Bamboo Forest Manager

The Thief

I wasn’t very knowledgeable about bicycles.

In fact, it’s fair to say that before buying one, I knew absolutely nothing about them.

That someone as ignorant as me could know so much detail now,

Means that it was a result of much affection and repeated deep thought.

They say when you’re angry you can’t see anything else?

I resolve to immediately smack the face of the thief who stole my bike.

“Come out! Is it you? Is it you?!”

I’ll hit anyone who comes out!

Even if it’s that guy over there with the biggest build and shaved head!

Having already built resistance towards baldness gave me enough confidence.

‘The moment he steps out, surprise him with an initial punch. He’ll be flustered and struggle. That’s when I step in close and go for his abdomen with a Dempsey roll.’

The mental battle is already over.

All that remains is to act exactly as planned in my head.

Becoming good at fighting too?

Kim Woo-jin has gone crazy.

Damn s*xy.

However, the gangsters’ response was quite different from what I had expected.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“We came in our van, you punk.”

“…Excuse me?”

I inadvertently slipped into polite speech.

The gangsters snickered and looked at me as if they found me rather cute.

“Hey, kid. I thought you were going to make a grand entrance to save Ju-hee or something, but guess not?”

“Haha, who is it? Who stole this punk’s bicycle?”

“That one’s tough. Whoever stole his bike is really in for it now.”

What’s with these guys?

I couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered by their encouragement when I had mustered up my courage.

I had assumed one of the thugs would have come on a bicycle.

From noble mtl dot come

What now?

Then who owns the bicycle outside?

No, wait. It’s mine.

But who stole it?

As I blankly stared towards the counter area, my gaze drifted to one of the staff members there.

A man as tall as a beanpole was nervously looking around him.

Other part-timers nudged him asking if he hadn’t come on a bicycle.

“Was it you?”

As I asked hesitantly while passing through the gangsters toward that part-timer, he started darting his eyes around and then began to run away suddenly.

“He’s running away!”

“Hahaha! Catch that guy!”

Leaving behind the gangsters enjoying the spectacle, I rushed out desperately after him.

Initially trying to escape on a bicycle,

Seeing Seo Ye-rin and Yu A-rin blocking his way at front of bicycles quickly changed direction.

“There! That guy is the culprit! Hey! Since your identity got all revealed because of your part-time job anyway just stop running you fool!”

Despite shouting that escaping was pointless,

It seemed not to reach him as he kept running with his back turned.

No matter how hard I tried chasing after him; his speed was no joke.

“If you can run that well, just keep running like a madman!”

I consider myself fairly fit, so I tenaciously kept up the chase, but the gap between us didn’t close.

In the midst of my relentless pursuit—

Whoosh!

The scent of fruit whizzed past me.

Yu Arin, her blonde hair tied back for running, swiftly overtook me in an instant.

“Wow.”

Her incredible speed made me click my tongue involuntarily. Yu Arin didn’t even glance back as she sped away like an arrow.

Thinking it difficult to escape from Yu Arin who was quickly catching up, he darted into an alleyway.

The suspect and Yu Arin entered first and a few seconds later I followed them into the alleyway.

Ironically enough, there he was at a dead end facing off against Yu Arin.

“Shit! Shit!”

“Heave! Heave! Ah, damn it’s exhausting! Hey! You’re caught anyway. You’re just a café part-timer; your identity and face are all over CCTV—why bother running!”

I tried to reason with him while catching my breath but he was too agitated for any rational conversation to get through.

No choice then.

“Arin, step aside.”

I grabbed Yu Arin by the shoulder and pulled her back. Her eyes widened in surprise at my suggestion to handle it myself.

But how could I stand by and watch my girl fight?

“Hey, are you sure? He looks like he knows some moves?”

“…What?”

I blurted out confusedly without thinking.

Just as I was about to step back thinking maybe it would be better if Arin handled it—

Whoosh!

Like a beast charging at its prey—the thief lunged at me.

Thinking that taking down just me would suffice; he knocked me down swiftly before slamming his fist into me.

Thump!

“Agh! That hurts!”

Thump! Thump!

“You think you can handle this? Do you know how much this is going to cost in medical bills?!”

Thump! Thump!

“Argh! It’s 100,000 won per hit, and now it’s five hits so that’s 500,000 won, big bro!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“60! 70! 80! 90! Hey, you b*stard! Stop hitting him now!”

While being pummeled with both hands covering his face.

He thought he had completely overpowered me as he suddenly got up.

Lying down, I watched the world upside down as Yuarin fought the criminal.

“I thought I was something special just because I fought back.”

“I ran all the simulations in my head…”

But reality doesn’t work out as planned.

Slumped and dazedly watching Yuarin fight the thief.

“Yuarin, if it looks like you’re going to get hit even once, just let him go.”

I didn’t want to see Yuarin get hurt; that’s why I said it. But she smirked and stepped forward.

“I’m not letting off the guy who hit my man.”

Wow, what a forceful presence.

I should have been the one saying that line.

Thud!

The thief charged at Yuarin just like he did at me. It seemed his plan was to tackle her down and then start hitting her.

“This b*stard dares touch another man’s woman!”

Just when I saw him trying to pounce on Yuarin, a sudden surge of strength made me jump up.

But instead of her falling down it was the thief who collapsed.

Bam!

