Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 467

Carnation

After returning home, I sent the photos I took of Seung-jun and Hana to Seung-jun’s mom.

Seeing how much she liked them made me feel proud.

She had expressed her disappointment at not being able to come, but it was unavoidable due to her job.

I wondered if Seung-jun and Hana felt less disappointed because I came?

Siha’s parents didn’t come, but was he okay?

Seeing me always thinking about the child’s feelings, I felt like I was getting used to childcare somehow.

Of course, Siha is my younger brother, though.

“Ah, right.”

“What’s right?”

Uncle heard me and asked from where he was lying on the sofa.

“I was thinking I should send Siha’s pictures to his biological father. He must be curious about his school life.”

“He’ll ask Siha about it during art class.”

“Is that the same as me telling him? And these are pictures. There are school scenes too.”

“Hmm. It’s definitely different visually.”

“And I don’t think he’d ask Siha about it so directly.”

“Ah. That’s right, that’s his personality.”

He wasn’t the most affectionate person.

Well, to be exact, he was a bit awkward around Siha.

He wouldn’t ask him this and that.

“So, I’m going to tell him about the pictures and how Siha is doing. I can write it in a letter and send it.”

“Why even write it?”

“Siha is a child who can’t be expressed in short sentences.”

“???”

Regardless of Uncle’s reaction, I turned on my laptop.

I opened Hangul [a Korean word processing program] and started writing.

[Siha had a public class this time. He gets along well with his friends, and his closest friends are the ones he went to daycare with. Their names are Seung-jun and Hana…]

I wrote in detail meticulously.

He wouldn’t be bothered by this.

The more he knows about Siha, the easier it will be for him to approach him.

May is Family Month, so I hope he gets closer to Siha even a little bit.

Although, I think they’ve gotten a lot closer compared to the beginning.

[Siha also presents very well. Is it because of all the things I’ve shown him? It seems like what a child sees and grows up with is important.]

Writing this, I feel like I’m patting myself on the back.

[Maybe Siha is a genius. Whatever he becomes in the future, I think he’ll be good at PPT presentations and speeches. Maybe he’ll even win awards for it later?]

I also attached the photos of the bulletin board that Siha decorated.

I showed the other classes’ boards side by side.

I took pictures while passing by.

[Siha’s bulletin board is the best among all the classes. It’s probably thanks to his biological father’s good teaching. Don’t you think only our Siha’s board has a different quality among the first graders? It’s very creative.]

As I write this, I have more and more to say.

I’ve been diligently attaching photos to match the text, and I don’t know how many pages it is already.

“Wow, are you making a PPT?!

Uncle, who had approached from behind, had a shocked expression.

Why? What? To be honest, even a book wouldn’t be enough to write all of Siha’s stories.

“No. What is this? Didn’t you only attend one public class today? How is there so much.”

“Uncle. So many things happened in that short amount of time.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s true.”

“I’m shocked that you felt so much in that short amount of time. Is this a novel or a PPT?”

“This is a Hangul file.”

“That’s not what I mean……”

Uncle is still far behind.

This is such a great and sacred task.

It’s about letting people know about Siha, so I can’t just write it carelessly.

“Go away if you’re going to interrupt.”

Uncle shook his head and headed back to the sofa.

And muttered like this.

“The two of them act exactly the same. Exactly the same.”

What’s the same?

***

Siha finished Taekwondo and returned home.

He hurriedly took off his shoes, opening the middle door.

“I’m home!”

“Yes, welcome home.”

“Hyung!”

Siha hugged Si혁 [Si-hyuk] tightly.

It was now a familiar greeting, like a habit.

“I was so happy that Hyung came to school today. We even took classes together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Next time, let’s take all the classes together and go to Taekwondo and go home together.”

Si혁 [Si-hyuk] made a troubled expression and changed the subject.

“Okay. You should take a shower now that you’re home. You sweated a lot after going to Taekwondo today, so let’s take a shower. Shower.”

“What about Hyung?”

“Hyung will do it later.”

