Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 405

Hyung, am I cute? Episode 405

As soon as the Korean press corps saw the Golden Palm being awarded at the press center, they cheered.

Other foreign press members also applauded in congratulations.

The atmosphere was as heated as if they had won an Olympic gold medal.

The reporter’s heart swelled with emotion.

‘To win the highest award at Cannes, a world-renowned film festival. I’m so, so proud.’

Director Go Dong-soo stepped forward.

A young Korean man followed behind him.

‘Huh? Who is that?’

Actually, it was the friend I saw when entering the awards ceremony.

No one knew who he was, though.

But I pushed the thought aside and put my hands on the laptop.

To transcribe exactly what Director Go Dong-soo was saying.

Of course, I’ll get the video, but it’s good to write and upload it in advance anyway.

Speed is the key to news.

It’s good to upload the article quickly and secure the number of clicks. This was even more true in modern times.

Exclusive, breaking news. Putting words like these in the headline is also important.

“Translator?”

That friend I saw earlier.

I finally realized he was a translator from Director Go Dong-soo’s words. At first, I just thought, ‘Okay.’

Either way, I thought I’d have time to diligently write down the words while he was translating.

As I was writing, I heard fluent French.

Did Director Go know this and hire this translator? That’s what I thought.

I refocused and listened intently.

‘I’m going to do some serious nationalistic hype [generating excitement and pride related to one’s nation].’

It’s already a big deal that an idol made it onto the Billboard charts, but winning the Golden Palm at Cannes is sure to be an even bigger deal.

It’s like being able to say they hit number one on Billboard.

No, it’s even more than that.

‘But is he talking for a long time?’

It’s hard to remember and write it all down.

How hard must it be for the translator? Even if he takes notes in a notebook, he won’t be able to write down every word.

I’m typing on a laptop and writing it down at a tremendous speed, so it’s obvious that writing by hand would be slower and more difficult.

If that’s the case, then he has to memorize the missing parts, but is it possible to memorize all those words?

“So crazy!”

A foreign reporter shakes his head and says this.

How is it that he’s saying long sentences without missing a single word?

I quickly checked the screen, and it only showed Director Go Dong-soo, not the translator.

Either way, they’re not showing the young man holding the microphone in the back because he’s not the main focus.

Typical Cannes.

No matter how amazing it is, these people do what they have to do.

That’s how the acceptance speech ended, and they were captured going inside.

Finally, the translator young man following behind was seen again.

“Huh?”

But it didn’t take long to notice something strange.

“Crazy.”

It’s a different meaning from what the foreign reporter said earlier.

While that reporter was surprised that he was fluently translating long sentences into French, I was shocked by the fact that the young man didn’t have a notebook or pen in his hand.

There’s no bulge in any of his pockets.

‘Did he memorize all of that and say it? Or did he put it in his inside pocket?’

It seemed that there wasn’t even a trace of a notebook when he was leaving with Director Go Dong-soo after the translation.

Curious, I found a French reporter nearby and asked in English.

「Was the translator’s French pronunciation okay?」

「Okay? No!」

A look of disappointment crossed the reporter’s face.

I knew it. It seems like we were the only ones who thought it was fluent. I guess it wasn’t that great for the local French people.

The French reporter continued.

「It wasn’t just okay. He did it very well, like a French person! I didn’t even see a notebook, so the only explanation is that he memorized it all on the spot, right? What’s crazy is what Director Go Dong-soo said at the beginning.」

What did Director Go Dong-soo say at the beginning?

「He said the simple speech he had prepared became blank.」

The meaning of that was simple.

That speech wasn’t prepared in advance, and the translator also listened and memorized the words on the spot.

He translated it naturally and fluently without missing a single word.

「What’s even crazier is that this guy also did the movie translation.」

The French reporter knew that Director Go Dong-soo was amazing, but he was also impressed by the fact that this translator was no ordinary person.

Similarly, the Korean reporter, who was frantically writing down the article, was also amazed by the translator’s greatness.

Although the focus was all on Director Go Dong-soo, he realized that the translator was just as amazing.

Translation skills that even local French people admired!

It was a moment when there were more nationalistic hype materials to write in the article.

‘Lee Si-hyuk? I need to find out more about him?’

All I can find out is what I hear from others and the Instagram account that’s already been released on the internet.

But that alone was more than enough to generate buzz.

***

I boarded the plane back to Korea.

France was good, but Korea was better.

I feel like I was in France all of May, but I enjoyed the culture and sights of other countries enough.

I didn’t know that a leisurely trip would be this good.

Of course, it was really fun even after the Cannes Film Festival opened.

I don’t know if the director felt the same way, though.

I didn’t bother going to the first premiere because it was too late at night and Siha had to sleep.

It would be strange to leave in the middle anyway.

But I participated in the awards ceremony, so that’s enough.

“When we get to Korea, I won’t have to translate, right?”

“Of course. I doubt you’ll get any questions in a foreign language.”

“Right?”

I thought I only had to translate the acceptance speech after receiving the Golden Palm, but I ended up having to do more translation work because I had to do a few more interviews after that.

This time, even the actors were all there, so I translated everything.

It was as if all the expenses I spent playing and eating were for this moment.

“Hehe. You were so firm.”

“Oh, why are you doing that again.”

“It’s funny.”

Actor Kim Seok-hyun also agreed with Director Go’s words.

“That’s right. Si-hyuk was so firm. The reporter said he wanted to ask Si-hyuk something, but Si-hyuk said.”

Actor Kim Seok-hyun’s expression changes to a serious one.

It seems like he’s imitating my appearance at the time.

