Bamboo Forest Manager - Chapter 77: Lucky Ahn Hyeon-ho

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

After the 5 p.m. class, it was already p.m. by the time I came out. I really don’t understand why the professor held his classes until this hour, especially when he looked so gloomy too.

Do professors also have their own preferred teaching times, like some kind of sweet spot?

It was a class that made me think of various things.

Well, after class ended, I would normally be the first to rush home.

But today, unfortunately, I have to go work on an assignment.

“Ah, how annoying.”

I’m not sure if Ahn Hyeon-ho has improved, but honestly, I just want to run away.

Not to mention, seeing Seo Yerin suddenly going on a rampage was a bit unnerving too.

‘…Should I just say I forgot and bail on them?’

My head tells me that I shouldn’t do that because of senior Ju-hee, but my body just wants to lie down on my bed at home right now.

I’m an editor for the short film, so I wonder if there’s a need for me to be at the filming site.

‘Ah, let’s think about it.’

Even if running away is a little too much, I was thinking of going to the senior and saying that I don’t need to be at the filming site today.

I was quite seriously thinking about this while sitting down, that I could persuade them if I tried.

“There he is!”

“He’s trying to run! Catch him, catch him!”

Loud voices came from the front of the classroom door.

Seo Yerin and Yu Arin are running towards me, making a fuss, and even Choi Yiseo seems to be standing guard at the door.

It seems they came to catch me, thinking I might bail.

In an atmosphere where it feels like I should be running away, Yu Arin quickly runs over and grabs me by the nape, pushing me down.

“You little jerk! Caught you! Just stay right here! You can’t hire a lawyer, and you have to go work like a slave now!”

“Go fuck yourself.”

As I swatted Yu Arin’s hand in annoyance, she sighed with a deflated expression.

“Kim Woojin, you really can’t read the room, can you? No wonder you have no friends.”

“I have friends, though?”

“You son of a…!”

Yu Arin, not having been told who I was referring to, realized it immediately and hit my shoulder with a fuss.

Seo Yerin, who arrived a beat later than Yu Arin, laughs and picks up my bag that was placed on the seat next to me.

“Woojin, let’s go. Senior Ju-hee and the others are waiting.”

Was senior Ju-hee deliberately mentioned to prevent me from running away?

“Why are you here instead of filming?”

“When we said it looked like you were going to run away, they told us to go fetch you?”

“……”

Am I surprisingly easy to predict?

I don’t know how they got it so right, but because of Seo Ye-rin, who was picking up my bag in case I ran away, and Yu Arin, who was waking me up, I had no choice but to be dragged along.

As we reached the door, Choi Yiseo laughed and offered some kind of consolation.

“Let’s go, the senior said she’d treat us to dinner.”

“Has Ahn Hyeon-ho gotten any better?”

“In his own way, I guess. Senior Ju-hee has been teaching him well.”

It doesn’t make sense that he can’t memorize a few lines of English dialogue when the fist is right in front of him.

These guys can talk so easily because they haven’t seen senior Ju-hee beating someone up on the banks of the Han River.

“There’s this all-you-can-eat lamb place for dinner. That’s where we’re going.”

“…What’s with the all-you-can-eat lamb?”

“I don’t know. It’s like a Japanese-style pub. Senior Han-kang said he’d treat us today because he feels sorry to us.”

It’s not so much about apologizing… it’s more like if he didn’t do that, he’d really be in trouble with senior Ju-hee.

I can still vividly recall him being rolled up like a mat.

“But we cannot shoot if we drink, right??”

“It will either be no drinking or just drinking a little.”

Chattering away like this, we headed towards where the seniors were.

Choi Yiseo was still wearing the hat I gave her, but it seemed she didn’t realize that Seo Yerin had noticed.

“Have you ever tried lamb? I’ve never had it before.”

Yu Arin chimed in from the side.

Now that I think about it, neither have I.

“I haven’t. Don’t they often sell it at skewer places?”

“Do they sprinkle spices on it here too? It seems like they do that at the skewer places.”

“Is the place we’re going to a skewer restaurant?”

“Probably not? I checked the menu before coming here, and I saw a picture with meat on the bone like chicken legs.”

“Isn’t the quality of leg meat a bit poor?”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“Because it’s lamb. Eek! Dog crap…!”

