Bamboo Forest Manager

Each Person’s Story

The moment I saw who was calling, my grip on the phone tightened.

There were predictable reasons for the call but first things first.

“Bol! It’s hot!”

“Petite? Small? You’ve been belittling me!”

“Stop it, it hurts.”

“My heart hurts more!”

Seo Yerin and Yu Arin along with Choi Yiseo were in the middle of their chatter when I held out my phone towards them.

Wondering what she would do next, all three pairs of eyes suddenly turned towards me.

And simultaneously they saw Choi Jina’s name.

“There’s a call.”

It’s best to be upfront about it. Just like during that arranged meeting before; hiding things only leads to misunderstandings whereas facing things head-on is better by comparison.

Choosing between the lesser of two evils if you will say so.

“……”

“……”

“……”

All three sets of eyes focused on me at once. Initially startled but now pondering over how to handle this situation.

“I probably didn’t go to the reunion which is why she contacted me. Your honor, I am innocent.”

As I declared my innocence, the heavy atmosphere lightened somewhat.

Seizing the moment, I simply pressed reject on that incoming call.

The atmosphere brightened further.

“Come on, you should at least answer the phone since you’re famous.”

Seo Yerin laughed heartily, her cheeks flushed red as she gently touched them.

“I am curious about how a violinist spends their day.”

Choi Iseo also relaxed her shoulders as she pondered about Choi Jina.

“If we were elementary school classmates… it’s not like we can’t contact each other. I’m not the type to be possessive or anything.”

Yu Arin claimed to be cool and said it didn’t really matter to her either.

‘What?’

I was the only one making a fuss over it.

Or perhaps my transparent actions from before had given them a firm trust in me.

‘Not bad.’

We were now connected by trust.

Because of that, no matter what happens, we wouldn’t doubt or criticize each other. It’s possible for such relationships to exist between people—

Ring! Ring! Ring!

– Choi Jina –

The phone rang again.

This time, without any hesitation, she just answered it.

“Hello?”

– Hello? Can you talk right now?

“Yes, I can…”

What’s this?

Cold stares suddenly pierced through me. Just moments ago they were relaxed and generous.

Even though I kept my mouth shut tightly, the air quickly grew heavy around us.

It felt like stepping into an inferno if compared to being in a sauna room—

“…Can you?”

– Are you asking me that? Heheh, Woojin is still so odd as ever.

Considering that calling someone odd felt more like praise than an insult shows maybe Choi Jina is somewhat odd too.

For your information, that was meant as an insult.

Though we are elementary school classmates, we still spoke formally to each other.

It was a kind of distance, and since I had tricked Choi Jin-ah back in elementary school, I felt awkward speaking informally to her.

Choi Jin-ah naturally spoke to me in formal language too, so it felt more like we were people who met at a matchmaking session rather than elementary school classmates.

– I heard you voted not to attend the reunion. Everyone is quite disappointed.

“I was suddenly invited to a group chat I didn’t know about and was actually quite taken aback.”

The group chat where I was suddenly added as an old elementary school classmate.

Seeing just the profile pictures made it clear that this chat full of tycoons had a poll for attending the reunion; I declined and left the chat right away.

– That’s too bad.

“But looking at it, it said something like ‘the 3rd Reunion.’ Do you meet often?”

– Right?

Her tone implied there was no need for further explanation, so I didn’t press any further either.

Those who are high up usually consolidate their positions by cooperating among themselves; they don’t create situations where they could embarrass each other or foster competitive environments.

They’re doing well enough without needing to do so.

– In that sense, attending reunions isn’t such a bad idea. You never know when someone might come in handy.

“You really want me to go with you?”

– …If Woo-jin comes…

Her bitter emotion strangely struck my ears sharply.

– It won’t be boring then.

“It’s boring there for you?”

– …….

“After all, those who think throwing money around is fun wouldn’t understand anything else.”

– Hm.

“Then why go? Just don’t go if you don’t have friends.”

– Pfft.

Even her laughter seemed restrained.

Of course, the three people listening looked at me as if wondering what sort of person says such things.

– Like I said. You never know who might be helpful. It’s not really my choice to go there.

A forced attendance at an unwanted gathering—that’s what she meant.

– It might help the company somehow after all.

“Heh.”

– The only thing this violinist can do for my parents is attend these kinds of things.

Already famous enough and having received awards, it seemed I was doing my filial duty well.

Yet something was lacking.

“Um, I’m not the successor, so I’m not really interested in that.”

It’s up to my older brother to handle company matters; it’s not my place to interfere.

– …….

A brief silence lingered.

I even pulled the phone slightly away from my ear and checked if the call was still connected because of it.

In that moment of quietness, awkwardness could be felt too.

– That’s impressive.

It was a short remark but laden with much meaning.

If someone heard it, they might suspect sarcasm.

Or another might simply say it was an expression of admiration.

“Yes, that’s why I’m not going.”

It seemed like time to end the call.

The expressions on their faces now made it clear they had lied earlier when they said everything was fine.

“No, they said it was okay when they accepted…”

I felt unjustly treated too; time to firm up my resolve for resistance.

“Got it? I’m hanging up now?”

– Yes, got it.

Click.

“Your Honor, I am truly innocent.”

As I raised both hands and spoke, the three people staring at me maintained their silence for a while longer than expected.

