Bamboo Forest Manager

Chapter 85: A Good Person

Insect repellent.

Slave No. 1.

Sword Fanatic.

While earning the title of Human Butcher along with that Yu Arin, I was in the midst of eating beef soup.

The beef soup restaurant was crowded despite the late hour, probably because it was the weekend, and everyone was noisily chattering while chugging down their cups of alcohol.

Among those people, only the two of us were concentrated on eating our beef soup.

I wasn’t expecting much talk either, but it was surprisingly delicious, so I was eating with satisfaction even when Yu Arin kept glancing over at me.

I wondered if she had something to say, so I put my spoon down.

An intense gaze passed between us.

As if exploring each other’s intentions before speaking, we carefully and very slowly followed the intentions held in our eyes.

“Do you know what I want to say?”

Seemingly having the same thought, Yu Arin also put her spoon down and stared at me intently, asking.

Just when I was about to cautiously start talking, wondering if it was because of the Pyo Jinho situation.

“Why are you eating all the radish kimchi alone?”

Yu Arin frowns deeply and gestures with her chin to the empty radish kimchi bowl.

“I thought you don’t eat radish kimchi?”

“If you’re scooping one up every time you take a bite, isn’t it like you’re eating the radish kimchi, and not the soup?”

“…This place is a radish kimchi gem. Do they make it themselves?”

Feeling awkward, I get up and scoop some radish kimchi from the self-service bar. Then, Yu Arin also starts eating the radish kimchi, nodding in satisfaction.

“This place really is a hotspot for radish kimchi.”

Crunching sounds accompany the continued eating of the soup. It seemed that being a 24-hour soup restaurant didn’t mean that they served tasteless food.

“Should we order soju too?”

That’s when Yu Arin casually asks.

It seemed so out of the blue and I wondered if there really was a need to drink, so I asked again.

“Why? Do you want to drink?”

I was wondering why suddenly she wanted to drink soju, but Yu Arin made a complicated face, then nodded as she brushed her forehead.

“Yeah, honestly, I kind of want a drink.”

“Well, it would be strange to be in your right mind after almost killing someone.”

Thinking about it, it’s almost like I verbally murdered someone, so I guess some soju is in line.

“That…”

Yu Arin, who was about to say she didn’t kill anyone, but she couldn’t say anything and closed her lips. It seems undeniable that she almost killed Pyo Jinho when recalling the situation.

“It’s because you set the stage for it. Honestly, you acted that way on purpose so I could refuse him, right?”

“If not, wouldn’t that person have never given up on you? If I had said I was your boyfriend, he might have come looking for me later, right?”

Break up with Yu Arin.

Then, I would suddenly end up becoming someone who has to break up with a girl I wasn’t even dating.

“That is…”

Yu Arin couldn’t deny it either.

“Ah, just do it if you’re going to. Drinking soju and feeling better is what’s good.”

“Actually, I felt better earlier.”

“……”

Really?

It would be strange if she hadn’t felt better after pouring out all her pent-up frustration.

Yu Arin, laughing loudly, drinks the soju just served to us. She pours me a glass too, but from the next one onwards, she keeps drinking on her own.

“Aren’t you running ahead too much by yourself without me?”

“You don’t want to drink, do you? I just gave it to you for the atmosphere.”

Her quick-wittedness is astounding to me. Since I wasn’t really in the mood to drink, I just blankly watched her gulp her drink down.

“Ah, this is so nice.”

I said that without thinking and now, with a slight slur, Yu Arin looks at me with dazed eyes.

“It feels good.”

“Yeah, drinking must make you feel good.”

When I casually respond to her, seeking conversation to continue, she clicks her tongue and shakes her head.

“It’s nice to be able to complain. I’m not in my right mind because I’m drunk, and you’re here, just taking in whatever I say without judging me.”

“……”

“Do you know why Chan-woo rejected me?”

I know.

Because Yu Arin had already explained everything when she rejected the confession earlier.

But since she seemed to want to talk, I shook my head.

With a smile, Yu Arin answered as if she had been waiting.

“It was because senior Jinho liked me. Isn’t it funny? Even though he liked me, he backed off because another senior liked me.”

That’s not backing off.

It must have been out of fear that he ran away.

But I had no intention of blindly cursing Chan-woo here either. At that age, it’s natural to be terrified of seniors.

Chan-woo probably regretted that moment countless times, and he still does.

“Do you know what the senior said next? He started spreading rumors among the kids that Jeong Chan-woo and Yerin were a perfect couple. Eventually, it even came out that they were dating.”

Yu Arin is friends with Seo Yerin.

