Bamboo Forest Manager

Farewell

“Sorry, Woo-jin.”

We stepped outside, carrying my father’s silent command.

As soon as we stepped out, Choi Yi-seo immediately apologized to me.

“I should have told you in advance. I hadn’t organized my thoughts well until I left either.”

“Did you improvise that?”

Seo Ye-rin, taken aback, looked at Choi Yi-seo with admiration. It seemed she didn’t find the current situation particularly serious.

“No, rather I was grateful that you told me what I couldn’t ask.”

It was a question-and-answer session that clearly revealed my father’s thoughts about Yoon-ji.

I also realized that Yoon-ji and I had been played with, quite literally, in my father’s hands.

I thought I had completely closed my heart to Oh Yoon-ji.

But realizing that the sorrow she and I experienced had no meaning at all, I couldn’t contain my emotions.

If there’s one thing I’m curious about.

“Are you going to tell Yoon-ji?”

It was about whether Choi Yi-seo would share all these facts with Oh Yoon-ji.

Looking at Yoon-ji’s recent actions, it seemed like she had completely forgotten about me.

Whether it was giving advice to Yi-seo or making time to come to my family home like this.

So I thought Yi-seo might hesitate a bit.

“Yeah, I will tell her.”

She answered resolutely, as if there were no other options besides that.

“……”

I found it somewhat hard to understand.

What would change if I told my ex-girlfriend Oh Yoon-ji such things?

Was she trying to put a definitive end to a relationship that was impossible from the start?

‘No, the Yi-seo I know…’

She wasn’t the kind of person who would do something so cruel to a friend.

Then, conversely, was she thinking of mentioning some other kind of opportunity?

But.

“Yi-seo, I’ve already given up on Yoon-ji.”

I needed to clearly express my intentions.

This wasn’t just for Yoon-ji; there was also a desire not to cause any anxiety to the three people in front of me.

“I know it’s silly to say this to all three of you at once. But this is how I feel right now. I don’t want anyone else but you guys.”

“……”

“I think it would be best for Yoon-ji to just forget me and meet someone else.”

In the end, the reason Yoon-ji couldn’t get her father’s permission was because of her own father.

But was it right to poke at her wounds again here?

I judged that it wasn’t.

But.

“Woo-jin.”

Choi Yi-seo said with a clear yet unwavering voice.

“You still have feelings for Yoon-ji.”

That statement struck me hard.

—

Because it had burrowed in so strangely heavy.

I couldn’t respond to her at all.

* * *

“Well then, we’ll be going.”

“Goodbye!”

“…….”

Before I knew it, it was late evening.

Today had been incredibly busy, but the fatigue lingering in my body wasn’t the kind that weighed me down; it was a thorn that awakened my heart.

My mind was alert as if I had drunk an energy drink, yet I felt even more exhausted.

“Wait a minute! You guys, wait a minute!”

My mom suddenly stopped the kids who were about to go outside and handed them three white envelopes.

“Here, take this!”

“Wow….”

The situation reminded me exactly of what Seo Ye-rin had said earlier.

Handing over white envelopes, it was a scene straight out of a drama where a mother tells her son to break up.

I wondered why my mom was acting like this, unlike my father.

“Please take good care of my child.”

“…….”

“How could the child be so unremarkable? Even while raising him, there were times I thought he looked ugly.”

“Mom?”

“Ah, just take care of him. You were the ones who took care of him when he got hurt.”

It was the complete opposite of a drama.

It wasn’t a request for my child to leave; it was a bribe to please not abandon my child.

“T-This amount is a bit too much?!”

Yoo Ah-rin, who thought it was a joke, was taken aback and refused.

I wondered how much could possibly be inside.

“W-Wait, ten million won?!”

At Seo Ye-rin’s exaggerated shout, I couldn’t help but jump up and exclaim.

“Wait a minute! You’re giving them an amount you’ve never even given to your own son?!”

The emotions that had just settled down surged up again.

—

No mother would pay ten million won as a friendship fee just to get along with her son.

“Isn’t this the trend these days? Breaking clichés?”

It seemed my mom wanted to try something like this at least once.

Of course, the kids flatly refused, saying it was too much money, and the envelope of cash returned to my mom’s hands.

Just before it went back.

Choi I-seo quietly approached me.

“Don’t think about it too hard.”

“…How can I not think about it, you?”

Choi I-seo, who left me with all this worry. I wanted to pinch her cheek right then and there.

But seeing her worry about me made me feel a little relieved.

Maybe it was because I felt a bit more at ease.

I let out the most sincere words among the many thoughts swirling inside me.

“I like you, Choi I-seo.”

Choi I-seo let out a brief smile.

“I like you too.”

She seemed to have more to say after that, but she turned away without voicing it.

Seeing Choi I-seo sitting in the back seat, Yoo Ah-rin rushed over to me.

“Hey, this situation looks super complicated, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yeah?”

“I honestly don’t get why Choi I-seo would tell Oh Yoon-ji something like that.”

“….”

“Do you understand?”

