Bamboo Forest Manager

24 – 24. Not Yet

Nawae and Choi Iseo take Minji to the police station. I quickly write a brief statement and come out, but Choi Iseo is already showing signs of tears.

“There’s nothing serious anyway. At most, it will end with a fine.”

“I know, but….”

Until a while ago, she was cheering her on, saying to stay strong and that she was always there as a friend, but it seems like it was all for show.

Normally, I would have teased her a little, but if I do that here, I would be clueless.

“You worked hard pretending to be tough.”

I tap Choi Iseo’s shoulder and say, and she flinches and bows her head.

It seemed that his emotions surged up because of what was said just now.

“Uhh, ack.”

Choi Yiseo, who was holding his face with both hands, struggled to hold back. Since they were not even in a romantic relationship, he couldn’t borrow her chest or embrace her.

He simply patted his shoulder.

“It’s a good thing. It couldn’t be any better.”

He offered comforting words, simple but enough.

Choi Yiseo’s tears didn’t last long. In fact, the reason for shedding tears was mainly because Minji admitted her mistake and the incident was completely over, so there was also some sense of delight.

“Oh, I’m such a pushover.”

And after crying everything out, he naturally regained his composure.

Just as Choi Yiseo always has been.

“….”

“It really is a good thing. I was unnecessarily worried when I saw Minji going to the police station.”

“….”

“Should I wait?”

I looked at Choi Yiseo, who asked if I should wait for Minji to finish the investigation, with a tightly cold gaze and answered.

“When I cried earlier, you were probably worried about me.”

As I mentioned Choi Yiseo, who didn’t even give me a second glance even though I was crying so hard earlier, he instead looked at me pitifully.

“I’ve never seen anyone cry because of something spicy before.”

“It’s the taste that splits your tongue, you know?! Who can withstand that without crying?!”

“Sigh.”

Choi Yiseo sighed and nodded his head as if to say “You’re right.” The atmosphere, which had just been like a lie, was now refreshed and cooled down.

It was probably because the night breeze was cool, not just because I vented my frustration a moment ago.

Yes, a refreshing darkness settled in.

The scattered lights of the street lamps that were turned on emit a pleasant glow.

“Hey, you have a good friend though, right?”

“Yeah, Minji is a good friend.”

On the way back home.

Even in the darkness, they walk along a street with a certain charm and have a blossoming conversation.

“What nonsense. I was talking about myself.”

“Anyway, don’t you have to say things like that? Even if you don’t say it, I naturally say it.”

*Sigh.*

“If it were any other time, I would never say something like this…”

Choi Iseo stops walking and looks at me with a smile.

Yeah, only this time.

Her smile was enough to make my heart flutter, so much so that I could understand why Ahn Hyunho fell for Choi Iseo.

“You’re really…no, you’re an amazing girl, Woojin.”

The woman, illuminated by moonlight and streetlights, had a refreshing charm that was hard to look away from.

I also smile and try to hide the fluttering feeling in my heart for no reason.

We have arrived in front of Choi Iseo’s house in no time.

I gesture for her to go in quickly, but Choi Iseo hesitates for no reason.

“It must be a bit lonely to be home alone.”

Minji might be undergoing police investigation, so I don’t know when she’ll be back, or she might end up staying in a detention center.

“She probably won’t end up in a detention center, but it must still be lonely.”

The friend I just had hot pot with and talked to is at the police station, so I might feel unsettled.

Seeing that Choi Iseo hesitates while looking at me, I push her back and speak.

“If you’re bored, call me. I had a lot going on today, so I probably won’t sleep well.”

“Okay.”

“I’m not saying you have to call all the time! I also need my own time!”

“What do you mean by ‘my own time’? Are you going to do something weird again?”

“….”

“Are you not going to answer?”

“….Just go already.”

After hearing my words, Choi Iseo finally starts walking and goes into her house. After waving my hand to see her off, I also walk home with slightly faster steps.

She’ll probably call soon.

* * *

“Hoo.”

The first thing Choi Iseo does when she enters her home is take a shower. To cool off her heated head and emotions, she washes up and dries her hair.

Thanks to her hair that only goes down to her shoulders, Choi Iseo spends less time drying her hair compared to other women.

“Hu.”

She lets out a faint sigh.

I had finished washing up and changed into clothes suitable for sleeping.

While looking at my phone, Choi Iseo was lost in thought.

I needed time to organize my thoughts, but it wasn’t because of Minji.

It was because of Kim Woojin.

“What is it?”

Choi Iseo recalled the conversation with Kim Woojin earlier.

“You’re really… no, a cool guy. Woojin ah.”

“Why did I say that?”

She had intended to say that he was a good friend.

But for some reason, she suddenly didn’t like that anymore, so she changed her words.

Because of that, she said he was a cool guy…

She felt like she was creating distance, so she felt sorry.

“Should I make a phone call?”

It took her quite a while to organize her thoughts while washing up, but she wondered if it was okay.

