Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 28

Hyung, Am I Cute? – Episode 28 (28/500)

Alisa is an international student majoring in fashion design.

She likes clothes and comics.

She especially enjoys Korean webtoons and admires illustrations by various artists on Pixiv [a Japanese online community for artists].

Among them, she happened to see a unique drawing.

[siha.pepe]

The name of an illustrator she had never seen before.

The quality of the drawing she clicked on out of curiosity wasn’t particularly high.

If she had to say, it was simply expressed like an SD character [super deformed, a style of caricature where characters are drawn with exaggerated features].

The problem wasn’t that.

It was the ‘story’ in the four-panel comic format.

“Wow!”

Alisa couldn’t help but be amazed.

Because the cute drawing style contained a deep meaning.

When she saw the first picture, she just thought a cute child was lost.

The second time, she thought the woman was the child’s mother.

‘But why does her expression look like that?’

With that question in mind, she couldn’t help but be surprised when she went to the third picture.

Because the human child disappeared, and only a puppy-like dog remained.

The fourth picture showed the grandfather and the dog living happily together.

The background was almost non-existent, and the picture was simply expressed.

Alisa was shocked by this story, which was presented like a comic diary without colors.

First, the point of personifying the dog as a child.

Then, the twist that it was actually a dog.

Finally, the fact that it gave both sadness and happiness.

The title that made her think this way, ‘Happiness Found Again.’

All of this came together to create a work of art and a comic of empathy.

“Amazing…”

Even though it was a four-panel comic, she couldn’t help but fall into the story of this artist.

People often think that if the drawing style is good, many people will read the webtoon.

To some extent, that’s true.

Because if the drawing style is pretty, more people will click on it.

However, the number one thing you need to keep reading the comic is the ‘story.’

If the story is good, people will read it even if the drawing style is strange.

Conversely, if the story is not good, sales will plummet.

In that sense, she couldn’t help but follow the [siha.pepe] artist.

“The drawing style is also quite lovely.”

She couldn’t help but follow because it had a cute feeling.

Alisa happily pressed [Like] and [Heart].

“What did the comments say?”

Everyone was full of praise.

-I was surprised by the meaning hidden behind the cute picture!

-So cute♡

-Okay. Let’s raise it!

-I’ll take care of you!

-I’m shocked that it was actually a dog instead of a child!

Alisa felt proud for no reason and decided to share the picture.

She sent the link to her SNS [Social Networking Service] and friends.

“Hehe~”

Alisa, humming a song, became as limp as a mollusk.

***

Ding. Ding. Ding.

I looked at my phone because of the continuous messages.

‘What is it?’

The hearts were rapidly increasing on the account I posted on Pixiv.

400 likes, 500 hearts, and 2,000 people viewed the picture.

I slightly opened my mouth.

How can this kind of result come out?

‘What is this…’

I don’t know what it is, but the account is becoming popular.

There wasn’t much I uploaded.

Just the fan art I posted before?

Is the power of a four-panel comic this great?

Or are people surprised by Siha’s expressiveness?

Whatever it is, it means Siha’s drawing skills are being recognized.

‘Even if the beginning is weak. No. This level can’t be weak.’

When I looked at my phone, DMs (Direct Messages) were already piling up.

「When will you upload again?」

「So cute! Do you take commissions?」

「…Can you draw a picture like this?」

I was proud to have several things to brag about Siha.

Fortunately, there were no malicious comments.

If there were, I would have deleted them.

‘No. Since it’s not in Korean, do I not need to delete it? No. I should delete it if there are malicious comments, just in case.’

I’m going to block them as well as delete them.

“Siha~”

I woke up Siha, who was sleeping.

It was time to wake up anyway.

“Ugh…”

Siha was fussy because he didn’t want to wake up.

He was having too much fun last night without sleeping.

“Siha. Siha. The picture got a lot of hearts.”

“Ugh…”

Siha rubbed his eyes and raised his upper body.

He’s so cute when he squints.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Wanna see this?”

Siha glanced at it, and his eyes widened.

There were so many hearts.

“Huh?”

“I uploaded Siha’s picture, and people like it so much.”

“Ah! Hyung!”

Siha, with his eyes wide open, grabbed my phone.

He seems more curious about the comments than the number of hearts.

I can’t understand it because it’s mixed with English and Japanese.

“Everyone is saying Siha’s picture is the best!”

“Ah.”

“How is it? Amazing, right?”

“Ah.”

“I didn’t know things would turn out like this. Then shall we wash up and go brag to the daycare center?”

“Ah. Brag.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Brag. Brag.”

I grabbed Siha’s hand and shook it up and down.

Siha narrowed his eyes as if he was in a good mood.

Coo-

No, he didn’t narrow his eyes, he fell asleep again.

“Siha. You have to wake up.”

“Ugh…”

I had no choice but to put Siha under my arm and go to the bathroom.

I washed his face and fed him while sitting on a chair.

We left the house again after we were ready.

Perhaps he was finally awake, he walked around very well.

“Siha. Let’s do our best today.”

“Ah.”

“You know that Hyung wants to finish work quickly and play with Siha, right? So even if you cry, you have to wait for Hyung. Got it?”

“Ah.”

I took Siha to the daycare center.

I felt a little lonely watching Siha, who was now familiar with it, disappear inside.

***

While Siha was at the daycare center, I focused on classes and translation.

