Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 114

Hyung, Am I Cute? (1)

“Then, since it’s too late today, shall we talk more tomorrow?”

“Okay. Siha needs to go home, too.”

“Ah?”

Siha shook his head as if he didn’t want to leave.

Alisa pinched Siha’s cheek as if she found him adorable.

“Why? Should I not go?”

“No. Siha. Hyung [older brother or male friend]. Nora.”

“Huh?”

“Playground. Play.”

“Ah…….”

It seemed Siha still wanted to play at the playground.

Alisa, realizing her misunderstanding, awkwardly rubbed her nose.

Just then, Siha grabbed Alisa’s shoulder.

“Lisa, too. Play.”

“Huh? Me too?”

“Ah ah.”

I grabbed Siha’s shoulder as well.

So, the three of us ended up holding each other’s shoulders, which looked strange, but I didn’t particularly care.

“Siha, you have to go home now. You need to eat.”

“No. Play.”

“Really? Hyung is leaving?”

“No.”

I also wanted to play with Siha at the playground, but it was almost dinner time.

It was also true that preparing dinner would take time.

As I was wondering what to do, Alisa suddenly stood up.

“Instead of that, let’s play for a bit. I’ll buy dinner today.”

“Hmm. Then let’s play and eat at a nearby restaurant. They have really delicious bibimbap [Korean mixed rice with meat and vegetables] there. And they give you five side dishes.”

“Okay.”

And so, we unintentionally ended up playing with Siha.

Come to think of it, I thought it would be better to feed Alisa a meal before sending her off alone.

‘Should I ask her something while we eat?’

After playing with Siha, we went to a nearby restaurant.

“Hyung. I’m hungry.”

“They have delicious bibimbap here, so let’s eat that.”

“Ah ah.”

Actually, I wanted to eat dolsot bibimbap (hot stone pot bibimbap), but if I had to cool it down for Siha, it would take too much time, so I just ordered regular bibimbap.

The side dishes came out, and soon the rice came out.

I added a little bit of soybean paste and mixed the rice with gochujang (red pepper paste).

The egg yolk broke, and the rice grains were mixed with a glossy sheen.

“Alisa, eat up.”

“Yes.”

“Siha, let’s eat. Ah~”

“Ah~”

Siha munched well.

I put the spoon in his hand and started eating.

Looking ahead, Alisa was diligently eating bibimbap.

‘She’s eating well.’

She was eating as if she had never cried, and when she noticed me staring, she gave me an embarrassed smile.

“Even when something sad happens, you still get hungry and eat.”

“Koreans need to persevere with the strength of rice.”

“Pfft.”

“Eat slowly. No one’s going to take it away.”

“Yes.”

As I ate, I organized my thoughts.

First.

There’s something very strange.

It’s the comments. At first, bad reviews were posted on several sales sites.

This is something that can happen normally.

These days, people give star ratings too.

‘But isn’t it too coincidental?’

Would they keep saying the same thing at a place that just started?

Of course, the stories written are all different, but the gist was this.

The clothes are not good.

Whatever the reason, that’s the conclusion.

‘The clothes are really good, though?’

Frankly, even as someone who didn’t design them, it was hard for me to accept.

But these blatant reviews were too suspicious.

‘I can’t help but be suspicious.’

Second.

If someone deliberately plotted this, who would benefit?

‘No one.’

Would there be a company that would attack a shopping mall that just opened so blatantly?

Large shopping malls wouldn’t even look at it.

‘I’m stuck here.’

No one benefits, so who would do this?

Could it be an attack after seeing Alisa’s Instagram account?

‘No. That was revealed later.’

Only Alisa’s name is on the designer’s name.

It seems that even the revelation was made by one of Alisa’s acquaintances.

‘It would be better to ask. Ask if she has any idea who it could be.’

I looked at Alisa, who had finished a bowl.

“Alisa.”

“Is the tteok-mandu soup [rice cake and dumpling soup] good here too? I want to try it.”

“Oh? It’s good here.”