In the end, she couldn’t come to a conclusion about why she suddenly changed her words, but she wanted to talk to Kim Woojin for now.

“What should I do?”

He’s probably sleeping…

“If the busy tone rings three times, I’ll hang up.”

With that thought in mind, she made the call.

Ring.

It rang once.

Ring.

It rang twice.

Ring.

When it rang the third time.

– Hello?!

The heavily-influenced voice of Kim Woojin answered the phone. He seemed quite urgent.

“Were you sleeping? Sorry, I’ll just hang up.”

She wanted to end the call because she felt bad for waking him up for no reason.

– No, I wasn’t sleeping?

No, I wasn’t sleeping?

“Is your voice locked? Anyway, I didn’t have anything to say, I just called because I was bored.”

– “You didn’t sleep? I was bored too. I was thinking about watching adult videos.”

“……”

– “Oh, you were that bored.”

“……Tsk.”

Although she said that, Choi Iseo secretly felt good. It was obvious that she had fallen asleep, but just the fact that he had woken up for her sake made a smile appear on her lips.

When did it start?

What was the catalyst?

Choi Iseo briefly wondered what the turning point was for her to find the time with Kim Woojin so enjoyable and comfortable.

But she couldn’t find an answer.

She didn’t really try to find one either.

* * *

“Look at this. I recorded you sleep-talking.”

“No, if you fell asleep during the call, you could have just hung up. Why did you bother recording it?”

Tuesday.

For Kim Woojin, it was a miraculous day with a five-hour break from 12 to 5, starting with a lecture at 9 a.m.

Today, he was having lunch with Choi Iseo and Seo Yerin, who he met at the 9 a.m. lecture.

Choi Iseo suddenly played the recording to Kim Woojin sitting next to her.

It was a recording of Kim Woojin sleep-talking while they were on a call yesterday.

“Maeo maeo…..”

“It seems like the spicy hot pot was really spicy. You keep saying it’s spicy even in your dreams.”

Choi Iseo burst into laughter, finding it amusing, while Kim Woojin grumbled for her to delete it quickly.

Seo Yerin, who was observing the two in front of her, was quite astonished.

“Didn’t they say they were rejected after confessing?”

She thought they would be awkward today and wouldn’t eat together.

But the two of them seemed closer than ever, almost like a couple.

“Are, are they dating? Did I completely miss something?”

Feeling a bit excluded because of that, Seo Yerin cautiously asked.

“No, not at all.”

Kim Woojin replied, clapping his hands.

“Was it because of what I said at the tonkatsu restaurant that there was a misunderstanding? That was a lie to separate from Ahn Hyunho. Why did I confess to Choi Yiseo?”

“Ah, I see! That’s what happened!”

Seo Yerin understood, her shoulders rising. She quickly brightened up and smiled widely, tilting her head forward.

“Does Woojin talk in his sleep? Can I hear it too, Yiseo?”

From Noble mtl dot com

“Uh, yeah. Here.”

Choi Yiseo, with a somewhat hesitant expression, handed over her phone and played Kim Woojin’s sleep talking.

– Maemae….

“So Woojin can’t handle spicy food? How about going to eat something like tonkatsu that could kill him later?”

“Kill him.”

As Seo Yerin chimed in, the three people at the table regained their liveliness.

Today’s lunch was from a branded gimbap restaurant.

It was Seo Yerin’s choice, as she had won in rock-paper-scissors.

Why did Kim Woojin have to shove in a gimbap roll that cost 7,000 won?

She had suspected that maybe there was gold or something inside the gimbap that justified the price, but for now, she ate it.

“Woojin, do you have any free time after this?”

When Seo Yerin casually mentioned what she had heard last week, Choi Yiseo snorted and responded in her place.

“He has a five-hour break.”

“Ha.”

“Kim Woojin is Iron Man. His chest got punctured.”

Kim Woojin watched Choi Yiseo, who was slyly poking fun at him, as he put the gimbap in his mouth.

For some reason, it didn’t taste as good anymore.

Despite being a gimbap roll that cost 7,000 won.

It was called healthy gimbap, but he felt like his body was hurting because of stress.

Seo Yerin, who was happy to hear about Kim Woojin’s five-hour break, immediately suggested.

“Then, do you want to go to a PC cafe? I have a character I practiced this time.”

Seo Yerin asked eagerly, as she also wanted to go to a PC cafe.

But Kim Woojin declined, scratching the back of his head for no reason.

“Sorry, I have a commitment during my break.”

“What commitment?”

“Who are you meeting?”

Kim Woojin was slightly flustered by the two people who asked at the same time, but he immediately explained.

“I did promise, but I’m the one who goes to find you.”

“……”

“……”

Upon Kim Woojin’s response, both people sealed their lips. By not giving a detailed explanation, it meant that he wanted to hide something.

“It’s a shame. Woojin was going to carry you.”

Kim Woojin almost swore in anger but managed to hold it in.

Nevertheless, he had things to do.

Minji and Choi Iseo probably thought the conversation was over.

But for Kim Woojin, there was still an epilogue.