Bamboo Forest Manager

Classmates

The living room of the house.

A sofa so spacious that, even sitting together, one could feel a distance between us.

There, I sighed deeply and looked at my brothers.

“Are you seriously telling me to go on a blind date? I’m only twenty-one.”

When I asked incredulously, it was clear that my brothers weren’t exactly thrilled about the blind date either.

“Yeah, Dad was indeed in a bit of a hurry.”

“…It’s true that Dad brought it up quite abruptly.”

After pausing for a moment, my older brother sighed and scolded me,

“But it’s also because you haven’t sorted things out properly.”

“…”

“Just go meet her tomorrow. If she’s Chairman Choi Gil-seop’s daughter, then she must be Choi Jin-ah. She has been famous as a violin prodigy since she was young.”

A violin prodigy?

Somehow when I saw her photo earlier, there seemed to be an elegance about her not typical of just any wealthy man’s daughter.

“Sigh, can’t I just refuse? What if I say I’m sick tomorrow?”

“That would be too transparent.”

“It would be more rude to ruin the meeting with such petty excuses.”

Both my older and younger brother disagreed with such tactics. Honestly, even I agreed with them.

If she were just an ordinary family’s daughter maybe it wouldn’t matter much but unfortunately for me, she is also the chairman’s daughter.

“How should we explain this to the kids?”

How should we explain this situation to our children? While pondering over this dilemma came our sisters-in-law carrying fruit,

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Don’t eat fruits honey; they’ll make you gain weight.”

They naturally sat down next to their respective partners and joined in on our conversation. Initially awkward but perhaps it turned out for the better,

It was necessary to hear women’s perspectives as well.

“What would you do if during your relationship suddenly your brothers had to see other women through arranged meetings?”

“Sigh.”

“Hey, why are you messing with us…”

The older brothers each had their say, but sorry, this is quite an important matter to me too.

When I asked seriously, the sisters-in-law answered with a laugh.

“We have to kill them.”

“How dare you-“

Their ominous response.

I briefly wondered if I should have just not asked at all.

“But if it’s a family issue, I can understand it a little. Just a little.”

The eldest sister-in-law tries somewhat to understand our troubles and burdens since she works with my eldest brother and often sees what we go through.

“Sigh.”

Feeling even heavier-hearted, I sighed again when my younger brother finally made a suggestion.

“Just don’t say anything.”

It was the most rational and also the most tempting proposal.

Honestly, I thought that was right too.

There’s no good in unsettling those who are otherwise at peace without cause.

“Yeah…”

Sometimes silence is indeed the wisest solution.

Rather than stirring up confusion or trouble by revealing everything, hiding it might be…

The best solution after all.

* * *

People often make mistakes.

That’s why most people try not to repeat them by learning from their errors and creating a sort of ‘wrong answer notebook.’

But today was different for me.

Even knowing this was my mistake,

Still, I had no choice but to do it.

– So. You’re going on an arranged date today?

“Yes…”

Times have improved these days.

We can even video call simultaneously on tablets now.

My younger sister-in-law gave it to me because she wasn’t using it for her broadcasts anymore, but it’s performing much better than I expected. I’m quite satisfied.

Can you see the faces of the three people?

– Are you just telling us this outright? Don’t people usually hide this kind of thing?

Yu Arin retorts incredulously.

I clutch my chest and recite my lines as if acting in a play.

“I’m telling you this in case there’s any misunderstanding. I know it would upset you, but finding out that I hid it from you would probably upset you even more.”

– ……

– ……

– ……

The three mouths are tightly sealed.

“This kind of cliché happens so often in anime and dramas. That’s why I’m nipping it in the bud.”

Especially since one of them is a famous violinist.

I heard he recently appeared on a variety show and was recognized, so there was a high chance someone around might recognize him and take pictures.

“He’s well-known, so if photos spread on social media or something, please don’t misunderstand.”

I don’t want to be misunderstood even for a moment.

“I don’t want to make things any harder for anyone; that’s truly how I feel.”

Last night.

Lines rehearsed over and over again.

Was there any point to practicing them as diligently as preparing for a PowerPoint presentation?

The kids felt uneasy about it, but they understood since it was something the family asked me to do; they agreed and hung up the phone.

‘What?’

I thought more words were coming, but they ended the call too abruptly.

It worried me slightly, but fortunately, they seemed understanding enough.

“We’ve arrived.”

