Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 377



Eureka

“The world really doesn’t seem to turn out the way you expect.”

Muttering blankly while listening to the lecture, Yoo Ah-rin, who was sitting next to me, glanced over and replied.

“Out of nowhere?”

“I never thought, even I would be listening to a lecture in handcuffs.”

Thanks to that, my hands are now under the desk, so no one could see.

Is this what it’s like to feel exposed and ashamed outdoors?

I guess I’m not the type to get s*xually aroused by feeling shame in public.

It’s just embarrassing.

“I learned one thing, though. I have a normal s*xual preference.”

“Is a dude who wants to be with three girls at once normal? Is that even on a bucket list for a sane person?”

I chewed on Yua-rin’s sarcastic words for a beat.

From noble mtl dot com

“That’s completely normal, though?”

I replied without hesitation.

Isn’t it something everyone wants?

“Fuck.”

Yua-rin glared at me, a look of genuine disgust on her face.

But don’t get me wrong.

“Dude, do you think all those kings in history just randomly had women by their sides? It’s because that’s what everyone wants, that’s why.”

“What are you, like, a big shot?”

“……”

“Hey, you little shit, are you a king or something?”

“Ahem, well no, but still, I’m not the abnormal one here. Ask other people.”

“Who?”

“……Han-gang?”

“Look at this idiot, choosing someone who’d give him the same answer.”

“Guys.”

While we were bickering, Seo Ye-rin called out from the side with a serious expression.

“Can you be quiet? This isn’t the time to be talking.”

“Then, is it time to be playing games?”

Coming from the girl under the desk, currently wrecking a boss raid on her phone, she didn’t have the right to say that.

“You have to concentrate.”

Look at that serious face.

It’s impressive how she doesn’t even think of attending lectures, knowing her path as an actress is already paved.

“Now that you’re an actress you just do whatever.”

“It’s about choosing and focusing.”

“The professor would be so sad if he heard you.”

“Uji-na, how about you look at the handcuffs on your hand? I’m sure the professor would be delighted to see a student enjoying some handcuff play while listening to his lectures.”

“You guys put them on me.”

It’s just ridiculous how they forcibly put them on my wrists and are now blaming me.

“Hey, quiet down, you guys.”

Choi Yiseo, practically the only one of us actually studying, sighs and gives us a warning.

Ignoring someone like Seo Yerin, who clowns around too, is one thing, but you can’t really mess with someone who’s actually hitting the books.

My wrists are tied, so I’m just staring blankly at the chalkboard.

A notebook slips out from the side, held out to me.

It’s Yu Arin.

– You don’t like the handcuffs?

“Well, would I?”

– I thought maybe you might like it.

“I’m into *showing* off outdoors, but not *being* shown off, I guess.”

“You fucking pervert……”

I finally got Arin to open her mouth.

“So, is that on your bucket list, too?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Arin did write that she wants to have outdoor s*x. I vow to make it happen one day.

“Anyway, whatever.”

Arin shakes her head, like I’m hopeless, but a small smile plays on her lips.

“That’s a relief.”

A relief?

What does that mean?

I stare at Arin, who grins back mischievously.

She looked so pretty I just nodded without a word.

* * *

– Jung Chanwoo: Woojin, you okay?

– Ahn Hyunho: Oh man, what’s gonna happen to ya.

– Jung Chanwoo: The hyungs left, and this happens.

– Ahn Hyunho: Chanwoo said he’d give you a boo boo kiss next time.

– Jung Chanwoo: Hyunho’s gonna apply ointment with his finger.

– Ahn Hyunho: 🖕

– Jung Chanwoo: 🖕🖕

– Ahn Hyun-ho: ㅗㅗㅗ

– Jung Chan-woo: ㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ

– Ahn Hyun-ho: What a childish b*stard.

“You guys always play this childishly?”

Choi Yi-seo, after seeing my messages, gives me a look of disbelief.

But there’s something more important.

“Hey, what’s this?”

It’s a photo that Jung Chan-woo sent.

This was the reason these guys were messing with me under the guise of worrying about me.

The photo was from early dawn.

Around the time the sun was starting to rise.

The back of a bald ajusshi carrying me over his shoulder and into a car.

It even clearly shows me handcuffed, so anyone who saw it would mistake it for an arrest.

But because the subject is a bald ajusshi, the photo could be interpreted with a slightly different meaning.

“They’re saying I got taken by the ajusshi.”

I want to argue via text, but I’m still handcuffed.

For the record, this is the dorm.

It’s my room.

