would you like to have ramen with us? We have kimchi and shrimp. If you add these together-.”

“Can’t you see we’re having a serious conversation?”

“The party ended yesterday. Today, we need to get our heads straight.”

At the growling of Oh Yoonji and Min Juhee, the man couldn’t even finish his sentence and ran away with his tail between his legs.

The atmosphere among the three was that tense.

No, it was the atmosphere between the two.

Caught in the middle, Choi Jina awkwardly picked up and put down her chopsticks repeatedly.

“Well, that’s what I’m saying.”

She was the only one who could move the conversation forward.

Choi Jin-ah, having made up her mind, barely managed to speak.

“So, you’re saying that you two did this and that with Woo-jin yesterday?”

“Wait, it’s one thing for Joo-hee, but not me.”

Oh Yoon-ji, who didn’t want to be in the same boat as a serial kisser, hurriedly defended herself.

“If you really want to nitpick, I just spent time reminiscing about old times!”

“From my perspective…”

Min Joo-hee, who heard that, frowned and replied.

“Isn’t that even worse? You left room for lingering feelings by stirring up old emotions.”

“No, you can’t compare me to someone who slept with him.”

“Slept with-!? No, it sounds weird when you put it that way!”

“It’s not wrong, though! You forcibly linked arms with someone else’s boyfriend and kissed him!”

“After that, Woo-jin forced himself on me even more!”

The argument between the two grew more intense and prolonged.

‘Ah, spit flew everywhere.’

In the midst of it all, Choi Jin-ah was only worried about the ramen.

With the mindset of eating alone, she quickly picked up a bite and put it in her mouth.

Slurp.

“Mmm!”

She had been told by her older sisters that ramen was the best after drinking.

It was true.

The spicy ramen soothed her stomach, making her feel quite good.

‘I’ve been drinking too much lately.’

She wasn’t originally the type to enjoy alcohol that much.

It felt like she had drunk all the alcohol she could for the year in the past few months.

She felt like an ordinary college student, but she still needed to get her act together.

The same chef always prepared a diet that was nutritious and healthy, so she didn’t feel much difference.

Only recently did Choi Jin-ah start to appreciate their efforts.

‘Gaining weight and suffering from hangovers, it’s all my responsibility in the end.’

Freedom was a double-edged sword.

It was certainly nice, but she had to bear the responsibility for it as well.

Feeling like I’m finally understanding what I’ve been longing for all this time.

There was a time when I compared myself to a dolphin.

A dolphin that takes a breath outside and dives back in to stay underwater for a long time.

I realize now how foolish it was to long for a place just because I could breathe there.

Feeling like my perspective has broadened a bit.

And then.

“Ha, what’s the point of us talking like this?”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

I’ve come to understand that a person’s life doesn’t fall apart as easily as one might think, even if they live recklessly.

‘Even if you live like a mess, life doesn’t completely fall apart.’

Through Kim Woo-jin, that is.

Slurp.

* * *

Vrooom.

What woke me up was the deep sound of an engine.

The one that roared fiercely yesterday now had a calm, charming ride today.

‘Ugh.’

When did I fall asleep yesterday?

I feel like there’s a gap in my memory.

I didn’t drink that much, though.

‘I was definitely talking with Choi I-seo until dawn…’

I remember falling asleep at some point.

‘I have to go to work.’

As I slowly lifted my head, I realized I was sleeping with my head on someone’s thigh.

And my wrists were tied.

“……”

Handcuffs.

From noble mtl dot com

Damn, even fur-lined handcuffs.

What is this?

“Ah…”

The owner of the thigh was Seo Yerin.

She was resting her chin on her hand, looking out the window.

She was wearing sunglasses.

“Sunglasses?”

Why sunglasses?

As I tried to get up, I felt a sensation on my calf.

When I glanced down, I saw Yoo Arin resting her calf on my thigh.

She was also wearing sunglasses.

“Sunglasses?”

I asked again, but there was no answer.

When I looked ahead, I saw two people sitting in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat.

The bald man and Choi Iseo.

The bald man who had promised to take me to work today.

And Choi Iseo, sitting in the passenger seat.

Both of them were wearing sunglasses, staring at some distant scenery.

“What is this?”

I don’t know what kind of concept they were going for, but it was a bit scary.

“What is this? I have to go to work.”

“I told the vice president.”

Choi Iseo reached out and showed me her phone. There was indeed a message exchange with my brother.

It said they had arranged for me to take a break by calling me to the headquarters.

In other words, they had used a loophole to let me skip work today.

“So I don’t have to go to work today?”

Suddenly, I felt happy.

“Don’t smile, criminal.”

Yoo Arin slapped my thigh and warned me.

“……”

I didn’t bother asking why she called me a criminal.

Because what I did yesterday was indeed a crime.

Anyway.

I knew that the bald man and the kids were taking me somewhere.

“Hey, can I ask just one more thing?”

I couldn’t hold back my curiosity.

“Where did you get the sunglasses?”

The bald man answered.

“Hangang bought them to wear with his friends, but he forgot and left them here.”

“Oh.”

So that’s why each of them is wearing one.

“…Let me wear one too.”

Seeing the four of them wearing sunglasses looked cool, so I asked.

Choi Iseo took out a pair of sunglasses from the front seat and handed them to Seo Yerin.

Seo Yerin neatly put them on my eyes.

Hmm.

Wearing sunglasses made me feel like I shouldn’t open my mouth.

Now I understood why everyone was talking as little as possible.

Because it looked cool.

Thanks to that, for a while, the only sound in the car was the engine.