The car stops at an impressively traditional Hanok-style building—a very famous Korean restaurant.

‘Oddly enough, this seems like my taste.’

Feeling ambiguously about receiving unnecessary consideration, I step inside anyway.

There wasn’t a single person inside.

Usually such restaurants are hard to book; being empty during lunchtime must mean we’ve rented out the whole place.

‘Talk about doing things big.’

It was just a meal, but I wondered why all this fuss.

A woman with wavy, long hair was already seated.

The platinum blonde lady sat elegantly with her hands on her lap, waiting for me.

‘I thought she was pretty in the photos.’

Perhaps she doesn’t photograph well? In person, she was much prettier than her pictures suggested.

“Hello, I’m Woojin Kim. Sorry I’m late.”

You’re not late.

She came early.

Still, formalities must be observed.

“I’m Jina Choi. No, I’m the one who arrived early.”

Jina Choi greeted me with a smile.

Her soft voice carried an ease of life in it.

Though I too am a chairman’s son and grew up quite freely,

Ms. Choi seemed exactly like what one would imagine a chairman’s daughter to be—quite the opposite of me.

There was no need to ask each other for details,

since we mostly knew them already anyway:

Same age; hobbies include playing and listening to music; special skill is violin; studied abroad in Germany since middle school.

While waiting for the prepared meal to arrive, I stared intently at Jina Choi.

Did she really come here thinking about marrying me?

With her lips sealed in a smile without speaking, it wasn’t easy to know what she was thinking.

Then Jina Choi opened her mouth with a slight smile,

“You went to Ireum Elementary School.”

“Hm? Yes, that’s right.”

“I attended there too.”

Ah, did you?

I hadn’t checked up on elementary school information so that had slipped by me.

“We were in the same class back then. Do you remember?”

“That…I didn’t know?”

We were in the same class?

I wondered how one could remember such things when Ms. Choi reminisced with a nostalgic smile on her face.

“Do you remember? Mr. Woojin brought some spam and the kids were scooping it up with spoons without even cooking it.”

“Oh?”

That’s right.

I remember.

“Then you told me to put the leftover spam into cup noodles and eat it together.”

“Ah, yes. I think that did happen.”

I secretly went to the convenience store to buy cup noodles, and we shared them with the kids who were there.

“That’s right, that’s right. I bought noodles for the kids. Ah, those are memories.”

“Yes, if they didn’t like the school lunch menu, you’d gather up kids who wanted to go to the convenience store and go instead of them.”

Essentially, I was responsible for taking care of going to the convenience store and getting tasty things for the kids.

From a young age, I was-.

“Ramen was one thousand won but you charged two thousand won as a delivery fee.”

“…Did I?”

Just doubled it outright.

“And then you’d buy extra snacks or ramen, selling those at double price too.”

Clever kid…

Jina continued her revelations with a smile.

“Do you remember when we used to play card games? You sold cards on our behalf too.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“I heard that fake cards could be bought in bulk cheaply. You sold them off pretending they were real which caused quite an uproar at school.”

“……”

So-called counterfeit cards.

I had passed them off as genuine ones back then.

Cards that could be bought by tens for just 500 won each,

I boasted they were rare items seen in comics and sold them for ten thousand or twenty thousand won each memory serves me well because parents of these rich kids wouldn’t mind shelling out ten thousand won easily back then,

And boy did my mom beat me hard when she found out about this scheme.

“You remember quite well?”

Up until now, I had forgotten all such incidents from elementary school days.

Jina surprisingly remembered everything which left me somewhat embarrassed.

“I was the victim back then.”

Jin-ah confesses the truth with a smile.

“I was the one who asked to buy more ramen, and I bought those fake cards at a high price too.”

Oh dear.

“You were such an easy mark.”

Oh my, damn.

I blurted out something terribly rude without realizing it and felt embarrassed.

But Jin-ah just brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled.

“Right. Being with Woo-jin is so fun; I just got swept up in everything naturally.”

“Ahem.”

Lucky you had good school days.

As I awkwardly avoided her gaze, Jin-ah leaned slightly forward and whispered,

“Actually,”

It seemed like she hoped no one else would hear, as if it was just between us,

“I’ve never left any food from my meals either.”

Jin-ah smiles brightly, cheeks flushed red as if revealing a confession held for years.

“I don’t even know the rules of the card games boys play.”

“So why did you…”

I meant to ask why she had me buy ramen or took those cards,

but Jin-ah’s shy smile said enough already.