Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 61

Hey, am I cute, hyung? Episode 61 (61/500)

Siha was holding onto Hyung’s hand tightly.

He looked up and stared intently at Hyung’s face.

Expressionless.

A strange blue light flickered in his eyes, which betrayed no emotion.

Buzz!

The moment a sound struck his ear, a blue light burst from Si-hyuk’s head.

Flash.

Siha squinted, blinded by the light.

In that instant, a star cluster more intricate and detailed than a spiderweb was drawn in Si-hyuk’s mind.

The electronic signals in his brain corresponded with the light, making his perception of time extremely slow.

Watching the car approaching slowly, Si-hyuk’s body bent.

His right arm, holding Siha, tensed, and he lifted him up and hugged him.

It was as if his body was telling him to do this, moving purely on instinct.

His legs gained strength, and he jumped sideways.

Tumble, tumble.

Si-hyuk and Siha rolled, barely avoiding the oncoming vehicle.

“Huff, huff. Siha.”

“Hyung?”

Siha opened his eyes as the dazzling light faded.

Si-hyuk checked Siha’s body all over to see if he was hurt.

At that moment, a scream was heard from behind Siha.

“Kyaa!”

Everyone was in a panic due to the sudden accident.

Si-hyuk and Siha were safe, but Park Joong-hyuk, who couldn’t avoid it, was in an accident.

Was it fortunate that the wall behind him was a styrofoam partition rather than a concrete wall?

Park Joong-hyuk groaned and breathed heavily.

Seeing that, Si-hyuk quickly took out his phone.

“Siha, just look at Hyung. Don’t look anywhere else. Got it?”

“Ah ah.”

Si-hyuk was worried about Siha.

He said that in case he saw the terrible scene behind him.

Siha had been looking at Si-hyuk since earlier, so there was no problem.

He snuggled into Hyung’s arms and hugged him tightly.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Yeah. You were very surprised, weren’t you?”

In fact, Siha was very surprised.

Not because of the accident or the sudden rolling.

It was because the blue light that had been on Hyung had disappeared.

Whether he knew it or not, Hyung was still talking to someone on the phone.

“Yes. Hello. This is the Meltz KR branch. Someone suddenly stepped on the accelerator during a free test drive, and someone was hit. Please come quickly.”

Si-hyuk hung up the phone and hugged Siha.

Seeing Si-hyuk report it, people finally came to their senses and ran to the car.

The person in the car didn’t even get out.

A colleague who worked with him got angry and knocked on the car door.

“Open it! Open it quickly! There’s someone under the car right now!”

Only then did the car open, and a woman came out with an indifferent face.

In the meantime, she held her precious luxury bag in her hand and took out her phone.

“Get out of the way. I’m going to move the car!”

“Ah, yes.”

The dealer roughly pushed the woman away and moved the car back.

Only then did Park Joong-hyuk groan as he came out.

“Aagh. My leg. My leg.”

He grabbed his leg and groaned, seemingly in great pain.

Si-hyuk turned his head at the sight.

He was so angry at the woman’s appearance, not even looking at him.

After a while.

An ambulance came and took Park Joong-hyuk away.

Si-hyuk held Siha in his arms so he wouldn’t be surprised and calmed down in the lounge prepared at the Meltz KR branch.

“Haa…….”

Si-hyuk’s heart did not calm down.

His heart was pounding, and bad thoughts followed.

Siha could have been seriously injured.

It doesn’t matter if he gets hurt.

But if Siha got hurt and was taken to the hospital for surgery, his heart would have been torn apart.

And looking at that woman’s attitude, she seemed to be thinking of just ending it with insurance and a settlement, let alone an apology.

“Hoo.”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah, Siha. Hyung. I’m okay.”

“Ah ah.”

Si-hyuk hugged Siha.

He had to calm down the young Siha, but he seemed more surprised.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Sorry. Let’s just stay like this for a little while, even if it’s stuffy.”

“Ah ah.”

Siha stroked Hyung’s back.

