Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 192

The weekend after the festival.

I barely opened my eyes, still feeling the fatigue from the night before.

My arm was numb. I glanced sideways and saw Siha sleeping, using my arm as a pillow.

I looked for my pillow, but it had been flung far away. How did it end up all the way over there?

Unless there was a CCTV [closed-circuit television] camera in the room, no one would ever know.

“Umm.”

Gently, I lifted Siha’s head and slid the pillow underneath.

Now that the blood was flowing again, the numbness in my arm was getting worse, waking me up completely.

Siha’s arm-pillow is the best way to wake up! I should advertise it like that.

Lost in such silly thoughts, I stretched.

The t-shirt lifted, revealing a peek of my stomach. Looking at my abs, which were gradually fading, I realized I hadn’t been working out enough.

‘I’ve been busy with freelance work lately.’

Actually, I didn’t really care about them disappearing, but I was concerned that I wasn’t exercising at all.

I’m currently freelancing, and if my self-care goes to pot, my health could suddenly deteriorate.

Of course, not having time to exercise was also an excuse.

I should squeeze in a workout before Siha wakes up.

I tiptoed out of the room and started stretching.

Stretch. Stretch.

I was thoroughly loosening up my body when Siha came out, rubbing his eyes.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

“Ah. Hyung is stretching.”

“Siha too, tag along.”

“Oh. Siha too?”

Nod, nod.

If that’s the case, there was something I really wanted to do for Siha. I studied up for this, you know.

“Then Siha, lie down like this.”

“Why?”

“Why? Hyung is going to help you stretch.”

“Ah!”

Siha lay down in front of me.

I massaged his arms, legs, chest, and stomach diligently. I heard this helps you grow taller.

“How is it? Does it feel good?”

“Fee gud~”

“Keuh. Really? Doing this helps you grow taller.”

“Grow?”

“Yeah. Grow.”

Um. I saw it online, but my face is getting hot for no reason. It’s such an unfamiliar word when talking about growth.

I meticulously massaged Siha’s body. It felt like this alone was a grip exercise.

“Okay. Done. Next.”

“No. Siha too. Siha too. Hyung. Grow.”

“Uh uh?”

“Hurry. Hurry.”

“Uh. Okay.”

I had no choice but to lie on my back, urged by Siha. Grow at this age? Hyung doesn’t grow anymore.

Of course, Siha probably just wants to copy me, regardless of that.

He’s massaging my legs diligently with his small hands.

“Hyung. Fee gud?”

“Puhuh. Ahem ahem. Oh my~ It feels good~”

“Fee gud?”

“Yeah. It feels good. It feels good.”

Siha does it even harder at my words.

But Siha, it’s actually too ticklish.

I held back my laughter.

“Grow.”

Siha massaged my body excitedly.

He didn’t do it meticulously, and the intervals between moving to the next part were large. He’s got a manly sense of distance.

“Hyung. All done.”

“Oh! Really? Hyung seems a little taller. Siha’s hands are magic hands.”

“Siha good?”

“Good. Good. Shall we do the Superman stretch now?”

“Superman?”

“Yeah. Lie down like this and lift your arms and legs up. That’s right. Hyung will hold you. Let’s stay like this for 10 seconds.”

They say this stimulates the growth points in the spine and pelvic area and strengthens the back.

“Hyung. Siha fly.”

“Siha, you have to count to 10.”

“One, two, ten!”

“Your time jump is amazing. Let’s do this just three times.”

“Siha fly three times?”

“Siha. You can even say three times?!”

“Why?”

“Ah, never mind.”

What? I feel like I’ve been tricked.

Since when could he say three times?

Is this like mixing Korean and a foreign language?

I finished Superman while thinking about that.

After that, I had to do Superman too.

This seems to be a real workout.

It seems like it would be good to exercise with Siha like this sometimes. Why didn’t I think of this before?

“Now that stretching is over, we can exercise together.”

“Ah! Exercise! Hyung tag along.”

“Yeah. Together with Hyung. Hmm… What should we do?”

As I was pondering, there was a knock on the door. Who could it be this early in the morning? I opened the door.

“Oh. Baekdong… I mean, Donghwan.”

