Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 17

Hyung, Am I Cute? – Episode 17 (17/500)

I chuckled at Siha’s words.

It was so cute to see him imitating my aunt, and I was relieved that his vocabulary was gradually increasing.

It was the kind of thing that brought a smile to my face.

Moon Do-hwan, who was in front of me, looked surprised, as if it was the first time he’d heard Siha say anything other than “Ah.”

“Wow, Siha can say other words too.”

“Hyung, did Siha say ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ too?”

“That’s really a relief. Siha, I’ll do my best. Your brother is doing well, so yeah, I need to do well.”

The aunt next to me tapped her mouth.

“I need to watch my mouth. He’ll imitate everything.”

With that, my aunt left.

Moon Do-hwan looked at Siha with curious eyes.

“Hey, Siha. Call me uncle. Uncle. Uncle.”

“Ah ah.”

“No, uncle. Or, do you want to call me hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

Siha fiddled with his toy and then threw it on the floor.

“Agh, my jelly toy! What did this toy do wrong!”

Siha looked at me.

“Hyung.”

He pointed to the steamed egg.

“Yeah, okay. You want to eat this? Just a minute.”

I blew on it.

Steamed egg is surprisingly hot.

It’s not easy to cool it down.

I’m glad Siha isn’t impatient.

“Here, ah~”

“Ah~”

I fed Siha the steamed egg and looked at Moon Do-hwan.

“Stop wiping now. And Siha and you have a big age gap, how can you shamelessly ask him to call you hyung?”

“What about you?”

“I’m actually his hyung, so it’s okay.”

“Ahem. I still want to be called oppa [term used by females to address older brothers or male friends] instead of mister, you know.”

“You can have someone younger call you that.”

“Will I ever meet someone?”

I was silent at those words.

“Hey, you should at least say something nice.”

“Hyung is a good person, so you’ll meet a good person.”

“Is that the only good thing about me?”

“Isn’t that the best thing?”

“…Let’s eat.”

“Should I set you up on a blind date or something?”

“No! You probably don’t know anyone either.”

“That’s really hurtful. At least I have friends who say hi when I take classes, okay?”

Moon Do-hwan looked at me with very pitiful eyes.

“Come find me often when the semester starts. Don’t eat alone.”

“I’ll be eating with Siha, though?”

“Yeah. You two live happily ever after!”

Moon Do-hwan is a very good person.

Too good for me.

***

This morning was very hectic.

“Siha, you need to eat. Eat. What time is it?”

The clock was pointing to 7 o’clock.

The daycare opened at 7:30 AM.

I had to go to class at 9 AM today too.

I still had some time before class, but I wanted to take Siha to daycare by 7:30 AM.

‘Probably won’t be able to make it…’

I fell asleep late at night and woke up late.

Did I sleep for about 4 hours?

Making food and washing Siha was chaotic.

‘Let’s go comfortably. It’s nice to be with Siha a little longer.’

I touched Siha’s chubby cheeks.

Squishy squishy.

Siha looked at me with unfocused eyes.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Are you still sleepy?”

“Ah ah.”

“You’re really weak in the morning. Just like hyung.”

“Ah ah.”

Siha raised his right arm.

He probably likes that he’s like me.

He pointed to my hair with his finger and then pointed to his own hair.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Same hair.”

Ah, wait a minute.

I have to go to school with this hair right now?

Should I at least wear a hat?

But the problem is that I can’t cover my bangs.

‘This hairstyle. It’s kind of embarrassing.’

It’s nice that Siha likes it, but…

“Hyung?”

“Yeah. Let’s eat. Let’s eat. Here it comes! Ah~”

“Ah~”

I fed Siha, washed him, and dressed him.

“Let’s go. I’ll be back.”

“Ah ah.”

“Oh, right. Nap blanket. Just a minute.”

I could only leave the house after packing everything.

The current time is 7:40 AM.

I guess I’ll arrive at the daycare around 8 o’clock.

As I went outside, I saw a man breathing heavily.

It was Baek Dong-hwan, an aspiring voice actor.

“Hello.”

“Oh! Hyung-nim [term of respect for an older male]! Hello.”

