Bamboo Forest Manager

“How did you know that I was dating Oh Yoon-ji?”

A single sentence drops heavily in the hotel room. Depending on the answer, my future response would change, and my hyung knows this well.

As if it doesn’t matter.

My hyung’s indifferent expression remained unchanged.

“Oh Yoon-ji.”

The way he said Oh Yoon-ji’s name, as if he was familiar with it, subtly irritated me, but I listened to what he had to say.

“Do you really think it’s okay to date someone like that?”

“…What?”

“I wasn’t sure, so I did some research. You do know where her father is, don’t you?”

I had never felt my temper rise so quickly. My heart pounded so violently that I wanted to shut his mouth immediately.

“You even did a background check?”

“She could have become part of the family. It was a necessary step, of course.”

“Fuck…!”

“Even while getting angry.”

My hyung looked at me with cold, indifferent eyes. There was a faint sense of disgust in his gaze.

“In reality, you’re getting along well with another woman.”

“……”

“Woojin, was Oh Yoon-ji really that important to you?”

“…!”

I was at a loss for words.

I understood what he meant, and I knew that no matter what I said about Oh Yoon-ji, it would ultimately lack any persuasion.

How much did I struggle?

Even if I elaborated on my time living like a walking corpse during the vacation after the first semester.

In the end, it would just be dismissed as something in the past.

“While you’re in university, I’ll try not to bother you as much as possible.”

“……”

“You said it, didn’t you? You’re going to cut off the financial support from now on. I heard you applied for a dormitory too, well done. At least you won’t freeze to death outside.”

“Damn it…”

I wanted to curse at him, but I was still at a loss for words. My hyung’s indifferent and mechanical words felt like he was just doing his job.

“Experience everything you can outside. If you really think you don’t need our family’s help after that…then live as you wish.”

My tightly clenched fist trembled without a place to go. In the end, I had nothing to properly counter his words with.

I knew all too well that my actions were extremely frivolous, contrary to my words about missing Yoon-ji.

“Yoon-ji…”

But as a final desperate act,

I looked at my hyung and uttered a pleading word.

“Yoon-ji is nowhere to be found.”

That was what I wanted to know.

I wondered if something bad had happened to her, who had suddenly disappeared.

I was worried that she might be suffering somewhere because of me and my family.

My eldest brother, who was staring at me intently, let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.

The surprising thing was.

His last words didn’t feel like a formal report unlike before.

He really seemed like a brother concerned for his sibling.

“I heard she’s doing business with Kim Woon.”

“She’s doing business with our second hyung?”

What’s this about?

I looked at my hyung with bewildered eyes, but he just turned his body, saying he had nothing more to say, and looked out the window.

“Hoo, if you don’t eat this, I’ll take it.”

I was annoyed by his lack of response, so I grabbed a pillow and threw it at the back of his head, hitting him with a thud.

“…Kim Woojin.”

“Don’t act cool! It’s fucking annoying!”

“Ha, when will you ever grow up?”

“Mind your own business! How old are you, and yet you don’t have a single woman around you!”

“…The woman who just left is your future sister-in-law.”

What?

“Mother knows too.”

“What the hell?”

That woman was really my sister-in-law?

“Go on. If you stay here, there’ll be more talk.”

Annoyed, I pulled the cart outside, grumbling as I left the older brother who was gesturing me away.

Outside, I awkwardly scratched my cheek as I met eyes with the waiting secretary.

“Hello.”

“You’re greeting me again?”

Who would have thought my brother would date a woman? She was beautiful, but still, it wouldn’t have been easy to win him over.

“Hey, dress properly. Don’t go around in casual clothes.”

Worried about past events, I said something, and the secretary smiled brightly.

It seems like she realized that I’m not speaking as the chairman’s son or the vice chairman’s brother.

But just giving advice to my sister-in-law.

“I was curious about how you’d react. I wondered if you were really so indiscriminate with any woman. But that’s not the case.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course. I don’t know how he put it, but I support you. You’re a college student, you should experience different women at this time.”

“What, did my sister-in-law just say that?”

When I asked with wide eyes, my sister-in-law chuckled and replied.

“He said it.”

“That bastard?!”

Then what did he say to me?

“Hyung wasn’t really interested in women, was he?”

“Women were very interested in him though.”

“Huh, if you want to hit him, just tell me.”

At my words, my sister-in-law continued with a smile.

“Anyway. Finding a good woman through various experiences like that is also a method in its own way.”

“……”

“Just like that person chose me in the end.”

Seeing my sister-in-law trying to emphasize that she is a good woman, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

It seems he chose the right woman.

Nodding in agreement, before leaving, I sighed deeply and spoke to my sister-in-law.

“Please take good care of him.”

My sister-in-law, who seemed stunned that I would say something like this, nodded with a bright smile.

“Of course.”

---

“This bastard is definitely sulking at me.”

Kim Woojin, who had just returned from room 1007, was called back not long after.

As he carried the cheese appetizer, Yu Arin thought that something seemed complicated.

‘Do they know each other?’

Kim Woojin, who had returned from being dragged to room 1007, felt different than usual. It felt like he was keeping more distance.

Ordering room service again from the guest room was unexpected, but this time, she did not follow.

While crossing her arms, she pondered various things about Kim Woo-jin.

“Yah, come here!”

Suddenly, Manager Lee Chan-song called out.

