Bamboo Forest Manager

Secret Weapon

“…Hmm?”

Having bought cooking oil from the nearby store, Choi Yi-seo felt a strange atmosphere as soon as she entered the house.

Was it that the air had become slightly heavier than before she entered?

There was a stuffy heat coexisting, yet oddly enough, the windows were open.

“Kids?”

As Choi Yi-seo stepped inside with a puzzled expression, only then did Kim Woo-jin come out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Isn’t it… kind of hot?”

“Right? I also thought so and wanted to turn on the air conditioner. But since Arin isn’t here, I hesitated to do so without asking.”

What’s going on?

Despite their conversation being nothing out of ordinary, Choi Yi-seo couldn’t shake off her feeling that something was odd.

However, since Kim Woo-jin naturally went and sat on the sofa, Choi Yi-seo didn’t react further and headed towards the kitchen instead.

Just as she was about to finish up cooking,

“Yi-seo! You’re back? Need help with anything?”

Seo Ye-rin approached with a smile while wearing an oversized shirt.

‘Hmm? Where did she just come from?’

Although slightly puzzled, seeing oyster pancakes cooling down rapidly made Choi Yi-seo anxious and respond hurriedly,

“Just take these oyster pancakes first; they really taste awful when cold.”

“Got it! I’ll make some soy sauce dip separately.”

Seo Ye-rin quickly whipped up a sauce by adding some pepper into soy sauce.

Just as she was about to take it over to Kim Woo-jin,

“Oh!”

She suddenly staggered and her back bent backward dramatically.

It nearly led to everything spilling over.

Choi Yi-Seo gasped in surprise at Seo Ye-rin’s trembling legs.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah, no. Today’s filming was so rough that my legs feel weak?”

“It was an action scene.”

I don’t know much about filming, but I realized actors really do suffer for their art.

“Goodness! I’ll take it!”

Kim Woojin quickly takes the plate from the staggering Seo Yerin with a hop and a kick.

“You should be more gentle-“

“No, you were the one being too rough-“

Watching them whisper to each other as they walked away made Choi Yi Seo feel uneasy.

‘Surely not…’

Even so, it had only been about 10 minutes since she had gone to the store.

Could something have happened in that short time?

’10 minutes isn’t even enough to set the mood.’

For Choi Yi Seo, who always valued atmosphere during intimate moments,

she thought it impossible to just hit and run without any mood.

While Choi Yi Seo came to this conclusion by herself, Seo Yerin and Kim Woojin were whispering among themselves.

“Oh, what should we do Woojin? It seems like it might flow.”

“……!”

“What did you eat that made it so much-!”

“Hush! Quiet! Ahem, go use the bathroom.”

While Choi Yi Seo wasn’t looking, an awkwardly walking Seo Yerin headed for the bathroom.

She asked someone to bring her fresh panties midway but ended up giving her own since she didn’t know whose bag was whose.

* * *

Late evening.

Yu Arin and I were tapping on the remote control searching for a movie worth watching.

Thanks to well-developed OTT services recently available without costing much money or limiting choices,

“Why would we watch horror at this hour?”

“It’s not horror; it’s a thriller. This one is based on true events and famously thrilling.”

On the flip side due to too many options available we faced difficulties choosing one.

I knew Yu Arin disliked horror movies but this was a thriller after all.

“Ghosts are different from serial killers right? They’re not the same!”

“What’s the difference! It’s the same thing, popping up suddenly and scaring people!”

“It is different! You can beat a murderer!”

“No… That, th-“

Yu Arin pondered deeply.

Then she suddenly crossed her arms and began to contemplate.

“What weapon did they have?”

“…You’d know if you watched the movie.”

Kids who are into fighting always take this stuff seriously.

While we were deliberating over a movie,

Choi I-seo and Seo Ye-rin were stretching in a corner of the living room.

“aaargh! It hurts! Save me! It really hurts so much!”

“…Ye-rin, your body is too stiff.”

“aaargh!”

Choi I-seo was helping the inflexible Seo Ye-rin stretch. Apparently, she was preparing in advance for teaching internet broadcasters at her new job starting tomorrow.

Seo Ye-rin had become her first practice partner.

“It huuurts! It really huuurts!”

“I’m massaging you, Ye-rin. Your muscles are very tense.”

“aaargh!”

I had asked to be next after Seo Ye-rin. But now I think I’d rather not have it done at all.

Choi I-seo seemed to have learned somewhere how to give thoughtful massages and proper stretches or exercises.

I once mentioned that she wouldn’t be bad as a personal trainer later on, but she said she had no plans to pursue it beyond a hobby.

“Alright, let’s watch this.”

Finally agreeing with my suggestion, Yu Arin decided we should watch the movie.

She seemed to have fought and beaten the murderer actor from the poster in her mind simulation already.

“…Glad you won.”

I turned on the movie just like that.

The sounds of Seo Ye-rin and Choi I-seo stretching continued beside us but we paid no attention.

Since it was obviously a thriller film, many scenes were either provocative or involved urgent situations.

That’s exactly what I aimed for.

After all aren’t horror films pretty much similar to thrillers?

I had planned to naturally engage in the limited physical contact that Yuarin had defined as appropriate for her own home, like giving her a comforting hug if she was startled.

Thud!

The moment a scene appeared where a murderer suddenly emerged from an alley.

Whirr!

This girl suddenly stood up and started weaving through it.

“……”

“If you reacted here, you’d already be-.”