“Then I’ll do it later too.”

“No. It’s better to do it now.”

“Then Hyung should wash me.”

“Okay. I got it.”

Siha excitedly took off his clothes and went inside.

The water from the shower came out with a whoosh- and it was so cold that he was startled.

“Ah, it’s cold!”

“That’s because you got hit by it before the warm water came out.”

“But I’m okay with cold water.”

“Huh?”

“Because I’m strong.”

“Yeah. Siha is strong. Should we wash with cold water then?”

“No!”

“Pfft!”

Siha didn’t want to wash with cold water.

“If I wash with cold water, I might catch a cold, so I’ll wash with warm water.”

“Okay. Okay.”

He washed his hair diligently and soaped his body.

After making an all-back hairstyle, he looked at his face in the mirror.

And tilted his head.

“It’s weird. It doesn’t look like Hyung.”

Hyung had styled his hair up before, but it didn’t turn out like that.

“You can’t do that with water.”

“Do I need to use wax?”

“You have to dry it first. And add a little perm.”

“Hyung. Do it for me.”

“Let’s ask them to do it next time we go to the hair salon. And if you put wax on your hair, you have to wash it again, right?”

“I don’t want to wash it again.”

“Right?”

Siha had no choice but to postpone his hair styling until the next hair salon visit.

I have to ask them to do the same hairstyle as Hyung.

“Hyung. I’m done.”

“Okay. Let’s wipe and dry.”

“Yeah! I have to do it quickly. I’m busy.”

“What are you busy doing?”

“I have a picture to draw. It takes longer than I thought, so I have to keep doing it when I have time.”

“What picture are you drawing?”

“A carnation for Teacher’s Day.”

“Huh? Teacher’s Day has passed, right?”

“I drew it on Teacher’s Day, but I couldn’t finish it.”

Siha’s body was all wiped.

He quickly ran to his room, put on his underwear, and put on his clothes.

Si혁 [Si-hyuk], still curious, followed Siha closely.

“Are you going to give it to your homeroom teacher?”

“No. To the art teacher. My friends and I already folded paper carnations for the homeroom teacher.”

“Ah, really?”

“Yeah!”

Siha took out his pad and pen and turned on the last workspace.

There, a carnation was drawn wonderfully.

However, the stem resembled a black brush instead of being green.

A flower blooming instead of brush bristles.

And a butterfly was sitting on the flower.

He added color to make it a little more high-quality.

Red. More red.

The petals increase one by one and bloom fully.

Holes are drilled in the wings of the colorless butterfly, and various colors are placed on top like paints woven together.

The butterfly’s wings became a heart-shaped palette.

It was a carnation painting only for the art teacher.

“I’m done! Hyung. Take a look. I finished drawing.”

“Oh. Is it finally finished?”

“Yeah!”

Si혁 [Si-hyuk] looked at Siha’s painting.

And stroked his head.

Because it was so wonderful and well-drawn. It was a special carnation that really felt like it was for the teacher.

“You drew it really well. The art teacher might faint from happiness when he sees this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“Then what should I name it? Hyung, name it for me.”

“No. Siha should name it.”

“No. Hyung, name it for me.”

Si혁 [Si-hyuk] looked at Siha’s expectant eyes with difficulty.

“Shouldn’t we just name it as it is in the picture?”

“What?”

The heart contained in the carnation blooming from the tip of the brush was so sweet that even the butterfly’s wings became a palette.

“Palette Dyed by the Brush Tip.”

Siha thought it was a good title, so he grabbed his pen and wrote the title on the pad.

In brown letters on the brush handle.

As if really engraving it on the brush.

***

Ding-dong-

We arrived at the art teacher’s house.

Today is the day of the class, but today is a bit special.

Because it’s the day to give Siha’s prepared carnation gift.

Of course, Teacher’s Day has passed, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

There’s no rule that you should only express your feelings on specially designated days.

Still, I’m glad that I can receive a Teacher’s Day carnation even if I can’t receive a Parents’ Day carnation.

