Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 3

Hyung, Am I Cute? 3

Wednesday morning.

I felt a heavy weight on my stomach and opened my eyes to see Siha on top of me.

‘Heavy.’

I thought about getting up, but decided to let him be.

I didn’t want to wake him up.

Siha’s sleep is more precious than the comfort of my stomach.

Just let him be.

I was looking at my phone by the bedside when the pressure became intense.

I’ve reached my limit.

Even though he’s my beloved brother, he shouldn’t expect my mercy when he’s threatening my life.

I guess I can’t be a good brother.

I gently lifted him and laid him down next to me.

Why did he sleep on top of me?

Just as I was wondering that, my phone buzzed.

[Hyung Moon Do-hwan]

Come to think of it, I was comforted at the funeral and haven’t been in touch since.

I’m so indifferent, but this person is contacting me to take care of me.

He’s a really grateful person.

He’s a staff member hyung [older male friend or brother figure] who took good care of me at the employment center when I was working as a student assistant.

Click.

A welcoming voice was heard when I answered the phone.

“How have you been?”

“Yes, hyung. I’m sorry. I should have contacted you first.”

“What are you talking about? I know you’re busy right now.”

“How do you know?”

“Don’t I know your situation? You must be feeling very complicated, preparing to move, and looking for work.”

How does he know so well?

Should he open a fortune-telling shop?

“First, I need to decide where to move before I can work.”

“Instead of that, come to school. I have something to tell you. No, it’s not lunchtime yet, is it? Let’s meet for lunch. I’ll buy Siha something he’ll love.”

“Hyung, Siha is only three years old.”

“I know. There’s an aunt I know who makes delicious seaweed soup. Kids like it too.”

As long as it’s not too spicy, he can eat it.

I need to let him know that there’s a lot of delicious food in the world.

“What kind of place is it?”

“Just a restaurant. My aunt’s restaurant.”

Is that the aunt I’m thinking of?

The name was easy to remember, which was good.

“Okay. I’ll take Siha with me. I was planning to take him out anyway, so that works out well.”

“Okay. Then let’s meet for lunch.”

As soon as the call ended, the address was sent.

He’s fast with these things.

I turned back to wake Siha up.

“Ah ah.”

“Siha, are you already awake? Ah. Was hyung’s phone call too loud?”

Siha stared blankly ahead and then got up.

He dragged a box of tissues and started doing his morning routine.

‘He’s such a disciplined guy.’

I ruffled his hair once and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After washing my hair, I reached for a towel and saw Siha looking at me.

“Why? Does Siha want to wash up too?”

“Ah ah.”

“Okay. Let’s wash up.”

I roughly dried my hair and put out Siha’s cute slippers.

Siha, wearing rabbit-shaped slippers, held out his arm.

He wants me to roll up his sleeves.

Siha is such a commendable child who tries to wash himself.

It would be perfect if he just had more expressive emotions.

“Shall we wash up then?”

I filled Siha’s personal washbasin with water and handed it to him.

Siha splashed around with his tiny hands.

Splash splash.

He rubbed his face twice and then asked for a towel, saying he was done.

‘It’s all over his clothes.’

I chuckled and gave him the towel.

I folded it so it wouldn’t drag on the floor, and he dabbed his face once and handed it back to me, saying he was done.

He’s a real man’s man.

“Siha, hyung will wash you again.”

I grabbed Siha and washed his hair and face.

It was twice the work, but it wasn’t hard at all.

***

Auntie’s Restaurant near Kangin University.

Moon Do-hwan, whom I haven’t seen in a while, is waving his hand.

His gentle impression seems to show that he’s a nice person.

“It’s here. Here. Hello, Siha.”

“Ah ah.”

“Because he’s expressionless, it seems like he’s saying, ‘Yes, hello.'”

I chuckled at that.

“Why are you talking in a historical drama tone?”

“I don’t know? Let’s go in first. This place is delicious. Siha, aren’t you excited?”

“He has a very excited expression.”

“Can you tell the difference?”

“I saw his nostrils flare slightly.”

