Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 284

Feeling hungry, we ate at a small snack bar. These places always sell those nostalgic lunch boxes, the kind packed with memories.

They had *tteokbokki* [spicy rice cakes], fish cakes, and those memory-filled lunch boxes.

The table was practically overflowing, and the children watched, swallowing hard with anticipation.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], *mana* [let’s eat]!”

“Yeah, let’s enjoy our food. Okay, everyone, let’s dig in!”

The children shouted, “We will eat well!” and started eating.

Siha immediately poked at the *tteokbokki* with his fork and popped it into his mouth.

Now that I think about it, Siha can handle spicy food pretty well.

Chew, chew.

“Hyung, *mashi-sseo* [delicious]!”

“Siha, want me to show you an even better way to eat this lunch box?”

“*Eotteoke* [How]?”

“Watch closely.”

I closed the lid of the lunch box.

Then, I shook it hard. Really vigorously, so everything would mix well. I could feel the ingredients bumping and swirling around inside.

Clack, clack.

“Ta-da! Open it up like this!”

“*Shin-gi-hae* [Amazing]!”

“Right? It’s all mixed up!”

“Hyung, Siha too! Siha too!”

Siha shook his already-mixed lunch box.

It’s already *bibimbap* [mixed rice with meat and vegetables] at this point, but was there any point to him doing that? And did he really have to stand on the chair to do it?

He bounced his butt while shaking it up and down.

When he shook it sideways, his waist swayed from left to right.

Was he trying to become one with the lunch box?

“Ah! Me too!”

“Hana too! Hana too!”

Everyone took off their shoes and started shaking their lunch boxes.

It was a sudden K-pop idol dance party.

There’s no camera here, right? I looked around, surprised by this impromptu variety show moment.

But I don’t know how long they’re going to shake it. Guys, we *are* going to eat it today, right?

“*Da hae-tta* [All done]!”

Siha opened his lunch box. If it was a little messy before, now it was perfectly combined.

“Me too! Me too!”

“Hana did it all! It’s gonna be super *mashi-getta* [delicious].”

Everyone had mixed it well.

The other children seemed to think it was a fun game and wanted to do it too.

But we only ordered three memory lunch boxes to share.

If we ordered one for everyone, who would even finish them all?

Let’s put aside the disappointment for a moment and enjoy the food.

“Next time, the teacher will prepare a memory lunch box for you. Let’s save it for then. Okay, everyone, let’s eat.”

“Okay!”

Teacher Yoo Da-hee widened her eyes as if she was hearing it for the first time.

The director just smiled.

Anyway, everyone reached for the lunch box with their spoons.

As expected, even at a snack bar, rice is the best.

“Hyung, *mashi-sseo*. *Mani meogeo* [Eat a lot].”

“Yeah, you too, Siha.”

Siha scooped up a spoonful of *bibimbap* and brought it to my mouth.

I smiled and took a bite.

“Mmm. Delicious.”

“Fish cake too.”

“Puh-huh. Don’t just take care of Hyung, Siha, make sure you eat too.”

“Ah? Siha will eat this.”

“Ah, really?”

I thought he was going to say that line while holding the fish cake, so I assumed he was giving it to me! Why make me misunderstand!

It was unintentionally subtle push and pull with Siha.

***

We finished eating and enjoyed the memorable place to the fullest.

Now, only the last highlight remained.

The custom of the Great Full Moon Festival: *Daljip Taewugi* [Moon House Burning].

When we returned to the folk village with the children, the preparations were already complete.

Fresh pine branches and piles of wood were stacked high, and a straw doll was tied to a piece of paper with some writing on it.

“Hyung, tree-ya [is it a tree]?”

“It might look like a tree, but that’s called a *daljip* [moon house].”

“*Daljip*? Is *dal* [moon] inside?”

“No. There’s no moon inside, but if you burn that, it gets rid of bad ghosts or bad energy.”

“Why *daljip*?”

“So the moon can see it. It’s like saying, ‘Full moon, give us strength!’ Ah! The full moon is called *Mangwol* [full moon].”

“Mang-ul-i?”

“*Mangwol*.”

“Mang-ul-i-ya. Mang-ul-i-ya. *Boreumdal ireum-iya* [It’s the name of the full moon].”

