Bamboo Forest Manager

“If that was the case, shouldn’t you have blocked it from the start?”

In my dorm room.

Yu Arin, who seems to have gotten used to being here, asked me accusingly.

During the midterms, the Bamboo Forest was in chaos, keeping her busy with studying and managing it.

She wasn’t wrong.

“Right. If I knew this would happen, I should’ve just blocked it.”

In fact, during exam periods, many people rely on the Bamboo Forest for help, so I was somewhat reluctant to block it.

An incident that started in reality spread through the Bamboo Forest.

Seeing it return to reality in this way, I felt a lot of things.

When I apologized to Yu Arin, she snorted with a “Tch,” but didn’t seem too bothered.

“Why did you suddenly stop? Was there something wrong?”

“Ah, actually-.”

I briefly explained about the conflict between Choi Yiseo and the freshmen.

Thud!

Yu Arin immediately landed a low kick on my butt.

“Ouch!?”

The atmosphere was fine just a moment ago, but when I looked at her, wondering why she suddenly hit me, she shouted as if ready to hit again.

“You don’t care when I’m struggling, but when Choi Yiseo is having a hard time, you close the Bamboo Forest right away? Do you want to die?”

“No…it wasn’t for that reason. Even if you had said you were struggling, I would have closed it immediately.”

“The more I see you, the more it seems like you’re favoring Choi Yiseo.”

It’s unfair.

If I were favoring Choi Yiseo, I would have asked her out.

“What are you talking about?”

Seo Yerin then walked into the room, holding bags full of snacks in both hands.

There were still people sitting for their midterms, though.

We had already finished our midterms, so we gathered for a small snack party.

For reference, Choi Yiseo did not attend because she still had exams left.

“We were talking about how Kim Woojin eventually chose Choi Yiseo among the three of us.”

“That’s something we can’t just overlook.”

“No, wait! Don’t say weird things! She’s getting worked up!”

Look at her, putting down the snack bag and twitching her hand as if to grab something.

Stab or get stabbed.

Seo Yerin’s warning that it would be one or the other is chillingly tightening around my neck.

Yu Arin, sensing that Seo Yerin’s mood was unusual, hurriedly corrects her words.

“It’s a joke, a joke! It’s because they said the reason for stopping Bamboo Forest was Choi Yiseo.”

“It is because of Choi Yiseo. But that’s not the whole story.”

As the controversy in the Bamboo Forest started affecting real life, I decided to shut it down.

Of course, if it had a positive impact, I would have left it alone.

Like a campaign where everyone picks up trash together or something.

“If the Bamboo Forest stirs up trouble, it could backfire on me too.”

If you break it down, wanting to look cool in front of Choi Yiseo was about 8.

The remaining miscellaneous reasons would be around 2.

“It’s a bit boring now that the Bamboo Forest is closed.”

Seo Yerin, who had been emitting a dark aura until now, smiles brightly again and settles on the floor.

Was this all an act too?

Sometimes she can be a bit scary.

“So, I found something to replace it.”

Seo Yerin smiles as she opens a snack bag.

“Replace it with what?”

Yu Arin joins in, opening snacks together and asking.

“Yeah, since I can’t use the Bamboo Forest, I’m flooding Woojin with messages every day instead.”

“……”

Yu Arin glances at me stealthily.

Without saying much, I nod to confirm it’s true. Seo Yerin is venting to me as much as she can’t write in the Bamboo Forest.

I had something to say about that today, so this is perfect.

“Honestly, don’t you think you don’t need to do that anymore? I get that it’s for stress relief, but it’s not really necessary now.”

“The Bamboo Forest Sex God is the first honor I earned with my own hands!”

She’s been obsessed with the Sex God title since last time.

But is that really an honor?

“But what’s the point of sending it to me? I get that you’re writing on the Bamboo Forest, but why text me?”

I dig deeper, baffled.

Seo Yerin blushes and lowers her head deeply.

“Ah, how embarrassing.”

Was there really something to be embarrassed about here?

Could it be that texting was really a sign to actually have sex?

“But isn’t Anonymous 69 not Sex God? Anonymous 90? Isn’t it that person?”

Yu Arin chimed in indifferently.

If it’s Anonymous 90, then it’s Physical Therapy department’s Lee Eun-woo.

Initially, a follower of Sex God, but eventually found her own path and ascended as the new Sex God.

She’s probably living diligently as a graduate student and assistant in the Physical Therapy department, yet she still can’t let go of the Bamboo Forest.

