Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 22

Baek Dong-hwan went into the room and returned with a portable fan.

“Siha, how about transforming into a Super Emperor Penguin?”

“Huh?”

“You’re wearing your penguin suit today, so it’s perfect.”

“Ah, ah.”

“Just go ‘Peeeeeeeee!’ like this.”

Siha widened his stance at those words.

For some reason, he tensed his butt, opened his mouth, and started shouting.

“Peeee-peeeee-”

Baek Dong-hwan made a fuss, and another neighbor started filming Siha with his phone.

‘Is he really going to transform?’ I wondered.

“Try harder, Siha!”

“Peeeeee!”

Then, Baek Dong-hwan turned on the fan and blew Siha’s hair.

“Ooh, a reaction is coming!”

Siha must have felt his hair floating up, so he put in even more effort.

“Peeeeee!”

Doo-doong!

Siha stretched out his back and finished transforming.

Baek Dong-hwan turned the fan to high.

Siha’s hair flew wildly.

I felt grateful for some reason.

I hadn’t expected them to prepare this much for the neighborhood welcome party.

I thought we would just laugh and chat, but these people really put thought into this for Siha.

That’s what I felt.

“Hyung. Pee-pee.”

Siha must have finished transforming, as he stuck to my leg.

Even if he becomes Super Siha Three, he’s still just my cute little brother.

“Haha. How is it? Do you feel stronger?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha came in front of me and said.

“Hyung. Ditect [Protect].”

“Huh? Do you still see me as the bad guy?”

“Ah, ah.”

Baek Dong-hwan kindly played along.

“Do you think you can beat me with that?”

“Oh?!”

I exclaimed in admiration.

It sounded like the voice of a monster from a kids’ show.

‘Is he really preparing to be a voice actor?’

Siha was surprised by the voice and stared at Baek Dong-hwan before walking forward.

Thud.

Siha’s fist hit his leg.

Baek Dong-hwan staggered and fell.

“Kuh. You’re strong……”

“Hyung!”

“Yeah. Thanks for protecting Hyung. You even knocked down such a big person. Amazing!”

“Hyung!”

“Yeah, yeah. Our Siha. You’ve become so strong. Super Siha Three.”

“Ah, ah.”

Then, I heard a neighbor’s voice.

“It’s done! Editing is finished.”

“Editing?”

Baek Dong-hwan smiled and got up.

“There are good apps these days.”

I watched the video sent by the neighbor with Siha.

Lightning crackled around Siha’s body.

Then, his hair turned golden, and a blonde wig appeared.

Siha widened his eyes when he saw the scene.

“Hyung! Pee-pee.”

“Yeah. Siha has become Super Emperor Penguin Three.”

The adorable penguin clothes and the video were so perfect that I laughed.

I thanked the two of them.

“Thank you so much today. For preparing even this for Siha.”

The three of them seemed embarrassed.

“We just like kids, that’s all.”

“Let’s just be friendly and say hello. Haha.”

“We enjoyed it too. It was fun.”

That’s how I made connections with good neighbors.

***

Monday.

I was taking Siha to daycare as usual.

The warm sunlight shone, and I felt the lively energy of the college students as I entered the lecture hall.

The bustling scene was like soldiers preparing for the day’s battle.

First class, first debate.

I hadn’t prepared a lot, but with grades on the line, I couldn’t afford to lose.

If I wanted to be recommended for a scholarship next semester, maintaining a certain grade was a must.

‘That would be troublesome,’ I thought.

With expensive tuition at stake, I couldn’t imagine failing.

Even if I lost, I had to put up a good fight.

“Oppa [Term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends], are you nervous?”

Seo Soo-hyun approached me and asked.

“Not at all. I’m done preparing, and now it’s a battle of persuasion.”

“Don’t worry. Let’s win the debate quickly and focus on our other studies with peace of mind.”

“You’re positive. Don’t be careless. There are people who dislike you on the other team.”

“Rather than me being careless, isn’t the attention on you, Oppa?”

“I know. It’s troublesome.”

Then, Professor Kim Ho-seop came in.

He glanced around and smiled.

“Everyone looks forward to this debate. I’m also looking forward to it.”

The seats facing each other were set up.

Seo Soo-hyun and I went forward.

On the opposing team were my classmate and a junior I wasn’t close to.

First, Professor Kim Ho-seop clearly stated the topic.

“What should we do to solve bullying? Let’s start the 20-minute debate now.”

The opposing team spoke first.

“Currently, the reasons for bullying are often trivial. Because someone is ‘ugly,’ or ‘annoying,’ or ‘too forward,’ etc.”

I thought the same.

If these are the reasons for bullying, wouldn’t they be absurd?

But sometimes these reasons kill people.

“To solve this, we actually contacted the school violence prevention center. Dial 117 without the area code.”

The classmate in front of me spoke very confidently.

“A very kind counselor said that it can be 100% resolved as long as it’s not related to organized crime. It’s a police report separate from the school, so it can be resolved legally. We thought the important thing here was to educate the child in advance—to trust their parents and report it.”

Then, Seo Soo-hyun argued.

“Will the children be scared just because the police come?”

“If the police come, they can definitely feel the pressure and stop it. There are many cases where the perpetrator’s parents are brazen, but the situation is much different when the police are involved.”

