Bamboo Forest Manager

85 – 85. A Good Person

Bun-chung.

Slave No. 1.

Sword-wielding psychopath.

I was having some gukbap with Yu-arin, who had recently acquired the title of human butcher.

It was the weekend, so the gukbap restaurant was crowded despite the late hour, and everyone was noisily chatting while downing glasses of alcohol.

Amidst those people, the two of us were diligently eating our gukbap.

I hadn’t expected it, but it was more delicious than I thought, and I was eating it with a sense of satisfaction when Yu-arin kept glancing at me.

I thought she might have something to say, so I put down my spoon.

Our gazes met.

As if searching each other’s hearts, we carefully and very slowly traced the meaning in each other’s eyes.

“Do you know what I want to say?”

Yu-arin also put down her spoon, as if she had the same thought, and asked me while staring at me intently.

I was about to speak cautiously, wondering if it was because of Pyo Jin-ho just now.

“Why are you eating all the kimchi by yourself?”

Yu-arin frowned and pointed to the empty kimchi bowl with her chin.

“Didn’t you say you don’t eat kimchi?”

“If you eat one piece every time you take a bite, shouldn’t it be considered eating kimchi rather than gukbap?”

“……This is a good kimchi restaurant. Do they make it themselves?”

I awkwardly got up and got some kimchi from the self-service bar. Only then did Yu-arin nod her head in satisfaction as she ate the kimchi.

“It is a good kimchi restaurant.”

We continued to eat our gukbap with the sound of crunching. I thought that since it was a 24-hour gukbap restaurant, it wouldn’t be confident in its taste, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Should we order some soju?”

Yu-arin asked me slyly.

It was so unexpected, and I wondered if it was necessary to drink, so I asked her back.

“Why? Do you want to drink?”

I wondered why she was suddenly asking for soju, but Yu-arin made a complicated expression and nodded, brushing her forehead.

“Uh, honestly, I want to drink a little.”

“Well, it would be strange if you were in your right mind after half-killing someone.”

Come to think of it, I could say that I had verbally killed about half of them, so I should let her drink some soju.

“That……”

Yu-arin opened her mouth to say that she didn’t kill him, but she couldn’t say anything. Even if she thought about it again, it seemed that she couldn’t deny that she had half-killed Pyo Jin-ho.

“You’re the one who set me up. Honestly, did you act like that on purpose so that I could refuse?”

“If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t give up on you, would he? If I had said I had a boyfriend, he would have come to me later?”

He was telling Yu-arin to break up with me.

Then I would have become someone who had to break up with a girl I wasn’t even dating.

“That’s……”

Yu-arin couldn’t deny this either.

“Ugh, if you’re going to order, order it. It’s a good thing if you feel a little better after drinking soju.”

“Actually, I felt better earlier.”

“……”

Of course.

It would be strange if she didn’t feel better after pouring her heart out like that.

Yu-arin smiled refreshingly and drank the soju that had just arrived. She poured me a glass too, but after that, she drank it all by herself.

“Aren’t you drinking too much by yourself?”

“You don’t seem to want to drink that much. I just gave it to you to set the mood?”

Her instincts were amazing. I didn’t particularly feel like drinking, so I just watched Yu-arin drink it all up.

“Ah, Jota.”

Yu-arin, who had been drinking without thinking, looked at me with hazy eyes.

“Jota.”

“Yeah, you must feel good after drinking.”

She wanted me to respond to her, so I gave her a vague answer, and she clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“It’s a good time to grumble. I’m not in my right mind because I’m drunk, and you’re here, listening to me no matter what I say.”

“……”

“When Chan-woo broke up with me, do you know why?”

I know.

Because Yu-arin had said it all when she refused his confession earlier.

But she seemed like she wanted to talk, so I shook my head.

Yu-arin giggled and answered as if she had been waiting.

“It was because senior Jin-ho liked me. Isn’t it funny? He liked me, but he backed off because another senior liked me.”

That’s not backing off.

I should think of it as running away because he was scared.But I didn’t want to just blame Chan-woo. At that age, it’s normal for seniors to be scary.

Chan-woo probably regretted it several times.

“Do you know what the senior said after that? He said that Jung Chan-woo and Ye-rin would make a perfect couple and spread rumors to the kids. Later, there were even rumors that the two were dating.”

Yoo Ah-rin is friends with Seo Ye-rin.

But if the story that Yoo Ah-rin confessed that Jung Chan-woo and Seo Ye-rin were dating, the atmosphere would naturally become tense.