Well, he mispronounced it, but he’s not entirely wrong.

In the old days, children used to call it *Mang-ul-i*, *Mang-ul-i*.

“Wow! They’re burning it.”

“Ahhh!”

Whoosh.

Instantly, the fire ignited, and smoke billowed into the sky.

It wasn’t yet the afternoon when the full moon rises, but it probably didn’t matter since the moon was still present in the sky.

The sun was setting slightly, but it would have been even better to see it at night.

I could feel the intense heat even from a distance.

“Hyung, *tta-tteu-te* [Warm]!”

“Maybe good energy is being transmitted.”

“*Mang-ul-i* is transmitting it?”

“Of course.”

“Hyung, *Mang-ul-i* is over there.”

I looked at the sky that Siha was pointing to.

I think I could faintly see the moon…

“It’s already burning down.”

“It’s burning fast.”

“I guess it’s because they poured oil on it.”

Watching the *daljip* burn up and disappear in an instant, I prayed silently.

May Siha be healthy this year. May he not get sick. May all bad luck burn away.

If I need to be the one to lack strength, I can endure it, so may abundance come to at least Siha.

“Hyung, *mwo hae* [What are you doing]?”

“I’m wishing for Siha to do well.”

“Siha-do *sowon* [Siha wish]!”

Siha put his hands together and made a wish.

“Hyung, don’t be sick. And… and… always wake up well. And and… eat well.”

Huh-huh. Siha is worrying about me like this. I was touched.

“So, let me play with Hyung every day.”

Yeah. The previous wishes were just a build-up for this last request, right?

In the end, you just wanted to play with me every day?

The reason is very clear. The introduction, development, turn, and conclusion are perfect!

“Shall we go now?”

“Ahhh.”

As we walked, the day grew dim.

As if to decorate the end of the day, lanterns were lit along the streets of the folk village.

The shimmering light reflected in Siha’s eyes.

Siha, who was holding my hand, stopped walking.

“Siha-ya?”

He stared blankly ahead and opened his mouth.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Siha wants to draw pictures.”

He saw a lot today, so it’s natural that he wants to draw, I guess?

I felt a sense of curiosity for some reason.

“Okay. Let’s go home quickly now.”

“Ahhh.”

He started walking again. As I walked down the road lit by lanterns, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Maybe when a faint thought comes to our mind, we are already heading towards it.

“What are you going to draw today?”

Siha pointed to the *danso* [Korean bamboo flute] hanging on his bag.

“This, the *daljip*, and the *cheon* [everything]!”

“It looks like you have a lot to draw?”

“Pepe goes to old old times. Go and see a lot.”

“Oh ho. That sounds fun?”

“Ahhh.”

We headed home, chatting like that.

When we got on the bus, the children were tired and fell asleep on the way.

The twins slept with their heads together.

Jong-soo crossed his arms and closed his eyes, and Jae-hwi leaned on Jong-soo’s shoulder.

Eun-woo wore his hat low so his face was not visible.

Yoon-dong looked at the scenery outside the window.

‘Isn’t he tired?’

Yeon-joo leaned on me, and I don’t know why it turned out like this, but Siha fell asleep on my lap.

The bus driver turned off the lights.

In the quietly moving bus, only the children’s soft breathing filled the air.

After a short nap, they would wake up groggy and hug their mothers.

“Everyone, wake up! We’re here.”

The children opened their eyes with difficulty.

Siha also opened his eyes slightly and snuggled into my arms.

“Siha-ya, you have to wake up.”

“Siha became Mongshil [a soft, fluffy thing]. Hyung, float and take me.”

“What are you talking about.”

I had no choice but to unbuckle my seat belt and pick up Siha.

He naturally hugged my neck.

“Are you going to leave without saying goodbye to your friends?”

“Ah?”

At those words, he opened his eyes and looked at his friends.

Everyone had sleepy eyes.

“Everyone, bye-bye. Sam-do bye-bye [Teacher bye-bye].”

Everyone yawned or rubbed their eyes and waved their hands.

It seemed like the mothers were already there and would take them right away.

“Hyung, Siha sleep.”

“You said you wanted to draw?”

“After sleeping.”