Moon Do-hwan made a face that said it was impossible.

I shrugged.

If you live together, you can see this much.

We went inside and took our seats.

“Auntie, one seaweed soup for the baby and a mackerel set, please.”

The auntie said.

“Oh my. Is this the only place you can eat? How come you’re always here?”

“Thanks to me, the store’s sales are going up. This place is delicious, but strangely, business isn’t doing well.”

“We have plenty of customers even without you.”

“Come on. It’s not that many. Honestly, with this price and this taste, there should be a line all the way to the pharmacy.”

“If you can’t say anything nice.”

The auntie chuckled as if she had heard a silly joke.

I looked at Moon Do-hwan.

“You guys seem really close?”

“It’s been four years since we met. It’s natural to be close after that long.”

“He’s a regular among regulars. But don’t you have chairs for babies to sit in?”

“Why wouldn’t we? It’s over there.”

Moon Do-hwan brought a chair as if showing off that he was a regular.

I thanked him and sat Siha down.

“Ah ah.”

Siha clenched and unclenched his hands.

“You want a spoon? Okay.”

I took out Siha’s personal spoon from my bag.

I also took out a handkerchief and put it on Siha’s bib.

“It’s amazing. How does he understand everything?”

“It’s like this after living with him for more than two years.”

“Haha. It’s the same relationship as me and the auntie.”

“That’s not true.”

At that moment, the auntie came out with the side dishes.

“What are you saying that’s making me cringe? Eat your food quietly.”

“Wow. Auntie. You’re not holding back because Siha is here? Originally, you would have said, ‘Eat your f…….'”

“Tsk.”

“Ahem. Siha was here.”

The two of them seemed really close.

“The seaweed soup will come out first. You have to cool it down while feeding him.”

“Thank you.”

She’s very considerate.

“Ah ah.”

“Oh my. Is he saying thank you?”

“Ah ah.”

Siha picked up the spoon with a thud.

The auntie pinched Siha’s cheek because he was so cute and turned around.

Our Siha is quite cute.

That’s not the important thing.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”

“Ah, that.”

Moon Do-hwan, who was picking up and eating bean side dishes, put down his chopsticks.

“Just go to university.”

“Hyung.”

“Tsk. Listen to what I have to say and then decide. Kangin University isn’t SKY [Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University, the top three universities in South Korea], but it’s still a prestigious university in Seoul. This will help you later when you get a job because of the alumni connections.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Of course, you don’t know. No, I misspoke. I don’t know when you get a job, but it’s definitely helpful to have seniors after you get a job.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. There’s a lot of pushing and pulling between people. Is there a reason why mothers living here in Seoul try to send their children to prestigious universities?”

“Because they don’t treat people like people?”

“No. It’s because they know that people are meant to hang out with their own kind. Frankly, even if you meet a good husband and live well, do you think you wouldn’t know if your husband met a senior from a certain school at work and pushed and pulled him?”

“Hmm.”

That’s definitely not wrong.

Even looking at my father’s workplace, his close seniors and juniors were from the same school.

“But I can’t work.”

“I know. I know. But your mind might change later. You might even meet a nice woman.”

“Hyung.”

“It’s a waste. It’s a waste. I understand how you feel. But how do you know where life will lead you? Working from home is good. What are you going to do working from home? There has to be a company that works from home for you to even get in.”

“That’s true.”

Moon Do-hwan smacked his lips.

“Don’t I know your grades?”

“I’m the top of the class. My GPA is 4.4.”

“That’s right. I even gave you job counseling. It’s hard to get a job with a Korean literature degree, but with your specs.”

My current specs are like this.

When I entered school, I wasn’t the top of the department, but I’ve been maintaining the top spot ever since.

I went to university for free for the first two years with a merit scholarship.

I forced myself to take one more class each vacation, and the total number of credits I’ve earned is 105.

Considering that the graduation requirement is 130 credits, I can graduate early.

The problem is that I have to take all the major classes.

My TOEIC [Test of English for International Communication] score was over 800 after studying during vacation after taking the college entrance exam, and now it’s over 900.

