Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 392



Bucket List

“Yawn.”

Lately, I’ve been having leisurely days.

Ever since I came back from playing with the kids at the pool villa.

There was only one reason for this.

Enlistment.

“Is there really a need to live so diligently?”

After all, I won’t be here in mid-January.

So, I decided to just take it easy. An Hyun-ho and Jung Chan-woo, who were having lunch with me, sighed.

“He’s starting too.”

“Seems like everyone who goes to the army is the same. Han-gang and Jin-ho were like this too.”

Should I call it a kind of mannerism?

If I had to be precise, it would be lethargy.

As I started to think that I didn’t necessarily have to work hard in college, everything just became bothersome.

Even though I felt like I should do something more because it would be a waste of time to be out in society.

But that didn’t mean I wanted to study hard at school.

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to the army?”

When I asked, the two of them answered together.

“Of course.”

“We got our draft notices too.”

“When was it?”

“Us? Early January.”

What the hell.

They’re going before me.

“But why aren’t you guys bothered by it? Usually, people find it really tough, don’t they?”

“We’re enlisting together, so it’s a bit better.”

“We’ve already had our fun together. For now, we’re focusing on our studies until we go.”

“……”

Something.

Something feels off, something, something.

Even though it’s fun hanging out with these guys, I don’t think they’re that important.

But finding out just now that these b*stards are enlisting together without me feels a bit bad.

And hearing that they hung out without me makes me feel unnecessarily left out.

“Are you guys ostracizing me?”

I ask, feeling absurd, and the two of them frown deeply.

Their looks, as if I’m the one at fault, are really annoying.

“What are you staring at?”

“Crazy b*stard.”

“Should we kill him?”

“Unintentionally.”

Covering my mouth with my hand, I nod for them to go on.

“It’s because you’re busy with work, you b*stard.”

“Yeah. Even when we contacted you a few times, you said it was hard because of work.”

“Ah…”

Right, that was true.

When I was working at Wooju Global, no matter how much they contacted me, I didn’t have time to hang out.

Back then, it was hard to hang out with our guys too.

“Not anymore. I quit the company.”

“Rich kid, doing whatever he wants.”

“Then let’s have a drink together later. We should hang out before enlisting.”

That sounds good.

“Just in case, keep it simple. Just the three of us meeting at a samgyeopsal place, having a drink, and parting ways.”

Thinking about the incident with Kang Han-gang and Pyo Jin-ho still makes me dizzy.

I didn’t want to go through that twice, and the other two nodded in agreement.

“Of course.”

“Just the three of us.”

After making a resolution, we have lunch.

Lunch is stir-fried pork.

Originally, I was going to meet our guys, not these guys, but they all said they were busy.

“Hey, did you get a letter from the guys? Wow, I never imagined they would send me a letter.”

“They told me to send more emails. Copy and paste some girl pictures.”

“I threw it away as soon as I got it.”

“I should have done that too.”

“Woojin is wise.”

We can call it our future, but we’ll think about it when the time comes.

At that moment, Ahn Hyun-ho’s phone rings.

The guy who checks it grins as his philtrum stretches.

“Ah, Gyu-ah sent coffee saying she’s sorry she couldn’t have lunch with me. Let’s drink this and go to a cafe.”

“……”

“……”

Look at this guy showing off.

It wasn’t long ago that Gyu-ah came to a meeting crying, saying she thought he was cheating.

I sneakily sent a message to our group chat.

– Kim Woojin: Ah.

– Kim Woojin: I feel lonely, I want to drink coffee.

“……”

No one reads it.

“Hey, doesn’t your girlfriend send you anything?”

Feeling awkward, I ask Chan-woo next to me, and his expression twists as he raises his middle finger.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, okay?”

“Really? You? Why?”

“Hey, hey, he told us last time.”

Ahn Hyun-ho steps in to mediate.

I also heard at the pension that Chan-woo didn’t have a girlfriend, but I didn’t think he still wouldn’t have one.

“You’re the one who keeps changing girls like Gundam parts. So I thought you would have a new one by now.”