“No!”

“When did I ever do that kind of expression.”

“No. You did. So, I asked, ‘Can’t I just receive one question?’ Wow.”

“Ahem.”

“I came here today as a translator, so the focus shouldn’t be on me.”

“You heard all of that.”

“I can speak a little English, you know. Not as well as you, though.”

“Stop telling that story. How often are you going to say it.”

“I’ve only said it twice? Wow. The reporter ignored you and you translated so well, so what do you think about that reaction?”

“Oh, come on!”

“Isn’t it natural for a translator to translate well? He said, and all the reporters burst out laughing.”

That’s for sure.

And then another question came in, so I responded with No.

I politely told them to ask the actors and director what they wanted to ask. We don’t have a lot of time to do interviews like this.

When I said that, the reporters licked their lips and turned their attention away.

Of course, the actors and director were also looking at me, expecting me to give some kind of answer.

But because I was so firm, they seemed to have enjoyed watching it even more.

No. I don’t want you to pay attention to me.

I don’t need excessive attention, especially since I’m sure there will be a lot of buzz because I received the Golden Palm.

And if the focus is on this side, it could make other people uncomfortable.

It’s not like there are those kinds of people because the actors have such good personalities.

I’m not a celebrity, and it’s not like I’m in a job where a lot of money comes in because I’m popular, so excessive attention is a problem.

I felt like it was good to cut it off like that.

“Will there be less attention now? Everyone is a famous director and actor, so the focus will be on them, right?”

“I’m not so sure about that?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe after they use the content about this side, it’ll move on to you, Si-hyuk?”

“No way.”

“No. Really. It might have been better to answer some questions during the interview.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it natural for a translator to translate well! Don’t you know how much of a hot topic that answer will be?”

“No way.”

“As soon as I heard that answer, I thought, ‘Ah, this is a news item.’ Overseas.”

I didn’t think that far.

Well, it’s natural for reporters to extract articles no matter what they say. Damn it. If that’s really the case, they’re professional.

“Since you only accepted up to that point and didn’t receive any more, they don’t know any information at all. Curiosity is exploding.”

“It’s not like I’m an idol with a mysterious concept.”

“That’s exactly it. Translator Lee Si-hyuk! Who is he!”

As expected of an actor. Is it because he reads a lot of articles? Somehow, he’s picking out headlines that seem like they’re worth clicking on.

It’s a little scary in that it sounds plausible.

“Surely I won’t be caught by reporters at the airport, will I?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. First of all, the director will be caught first, and then the actors will be caught. You’ll slip away.”

“Really?”

“Really. And your face didn’t come out much. They won’t recognize you. They won’t recognize you.”

Fortunately, my face wasn’t captured much in the Cannes Film Festival video.

The focus was solely on the director.

As if he were today’s protagonist.

***

As soon as we arrived in Korea, the director and actors were surrounded by reporters.

They held interviews with weapons (?) with several microphones wrapped around them.

Siha and I slipped out well in the meantime.

I was wearing a hat and a hoodie, and the staff were all wearing them, so no one recognized me.

I was relieved when I arrived home in a taxi.

“Phew.”

“Hyung. It was fun.”

“Really? Was the trip to France fun?”

“Yeah! It was more fun because I was with Hyung!”

“I’m glad.”

Then my uncle asked Siha.

“It was more fun because I was with Uncle, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Huh?”

My uncle was flustered because he didn’t know that Siha would answer so readily.

He probably thought that Siha would say no! and make a discriminatory remark against me.

Our Siha answers honestly when he’s in a good mood.

It seems like he really enjoyed traveling with his uncle.

“But Hyung. Siha couldn’t watch the movie.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

I couldn’t help it.

I showed him all the movies that participated in Cannes, and Director Go’s movie started showing late.

I knew that schedule, so I just played with Siha.

Actually, I watched the movie.

I’ve watched it several times to translate it, so I’m a little tired of watching it again.

Some people watch their favorite movies over and over again, but in my case, I’ve watched it several times for work, so I didn’t really want to watch it again.

It’s a good movie, but I don’t want to see it again. I’ve seen it too many times. Because it was work.

“Maybe there will be a premiere in Korea, so you can watch it then.”

“With Hyung?”

“Yeah. With Hyung.”

“I hope my friends can watch it too.”

“Ah, friends too.”

“Yeah!”

Well, it would be nice if my friends could watch the movie too.

The Korean release date is not far off.

Since it received the Golden Palm, the audience score will be huge.

“Hyung. Siha wants to call Seung-joon.”

“Ah. To brag?”

“Yeah.”

It’s not bad to talk to Seung-joon after a long time.

I took out my phone and pressed the call button to Seung-joon’s mother.

She said I could call, so I switched back to a video call.

「Siha! Hello!」

「Siha! Hello!」

The twins wave to Siha and say hello.

Siha waves his hand enthusiastically.

“Siha went to France.”

「France?」

“Yeah! There were so many patriots!”

He means foreigners, not patriots.

Oh, well, I guess French people are patriots.

It seems like nationalistic hype is universal in every country.

In a way, it’s not wrong.

「Siha, then what did you do in France?」

“Siha drew pictures and sang songs. I ate delicious things.”

「Wow! But you do that here too, right?」

“That’s right!”

Well, if you say that, it’s the same as what you do here…

Anyway, I went to France!

You have to say something special about France, Siha.

That’s how the kids will say wow!

“I’ll tell you more at daycare! Bye-bye.”

But Lee Siha simply conveys his business and hangs up the phone.

Why did he call?

Anyway, it was enough if Siha enjoyed it.