Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 317

Hyung, aren’t I cute? Episode 317

When I first started working here, the office felt desolate.

Of course, it didn’t need to be big, considering there’s hardly anyone here.

I wasn’t expecting much.

It felt like a luxury to expect much from a new company.

I chose this job based on the boss’s vision for the future.

First, the project.

There was no mention of this on the first day, but he brought in a contract he’d secured himself, as if eager to show me the ropes.

“Even if you know some English, you might not know the technical terms. This is a product data sheet.”

“Ah, this kind of thing.”

Performance specs regarding temperature resistance and pressure tolerance.

The product names were registered as combinations of English letters and numbers.

RC-3000-15.

Like that.

Everything else was also a combination of English letters and numbers.

“It’s mostly easy to interpret. We’re selling this, right?”

“Yeah. You have to start with this to break into the market. There’s not much work right now. We don’t even really need an office.”

“It’s quiet.”

“No. It’s time to hit the ground running. At least we have this material as a weapon.”

“What about the aerospace industry?”

“We’ve already started exploring that. It’s a bit of a gamble, though.”

“Hmm.”

“I see you’re curious about that, but learn this first. Let’s have a meeting tomorrow morning. Haven’t you heard? Meetings are in the morning and work is done in the afternoon? Of course, if there’s something urgent, we’ll gather in the meeting room then. But we don’t have any work, so that won’t happen.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“I’ll have to hype it up there that you’ll be incredibly busy!”

Park Han-soo dragged me around here and there.

He’s a really high-energy person.

I heard he’s been working for a long time, but he was different from what I imagined.

Or maybe he’s not showing me everything.

It doesn’t feel like a mask, but I can see him trying to be positive.

It’s difficult to say if that’s really the case.

That’s just how it looks and feels. I’ve always been slightly better at reading people’s faces than others.

“You’re going to do well, sir.”

“Huh?”

“Optimistic people do well.”

“Isn’t that someone who has too many unrealistic dreams?”

“Not that. Hmm. Ah! Would you call it realistic idealism?”

“Oho.”

“You know exactly what will happen if you fail, but you still dream of success. Clearly, you’re aware and meticulously building up so you don’t fail, which means you’re facing reality.”

“Ahem. Is that so?”

“Yes. That’s what you’re trying to do, right? Aren’t you?”

Park Han-soo looked at me with an unexpected expression.

*How did you know?* That was the look on his face.

“If you show it on your face too much, you’ll get scammed.”

“Hahaha. Don’t worry. I’m Park Han-soo! Even cockroaches are tired of my persistence.”

“But you resigned, didn’t you?”

“I’m not quite a cockroach, but I have the persistence of a honeybee.”

He immediately corrects himself, which means he’s definitely not an ordinary person.

He seems to be very good at flattering people.

“Hello.”

My prediction seems to be correct.

He greets loudly when we go to a client.

Some people laugh, asking if he’s come again.

It seems like he’s visited more than once or twice.

Wouldn’t it be rude to visit this often, even though they’ve clearly refused?

But President Park Han-soo didn’t care.

He asked about this and that and continued the conversation, asking how that thing from before was going.

It was definitely impressive that he remembered what we talked about last time.

“Actually, there was something I really wanted to say when I came before.”

“Huh?”

“I also did meetings and tried it when I was at the company. But compared to this product…”

He subtly gives tips that might not be a big deal.

We didn’t stay long.

Because the client also has to work. Just enough time for a cup of coffee.

He came out fearlessly, as if he had completed his mission.

I just watched and didn’t say a word.

“I could feel the know-how in your words. But they can just take that and run with it.”

“It’s okay. If you spread a lot of bait when fishing, they’ll come running to eat. I have to catch something. And I don’t teach them every time I come. I give it some time, and if I think they see me in a good light after a few visits, I throw it out there.”

“Wow. You go there thinking about that?”

“Shh. Just a moment.”

President Park took out a pen and notebook and started writing something.

Looking over his shoulder, I saw that he was recording what we talked about today.

Minor things. Really trivial personal things.

Things that were thrown out there while talking.

And a brief summary of what we talked about today.

Looking at the previous pages, it seemed that he was able to throw things out today because of these records from when he came before.

President Park closed his notebook after writing everything down and said this.

“It’s not just girlfriends who like it when you remember trivial things.”

“Are they happy?”

“No. They can’t consciously think, ‘Does this person remember this?’ Some people do, but both are good. It leaves a small impression on their hearts.”

I came because I was drawn to the project, but I think I saw a side of Park Han-soo.

How he did sales at the company, that know-how.

“Just watch. They’ll contact me later. It’s not just about drinking and calling each other ‘hyung’ [older brother or male friend] and ‘dongsaeng’ [younger sibling or friend] in sales.”

“Hee. I guess so.”

“Ah, you also worked for a large company. I heard you landed a contract?”

“Well, it just happened.”

“Negotiation is also a skill, so that’s amazing.”

About two weeks passed like that.

But as expected, it wasn’t easy, and no one contacted us.

President Park tries to be cheerful without showing any signs of difficulty.

I learned a lot during that waiting period, and I also did some work contacting foreign companies.

But I felt sorry for President Park and wondered if I should say something.

Since he drinks coffee often, I bought some black tea and put it in the office.

I brewed one and handed it to him.

“What is this?”

“It’s black tea. I tried it and it was delicious, so I put it in the office.”

“No. Why did you buy this with your own money? You can just buy it with company money.”

“Then it wouldn’t be a gift, would it? I have to show off a little.”

“Ah, that’s right. You learned well from me! But aren’t you being too direct?”

“I heard people these days don’t understand indirect talk?”

“Puhut. Yeah, yeah. You have to show it. Show off your good work, show off your gifts. That’s right. You’re good at company life?”

