Bamboo Forest Manager

“Ugh, it’s summer!”

Lying on the sofa, watching Yu Arin flounder as if she was whining, I felt something rising in my chest.

How should I explain this? There are words that come to mind, but I didn’t want to put them simply into words, and they felt somewhat weak to blurt out carelessly.

My entire life, I’ve never really thought my vocabulary was lacking.

But now, I’m even feeling doubtful about my Korean language skills.

“I-I just…”

“Just? Just just?”

As I stutter and stand awkwardly, Yu Arin giggles.

“My body is hot.”

As I say this, Yu Arin lifts her top slightly while lying down.

Her pale, exposed belly button heats my already hot head even more.

“Is our Woojin’s body hot now? Are you getting excited seeing your noona like this?”

“Can I take a moment to sort out this feeling inside me?”

“…Just a moment.”

As I tremble exaggeratedly and say that, Yu Arin seems flustered and sits down quietly on the sofa.

“Y-you’re not excited, are you?”

“Be quiet! I’m choosing my words!”

My head was hot as I urgently yelled back at Yu Arin. She starts to fidget with her clothes and becomes wary of me, but I take a deep breath and after much deliberation, I give up.

“What could be a harsher phrase than saying I’ll kill you.”

“……”

“What? Excited? I am excited. I’m not sure what to think about but to kill you in a very cruel and painful way possible.”

“……”

“It’s such a shame that my vocabulary is lacking right now, so I can’t think of anything worse than wanting to kill you.”

“……”

“I’ve said the same thing to Seo Yerin before. Be thankful to your parents. If you hadn’t learned Taekwondo when you were young, you would have died by my hands here.”

“…Thank you, my parents.”

I can’t understand how the anger can rise to the top of my head like this. Honestly, I could get over being tricked into coming here.

The moment she frivolously asked me to cook ramen for her, it felt like the tether of reason flew off somewhere.

It’s like a primary school kid next to me challenging me with ‘You’re such a loser, I’m the boss of our class, let’s fight’.

“Ah, I didn’t know you would get so angry like this.”

Yu Arin scratched her head and glanced at me as she spoke.

“Don’t be angry, just go and make some Neoguri (instant ramen), but don’t add an egg in, and make it chewy.”

“……”

“Should I tell you where the ramen is?”

“Let’s have one of us die today. Call the police now.” freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Rolling my sleeves up and approaching, she bursts into laughter and immediately spreads her legs towards me.

“I’ve been watching Brazilian Jiu-jitsu on YouTube recently? Fighting on the ground is advantageous for me, you know.”

It was a posture often seen in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but seeing it in person felt slightly peculiar…

“Sure, whatever. You’re done for, Yu Arin.”

As I charged at Yu Arin, she quickly wrapped her legs around my neck and grabbed one of my arms, entering an armbar. I’m not familiar with the technical names of such moves, but hanging from my arm, her posture seemed rather accurate.

However, since it was my first time trying this out in a real fight, the technique doesn’t fully apply on her. Yu Arin was light, and I am a robust young man, a month into home training.

“Uraaah!”

I exert strength in my arms and lift Yu Arin, who was hanging on. Surprised, Yu Arin tightens her thighs around my arms, trying not to fall off me.

“Wait, just a moment! Stop! Stop! Okay, I get it! I’m sorry! Put me down!”

“Shut up! You better be ready to fall and die like this.”

“Hey! Brother! Master! Just a moment! This is really serious! Don’t do it!”

“Are you going to cook ramen for me!?”

“I’ll even add eggs and green onions for you!”

Although I wanted to slam her onto the floor, I decided to just throw her onto the couch since she said she’d cook the ramen.

The couch is soft, so the moment I slammed her down.

“Ugh!”

My strength drained from my waist, and I fell forward, collapsing on top of Yu Arin as well.

“……”

“……”

An awkward situation ensued.

Yu Arin, with her face turning red, looked up at me and then punched me in the ribs.

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“Ouch!”

“How much porn have you watched to make a move like this?!”

“I feel so wronged for getting hit, and also wronged for being told to cook ramen at your house. Saying I made a move on you is truly the most unjust thing in the world!”

“Shut up!”

Despite writhing in agony on the floor, Yu Arin stomped off to the kitchen, determined to have her say.

Thanks to that, I was finally left alone, so I quickly composed myself and began eating the ramen Yu Arin had cooked. In a typical romantic comedy, such a situation would lead to both parties being awkward and blushing, which is the classic development.

“Look at this girl’s chopstick skills. Do you realize you just took a whole packet’s worth with that one bite?”

“Making a big deal out of nothing. It’s ramen from my house and I cooked it. Why should I have to hear that from you?”

“Tsk, you should at least be a proper host if you have someone over. Right now, you’re single-handedly ruining the image of your family…!”

“What, should I call Mom? She’s on a trip to Japan, but you want me to make her take a call now? Should I ask the boss to come out?”