“Ah, hyung-nim?”

“Aren’t you older than me?”

“Ah, right. I’m 23 years old.”

“I knew it. You had a hyung-nim vibe.”

Is there such a thing as a hyung-nim vibe?

I bowed my head and walked, holding Siha’s hand.

Baek Dong-hwan followed from behind.

“Hyung-nim. Can I talk to you for a bit?”

“I’m busy.”

“Oh, I see… Sorry.”

“Um. What is it? If it’s just a quick word.”

“There’s something I didn’t tell you last time. We sometimes eat chicken with the peers on the 2nd and 3rd floors. So, I was wondering if we could have a healthy gathering and bring Siha to socialize.”

“Ah…”

I don’t really feel like it?

I have a lot of work to do. No, wait.

It might be good for Siha to meet various people.

It’s good to build friendships in this harsh world.

“Actually, I’m the one who’s leading this. Haha. I’m not forcing you if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Is there a participation fee?”

“The chicken cost is enough. Siha is free.”

“I appreciate that. I wanted to say hello at least once.”

Then Baek Dong-hwan grinned.

He was a little scary because of his impression.

He’s scary even when he smiles…

“Then I’ll set the date for the weekend soon.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Okay. Then, bye Siha.”

“Ah ah.”

Huff huff.

Baek Dong-hwan ran away like that.

It looked amazing to see him exercising like that in the morning.

I could really feel that he was taking care of himself.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“I protect.”

“Ah~ Thank you. You still see that uncle as a villain?”

“Ah ah.”

I guess first impressions are important.

Unfortunately, he was marked as a villain by Siha.

Can he make up for this?

As I walked with Siha, I was already in front of the daycare.

I couldn’t take my feet off the front gate.

‘Why is this?’

I barely took a step and opened the door.

“Hello, teacher.”

“Oh my. You must be Si-hyuk and Siha who are coming today? You’re Siha?”

The daycare teacher welcomed us.

It’s time to say goodbye to Siha.

I saw how to do this.

“Hyung wants to come even during his free time, but the director is stopping me, so I’ll probably come late. Don’t worry. Hyung didn’t take many classes for this. Saying goodbye is temporary, but we can meet again.”

“Um, Siha’s hyung. You’re talking too much.”

“Yes.”

I grabbed Siha’s shoulders again.

“Hyung will come when that short needle goes to 3. It’s 3 o’clock. I’ll come at a time like this. Don’t cry because you miss hyung, and hold it in. Can you do it?”

“Ah ah.”

“But if you miss hyung, you have to call. I can’t memorize hyung’s number, so I’ll put it in this penguin bag.”

“Um… Hyung?”

“Yes yes. Siha, so the last thing hyung wants to say is…”

Then a clear voice was heard.

“Ah! It’s Siha! Siha~”

Siha’s first friend, Oh Seung-jun, grabbed Siha’s hand.

“Ah ah.”

“Siha. Let’s play!”

He grabbed Siha’s hand and took him away.

Siha doesn’t even look back.

I don’t want to say goodbye.

“Um, teacher, please take good care of Siha.”

“Yes. See you later.”

“Um.”

“Yes?”

“But don’t they usually cry?”

“Hoho. You seem disappointed?”

“A little.”

Then Siha suddenly popped out and ran to me.

“Hyung!”

“Siha.”

Siha gave me a box of tissues from his bag.

And he pointed to the box of tissues with his finger and then pointed to himself.

“Ah ah.”

“You want me to think of this as Siha?”

“Ah ah.”

Where did he learn this?

No, is that the right meaning?

With that, Siha went back into the room at Seung-jun’s call.

***

Korean Language and Literature Department Classroom 203.

Click.

When I opened the door after a long time, the students glanced at me and turned their heads.

I understand that they’re doing that because they’re not the same grade as me anyway.

In fact, they would show the same reaction even if they were in the same grade.

Because we’re not close.

Still, when my parents passed away, I received individual messages on KakaoTalk [popular Korean messaging app] or text messages.

I felt like they were doing it out of obligation, but I didn’t care much.

I probably would have sent them out of obligation even if I had sent them.

