Bamboo Forest Manager

The next day.

Everyone arrived at the banquet hall at the same time.

Since everyone commuted simultaneously, the buses operated internally by Gold One were so crowded that some people walked.

“Ah, seriously, please.”

“I hope I get assigned a cushy job.”

“I heard many people can’t last two months and run away.”

Since it was the time to decide where we would work for the next two months, everyone was talking about it.

In front of us stood the assistant manager who guided us yesterday, and he didn’t bother to stop the chatter, perhaps understanding our feelings.

He probably thought we were still kids since we were college students.

Even I had only graduated from high school a year ago, so how could I be an adult?

As I sat idly playing a mobile game, Seo Yerin, who was sitting next to me, joined in.

“Woojin, let’s have a friendly match.”

“No, you always win.”

The difference in our specs was so extreme that it wasn’t even a friendly match.

I kept refusing, but Seo Yerin didn’t give up and kept pestering me, so eventually I agreed to play a few rounds.

“Ahem.”

Yu Arin, who was sitting to my left, cleared her throat and glared at me. When I turned my head, thinking she was signaling something, she bit her lip tightly.

“You- please, go work somewhere else.”

She waved her hand dismissively, telling me to get lost. I thought about saying something, but she seemed oddly upset since yesterday, so I decided to let it go.

I didn’t want to provoke her when she was sensitive.

“She’s seemed off since yesterday.”

Seo Yerin, who seemed to share my thoughts, leaned towards me and whispered softly.

“Yeah, she does.”

“Right?”

Then she subtly leaned on me and continued playing the game. I signaled her to move away by shrugging my shoulder, but Seo Yerin kept playing, holding out her phone.

“I told you not to raise that one.”

“But it’s cute. I only raise cute ones.”

“If you raise the ones with good performance, they’ll look cute automatically.”

“But you’ve raised them all. By spending money.”

Didn’t I blow five million won on this?

That was a few months ago, so who knows how it is now.

“…They’re all cute.”

In the end, she had raised them all and was now telling me what to do. As I was about to say something, a group of employees in suits started pouring in from the entrance.

“Alright, everyone. Please come out when your name is called.”

The assistant manager, who was in charge, grabbed the microphone and started calling out names.

“Lee Inju, Baek Daun, Cheong Seora.”

The people whose names were called were handed over to the first employee who had come in and left.

It felt a bit like a labor agency, making my heart race a little.

Since there were so many people, names were called continuously, and the number of people called varied.

Sometimes only one person was called, and at other times, a dozen or so were taken up at once.

“If they’re taking a lot of people, it must be a tough place.”

As I made my deduction, Seo Yerin and Yu Arin, who were beside me, thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Taking many people meant they needed a lot of hands.

“Seo Yerin, Jang Jinha, Kim Yiseo.”

Flinch.

I looked up instinctively. It was partly because Seo Yerin was called, but also because of the name Kim Yiseo.

“Ugh, idiot.”

Yu Arin clicked her tongue, finding me pathetic for reacting to ‘Yiseo’.

“Ugh, I’ll be going.”

Seo Yerin, who was disappointed about being separated, left with a groan.

“Wow, she’s stunning.”

“Is she a celebrity?”

“I want to work with her.”

Admiring and envious gazes naturally followed Seo Yerin.

I had forgotten recently, but Seo Yerin’s looks were indeed exceptional.

“Sigh, Yerin must be feeling exhausted.”

Yu Arin, who seemed used to such reactions towards Seo Yerin, grumbled with her chin resting on her hand.

“Just a pretty face.”

I added a comment.

“Wait a minute!”

At that moment, an employee who was waiting to take the next batch of part-timers stepped forward.

“Can we take this student with us?”

The man pointed at Seo Yerin. His golden name tag read ‘Manager Lee Chan-song’.

“Uh, Manager, but…”

The employee taking Seo Yerin looked troubled. He signaled the assistant manager to do something.

But the assistant manager pretended not to see and continued calling names.

“Yu Arin, Lee Se-ah, Han Bom…”

About four people were called, and surprisingly, I knew all the girls.

“They overlapped.”

Lee Se-ah was from the Theater and Film department, and Han Bom was from the Design department, both high school friends of Yu Arin and Seo Yerin.

So, except for Seo Yerin, all the high school friends were assigned to the same place.

“Take care.”

As I waved goodbye, Yu Arin glanced at me and left without a word. She didn’t drink Chocomong yesterday, so she must really be in a bad mood.

“We can just switch with our people, right?”

Manager Lee Chan-song continued his stubbornness. He seemed desperate to take Seo Yerin to his department.

“Uh, well…”

He looked troubled, not knowing whom to send when he saw the three women assigned to his department.

Taking advantage of the moment, the employee with Seo Yerin quickly escaped.

Manager Lee Chan-song, who was about to say something, had to retreat with the students under the pressure of the many gazes of the college students.

‘Yu Arin will have a hard time.’

She would have to work with that man as her boss, and seeing how he was acting over Seo Yerin’s looks, it was clear what kind of person he was.

As I consoled Yu Arin in my mind, waiting for my turn.

“Jegal Jaemin, Kim Woojin, Han Min-chan, Choi Minji…”

Finally, my name was called.

As I stepped forward, my roommate Jegal Jaemin naturally came to my side.