“……”

“You seemed to enjoy being surrounded by girls at the pension. I thought you would have started dating one of them.”

“Hoo, I’m trying to be more calm. I think I’ve been dating too recklessly until now.”

“You realize that now.”

“You fucking retard.”

The moment we swore at him, the little shit immediately pouted, his lips jutting out.

If a girl did that, they’d call it cute, but a guy doing that makes me want to fucking kill him.

“Seriously, being so good-looking is such a problem. If he does that, girls would be like, ‘Kyaaa! So cuteee!’ and would’ve fucking nibbled on him.”

“Ugh, you piece of shit. So fucking disgusting. You’re perfect for an old man’s sidekick.”

“If you mention ‘old man’ one more time, I’m gonna fucking kill you guys.”

Jung Chanwoo immediately started radiating murderous intent. Just then, I got a reply from a text asking about coffee, so I checked it.

– Yu Arin: ㅗ

Yeah, figured as much.

– Choi Yiseo: Listening to lecture.

Look at this, a lecture is more important than me.

‘Wonder what Yerim is doing?’

I checked, but there’s no reply.

Normally, if it were Seo Yerim, she would reply the moment she read it.

Of course, it’s possible she’d reply a little late, but it was rare for her to read it and delay her reply, so it was a little unsettling.

“He’s been on his phone non-stop since we started eating.”

“Is he chatting with the girls?”

Even after finishing the spicy pork stir-fry and stepping outside the restaurant, there’s still no reply from Yerim.

From noble mtl dot com

Even after I called her out a few times on the chat.

– Kim Woojin: Yerim-ah?

– Kim Woojin: Yerim-ah? Is something wrong?

– Kim Woojin: Should I come there?

– Kim Woojin: If something’s wrong, just send a .

– Kim Woojin: Yerim-aaa?

– Yu Arin: Ah, stop looking for her so much, you piece of shit.

– Yu Arin: Send a personal message. Why are you freaking out in the group chat?

– Choi Yiseo: I’m muting notifications during the lecture.

– Kim Woojin: No, Yerim isn’t replying.

I was starting to get worried, wondering what was going on.

Vrooom!

Heavy driving sound.

Beyond the guys picking out chili flakes stuck in their teeth with toothpicks, a heavy black van was coming this way.

“Isn’t that…?”

“Ah, Yerim?”

Ahn Hyun-ho and Jung Chan-woo also recognized that Seo Yerim was an actress and immediately caught on.

As I quickly headed towards the road, the van stopped in front of me.

Vroom!

The door opened, and Seo Yerim reached out her hand.

“Get in quickly! I’ll explain later!”

What the…

Before I knew it, I was grabbing Seo Yerim’s hand and getting inside.

“Hey, what the hell? Where are you going!”

“Hey, you b*stard! You lost rock-paper-scissors and were supposed to buy bread at the cafe!”

I could hear Ahn Hyun-ho and Jung Chan-woo’s voices from behind, but I was already inside, as if hypnotized, and the van started moving.

“What the hell is going on?”

As I finally came to my senses and awkwardly sat down, Seo Yerim, who was laughing playfully, shouted.

“Tomorrow is the weekend!”

“Uh, right.”

“We have to fulfill your bucket list, Woojin! You don’t have much time left!”

“Well, that’s true.”

It’s already December.

If you think about it, there’s about a month left.

Thinking about it like this, there’s really not much time left.

But bucket list?

What is she going to fulfill?

As I looked at her curiously, Seo Yerim proudly puffed out her chest and shouted.

“We’re going for gold!”

Gold?

“In the game?”

Ah, gold tier?

The game we play, LOF.

Seo Yerin and I are in the Bronze tier.

To reach the Gold tier, we have to go through Silver.

In other words, we need to climb two ranks.

From what I know, if you keep winning, it takes about 30 games to go from Bronze to Gold.

So, we need to play at least 30 games.

If each game is about 30 minutes, that’s 900 minutes.

In terms of time, that’s 15 hours.

But can we just keep winning?