I don’t know if Pyo Jin-ho thought that far. He probably just did it because he wanted to get rid of his strongest rival.

Yoo Ah-rin looked at the glass filled with soju and smiled bitterly.

Whether she was reminiscing about the past or if she found herself funny now.

I don’t know.

“I was jealous.”

Yoo Ah-rin’s strange behavior that I had seen so far began to make sense.

“If I think about it calmly, it’s obvious that it was just a rumor. But at the time, I was so blinded that I didn’t even know that and I was jealous that my childhood friend Chan-woo and Ye-rin were dating.”

“……”

“Ah, I’m so ugly, Yoo Ah-rin. How can I be so shameless?”

Yoo Ah-rin, who had taken another sip, shook her head and muttered.

“It was so easy. I just had to tell him to stop, but why was I so scared and just watching his every move?”

“You know, that’s how it is when you’re a student.”

When people enter university and become adults, many of them realize that they have more choices than they thought.

In fact, we are now children who are becoming adults.

Our bodies have grown, but our minds have not yet fully matured.

So, I guess that’s what many people are learning at this time.

“I guess this is how we become adults one by one.”

Just like how the bullies who tormented me when I was younger turned out to be nothing when I grew up.

Yoo Ah-rin and Jung Chan-woo just realized that the man named Pyo Jin-ho was not as great as they thought.

It was just that kind of incident.

“……We can start over.”

When I said that, Yoo Ah-rin looked at me blankly. Then, she asked with a subtle smile.

“What?”

“Just, this and that.”

It’s too early to let go.

Especially when it comes to a beautiful love that you’ve nurtured since you were young as childhood friends.

Yoo Ah-rin took a deep breath and murmured after hearing my words.

“I’m going to be jealous of Ye-rin again.”

“What’s there to be jealous of?”

Yoo Ah-rin filled her glass with soju as if nothing had happened.

“Hey, do you remember the day we first met at the PC room?”

“I don’t remember.”

Thanks to that, I was able to write a movie script and drink with Joo-hee sunbae.

And I dropped the two of you off at Choi Yi-seo’s house.

“I wasn’t drunk that day.”

“Hmm?”

“I pretended to be drunk. To get you to leave.”

“……Why would you want me to leave?”

I had already heard from Choi Yi-seo that Yoo Ah-rin woke up quickly and went home.

I thought it was just because she was like that, but was there another reason?

“Because I wanted to know what kind of guy you were. Ye-rin had been secretly interested in you since then.”

“……”

“So I wanted to know. What kind of guy Ye-rin was interested in.”

“Why?”

“Because I was jealous.”

Is it because she’s drunk?

Is it because it’s dawn?

Or is it because of me?

Yoo Ah-rin had been pouring out her heart since earlier.

Somewhat.

Even the dark parts.

“I wanted you to be a bad guy. I didn’t want Ye-rin to be hurt, but I just thought it would be nice if you were a bad guy.”

“……”

“That’s all. Just, like a slightly painful love? I guess if it seemed like she was falling deeply for an innocent guy, I would have somehow torn them apart.”

“You know that’s a terrible thing to say. Seo Ye-rin is actually just a victim.”

I thought she would think I was taking Seo Ye-rin’s side.

But I thought it was something I had to say, so Yoo Ah-rin nodded in agreement.

“I know, that’s why I’m such an ugly b*tch. But what can I do? I lost Chan-woo, and that weird kid keeps coming at me every day. I’m not in my right mind either, so I became an adult.”

I didn’t want to say anything more to Yoo Ah-rin, who was reflecting on herself.That’s not my choice, but Seo Ye-rin’s, after she got to know everything.

What I should do now is…

“So how was it?”

I listened to Yoo Ah-rin’s story with a playful smile, as if to lighten the mood.

Yoo Ah-rin, who had been staring at me, answered with a laugh.

“Ye-rin has a good eye for people.”

“….”

“He’s a good guy.”

Yoo Ah-rin lowered her head slightly and avoided my gaze.

“Woo-jin-ah, you’re a good guy.”

Seeing her shy face, I felt my body relax without realizing it.

“Thank you.”

I was not happy because I was recognized, but because she was able to reveal her true feelings.

“Ah.”

She let out a bitter sigh and hid her slightly welling tears unnaturally.

“Why?”

Yoo Ah-rin was sad, as if she was being stubborn.

“He’s a good person.”

As if that was the problem.