She wore a serious expression, but her question was anything but serious, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Did you come here just to secretly ask that?”

“I feel like I’m the only one not reading the room. I mean, why are you trying to squeeze other kids in when there’s no space here in the first place?”

“That’s not me.”

“That makes it even more frustrating. I ultimately hope someone gets tired of you and leaves, you know? But even though we’re rivals, I feel like we’re comrades in some way.”

“What comrades?”

“Comrades who are blinded by a fool?”

Should I be happy about this or not?

—

“But why are you increasing the enemies?! What is this, a game of betrayal?! Why is that person acting like that?! Have they worked out so much that their head has gone crazy? Have they been tainted by the sensationalism of working with broadcasters?”

“Ari, can you hear me?”

As Lee Seo interjected, feeling embarrassed from behind, Yoo Ah-rin smacked her forehead in response.

“I’m telling you to listen, you brat!”

“Ha, I’ll try to work things out with Yoon-ji in my own way.”

“If you’re going to break up and sit Yoon-ji in that spot, then go ahead!”

“……”

“Look at that silence, no response.”

I don’t know if she’s suddenly fighting with Choi Seo while talking to me. Anyway, Yoo Ah-rin glared at me and clearly warned.

“Hey, if it increases any more, I really can’t stand it. Okay? You need to know that I’m barely holding on in this situation right now.”

I tried to nod while swallowing hard, but Seo Ye-rin, who had been listening from behind, chimed in.

“Considering that, Yoo Ah-rin enjoys threesomes more than anyone else.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Hey!”

“Am I wrong?! She’s been checking attendance every time they have a threesome.”

“No, that’s—!”

Yoo Ah-rin’s mouth shut as she was about to retort. Thinking about it, it wasn’t an incorrect statement.

“When we were at Gold One, it started again when Yoo Ah-rin came back, and last time at your house, you suddenly jumped in while she was with Seo.”

Muttering as I recalled that day, Yoo Ah-rin huffed. But she still couldn’t respond.

“Threesome addict, Yoo Ah-rin.”

As I concluded that, the one who couldn’t hold back any longer punched me in the solar plexus.

“Ugh!”

Thank goodness my mom is gone; if she saw me getting hit like this…

Sigh, why would she like it?

“Anyway! If it increases any more, I’m really done for! Whatever Choi Seo is planning, you need to stop it!”

“How am I supposed to stop it?”

“Use your strength! Use your money! Or use that bragged-about thing of yours to make their head look foolish! Just stop it, whatever it takes!”

Saying that, Yoo Ah-rin sat next to Choi Seo.

“Look at you sitting next to me so well?”

“Shut up, I feel like dying from embarrassment.”

The two of them bickering, well, I’ve seen it so many times that I just let it slide.

—

I don’t know if there was a specific order, but finally, Seo Ye-rin stood in front of me.

A bright, cheerful smile.

“Why are you here again?”

When I asked if she had something to say, Seo Ye-rin gestured for me to come closer to her ear.

As I leaned in, the gazes of the two people in the car naturally shifted towards us.

They seemed curious about what we were whispering about without letting them in on it.

“I have nothing to say.”

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-rin, who was whispering in my ear, laughed playfully.

“Is that so? Are you whispering something to make them jealous?”

“……”

It’s really something trivial to exert effort over.

But surprisingly, it was definitely effective.

Choi Yi-seo and Yoo Ah-rin’s gazes were fixed intently on us.

“But Woo Ji-na, there’s no computer in your room. You should get one.”

“Are you asking to play games together?”

“Yeah! We can just call on Discord.”

“Aren’t you too busy filming to even play games?”

“I’ll be done with filming soon, so I’ll have time again!”

Well, if that’s the case.

“Okay, let’s play games together.”

“I’ll come back later. I have a game I want to play with you then.”

“A game you want to play together?”

“Dozens of ways to conquer the woman you love.”

“……That name sounds exactly like an adult game, doesn’t it?”

“It is an adult game.”

Oh ho.

So this girl is suggesting to play an adult game while her boyfriend’s parents are all at home, and even her pregnant sister-in-law is there?

“G-go quickly! Did you drink alone or something?!”

“Hehehe!”

I pushed Seo Ye-rin away and squeezed her into the car. I wondered if Senior Joo-hee was driving, but it was another driver at the wheel.

“What did you talk about?”

“You two talked for quite a while.”

“Ujini asked me what kind of panties I was wearing.”

Choi Iseo and Yoo Arin began to press Seo Ye-rin for answers. Whatever it was, the car started moving, and I waved goodbye to the three of them.

As I stepped back inside the house.

Choi Jina, who still hadn’t left, was playing a violin in the center of the living room, a violin I had no idea where she had gotten.

“They say classical music is good for prenatal education.”

At my mother’s words, as she listened with my little sister-in-law, I glanced at Choi Jina.

The reason why a world-renowned violinist was sweating profusely and stubbornly playing the violin.

It was simply because she didn’t want to go home.

“Why do people keep becoming more pathetic?”

As I muttered that, it seemed Choi Jina heard me, and she glared at me with fierce eyes.