“Why bother parents who are enjoying their trip… Hey! You’re taking all the egg yolks for yourself?!”

“I need to dissolve it in my soup!”

Without such innocence, we just ended up fighting over who could eat more ramen, and before we knew it, time had flown by.

After a hearty meal, finishing the dishes, and coming out to the living room, Yu Arin also put on her coat when she saw me do so.

“What, you’re coming out to see me off?”

I thought she realized I was about to leave and was seeing me off.

“What are you talking about. I’m just going to the convenience store.”

“Yeah, what was I expecting from you.”

I clicked my tongue as I stepped outside.

“Hey, but what do we do about those kids posting weird stuff in the Bamboo Forest at dawn?”

“What is there to do about it. Just block them the next day. When such images are uploaded, guys will post asking why they haven’t been deleted, right? Then just don’t look and delete them. This is a pro tip.”

“Oh, so I throw it to the guys to inform us and I don’t have to see the disgusting images?”

“Right. That’s why sometimes I deliberately react late. The ones who saw the disgusting images first will freak out and ask why it hasn’t been deleted.”

“Seriously a pro tip.”

Yu Arin nodded her head with her hands in her coat pockets. Feeling proud of teaching another thing today as an administrator, I shrugged, only for Yu Arin to immediately slap my shoulder down with her palm.

Before we knew it, we had arrived in front of a convenience store.

“Wait a moment.”

Leaving me behind, Yu Arin entered the convenience store. After coming back out she produced a Chocomong and Hershey’s Chocolate Milk.

“Here.”

But out of nowhere, she’s handing me a Chocomong instead.

“What’s this? That’s mine.”

Pointing at the Hershey’s, I ask, and Yu Arin lobs the Chocomong at my chest and quickly sticks a straw in the Hershey’s to drink it.

“I’m craving this today.”

“What?”

“Try the Chocomong too. It’s good.”

“Since you’re buying, I’ll enjoy it.”

Just as I’m about to drink the Chocomong and leave, Yu Arin trotted along behind me.

“…Where are you going?”

I wondered where she was off to again, but Yu Arin sidles up next to me and mutters.

“PC room.”

“Why now?”

“Aren’t you going to do more of your assignment?”

“…That’s true, I do need to do it.”

“Let’s go together. I’m bored at home alone anyway. I’ve always wanted to try pulling an all-nighter at a PC room.”

Well, there’s no need to send someone who followed me here away. And as I watched, just letting it be, Yu Arin frowned and pushed her Hershey’s towards me.

“Hey, this tastes bad. Let’s switch.”

“That’s why I told you to just drink what you normally drink.”

“We just need to switch the straws. Hurry up.”

Sighing, I handed over my Chocomong, and after swapping just the straws, we slurped our chocolate milk on our way to the PC cafe.

Wondering if Chan-woo might be working during our brief outing, I entered cautiously, almost tripping because I was pushed from behind.

“My head almost cracked open because of you!”

“Ugh, do you think Chan-woo would be here? He’s fully booked from tomorrow, so do you think he’d come in tonight?”

“…It’s even more annoying because you’re right.”

I stepped inside and look around to find a spot again, having chosen to do so in order to make the most progress in editing while the fire is lit. But once I’m at the PC cafe, I realized I’d almost finished today’s quota… Do I really need to redo it?

“Maybe I should watch some webtoons while I’m here?”

“Aren’t you going to work on the assignment? Just find a seat already.”

“Sigh.”

After letting out a deep sigh, I stretch my neck around. Once I’ve somewhat gathered my thoughts, I headed towards a corner seat.

“Looks like our spot is taken.”

In the spot where Yu Arin and I were, there’s someone in a black hoodie with the hood up, even wearing a headset. Approaching quietly, it turned out to be Seo Yerin, her face completely covered.

“Why is she here?”

“What, it’s Yerin?”

She seemed so engrossed in her game, headset on, not hearing us, her passion was evident.

Wondering how it was possible for us to pull a prank on her, Yu Arin quickly ran and covered Seo Yerin’s eyes from behind her chair.

“Who is it!”

“Huh? Uh?!”

Because of the headset, she couldn’t hear anything, and suddenly she couldn’t see, so the bewildered Seo Yerin desperately reached out with her hands towards her face, but I caught them midway.

“Eek!?”

Seo Yerin made a strange noise. We giggle and enjoy watching her flounder in confusion. If there was one more person with us, we could have even taken a video.

“Ah, part-timer! I, I can’t see…!”

“Gasp!”

Since I could suppress Seo Yerin’s strength with just one hand, I grabbed both her wrists with one hand and then clamped the other over her mouth.

Seo Yerin, her mouth covered, tried to break free by biting my hand.

“Ouch! You got your saliva on me!”

Surprised, I pulled my hand away, and Seo Yerin shouted with a bright smile.

“Ah, Woojin is delicious!”

“…Woojin is delicious?”

Yu Arin looked at me as if asking what she meant, but I was at a loss for words and couldn’t immediately respond.