Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 392

“Hyung, aren’t I cute?” 392

Tulips and Roses.

Jaehwi strode towards the relatively easier-to-fold tulips.

He’s the type to be intimidated by difficulty.

However, Yeonju, who likes Jaehwi, was about to go to the roses but quietly followed Jaehwi when he headed for the tulips.

Jaehwi always followed her, so she thought she should follow him this time.

“Oh? Yeonju. Are you doing tulips too?”

“Yeah. Aren’t tulips pretty?”

“Oh? Really? Yeonju likes tulips. Okay!”

Jaehwi, believing those words as they were, was a fool.

She actually just came because she liked Jaehwi.

“Then I’ll do roses!”

Seungjun heads towards the roses.

A striker shouldn’t avoid even the most difficult situations. Rather, they should score even more goals.

He’s displaying his striker instincts again.

“Hana will do tulips then! I’ll just do something easy.”

“You’re not doing something hard.”

“Oppa, I want to do something separate from you.”

“Huh?”

At five years old, they are increasingly becoming realistic twin siblings.

There were also differences in their tendencies.

“Then I’ll naturally do roses. You should be able to do at least one difficult thing.”

Jongsu thinks he is smart.

So he couldn’t do the easy tulips.

Yoondong quietly looked around and then turned to Eunwoo.

“Where are you going to do it?”

“Anything is fine with me? Should I do tulips? The pronunciation is harder. Hahaha!”

One of the important elements for a rapper: diction. You shouldn’t avoid it just because the pronunciation is difficult.

Eunwoo simply chose tulips because the pronunciation was difficult.

Yoondong saw that there were fewer people on the rose side and went there.

He doesn’t choose what he likes or what’s convenient, but rather the side that needs more help.

Yoondong doesn’t talk much, but he has a subtle tendency to help others.

Everyone made their choices for their own reasons.

“Okay, everyone! Now that you’ve all chosen, let’s learn one by one. First, the head teacher will teach you how to fold tulips, and teacher Yoo Dahee will teach you how to fold roses!”

Red construction paper was used for the tulips.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t used for the roses.

“We’ll use yellow for the roses.”

“Why?”

“The meaning of yellow roses is ‘perfect achievement.’ It means you’ve perfectly completed all your studies here at the university. Isn’t that nice?”

“Yes!”

Roses have different meanings for each color.

The teacher took that into consideration and made them yellow.

Hana, after hearing teacher Yoo Dahee’s words, looked at the head teacher.

“Head Teacher, don’t tulips have anything?”

“Tulips also have something. Eternal affection.”

“Eternal affection!”

Hana’s eyes sparkled.

Stories involving love were one of Hana’s major interests.

She was thinking to herself that she had really made a good choice in choosing tulips.

“Then, shall we try folding them diligently, even though it might be a bit difficult?”

The children all started folding tulips and roses, following the teacher.

Everyone diligently folded one step at a time.

Doing it themselves. Making sure no one fell behind. Slowly. Slowly.

In contrast, Siha was moving his hands quickly.

Quickly completing the Pepe doll wearing an academic dress.

He was more focused than anyone else here.

***

The graduation day in February arrived.

I’m reminded of when I entered this Gangin University.

I was completely focused on studying, wanting to quickly earn credits and get a job.

I wanted to show my father a respectable image.

Hanging my employee ID around my neck, making my parents happy, and giving them a gift with my first paycheck.

I wanted to do things like that.

That’s why, even though I had just entered, I had the desire to graduate quickly.

But now, it held no meaning whatsoever.

That felt strange.

I wondered if I should just receive my degree and leave without going to the graduation ceremony.

I didn’t particularly want to listen to something in the auditorium.

The boss told me to definitely go to the graduation ceremony and not come to work, so I’m going.

“Oh? Oppa! Oppa!”

“Yeah?”

“You came to the graduation ceremony? I didn’t think you would.”

“I had to come.”

Seo Suhyun, who is in the same year as me, is also graduating.

Even though she could have taken a semester off, she’s just graduating directly.

