Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 381



Reunion

“Damn it.”

Before entering the bathhouse at the main house.

I called the kids, but no one answered.

I was hopeful because there were a few missed calls. Maybe it’s a bit late, so they must all be sleeping.

‘They sleep a bit earlier than usual.’

Is it because of the pregnancy?

Is her body perhaps heavy or something?

Or did something happen?

As I stared intently at my phone, biting my nails, my older brother smacked the back of my head and gestured with his chin.

“Stop looking at your phone. Let’s go in.”

“Hoo, hyung. Is it always this nerve-wracking when you can’t reach your wife?”

“Well, isn’t it the opposite? I get nervous when my wife calls me.”

“I should tell your sister-in-law.”

“Don’t. I’ll really die.”

The due date was approaching, but my younger brother seemed quite relaxed.

Even though I just found out, I’m already anxious.

“Calm down. There’s not much we can do anyway. Just help her get through it.”

“Haa.”

I enter the bathhouse with my younger brother. My older brother was already in the bath, meditating.

Judging by his slightly swollen eyes, it seems he had been crying.

“How old are you to be crying?”

I said as I entered the bath, but my older brother didn’t care at all.

He was just serene, as if he had reached enlightenment.

“Hehe, little brother. So, you ended up with three wives?”

“You could say that. Even father acknowledged it.”

I don’t know if their parents would acknowledge it.

They’d probably have to get beaten up quite a bit.

“I knew you were an extraordinary guy since you were young, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“It’s an insult.”

I can take some insults.

Just like my older brother, I felt like I was on cloud nine.

‘There are still many mountains to climb.’

But I could consider this a success.

I wonder how I’ll get along with the kids in the future.

As I was grinning while planning for the future, my older brother called me.

“Woojin, are you going to keep working?”

“Work? Ah… Uju Global?”

I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head.

“No, it’s fine. I need to graduate from school first. And even if I stay there, I won’t be able to do much anymore.”

“Yeah, you thought well.”

“Just in case, can you look after our team? Especially Manager Yoon, he’s an outstanding person. He got demoted because he’s indifferent to factions.”

“Got it. I’ll check separately.”

Since my big brother said that, there shouldn’t be any problem now.

It seemed like I was now moving from my line to my big brother’s line.

Manager Yoon might also see this as an extension of company politics and work.

Anyway, if you want to work hard, you need to know how to create that environment.

“What are you planning to do from now on?”

“How about just sticking with the company? Anyway, I need to earn money.”

“From now on? First, I need to graduate from college. You guys are seriously mistaken, I’m still twenty-one.”

Hearing my words, my brothers had a look of realization.

“Yeah, right.”

“Talking about marriage and pregnancy already, I couldn’t help it.”

Well, it can happen.

Even if my brothers say some silly things, I can understand.

Today is one of those days!

* * *

After finishing my bath, it was already midnight.

I tried sending a message to the kids again, but seeing no reply, it seemed like they were asleep.

“……That’s a shame.”

Of course, now that I’m pregnant, I understand I need to live a proper life.

But falling asleep when the baby’s father hasn’t even come home yet, it makes me a bit sad.

“Did everyone go home?”

How did they explain it?

I’m worried, I don’t think I can sleep.

So, I went into my room and turned on the computer after a long time.

Even though it’s the computer I had an embarrassing incident with because of Choi Jin-ah, it’s still powerful since it’s at my parents’ house.

I checked if Seo Ye-rin was playing games, but of course, she was offline.

It seems she really is sleeping.

“Hmm.”

I can’t calm my excitement enough to play a game.

No, it felt like a waste of time.

“What should I do for the kids?”

The kids will have a hard time, so as a husband, I wanted to reduce their suffering as much as possible.

These days, the internet is so well-developed that there’s no need to ask anyone; I just go straight to YouTube.

The algorithm brought up a ‘Cheer Up Team’ video, and the moment I saw Yoo Ah-rin smiling in the thumbnail, I clicked on it.

“Ah…”

She’s beautiful.

I can’t believe she’s really my wife.

She carried my child.

“I’m going crazy!”

My body trembles, and it’s hard to express in words.

If the kids weren’t sleeping, I would have called or sent a message right away.

After watching the video featuring Yoo Ah-rin until the end, I played a video about things husbands should be mindful of in early pregnancy.

– Food is especially important. There are forbidden foods that should never be eaten.

“Oh, forbidden foods? Note, note.”

I grabbed a small notebook from the room and started writing.

“There’s so much. What am I supposed to feed her?”

First, don’t give her anything undercooked, and never let her eat raw fish or meat.

The kids will have a hard time with morning sickness, but as a dad, I have to take good care of them.

“There’s also massage. Back pain? Ah, this will be especially tough for Yerin.”

Her chest must be hurting now, and it will be even harder when her belly starts to show.

Massage techniques to reduce swelling, etc.

I wrote everything down in detail and saved the video just in case.

“I can’t do as much as I thought.”

Compared to the kids’ suffering, it didn’t seem like there was much I could do.

They emphasized several times that emotional connection is the most important, and I was confident in that.

“The hospital… Father will probably take care of that.”

He’s quite sensitive about these things. When my sister-in-law was pregnant, I saw him calmly taking care of everything.

He even chose the doctor himself, so there shouldn’t be any worries in that regard.

“Should I ask my younger brother?”

Earlier, while taking a bath, I should have asked him about this instead of teasing my older brother.

“Ah, what should we do about our living arrangements?”

My younger brother’s wife stays at her parents’ house during her pregnancy. Will our kids be the same?

No, more importantly, where should the kids stay after they are born?

