Bamboo Forest Manager

65 – 65. Greetings

“Gimujiiin!”

Seo Ye-rin called me passionately, pointing at me. Because it was a drinking gathering, the noise around me made it not too noticeable, but the gazes of people near Seo Ye-rin naturally focused on me.

“Come here!”

Seo Ye-rin beckoned, patting the seat next to her with her palm. Near her, other 1st graders including Yu Arin were also sitting.

“Why is she so drunk like that.”

The Seo Ye-rin I know knows how to control her alcohol.

Even though she was already 20 years old, she knew very well that she was in danger when she couldn’t even control her own body due to drunkenness.

She showed that she could put away her glass once she drank a certain amount at the previous drinking gathering.

“Heyyyy!”

Intoxicated Seo Ye-rin keeps calling me. Originally, I was going to refuse and go home, but Seo Ye-rin kept persistently calling me, so I ended up sitting next to her.

“Why did you drink so much?”

It was a seat originally occupied by Yu Arin, so naturally I ended up sitting between Seo Ye-rin and Yu Arin.

Thinking it was a good opportunity, I whispered to Yu Arin and asked, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. She just suddenly came and started drinking.”

“Really?”

“Come to think of it, she asked where you went earlier.”

“Hmm?”

I was about to ask what he meant, but I felt a sensation on my chin. My head involuntarily turned towards Seo Ye-rin.

“What are you looking at? I’m jealous!”

“What are you jealous of?”

“Why are you denying it.”

With a flick of my hand, I brushed off Seoyerin’s hand that was holding onto my chin and asked, looking him directly in the eye, “What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?”

“Huhuhu.”

He turned his head sharply and let out a strange laugh.

“What are you looking at, you brat?”

After saying that, he continued to look elsewhere, as if he hadn’t just looked at me.

So, I called him out on it, but Seoyerin continued to avoid looking at me, as if it was more enjoyable for him to not be seen.

‘Ah, damn it.’

And naturally, the gazes that poured onto me. The second year seniors, who were like the Han River, didn’t really care since they were at a different table.

But the first years were looking at me and Seoyerin with surprised expressions, just like when Hyuna first saw us. It seemed fascinating to them that I and Seoyerin, who had been involved in various incidents, were friends.

“You two get along so well.”

Yuarin, who was next to me, clicked her tongue and placed a shot glass on my spot, pouring me a drink.

“Hey, I was just about to leave.”

In response to my words, Yuarin furrowed her eyebrows as if she was gathering her patience.

“What are you talking about? Are you running away because of the challenge?”

“It’s just that it feels like a provocation, so I can’t help but sigh.”

I said that, but once I looked at the glass, I found myself still craving for a drink. The stress I received while being with Moon Chi-gu and Lee Eun-woo, the dent in the back of my head throbbed, giving me an urge to drink.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

As I raised the glass to offer it to Yuarin, she smirked and clinked our glasses together before drinking it all.

I also swallowed the alcohol and the drinking session started just like that.

As if it was cleansing my spirit.

Or as if it was disinfecting my brain.

Once we started drinking, there was no end to it.

The voices of the people around me, who were drunk on alcohol, felt like they were urging me to move faster, like an accelerando in music.

“Wow, you really hold your alcohol well.”

Yuarin, who was next to me, continued to pour me drinks like a vending machine.

“You’re drinking well, Woojin!”

(Uh, the last sentence in the Korean text seems to be cut off.

Before I knew it, Seo Yerin, who had attached herself to my shoulder, was emitting a strong smell of alcohol and was already making my head spin with her mere presence, radiating pheromones.

“Oh, pretty! My arm’s about to fall off!”

For some reason, even my senior, Ju Hee, who was sitting across from me, was handing me a bottle of alcohol, surpassing the other 1st graders.

As I continued to drink, the memory of the incident from last time suddenly came back.

“Snap out of it, Kim Woo Jin!”

That day when I got drunk and whined to the kids to sleep over at our house.

I don’t remember the details as the film was cut, but I couldn’t afford to behave like that again.

“I’m going out.”

After taking a sip of water, I stood up and headed outside. It was a close call that Seo Yerin, who had been leaning on my shoulder and sleeping, almost fell when I got up.

“Ouch, oops.”

The festival performance was still in full swing outside. I thought it was late because I was drunk, but it was surprising to find out that it was only 9 pm.

I discreetly checked the other tables.

Choi Iseo wasn’t visible until now, but she seemed to be in a conversation with the professors, probably because she stood out.

“Must be tough.”

Still, that would make a good impression on the professors.

As I watched Choi Iseo, who was engaged in socializing, she noticed my gaze and tapped her phone with her finger, pointing at it.

“Hmm?”

A gesture to check the message.

I checked the recent message that had just arrived from Choi Iseo.

– Choi Iseo: Are you having fun with the kids?

– Choi Iseo: Are you dead?

I involuntarily held my breath at the eerie message.

But when I looked at Choi Iseo again, she playfully smiled and warned me to be careful with a clenched fist.

I smiled back and waved my hand slightly.

“Ouch, I’m starting to sober up now.”

I stretched briefly while avoiding my back. As I loosened up, the alcohol was also starting to wear off.

Thunk!

Suddenly, a heavy weight pushed into my back. I almost fell forward for a moment, but I managed to regain my balance and looked back.

There, Seo Yerin’s forehead was still frozen in the position of striking me in the back. She was still staring at the ground. Wondering what was going on, I corrected her posture, and she started mumbling and adjusted her stance again.

“Where are you going?”

“I told you I’m going out to get some fresh air.”

“Oh, right.”

Why is she acting like this?

“Why did you drink so much today? Last time you controlled yourself well.”

“Did I?”

If it wasn’t for Seo Yerin, it would be difficult to tolerate such a whiny tone.