I worried about what response would come next but surprisingly found them quite tame.

“Woo Jina, should I accompany you to the reunion? Get all dolled up as one of the prettiest girls in town and stick right by your side!”

Seo Ye-rin spoke as if she would really come along.

“He’s a polite person indeed. Just like how he appeared on TV.”

Choi Yi-seo sincerely complimented Choi Jin-a.

“Shall we play a round of card games since there are cards available over there?”

Yu A-rin unexpectedly changed the topic.

“What’s wrong? You looked ready to amputate something when you first accepted.”

As I shrugged my shoulders and asked, Choi Yi-seo answered awkwardly.

“I felt a bit sorry seeing how hard you were trying to show trust.”

“Huh.”

A smile formed on my face without realizing it at the adorable response from Choi Yi-seo.

It was something that obviously needed to be done.

“I mean, if we’re dating, this is the least I should do.”

“We’re not dating yet.”

Her reply was sharp as a knife.

But,

‘Not yet.’

It seemed that our relationship, which I thought had been at a standstill, was slowly moving forward after all.

* * *

At the window of a massive mansion.

“……”

Choi Jin-ah stared at Kim Woo-jin’s name displayed on the screen.

The call had long been disconnected.

Yet as if feeling the lingering effect of it, she remained motionless with her lips sealed tight in the same position she ended the call in.

Of course, she couldn’t stay like this forever.

“Miss, it’s time,” said a female bodyguard cautiously calling out to Choi Jin-ah.

Only then did Choi Jin-ah seem to snap back to reality and slowly lifted her head and responded,

“Yes, I’ll be right there.”

Her father was waiting.

She couldn’t keep him waiting—him being the head of a major corporation.

“……”

As she moved forward and bowed her head down naturally, her gaze fell upon her toes.

The large shadow of the window frame stretched long inside due to sunlight coming from outside; it seemed as though it had draped over her entirely without notice.

The elongated shadow of the window frame…

“Exactly…”

Choi Jin-ah began to voice a sudden thought but swallowed back her words instead.

From noble mtl dot come

“It’s like a prison.”

Disliking that, I stepped out of the shadows, but nothing had really changed.

* * *

“Boss?”

“…Huh? Oh, yes.”

“Were you dozing off? What’s wrong?”

Bae Ji-hye.

Her colleague PoPo was sitting across from her, expressing concern.

I don’t know.

This had been happening quite frequently lately.

Oh Yoon-ji had internally started referring to these moments as ‘blackouts’ some time ago.

It was as if the person named Oh Yoon-ji momentarily switched off and then back on again.

These episodes weren’t long either.

She lived without being overly conscious of them or showing them to anyone else.

“You must be tired from hiring new managers and editors. I’m sorry.”

PoPo apologized while quickly handing over a vitamin drink. It was a natural gesture but unfortunately, everything in the office fridge was bought with company money.

“Why are you sorry? It’s my job to filter out the weirdos; it’s only natural.”

Especially in cases like PoPo who had trauma related to such matters, there needed to be extra careful attention paid during staff assignments.

“Returning to school… might be tough.”

Oh Yoon-ji muttered inwardly while soothing her upset stomach with the vitamin drink.

She was diligently finishing up preparations for returning to school.

Accelerating recruitment of internet broadcasters, hiring staff, launching merchandise production and so on.

But then,

The most important broadcaster of the company, Choi Eun-byul became pregnant.

Although she had been dating Kim Woon already, when she suddenly got pregnant it caused an uproar among Choi Eun-byul’s fandom.

While many fans congratulated her, there were also many who did not.

Anyway, the peak period of excitement seemed over and things were settling down somewhat now.

“I’ll make sure to inform you if I ever date someone.”

“I won’t stop you from dating; just make sure you use contraception.”

“Sure!”

With that, Popo scurried off to the broadcast room. She had mentioned ordering chicken for a mukbang earlier; maybe I should save her a piece.

It seemed Popo had somewhat overcome the incident from before.

Starting with how she interacted so casually with boss Oh Yoon-ji was proof enough.

‘She’s older than me, though.’

Maybe it’s that shamelessness that makes her fit to be a broadcaster.

Oh Yoon-ji finished her vitamin drink while checking the mail brought in by the new recruit earlier.

Among them was something from Gahyun University.

‘It must be for Popo.’

Gahyun University.

She had planned on returning to school.

‘…Is there really any reason to go back?’

She was working hard now, earning good money. Was there really any need to attend university?

A man’s face flashed through her mind, but Oh Yoon-ji skillfully erased it from her thoughts now.

“Ugh, I told you to sort out things like fan letters properly.”

While criticizing the new recruit for being clueless, Oh Yoon-ji flipped through each piece of mail when suddenly,

[The murderer’s father—]

A letter hidden among the fan mail caught her eye and slowly, Oh Yoon-ji’s expression faded away.

…

…

…

“Boss?”

“…Ah, yes?”

Snapped back by another employee calling her, Oh Yoon-ji regained her composure again.

“What should we do about this?”

“…What were you asking? Sorry, I missed the beginning.”

Hiding the letter below as she asked again,

“That is—right now—.”

It wasn’t that she was dozing off.

Nor was it a faint.

Oh Yoon-ji called it a blackout.

Pitch black.

Unable to do anything.

Yet clearly, there was someone still there.

That’s why it was a blackout.