Bamboo Forest Manager

“Ugh.”

I unwillingly opened my eyes due to the noisy surroundings. It wasn’t anything serious but there was the sound of a man groaning loudly.

Rubbing my eyes and darting a quick glance to the side, I saw Choi Yiseo asleep.

In animations or comics, in scenes like this, the clothes are disheveled or someone has to move closer to hear the breathing.

‘Look at her sleeping so soundly.’

With a tidy posture and nothing out of order from her clothes, she was breathing quietly.

Checking the time, it was still 7:30 a.m.. Since we both had morning lectures we had to be at the University by 10 a.m..

‘We still have some time left.’

I wasn’t sure whether to wake her or not, considering she might take a long time to get ready like yesterday. As I was thinking, I checked my phone and saw that there were quite a few messages.

It was an inquiry sent by Anonymous69, who had been quiet over the weekend.

-Anonymous69: Hi.

-Anonymous69: I contacted you because I thought the admin might be bored.

-Anonymous69: What are you doing? Jerking off in rhythm?

-Anonymous69: Morning wood?

“Should I call this a stable consistency?”

Despite this being absurd, a sigh of relief came from me.

Due to the recent incidents of targeted attacks using this forum, I found this blatant and desire driven usage somewhat refreshing.

-Admin: I just woke up.

-Anonymous69: Morning erection?

-Admin: Don’t you have a lecture in the morning?

-Anonymous69: Or are you just worn out from doing it too much last night?

Even if I try to be positive about her…

After the last time, I thought we could converse normally but she stayed unchanged as Anonymous69.

How annoying.

-Admin: There is a girl sleeping next to me.

Sorry to Choi Yiseo, but I wasn’t going to lie.

After sending that reply, no response came for a while.

-Anonymous69: Was the admin not a silver-haired frail beauty then?

The response was a clear attempt to change the topic. I smiled.

Seo Yerin was used to uttering lewd words but it seemed like she found it somewhat awkward to actually hear them.

-Admin: She must have had a hard time. She isn’t waking up. Well, she did go to bed late.

-Anonymous69: …

“Kik.”

I became slightly curious about what kind of face Seo Yerin was making now. If only I could see her flustered appearance now; it must be quite satisfying.

-Anonymous69: What time did she fall asleep?

After thinking, I said,

-Admin: Around 4?

It seemed about right since I fell asleep then. In the end, I woke up in the middle and went to bed late.

But even so, Choi Yiseo slept around 1.

No one asked for details so it isn’t really a lie, right?

-Admin: For your information, we were ready by 11 p.m..

We had a late dinner and went back and forth between the spa and the ice room to digest all that we ate and talked a lot.

Among them, the truth that Choi Yiseo didn’t like working out but did it because she hated staying home was the most shocking.

-Anonymous69: …

Seeing her silent, my smile widened.

It felt like payback for the times when she would tease me.

-Anonymous69: So, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.…

-Admin: Lol

I didn’t say what we did and she didn’t ask. Just letting them misunderstand, but there was no reply from Seo Yerin.

‘What? Did she run?’

Thinking it ended a bit blandly, I considered watching some webtoons.

But a chilling sensation spread down my spine.

Would Seo Yerin, the Anonymous69, really run away?

Would this ghost equipped with all sorts of sex mania, spamming and attention seeking nature do that?

Suddenly, feeling scared, I entered the forum and there was this post by Anonymous69 written about 30 seconds ago.

Anonymous69: Breaking news! Admin is a super virile giant, female conqueror, baby-making invader, guaranteed pregnancy maker, and a sex machine which doesn’t need gas or fuel, giant black man, golden sun. 180cm-80Kg-30cm, woke up refreshed after a hot night yesterday.

“This crazy woman!”

I said that out loud without realizing it and deleted the post.

-Admin: Where do you live?

-Anonymous69: Breaking news, climbers mistook the wood of Admin for Mount Everest and attempted to climb it.

I immediately slapped a 72-hour block on her and ignored her inquiries. It would be great if I could block that too, but there was no such feature.

Grumbling, I shut my phone.

“What are you doing?”

Choi Yiseo, who was next to me, looked at me.

“Y-you’re up?”

“Yes, because you were yelling.”

“……”

“Why are you so energetic with the phone?”

“I was talking to some weirdo.”

“You have friends too?”

“……”

Now they’re both giving me a hard time.

“You said you have a 10 a.m. class. Start getting ready.”

“Ugh.”

Choi Yiseo, who didn’t want to get up, whined and checked her phone.

“Ah, it’s 8 a.m., let us lie down for another 10 minutes.’

“Whatever you want.”

I thought I could catch a quick nap for those 10 minutes, but I just laid down and looked at the ceiling.

“Woojin.”

She called my name softly.

I didn’t respond, but she knew I was listening and continued.

“What are you going to do about Minji?”

“Isn’t it heavy for the morning?”

I thought the topic was somewhat heavy, but she seemed to want to hear what I would do about it.

“Well, I’m not planning to just let it slide, especially after what happened with Oh Yoon-ji.”

After all this, we can’t leave the person involved alone, right?

“She’s not a bad person.”

I nod as she had a gloomy expression.

“I know. That’s why you’re still friends with her, right?”

Choi Yiseo sat up slightly at those words. It seemed like she still harbored complicated emotions. Maybe she didn’t expect me to trust her this much?

Ever since I found out that Anonymous287 was Choi Yiseo, my trust in her has significantly increased.

“I don’t think you lack the ability to judge people. Until high school when you said you were close, she must have been a good kid.”

“Coming to college… getting a boyfriend, she seemed to have gotten stranger. I heard she broke up and since then she has been so sensitive.”

“I see, I’ll try talking to her. I’m doing this just because she’s your friend.”