“…Should I just ask father for a house with my eyes closed?”

I can repay him later, can’t I?

“Or should I take the place he prepared for his retirement?”

He might scold me for being an ungrateful son, but our kids are much more important.

Since father prepared the place, it must have good air, good scenery, and good people.

Father has a lot of money, so he can go somewhere else, can’t he?

“Ah, I’m looking forward to it.”

Anyway.

The thought of our future living with the kids brings a smile to my face.

“I’m so excited.”

I stopped studying and ended up searching for Seo Ye-rin on YouTube.

There is a fan channel called ‘Face Genius Seo Ye-rin’ where scenes featuring Seo Ye-rin are edited and compiled.

Since I watched Yoo Ah-rin, I should watch Seo Ye-rin too.

It’s a shame I can’t see Lee Seo, but it can’t be helped. I’ll have to watch diligently.

“Ah, I really can’t stand it.”

In the end, I opened the door and went outside.

As I went down to the first floor, did my footsteps on the stairs make a sound?

My older brother’s door opened, and he looked at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Going back.”

“…Now?”

“Yeah, I can’t stand not seeing the kids.”

“Ha, you can’t go now. The drivers aren’t here, and the buses aren’t running at this hour.”

“…Can’t you call the drivers?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. They have their own lives and have gone home. Calling them now would be abuse of power.”

“Ha, damn. I want to go.”

“Go tomorrow, tomorrow. Sleep and go right after you wake up.”

“You don’t understand because you’re not a dad. The paternal love inside me is boiling over right now.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.”

Thud.

The eldest brother went back into his room.

As he said, it’s already too late to go.

To cool down my heated body, I went outside to get some fresh air and then returned to my room.

‘If it’s Yerin’s son…’

Lying in bed, thinking about the names of the children to be born, I naturally fell asleep.

And the next day.

The moment the morning sunlight entered the room, I immediately got up.

After a quick wash and change of clothes, I left without even having breakfast.

“I’m leaving! I’ll come back with the kids next time!”

The eldest brother had already arranged for a driver to have the car ready.

Eating breakfast together is a rule in our house, but I decided to ignore it just for today.

There was still too much time left before breakfast.

Father didn’t particularly stop me either.

Maybe because he roughly understood my feelings.

I was grateful for the small consideration.

‘This will make it harder to take over father’s house later.’

Well, I’ll think about that later.

I was about to go outside when mom called me.

“Woojin! This! I forgot to give you this!”

“Yes?”

Then mom handed me a special gift that you can only receive once in a lifetime.

* * *

From noble mtl dot com

“Hey, what are you going to do? Did you see the message Kim Woojin sent this morning?”

Inside the hotel room.

Yoo Arin, who had just woken up, sighed and checked the message Kim Woojin had sent.

Starting with the question of where they were, whether they had thought about the kids’ names, reassurance not to worry about the hospital, and the suggestion of staying at his parents’ house.

Just from the messages, it was clear that Kim Woo-jin was very excited.

“Sigh.”

Choi I-seo, who had just come out of the shower, also sighed and had nothing to say.

It had already crossed the line to just pass it off as a joke like usual.

– Kim Woo-jin: My father gave his permission. The company will be taken over by my eldest brother, not me.

– Kim Woo-jin: But don’t worry. I’ll get everything I can for the seven of us.

The fact that he mentioned seven already implied that he was considering the kids.

Moreover, it seemed like he was talking about something really heavy too lightly.

“Hey, isn’t the owner of the Wooju Group decided because of us?”

“……”

At Yoo Ah-rin’s question, Choi I-seo kept her mouth shut.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. After thinking for a while, Choi I-seo finally spoke.

“Isn’t it a relief that we stopped Woo-jin from becoming the owner? We can’t let Woo-jin handle such a big company.”

“Are you joking? I agree, but this isn’t the way to decide it.”

“……I know.”

Choi I-seo covered her face with her hands.

She seemed to have no idea how to accept the aftermath of their prank.

“Sigh, what should we do?”

“Let’s think about it together when Ye-rin comes out of the shower.”

Ding-dong.

“Guys, I’m here.”

“……!”

“……!”

Both of them jumped at the same time.

They knew she was coming, but did she really come this quickly?

She had been sending messages since dawn, so she must have left at that time.

“You, you open it.”

Yoo Ah-rin said, almost pushing her.

With heavy steps, Choi I-seo walked to the door.

Was it always this difficult to put my hand on the doorknob?

Swallowing hard, I opened the door, and of course, Kim Woojin was standing there.

And then.

“Isuh…”

With tears in his eyes, he hugged Choi Isuh tightly.

“Ah.”

Seeing him trembling, I could feel how much he loved me, but…

At this moment, it didn’t feel welcoming; it felt heavy.

“Uh, Woojin… actually, we have something to say.”

Choi Isuh, patting his back to calm him, parted his heavy lips.

Yoo Arin approached cautiously, observing the situation.

If necessary, she was ready to help Choi Isuh calm down the potentially rampaging Kim Woojin.

‘Seo Yerin, you always manage to slip away at the right time.’

I envied Seo Yerin, who was conveniently in the shower.

“I’ll go first. I have something to say too.”

Kim Woojin, slowly letting go of Choi Isuh, spoke in a trembling voice.

In the bitter smile he wore, there was a strange sense of despair.

The moment Choi Isuh and Yoo Arin simultaneously realized something was wrong,

Kim Woojin handed over a piece of paper from his pocket.

It was…

“Me.”

It had the power to make me forget all my worries and anxieties up to now.

“I’m going to the army.”

It was a draft notice.