“Ah, this is really starting to annoy me.”

I thought it would unfold like any typical situation, but I never imagined she’d actually be fighting with a murderer in her mind.

“Hey, sit down. You can’t see the TV.”

Yuarin awkwardly sat down next to me after my annoyed remark.

‘I should have just suggested watching something risqué.’

That would have been too blatant, so I opted for a thriller instead but it proved utterly ineffective.

The others stretching were no different.

“Yawn, if we’re going to keep watching the movie, I’m going to bed. I need to get up early tomorrow.”

Choi Isuh entered the bedroom nonchalantly even as the scene showed the murderer chasing them down.

“Sigh, maybe one day I’ll get such roles too? Like playing a female murderer.”

Seo Yerin paid even closer attention to the murderer on screen while analyzing and practicing for such roles herself.

Eventually 30 minutes passed by,

and there I was witnessing Yuarin running simulations of fighting against such murderers including Seo Yerin acting as one of them.

“aaack! It hurts!”

Of course, Seo Yerin was defeated in just two seconds.

‘……Ugh, might as well go sleep.’

Watching Seo Yerin being subdued by Yuarin made me turn off the movie and pull up my blanket.

* * *

“Guhh… Hmm.”

Rubbing my eyes as I wake up,

I realized it was still dawn outside from within my living room where I had fallen asleep,

and feeling warmth in my lower body made me comfortably close my eyes again.

Slurp. Slurp.

“Do you do this every morning?”

From the play of her tongue to the way she pressed against my chest. I thought Seo Yerin was getting better at it day by day.

“Yerin, are you going to do this every day?”

When I asked, a reply came from under the covers.

“Mmm! Isn’t it a wife’s duty to take care of morning wood?”

“I don’t know which country has such duties, but it sure is a nice one.”

It should be made into law.

Wait, which country?

“Ah, right.”

I had forgotten that I promised my older brother to discuss something with the kids.

“Yerin, are you leaving for work early today too?”

“Mmm!”

“Don’t talk through your teeth. Just come out; I have something to say.”

Despite my words, Yerin’s movements became even quicker and more dazzling.

Eventually, as time passed,

Gulp.

Swallowing something, Seo Yerin emerged from under the covers with a bright smile.

“It’s really strong. Is it because of the eel?”

‘…Maybe because of oysters too.’

Perhaps because they knew about my injured leg or just wanted me well-fed; they kept giving me things good for health.

“It’s because you’re good at it.”

“Hehe.”

Still, during times like these praising Seo Yerin rather than attributing it to eels or oysters seemed best.

“My thighs hurt because we were too intense last night.”

“It was a time attack.”

Our conversation continued where we left off last night. We had shared an urgent yet passionate affair.

From noble mtl dot come

“It feels more thrilling doing it in forbidden places.”

“You’ll suggest doing it outdoors next time.”

“…”

Her silence meant she probably would.

“But you said you had something to tell me. What is it?”

“Oh, about that.”

I explained that our older brother would send us on a trip abroad as a token of gratitude after attending his alumni reunion.

At this, Seo Yerin tilted her head slightly in confusion.

“What are we supposed to do there? It doesn’t seem like he’d send us on an overseas trip just for attending.”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t asked for anything specific right now.”

“Hmm, I need to think about this. We might end up in some weird situation if we go without reason.”

“That’s true. If you guys say not to go, I won’t.”

“Mm-hmm, that sounds like a good idea.”

Seo Yerin smiled brightly.

Then she glanced at her tousled hair in the full-length mirror and hurried into the bathroom.

“Ah, need to fix it!”

Her hair was even more disheveled from moving around more vigorously than yesterday.

I chuckled watching her rush to the bathroom and then slowly closed my eyes again.

* * *

“Sigh.”

Choi Eseo woke up in the morning and stepped outside.

Today was the start of her new part-time job.

It was a bit far, but thanks to Kim Woojin lending his bicycle, she could get there quickly.

She decided to commute by bicycle going forward and had been told to take good care of it so it wouldn’t get stolen.

Choi Eseo brought the bicycle right inside the company building.

A two-story building.

As she entered, Oh Yunji was already at work scolding a female broadcaster.

“I told you not do such things!”

“But…the viewers love it.”

“You haven’t been broadcasting long enough; resorting to sensationalism will only attract more extreme fans!”

Oh Yunji held up a black bunny girl outfit.

Apparently wearing that on air had caused some issues.

“We scouted you because we think your eloquence and personality are charming. There’s no need for haste.”

“…Understood.”

“Looking at you like that, you really do seem like the boss.”

When it’s time to scold, she does so sharply.

When it’s time to comfort, she does so gently.

The female broadcaster, touched by this, nodded her head with a moved expression.

“Sigh, first off, I’m confiscating this. I’ll give it back when Halloween or something similar comes around. You can wear it then as part of an event.”

“Yes!”

Saying this, Oh Yoon-ji took away the bunny girl outfit.

Suddenly, Choi Yi-seo’s gaze was fixed on it.

‘If he wears that…’

Would Kim Woo-jin—who is currently vulnerable in his s*xual aspects—like it?

This morning too, as she left for work while Kim Woo-jin was still asleep under his blankets which she secretly peeked under.

Seeing his limp lower half had even made her feel pity for him.

Choi Yi-seo took a deep breath and clenched her fists tightly.

It was time to face the challenge head-on.

She had just discovered what could be the most powerful weapon at her disposal.