Bamboo Forest Manager

“Ugh.”

The basic Western-style menu included grilled bread. Because of that, it was standard to provide various types of jam in tubes, which were placed on a high shelf.

‘Ah, damn it.’

Yu Arin struggled to get the jam. The ones below had run out, so she tried to get the next bag, but her hand couldn’t reach it.

“Ah, I said I don’t like it?”

“Please! Please please please please!”

Yeon-young, Lee Se-ah, and Kim Woojin were chatting among themselves, leaving the struggling Yu Arin alone.

Lee Se-ah, clinging to Kim Woojin with her phone, was begging for something so desperately.

“My boyfriend posted a photo with a female friend on SNS? And then he’s acting all shameless?”

“Separation? Separation? Are you kidding? You can’t meet me right now, but you’re hanging out with female friends?”

“Haa.”

Come to think of it, Lee Se-ah made a fuss about that at the dorm yesterday too.

Thanks to that, she drank beer that she didn’t want to drink.

“So what. You want to do the same thing? Take a picture with me to make him jealous? What is that even?”

‘Oh my.’

Yu Arin just chuckled at her friend’s scheme. No matter how outrageous her boyfriend was, trying to get back at him in the same way seemed a bit too simplistic.

“Oh, please! Huh? Just one! Please! Just one picture!”

“I know a really handsome guy. I’ll introduce him to you. Take a picture with him.”

So, he’s trying to use Chan-woo.

Sorry, but Se-ah knows Chan-woo too. They went to high school together.

“Ah, Chan-woo is not an option.”

Lee Se-ah rejected the idea immediately.

“Why?”

“He’s so handsome that my boyfriend would really get mad.”

“You jerk…!”

“Hehe! Oh please! Woojin!”

Lee Se-ah now clung on to him and pleaded. With a playful smile on her lips, she looks pretty, like someone who belongs in the theater and film department.

‘Ugh.’

Pretending not to see their antics, Yu Arin tries to reach for the jam again.

Kim Woojin, who has dragged Se-ah away, comes beside her, puts the jam down, and grumbles.

“Ah, I said no! What if your boyfriend says something to me? I can’t fight.”

“Aing! I’ll explain everything. Okay?”

“Ah, I don’t know. I’m going up to the room.”

Kim Woojin pulls the cart and heads up to the room, as if escaping.

“……”

Staring blankly at the jam bag he left behind, Yu Arin quickly collects herself up and focuses on her work again.

“Like this?”

“No, like this.”

“Huh, fascinating.”

Typically, Room Service becomes somewhat idle after lunchtime. At most, there would be one or two late lunch orders.

So, during this idle time.

Kim Woojin was drawing attention with his peculiar steps.

Starting from Lee Se-ah from the Department of Theater and Film and Han Bom from the Department of Design, even the managers.

They gathered in clusters, watching Kim Woojin’s steps as if they were witnessing a circus.

“See, like this, like this. So that the guests can be pleased right away when they come out.”

Is he still pushing that joke?

“No, it’s insanely fascinating.”

“Did you practice?”

“Surprising.”

Actually, it wasn’t something he learned separately; Kim Woojin just practiced it with his roommates while watching YouTube yesterday at the dorm.

Since there were only cell phones and no need to go out, it was natural for strange activities to unfold among the men in the dormitory.

“We’re just doing this out of boredom in the dorm.”

Thinking that she didn’t know why they suddenly got hooked on dancing, Yu Arin took a step back to watch and then checked the time.

It was time to pick up the laundered napkins, so she quietly left and headed to the laundry room with the cart.

‘Why dancing all of a sudden?’

He often mentioned doing home workouts, but being interested in dancing was a bit unexpected. She had heard that strange things happen when men gather, but wasn’t that too strange?

Kim Woojin and dancing didn’t match at all for her.

Anyway, while she was moving the napkins to the cart in the laundry room.

Kim Woojin, who had approached before she knew it, stood on the opposite side and helped move the napkins into the cart.

“Why did you go alone?”

“What the… When did you come?”

“I saw you going alone, so I followed. There must be a lot of laundry since a lot of napkins went out this time.”

“I can do it alone.”

“Sure, you can.”

“……”

She’s definitely acting cold, unlike at university. Especially since she saw him talking with Choi Yiseo.

But Kim Woojin was taking care of her in an oddly considerate way.

It felt good and bad at the same time. Yu Arin didn’t like the ambiguity around him.

But she kept accepting his kindness.

“Hey, how was my step? I practiced quite hard. I’m the best at our dorm. Seems like I have talent?”

It was kind of funny thinking about practicing with Jeong Chan-woo while watching on the phone, but Yu Arin forced a smile and responded.

“Why dancing all of a sudden?”

“Hmm? You showed me the windmill.”

“……”

Yu Arin paused moving the napkins and slowly lifted her head.

Kim Woojin, who didn’t seem to notice her gaze, continued moving the napkins and spoke.

“The windmill looked cool, so I wanted to try it too. Honestly, isn’t it like a man’s dream?”

“…That’s a really trivial reason.”

“Isn’t it?”

Having loaded all the napkins onto the cart, Kim Woojin promptly began to push it. Yu Arin awkwardly followed him.

“We need to hurry because it’s almost time to collect the carts from Building B.”