“Untie this. I need to get into a keyboard battle with these b*stards.”

My messages had been going off non-stop, so I asked Choi Yi-seo to check for me.

I never imagined that some trash like this was circulating.

When I mess with Chan-woo, it’s whatever, but getting messed with makes me feel like shit.

“Just leave it. Being rumored to be gay isn’t that bad.”

Yoo Ah-rin, lying on my bed watching shorts, chimes in indifferently.

It’s amazing how she can so casually have such monstrous thoughts.

“JUNGLE DIFF!”

Seo Ye-rin is in the middle of a game on my laptop.

One of my bucket list items was to raise my game tier, and she’s going all out helping me.

‘I feel like I’d rank up faster without Seo Ye-rin.’

But hey, she’s offering to help, so let’s just leave it for now.

You can even do PC bang dates, isn’t that a good thing?

“What the hell is ‘Jungle’ that’s got him acting like that?”

Yoo Arin, glancing up, mutters, clearly not understanding.

No, more importantly.

“Unlock these cuffs, and give me my phone. These weird rumors are spreading!”

– Jung Chanwoo: Woojin’s laying next to a bald old man right now. I saw it.

– Ahn Hyunho: He’s snuggled up in the old guy’s chest hair, laughing.

– Jung Chanwoo: Lmao wtf that’s so gross lmaoo

– Ahn Hyunho: lmfaooo

“Their imaginations are really something.”

“Don’t be impressed by something so weird, just give it to me!”

I lunged at Choi Yiseo.

We wrestled on the floor, tangled up, and, well, there was a bit of breast-to-chest contact and skin-on-skin action, which wasn’t half bad.

“W-wait a minute! Where are you touching!?”

“I didn’t touch you on purpose.”

“Okay, okay, just get off me– hey, don’t poke my butt!”

“I’m not poking on purpose either.”

“You’re pushing on my waist!”

Did I get caught?

Anyway, I got my phone and replied with a torrent of curses at those guys.

“Wait, hey… was 321 Jung Chanwoo?”

“321? Uh, yeah, probably?”

Chanwoo doesn’t use the bamboo forest all that often, so I wasn’t completely sure.

Because of the Gon-Gong and Popo followers, the 300s were definitely him.

“Your picture’s up. They say you’re being kidnapped by some gay old dude.”

“……”

“At least they blurred your face. He’s actually a good photographer. Should ask him to take some pics for our side later.”

“That motherfucker.”

I went straight into the bamboo forest and suspended Jung Chanwoo for 3 days.

* * *

“Hmm.”

Chairman’s office of Wooju Group.

Chairman Kim was skimming through the documents his vice-chairman and eldest son had brought to him.

His eyes continued to read the contents without a moment’s hesitation.

After reaching the end, a well-organized conclusion came out of his mouth without taking any extra time.

“Excellent.”

Wooju Global Digital Marketing Team’s quarterly performance forecast report.

Although it was only a forecast and the actual results could be different, Chairman Kim found the detailed contents well-structured.

Even though he knew the forecast was written with the minimum performance in mind, the digital marketing team had already achieved twice the performance of the previous quarter.

All because of Kim Woojin’s involvement.

“I like it.”

Chairman Kim nodded with satisfaction and looked at his eldest son, Kim Jaewoon.

“It seems you deliberately placed him there. So that Woojin could achieve results.”

“That’s correct.”

Kim Jaewoon did not deny it.

In fact, Kim Jaewoon had chosen a department where Kim Woojin could achieve results if possible.

Digital marketing was a department where significant efficiency could be seen in a short period.

“I clearly told you. This is also your test.”

Chairman Kim wanted him to seize the position even if it meant pushing Kim Woojin out.

At least he hoped to see that level of ambition and desire.

But Kim Jaewoon’s capacity was just up to this point.

Chairman Kim sighed bitterly and added.

“I believe you won’t say Woojin is incompetent just because he did nothing.”

“……”

“That is also his talent. If he had stirred things up trying to do something, he wouldn’t have achieved this level of performance.”

Not adding, but subtracting.

Knowing his abilities precisely, recruiting talent, and empowering them.

Kim Woojin himself might say it was just a lucky coincidence.

But Chairman Kim didn’t think so.

It was definitely a kind of talent.

“Tomorrow.”

Chairman Kim slowly closed his eyes.

It seemed that Kim Jae-woon was no longer visible in his sight.

“Call Woo-jin.”

* * *

The evening had grown dark.

Choi Jin-ah patted her full belly and smiled contentedly.

