Bamboo Forest Manager

Chapter 177: Big Shot

- I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow.

When I asked why, Yoon-ji said she wanted to see me.

Despite announcing our breakup, Yoon-ji said she would come to pick me up.

I wasn’t someone without a clue.

Her words hinted that our relationship hadn’t yet reached its endpoint.

Before I knew it, I simply replied, okay.

“I don’t know what’s what anymore.”

It’s just complicated.

If they had approached me just for money, it wouldn’t have mattered.

“……”

I felt like I was being swayed.

It didn’t feel like me.

Before the MT ended, I needed to clearly sort out the relationship.

Amidst the ambiguity, I felt like I wanted to consult someone with a sigh.

So I was looking through my contacts, wondering if there was anyone I could call.

“What are you doing?”

Kim Gyu-ah approached me subtly.

I wondered why the first-year class president was outside.

“I just came out.”

She answered without me asking.

“The restroom is that way.”

“…You’re really mannerless.”

What other reason could there be to come out?

She probably came out to go to the restroom.

I thought she would leave if I stayed silent, but Gyu-ah stayed by my side.

“Why.”

When I subtly asked what the problem was, Gyu-ah couldn’t hold back and asked.

“You told the seniors today, right? To stop.”

“…How did you know?”

“I heard senior Yiseo and senior Arin talking when we were eating meat earlier.”

Her hearing is sharp.

Then she must know what response came back, too.

I did have worries swirling in my mind, but I didn’t want to confide in Gyu-ah.

I just wished she would go her way.

But it seemed Gyu-ah had other thoughts.

“How could you do that?”

With an expression of disbelief, Gyu-ah questioned me accusingly.

“In the end, you’re just juggling three relationships. You’re not much different from me.”

“…Did you come to pick a fight?”

“But how could you do that? When I get caught, I get dumped right away, get called a bad girl, or even get hit sometimes.”

Yet seeing her not give up on dating multiple people is truly admirable.

“Somehow, it feels incredibly frustrating.”

“What frustrates you?”

“It’s just…watching the seniors.”

Gyu-ah hesitated for a moment, then sighed deeply and kicked a pebble with her foot.

“Everything I’ve done so far feels utterly foolish.”

“……”

“So I don’t like it. I don’t want to get closer to the seniors.”

“Then leave.”

Without a response, Gyu-ah turned around and left.

Just a moment ago, she was grumbling that we were the same person.

Even though I confessed to breaking up, seeing her reject it made me feel a difference, awkwardness, and jealousy.

‘Is that so.’

We’re not in an ordinary relationship.

Thinking that, I felt a bit clearer in my head.

‘Let’s go back.’

I went back inside the auditorium to watch the talent show that hadn’t ended yet.

It seemed like break time or maybe they were playing another game as some people were rushing forward.

Among them was senior Ju-hee, who saw me and quickly pulled me along, saying it was perfect.

“Help me out for a moment, Woojin.”

“Sorry?”

I wondered what the situation was.

We decided to play a game during a short break, and even senior Ju-hee was half-forced to join.

“You just have to go and answer some quiz or something.”

“Oh, well. That’s manageable.”

It didn’t seem too difficult, so I stood at the front with senior Ju-hee.

Looking around, everyone seemed to be paired as male and female, but senior Ju-hee seemed troubled as she had no male partner to go with.

‘Senior Ju-hee is a bit intimidating.’

Even Han-kang tended to be afraid of senior Ju-hee.

“Alright, the game we’ll be playing now is the newspaper game!”

Newspaper game?

Ahn Hyeon-ho, holding a microphone, excitedly hands out a newspaper to each team.

“The team that lasts the longest on the newspaper wins. As time goes by, the newspaper will be folded, making the area smaller.”

I heard that when you go to MT, you play games that you only see on variety shows.

Since it was exactly like the games from variety shows, it wasn’t too hard to accept.

At first, there was enough space for both to stand with both feet.

“It’s simpler than I thought?”

When I said that with a smile, senior Ju-hee pursed her lips with an ambiguous expression.

“I didn’t think we’d be playing games like this.”

At first, I wondered what it meant, but as I watched the newspaper get narrower, I began to understand.

‘Ah.’

This is getting much narrower than I thought.

Suddenly, I was stuck closely to the senior.

Naturally, I ended up holding her shoulders and stuck right next to her.

It wasn’t much different from a hug.

Maybe that’s why.

‘Can you hug me just once?’

That day, the request senior Ju-hee made to me echoed in my ears like a reverberation.

“I want to check if I’m mistaken, as you said.”

Senior Ju-hee, who still didn’t know much about love, wanted to find a clear answer to her feelings.

That was a straightforward demand typical of senior Ju-hee in every matter.

But I refused.

“Ha, if I knew it was this kind of game, I wouldn’t have called.”

Senior Ju-hee, with her head lowered, muttered as if annoyed.

“I’m sorry. I made you uncomfortable in front of everyone for no reason.”

Senior Ju-hee seemed unaffected. Yes, it was how senior Ju-hee usually was.

Her breathing was rough.

The senior’s gaze continuously avoided me.

“Senior?”

When I cautiously called her, the senior, who had been bowing her head as if to escape, tilted her head to look at me.

From the senior’s flushed expression, the words Yoon-ji had just said came back to me.

Love is not something you fall into in a moment.

It’s something you realize.

As I said earlier, while rejecting senior Ju-hee’s hug, I prevented her from giving a definitive answer to her feelings.

