Bamboo Forest Manager

Group Project

Outside the window it had already grown dark.

Our surroundings littered with empty energy drink cans.

Time had stealthily crossed midnight.

In front of screens glowing like fireflies in their own light, we silently continued our project.

Though we had become haggard and speechless quite some time ago, suddenly silence broke.

“I told you I’d fix the font on the PPT.”

Yoo Arin’s voice carried an overt irritation. As Seo Ye Rin furrowed her brow while writing individual reflections and reviews required by each team member,

“Just change that yourself. Earlier I even found photos for you.”

“Ha! Shit.”

They grumbled as they argued, but by now such squabbles could be easily brushed aside.

“Why did the professor assign this to us?”

Could it be that he deliberately set this up to test friendships or love?

“Is the professor married?”

I asked irritably, and after a while, I got a reply.

“No. Still single.”

“I thought so. That’s why you give us such ridiculous assignments.”

He must be one of those who enjoy seeing others in pain. It’s highly likely he has whips or a triangular horse at home.

“He must watch cruel movies at home. You know, the gory kind.”

As I muttered, the others chimed in as if they had been waiting.

“He probably masturbates to that stuff.”

“He sends group messages to students telling them to hang in there while laughing and sleeping like a baby at night.”

“Ah, just thinking about the professor sleeping soundly right now makes me furious.”

Everyone had their grievances built up.

It all started off energetically and brightly. But soon enough, voices filled with resentment towards the professor painted him as a vile character.

“Maybe we should bribe him? Who knows? Maybe all other teams have already bribed him.”

“Then let’s send Kim Woo-jin. That guy will handle it well.”

“Why should I go?”

I looked at Yoo Arin incredulously, but she absentmindedly tapped on her laptop and replied,

“The professor is a woman.”

Ah, right.

The lady professor was an old maid.

“So you’re selling me out like this?”

I asked with a decaying expression; Yoo Arin snickered and responded,

“You enjoy getting women all worked up.”

“You’ve crossed the line, Yoo Arin. Do you really want me to end up with the professor?”

She sighed deeply as I glared at her furrowing my brows,

“That would suck indeed; sorry about that. Since I apologized already send over those images you promised via email soon—they haven’t arrived yet.”

“I sent them already; check your mail.”

“I didn’t send it. It didn’t come.”

“I did send it. Want to bet?”

“Loser wears underwear on their head while doing the assignment, deal?”

“Deal, but topless.”

We checked our emails.

There was a record that I had indeed sent it, and a winner’s smile formed on my face.

“Look at this, you idiot. I did send it.”

“Oh crap. I sent it to Choi Yi-seo.”

“…”

Upon checking the email again, it really was Choi Yi-seo’s email. Glancing over at Choi Yi-seo who had been crunching nuts since earlier now looked annoyed.

“Send the mail properly. You confuse people by sending weird stuff.”

“Wear your top off and underwear on your head, you jerk.”

Yu Arin declared victory with a sneer and a raised middle finger.

A warm pair of underwear hit me in the back of my head.

“Wear this, Woo Ji-na.”

Seeing Seo Ye-rin casually taking off her panties while wearing a skirt as if nothing was amiss.

Yet she kept typing on her laptop without giving anyone any attention as usual; everyone seemed exhausted indeed.

Eventually, shirtless and with Seo Ye-rin’s panties turned inside out over my head, I continued working on the assignment.

The scent of Seo Ye-rin wafting from above my head was strangely addictive.

“Oh man!”

Bang!

Suddenly Choi Yi-seo slammed his hand down onto the floor and swung his head around petulantly like he was throwing a tantrum.

It was an unusual sight for him which made me wonder what could be wrong when he blurted out,

“Just now thinking about Professor Kim Woo-jin made me lose focus!”

He must have gone mad because of the assignment too.

“Oh really! It feels so bad! And even worse thinking Kim Woo-jin might like this makes me more annoyed!”

Choi Yi-seo’s expression darkened with despair as he imagined his own NTR scenario.

“There is one way to handle this,”

Seo Ye-rin glanced at him briefly before offering a neat solution,

“Go jerk off. Then you’ll forget all about it coolly.”

“Could there be some strange gas sprayed here?”

Choi Yi-seo, feeling dazed, suddenly stood up thinking it was a ridiculous solution.

“Sigh.”

And then isn’t she heading straight to the bathroom?

“Huh, that girl is crazy.”

“It feels better to step back.”

Yu Arin and Seo Ye-rin snickered as they watched Choi Yi-seo.

Staring blankly at the bathroom Choi Yi-seo had entered, I abruptly got up and rushed over.

“Yi-seo! I’ll help you! I can’t concentrate either! Let me help—!”

Thud!

The door opens and out comes Choi Yi-seo.

“That was quick? Premature?”

As Yu Arin teased her, Choi Yi-seo replied while shaking off her wet hands,

“I just washed my face.”

Figures.

But what now? I’m already standing up.

“Stop messing around and go back to your seat to work on the assignment, Woo-jin.”

Pushing me aside, Choi Yi-seo returned to her seat. Seeing this clearly, I headed straight into the bathroom myself.

“I really stepped back too.”

Bang.

I closed the door and sat on the toilet seat.

Thump thump thump!

“Woo-jina! Let me help you! I can’t concentrate either! Let me—!”