So, naturally, when the story about Jeong Chan-woo, whom Yu Arin confessed to, was dating Seo Yerin spread, the atmosphere surrounding the three was bound to sour.

I’m not sure if Pyo Jinho had the mental capacity to think that far. Probably, it was just an act committed with the desire to eliminate the strongest rival he had.

Looking down at the glass filled with soju, Yu Arin wore a bitter smile.

Whether she was thinking about that time or laughing at her current self.

It was hard for me to tell.

“I was jealous.”

Yu Arin began to faintly understand the strange behaviors she had shown all this time.

“Logically thinking, it should have been just a baseless rumor. But at that time, I lost my mind, not knowing such things, and was jealous when my childhood friend Chan-woo and Yerin were said to be dating.”

“……”

“Ah, how bad, Yu Arin. How can you be such a fool?”

Yu Arin, having taken another gulp, shakes her head and mutters.

“It was so easy, you know. I just had to tell them to get lost, but back then, what was I so afraid of? That I ended up just looking around and hesitated.”

“Everyone’s like that when they’re students, you know.”

Entering university and becoming an adult, many people realize they have more options when it comes to responding to something than they initially thought.

In reality, we are children transitioning into adults.

Our bodies have grown, but we are still half-pennies, not completely shedding our student selves in our hearts.

So, this must be a period when we’re learning quite a bit.

“Like this, becoming an adult, one step at a time.”

Just as one realizes that the bully who tormented them in their youth amounts to nothing when they grow up.

Yu Arin and Jeong Chan-woo simply came to realize that the man named Pyo Jinho wasn’t as great as they thought, or one to be feared.

That is all there is to the incident.

“…You can start over.”

When I say that, Yu Arin stares blankly at me. Then, with a subtle smile, she asks,

“What?”

“Just, you know, this and that.”

It’s still too early to let go.

Especially, in the case of a beautiful love that has been nurtured since childhood as childhood friends.

Hearing my words, Yu Arin takes a deep breath and mutters.

“I’m going to get jealous of Yerin again.”

“What’s there to be jealous of?”

Pretending it was nothing, I asked her, and Yu Arin giggled as she filled her glass with more soju.

“Hey, do you remember the day we first met at the PC café?”

“I remember.”

Thanks to that, I even wrote a movie script and drank with senior Ju-hee.

And I had taken the two of them to Choi Yiseo’s house.

“I wasn’t drunk then.”

“Hmm?”

“I was pretending to be drunk. To test you.”

“…Why test me?”

I had already heard from Choi Yiseo that Yu Arin had sobered up and gone home right after I dropped her there.

At that time, I just brushed it off, but was there another reason for it?

“I wanted to know what kind of guy you are. Yerin has been quietly interested in you since then.”

“……”

“So, I wanted to know. What kind of guy had Yerin taken an interest in.”

“Why?”

“Because I was jealous.”

Was it because of the alcohol?

Or because dawn was approaching?

Was it just me?

Since a while ago, Yu Arin has been continuously pouring her heart out to me.

Somewhat.

Even the darker things she wouldn’t normally speak of.

“I hoped you were the bad guy. I didn’t wish for Yerin to get hurt, but I just thought it would be nice if you were the bad guy.”

“……”

“That was it. Just, maybe, a slightly painful love? If I thought the innocent kid would fall hard, I would have tried to talk her out of it.”

“I know it’s a bit weird to say this. Seo Yerin is actually just a simple victim.”

Would she think I was taking Seo Yerin’s side?

But I thought it was a point that needed to be addressed there, so when I mentioned it, Yu Arin also nodded in agreement.

“I know, so that makes me a damn ugly bitch. But what can I do? Chan-woo was taken away, and some weirdo keeps hitting on me every day. I guess I became an adult without being in my right mind.”

I didn’t want to say anything more to Yu Arin, who was self-reflecting.

That wasn’t for her to decide, and to resolve things with Seo Yerin after everything came to light.

What I needed to do now was.

“So, what is it?”

I listened to Yu Arin’s story, trying to lighten the mood with a playful smile.

Yu Arin, staring at me, chuckled as she replied.

“Yerin has a good eye for people.”

“……”

“You are a good guy.”

Yu Arin shyly bowed her head and avoided looking me in the eye.

“Woojin, you’re a good guy.”

Seeing her all red made me relax without realizing it.

“Thanks.”

It wasn’t like this recognition made me happy, but the fact that she opened up about even her deepest feelings.

“Ah.”

With an exhale escaping my lips, she awkwardly hid the tears welling up in her eyes.

“Why?”

As if forcing herself to say it, Yu Arin was saddened.

“Am I a good person?”

As if that was the problem.