The foreign language area in the graduation certification system was already filled.

All that’s left is volunteer work and reading certification, but I’ve already completed the reading certification through lectures, except for volunteering.

The reason why I worked so hard in the first two years was to prepare for a job while taking classes leisurely in the third and fourth years.

Moon Do-hwan knows that, so he says it’s a waste.

“It’s okay. I guess I wasn’t meant to have a job.”

“No. You can go to the third grade, first semester for free this time. Because you’re the top of the class. Let’s think about it gradually while going to university for two years.”

“Living expenses…….”

“That’s right, those living expenses. There’s an easy way to solve it for two years.”

My eyes widened.

There’s a way like that?

How did this hyung even know that?

No, that’s not it.

No matter how much of a hyung he is, there’s no way he could know that.

This is purely for me that he investigated.

I was slightly choked up.

No one is trying to help me, but only this hyung is trying to help me.

In some ways, it’s just someone else’s business.

How can I repay this favor?

“Hey. Hey. Put that expression away. It’s information that you can find out as much as you want.”

“I wouldn’t have even thought about it. Because I was thinking of quitting university.”

“That’s true.”

At that moment, the auntie appeared.

She placed the seaweed soup, mackerel, and a bowl of rice in order.

She also placed a spicy soybean paste stew in the middle.

The bowl of rice wasn’t a regular serving, but a heaping bowl.

“Eat a lot. And cheer up. A man should stand tall and confident. That way, people won’t look down on you.”

“Auntie, he’s the top of the class. His confidence will pierce the sky.”

“Who said anything?”

As the auntie left, Siha shook his spoon.

“Ah ah!”

“Ah. Siha. Hyung is sorry. I haven’t been paying much attention to you, have I?”

“Ah?”

Siha shook his head.

Could he have understood what I said?

“Our Siha is smart. Smart. Let’s eat our food. Food.”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

I blew on the rice and put it in Siha’s mouth.

Moon Do-hwan said.

“Keep listening while feeding him. I looked into it, and there’s a scholarship officer in the scholarship program. And external scholarships. You’ll be able to receive it with the recommendation of the department head. Because you’re the top of the class, the professors have a good image of you. And there are many professors who have a good impression of you while working.”

“Hehe. Yes, ah~ that’s right. That’s good. But I have to take care of Siha.”

“Yeah. That. I’ve thought of an amazing solution. You can take care of Siha and go to university. A place where you can take care of him in between classes.”

“There’s a place like that?”

“Yeah. It’s at the end of our Kangin University. Kangin Daycare Center. It was originally created for the children of professors and faculty members, but I asked them. If they could take care of one university student’s child.”

I was speechless at the unexpected answer.

“Hyung…….”

“You’re finally opening your eyes a little? Can you see how awesome your hyung is? This way, you can go to university for free while thinking about it. Earn living expenses while receiving external scholarships. Graduate. You can also take care of Siha nearby. Frankly, it’s only for two years. You can go to Siha from time to time and show your face and take care of him.”

My hands were shaking.

Because I was so grateful.

I was so grateful to have a hyung who thought of me this much.

I couldn’t say anything.

“You said you wanted to raise Siha without any shadows on his face, right? I want to get rid of some of the shadows on your face. Even if there’s already one on your face, I wish there was at least one less.”

“Why would you go this far…….”

“I told you. I don’t want to add another shadow there.”

“Thank you.”

I was overwhelmed with emotion, but I couldn’t think of anything to say.

I was just grateful and endlessly grateful.

“Thank you so much.”

“It’s okay. Repay me later by sending me lots of pictures of Siha. It has to be a smiling picture? A rare one.”

I chuckled at that.

“I want that too.”

“Hyung!”

“Yeah?”

Siha took a spoonful of seaweed soup and handed it to me.

“Hyung. Are you giving it to me?”

“Ah ah.”

I took it and ate it.

Is it okay to just receive like this?

Both of them were such grateful people to me.

I received so much.

The warm words of the kind auntie.

The actions of the hyung who takes care of me.

Siha’s consideration.

I held that gratitude in my heart.