Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 282

This drama ended with everyone locked up in prison.

Because the next course *was* prison.

I sometimes felt like wearing the wooden cangue [a heavy wooden collar used as a form of punishment in ancient China] around my neck.

“Hyung [older brother or a term of endearment for a close male friend]. Siha is locked up. Save me!”

“Siha, how can I save you when I’m also in prison?”

“Together with Hyung?!”

Siha clung tightly to my leg.

Is being with me in prison that important? We might die if we don’t get out of here?!

Whether he knows it or not, Siha is enjoying prison to the fullest while holding my hand tightly.

“Shall we go now?”

“Ah ah!”

Siha pulled my hand.

I can see his bag as he walks ahead.

The penguin mask is attached, and a *danso* [Korean short flute] is sticking out from inside.

It hasn’t been long since we arrived, but it seems like memories are already piling up.

“Hyung. Where are we going next?”

“Hmm. I’m going to participate in an event at the folk village. I heard there’s a program prepared there.”

“What’s that?”

“Well? Let’s go together.”

The program is well-organized so that children and adults can experience it.

This month, it’s prepared for the Great Full Moon Festival [a traditional Korean holiday celebrating the harvest], which is another interesting point.

It’s like a reminder that February is coming to an end.

It would be nice to see the round moon with Siha.

“Hyung. There’s a well over there! A well!”

“Huh?”

Siha pointed with his finger.

The other kids saw it too and went wild.

“Hyung. Is there a well spirit?”

“Well?”

“Siha wants to meet Mongsil and Bisil.”

“But I don’t think Mongsil and Bisil are in that well. Instead, there’s a dragon egg.”

“Dragon egg?”

“Yeah. I’m talking about an oriental dragon that looks like a snake, not a Tyrannosaurus.”

“Ah? Ah ah! Siha knows. Dragon… Woob.”

I covered Siha’s mouth with my hand.

“Ahem. You’re not talking about Dragon Ball, are you?”

“No. Divine Dragon. Divine Dragon.”

“That’s right. It looks like that…….”

“Three wishes granted.”

Seungjun was excited, knowing about it too.

“If it’s a dragon egg, then of course, the seven balls… Woob.”

“Seungjun, it looks like that dragon, but it’s a bit different.”

I don’t know if cartoons are a good or bad influence.

Anyway, we went to the well.

“They believed that once you scoop up the dragon egg, the next person can’t scoop it up. So, the first person to scoop up the dragon egg would cut straw and leave it, or put a rope like this one here.”

“Hyung. Many eggs!”

“Yeah. Many eggs are important to you guys, right?”

“Did the dragon lay eggs?”

“Yes.”

“When will the dragon be born?”

“Well? Shall we try scooping one up with the gourd in the well first?”

“Ah ah.”

Siha grabbed a dipper and put it in the water.

But it was a bit deep, and it didn’t reach the egg.

“Ah?”

“Hyung will scoop it up for you.”

I rolled up my sleeves, dipped my arm in, and scooped up a dragon egg.

“Come out, Divine Dragon! Divine Dragon!”

“Siha, that’s not how it works.”

Eight children gathered around me.

Everyone held a dragon egg preciously in their hands.

Seungjun said, “Hana, let’s make fried eggs with this. It’ll be more delicious since it’s a dragon egg.”

Hana stared blankly at Seungjun with a shocked expression.

“Oppa [older brother, used by females]. That’s too much! How could you do that!”

“Why? Give me yours too, Hana. We can make two.”

“No way!”

Hana hid the egg behind her.

Seungjun tried to go behind Hana with playful eyes.

Hana spun around to stop him.

Yeonju, who was watching from the side, tapped Seungjun’s head with her hand.

“You’ll get in trouble if you bother Hana.”

“Ouch!”

“Yeonju!”

Hana hid behind Yeonju.

It was a truly amusing scene. What are the other kids doing?

Jongsu was suspicious.

“Isn’t the dragon egg too small? When you look at dinosaur eggs, they’re huge.”

He seemed to have a fundamental question.

Jaehui said from the side, “It might grow bigger when it comes out.”

Giant transformation that often appears in Sentai series [Japanese superhero TV shows], right?

Jongsu swallowed hard, as if thinking about that.

“What if I drop it and the dragon suddenly comes out and gets bigger? The house might get destroyed?”

“Jongsu, what’s wrong? You’re scared.”

Then Eunwoo said with a laugh, “Puhaha. Jongsu’s head will break as the egg breaks. Puhaha.”

“Hey! Do you want my head to break?”

“You might be cursed to break up with your girlfriend. Puhaha!”

“Geez! Are you going to keep saying unlucky things? And I don’t have a girlfriend! So, I won’t break up!”

