Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 272

Going back in time, it was five days before Lunar New Year.

To be exact, it was January 23rd.

Siha was at daycare as usual, but he was deep in thought.

He looked at the calendar and counted the numbers on his palm.

“One night, two nights, three nights.”

His eyes widened.

He realized that there wasn’t much time left.

He shook his head and put his hand on his cheek.

Siha’s head was ringing with alarms, as if something terrible had happened.

“Siha! Let’s play!”

Seung-jun, unaware of Siha’s worries, put his arm around Siha’s shoulder.

Yeon-ju and Hana also came to Siha’s side to discuss what to play today.

“Siha! Shall we play hide-and-seek today? What do you think, Yeon-ju?”

“Me? I think anything is fun.”

Yeon-ju shrugged, as if it didn’t matter what they did.

However, Siha didn’t respond to their words and was lost in thought.

Seung-jun shouted loudly into Siha’s ear.

“Siha! Siha!”

“Huh?”

Siha jumped at the loud noise, took Seung-jun’s arm off his shoulder, and looked at him.

“What?”

“I’m asking what we’re going to play. Shall we go outside? Want to play soccer?”

“No. Siha busy.”

“Huh? You weren’t doing anything, were you?”

“Siha worry. Worry.”

“What are you worried about?”

“Hyung’s birthday present.”

“Huh? Is Sihyuk hyung’s birthday today?”

“No. January 25th.”

Siha pointed to January 25th on the calendar and said.

The twins’ eyes widened.

They didn’t know such an important fact!

“Siha worry about present.”

“Hmm. That’s difficult. What should we give Sihyuk hyung?”

“What does Sihyuk *oppa* [older brother figure] play with?”

Siha thought of Sihyuk.

And this was the answer he came up with.

“Notebook!”

“Then let’s give him a notebook as a present!”

“Ah!”

He clapped his hands as if it was a great idea.

But there was someone who poured cold water on it.

“Notebooks are very expensive. We can’t afford that.”

“Huh?”

Jong-su took out his smartphone and searched for it.

The prices came up in a list.

“The latest models cost almost 1.7 million *won* [Korean currency]!”

“Huh?”

He tilted his head, not knowing how much 1.7 million *won* was.

He just counted the length of the number diligently.

“Seven. Many!”

“Yeah. It’s this long.”

“Can buy. Siha have money.”

“You have this much money?!”

“Ah.”

Siha remembered that there were eight digits in his bank account.

He remembered having over ten million *won*.

All the money Siha had received, including the money from the first emoticon release, the popup book sales, and so on, was in there.

“No, no way! That must be Sihyuk hyung’s money.”

“Where buy notebook?”

Siha didn’t really answer Jong-su’s question.

Jong-su couldn’t believe it.

It seemed like Siha was just lying about having a lot of money.

“I’m telling you, it’s too expensive to buy. And they don’t sell things like that to daycare kids like us. Because we’re young.”

“Why?”

“Because they don’t think we can afford it. And even if you have that money in your account, you can’t take it out unless you go to the bank with your mom and dad.”

“Really? No! Hyung present secret.”

He couldn’t take out the money because he had to give the present secretly.

Worry started again.

But he remembered that he had money in his piggy bank.

“Piggy bank.”

“How much money is in there? Not a million *won*, right?”

“Ah. Three ten thousand?”

He didn’t know exactly, but he remembered putting that much in.

Whenever he got coins, Sihyuk would put them in Siha’s piggy bank.

Saying it was allowance.

“You can buy something with that. But no notebooks.”

“Ah.”

Siha believed Jong-su’s smart words.

The worry went back to square one.

He had only ever seen his *hyung* working on his notebook, so he didn’t know if there was anything else he liked.

“Siha.”
Hana tapped Siha on the shoulder.

“Huh?”

“You can ask someone else. Someone who might know what Sihyuk *oppa* likes as a present.”

“Ah!”

Siha nodded, saying it was a good idea.

He quickly put on his penguin bag and ran to the shoe rack.

He wriggled his feet into his shoes and stuck to the door.

“Okay! Freeze!”

The teacher put her hands under Siha’s armpits and lifted him up.

Dangling.

“Huh?”

“Siha, where are you going?”