I focused on translating Volume 1 instead of going to the daycare center during my free time.

My father’s laptop was at home, and my laptop looked small because I only brought one.

‘If I bring my father’s laptop, other kids’ laptops might not work.’

I didn’t know what would happen if I took it out because it was a picky laptop.

I’ve been working hard on the weekends, so half of the volume has already been translated.

“Oppa [older brother/male friend]. What are you doing here?”

“Huh?”

Seo Su-hyeon approached me.

“Ah. Are you translating again? Oh? It’s English?”

“Yeah. I’m translating into English.”

“Wow. Are you good at English, Oppa?”

“Better than you?”

“That’s probably true. But what kind of writing is this?”

“It’s a martial arts genre novel… You probably don’t know it well. Oh, right. Do you still teach Korean to international students?”

I had an exchange with international students in my second year.

We learned each other’s cultures and studied languages, which was a great help.

Even though I don’t go to meetings and don’t contact them, they will still read it if I ask.

It would be nice to have more feedback.

There will definitely be common ground.

“I still have exchanges. Speaking is important these days. I heard that you need to be able to speak practically to get promoted?”

“You’re studying well. Then can I ask you for a favor?”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Can you introduce me to a new friend? I want them to read the first volume I translated and simply tell me their feelings about the main character or the book.”

I didn’t need a lot of stories.

The feeling that was read and intuitively accepted was accurate.

That’s enough to prove my ability.

“It’s not difficult to introduce. Then Oppa, please come to the meeting. Hehe. Maybe the international student will be interested in translation. How about a win-win strategy like that?”

“That’s not bad?”

It was a pretty good suggestion than I thought.

It might be okay to introduce Siha to a foreigner.

***

4 p.m. Study room.

Before dinner, I met the international students with Siha.

Everyone was holding a cup of coffee, so it seemed like they were adapting well to Korean university life.

Siha also looked at the international students with wide eyes, as if he was amazed to see so many foreigners.

“Annyeong Haseyo [Hello].”

Siha raised his hand first and greeted them.

“Hello? So cute!”

“Hello. Baby.”

“So cute.”

“Hehe~ So cute!”

Everyone seemed to be in love with Siha.

Seo Su-hyeon was happily watching the scene.

I poked her in the side, and she was startled.

“Why?”

“Introduce them. Are you going to stay like this?”

“Ah. That’s right. This is a senior in our department. Some of you may know him, but please introduce yourself. Starting with the senior.”

“Hello. I’m Lee Si-hyuk, a third-year student in the Korean Language and Literature Department. Thank you for coming to listen to my request today. Thank you so much for taking the time.”

I introduced Siha next to me.

“This baby here is my younger brother, Siha. He’s three years old. Siha. Do you want to introduce yourself?”

Of course, I introduced him all, but it seemed good for Siha to introduce himself.

“Ah. Siha.”

Siha patted his chest.

It was a very simple introduction, but everyone couldn’t hide their happy smiles.

Then the international students each introduced themselves.

Among them, ‘Alisa’ was staring intently at Siha.

I thought I had made a passionate fan.

“First of all, I’m doing translation work. I translated an English novel into Korean. This time, I translated a novel called martial arts into English, and I want you to tell me your impressions of it.”

With that said, I uploaded a link so that each person could download the file.

“You can tell me your impressions via KakaoTalk [a popular Korean messaging app]. You don’t have to read it all today. I hope you can tell me as soon as possible, but don’t feel pressured.”

After that, the international students asked about translation.

“How much do you usually get for translation work?”

“Can I also do translation? As a part-time job?”

“How long does it take to translate?”

I answered each question kindly.

“It will be difficult as a part-time job. Publishing companies sometimes terminate contracts if they don’t like it.”

It could go in a bad direction for each other to do it with a light heart.

“If you are thinking of doing it, it is better to do specialized books that match your major rather than novels.”

What I’m doing now is ‘publication translation.’

But what you can easily access is ‘technical translation.’

This includes internal corporate documents, product manuals, company promotional materials, websites, and reports.

The unit price is also considerable.

Some people earn as much as a department head at a major company with technical translation alone.

Everyone’s eyes are sparkling when I give this explanation.

As expected, talking about money attracts attention in any country.

“Anyway, using multiple languages is a great merit, so think about it. I’m not in a position to introduce anyone yet, but each department professor may also have translators.”

In fact, technical translation requires specialized knowledge, so many professors do it as a side job.

Technical translation does not require fluent writing or writing skills.

The purpose is to convey accurate and easy meaning.

“Then, are there any more questions?”

Everyone nodded as if their curiosity had been resolved.

Then Alisa raised her hand.

“Are you interested in fashion?”

“Yes?”

“I’m very interested in children’s fashion. Because I’m a fashion design major.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“If you’re okay with it, can you come to the department contest with your child?”

“That’s a bit… Can I think about it and contact you?”

“Yes. Okay.”

“Then let’s wrap it up if there are no other questions.”

Siha raised his hand as I got up from my seat.

“Oh. Yeah. Siha. Do you have a question?”

“Ice. Finish!”

“Huh? You want to eat ice cream?”

“Ah.”

“As expected, the finish is ice cream. Let’s go eat ice cream!”

Everyone suddenly laughed at the ice cream finish.

“Puhahahaha.”

“Siha is so cute! Woo woo woo.”

“So cute.”

“I suddenly want to eat ice cream too?”