Many girls take time off to go on language study programs or travel, but Seo Suhyun didn’t do that.

Well, it’s not particularly strange.

There are just many girls who go straight to getting a job.

“Oppa, let’s take pictures together after it’s over today.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Since it’s a once-in-a-lifetime graduation ceremony, wouldn’t it be a complete loss if we didn’t take pictures?”

“Then go grab one of those photographers walking around outside.”

“Ugh. I don’t really like that. It feels like it’s expensive and a waste? These days, phones are good and printing is good, so why bother?”

“Hmm. It depends on the photographer’s skills, but the ones who are good are definitely good.”

“That’s true too. But we’ve never seen those photographers’ photos, have we? There are even several of them.”

“That makes sense.”

We’ve never seen those photographers before, so how would we know what their skills are like?

“But it’s unexpected?”

“What is?”

“Suhyun isn’t an idiot.”

“Hey. What. Are you saying something obvious! Of course, I’m not an idiot, am I?”

I chuckled and shouted from the front.

“Our Suhyun isn’t an idiot!”

“Ah! Stop it!”

“But you secretly like it?”

“Who? Who!”

No, I don’t. Her cheeks are red? Are they red because she’s embarrassed?

But the corners of her lips are turned up?

I blinked, not knowing why she was showing a liking.

Maybe she’s just excited because she’s graduating.

“Why are you twitching your lips and making me misunderstand? I thought you liked being called an idiot.”

“I didn’t like being called an idiot. Seriously, oppa.”

“Alright, alright. Calm down and let’s go in.”

“Whose fault is it! Whose fault!”

The graduation ceremony began.

The department head conferred degrees to the representatives of the graduating class and gave a short word of blessing.

“If it’s too long, you’ll all fall asleep, right?”

“No! No!”

“Give us more!”

“We’ve already been trained until high school!”

The department head laughed at those words.

And said this.

“That’s because I haven’t been trained. Everyone should take pictures and spend time. Go grab a meal too. Those who have time can have a drink too.”

“Yes!”

“So, I want to leave a good impression on you all at the end.”

“Hahaha.”

“Congratulations on graduating! It might be a bit tough in the future, but I think you’ll all persevere and do well. That’s all!”

The department head went down, and the class president came up.

He gave congratulatory remarks and said that he had reserved a bar, so if it’s okay, everyone should go together.

It’s not mandatory, so those who want to go separately can go separately.

Seo Suhyun, who was next to me, asked.

“Oppa, are you going?”

“No, I’m not going.”

“Why? Are you going to work again? You should hang out together on days like this. How are you going to live in society in the future?”

“That’s absurd. I’m working, you know?”

“Ah, that’s right. That’s right. You’re not coming here because you’re living in society.”

“Well, it’s not that, I have somewhere to go.”

“Yes? Where?”

“That’s…. Oh?”

That’s when it happened.

As I opened the door and came out, the children from the daycare were making a line in a row.

“Ah! Sihyuk oppa is out!”

I rubbed my eyes after hearing Hana’s voice.

What is going on?

The daycare children, teachers, Siha, uncle, Baek Donghwan, Moon Dohwan.

Everyone was there.

“Sihyuk oppa, this!”

“Sihyuk hyung [older brother/male friend], this!”

A tulip and a rose.

Made of construction paper, it felt like something the children would make.

I carefully received the flowers that would not wither.

Lastly, Siha was hiding a bouquet behind his back, but he couldn’t hide the wrapping paper completely, so it was all visible.

“Hyung, happy graduation!”

Siha gave me the bouquet.

The wrapping paper was definitely for a bouquet, but inside was Pepe wearing an academic dress, which made me laugh.

What is that.

“Thank you so much. It’s a bouquet I’ve never received before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s a very special bouquet.”

I put the seven flowers on Siha’s bouquet.

The doll and paper flowers were mixed together, making it look good.

Moon Dohwan and Baek Donghwan also gave their congratulations.

“Thank you for coming like this. For something like this.”

“I had to come. I have a stake in this graduation too.”

“I acknowledge that hyung has a stake.”