“Then, are you saying that the child should endure giving a statement?”

“That’s why parents are there—to warmly embrace them and help them move forward.”

His face seemed to say that he wouldn’t allow any objections.

Seo Soo-hyun looked at me.

I raised my hand.

“I heard your argument well. 117 is definitely one of the methods. But I have a question. I would like to challenge the claim that the 100% figure is reliable.”

“There are records.”

“Yes, there would be, of course. Then, shall we look at our reality?”

It was time to face reality.

“We also investigated 117. There was actually a child who reported it. The police, who should have protected the child, made a big mistake.”

“What’s the mistake?”

“The mistake was contacting the school.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t you know? Police regulations require them to contact the school when they receive a report. But put yourself in the victim’s shoes. Would you want the school to know? They ask to postpone or not contact them, but the police contacted them anyway. Can you guess what will happen?”

First, the school immediately called the victim student in to write a statement.

Second, the homeroom teacher received a sudden call and felt betrayed, losing the will to help.

Third, the police’s lax behavior, citing regulations, greatly increased the mental burden on parents and students.

“Can we really say that this was handled 100% well?”

Rather, the situation worsened, and the gaze became more hostile.

The incident was settled by transferring to another class, but I don’t know if this is a real solution.

The classmate couldn’t say anything, as if he was speechless at my words.

Then, the junior assisting him spoke up.

“We have also prepared other methods: hiring a lawyer specializing in school violence. Punishment is possible through imprisonment and fines through criminal and civil lawsuits.”

It seemed like it was going to be disadvantageous, so they shifted the solution in another direction.

Seo Soo-hyun said.

“How will you afford the lawyer fees?”

“All costs can be charged to the perpetrator if we win.”

I raised my hand.

“What about the period during the trial? Does the perpetrator continue to attend school? Have you thought about the victim’s feelings when they see that?”

The female junior changed the subject.

“Then what solutions do you have?”

She answered by asking about our solution.

I felt that the junior in front of me was calm and doing well.

“We will present a solution from the victim’s point of view: we will transfer or take a leave of absence.”

The classmate said as if he had caught us.

“That’s not a practical solution. Isn’t that just running away?”

The choice of words wasn’t good.

You have to choose carefully at times like this.

“What’s wrong with running away? Have you ever been beaten by someone? Even if you haven’t been beaten, you know about trauma—that object, that place, that time. You think of those things when you see them. The same goes for bullying victims. What’s wrong with parents thinking about their children’s educational environment?”

I gave another example.

“There are actually people who take a leave of absence and send their children to overseas volunteer camps. The child definitely brightened up like before and came back to Korea and went to school well.”

If you focus solely on the ‘law,’ you can miss other things.

We cared about the victim’s well-being.

What kind of healing and solution is there for that child?

Sometimes running away becomes a way to win.

“Just as retreating in war is not a defeat, showing that child another wide world may be a step towards greater growth. It’s already hard, but ‘overcome it,’ ‘overcome it,’ ‘let’s fight together’—these words may be a choice of regret that mentally burdens the child. That’s all.”

20 minutes.

All the debates were over.

The evaluation is based on the vote of the students who listened.

It is determined who won this round.

And the professor records the details of the team evaluation and scores it.

Kim Ho-seop said.

“Then, let’s raise our hands to see who won. Students who think Lee Si-hyuk’s team won.”

The majority raised their hands.

Kim Ho-seop smiled slightly and nodded.

“The results are in. First of all, everyone prepared well. Please give them a round of applause.”

Clap clap clap.

The applause stopped, and the professor continued with the evaluation, pointing out disappointing points and biases.

He praised the good points and the application of the data.

That’s how the class ended.

“Oppa! Awesome! Totally awesome!”

“Si-hyuk hyung [Term used by younger males to address older brothers or male friends]. It was really good.”

“Is it true that we won with the data we researched?”

Everyone seemed excited.

I just laughed.

Maybe if there was someone who argued better, I would have been scared too.

“I don’t know anything. I miss Siha.”

Seo Soo-hyun said.

“Oppa only has Siha. But if you actually get bullied, will you send them to another school instead of fighting back?”

“I’ll have to send them to another school. I see bystanders as another form of violence. They must have been bystanders because they were afraid of those kids, but it can be a wound to the victim. And……”

“And?”

“Actually, I didn’t say it in the debate……”

Seo Soo-hyun’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

“If it were me, I’d play with the recorded voices. I’d modulate the voice of the leader and broadcast it—like gossiping. The perpetrator group would be divided by misunderstandings. Then wouldn’t there be another bullying on the perpetrator’s side? No evidence remains either.”

Seo Soo-hyun stroked her arm as if she had goosebumps.

“Oppa, that’s scarier than fighting back. A war of public opinion.”

“It’s not a method I came up with. I learned it too.”

“From whom?”

“Well? I don’t know what he does. My father said he was a friend he met when he was an interpreter?”

“Is it the CIA or something?”

“Well?”

That’s how we exchanged silly words and enjoyed the victory.

Buzz buzz.

“Oppa, you have a call.”

“Huh?”

I took out my phone.

[Manager Hong Jin-soo]