“Ah! Baekdong!”

Siha keeps calling him Baekdong, so I unconsciously got used to saying Baekdong.

Surely others will too. If I say Donghwan, they’ll say, ‘Who’s that?’ but if I say Baekdong, they might say, ‘Ah! That guy!’

Baek Donghwan said,

“It’s okay. I sometimes get confused whether my name is Baekdong or Donghwan.”

“You shouldn’t be confused, should you? But what’s going on so early in the morning?”

“I thought there was talk of exercise, so I knocked.”

What? Does he have some kind of divine power? I’m getting goosebumps.

A muscular shaman [spiritual healer or intermediary] over 2 meters tall. That’s too scary…

He doesn’t exorcise ghosts, he beats them up?

“Really?”

“Not really, I was going to suggest we eat together if you haven’t had breakfast and then exercise.”

“Oh? What kind of exercise?”

“Hiking. I told you before, I sometimes go to the mountains and pick herbs. Today I’m going to dig up bellflowers [a type of flowering plant with edible roots]. I even prepared a hoe here.”

“Wow. That sounds fun. I think Siha would like it. We can exercise together and breathe good air. You’re really Baekdong.”

“Ah! Baekdong!”

Siha chimed in next to me and tilted his head.

“Bellflower what?”

“Huh? Uhm. It’s good for your body. And it tastes good.”

“Tastes good?”

“Yeah. It tastes good, but Siha might not like it very much. Should Hyung season it for you?”

“Season?”

“If you bury it, it’ll be a disaster.”

Baek Donghwan said in front.

“Anyway, are we going?”

“Call [slang for ‘let’s go’].”

That’s how we ended up hiking.

***

The fresh air fills my lungs.

Even though the sun is out, I feel a slight coolness, so I move my feet diligently to warm up my body.

“But is this really a hiking trail?”

“Haha. It’s a side path. But it all leads to the hiking trail.”

“Who discovered this path?”

“Who knows? I guess it’s because people like me pass by.”

Where people often pass, not a single blade of grass grows. The brown path is clearly visible, as if telling us that it is a place that is stepped on and stepped on again.

“Siha, you have to tell Hyung if you’re tired. Got it?”

“No. Siha can do.”

I stood behind Siha in case he fell. He’s moving his feet so vigorously.

I want to go straight to the top like this, but it would be too hard for Siha. Anyway, there’s no need to go to the top to dig up bellflowers.

“But Siha, did you really have to bring the penguin bag?”

“Ah ah.”

A penguin climbing a mountain.

It’s empty inside, so it’s shaking on Siha’s back. It’s my fault for packing water and stuff and making him carry a bag.

We moved our feet diligently like that.

When sweat was flowing down my forehead, Siha said, “Hyung. It’s here.”

“Oh! But do you know where the bellflowers are?”

“No. You can just look around and see them.”

“You’re really amazing. Everything looks the same to me.”

“Haha. You’ll get used to it too. It would be easier to find if you saw purple or white flowers.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Now, Siha, you dig here with the hoe.”

Siha looked at me. I opened the bag and gave Siha a small hoe.

“Here you go.”

“Ah ah! Hyung. Siha dig. Dig bellflower.”

“Okay. Shall we dig together?”

“Ah ah.”

“Hyung. There are a lot here. You can dig it up gently with this hoe.”

Baek Donghwan seems like he can survive well wherever he goes.

We dug diligently in the place he taught us.

Siha held the hoe and carefully scraped the soil. The shape of the wild bellflower is gradually revealed.

“Hyung? Bellflower?”

“Okay. Look closely. You scrape like this to dig up the bellflower. There it is.”

“Ah?”

Siha tilted his head when he saw the bellflower.

“Hyung. Tree. Tree.”

“Hahaha.”

“Baby tree. Baby tree.”

Since it’s soil-colored, it actually looked like a tree. The ones dug from the mountain had a lot of fine roots and growth rings.

Siha’s expression isn’t entirely wrong.

“Hyung. Put in. Put in.”

Siha pointed to the hole he had dug.

“Why?”

“Baby tree. Here soil. Soil. Grow tall. Grow. Grow.”