Hyeong [older brother/male friend] Moon Dohwan, who helped me a lot in the beginning.

He gave me advice in many ways, and I’m grateful to him.

“Hyungnim [term of respect for an older male], no matter what, I couldn’t miss such an important event. I even hurriedly borrowed a good camera from a senior I know!”

“I’m grateful, but why the camera?”

Why did he bother borrowing that?

“Okay. Okay. Everyone, stand together. Let’s take a picture.”

Looking around, the other friends were also taking graduation photos diligently.

I wonder if other departments are showing this kind of scene besides us? Alisa must be taking a lot of pictures in the Fashion Design department. I don’t know if our department head let us finish quickly like our department head did.

Anyway, from today onwards, we’ll be preparing for jobs or getting jobs and contacting each other less frequently.

So, it seems like we’re taking pictures like this to commemorate our last college life.

Click!

We took many pictures together, just the two of us with Siha, and the three of us with uncle.

When we had taken enough pictures and it was okay.

“Donghwan-ah.”

“Yes?”

“Can you lend me the camera for just one day?”

“Of course. But where are you going? Why suddenly the camera?”

I smiled softly and said.

“To see my father and mother.”

Just saying that made everyone nod in understanding.

As if they understood what I meant.

***

The columbarium.

My stepmother and father are enshrined together.

I have my degree in my hand, and I hesitated about what to say in front of them before opening my mouth.

“Father. I graduated today. Look. It’s my degree……”

I hated graduation ceremonies.

It was nice that my father came, but everyone else’s mother came. Or their father and mother both came.

I didn’t like seeing that.

But I was looking forward to the university graduation ceremony.

Ah. Only at this graduation ceremony can my stepmother and father take a picture together. I was kind of looking forward to that? Am I able to take a graduation photo with all the members? Well, I smiled at that thought.

“You wanted to see me graduate from college. You wanted to take a picture with me. Sob.”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Originally, we should have taken pictures in front of the university, not here. That was supposed to be the plan.

“So, I. Heuk [sobbing sound]. Came to take a graduation photo together. I. Heuk. Wanted to take it together. I. I didn’t think I would receive a bouquet. Heuk. Everyone took care of me. Uncle also took care of me.”

He spoke so well when he was working, but in front of his father, he became a child who couldn’t even speak properly.

“I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful.”

I wiped away my tears and spoke again.

“I’m okay now. Siha is doing really well too. At first, I really didn’t have any money, so I didn’t know how to live, but now I have an uncle and I get a lot of work, so I earn well. I don’t earn as much as others, but I can still raise Siha well. So. So.”

I gently close my eyes.

“You can rest assured now. I’m really doing well. You don’t have to worry.”

I said everything that came to my mind.

I had so many stories I couldn’t tell, but I couldn’t speak well, so I felt frustrated and sad.

“Let’s take a picture now.”

I wiped away my tears and turned around.

Siha was holding his uncle’s hand and looking at me worriedly.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t cry.”

“Yeah. I won’t cry. I won’t cry. Siha has to take a picture too.”

“Yeah.”

“Uncle. Please.”

Uncle nodded.

He was about to say something but spat out one word, sorry.

I shook my head, saying there was no need to be sorry. I didn’t know what he was so sorry about.

“Then, are we taking it?”

“Yeah. Siha, can you hold the bouquet and the degree?”

“Yeah.”

I lifted Siha into my arms.

Because my father would have lifted Siha and taken a picture with him at the graduation ceremony.

“Then, we’re taking it. One, two, three.”

Click. Click. Click.

The shutter clicked three times, and all the pictures were taken.

Uncle checked the pictures that came out.

“The lighting here.”

“Why? Didn’t they come out well?”

“No. It seems like a faint blue light and pink light are reflecting on the glass. It’s not the color of the lighting here?”

“But it looks pretty?”

“Right? It’s amazing. Only one picture is like this.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty.”

Strangely, looking at this picture made my heart feel warm.

“Anyway, congratulations on graduating, Sihyuk. Janghyuk must be very happy too.”

“I guess so?”

With this, my February graduation ceremony ended.