I wanted to tell her to stop drinking and go home to sleep.

“Everyone! Have a good night! I hope you meet a good connection. You know, when you make eye contact at times like this, you go to a hotel and such.”

A rapper’s joke came from the stage. The people around laughed and chuckled.

Even though it may have been a bit exaggerated, the important thing was that Seo Yerin was staring at that direction intently.

“Ujina.”

She called me, and her voice contained some complex emotions.

“Why.”

“Is s*x really that good?”

“I, is she crazy?!”

From Noble mtl dot com

Without realizing it, I looked around in a hurry, but fortunately, there was no one nearby to hear.

Although I noticed that Yu Arin was glaring at me.

“Is it because she’s drunk and her dirty talk habit is coming out?”

I thought it was because she was drunk, but Seo Yerin didn’t stop there.

“My friends… tonight, everyone is going to the nightclub to have a hot night with their boyfriends.”

“Seo Yerin, the loser, is drinking with Yu Arin?”

I tried to change the subject forcibly with a forced joke, but Seo Yerin looked at me with pursed lips.

“If I do… will the world change?”

“It won’t.”

It’s all the same.

What would change?

If anything, the fantasies built up from watching adult videos would probably disappear a bit.

“But whyyy are you all like this? Let’s just gooo! Is that what you’re doing?!”

“Nah, it won’t work. You need to go home.”

Yeorin, who was on the verge of becoming a real s*x slave, was about to ask Yurin to take her home.

“Let’s go, Gachiya!”

Yeorin grabbed my waist and didn’t let go.

After struggling a few times to break free, I finally decided to just go with her.

But since it seemed a bit strange for just the two of us to go, when Yurin called out to join us, she coldly followed along.

“Arin.”

Jeong Chanwoo, who came to pick up the drunk Yurin. Yurin’s expression immediately crumpled, but Chanwoo’s expression was unusual today.

“Arin, can you come with me separately?”

Chanwoo seemed to have something he wanted to say. He asked Yurin politely, but for some reason, Yurin looked at me. It was as if she was leaving the answer up to me.

“Let’s go together. I’ll take Yeorin to Seoyerin’s house and then go home.”

“….”

Yurin gave me a disapproving look, but she didn’t refuse to go with Chanwoo.

Perhaps she had noticed that the atmosphere between him and her was different than usual.

In the end, Yurin left with Chanwoo.

I was hoping that their serious conversation would end peacefully, so I tried to support Seoyerin and take her with me.

“Hey, you guys.”

Han Kang, our senior, came closer to us.

I thought I had quietly slipped away without anyone noticing, but I was caught by the person I didn’t want to be caught by the most.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m taking Seoyerin home because she’s too drunk.”

As soon as I said that, Han Kang approached me. It seemed like he thought he had to stop me right away.

“I’ll, I’ll take her home.”

“No… What do you mean? I’m just taking her home.”

Especially now, she was displaying the same kind of behavior she showed during Anonymous 69.

It could be embarrassing if someone other than me saw her like this.

But Han Kang was persistent.

“I said I’ll take her home. Woo Jin, I really want to get along well with Yerin. Please understand.”

If he were in my position, he wouldn’t just send Seoyerin home.

“It’s frustrating…!”

“Sunbae.”

Seo Yerin, who was leaning on me, stood up quietly and looked at Hang Kang with puppy-like eyes.

Her pronunciation was so clean that you could almost say she wasn’t the same person who had just been drinking, and her posture was straight.

“I’ll go with Woojin.”

Only now did I realize that I had been fooled.

* * *

“……”

On the way home.

Kim Woojin, who was next to me, hadn’t said a word since earlier, so Seo Yerin couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Although she had drunk quite a lot, she was still sober. It was a time when she could realize that she was stronger with alcohol than she thought.

On the other hand, she had nothing to say now that her intentional act of pretending to be drunk was revealed.

Kim Woojin is the administrator of the Bamboo Forest.

From the moment she found that out, her heart had been thumping and something had been bubbling up, making it difficult to hold back.

It was also difficult to say anything without pretending to be drunk.

As she went back through her thoughts.

Starting from when she sent her picture, there were many embarrassing moments.

Anyway, Seo Yerin was just glad that he was the administrator.

But even knowing that.

She couldn’t say anything to Kim Woojin.

It was harder than she thought to show her true form and speak her mind through the Bamboo Forest.

“Am I still the same?”

Or am I not ready yet?

When that thought came to her.

“This is it, right?”

They arrived at Seo Yerin’s studio apartment, and Kim Woojin looked around before awkwardly sticking his hand deep into his pocket and greeting her.

“Well, then I’ll go. I was going to buy you something for your condition, but… you don’t seem to need it.”

Kim Woojin slowly walked away.

As she watched his back, Seo Yerin felt various emotions surging up. He was practically the only person she could show her true self to.

Is it right to hide this true self in her heart even in front of him?

Then until when?

When the agony of the heart becomes unbearable, is it not already too late?

‘Woojin…’

Doesn’t he already know that through the anonymous bamboo forest online forum, he accepts even his own wretched self as a s*x-obsessed guy?

‘Just once, be brave.’

Let’s go.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Seo Yerin was already running forward.

Soon enough, she grabbed the cuff of Kim Woojin’s clothes and halted him.

“You’re not drunk, right? You run really well.”

Despite the awkwardness, she thought the man in front of her saying unnecessary words was cute.

But now that she had caught him, what should she say?

Amidst various contemplations, Seo Yerin thought of the most familiar but least suitable phrase.

“Ah…!”

And also, the phrase that least matched the situation.

“Ahh!”

If we had to put it into words,

It was a kind of greeting that transcended the new relationship between the two.

“I want to have s*x!”