“Wow, that place’s kalguksu is really delicious, isn’t it?”

“Jin-ah, you know you’re starting your diet again tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Still, you’ve lost quite a bit since last time.”

“Right?”

Choi Jin-ah was only half-listening to Min Joo-hee and Oh Yoon-ji, who were on either side of her. She was pleased with the kalguksu she had eaten today.

The three of them had been wandering around together, chatting about various things since they returned from the pension.

Talking about the events that happened yesterday, they found themselves running out of time.

In any case, they concluded that the two of them had tried to seduce Kim Woo-jin, finding a sort of compromise.

As they talked, they got hungry, and being hungry, they spent the day searching for good restaurants.

Min Joo-hee had few lectures to begin with, and Oh Yoon-ji didn’t care much about her grades, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Oh, I left my bag at the department office. I’ll just grab it and come back.”

As Min Joo-hee headed towards the department building, the other two quickly followed.

“Night school, huh. I’ll come too.”

“It’s boring to go alone.”

They were surprisingly cute juniors.

Min Joo-hee laughed and said okay.

And so.

The three of them entered the dark school building.

* * *

I stared blankly at the hallway, where only the moonlight streamed in through the windows, wondering what was going on.

The handcuffs that had felt like a part of my body all day were gone.

Now that they were gone, I felt a strange sense of emptiness.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“What?”

I asked again.

Then, Yoo Arin, with the same smile she’d worn during lecture today, said,

“Take it all off.”

“Why?”

“You said you would.”

“I did?”

What the hell was she on about? But Yoo Arin, arms crossed, started digging up some old story.

“What was it? You said that even though you’re human, five was a bit much, right?”

“…Huh?”

“That if there were five it’d be like you’re a seed-spreading thing, not a person. And if two more are added, you’d go take a nude lap around the school.”

Ah, wait a minute.

I definitely had a memory of having a conversation *somewhat* like that with Yoo Arin.

I did… *somewhat*.

“Weren’t you supposed to forgive me?”

I was happy thinking I’d been forgiven for what happened with Sunbae Joohee and Yoonji.

Yoo Arin raised a middle finger, retorting,

“Bullshit.”

Guess not.

Yeah, it wasn’t exactly an issue you could just gloss over.

“You’re really gonna make me do this?”

Choi Yiseo next to me was wondering if this was even right.

“Full nude’s a bit much, let’s at least have him put on one thing.”

Seo Yerin, pretending to be nice to me, pulled a condom out of her bag.

“Wear this, at least.”

“……”

Nude except for a condom? Wouldn’t that make me a legit s*x offender?

And the kind of psycho who wouldn’t want any responsibility.

“Good thing you hate exposure, Woojin.”

“…….”

“So it *is* a punishment, you son of a b*tch! You liked making out with that other chick, huh!?”

She was definitely pissed.

I was surprised she held it in this long, actually.

I guess with Yu Arin taking the lead and getting angry, the other two were holding back a bit.

In a way, she intentionally took the flag, so to speak.

Fine, whatever.

“Just promise me one thing.”

I said, unzipping my pants without hesitation.

“Forgive me if I come back after this.”

“Huh?”

“Whoa.”

“W-wait, Woojin!”

Choi Yiseo tried to stop me, but it was too late.

I pulled my pants and underwear down at the same time, then turned around.

I took off down the hallway, ripping my t-shirt off as I went.

“Huh? W-wait! Shit! Wait! You’re really gonna do it?!”

“W-Wooojin-ahh!”

I could hear the shouts chasing after me.

“Hey! Hey! No! Don’t do it! I was just trying to scare you! You could’ve just apologized and it would’ve been over!”

“Woojin’s so fast!”

“This is a crime, you idiot!”

“Hahahahahahaha!”

What is this?

Is it because the air resistance is gone?

I’m running fucking fast.

I can run so fucking fast.

Say sorry, they said?

Nah, forget it.

There’s no way the emotional rift could be closed just like that.

I’m going to create a situation where you *have* to forgive me.

After this shitshow, you won’t be able to *not* forgive me!

“Hey, you b*stard!”

“Don’t, don’t yell, Arin! Someone will hear!”

“Ah, I don’t even know anymore.”

“Hahahaha!”

I just did something that’d be comparable to sleeping with two other women.

If I can get forgiven this easily, I could do it again and again!

Later, if this becomes an issue, I’ll just say, ‘Hey, I ran around naked too, isn’t that enough?’

The sense of liberation isn’t just because I took my clothes off.

It’s from the guilt.

I am free.

“Eureka!”