“At least we get to work with someone we know.”

“Yeah.”

He was quite talkative and seemed light-hearted, making it easy to get close to him.

He liked to groom himself, so he had spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom this morning.

“Alright, let’s go.”

The place we were assigned to was a Korean restaurant called ‘Country Table’.

It was outside the hotel building, with a traditional Korean interior and a small pond in the center.

It had a distinctly Korean feel.

‘But the prices…’

Despite being called ‘Country Table’, the price of kimchi stew was on par with steak, which seemed absurd.

But seeing so many employees assigned there, it must mean they had a lot of customers.

Whatever it was.

I finally started to feel like I was truly at Gold One.

Time passed.

The third day at Gold One.

Yu Arin woke up, now accustomed to the routine, and got up slowly. Her roommate, Seo Yerin, had already left for her job at the bakery ‘Great Korean Hall’.

“Yawn.”

After a quick wash, she dried her hair and put on makeup. It was tight on the first day, but she had gotten used to it and now had some leeway.

She put on the black skirt and white shirt uniform, topped with a black blazer.

The outfit was similar to the one worn at the last school festival, but she liked this uniform much better.

It wasn’t plain, and the subtle pattern in the same color lent it a much more sophisticated feel.

The girls had put on quite a fashion show on the first day.

It was still dark outside.

Before leaving, she put on a long padded coat and left with her colleagues, Lee Se-ah from the Theater and Film department and Han Bom from the Design department.

The three of them worked in room service.

It was a common job in any hotel, handling various simple menus.

‘Hmm.’

On the third day at Gold One.

Amid the notorious rumors, Yu Arin realized that room service was a cushy job, making her steps light on the way to work.

She took the elevator, filled with the chilly morning air, down to the first floor.

She was now used to the bustling crowd of people commuting at this hour and naturally stood in line for the bus.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

“Yeah.”

Perhaps because it was morning, even her usually noisy friends were somewhat lethargic in their conversation.

Listening to their chatter, Yu Arin, with her hands in her padded coat pockets, fell into a daze.

It has been three days already.

She hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Kim Woojin in those three days.

She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about it.

Their work hours and places seemed different, so they had no chance to meet.

‘It’s a relief.’

Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, she smiled faintly as she boarded the bus.

After about a 10-minute ride, they arrived right in front of the hotel. They swiped their employee cards and entered to start their workday.

Heading to the basement, she wondered if this was the life she would live after graduating from university and becoming a working adult.

Room service was simple.

Receive orders from the room and deliver the incoming order to the kitchen next door.

Then the kitchen would prepare the food, set it up, and take it out.

It was quite an easy job.

“See! I told you I’d bring someone!”

“Oh, bring them on then!”

“Ugh, they’re at it again in the morning.”

Two people were shouting at each other in the office. Manager Lee Chan-song and Assistant Manager Han Jeong-jik. Technically, it was insubordination for an assistant manager to raise their voice at a manager.

But it was a daily occurrence in Room Service.

“They still haven’t found anyone?”

“Where would they find someone? There’s no one to switch with.”

“We’re not figurines. I’d rather work somewhere else.”

“…But there’s no place as cushy as here.”

Lee Se-ah and Han Bom whispered. Yu Arin, listening quietly, suddenly remembered Kim Woojin calling Seo Yerin a living figurine.

‘Ugh, seriously.’

She grumbled, deciding to stop thinking about Kim Woojin, and started preparing for work.

The manager and assistant manager were still arguing.

The reason for their fight was simple.

They were short-staffed in Room Service.

Gold One had four employees, and four part-timers were added, so it seemed like there were enough people.

But the lack of male employees was the issue.

Room service involved delivering food to the guests’ rooms.

Since Gold One had a casino, there were often rough guests who stayed for long periods.

Because of this, female employees were sometimes dragged inside when delivering room service, so only male employees were sent to the rooms.

“Is it my fault that guy ran away? Huh? Is it my fault that bastard ran away?!”

Just yesterday.

The only male part-timer had run away, saying it was too hard.

Originally, more male part-timers should have been hired, but Manager Lee Chan-song had allocated more slots to females, causing this mess.

“Isn’t it? With the peak season, how can we handle all this with just the three of us?!”

The main building, A, had over 200 hotel rooms alone. Room service also covered Building B, so they had to deliver food to nearly 400 rooms with just three people.

“The second batch of part-timers will come in, right? We’ll get only male ones then!”

“That’s a week away! What are we supposed to do until then?! You just take customer calls here, but we have to run around to all the rooms!”

‘What a mess.’

Even if the female employees set everything up, just moving it around would be quite tiring.

“Damn it!”

Manager Lee Chan-song finally snapped, grabbed his cigarettes, and stormed out.

Orders were just starting to come in.

“Sigh.”

The assistant manager sighed but started working as orders kept coming in.

About 30 minutes later.

“Hey! I brought someone!”

Surprisingly, Manager Lee Chan-song brought in a male part-timer.

“I brought the ace from ‘Country Table’ who worked the best!”

The guy, looking bewildered and unsure why he was there, glanced around.

When Kim Woojin, scratching the back of his head, met eyes with Yu Arin, who was setting up the cart with food.

“What, you’re working here?”

‘Ugh, seriously.’

Yu Arin’s calm heart started to stir again.

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