Siha thought of a word and flapped his arms as if he had come up with something.

“Siha go investigate. Investigate!”

“Huh?”

“Hyung birthday present.”

“The teacher heard about that too.”

“Ask Mun-do *samchon* [term for an older male friend or uncle]. Ask.”

“Oh~ really? Do you really have to go ask?”

“Ah. Hyung secret. Secret.”

“I see.”

The teacher smiled and nodded.

“Then let’s go out with the teacher.”

“Huh? Why, teacher?”

“Originally, you have to go with an adult for things like this.”

Then the twins and Yeon-ju popped out.

“Teacher! Me too! Me too!”

“Hana too. Hana too.”

“I want to take a walk.”

Somehow, a situation was created where they all had to go together.

The director waved and told them to have a good time.

Ms. Yoo Da-hee’s face showed a slight disappointment.

***

Moon Do-hwan saw Ms. Yoo Da-hee opening the door slightly.

He smiled brightly, then tilted his head as he saw the four children.

At the gesture to come quickly, he got up from his seat and went out the door.

“What brings you here?”

“First, sit down on that chair. You’re happy to see me, right?”

“Yes. I am happy.”

“Siha said he had something he wanted to ask, so I brought him. Ah! I’m telling you clearly, this is all a secret, so don’t go telling anyone.”

“Who would I tell this to? Haha.”

“Right? Especially don’t tell Sihyuk.”

“Ah, Sihyuk?”

“Yes, yes. Siha wants to keep it a secret.”

Moon Do-hwan looked at Siha.

“Mun-do *samchon*!”

“Yeah. I wish you would say Do-hwan *samchon*.”

“Mun-do *samchon*.”

Moon-do can’t give up.

“So, what do you want to ask?”

“Siha worry about hyung present. What hyung like?”

“Hmm.”

Moon Do-hwan stroked his chin and stared at Siha.

If it’s something Sihyuk likes, he can only think of Siha.

Because his thoughts and actions always revolve around Siha.

He really likes his younger brother.

“I can only think of Siha.”

“Huh?”

“Hyung really likes Siha.”

“Then give Siha as hyung present?”

“Doesn’t he already have you?”

“No. Hyung have Siha, but Siha say hyung have Siha.”

“Is that so? That’s a difficult thing to say.”

In Moon Do-hwan’s mind, it’s all the same, but it seems like it’s something different to Siha.

“Mun-do. Siha have three ten thousand in piggy bank. What buy with this?”

“Was that just a joke?”

“Huh?”

Siha nodded as if it was obvious.

As if he couldn’t possibly be the present.

“Our Siha has become very smart.”

“Siha always smart.”

“Yes. Smart. Smart.”

“*Tteok* [rice cake] delicious.”

Sometimes when you talk, you go off on a tangent.

Moon Do-hwan thought seriously and told him.

“Sihyuk will like anything Siha gives him. How about a tumbler for 30,000 *won*?”

“Huh? Tumbler? Who tumbler?”

“No. Hmm. It’s like this cup.”

Moon Do-hwan showed Siha a tumbler on his phone.

“Ah. Siha know. Saw this.”

“Sihyuk drinks a lot of tea instead of coffee. Of course, he drinks coffee sometimes too. How is it?”

“Can buy with three ten thousand?”

“Yes. Plenty. If you buy this tumbler, you can put Siha’s picture in it. You can print it out and put it in here.”

Siha was hooked on the tumbler at Moon Do-hwan’s words.

It was a perfect gift that he could buy with money and give something handmade together.

“Siha this! This!”

“Hoo.”

Moon Do-hwan wiped away sweat as if he had finished something.

He would have been very disappointed if he had come to ask with great expectations and he had answered that he didn’t know.

And he didn’t want to show that side of himself in front of Ms. Yoo Da-hee.

He thought about it as much as possible.

“I’ll order it, so Siha, let’s see. If I use this card, I get a discount. Bring 7,000 *won*. Got it?”

“Seven thousand *won*?”

“Yeah. Just bring one green bill.”

“Siha know. King Sejong!”

“Oh! Yeah. Bring one King Sejong. Got it?”

“Ah.”

Siha nodded.

“But you can’t get caught?”