If not, there was no reason to have this talk.

“Starting from the false rumors about me to inciting crimes, sorry, but I’m not going to let it slide.”

I wasn’t that lenient.

Sorry, but if you did something wrong, you need to get punished. That’s how the world works.

“I absolutely will not let this slide. If you’re her friend, don’t expect anything like that from me.”

That is for Minji’s well-being. Simply letting this slide will not solve anything.

Even so.

“As I said, we’ll try to talk. About the problem that has escalated into this. I will listen to the reasons behind their actions to behave like this to someone they haven’t even met.”

That is how far my mercy went.

Sniffle.

Choi Yiseo’s eyes teared up as she hugged her legs to her chest and buried her head deep.

Just by these reactions alone, I could tell she was truly a good friend.

“Just like senior Min Ju-hee at the police station yesterday.”

I shifted myself slightly to sit beside her and then placed a hand on her shoulder.

It ended up looking like I was hugging her, but Choi Yiseo didn’t move nor did she look like she minded it.

I didn’t have significantly different feelings either.

I just felt that I needed to hold onto Choi Yiseo so she wouldn’t fall apart.

“If you really care about this friend, then don’t do anything. Just watch. It’s enough to show you didn’t give up on her.”

By letting her pay for her sins.

It was enough to let her know that they could still be friends.

“Uh, euk!”

Trembling, she cried.

“I will try, I’ll try to do that.”

Bravely, she said that she would give it a try and do what she had to.

“Right, cheer up now.”

There was nothing more I could do other than support her.

---

That morning, a scene straight out of a drama happened, but it was real life and not a drama.

“Cough.”

An air of awkwardness was between the two of us on the way to university.

I deliberately spoke to Choi Yiseo, who was trying to avoid my gaze with a red face.

“Luckily the place to catch the bus is close by, right?”

“Uh… ah! Right.”

Seeing her flustered, it seemed like she was embarrassed about having cried earlier, though it isn’t something to be ashamed of.

This is exactly the time to be witty and make things comfortable between us.

“Did you know that when you were crying earlier, it sounded like a dolphin?”

As I said that with a smile, her face turned icy. The way she looked at me was like I was some piece of garbage.

Let us try some more magic then.

“Shall I guess what you’re thinking right now?”

“Is this guy brain dead or something?”

“…Is what you’re thinking.”

As my shoulders slumped with a look of sadness, Choi Yiseo sighed and nudged me with her elbow.

“Try guessing what I’m thinking.”

“Why does this guy make things awkward by attending the 10 a.m. lecture?”

As I spoke with a smile, Choi Yiseo looked at me blankly for a moment before smiling and responded.

“I can’t tell if this idiot has any common sense or not.”

Still, the atmosphere became noticeably lighter. It seems that tackling the awkward topic had an effect of its own.

We happened to take the same bus. Thanks to being early on the way, the bus was relatively empty, so we could sit together.

“I didn’t have breakfast, so I should eat more for lunch.”

I was thinking of going to a place which serves pork bulgogi or pork cutlet when Choi Yiseo chimed in from beside me.

“Let’s eat together, my class ends at 12 noon.”

“Mine ends at 1 p.m..”

“…Will you wait for me?”

Although we’ve had the opportunity to have lunch or dinner together before, waiting to eat together was a first for me.

Certainly, after yesterday’s incident, our bond had gotten a little closer.

“Are you going to eat pork bulgogi or pork cutlet?”

“Are those the only two things you have on the menu?”

“Pork soup too.”

All three.

If we rotate through these three, one can live an infinite cycle.

“Ahh, since I’m the one waiting, can I choose the menu?”

“Then go eat with the others.”

As I refused, she pinched my thigh.

“Ouch!”

“Show some consideration now! I’ll be waiting for an hour!”

“Why don’t you just go eat with the other kids? I like eating alone! I’ve been doing that since the second semester began!”

“All because of you…!”

Choi Yiseo tried to say something but then firmly shut her mouth. And turned her head to the window resting her chin on her hand.

“Because what?”

“……”

“Because of what, you brat? I broke up with Yoon-ji? So I’m a loner? Because I got targeted?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Shut up! You already said that with your eyes! As a punishment, you’ll be eating pork belly twice.”

“No way! Didn’t I tell you I need to take a body profile photo?”

“So what if you have to do that? You have no one to show it to anyway! You don’t even have a boyfriend to begin with!”

“It’s not for boyfriends, you know? How can you even…!”

Choi Yiseo who was speaking went silent. Then her gaze shifted elsewhere.

Curious, I turned to see that Ahn Hyeon-ho was on the bus with us, looking at us in shock.

“……”

“……”

There was a moment of silence.

We looked at each other but fortunately, a student behind Ahn Hyeon-ho told him to move forward, making him move to the back of the bus.

“Ah, shit.”

Choi Yiseo glanced at me, thinking about how we got misunderstood again.

Ahn Hyeon-ho made her worried about when he would hit me.

So much for someone who isn’t Anonymous287.

‘She was doing a good job of imitating Ahn Hyeon-ho.’

Even the vulgar way of speaking and sleazy writing.

Ahn Hyeon-ho seemed to be sitting right behind us, but Choi Yiseo deliberately avoided talking to me.

“Should I get rid of Ahn Hyeon-ho for you?”

I whispered to her, causing her to look up.

“How?”

“There’s a way, just trust me.”

As she frowned, looking anxious, I took a deep breath and smiled,

And uttered one line.

“Woah, Yiseo, yesterday, you were amazing in bed…”

Slap!

Ack!

She hit me.

“You fuck! I knew you would do something like this!”

I managed to stop Choi Yiseo, enraged and about to hit me a couple more times, by holding her hand.