“사장님 [sa-jang-nim, meaning ‘boss’ or ‘owner’ in Korean]! One more tteok-mandu soup, please.”

“Siha too!”

Alisa said she would share hers with Siha and eat together.

I missed the timing to ask because Alisa eats a lot.

I tapped the table and focused Alisa’s attention.

“Alisa. By any chance, have you ever incurred anyone’s resentment?”

“Why?”

“I think this was done by someone.”

“Hmm…. Not really?”

“Really? Hmm. Well, let’s think about that later. First, we need to find a solution.”

“You said you had a good idea.”

“I do have one. I don’t know if it will come true. I was going to say it when everyone was together. Alisa, do you have anything?”

Alisa started to think seriously.

“Nothing?”

“Haha. It’s okay. Let’s think as quickly as possible, though it’s not really slow.”

Come to think of it, it was stupid to ask a truly innocent person what to do.

I silently reflected on myself.

Alisa said.

“I’m so curious, can’t you tell me tomorrow and today too?”

“Hmm. Okay. Actually, I only have one thing in mind.”

“What is it?”

“If there’s an enemy, it’ll be too difficult to start, so let’s turn our eyes elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?”

“Clothes aren’t only sold in Korea, you know.”

Only then did Alisa realize what I was trying to say and widened her eyes.

“Ah…….”

“I don’t know much about business, but I know one thing. All jobs require sales. Going through this translator job has solidified that thought even more.”

“But can we do it?”

“What company had clients from the beginning? They all ran around and became friends, and that’s how it happened. Alisa.”

“Yes.”

“It would be a waste to throw away Alisa’s experience living in the United States, I think.”

“That’s true. I only thought about succeeding in Korea, so I couldn’t even think of that method.”

“Right?”

As we were talking, the tteok-mandu soup came out.

I scooped soup into an empty bowl and gave it to Siha.

I cooled it down by blowing on it and put it in Siha’s mouth.

When the fire is hot like this, you have no choice but to wait until it cools down.

And instead of just standing still while it cools down, you have to blow on it and come up with a plan.

This tteok-mandu soup is good, but sometimes you eat soup too.

We finished our meal thinking about the direction we should move forward.

***

-KI Media.

Section Chief Hong Jin-soo was pacing back and forth.

The assistant manager, watching him, shook his head, saying he was dizzy.

“Section Chief. What are you doing?”

“Be quiet. I’m thinking right now.”

“Do you think someone who makes autobiographies will fall from the sky if you think like that? Why don’t you contact that person this time and ask them to make an autobiography? Or a self-help book.”

“Who?”

“You know, the makeup artist who was recently interviewed in G magazine.”

“Huh? Not really.”

“Why?”

“It’s not something Si-hyuk would be interested in.”

The assistant manager looked at Section Chief Hong Jin-soo as if he was dumbfounded.

No. Have you been inside Si-hyuk’s mind? Huh?!

“Why do you take on work like that? You just do it.”

“No. If possible, it’s better to give him something he has some knowledge of so he’ll be more interested. Haven’t you done a mind map? A mind map.”

“You can give it to someone else even if you don’t give it to Si-hyuk…….”

“That’s a good idea. You go sell it. You.”

“No, I’m busy…….”

“That’s why the CEO doesn’t hire more employees.”

The assistant manager turned his head and started typing diligently on the keyboard.

“I’m working. I’m working. No, I asked first.”

“When did I? Did I ask?”

No. Come to think of it, he didn’t ask. Damn it!

I was caught in Section Chief Hong Jin-soo’s clutches after needlessly stepping in.

But this was always the case.

I knew how to get out of it well.

“Section Chief. By the way, did you finish translating Song Taek-soo’s martial arts novel this time?”

“Yeah. He said he did.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. How did he finish that much volume? At this rate, you don’t have to create work for a while, do you?”

“That’s why I’m trying to do other work like this.”

The assistant manager nodded.

Talking about Si-hyuk like this and moving on to praise is a quick way to escape.

The image of Si-hyuk was good at KI Media, and the stories were rich.

And it was a good way to turn Section Chief Hong Jin-soo’s attention.