“Even if I look good, my salary stays the same?”

“Hey. It’s like this now, but it’ll be great later.”

A slightly bitter expression flashed across his face and then disappeared.

I also know. I know what kind of reaction I’ll get if I say this.

I just checked. How he’s feeling now. What to say.

“President.”

“Yeah?”

“Translation is a really attractive job.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Do you know why?”

“Because it makes you good at diplomacy?”

“That’s also right. But there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“Sometimes you become a witness to history.”

“!!!”

“I’m here as a translator right now.”

So maybe I’ll become a witness to history here?

This was my comforting words.

Park Han-soo smiled.

“I heard people these days don’t understand indirect talk?”

“It depends on the person. Well.”

Then the phone rang. It was a call to sign a contract.

Perhaps the beginning of a small step that will not even be written in history was approaching.

***

While Si-hyuk was working for two weeks, Si-ha was also thinking about something in the meantime.

It was a gift to give on Teacher’s Day on May 15th.

“Si-ha. This day is Teacher’s Day. You know Teacher’s Day, right?”

“Si-ha know. Teacher day. Teacher day.”

“Yes. It’s Teacher’s Day. It’s a day to say thank you to the teachers for teaching you hard.”

“Si-ha know. Did it when little.”

“You’re talking about what you did last year, right?”

Last year, on Teacher’s Day, we gave carnations to the teacher and it was over.

We also sang the Teacher’s Day song.

The teacher doesn’t really care, but it seems like the parents tell the children.

And there are always people selling carnations in front of the university, so you can’t forget it even if you try.

“Si-ha give gift? Not Red Hyung Pepe, Pepe-ro?”

“Since that sold for about 100,000 won, wouldn’t it violate the Kim Young-ran Act [anti-corruption law limiting the value of gifts to public officials]?”

“Ah? Egg-ran rice?”

“Not egg-ran rice, the Kim Young-ran Act. Hmm. Ah! How about Si-ha drawing a picture? You put a picture on Hyung’s tumbler on his birthday.”

“Si-ha draw well.”

“Then shall we buy a tumbler?”

“No. That Hyung’s. Can’t same~”

Si-ha wanted to give Si-hyuk a unique gift, so he didn’t allow it to be invaded.

Si-hyuk had an emotional expression.

“Keu. Si-ha. As expected. Then shall we write a letter? Si-ha writes a letter to the teacher saying thank you.”

“Letter?”

“Yes. Si-ha has been studying Korean hard, so you can write it. If you don’t know, Hyung will help you.”

“Si-ha can do.”

Si-hyuk actually knew that Si-ha couldn’t do it.

Even though he did sticker workbooks, he had never held a pencil and written before.

At best, he perfectly wrote the initial consonant ‘ㅇㅅㅎ’ [initials of Si-ha’s name], but he had never written the rest.

At least I wanted him to be able to write his name for sure.

“Then shall we write a letter? A picture letter is also fine. First, let’s write ‘To Teacher’. Do you know how to write it?”

“Si-ha know.”

Si-ha started writing on the letter paper with a pen.

“Woong. Like this. Like this.”

[ㅅ니깨]

The initial consonant was perfect.

Si-ha pointed to this and said, “To Teacher.”

“Good job. It’s a little wrong, but you wrote almost everything!”

Si-hyuk started to correct the letters by holding Si-ha’s hand.

To be exact, he added an interpretation next to it.

[ㅅㄴ깨] – To Teacher.

Then he told Si-ha to write what he wanted to say.

“Happy birthday.”

“No, no. Teacher’s Day is not a birthday.”

“Happy Teacher’s Day.”

Si-hyuk chuckled.

Anyway, it seems like he wants to congratulate Teacher’s Day. Huh? Was it originally a congratulatory day?

He wrote ‘ㅊㅋㅊㅋ’ [abbreviation for congratulations].

Where did you learn these initial consonants?

“Also. Also. Woong. This jiggle. Thank you for playing with me every day.”

“Yes. Yes.”

[Play with me sweet potato every day]

It seems like he remembered the words on the sticker and wrote them crookedly.

But it seems like the meaning of what he’s saying won’t be conveyed because he only wrote what he knows.

I have no choice but to add a footnote next to it.

But he seems to remember what he learned quite well. I wonder if he remembers it with pictures.

“Hyung. Si-ha draw too.”

“Yes. The teacher will love it.”

He started drawing a picture under the simply written words.

Heart. Heart. Heart.

The overlapping hearts bloom like petals.

It is packaged like a bouquet below, and a large ribbon is drawn.

“Carnation. Carnation.”

“Is that so?”

The idea that the petals are hearts is truly brilliant.

They might like this picture more than the letter.

“Is it over now?”

“No. I have to write a letter to the head teacher too.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Si-ha writes another letter.

It was the same content as before. The picture was different.

He drew Pepe, but his hair was curly. It looked like the head teacher’s permed hair.

Pepe even wore an apron.

The head teacher wears it often.

“But why did you only draw Pepe for the head teacher and not Yoo Da-hee teacher?”

“Ah?”

“Huh?”

“Head teacher like Pepe. Da-hee teacher like flower.”

Da-hee teacher. Si-ha. Be careful with your pronunciation. It feels like Death Note [reference to a manga/anime]. It’s scary.

Anyway, it seems like Si-ha drew what the teachers like.

It’s a customized picture.

“How did you know she likes flowers?”

Si-ha looked around and put his hands to his mouth.

It seems like he’s going to tell a secret story.

“Si-ha saw it all.”

“What?”

“Teacher received flower. Moon-do uncle gave. Saw it all.”

Hyung Do-hwan. How did you let Si-ha witness that scene?

Si-ha was a witness to love.