Bamboo Forest Manager

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Screech!

“Oh, this is delicious! If it can turn out like this, there will be no problem.”

Senior Min Ju-hee’s compliment after eating the stir-fried pork made me shrug. At my reaction, senior Ju-hee chuckled, patted me on the shoulder, and then headed towards the other kids.

“If you serve pork like this, who are you planning to feed? Even for a university bar, is this supposed to be edible?”

“The outside is all burnt, and the inside is undercooked! It’s so obvious you’ve never done this before. I told you to practice at home.”

“What’s this hard thing in the rolled omelet…? Ah, didn’t you at least check properly!? There’s a piece of shell in here!”

Observing her move around and comment among the other kids, I could tell she couldn’t help but compliment me.

There were kids who did well, but since we had to sell food, it needed to meet a certain standard.

‘…Thank goodness.’

I did well to only cook stir-fried pork for several days. Of course, there was also the reason being that I liked it.

Since the bar starts in the evening, having finished the inspection early, I had some time left.

Normally, I would have stayed in the kitchen, but since the kids’ looks towards me weren’t very kind, I stepped out.

‘Well, speaking up won’t change anything.’

Even if senior Min Ju-hee denied it on my behalf, without presenting evidence and just denying, it wouldn’t have been believable.

In this regard, I also thought it rather fortunate that Seo Yerin did not get outed.

The hall was bustling on its own. Though when I say hall, I just mean the chairs and tables set under the tent.

“Bring me the tape to stick the menu up!”

“Where did the wooden chopsticks and plastic spoons go? I don’t see them?”

“I told you we didn’t buy any! We need to go to the convenience store to get some!”

It was mainly Choi Yiseo and Ahn Hyeon-ho, the vice rep, moving things along. Even though there were sophomores around, they were idly chatting among themselves only to kill time.

Not just Choi Yiseo, but Seo Yerin and Yu Arin were also seen, busy with their respective tasks.

When Seo Yerin and I made eye contact, she blushed red, thinking about what had happened before.

It seemed she was sulking after coming back to her senses.

Yu Arin glared at me indifferently and asked me not to play around and help, but I gave her the middle finger and refused.

The hall was getting organized and nearly completed.

Just like us, the other festive booths were also getting organized, and people were beginning to trickle into the bar to take a look.

“Let’s have a few people go outside to promote.”

I thought it would involve handing out flyers, but apparently, that causes litter, so the student council said no to flyers.

So, the chosen method of promotion was to write promotional phrases on small blackboards and walk around with them.

Carrying a blackboard around here and there for promotion seemed like a good enough strategy.

If things get busy, we can just call them back with a phone.

Moreover, maybe people wanted to do it because it gave them a chance to look around the fest.

“First… Yerin.”

Choi Yiseo hands over the board to Seo Yerin as if she was awarding some certificate.

“Let’s make a round and come back. It should be fine near the entrance.”

Choi Yiseo had this look of discomfort, and it wasn’t hard to see why.

“I’ll stay with you so you don’t end up wasting time getting hit on. Let’s go.”

It was because of senior Han-kang, who appeared by her side naturally.

With senior Han-kang stepping in, the other first-years went silent, and Seo Yerin looked around in confusion.

Then, our eyes met.

“…You look nice.”

Honestly, I could understand that Seo Yerin might feel uncomfortable around senior Han-kang.

But it was good to see the image of them together.

At first glance, they looked like a handsome man and beautiful woman, making anyone likely to cast them a second look.

I gave a thumbs up, a sort of encouragement that wasn’t really encouragement, and Seo Yerin bit her lip and started to walk towards me.

“Senior, let’s go.”

“Uh? O-okay.”

Suddenly, Han-kang followed right behind the proactive Seo Yerin.

Whatever the case, now that the two of them have set off, I wonder if there’s hardly anyone who can beat our department in terms of promotion.

After that, Choi Yiseo handed the chalkboard to people who seemed likely to promote well.

“I’ve decided.”

Suddenly appearing next to me there was Yu Arin holding the board.

“Eh?”

I was wondering what she meant but Yu Arin soon crossed her arms and started dragging me away.

“I’ll be back!”

Dragged away by Yu Arin, I sneak a look back to see Choi Yiseo crossing her arms and lips pouting.

As soon as our eyes met, she immediately pretended as if nothing happened and resumed focus on her work. 𝘧𝘳𝓮𝓮𝓌𝘦𝓫𝓷𝘰𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝓬ℴ𝘮

Once we were a bit distant from the booth, Yu Arin immediately let go of my arm and showed her annoyance.

