Bamboo Forest Manager

Father

Screech!

“Wait a moment!”

“Who are you! You can’t do this here!”

A loud screeching sound from outside, like something out of a racing game.

The moment I heard the commotion from the bodyguards, Senior Juhui, who was in the living room, immediately rushed outside.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems someone has come to visit.”

I felt a slight chill as I listened to the conversation between Choi Jina and my younger sister-in-law.

Not knowing what was happening, I jumped to my feet and headed outside.

“Get out of the way!”

There was a woman with red hair, Oh Yoonji, surrounded and restrained by the bodyguards.

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My eyes widened in shock.

The moment I saw her being forcibly handled by numerous bodyguards.

“Get lost!”

Without realizing it, I shouted and ran forward, pushing the bodyguards aside as I pulled Oh Yoonji toward me.

“She’s a guest of the chairman!”

The bodyguards were taken aback.

Since they couldn’t treat the chairman’s son carelessly, they hesitated and stepped back, or immediately bowed and apologized.

“Young master.”

Only Senior Juhui looked at me with a cold gaze and replied.

“I believe the chairman has no guests visiting today.”

“……”

“What the chairman instructed us was that any guest without a prior appointment, even if it’s the president, should never be allowed inside.”

Her calm yet chilly voice felt awkward to me, but it suited the situation instead.

The senior I used to call Captain Joo.

No, it was a firmness that surpassed that.

“This is not merely a personal preference of the chairman; it is the weight and reputation of a leader of a company. No matter how much of a young master you are, ignoring that and acting on your own will lead to trouble.”

Indeed, it was Senior Juhui.

Her back was straight, and her shoulders were unyielding. The chillingly rational words were indeed sharp.

But I had no intention of backing down.

“This girl is a responsibility that the chairman must bear. If we simply send her away, it will only appear as if the chairman is trying to hide his shortcomings.”

In any case, if one stands above, there should be no retreat.

That is the responsibility toward those who look to you.

It was something my father had said for as long as I could remember.

“I’ll take responsibility. Everyone, please return to your seats.”

Declaring firmly that I wouldn’t listen any longer, I took Yoonji inside.

Senior Juhui slowly bent her waist towards me without changing her expression, leaving no further room for conversation.

Seeing her like that, I wondered if I had made a mistake in having a bodyguard. I never expected things to twist like this.

But it was already spilled water.

I had to take care of Yoonji first.

“Why are you here?”

As we entered, I asked, and Yoonji shrugged off my hand and replied.

“To confront you.”

“Ha, Iseon told you, didn’t he?”

“Is the chairman here?”

“Yoonji, I…”

“Enough. I’ll talk to the chairman first.”

I felt like I had heard recently that Yoonji was feeling powerless.

I had no idea where she felt powerless.

It seemed like she could tear apart anything in her hands at any moment.

Though seeing her like this brought a slight sense of nostalgia, I felt a bit of longing.

For now, I headed to my father’s study with Yoonji.

Along the way, my mom, Choi Jina, and my younger sister-in-law passed by us, but they said nothing as they went by.

Clunk.

As I opened the door and entered, my father was already waiting with a closed book.

“It’s been a while.”

“You know why I’m here, right, Chairman?”

“Hmm. So that kid finally told you, huh?”

I knew that my father didn’t have a very good image of Choi Iseon.

I was slightly worried that this incident might have made it worse.

“Chairman, I accepted the bet with you.”

“…….”

“In the end, I was wrong and conceded. But Chairman, if the game was rigged from the start, wouldn’t it be foolish of me to just let it pass without any noise?”

If the gambling table was set up unfairly, it’s only natural to overturn it.

Yoon-ji was arguing like that, but her father responded with eyes that showed no interest at all.

“So what do you want to do?”

“Pardon?”

Rather, his tone was so firm and heavy that Yoon-ji’s fiery spirit began to wane.

“Do you want to ask for another chance even now? That’s something you should say to my son, not to me.”

“…….”

“Whether that game was a scam or I cheated, what does it matter? Everything is already over. Now my son is looking at someone else, not you.”

“That’s—!”

She tried to argue, but Yoon-ji clenched her fists tightly, stammering as her words failed her.

“Un is aware that you are co-managing a business with him. I hope you understand that alone is already a sign of mercy.”

“……!”

“A woman with nothing. No, rather, a girl with nothing but flaws has been seated in the president’s chair. It’s time to give up and be satisfied.”

“Did you think I would forget my purpose for the sake of a position?! Why do you think I’m sitting in this chair!”

“You were too greedy.”

“Don’t you feel even a hint of guilt for playing with people’s lives? You know how hard it was for us back then!”

“Guilt?”