Hearing Seo Ye-rin’s shout from outside, I was about to open the door for her when,

Yu Arin and Choi Yi-seo told us not to fuss around but come do our assignments instead. So ultimately we had no choice but return.

* * *

Chirp chirp.

“Shut up damn it!”

No matter how much one yells at a bird crying outside, what will change? It’s just venting frustration.

The once endlessly dark outside had brightened up, greeting us as sunlight streamed through the windows.

The air inside the room was damp, so I opened a window to ventilate.

Yu Arin and Seo Yerin were already asleep in my bed, impressively hugging each other.

Choi Iseo was fiddling aimlessly with a paper cup now that there were no more nuts to chew on.

Tap-tap-tap-tap.

The fierce typing was more excitement than anger. It also meant that it was almost over.

And then, shortly after:

Click.

Choi Iseo pressed the enter key and saved the file. She took a deep breath and handed her laptop over to me.

“Sorry, but could you check this for me?”

“Of course.”

I quickly moved next to Choi Iseo and supported her as she started to slump onto my shoulder.

As she leaned against me about to lie down on the floor, I took the laptop from her and began checking it by her side.

“Just now.”

Choi Iseo murmured softly with sleepy eyes fluttering shut,

“Sorry for getting angry.”

A chuckle escaped at those words,

“We’ve both been so angry so much; it’s hard even knowing what we’re apologizing for anymore.”

“Just… just sorry for everything.”

What’s there to be sorry about?

There wasn’t anyone among us who hadn’t gotten angry at each other at some point.

Still, isn’t it fortunate that our argument didn’t escalate further and we managed to finish our task?

“Just words?”

I teased lightly only for the weight on my shoulder to lift slightly. Choi Iseo raised her head slightly and kissed my cheek softly.

Smack.

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing Choi Iseo apologize in such an exhausted voice somehow made her seem all the cuter again.

From noble mtl dot come

“I’m sorry too.”

What good had I done anyway?

After apologizing, Choi maintained her position as if offering another peck with pursed lips.

“Just with words?”

“Hmm.”

A peck.

As their lips met, Choi Yiseo gently smiled and then collapsed.

She naturally lay her head on my thigh and fell asleep, so I continued checking the documents without moving her.

* * *

My body felt heavy.

I remember falling asleep after finishing the review of the PowerPoint slides, scripts, and critiques.

I thought perhaps I had overexerted myself, but that wasn’t it.

When I slightly opened my eyes, there were Choi Yiseo and Yu Arin resting on my arm.

I remembered Choi Yiseo being there but was puzzled about why Yu Arin was here too.

I was sure I had been sleeping in bed with Seo Yerin.

Glancing towards the bed, Seo Yerin was nowhere to be seen. Just then, I felt a weightiness.

“Ah, there you are.”

Seo Yerin was nestled between my legs using them as a pillow while she slept—quite an odd way to sleep indeed.

Thinking whether to just continue sleeping like this or not; however once decided upon it seemed sleep eluded me again.

And now my hand started tingling painfully too.

No—it wasn’t just starting to hurt—it really hurt badly!

“Damn it!”

As I lifted and withdrew my hand abruptly both Yu Arin and Choi Yiseo hit their heads on the floor as they got up.

“Ouch!”

“Ow…”

Both looked bewildered by the sudden situation but sorry—I couldn’t afford to care about that right now.

“My arm hurts so much! It feels like it’s being electrocuted!”

Even slight movements sent sharp pains through my arm—a pillow for an arm is meant for brief moments not for all night long.

But ignoring me completely they continued talking among themselves.

“What time is it now?”

“Let’s see… 3 AM. We must have fallen asleep around 6 PM… we didn’t sleep much actually.”

“Hey! Hey! Seo Yerin! Wake up—we need to go home.”

Yuarin woke up Seoyelin.

Choi Iseo started tidying up the room, while Yuarin and Seoyelin quickly fixed their disheveled hair.

Only now did my arms feel normal again, so I stretched a bit and muttered,

“Doesn’t it smell a bit?”

At my words, Yuarin and Choi Iseo got annoyed as if asking why I had to say that out loud.

It seemed everyone was thinking the same thing.

“Exactly. It’s quite strong!”

Contrarily, Seoyelin clung to me sniffing around here and there.

Even so, this was too embarrassing for me, so I pushed her away.

“I’d rather have a bath than a shower. Maybe we should go to a bathhouse.”

I was thinking of going out for a bath since everyone would be dispersing soon anyway.

Surprisingly, my suggestion seemed to hit the mark.

The desire for a bath was evident on everyone’s faces from the start.

From what I know, girls who are really close don’t usually bathe together like this.

“I should go too!”

“Yeah, it’s been awhile since we went to the bathhouse.”

Seoyelin and Yuarin didn’t seem to mind since they were already close enough to have slept together before.

“…I want to go too.”

Choi Iseo didn’t seem particularly opposed either.

‘Now that I think about it, we all go to the same gym.’

We’ve seen each other changing clothes and showering there anyway.

‘Maybe it wouldn’t be bad going all out with a trip to the sauna.’

Having burned through Saturday finishing assignments, taking Sunday off for some thorough rest seemed good.

“Then let’s just throw on hats and head out.”

Since we were going there just for washing up anyway; picking only hats felt simple enough.

“Wujina.”

Seoyelin reached out her hand with an ambiguous expression.

“Yes?”

“Give me back my panties.”

“Ah…”

You were still wearing it on your head.