“Ah. Does the soil have to grow here?”

“Ah ah.”

Anyway, the way he thinks is so cute. The soil grows and the tree grows.

“No. Hyung is going to take it.”

“No. Tree here. Here.”

“Actually, this isn’t a tree, it’s a bellflower.”

“Ah?”

“Siha is mistaking it for a tree, but it’s a bellflower. Baby trees don’t actually look like this.”

“Bellflower?”

“Yeah.”

But Hyung has never actually seen a baby tree either. Doesn’t it look like a branch?

“Hyung. There are more bellflowers around. Bellflowers aren’t just alone. They’re gathered together.”

“Oh. Really? I have to dig hard. Siha. Shall we dig again?”

“Ah ah!”

Now Siha is relieved and digs up the bellflower again.

But now I can see the bellflowers in the mountain. That’s how bellflowers are distinguished.

When I didn’t know, I thought it was just grass, but when I knew, it was a bellflower that we could eat. That was really amazing.

The mountain gives us so much. It makes us exercise, it makes us breathe good air, and it gives us food.

“Siha. The mountain is good. Right?”

“Ah ah. Mountain good. Fun.”

Siha wiped his sweat. His face was covered in dirt. I don’t even know when it got like that.

“Siha, your face is all covered in dirt.”

“Siha soil grow?”

“What? Haha. Yeah. Siha’s face grows.”

He’s hooked on ‘grow’ again today. He might keep saying ‘grow’ all day.

We dug up the bellflowers around us and then got up. My back is stiff from squatting.

“Siha. Let’s put it in this black bag.”

“Ah ah.”

We put the bellflowers in a black bag and climbed the mountain again, following a path that connects to the normal hiking trail.

When I got there, I picked up a thick branch and handed it to Siha to use as a cane. Looking at it, it was in the form that someone had used and thrown away.

“Wow. We’ve already come this far. Siha. Shall we rest a bit? There’s a chair to sit on over there.”

“Tired. Rest.”

“Okay.”

We sat down in a row. When I gave Siha water, he drank it well. It seemed like it would be good to finish around here and go down.

“Siha. Shall we rest for a bit and then go down?”

“Ah? Why?”

“We’ve come too far, so it would be good to go down now.”

“No. Siha up. Up.”

“You’re going to the end?”

“Ah ah.”

Why do we climb mountains? Because there is a summit there! No why! Why! Is there a summit!

Please lower the altitude for children too!

I let out a slightly hollow laugh because I can see too clearly what will happen when I go up. I can’t help it. Shall I push myself a little for Siha?

I looked at Baek Donghwan, who was drinking water diligently.

“Uh? Donghwan.”

“Yes?”

“Please take care of me.”

“Yes?”

I survived because you were with me. You will know the meaning of my words later. Hahaha! Let’s do it half and half. Half and half.

***

In the end, I had no choice but to carry Siha on my back.

My back must be wet, but Siha doesn’t seem to care at all. Rather, he worries, ‘Hyung, okay?’

I’m touched by those words for no reason.

Siha says he can walk, but I carried him on my back. No. I can’t help but think about the next day. It would be a disaster if I suffered from muscle pain. It’s a relief that tomorrow is Sunday.

“Okay. We’ve arrived at the summit.”

“Ah ah! Hyung. Summit!”

I think I’ve made up for all the days I haven’t exercised so far. It must be an illusion that the sky looks yellowish?

Still, I feel rewarded for coming after suffering. A cool breeze blows and cools the sweat.

“Hyung!”

Siha called me, marveling at the scenery he saw from the summit.

I saw a very small world from the plane, but the scenery I see here evokes a different feeling. Well, the mountain has its own charm.

“Tree many.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Now it’s autumn, so the leaves are red and yellow. There are green leaves in between, so it looks more colorful. I like the colors mixed up like this.

Isn’t it more fun than being in a single color?

“Hyung. Color many.”

“Right? Hyung likes this scenery. It’s like kids played with crayons.”

“No.”

“Huh? No?”

“Ah ah.”

“Then what is it?”

I was curious about Siha’s answer. Siha pointed to the color yellow and opened his mouth.