And it was also Seo Yerin’s inverse scale.

“That’s what I’m saying! I’m the original! Where did such a weird fake come from to steal my spot!”

“…It seems better to have that spot taken.”

“No! It’s mine!”

While Seo Yerin was punching the air while sitting.

Yu Arin tilted her head and looked at me.

“Hey, you know who Anonymous90 is.”

“……”

At those words, Seo Yerin’s gaze pierced sharply into me.

“You know?”

“Last year’s festival… Remember when Anonymous90 was acting up, trying to reveal your identity? They found out Kim Woojin was from the Physical Therapy department. What happened after that?”

“…There’s beer in the fridge. Want some?”

There’s some left from when Choi Yiseo bought it last time.

I rushed to the fridge, but Seo Yerin lunged and grabbed my ankle.

“Oof!”

She pulled so hard that I fell to the floor, but thanks to my recent workouts, I was unharmed.

“Hey, I could have really gotten hurt-!”

I was about to say something when Seo Yerin, like a beast, climbed over me as I lay fallen.

She pressed my back down with both hands and bit hard with her teeth.

“Who is it? I need to go and settle this. How dare they take away my honor?!”

These internet ghosts…

Whenever I see them obsessing over weird things, even if I want to understand why it’s so important, I just can’t.

“I’ll ask the person involved and let you know. No matter what, it’s a bit much to just spill personal information.”

Since Lee Eun-woo is no longer a dorm resident, I’ll have to contact them separately.

“Make sure to tell me! Promise! Got it?!”

“I said I got it?!”

I told her to get down, but Seo Yerin instead clings tightly to my back.

“Tightly.”

“……”

“Really tightly.”

I feel like I’ve become a teddy bear.

The warmth and snugness on my back aren’t all that bad.

“What are you doing?”

At Yu Arin’s warning, who had been watching our antics from the start, threatening to tear us apart if we didn’t separate, we finally did.

Once the beer was brought out, the real snack party began.

“Cheers!”

We sit around the snacks, clinking beer cans together.

Originally, we suggested going for some meat instead of a snack party, but.

Since we planned to go with Choi Yiseo and other students from different departments, today we decided to settle for snacks.

“What’s this? Mint chocolate chips? Why did you bring this, Yerin?”

“Huh? Don’t you like mint chocolate? Try it.”

“Ugh. You eat it all.”

“I don’t like mint chocolate either.”

“…Then why did you bring it?”

“There might be someone here who likes it.”

For the record, I too dislike mint chocolate.

In the end, I decided to eat the mint chocolate chips as a penalty.

“Anyway, Chan-woo broke up with his girlfriend again. That’s why I told him to just buy an iced Americano and go.”

“Hmm? On my way here today, I saw Chan-woo linking arms with a girl I didn’t know.”

Damn, isn’t this some kind of Gahyeon University ghost story?

“Oh, right. There are mosquitoes now. Look, I got bitten.”

When I showed the red mark on my neck, Seo Yerin smiled brightly.

“I left that mark. You were dozing off while studying in front of the convenience store last time, so I did it.”

“…No wonder it didn’t itch.”

The mystery was solved.

“Hey, but how did you become the Administrator of the Bamboo Forest?”

“Oh?! I’m curious too!”

“Hmm? Administrator? It’s nothing special. There was a senior I knew in my first year-”

“Wait. Was it a girl?”

I answered with a chuckle at Yu Arin’s coy gaze.

“It was a guy.”

“Okay, proceed.”

I briefly explained how I became the Administrator of the Bamboo Forest.

As the conversation continued, before we knew it, we finished our beers.

“I’ll go buy some.”

Since it wasn’t good for the non-dormitory students to go out often, I rose from my seat.

“…You’re not buying condoms, right? We’re not doing anything with the three of us.”

Just in case, Yu Arin warned, but I snorted in response.

“Hey, there are two boxes of condoms in this room.”

Last time, the idiots left those, saying to use them for jerking off.

If I was going to do it, I would have done it already.

I buy three packs of six beer cans each from the convenience store on campus and head back.

I’m not planning to drink them all, just thought I’d stock up a little.

When I go inside, those guys are raising their hands to the sky, squealing and drinking something.

“Ah!”

It was the wine Choi Yiseo bought last time, saying we’d drink it together later.

“We opened it because we couldn’t stand to see it.”

“Woo! Kim Woojin, woo! What were you planning to do with Yiseo after drinking this!”

Sigh, I’ll have to buy the same one later.