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend. Puhaha!”

“Are you doing this on purpose?!

Yundong rolled the dragon egg in his hand slightly and then threw it back into the well.

Could it be that he’s not interested in the dragon egg?

Looking at him, he seems to exude a cool feeling.

Looking at Siha again, he was talking to the dragon egg.

“Yongsik, when are you coming out? Siha will put you in a fish tank when you come out. I’ll give you food too.”

I don’t know where to start.

Is that food fish food? If you put it in the fish tank, the fish will eat it all.

And why is the name Yongsik? There’s no dragon’s dignity, and it’s too friendly.

“Hyung. How is Yongsik born?”

“Maybe if you put it in a fish tank?”

“Ah ah.”

Siha carefully put the dragon egg in his penguin bag.

It seems that the fate of that dragon egg will be to become a decoration in the fish tank.

Poor thing.

***

The next experience was planting *Maesaengi* [a type of edible seaweed].

It is said that planting this will prevent illness in that year and prevent children from developing boils.

“Siha, plant this *Maesaengi* and take away all the sickness you’ll have this year! That’s what you have to say.”

“Then Hyung won’t get sick?”

Siha looked at me with sparkling eyes.

Sob. He’s more worried about Hyung’s health than his own. Who did you learn this from?!

No, well, of course, he learned it from me. I’m so proud. Lee Siha, the younger brother of Lee Sihyuk!

I shook off the silly thoughts and stroked Siha’s head.

“I don’t think I’ll get sick if I plant this this year.”

“Hyung. Let’s plant it quickly! Quickly!”

“You’re supposed to plant as many as your age.”

Siha received four *Maesaengi*, and I received 24.

Why does it seem like so many?

Siha seems to think so too, shouting ‘Hyung. Many. Many,’ next to me.

I feel the age difference between Siha and me again.

I’m not really a Hyung, but more like an uncle…. Sorry. I’m sorry that Hyung is old.

Some people around me are glancing at me.

“He’s a Hyung. It seems like there’s a big age difference.”

“The younger sibling must be the youngest.”

“My friend has seven siblings, so the age difference between the first and the youngest is huge.”

“Eek!”

“But there are eight kids, so are there eight siblings?”

“Hey! They all look like they’re about the same age.”

I just scratched my head.

I saw Teacher Yoo Dahee putting *Maesaengi* in her hand next to me.

Let’s see. How many does she have? It seems like a lot.

“Kkaaaaaak!”

“Oh my gosh. Are you a crow?”

“W, w, why are you looking at this! I didn’t think you were like that, Sihyuk. You have a lewd side!”

“No. Can’t I just look?”

“No. Age is not allowed.”

The teacher hid the *Maesaengi* in her arms.

She doesn’t have that many, but she seems sensitive.

“Ahem. I’m sorry.”

“Yes. It’s okay if you didn’t see it.”

“Still, assuming you graduated from college and calculating it…”

“Kkaaaaaak! What are you calculating?!”

Teacher Yoo Dahee is as fun to tease as Seo Suhyun.

Anyway, we received wooden hoes and went to a nearby field.

We dug diligently and planted *Maesaengi*.

Siha and the kids only had four, so they only had to dig a few times, but I had so many that I had to bury them separately.

“Hyung. Should Siha help?”

“Thank you.”

“Hana too! Hana too!”

“Me too! Me too!”

“I’ll help too.”

No. You don’t have to help this much?!

I don’t have that much *Maesaengi* in my hand to dig that much!

The Jongsu family also saw what Siha was doing and helped the teacher and the director dig the ground.

“Jongsu. You’re not counting the teacher’s *Maesaengi*, are you?”

“…….”

“Why aren’t you answering! You can’t count it!”

Jaehui said, ‘Jongsu. Let’s keep it a secret,’ so Jongsu stopped counting.

Eunwoo and Yundong helped the director.

“Why is the director so old?”

“Because she’s the director.”

“Puhaha! The director is number one! Her age is also number one!”

“I’ve been wondering this for a while, Eunwoo. Are your father or mother from Busan? Or Gyeongsangdo [regions in South Korea known for their dialects]?”

“My uncle is from Gyeongsangdo. Gyeongsangdo. Puhaha!”

“???”

“My dad sometimes uses dialect.”

Planting *Maesaengi* lets you know this kind of information.

“Hyung. I’m done. Say the spell.”

“Huh? Spell?”

“Ah ah.”

Looking closely, Siha buried his hand with the *Maesaengi*.

“Maesaeng, Maesaeng. I’ll give you an old house. Give me a new house.”

Isn’t that what you say when you call for a toad, toad?

He’s so unpredictable sometimes.

“Maesaeng, Maesaeng. I’ll give you sickness. Give me health.”