But now.

In an unintended situation, the senior realized the answer.

Whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, I don’t know.

But I, too, came to know it together.

This person was loving me.

The next morning.

A throbbing headache.

From the moment I opened my eyes, I was already suffering from a tremendous hangover.

I heard it’s a rule to drink heavily when you go to MT.

But I never imagined I’d drink this much.

Also, with worries of my own, I ended up drinking excessively, thinking that getting drunk might ease my mind a bit.

Even though I don’t usually get drunk on soju or beer, I ended up quite tipsy and sprawled out in the second and third-year guys’ room. That’s where my memory ends. ŘΑNốＢƐṡ

I didn’t have much interaction with the girls separately.

At first, we all drank together naturally, but at some point, we ended up splitting into guys and girls.

“Ah, damn. What’s this?”

“I thought I was getting closer to the others.”

Because of this, the second and third-year guys were grumbling in their shabby states from the morning.

The guys eating cup noodles for breakfast and hangover cure.

Sitting around together, it felt dull, like we were in the military.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Ahn Hyeon-ho, sitting next to me eating cup noodles, asked casually.

His hair sticking up made me smile from the morning.

“What?”

“What else? You drank a lot yesterday. I heard from the others that even after everyone went to bed, you kept drinking alone.”

“Oh, did I?”

I did drink a lot, but I didn’t really talk to the others, just drank by myself, so I’m not sure.

“I don’t know. I just drank.”

“Ha, I tried to go out with Gyu-ah yesterday. But she just kept drinking nonstop and then went to sleep.”

“……”

As I stared at Ahn Hyeon-ho, he paused eating his ramen, looked back, and clicked his tongue.

“What, are you telling me not to get close to Gyu-ah? At least give me a reason.”

“…Go ask her yourself.”

I thought that if it were the current Gyu-ah, she might actually answer.

So I just moved on and ate my ramen.

After finishing the ramen, I felt refreshed. Next, it was time to wash up.

There were plenty of bathrooms, and thanks to the guys quickly washing up and coming out, I could wash up neatly.

My complicated mind felt refreshed.

While everyone was tidying up to get ready to leave.

I spotted Yu Arin moving luggage on the first floor, with a hood pulled over her head.

Still half-asleep, she was packing the luggage onto the bus with drowsy eyes.

“Yu Arin.”

I called her softly, and she looked at me intently before clicking her tongue.

“Did you drink last night? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“In the boys’ room. We all drank together, but honestly, I just drank alone.”

“Well, that’s actually good. If you said you drank with other girls, I would’ve killed you.”

“…Wait, let me talk to you for a bit.”

“Why again? Wasn’t the conversation already over?”

“It’s not over.”

As I spoke seriously, Yu Arin followed with an ambiguous expression.

I sent a message to Seo Yerin midway and met Choi Yiseo on the way, who joined us.

In the end.

Behind the empty pension.

The three people standing in front of me.

With hands in pockets or arms crossed, they were anxious about why I had called them, even while gauging each other’s reactions.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to gather like this.”

“…Agreed.”

At Yu Arin’s grumbling, Choi Yiseo also nodded slightly.

Seo Yerin yawned lazily as if sleepy, but her gaze was fixed sharply on me.

“Why did you call us? We need to catch the bus soon.”

With Seo Yerin’s question, all eyes were on me again.

My heart was pounding.

My hands were sweaty, and I felt like my breath might quicken.

Clenching my fists tightly, I faced the three and spoke.

“My father said to me, after breaking up with Yoon-ji, I only fulfilled my own desires by meeting other women.”

“…Father?”@@novelbin@@

At Yu Arin’s address, the two people quickly glared at her, but I ignored the glares and continued speaking.

“Selfish and greedy, that’s what I am, he said. So, to deny that, I tried to choose one of you somehow, but-”

I failed.

I couldn’t choose anyone.

So instead, I decided to let everyone go.

Because that was the opposite of what my father thought of me.

At my words, everyone glanced at each other.

It seemed they couldn’t predict what I was going to say.

“But then I thought, isn’t this also just playing into my father’s hands? I wondered if I was just the Kim Woojin that my father could read.”

My father’s words burrowed into me like seeds, growing rapidly.

“But when you rejected my suggestion to stop yesterday.”

I clench my fists tightly.

Something felt like it was blazing inside my chest.

Should I say it felt like breaking out of an egg?

Suddenly, it felt like the shackles my father had placed on me were loosening.

“I realized that denying my father’s words doesn’t suit me.”

So, I’m going to go the opposite way.

Beyond what my father imagined.

“More greedy, more selfish.”

A bright smile appeared on my lips.

When he realizes his son has far surpassed his expectations.

I was genuinely curious about the expression my father would make.

And with newfound confidence, I finally felt like I was wearing clothes that fit the person I am.

“So.”

I reach out my hand.

Though it wasn’t directed at any of the three.

My hand, clearly extended towards the three of them, was filled with determination and resolve.

“I truly love all three of you.”

Only now could I finally say it.

The bright smile held a sense of inexplicable relief.

As I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing to greet me was the aching pain throughout my body.

‘What’s this.’

As I slightly opened my eyes and looked around, there were people in patient gowns and nurses.

Since nothing like an IV was attached, I slowly got up, just as a nurse was coming over.

“Oh, you’re awake? The doctor will come and explain, but there’s nothing particularly wrong with your body, so don’t worry too much.”

“……”

Ah, I remember now.

I got beaten up real bad.