Chapter 230

Chapter 230

Bamboo Forest Manager.

Episode 230: Group Project

It’s already dark outside.

Empty energy drink cans roll around us.

It’s already past midnight.

Like fireflies, we continue our project silently, each illuminated by our screens.

We’ve been too exhausted to talk for a while, but the silence is suddenly broken.

“I told you to fix the PPT font.”

Yu Arin’s voice is openly irritated. Seo Yerin, who is working on individual book reports and reviews for each member, furrows her brows.

“Just change it yourself. I even found the photos for you earlier.”

“Ha, geez.”

They’re grumbling and arguing, but this level of bickering is something we can brush off easily now.

Why did the professor assign this to us?

Was it to test our friendship or love?

“Is the professor married?”

When I ask irritably, it takes a while before I get an answer.

“No. Still single.”

“Figures. That’s why they’re giving us assignments like this.”

They must be the type who enjoy watching others suffer. There’s a high chance they have things like whips or a triangular horse at home.

“They probably watch brutal movies at home. You know, those gory ones.”

As I grumble, others chime in as if they’ve been waiting.

“Definitely gets off to it.”

“Probably sends group messages to students saying ‘hang in there’ while laughing and sleeping soundly.”

“Ah, thinking about the professor sleeping soundly right now makes me so mad.”

Everyone seems to have a lot of built-up frustration.

When we started, everyone was so energetic and bright. But before we knew it, the voices filled with resentment towards the professor turned him into a vile character in our imagination.

“If we give him a bribe or something, it might work, you know? Who knows, maybe all the other teams have already bribed him.”

“Then let’s just send Kim Woojin. That guy will handle it well.”

“Why should I be the one to go?”

I looked at Yu Arin in disbelief, but she responded absentmindedly while tapping away on her laptop.

“The professor is a woman.”

Oh, right.

She’s a female professor.

An unmarried professor.

“You’re really going to sell me out like that?”

I asked with a decaying expression, and Yu Arin chuckled as she replied,

“Isn’t making women whine your hobby?”

“You’re crossing the line, Yu Arin. Do you really want me to get with the professor?”

I frowned at her, and Yu Arin let out a deep sigh.

“Yeah, that would be messed up, sorry. Since I’ve apologized, just send the image you promised via email quickly. It hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I sent it, you fool. Check your email.”

“You didn’t send it. It’s not there.”

“I did send it. Want to bet on that?”

“Loser has to wear underwear on their head while doing the assignment, deal?”

“Deal, and shirtless too.”

We both checked our emails.

I had a record showing I sent it, and a victor’s smile spread across my face.

“See, you fool. I sent it.”

“Oh, you idiot. You sent it to Choi Yiseo.”

“……”

When I checked the email again, it was indeed sent to Choi Yiseo. Glancing at Choi Yiseo, who had been munching on nuts and grumbling from earlier, she complained.

“Send the email properly. Don’t send weird stuff and confuse everyone.”

“Take off your top and wear your underwear on your head, you jerk.”

Dark circles brightened under Yu Arin’s eyes, she declared her victory with a sneer and a middle finger.

A warm pair of panties flew against the back of my head.

“Use that, Woojin.”

Seo Yerin, wearing a skirt, casually handed over her panties.

Yet, unlike usual, she didn’t even glance up, just kept typing on her laptop, showing how everyone was exhausted.

Eventually, I continued the assignment shirtless, with Seo Yerin’s panties on my head.

The scent of Seo Yerin wafting from above was strangely addictive.

“Ah, seriously!”

Bang!

Suddenly, Choi Yiseo slammed the floor, turning her head in frustration.

It was the first time I’d seen Choi Yiseo like that, so I was curious.

“Because of the professor and Kim Woojin’s talk earlier, I can’t concentrate!”

She’s gone mad because of the assignment too.

“Ah, it’s so annoying. Even thinking Kim Woojin might like it makes it worse!”

Choi Yiseo’s face, imagining her own NTR, was filled with despair.

“There’s one way to deal with that.”

Seo Yerin glanced at Choi Yiseo and offered a neat solution.

“Go take care of it. Then it’ll clear your mind.”

Isn’t there some strange gas being released here?

I thought it was an absurd solution, but a dazed Choi Yiseo suddenly stood up.

“Whew.”

Then she headed straight for the bathroom.

“Ha, she’s crazy.”

“It’ll clear your mind if you let it out.”

Yu Arin and Seo Yerin chuckled at Choi Yiseo.

Watching Choi Yiseo enter the bathroom, I suddenly jumped up and ran.

“Yiseo! I’ll help you! I can’t concentrate either! Let me help-!”

Clatter!

Choi Yiseo emerged as the door opened.

“Already? Are you premature?”

When Yu Arin asked teasingly, Choi Yiseo replied while shaking off her wet hands.

“I just washed my face.”

Figures.

But what should I do, I’m all worked up now.

“Stop doing weird things and go back to your seat to work on your assignment, Woojin.”

Choi Yiseo pushed me aside and returned to her seat. Watching her intently, I headed straight to the bathroom.

“I really just took a step back.”

Thud.

I closed the door and sat on the toilet.

Thud thud thud!

“Woojin! I’ll help you! I can’t concentrate either! I’ll help-!”

Hearing Seo Yerin’s shout from outside, I was about to open the door to let her in.