Then, he secretly looked at Hyung’s pocket in his arms.

The blue light flowing from the phone caught Siha’s eye.

[Updating… 1%… 2%…. ]

The phone in Si-hyuk’s pocket was being updated.

***

The meeting with Liam from Meltz headquarters was postponed to the next day.

Not only was he not ready to welcome him, but he had to investigate the incident now.

I returned home with Siha and lay down on the floor.

“Hyung.”

Siha patted my stomach.

I don’t know who is the older brother and who is the younger brother.

“Siha~ Hyung is okay now.”

“Ah ah. Hyung. Scared.”

“Yeah. I was very surprised.”

The car accident was now a trauma for me.

It was a relief that I didn’t freak out, having lost my parents like that all at once.

I just wanted to sleep soundly now.

“Shall we wash up and go to bed early?”

“Ah ah.”

Siha and I washed up and fell asleep early.

“Let’s go to sleep now.”

“Ah ah.”

“Oh, right. Where’s my phone?”

Only then did I realize that I hadn’t touched my phone once.

I was so out of it that I belatedly took out my phone from the pants I had taken off.

Tingle.

“Ah!”

I know this feeling of static electricity.

Could it be?

Suddenly, my eyes went spinning.

There was no such thing last time, but now the feeling of cramming something in was intense.

‘Why is this happening?’

Moving my staggering body, I barely made it to the bed.

“Siha.”

“Snore.”

Watching Siha, who was already closing his eyes, I collapsed as is.

Is it an illusion that I see a blue light in the window of my blurry eyes?

Feeling something penetrating my head, my consciousness faded.

…….

Umm…….

Am I asleep?

Did I fall asleep? No, am I awake since I can think?

Am I feeling hazy?

I felt like my body was sinking as if I was swimming in a dark darkness.

Before I knew it, the black curtain disappeared, and a bright light appeared.

Should I call this light?

No. Somehow, I was looking at myself objectively, like a scene from a camera.

Only then did I think I knew. What this is.

‘It’s a dream?’

There was me and someone in my childhood.

No. I knew who this person was.

My father’s friend who taught me a lot after coming to Korea.

It was the CIA agent Hwang Ki-joon, the CEO of Lawrence Medical Translation, taught me.

‘Then is it when I was 11 years old?’

I don’t remember that time well, but he was someone who often came and taught me a lot.

He was a foreign uncle who sometimes taught me trivial things and got scolded by my father.

Uncle raised his hand.

[Kid. You still have a dark face. Why? Did you fight with your friends?]

[No, I didn’t. No Name.]

[Why am I No Name?]

[Uncle, your name changes every day, so you’re No Name.]

[I can’t help it. I’m working under several names?]

Saying that, Uncle whispered in Si-hyuk’s ear.

[A hero, you see. If his real name is revealed, his location will be reverse-tracked.]

Si-hyuk picked his ear and retorted.

[Again. Again. Lies. You always tease me like this.]

[Haha. The reaction is very good. So why are you sulking again? Did you see the gift that came to Mom and throw it away again?]

[Not Mom.]

[Haha. Okay. Okay. Oh, right. Shall I tell you something fun?]

[What is it? I won’t be fooled even if you say something strange this time. I’m all grown up.]

[Really?]

Uncle widened his eyes exaggeratedly.

[I’m now a two-digit number. You know? Two digits are almost adults.]

At Si-hyuk’s words, Uncle grabbed his stomach and laughed.

[Puhaha! Yeah. Not many people live to be three digits. Then you’re all grown up and you can understand, right?]

[Yes. Anything.]

Uncle laughed as if it was fun, then looked down at the ground, digging.

[When you work, there are bad memories. Like this dark darkness here.]

[What is it? Suddenly.]

[Listen first. It’s a story about trauma. Even if I do hero work, I can’t help but accumulate stress about this work. I can indirectly bury someone, too.]

It was quite a violent thing to say to a child.

Uncle kept digging the ground.