It was time to retrieve the carts that the guests had left outside after finishing their meals.

“Last time, we forgot to go, and the supervisors scolded us.”

Watching Kim Woojin casually talk about getting scolded, Yu Arin pursed her lips. But he continued talking without a break, his steps light.

“Isn’t it understandable to make a mistake once?”

“……”

“But twice is a bit much. If it happens twice, you can call them a fool.”

“……”

Yu Arin, who had been staring intently at Kim Woojin seeking agreement, finally said something.

“Hey.”

Unable to hold back, she spat out a word.

“Do you like me?”

“…Are you suddenly out of your mind?”

Kim Woojin asked back, puzzled by the sudden remark. Yu Arin, who had been staring at him intently, suddenly huffed and grabbed the cart.

“If not, then go. I’ll do it alone.”

“……”

“You said you had to go to Building B.”

“Oh, right.”

Kim Woojin, who was about to head to Building B with a bewildered expression, paused for a moment and looked back.

“Is there something troubling you?”

“Why?”

“Recently…you don’t seem like yourself.”

After hesitating for a moment, unsure of what to say, Kim Woojin eventually gave up and left.

“Sigh.”

Unable to respond separately, Yu Arin sighed deeply at his back and pulled the cart towards the office.

Time passed like that, and it was time to leave work.

Everyone went up from the basement to the first floor and headed to the bus stop.

“Wow, it snowed.”

“Really?”

“We didn’t know because we were in the basement.”

Se-ah and Han Bom, smiling brightly, started taking pictures of the snow that had piled up before they knew it.

Yu Arin was half-forced to join in.

“Woojin! Come here too!”

“Take a picture of us!”

Called by Se-ah and Han Bom, Kim Woojin. He boasted about his excellent photography skills and was about to join them.

Buzz!

“Oh, sorry. I have to take this call.”

Kim Woojin left to answer the call just as the phone rang.

Watching that blankly, Han Bom asked with a smirk.

“Hey, is that his girlfriend?”

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend? Maybe she’s just someone he’s interested in? Look at his expression, it’s all relaxed.”

“That guy, he’s a decent fellow.”

“Was it the one at home back then?”

“……”

Kim Woojin’s mood changed immediately, whispered the two people. They were quick to get fired up about relationship-related talk.

But between those two, Yu Arin kept her mouth tightly shut.

She was angry.

That guy was smiling like that.

That guy was showing a smile to someone over a mere phone call that he never showed to her.

When people around saw it, they immediately thought she was just someone he’s interested in.

It made her feel smaller and smaller.

‘It’s not like you.’

Isn’t it funny?

It’s not like this is some youth drama, and she wanted to argue about what being herself even meant.

But Yu Arin herself knew. If it were her usual self, she wouldn’t have been bothered by such worries at all.

Why?

For what reason?

Seo Yerin and Choi Yiseo.

She knew that the two people who became close already like Kim Woojin.

Originally, revealing the man you like among women was almost like a signal not to touch him.

It was only natural to become a bad woman if you broke that rule.

‘Isn’t it understandable to make a mistake once?’

Suddenly, the story Kim Woojin told earlier came to mind. Thanks to such words he mumbled nonchalantly.

‘But twice is a bit much. If you do it twice, you can be called a fool.’

The strangely stifling emotion felt somewhat sorted out.

Once is possible.

But twice is not.

You can’t live as a fool forever.

“Phew, I can’t stand being stupid again.”

“Arin?”

“Where are you going?”

Despite the voices of friends calling from behind, Yu Arin steps forward through the piled snow.

“No, it just ended.”

Behind the bus stop, Kim Woojin is on the phone, laughing. His soft voice gives away that he’s talking to Choi Yiseo.

“Hey!”

Yu Arin shouts at Kim Woojin and immediately reaches out to grab his head with one hand.

“Argh?!”

Her hand is small, so it only covers his forehead and eyes, but that was enough.

“Ouch, it hurts!”

Kim Woojin, caught by her grip, writhes in pain.

Yu Arin snatches the phone from Kim Woojin’s hand.

“Hello?”

• Yu Arin?

Choi Yiseo’s startled voice could be heard after a long time. As she finally gets here, a strange sense of relief brings a bright smile to Yu Arin’s face.

“We weren’t exactly close friends from the start, right? So, you won’t feel too betrayed.”

• …What are you talking about?

“What do you mean, what? It’s a declaration of war.”

“I, I can’t see!”

Watching Kim Woojin flail around, Yu Arin smirked.

“This idiot is mine now.”

• …….

“You and Yerin can find another guy.”

• W-wait!

Click.

Yu Arin hung up just like that.

With a relieved expression, she handed Kim Woojin his phone as she let him go.

“What are you doing?”

Kim Woojin stared blankly at his phone, and Yu Arin grinned.

“I like you.”

She raised her fist.

“So don’t talk to Choi Yiseo in front of me. Or I’ll break your phone.”

“…Are you crazy?”

When Kim Woojin asked with an utterly baffled look, Yu Arin crossed her arms and asked back.

“Why, is it strange?”

“No, isn’t it natural? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Then, you idiot.”

Squeeze.

Yu Arin, who clasped his arms tightly as if she would never let go, rebuked with an utterly bright smile.

“You shouldn’t have been so nice.”

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