Somehow, hearing that kind of spell makes me feel like I’m doing something bad to the *Maesaengi*.

***

The next program is cracking *Bureom* [nuts eaten on the first full moon of the lunar year].

They made it possible to crack hard nuts with a wooden mallet and eat them.

Walnuts, peanuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, ginkgo.

It was in a lucky bag, and the price was 2,000 won [Korean currency].

“Eating this will make you healthy this year.”

“Get healthy again?”

“Puhup. Yeah. In the old days, they ate like this and wished for good health.”

“Siha will eat too.”

We received wooden mallets and tapped the lucky bag.

Ttang. Ttang.

The walnut cracked, and the kernel came out.

I put it in Siha’s mouth.

“Delicious.”

“Really? Do you want to try a peanut?”

I crushed it with my hand and put it in Siha’s mouth.

“Hyung. Strong. Crushes it with his hands.”

“You can do it too if you put your strength into it.”

So, we ate some nuts and moved to a place next to the folk village.

This time, it’s a place with the theme of [Memories of That Time].

It was a place full of retro vibes.

It’s like time-slipping from Joseon [Korean dynasty] to the 80s.

Anyway, that’s the feeling.

“Hyung. What’s this place?”

“Hmm. It’s not the old days, but the street scenery that your mom and dad used to see?”

“Really? Did Mom and Dad go here?”

“They must have experienced a similar place?”

“Ah ah.”

I regretted saying it after I said it, but Siha doesn’t seem to mind and just seems to be amazed by this scenery.

I was still cautious about bringing up my parents’ story.

I don’t know why I’m being so cautious about this.

It’s just a story that everyone goes through, but it’s like bringing up a topic that shouldn’t be brought up.

I feel helpless.

Still, seeing that I’m bringing it up like this, doesn’t that mean I’m okay now?

With a feeling of longing, not sadness.

“Let’s go! Hyung used to go there a lot when he was in elementary school.”

“Hyung too?”

Siha grabbed my hand as if he was more interested.

“Hyung. Quickly! Quickly!”

“Siha, do you know where you’re going?”

“No!”

“You’re very confident.”

I stood next to Siha and walked side by side.

The place we stopped by was the [Memories of Dalgona] booth.

It was divided into places where you waited in line, and there were also places where you sat down and scraped hard.

Seungjun sniffed.

“Wow! Delicious smell! Siha. That looks really delicious.”

“Siha is looking forward to it! Together with Hyung!”

Are you looking forward to eating it? Or are you looking forward to having the same experience as Hyung?

Maybe both apply.

Since it was a weekday, the line wasn’t that long, so we were able to receive the *Dalgona* [Korean sugar candy] quickly.

The person in front asked, “Okay! What should I make for you? Should I make something like your mom and dad used to scrape when they were young? Or should I make the characters here? Monkey, owl, rabbit. I can make various animals.”

I know what Siha will ask me to make.

Of course, he’ll ask me to make Pepe.

The person in front will look at me and wonder, what is Pepe?

I know this pattern now. I know it well.

“Siha. What do you want to do?”

“The same as Hyung!”

Ah…. There was this pattern too…….

The person in front looked at me.

“What’s the same as Hyung?”

“Please make it a fish. I’m good at cutting it.”

“Oh! You must have done it a bit when you were in elementary school?”

“Haha. The cross is too easy.”

“That’s right. That’s right. Then the baby too?”

“Yes, yes.”

Seungjun, who was next to me, said, “I want a soccer ball!”

Yeah. You were like that, Seungjun.

“Please make Hana an idol.”

If you can make an idol with *Dalgona*, that person shouldn’t be here?

“I want a violin.”

They gave examples of animals, but the kids are all saying what they like.

“Siha wants Pepe!”

Siha. You said you were going to do the same thing as Hyung!

When I said that.

“Siha has two. Two!”

He’s trying to have both. He’s not easy.

“Pepe means penguin. But you can’t make everything the kids say, right? Haha.”

“Hahaha. I can make everything.”

“Yes?”

“If it’s Pepe, you’re talking about the emoticon, right? I know it well too.”

“Yes?”

What is this person?

He can make everything from soccer balls, idols, violins, to Pepe? What kind of *능력자* [person with great ability] is this.

Anyway, I blinked because I didn’t know he knew the Pepe emoticon.

“Do you know the Pepe emoticon?”

“Of course. They recently released a moving emoticon. It was so cute that I bought it.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Yes?”

Cough. I did it without realizing it.

“Haha. No problem.”

Then Siha said, sticking out his stomach, “I’ll give you a discount when you buy it again!”

Siha…. What are you going to discount?

And aren’t you being too obvious? Of course, I was a bit obvious too.

But the person in front just tilted his head.