Considering losses, I can’t even estimate how much more time it will take.

“Hey, Yerin?”

“Don’t worry! I’ve practiced a lot!”

Seo Yerin’s phone was on the chair, playing scenes of famous players.

“……”

“Sis! Let’s go to the PC bang right now! I’ve reserved a couple’s seat, Woojin! We’re going to play all weekend!”

“Ahem, Yerin? I don’t necessarily have to do that.”

I need to calm down the overly excited Seo Yerin first.

Not only that, but this crazy plan needs a complete overhaul.

Because.

‘If I play with Yerin, we’ll never rank up.’

Seo Yerin’s reckless personality is even more evident in the game.

“Gold? Oh, we don’t really need to reach that.”

“……”

“Instead, let’s just go to a cafe. I found a good one for us. Manager, to that place-!”

Whack!

I was about to ask to change our destination, but Seo Yerin grabbed my neck and warned me.

“Stay still, Kim Woojin.”

“……”

“We’re going to go, win, and reach Gold. Got it?”

“……Yes.”

“Joang!”

Yoo Ah-rin often curses Seo Ye-rin, calling her a crazy b*tch, and right now, I could somewhat empathize.

In the end, our manager noona dropped us off in front of the PC bang.

“Yay! I’m so excited! It’s been a while since I’ve been to a PC bang!”

Leaving the excited Seo Ye-rin, who was hopping inside, the manager noona called me.

“Uh, Woo-jin? Ye-rin has cleared her schedule until next week.”

“…Because of this?”

“Do you think it’s just because of this? She’s cleared everything until mid-January except for the important stuff. You know why, right?”

“Ahem, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not blaming you. It’s not like Ye-rin forced it; she just crammed all her work together.”

“….”

“She went out of her way to be with you, so please take good care of her. Okay? And Gold? Try to do well together. Even if she doesn’t say it, she was really looking forward to it.”

“Ahem, understood.”

“Okay, good. I’ll be going now. You two have fun.”

Maybe it was because of what the manager noona said.

Hearing about how hard Seo Ye-rin worked for me made my heart ache a little.

‘Ah, screw it.’

Alright, let’s do this.

It’s currently Friday afternoon at 1 PM.

Right now, Seo Ye-rin and I are in Bronze.

As we step inside with the determination to finish a crazy Gold run over the weekend.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

“Ah, what is it?”

The phone vibration that ruins the mood.

“Woo-jin-ah! Hurry up! The noble blood of the general within me is boiling!”

“Got it. Just wait a bit.”

– Choi Jin-ah –

It was an unexpected call from Choi Jin-ah.

“Hello?”

– Where are you?

“Yes? Why all of a sudden?”

– Um… Just because?

What is it, bored again?

“I’m at a PC bang right now. I came to play games with Yerin.”

Choi Jin-ah quickly responds to my words.

– Send me the address. I want to join too. I’m bored.

“Do you play any PC games? I noticed you didn’t do much on my computer.”

Choi Jin-ah chuckles and replies.

– Well, when did I ever follow Woojin’s lead?

“Yes?”

– Never mind, just send me the address.

“I’ll ask Yerin.”

– ……

“We’re on a date.”

– Tch.

I was about to hang up the phone when…

– Ah, wait a minute.

“Yes?”

Choi Jin-ah calls urgently.

Then, as if it were quite important, she asks.

– If it’s a PC bang, it’s the one with lots of snacks, right?

“……”

– I saw Popo’s mukbang last time, and I wanted to try it.

“Okay. I’ll hang up now.”

– Make sure to tell Yerin. I really want to go.

“Okay, got it. Hanging up now?”

– Promise? I won’t bother you. I’ll just eat sausages and ramen next to you.

“Okay, you pig.”

– What?!

Click.

After hanging up the phone, I went straight into the PC room.

Before I knew it, Yerin, who had put on a hat and mask from her bag, was waiting for me with a headset on.

“What’s up, who was on the phone? Iseo? Arin?”

“No, it was a voice phishing call.”

“Oh, really?”