“Hey. So when did I ask?”

Of course, excessive abuse is useless.

“Ahem. I’m sorry! You didn’t ask.”

“Did you think I’d just let it go?”

“Yes. It’s not easy.”

“Haha. This was also a story about Si-hyuk.”

“I overlooked that. Tsk. Oh? Section Chief. I’ve seen that customer in the back somewhere before.”

“Huh? Where?”

A man who entered KI Media took off his sunglasses.

Section Chief Hong Jin-soo narrowed his eyes and looked at the person closely.

The neat attire of a suit was no different from any other office worker.

But there was only one difference.

It was the look in his eyes.

That look in his eyes, as if he had achieved something, was somewhat similar to that of the KI CEO.

“I have no idea?”

“Hmm. That’s strange? Where did I see him? His face is very familiar…….”

“I don’t think he’s a celebrity?”

“I’m not someone who only looks at celebrity articles.”

“But it’s true that you look at them often, right?”

“Ahem.”

At that time, he heard the conversation with the female employee he was dealing with.

Only then did Section Chief Hong Jin-soo know who the person in front of him was.

Steve Baek, who founded a shopping mall in the United States.

He, who succeeded in the United States, visited KI Media.

Hong Jin-soo’s eyes twinkled as he approached Steve.

“How did you come to visit?”

Section Chief Hong gestured with his hand, signaling, ‘I’ll take care of it, so go.’

The female employee, understanding, stepped back.

Steve Baek looked at Hong Jin-soo.

“I stopped by because I had some business in Korea, and I thought it would be good to make an autobiography while I was here.”

“Ah! Don’t do this, let’s go to the reception room and talk.”

“Yes.”

Hong Jin-soo and Steve Baek, who went to the reception room, began to talk in earnest.

“But how did you know about this place?”

“I just came through a friend’s introduction. They said this publishing company is good.”

“Who?”

“Jason.”

“Jason?”

“He said he did translation work at this publishing company? Golden Clock Hands, it was called.”

“Ah!”

Section Chief Hong Jin-soo remembered who Jason was.

Jason was the author and current doctor who wrote the medical novel that Si-hyuk first took on.

‘It’s fate.’

The connection with Si-hyuk came here like this.

Even coming to ask to publish an autobiography.

Isn’t this something that can only be entrusted to Si-hyuk?

“You’ve come to the right place. It just so happens that a friend named Lee Si-hyuk, who translated Jason’s book, is looking for work.”

“Oh! Is that so?”

“Yes. He said he wanted to try writing an autobiography.”

“This is really a fun thing.”

“Right? The timing is really amazing. But is Lee Si-hyuk okay as a translator?”

“Of course. Actually, I wanted to ask that person. I read the manuscript before it was published in Korean. I happened to be next to Jason at the time.”

“Oh! How was it?”

“I read Jason’s writing and the translator’s writing…….”

Hong Jin-soo swallowed hard.

Steve Baek continued.

“It was amazing. I was honestly surprised. I didn’t know he could bring the feeling to life so well in the Korean style.”

“Haha. I knew it.”

“I praised him a lot. Maybe that’s why Jason sent an email to the translator?”

“Ah……!”

Hong Jin-soo was beaming.

As expected, Si-hyuk can’t be separated from KI Media.

It was a destiny to maintain a good contractual relationship in the future.

“But I’m curious, what business did you come to Korea for? You don’t have to answer if it’s difficult. You must have come for business.”

A successful businessman.

He might be launching a brand in Korea this time, or there might be contracts for entering department stores.

Hong Jin-soo asked cautiously, considering such points.

Steve Baek, noticing Hong Jin-soo’s consideration, covered his mouth with his hand.

“Um. It’s not really a secret.”

“Really?”

“Actually…….”

Actually?

“…I came to see the Guns domestic competition in person…….”

Watching Steve Baek make a embarrassed expression while saying that, Hong Jin-soo uttered a question.

“Yes?”

“I’m a fan of player Bell…. Ahem.”

Hong Jin-soo uttered a question once again.

“Yes?”