As Yu Arin grumbled about the already unpleasant tone, she approached the manager and found a strange document.

“Sign here.”

“What is this? A memorandum?”

“Just do it. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Yu Arin was reading it absentmindedly when she suddenly frowned.

“What is this, no contact with the manager? No sexual remarks?”

“It’s a memorandum! I’m getting it in advance because you might mess around after your shift.”

“Huh.”

It was beyond absurd and utterly pathetic.

Is this really legally effective, so they’re making her do it?

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to file any complaints. No need to waste the manager’s time.”

“So just sign it.”

“Ah, if you’re confident, isn’t there no need to receive something like this?!”

“Haa, why are kids these days so frustrating?”

Manager Lee Chan-song grumbled in annoyance.

Thump, thump.

The sound of footsteps coming from outside.

Thinking Kim Woojin had returned, Yu Arin quickly tried to leave the office.

But instead, someone came into the office from that direction.

“Miss Yu Arin?”

Tall stature.

Hair slicked back, not appearing outdated but exuding a weight and dignity beyond his years.

The deep, low voice made her whole body tense.

A person she was seeing for the first time.

‘He looks familiar?’

She thought he resembled Kim Woojin.

Yu Arin was the one who called, but the response came from beside her.

“V-V-Vice Chairman!”

Manager Lee Chan-song immediately stood up from his chair and bowed at a 90-degree angle.

‘Vice Chairman?’

Isn’t he the one who caused the entire hotel to go into a state of emergency? Yu Arin, not yet accustomed to such experiences, stared blankly at the Vice Chairman.

But the Vice Chairman’s gaze was fixed on the bizarre memorandum on the desk.

“Hmm.”

The Vice Chairman read it all and took it without a word.

Manager Lee Chan-song bit his lip in anxiety, but the Vice Chairman didn’t pay any attention to him and called out to Yu Arin.

“Can we speak for a moment?”

“M-me?”

“Yes.”

With that, the Vice Chairman walked out. Leaving behind the manager whose face had turned completely pale, Yu Arin followed him.

They stepped outside the hotel building, and seeing the hurried steps, it felt like he was worried about being caught by someone.

In front of the bench outside the hotel…

It was still early dawn, so there were hardly any people, and it was dark, making it hard to recognize the vice-chairman.

They didn’t sit down separately, as if ending a conversation topic.

“Do you know Kim Woojin?”

“Oh, yes, I do.”

“Are you dating?”

“What? No?!”

Yu Arin denied it vehemently, wondering what he was talking about out of the blue, but Vice-Chairman Kim Jae-woon looked even more perplexed.

“…Then?”

“We’re friends, for now.”

“Hmm, for now?”

Kim Jae-woon furrowed his brows and looked at Yu Arin with a peculiar gaze as he asked,

“Have you had any relations with Kim Woojin?”

“…Relations?”

“Have you had sexual relations?”

“Oh, no…not yet.”

She felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks as she spoke, but Kim Jae-woon tilted his head indifferently.

The vice chairman was confused!

“Can you say something? Anything.”

“What are we doing here anyway?”

“That’s correct.”

Since Yu Arin had a rather peculiar voice, Kim Jae-woon was certain.

“Wasn’t it you who groaned next to Kim Woojin when he was on the phone?”

“……”

As Yu Arin pondered what on earth the vice chairman was talking about.

“Ahhhhh?! When he said he was talking to his hyung!”

She finally remembered playing a prank by groaning while Kim Woojin was on the phone with his hyung at the PC café.

Wait a minute.

If that’s the case.

“…Are you Woojin’s big brother?”

He nods slightly at the flustered Yu Arin’s question.

“Ha, this is embarrassing.”

Yu Arin, scratching her cheek, blankly looked at Kim Jae-woon and then bowed again to greet him.

“I’m Yu Arin. I’m Kim Woojin’s friend.”

“Kim Jae-woon. I’m Kim Woojin’s older brother.”

“Wow, Kim Woojin is from a wealthy family? That crazy guy hid it all this time? And yet he made a big deal about buying me Chocomong at the convenience store earlier. Even though I treated him yesterday!”

Kim Jae-woon thought Yu Arin’s reaction, with a hint of a sarcastic smile, wasn’t bad.

Most of the women who approached him were interested in his company and wealth.

Therefore, Kim Jae-woon was well aware of those with greedy eyes.

Yu Arin, however, didn’t seem particularly interested in such aspects. Or maybe it just didn’t hit her yet because she’s still a college student.

“But Kim Woojin has nothing specifically inherited. He gave it all up. He’ll even be paying his own living expenses from now on.”

Just in case, Kim Jae-woon said it outright.

“Ugh! Giving that up, Kim Woojin, you idiot!”

Instead, she clapped and laughed as if it was a good thing.

‘Oh Yoon-ji as well…’

Thinking that he had met good women, Kim Jae-woon stretched his hand out to shake hers with a faint smile.

“It’s nothing special that I came to see you for.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know how your relationship will end…but please take care of Woojin.”

“Aha!”

With those words, Yu Arin responded confidently with a bright smile.

“Don’t worry. That guy has a lot of women around him, so it’s a bit of a concern, but I’ll take good care of him.”

A lot of women.

After a moment’s hesitation, Kim Jae-woon, already moving one step ahead, said,

“You should know this in advance.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know about Oh Yoon-ji?”

He began to tell Yu Arin about Oh Yoon-ji.