“Ah! Damn brat! That’s so not funny! You don’t know when to draw a line with that mouth of yours! Just blurting out whatever comes to mind!”

I got beaten up by Yu Arin right after making a crude joke.

While Yu Arin and I were debating passionately about the unknown meat, Choi Yiseo, who had been quietly watching us, chimes in.

“Isn’t it something like Jingisukan? In Hokkaido, Japan, they sell a lamb dish called Jingisukan.”

“Really? You’ve been there?”

“I’ve never been on a plane, so I’m jealous of you!”

“No… I just saw it on YouTube.”

“Oh? I think I’ve seen it too. That was a travel YouTuber…”

The three of us started with lamb, moved on to Jingisukan, and then the conversation shifted to traveling to Japan.

As we were discussing where we’d like to go and what we’d like to do if we traveled to Japan together…

Swoosh.

“…?!”

I felt a sensation on my butt.

I thought that something had accidentally brushed against me lightly.

Squeeze!

A small hand began to squeeze one of my butt cheeks.

“Ah! I want to ride on the Sapporo train too!”

“That was on a variety show a long time ago. Since then…”

Taking advantage of the moment when Yu Arin and Choi Yiseo were engaging in a friendly yet unlikely conversation, I stealthily turned my head.

“Hehe.”

There was Seo Yerin, looking up at me with a playful smile.

As our eyes met, she applied more pressure with her hand while squeezing my butt.

‘Stop it.’

I mouthed a word to her, but Seo Yerin sticks out her tongue slightly without letting go of her hand.

Only after forcibly pulling her hand away and pushing Seo Yerin away could I detach myself from her.

‘This is really crazy.’

It’s bewildering how she acts like a wild horse once the reins are off.

“Ah, the seniors went ahead to secure seats.”

That’s when Choi Yiseo, who checked her messages, stopped in her tracks. It seems we need to head out of the uni.

“Take a taxi… senior Han-kang said he’ll cover everything.”

Damn, Han-kang.

I was about to call for a taxi through the app, but luckily there happened to be one parked at the school entrance, so we just took it to the lamb skewer restaurant.

“Yerin, is it okay to have a meal with senior Han-kang?”

Yu Arin was worried about Seo Yerin halfway through.

“Huh? It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Seo Yerin gave a refreshing answer, showing she didn’t mind, to the extent that Yu Arin who had asked, seemed more flustered.

And so, we arrived at the restaurant.

The store definitely had a Japanese vibe to it.

There was a cherry blossom tree model a little bit shorter than a person in the front, along with Japanese dolls, anime figures, lanterns, and such, arranged with a certain charm.

The interior also had the feel of a bar you might see in a Japanese drama.

“You’re here?”

Senior Han-kang was waving and welcoming us with a smile. Though he was smiling, the shadow on his face suggested he must have spent quite a bit of money for all this to happen.

But considering the mess he left on his way out, this much spending seemed justifiable.

I hope he considers the money he used to spend on wooing girls as settled by spending it on us.

After all, there won’t be much to spend on once he’s in the military…

For some reason, there were beer glasses on the table, and senior Ju-hee especially seemed to have already drunk quite a lot, with her 500cc beer glass already half empty.

Moreover, like an uncle talking about politics, she firmly seated Ahn Hyeon-ho right next to her.

“Try it.”

“Ah, I’m so sorry…”

“Do you want to die?”

“……”

“Hey, you bastard. Should I pull your tongue out and grill it here on the brazier? What kind of pronunciation is that?”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

It seems she is still coaching Ahn Hyeon-ho. But I could say he has improved a lot more than before I went into the lecture.

Probably senior Ju-hee would be satisfied with that level, but it seems she got a bit more aggressive because of the alcohol she had imbibed till now.

“Again.”

“I’m so sorry but…”

“I will end up eating your tongue. I’ll have to eat it like ox tongue. Woojin, you want some?”

Senior, sitting across from me, directly asked. Meeting eyes with Ahn Hyeon-ho, I frowned immediately.

“Eating that would be like kissing him.”

“Yuck, sorry.”

Senior, who was about to put the tongs in Ahn Hyeon-ho’s mouth, immediately put them down.

I was going to grill the meat myself, but a staff member did it for us, so I just sat quietly while waiting for it to be done.

“Senior, are we not filming today?”

Eventually, Choi Yiseo asks cautiously. I thought we were only going to eat and then work on our assignments, but drinking would cancel all that, wouldn’t it?