“Siha secret. Secret.”

Moon Do-hwan didn’t feel very trustworthy.

It didn’t seem possible to secretly take money out of the piggy bank, and even drawing a picture seemed difficult.

Then Ms. Yoo Da-hee sat next to him.

She nudged him in the side.

“You’re really thinking about it very seriously?”

“Haha. It’s Sihyuk’s birthday, so I have to.”

“And it seems like you came up with a really good gift.”

“Well, I thought a lot about the gift…”

Moon Do-hwan stopped talking.

Ms. Yoo Da-hee’s eyes curved into crescents.

“Whose gift did you think about so much? Right?”

“Fri, friends. I have a lot of friends.”

“Last month was Christmas, though? You’ve been thinking about birthday presents that much in the meantime? You must have a lot of friends.”

“Hahaha. It just so happens that there are a lot of people born in January.”

Ms. Yoo Da-hee tilted her head slightly and looked at Moon Do-hwan.

“I thought a lot about Christmas presents. If it’s expensive, it’s burdensome, and if it’s cheap, it seems too insincere.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Moon Do-hwan shyly covered his mouth.

He didn’t say whose present it was, but he had some idea.

Yeon-ju and Hana looked back and forth between the two of them, intrigued.

The two whispered to each other.

“Yeon-ju, I think they like each other.”

“Hana, this drama is fun.”

“Hehehe. I have to tell my mom.”

“Me too.”

Ms. Yoo Da-hee was overlooking the fact that if the daycare moms knew, everyone would know.

Because the moms’ gossip is faster than any rumor.

Yeon-ju and Hana were giggling as they looked at each other.

Seung-jun is thinking separately.

“I’m going to make a soccer ball and give it to Sihyuk hyung! But what are you two whispering about so much?”

Hana sighed at her brother.

“Stupid Oh Seung-jun.”

“Why!”

“Hana is going to give Sihyuk *oppa* a song as a present.”

“Why am I stupid when you’re giving something you’re good at too?”

“*Oppa* doesn’t need to know.”

Yeon-ju giggled next to him.

“Seung-jun really doesn’t need to know.”

Seung-jun just frowned at the two of them.

***

Siha arrived home with his *hyung*.

He saw Sihyuk preparing dinner in the kitchen and slipped into the room.

The first thing he aimed for was the piggy bank.

He shook it first to see how much was in it.

Clang, clang.

“Shh! Be quiet.”

Siha warned the pig.

Clang, clang.

“Many. Many.”

Siha tapped the pig’s nose.

He put his finger in, but all he touched were coins.

He had no choice but to turn it over and shake it out.

Clang, clang.

“Shh. Quiet. Secret. Secret.”

There was an unavoidable sound leaking out.

“Many! One, two, three, four.”

Siha was the same, as if he wanted to count how much money there was when he saw it.

“Siha. What are you doing?”

“!!!”

Siha froze as if he had been caught.

Sihyuk just tilted his head.

“Siha count money.”

It was an appropriate quick fix.

“Pfft. You wanted to count what you’ve saved up. Wow! You’ve saved a lot? Should we go to the bank and put it in later?”

“No!”

That would be a disaster.

This time, Siha learned. That he can use the money when it’s in the piggy bank.

“Why?”

Siha hesitated for a moment and came up with another quick fix.

“Piggy hungry. If hungry, hard.”

“Pfft. Oh, really. Okay. The pig can’t starve either. I’m almost done with dinner, so wait a little bit. Okay? Let’s eat too.”

“Thank you~”

“What are you thankful for again. You’re funny.”

As Sihyuk went back to the kitchen, Siha stroked his chest.

He gathered all the money and put it back in the piggy bank.

Except for one. Except for ten thousand *won*.

“Okay.”

The problem is that he has to put this ten thousand *won* in his bag.

He mustn’t get caught by his *hyung*.

Siha quietly came out of the room.

His *hyung* was putting side dishes on a plate.

Quickly, Siha went to his shoes and slipped it under the insole.

Siha said in a small voice.

“All done.”

He had seen people hiding money here in cartoons.

Thanks to that, he hid it well without getting caught.

“Picture.”

Now Siha only had to draw a picture secretly.