But Yu Arin and Choi Yiseo told me to stop fooling around and come back to do the assignment, so I had no choice but to return.

Chirp chirp.

Chirp chirp.

“Shut up, damn it!”

No matter how much I shout at the birds crying outside, nothing changes. It’s just venting frustration.

The once endlessly dark outside has brightened, and sunlight streams in through the window as if greeting us.

The air inside the room is so stuffy that I open the window to ventilate.

Yu Arin and Seo Yerin are already asleep on my bed. Their embrace as they sleep is quite impressive, so I took a picture.

Now out of nuts to chew on, Choi Yiseo is just mindlessly crunching a paper cup.

Tap tap tap.

The rough typing is more excitement than anger. It also means it’s almost over.

And a moment later.

Click.

Choi Yiseo presses the enter key and saves the file. Taking a deep breath, she hands me her laptop.

“Sorry, but could you just proofread it for me?”

“Of course.”

I quickly move to Choi Yiseo’s side and support her with my shoulder as she starts to collapse.

She was about to lie on the floor but instead leaned against my shoulder, and as I took the laptop, I began reviewing next to her.

“Earlier.”

Choi Yiseo, whose eyes were fluttering with sleepiness, murmured softly.

“Sorry for getting mad.”

A chuckle escaped me at those words.

“We get mad at each other so often, I don’t even know what we’re apologizing for.”

“Just, just sorry for everything.”

Sorry for what, exactly?

None of us had refrained from getting mad at each other.

Still, isn’t it fortunate that it didn’t escalate into a big fight and we finished the assignment?

“Just words?”

I asked playfully, and the weight on my shoulder disappeared. Choi Yiseo, raising her head slightly, planted a kiss on my cheek.

Smooch.

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing Choi Yiseo apologize in a voice that was barely alive, she seemed utterly adorable.

“I’m sorry too.”

What could I have possibly done right?

When I apologized, Choi Yiseo, in the same position as when she kissed me, puckered her lips.

“Just words?”

“Heh.”

Smooch.

When our lips met, Choi Yiseo smiled softly and then collapsed.

She naturally fell asleep using my lap as a pillow, so I continued reviewing while leaving her as she was.

My body felt heavy.

I remember finishing the review of the PPT, script, and feedback before falling asleep.

I thought I might have overexerted myself, but that wasn’t it.

When I opened my eyes slightly, there was Choi Yiseo and Yu Arin resting on my arm.

I remembered Choi Yiseo, but I wondered why Yu Arin was here.

I was certain she had been sleeping with Seo Yerin on the bed.

When I glanced toward the bed, Seo Yerin was nowhere to be seen either. Just as I wondered where she had gone, I felt a weight.

“…Ah, there you are.”

Seo Yerin, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on my groin. It was quite amazing how she could sleep like that.

I thought about just sleeping more in this position, so I closed my eyes, but it turned out I couldn’t really fall asleep again.

And my arm was starting to feel numb and hurt.

No, it wasn’t just starting to hurt.

It hurt like hell.

“Ouch, damn it!”

As I lifted my arm up to pull it out, Yu Arin and Choi Yiseo simultaneously jerked their heads off the floor and woke up.

“Ouch!”

“Ow…”

Both seemed bewildered by the sudden situation, but sorry, I didn’t have the capacity to worry about that.

“My arm hurts too much! It feels like it’s been electrocuted!”

The tingling pain shot through my arm with even the slightest movement. Arm pillows are something you do for a moment, not all night.

But the two continued their conversation, ignoring me.

“What time is it now?”

“Let’s see, it’s 3 o’clock. We fell asleep around 6 o’clock, so…we didn’t sleep as much as we thought.”

“Hey, hey. Seo Yerin. Wake up. We need to go home.”

Yu Arin woke Seo Yerin up too.

Choi Yiseo started tidying up the room, while Yu Arin and Seo Yerin quickly fixed their messy hair.

Now that my arm was back to normal, I stretched a bit and mumbled.

“Doesn’t it smell like something?”

Yu Arin and Choi Yiseo were annoyed, asking if I really had to say that out loud.

It seemed like everyone was thinking the same thing.

“Seriously. It’s intense!”

On the contrary, Seo Yerin clung to me and sniffed here and there.

Even for me, it was embarrassing, so I pushed her away.

“I’d rather take a bath than a shower. I should go to a bathhouse.”

Since everyone was about to leave, I thought I might as well go to a bathhouse too.

Was my suggestion unexpectedly a hit?

Everyone’s desire to take a bath was evident from their expressions.

From what I know, women who are really close don’t bathe together.

“I’ll go too!”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a bathhouse.”

Seo Yerin and Yu Arin didn’t seem to mind since they had already been intimate.

“…I’ll go too.”

Choi Yiseo didn’t seem to have any strong objections either.

‘Come to think of it, they go to the same gym.’

They must have seen each other change and shower there.

‘Going all the way to a public bathouse to relax wouldn’t be a bad idea.’

After burning through Saturday to finish assignments, it seemed like a good idea to fully relax on Sunday.

“Then let’s just wear caps and go.”

Since we’d be washing up there, I thought of just grabbing a simple cap.

“Woojin-ah.”

Seo Yerin reached out with a peculiar expression.

“Huh?”

“Give me my panties back.”

“Oh…”

I was still wearing them on my head.