“I brought beer, so let’s drink beer.”

“Woojin, have a glass too!”

The drinking session continued once more.

Before we know it, the snacks are all gone, and the wine bottle is empty and rolling around.

I need to count how many beer cans there are, it’s quite a number.

‘Ah, did I drink too much wine.’

It was tastier than expected, so I kept drinking, and before I knew it, I felt dizzy and tired.

But the drinking party didn’t stop.

“Nom nom nom nom!”

Seo Yerin, who lost the game just now, devoured the mint chocolate chips she brought as a penalty.

Why is she making that sound though?

I just assume it’s a sound effect to deceive herself into enjoying it and move on.

“Let’s play another game.”

Seo Yerin grumbled as she threw the empty snack bag into the trash.

She launched a game on her phone that involved running forward endlessly.

We bet on who could run the longest, and since everyone was tipsy, no one lasted long.

Yu Arin, who wasn’t familiar with the game, ended up losing.

“Ah, damn. You guys planned this, right? You suggested something you were good at on purpose!”

“Nope.”

“Nope.”

Seo Yerin and I laughed heartily with our arms around each other’s shoulders, while Yu Arin flushed red with frustration, but a loss was a loss.

As a penalty, Yu Arin had to lie on the bed and mimic a cat.

Lying on her back with her hands curled up like a cat.

“Hey, meow.”

Seo Yerin immediately started taking pictures, and I sat beside her, stroking her belly.

“Eek?!”

Click, click.

I got a picture of myself petting Yu Arin’s belly.

I’ll have to ask Seo Yerin to send it to me later.

“Let’s play another game. Another game.”

Even in our tipsy state, the games continued.

It was essentially a game for penalties, to be honest.

In the next game, Seo Yerin lost and, as a penalty, stuck a pencil case on her chest and sang the first verse of the national anthem as if it were a microphone.

In the following game, Yu Arin lost again and drew a tally mark on her thigh.

The endless cycle of games.

Strangely enough, I was on a winning streak, and I smirked as I looked at the two who were a mess.

In the end, the two, unable to hold back their anger, proposed a final game.

“Arm wrestle 2:1! The loser has to stay still until the winner says so!”

Two to one arm wrestling?

So they’re saying they’ll beat me together.

“Heh, you really have to stay still.”

Confidently, I rolled my sleeves up and got into position.

I could already feel the two trembling at my every touch while lying on the bed.

Yu Arin grabbed my hand, and on top of that, was placed Seo Yerin’s hand.

Even if I lose to Yu Arin in a fight, I can win with strength.

Besides, I was a robust man who did both home workouts and gym training.

‘I haven’t done strength training, though.’

Still, I judged Seo Yerin as out of the equation.

The arm wrestling started as it was.

Thud!

“……”

I lost in exactly 2 seconds.

“Yes! We won!”

“Kim Woojin, you’re so weak!”

Stronger than I thought…

I really intended to win, but I didn’t expect to lose so quickly.

The two of them approached me with a smug smile.

Now, only one exam remains.

Choi Yiseo, who no longer needed to clean up after her juniors, was peacefully studying in the library.

‘Just a little more effort.’

With only one left, she could focus solely on it, but her stamina was already depleted.

She stretched to shake off some of the fatigue.

Buzz!

Just then, a message came in.

It was from Kim Woojin.

‘I wonder if he’s having fun with the others.’

A bit worried, but since it’s the dormitory, he can’t do anything too wild.

Thinking that, Choi Yiseo checked the message.

It was a photo.

Kim Woojin was in the center, shirtless.

Yu Arin and Seo Yerin are clinging closely to him on either side.

The selfie was taken by Seo Yerin, with one hand down Kim Woojin’s pants.

Yu Arin is covering Kim Woojin’s eyes with one hand and making a V-sign with the other, smiling.

There are a few deep lip marks visible on Kim Woojin’s body.

“……”

Before Choi Yiseo, staring blankly at the photo, could respond.

- Kim Woojin: How’s the concept shot?

A message presumably sent by Seo Yerin.

- Choi Yiseo: You didn’t really do anything, right?

She asks, just in case.

- Kim Woojin: Yeah. Woojin’s drinking and sleeping now. Arin covered his eyes while taking the picture, and he fell asleep in the meantime.

Phew.

Thank goodness-

- Choi Yiseo: I’m at the library. I’m coming over now, so don’t do anything weird to him.

No, thinking it might be even more dangerous, Choi Yiseo hurriedly got up from her seat.