“Ah, the smell of grilled pork.”

“…Psycho?”

Until a moment back, she was playfully dragging me along but now she was pushing me away.

I wondered what was with her but Yu Arin shrugged and said,

“Let’s go check the Physical Therapy booth.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you want to go there alone?”

Yu Arin suddenly said she wants to go together. She said she would go alone but Yu Arin’s steps were already heading there.

I thought she might need help, but looking at her face, that wasn’t it.

She probably just thought it looked fun and wanted to join in.

It took a while to find where the Physical Therapy department’s booth was, but since we were walking around for promotional purposes, it wasn’t a big deal.

Upon arrival, the booth was in full swing.

“Grip strength measurement?”

They were holding an event where people who exceeded a certain level in grip strength measurement would receive a souvenir.

It wasn’t just that, looking behind, they were doing a variety of things like measuring blood pressure and shoulder massage.

“No fun.”

The response came quickly but I agreed with Yu Arin. This was kind of boring.

“Wow! Are you a couple? Come this way!”

As we approached a student who was looking at his phone until now immediately greeted us with a smile.

“We aren’t dating you moron.”

Yu Arin drew a line right then.

I nodded in agreement.

“She has someone she’s flirting with.”

I said this thinking of Jeong Chan-woo, but Yu Arin, noticing, immediately looked up at me and growled.

I avoided her gaze and went in.

I paid the participation fee and measured my grip strength, but as expected I was nowhere near the required level.

“Yes, that’s too bad.”

After exerting a lot of strength the first time, I shake my hand which was tingling to loosen it up and as I am about to take the grip strengthener, I casually strike up the conversation.

“Excuse me, are any fourth-year students here?’

“Uh?”

It must have been a sudden question that made the student look flustered, but I awkwardly smiled and said,

“Ah, there was this senior I was hoping to meet today, so I was wondering if they were here.”

“Hmm.”

The student tilted their head, seemingly thinking of it as a vague reason.

However, they shrugged as if thinking there is no reason for me to hide and said,

“None of the fourth-year students are here. They might be out for practical training or preparing for job applications separately? If you’re looking for them, the library might be the best place.”

“Ah, I see.”

Upon showing a hint of disappointment, the student thought for a moment and then said, clapping his hands.

“Are you talking about senior Eun-woo?”

Senior Eun-woo?

“I heard they graduated and became teaching assistants. Did they mention going to grad school?”

“……”

“So, they might accompany professors.”

It was a subtle gain, but progress nonetheless. This person, Eun-woo, could very well be Anonymous90.

“Is there any indication of when they might arrive?”

“…Nope.”

The dental student shrugged, hesitant to respond. Perhaps due to my keen interest, they chose to remain silent.

‘Disappointing.’

I learned that some fourth-year students attend the fest. If they aim to advance beyond the fourth-year to become teaching assistants, the Bamboo Forest might prove beneficial.

I was on the verge of leaving, considering Eun-woo as my prime suspect.

“Woah!”

Yu Arin, clutching a grip strengthener, raised both hands and cheered.

“F-female top score! It’s a new record!”

She beamed, delighted at setting a new record in the female grip category.

‘She’s here to have fun.’

I assumed she came to find the man, so why did she seem so joyful?

Well, she received a simple keychain as a prize, hardly worth the entry fee we paid.

Despite her disdain for the prize, she was elated about her new record in the female grip strength category and began humming a tune as she strolled around the festival once more.

“Okay, let’s head to the convenience store. We need to buy some chopsticks and spoons.”

“Is this why you wanted to come with me? We should head back now.”

In response to my query, Yu Arin couldn’t contain her happiness and shrugged.

“How can I wander around with someone who needs to cook pork stir-fry in the kitchen?”

She has a point.

If Captain Ju finds out, she’ll surely have a few words for us.

After purchasing the required items and each of us grabbing a chocolate milk each, we made our way back to our tent.

Thanks to the duo of Seo Yerin and senior Han-kang, customers started arriving early, despite it being too soon to start serving drinks.

I immediately went to the kitchen and took my place.

“One stir-fry pork belly.”

As soon as the order of spicy pork came in, I began to stir fry. After quickly making the spicy pork, I cut some tofu into small pieces to put on the side and was about to hand it over to the server when,

Choi Yiseo was waiting.

“Where were you?”

As she asked, taking the pork, I smiled awkwardly.

“To the Physical Therapy department booth. They are doing a grip strength test.”

“Hmm.”

Dragging her words, Yiseo mumbled indifferently and left.

“Then I guess I shouldn’t go there.”