Let’s just sit in the front.

“Si-hyuk oppa.”

Someone called me.

When I turned my head, it was Seo Soo-hyun, the class representative of the 3rd grade.

“Ah. Soo-hyun.”

Four or five people from the 3rd grade came to the funeral, and the class representative was one of them.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes. It’s been a while. Oppa. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

Seo Soo-hyun made a worried expression.

I was really okay.

She’s probably the only one in the 3rd grade who greets me.

Is it because she’s the class representative?

“Oppa. Did you hear about it?”

“What?”

“The professor has been into discussions since last year. You’ll probably have a group project?”

“Really?”

“Yes. What did he say? He said that 3rd graders should discuss in advance for interviews later or something.”

“There are companies that have discussions, but there probably aren’t many?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“Ah, no. Foreign companies might have a lot of discussions. After all, there are places where you learn a foreign language well and decide to get a job there.”

“He’s not going to ask us to discuss in a foreign language, is he?”

“Then there will only be silence?”

Of course, I’ll speak well.

“Still, the professors are thinking about our employment and giving us this kind of experience.”

“Ugh. I don’t really like it.”

“Well, the class is ‘Literary Criticism,’ so there’s nothing we can do.”

“I heard that we’re not doing literary criticism, but also current affairs criticism…”

I interrupted Seo Soo-hyun’s words.

“I’m sorry. I’m too busy right now. Can’t we talk next time?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Did I take up your time preparing for a job?”

“It’s not that. I have to do some work.”

“Ah… A part-time job?”

“Yeah. A translation part-time job.”

“Wow. That’s cool. Oppa. Fighting. And…”

Seo Soo-hyun hesitated.

“Your hairstyle is cool.”

“Huh?”

Then she hurried to her friends.

She thinks this is cool?

That’s not the important thing.

I feel a little sorry for interrupting her, but…

‘I have to do what I have to do.’

I turned on my laptop and started translating.

I could play with Siha a lot if I worked during these spare moments.

My work schedule is all 맞춰져 [adjusted/tailored] to Siha right now.

Dada dada.

Only the quiet sound of the laptop’s tapping stimulated my ears.

Translation is almost finished in March.

It was the result of reducing sleep.

Just because the translation is finished doesn’t mean it’s really finished.

If the editor does proofreading, it is necessary to look at it again for the first time and share opinions.

‘I miss Siha.’

I already miss him even though not much time has passed.

I’ll have to secretly see him when class is over.

Then Professor Kim Ho-seop came in.

I made eye contact with him with gratitude and joy.

“Thank you all for coming to the first class. It’s still the class correction period [add/drop period]. If you don’t want to listen, you have a chance. Since there is an internship this time, you can graduate without taking one of these required courses.”

Everyone laughed at those words.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to skip Professor Bong’s class, who always shouts and scolds you? I don’t point at students and ask questions every class.”

Professor Bong has a strong impression.

He’s a professor who makes students feel awkward?

He also makes a lot of presentations.

I listened to the lecture while thinking about that.

“This time, I’m thinking of mixing in a little discussion for the students. The grade response rate will be quite high here. Of course, you’ll also learn this boring literary criticism.”

Kim Ho-seop shook a thick book.

I guess we’re doing a discussion?

“It’ll probably be really fun. You might fight a lot. You’ll be competing as a team, so keep that in mind. Let’s have 7 people each. It’s okay to have one or two more or less here.”

Then one person raised their hand.

“Professor. Then are we going to have a discussion every class?”

“I’ll set a time limit. Because I have to lecture too. You’ll probably have to do a lot of research. That’s because you can appeal strongly in a short time. It’s not too late yet. You can skip one subject. Are you worried? Whether to take Professor Bong’s class. Or take my class.”

Kim Ho-seop nonchalantly presented the greatest challenge.

I thought seriously about those words.

I’m going to do an internship anyway, should I skip one subject?

But I’m a little worried that this subject is Professor Kim Ho-seop.

Tap tap.

Someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

“Oppa. Let’s be on a team together.”

It was Seo Soo-hyun.

Thank you for taking care of me, but let me think about it…

‘But is Siha doing well?’