A knee kick landed precisely on his face. As he rushed in low towards her she closed in with a step and instantly countered – it was Yuarin moving swiftly indeed as if carried by wind itself.

“Ugh!”

The guy fell with blood gushing from his nose.

As soon as he fell down I stood up dumbfounded looking at Yuarin.

Yet she didn’t stop there; while he writhed on the ground she delivered a soccer kick right into his face.

Bam!

“Ouch… Isn’t that too harsh?”

Without realizing it I empathized with the thief asking this question but irritatedly grumbling about it to me was all that came from Yuarin.

“Don’t go around getting beaten up. It’s really disgusting.”

“Then why didn’t you save me when I was getting hit?”

“I thought there was something going on.”

She pinches my waist once, then looks at the wound on my face.

“Ah, your face wasn’t handsome to begin with, and now it’s got a scar. What are we going to do about this?”

Watching her hold my face with both hands and turn it side to side made me laugh.

“Seo-ah said earlier that I looked more handsome.”

“To me, you look the same. Just the unattractive Kim Woo-jin.”

Is it because we’ve overcome a crisis?

Why do I find her so irresistible?

“A-rin, can I kiss you?”

“Are you crazy?”

Smack.

But as soon as Yoo A-rin finished speaking, I shook off her hand and kissed her.

A brief kiss.

Seeing Yoo A-rin looking up at me with a surprised expression felt so cute that I kissed her again.

Our tongues intertwined.

Even as we explored each other’s lips in the alleyway, we knew we shouldn’t be doing this here.

We needed to stop quickly.

It would be dangerous if someone saw us.

Yet as if understanding this urgency made our grip tighter, the addictive taste of hers grew even sweeter.

“Woo-jinaaa! Ari-naaa!”

Just then Seo Ye-rin’s voice came from outside the alleyway.

Without deciding who would break away first, we quickly separated and awkwardly adjusted our clothes.

“Heek! Heeek! Oh man, I’m out of breath!”

Seo Ye-rin leaned against the entrance of the alley catching her breath. She seemed to have had quite a struggle following us.

“You guys! Something big has happened—”

As Seo Ye-rin tried to shout something else she caught sight of me and gasped in surprise.

“Woo-jina?! What happened to your face? Oh dear! Our Woo-jini! If not for his face or… he doesn’t have anything better than others!”

With a gloomy expression coming towards me is Seo Ye-rin who suddenly hugs me while starting to tear up amidst all this.

Suddenly, she stared at me with suspicious eyes.

Smack.

Out of nowhere, she kissed me.

“You taste like fruit, damn it!”

She immediately landed a hook to my abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Seo Yerin’s punch was light due to her weak strength, but it hit my abdomen precisely and proved fatal.

Seo Yerin slapped my hunched back with her palm.

“Does it hurt because Arin took care of you?! Our Woojin seems too busy! Running after thieves, knocking them down, kissing Arin! How? How does all this happen in just 10 minutes?!”

I glanced at Yu Arin for help, but she avoided eye contact and played dumb.

‘I should have hit the butt instead of kissing.’

Feeling betrayed yet remembering the story Seo Yerin had mentioned as she entered the alley earlier, I shouted desperately,

“You said there was a big problem earlier! What is it?! Did someone steal another bicycle?”

I tried to change the subject and finally Seo Yerin stopped hitting me when she remembered what she had forgotten,

“Thugs! There are thugs in the café! Those people—”

The moment I heard Seo Yerin’s words, I felt a chill down my spine and immediately ran towards the café.

* * *

The café was silent throughout.

All customers had already left; only the owner and part-time workers were silently watching each other with their mouths tightly shut.

The thugs were kneeling down.

Yes.

They were kneeling.

“Hah! Hah!”

As I entered into the café, I rushed over to console these distressed thugs urging them to get up.

“Get up! Get up! Oh dear sirs must have been scared?”

Then professional bodyguards dressed in black suits wearing sunglasses and even earpieces approached me from in front of the thugs.

“Are you alright sir?”

The eyes of the thugs widened in surprise.

Sir?!

With that expression, he knelt down again, eyes lowered, and apologized.

“I’m sorry for swearing earlier.”

“For mocking you… I committed a discourtesy.”

“I should have helped catch the bicycle thief.”

Indeed.

I did contact my older and younger brothers. It seemed like we’d get tangled up with thugs over bicycles again, so I asked if they could help.

I had mentioned it but…

I never expected the security team to arrive faster than the police.

“Why did you come so quickly?”

“We are on standby near Gahyun University. After the last incident involving thugs, the vice president instructed us to do so.”

“…”

“Just for your information, we didn’t make them kneel. When we tried to confirm your location by asking them, they suddenly started a fight, so we only responded in self-defense. If the police were involved, it would be them facing charges for business interference.”

There was a subtle pride in his voice as he explained how cleanly everything was handled without breaking any laws.

Without realizing it, I smacked my forehead and glanced over at the thugs.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

The sound of police sirens could be heard outside.

Someone must have called them in.

Looking around here and there at my surroundings, I said to the thugs,

“Get up and order a drink each. The security team should line up behind them too. Since we found the bicycle, drinks are on me.”

The line formed neatly.

Senior Juhee at the counter spoke with a grim expression,

“I’ll take your order…”

“An iced java chip frappuccino please.”

What?

“What did you say you’ll have?”

That really soured my mood.

“…An iced Americano please.”