[It keeps getting deeper like this. So much so that it’s hard to fill.]

[Then what should I do?]

[So the method I came up with is to cover this deep darkness with something else.]

[With something else?]

[Yeah. With something else.]

Uncle started covering the soil again.

[This is how you firmly cover the experience with something else. With something more amazing and surmountable.]

[Umm. It’s difficult.]

[Do you remember how I got out of being bullied before?]

[I remember!]

For example, bully them in reverse.

Tear apart the friends around the bully and make them have animosity.

Make them bite each other and abandon their interest in the aftermath.

He was an uncle who taught me very strange things and got hit on the back a lot by my father.

[Umm. But that was a strange thing.]

[A strange thing! It’s very important! How smoothly it’s resolved!]

[Hmm…….]

[Public opinion warfare is the best. Ahem. I digressed, but what would the memory of the child who saw that be like? Will they continue to be afraid of those children? Or will they think of them as stupid?]

[Wouldn’t they think they’re stupid?]

[That’s right. Now they’re starting to look down on themselves. In a way, they’ve overcome it.]

[Is that it?]

Si-hyuk tilted his head.

Uncle filled all the holes he had dug and patted them.

So that no more holes would be created.

[In fact, the best way is not to see it. If that’s impossible, get rid of it. By mobilizing all your capabilities.]

[Is that so?]

[You do that too. You get rid of Mom’s gifts so they’re not visible.]

[I told you, not Mom.]

[Anyway!]

[You’ll get scolded by Dad if you teach me this?]

[What?! You’re not going to tell Dad, are you? If you’re almost an adult, you don’t tell Dad. You know that, right?]

Si-hyuk smiled and said.

[You know what? Parents always see their children as kids. Dad!]

[Wait a minute! There must have been good things among the things I said. Let’s just tell him that!]

Si-hyuk was seen running to his dad, and Uncle was seen chasing after him.

Forgotten memories that I haven’t seen in a long time.

I realized that the memories of my uncle, who I haven’t heard from in a while, played a big part in shaping my personality.

‘I had memories like this too…….’

Maybe I’m having these dreams because this car accident stimulated my trauma.

‘The best way is to get rid of it…….’

Then how to get rid of it is the most important thing, isn’t it?

Then what should I do?

It was ridiculous to be trembling like this.

To think that I was going to come home and collapse because I was tired and exhausted.

I had to get stronger.

I mustn’t collapse.

No holes should be drilled in this fence that can protect Siha.

So I asked myself.

‘Did I really protect Siha today?’

The answer was already in my heart.

Flash.

A blue light appeared and covered my vision.

I closed my eyes and felt my body floating up, and I woke up.

Feeling the light coming in through the window hitting my eyes, I raised my upper body.

‘Siha is…….’

I could see him wriggling and sleeping next to me.

I gently swept back his bangs and stared at him.

‘I won’t show you a weak side anymore. I’m sorry.’

I stretched, picked up my phone, and headed to the living room.

It was morning, but there was something I had to do.

‘Liam called.’

I wondered if he was awake, so I pressed the call button.

Click.

After a few rings, Liam answered the phone.

「Oh! Mr. Si-hyuk. Did you get home okay yesterday? I heard you were involved in an accident.」

「Yes. Liam. I’m fine. Um?」

「Um? No. Mr. Si-hyuk? I didn’t know you could speak German? I heard you couldn’t before.」

「…I couldn’t, but I can now?」

「Haha. What are you talking about.」

I know, right. What am I talking about?

I think the new ability is the ability to speak German.

It seems I have acquired a new language following English.

「Liam is the first person I’ve ever had a direct conversation with in German.」

「Oh! Is that so? I guess you studied, but you’ve never used it in practice.」

「Well, that’s the feeling.」

「Your pronunciation is quite good. I don’t have to speak in English. I’m even more excited.」

「I have to live up to that expectation. Ah! Before I live up to that expectation, can I ask you for a favor?」

「Yes. If it’s not difficult.」

I smiled softly.