Senior Ju-hee immediately sighs deeply and glares at Ahn Hyeon-ho again.

“Thanks to you guys doing so well, we filmed more than planned today. But because there was one person who couldn’t properly shoot even a single scene.”

“Ah…”

“Since he said he’d memorize everything and practice by tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have to do it right from then on.”

It seems we couldn’t shoot the scenes involving Ahn Hyeon-ho, so we ended up filming more of the other roles.

I guess tomorrow might turn into Ahn Hyeon-ho’s solo shoot.

“And it’s a bit much to just buy you spicy pork for helping out.”

I almost retorted by saying what’s wrong with pork but managed to hold back.

“Well, I’ve checked the schedule and it seems we’ll have plenty of time to rest later, so don’t worry. From what I’ve seen today, the shooting doesn’t seem like it will take too long.”

For us, shooting starts as soon as we press the button on our phones. Since we don’t need to worry about the details like lighting or audio or mics, as long as the acting is decent, the shooting time can be drastically reduced.

“So, you guys should drink too. You’ve all worked so hard today, and though it’s just the beginning, please bear with us a little longer.”

With senior Ju-hee’s permission, we eagerly ordered beers and began to chug them down.

Just as the heat from the grill in front of us seemed to gently waft out, the atmosphere at our table was gradually becoming more lively.

I have a lecture tomorrow, so I’m drinking less, but the mood was not bad.

Seeing the moment as an opportunity, I subtly took the seat next to senior Ju-hee.

“Senior, I have something to tell you.”

“Hmm?”

As Senior was about to stand up to smoke, my words made her sit back down awkwardly.

“I’m doing editing, am I not?”

“That’s right.”

“Actually, I was the one who suggested the script too, and it was thanks to me that we got Yu Arin to help us.”

“That’s true as well. You’re very kind.”

Senior patted my head gently. With the mood feeling good, I continued with a smile.

“The truth is, I’ve been learning some editing skills, so I’ve been a bit short on time lately.”

“You don’t have to go that far.”

“Ah, but it’s good to get good grades. And later on, I could even work as a YouTube editor.”

I had no such plans, but it was just a convenient excuse to use near the senior.

“So, the thing is. Actually, I’ve been a bit short on time recently. Between lectures, studying, editing… It’s been a bit hard for me to follow around for the shooting.”

“Hmm.”

After all, I don’t even have a role.

I do listen to things like composition and precautions during editing, but honestly, I could receive those via messages too.

“Could you possibly exempt me from all this?”

As soon as I got straight to the point, senior Ju-hee nodded and replied.

“That’s a fair point. We’ve been asking too much of you already. I’m sorry.”

“No, no! It’s not like that, Senior.”

Nice.

I forcibly suppress the corners of my lips from turning up as I respond to senior Ju-hee.

“If there’s anything I can help with, please call me anytime.”

“If I need something, I will. But I’ll try not to call if possible…”

“If Kim Woojin is out, I’m out too.”

At that moment, Yu Arin, who was sitting across from us and listening to our conversation, interjects with a laugh.

Wondering if I heard her correctly, I look at her.

“Good luck.”

Yu Arin, pronouncing her verdict right then.

She knew exactly how to ruin my mood.

“Trying to exclude yourself now?”

“Didn’t you hear I’m practicing editing at home?”

As I sigh and speak, Yu Arin responds with a sly smile.

“Just install some editing software on your laptop.”

Look at this woman?!

“…You’re not saying all this without having installed it, are you, Woojin?”

Next to me, senior Ju-hee grips my thigh tightly.

Of course.

Of course, I hadn’t installed it, damn it.

I only intended to appear diligent, without actually planning to be.

After all, editing is just about attaching videos and adding subtitles, isn’t it?

‘What’s this, why do I feel like I’ve become Lucky Ahn Hyeon-ho?’

Thinking about it, I started to feel a tad intimidated because I seem similar to that guy who didn’t memorize the script.

“Is there a laptop in your bag? Take it out and show me. If you’re scared, just die then!”

Yu Arin shouted with a laugh, thinking she had the upper hand in this conversation.

“Me too.”

Choi Yiseo, who had drunk quite a bit of beer, was saying that the side dishes were delicious.

“I think we need Woojin.”

She began to join in on the flow which Yu Arin had created.