For the first time.

Her father slowly rose from his seat.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he strode toward Yoon-ji and opened his mouth.

“Don’t you think the guilt should be something you feel?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I accept you, the very roots of our company could be shaken. Do you have any idea how many wolves would tear us apart just for bringing the daughter of a death row inmate into our home?!”

“Th-that—!”

“You don’t understand! You’re still young! You can only see a step ahead! The higher you are, the more people want to bring you down! Do you have any idea how much damage it would cause just to give them a single flaw to latch onto?!”

Her father’s voice rose.

No, it was a declaration from him as the chairman.

“Do you think you have done nothing wrong? That you’ve never met your father? Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I’m unaware of the pain you suffer because of a father you’ve never even seen properly?!”

“……!”

“You must feel wronged, you must feel tormented; he was probably the only person you could rely on when you had nothing!”

At that time, we were.

They were leaning on each other.

That’s how they were able to live, and it was okay just to be the two of them.

“Still, I will take it from you several times. With just your tears! If the employees at my company can have an ordinary day! I will always do that!”

“…….”

“Did you say guilt? There is none. I protected my son, my company, my people. That’s all that matters.”

Saying that, Father turned his body and returned to his seat.

“The current era’s guilt by association is like that. Instead of simply cutting off heads, it distorts everything around.”

The reporters would never miss such prey. No, even if they did, competing companies would somehow bring it to light.

That’s why Father cast Yoonji aside, even knowing she had done nothing wrong.

“If there’s any commonality between the two of you,”

Father, seated in his chair.

“It would be that you met the wrong father.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled, bestowing upon us a curse of guests.

“Get out, rot.”

But Yoonji did not move.

She stood tall, gritting her teeth, desperately trying to spark a flame.

“Aren’t you supposed to at least… apologize!”

“To ask for forgiveness is to express remorse. Even if the same thing happens again, I will do the same.”

That was the end of it.

Not even the slightest opening was allowed by Father for Yoonji.

* * *

“Ha.”

Stepping outside, Yoonji clutched her forehead and smiled bitterly.

“Come in with great vigor, only to get beaten up.”

“Yoonji.”

“Don’t comfort me. I know there’s no wrong in what he said.”

The fact that she couldn’t respond to Father’s words meant she understood him well enough.

She was also fully aware of what she needed to do as the chairperson.

Well, that’s why she had come up to this position.

“Let’s go outside. This place… isn’t good.”

I step outside with Yoon-ji.

Even under the gaze of family and bodyguards, we step out.

Sitting in the passenger seat of the sports car she drove, I stare at her intently.

As she takes a moment to gather her thoughts, she senses my gaze, glances sideways, and responds.

“Go ahead. I don’t want to show you a pathetic side of me.”

“How can I just let someone who’s about to get hit come here?”

“Do you want to die?”

“I’ve been hit by my father like that too. If I just sit and think alone, it’ll only get harder.”

With a deep sigh, Yoon-ji retorts with irritation.

“That means don’t give me any leeway.”

“……”

Yet, when I don’t move, Yoon-ji bangs her head against the steering wheel and starts to vent.

“Ugh, I worked and earned money so you could live without problems even when you’re out of the house.”

“Ahem.”

“Now that you’re actually gone, I wonder what I’m supposed to do.”

“Isn’t it a bit too much to be so consumed by me…?”

Feeling awkward, I try to offer some comfort, but Yoon-ji just chuckles softly and covers her eyes with her hand.

“Because you were the only one.”

“……”

“That doesn’t mean I blame you. If a girlfriend suddenly disappears, it’s only natural to feel detached.”

Memories flood back.

The summer break of the first semester of freshman year.

The day Yoon-ji, who had been doing well, suddenly vanished.

They said she left a letter, but my father had thrown it away, so I was left alone, completely unaware.

“I liked you a lot, so maybe the sense of betrayal felt even greater.”

As I laugh self-deprecatingly, Yoon-ji glances at me and asks.

“Did you cry?”

“……A lot.”

Probably more than you think.

“I’m sorry. I hoped you wouldn’t cry.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? I’m the one who’s sorry.”

A brief silence.

I could see Yunji’s hand trembling slightly. It seemed like she was suppressing the desire to reach out to me.

“Woojin, can you do me a favor?”

With that restrained heart, Yunji took a long breath.

In a voice laced with tremors, she spoke very cautiously.

“I’m going to meet that man, my father.”

“Yunji.”

“I just want to go and hear what the problem was. I want to know why I have to suffer like this.”

“……”

“Will you come with me?”

Yunji, who had closed her eyes tightly to hide the tears that were welling up, made her request while trying hard to conceal her trembling voice.

“It’s our last date.”