Anyway. I laughed at his flexible schedule.

***

I heard from Seo Soo-hyun that it’s hard to gather 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.

That’s just the beginning.

As someone who has subscribed to her channel and watched it, it seems difficult at first.

In that sense, Siha Pepe had a slightly different starting point.

Was it thanks to uploading to Pixiv for a year?

There was only one video, but there were about 500 subscribers.

Eh? Only? Some people might react like that, but even this is amazing.

Considering that the subscribers of people who have just started are around 10, it is definitely a different starting point.

It’s like when celebrities start YouTube; they gather a different number of subscribers.

1,000 is a piece of cake.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you today. First, drink this.”

I put down the tray and gave her coffee.

Seo Soo-hyun received it, put a straw in it, and took a sip.

“What’s your request?”

“I’m thinking of uploading a Siha video again this time.”

Siha drew a lot of pictures at home.

I’m going to organize them well and make a story.

The video is all edited, so all I need now is a song.

“Don’t tell me you’re asking me for music? For just this coffee?”

“Let’s call it a win-win strategy.”

“You’re not trying to ride the coattails of a popular YouTuber, are you?”

“Where? Where?”

I spread out my palm and looked around.

No matter how much I look, I can’t see that popular YouTuber.

Don’t you have to have about 1 million subscribers to be considered a popular YouTuber?

“Here! Here!”

“I only see a frog in a well?”

“Am I talking to the right person to ask for music?”

“Looking at it again, you’re a latent dragon. It looks like you’ll soon hatch from the dragon egg and come out of the well.”

“Whatever.”

Seo Soo-hyun chuckled.

“No. But I was actually going to offer it to you even if you didn’t ask like this.”

“Then give it to me.”

“This *oppa* [older brother/male friend] really! Don’t interrupt me. No. Do I just give you the music? You have to tell me something so I can give you something with the right atmosphere.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

I took out my phone and showed her the pre-saved picture. I received it as a PNG file.

“It’s this.”

“Hmm. A picture with this kind of feel.”

“It’s what I saw when I went to the folk village.”

“Penguin too?”

“There was actually a penguin mask, so I can’t say I didn’t see it, can I?”

“Well, Siha really likes Pepe. Anyway, all the pictures are penguins.”

“Not all of them are.”

“Okay. 99 percent are penguins.”

I can’t argue with that.

“But just looking at these pictures, I don’t know what to put in it. What kind of feeling is it? Oppa, you’re going to put in text too, right? Like the last video.”

“Yeah. What kind of feeling is it, like the poet Lee Sang-hwa?”

“Ah, yes!”

“Will spring come to the stolen fields? With that kind of feeling.”

Seo Soo-hyun tilted her head and slowly flipped through the picture order on my phone again.

Then she opened her mouth slightly.

“Oppa, I think you’re really crazy.”

“What does that mean? Is that an insult?”

“Of course it’s a compliment! Wow! How does that story come out of this picture? I understand now. You have the text you wrote? Let me see it. I have a rough idea.”

“Here you go.”

I showed her the subtitles I had written on my phone.

Seo Soo-hyun looked at the phone and my face alternately with a dumbfounded expression.

What? What? Why are you doing that?

“Siha is creative and has good ideas, but I think oppa is also pretty good. How did you come up with this idea with this picture? No. Do you have more pictures than this?”

“Yeah. I only chose that one from the pictures. I’m going to edit the video to match it.”

“What will people think if they know that the two of you made a collaboration later?”

“I’m not going to reveal it, so they’ll never know.”

Seo Soo-hyun took a sip of coffee and was silent.

She seemed to be thinking about something for a while.

I also realized that I had only talked, so I sipped my coffee.

“Oppa, about this.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t we just make it a song instead of explaining it?”

“Song?”

“Yes! Let’s write these lyrics and put them in the video. It’ll be a total hit.”

“?”

I think things are getting bigger…

“I’m not the one singing, am I?”

“Of course I’ll sing it. Should I make an oppa version too? I have something that comes to mind.”

“No. What song am I going to sing.”

“Why? Who knows? Maybe it’ll be popular.”

Seo Soo-hyun turned on the recording and hummed, wondering what melody she had in mind.

Anyway, I was grateful that she was making a song for me.