If I were in the position of receiving a carnation, I think the interval would be very subtle.

How long can I be a teacher?

When is the best time to tell Siha that I’m his biological father?

When will the day come when the child can understand without being confused?

Or I wonder if I should tell him sooner, but I’m just putting it off.

Me too. I don’t know this for the first time.

Everyone has different situations and times when they can accept it, but why is it so difficult to match that?

“Yes. I’m coming out!”

Bae Sang-hyun’s face was seen as the door opened.

It might be my imagination, but he seemed to have a brighter expression these days. The gloomy feeling also seemed to have faded a lot.

“Ah. I was waiting for you. Come in.”

“Hello, Teacher!”

“Siha. Hello. Have you eaten?”

“Yes. I ate. Why does Teacher always ask if I’ve eaten?”

“Um. Because that’s what I’m most curious about.”

Actually, I think that’s the only question that comes to mind.

I held the document envelope and poked it into his side.

Bae Sang-hyun flinched at the sudden document envelope.

“What is this?”

“It’s a secret document. Only look at it yourself. Don’t show it to anyone.”

When I handed it over with a serious face, Bae Sang-hyun’s face also became serious.

“It must be very important. I’ll keep it in my safe.”

“Yes. Please do.”

“I understand.”

Anyone who sees it would think we’re handing over classified documents or evidence.

In fact, it’s just the story of Siha’s public class that I wrote. Of course, there are also photos attached.

I had a hard time printing it.

Of course, I also printed out Siha’s photos inside.

Siha tilted his head in front of us.

“Hyung. What is it?”

“Huh? Just documents. Documents.”

“Documents? What documents?”

“These are documents that are too difficult, so you’ll know when you grow up.”

Of course, I don’t think Siha will ever see those documents even when he grows up.

“Woong?”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s go in. Let’s go in. Ah! That’s right. Siha. You have something to give too.”

“Ah, that’s right!”

Siha took out a USB from his pocket.

And handed it to Bae Sang-hyun.

“Teacher. This is a Teacher’s Day gift.”

“Huh? A Teacher’s Day gift? Teacher’s Day has passed, hasn’t it?”

“But I started drawing it since Teacher’s Day. I was so busy that it took a long time.”

“Yeah. I see. Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“??? You’re not using it, you’re looking at it?”

“Huh?”

I guess he thought it was a USB gift.

It’s actually a picture gift.

I just put it on the USB.

Siha. Your explanation is too lacking.

I had no choice but to say that there was a picture gift inside instead.

“Ah! Hyung. That’s a secret!”

“Huh? Was it?!”

That was a secret. Siha had a plan. A surprise plan.

But Siha. If you weren’t using the USB, you might not have seen it, so wouldn’t it be better to tell him?

“It can’t be helped. Hyung. Siha will let you off the hook this time.”

“Yeah. Okay. Thank you.”

I guess he decided to let it go by letting him off the hook.

Would Uncle have let it go if it was him?

I was thinking about that when Bae Sang-hyun was looking at the USB with strange eyes.

I gently recommended it.

“Why don’t you open it?”

“Should I?”

“Yes.”

Bae Sang-hyun plugged the USB into the laptop in his house.

And looked at the picture.

The carnation blooming from the tip of the brush and the butterfly with heart-shaped palette wings.

“Carnation……”

Bae Sang-hyun wiped his eyes with his hand.

Tears were slightly묻어나 [묻어나 is a Korean word meaning ‘to be묻어나’] on his thumb.

The 촉촉이젖은 [촉촉이젖은 is a Korean word meaning ‘moist’] thumb wiped his eyes several times.

Was Siha’s gift that good?

“…I’ve never received such a wonderful carnation in the world. Siha. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Siha gave a gift of gratitude with a picture, but Bae Sang-hyun says he’s more grateful.

What kind of feeling is it?

I could only imagine that complex feeling.

“Art Teacher. Don’t cry.”

Siha, who doesn’t know anything, is just patting the art teacher.

“I’m not crying. I’m just so happy that I shed a few tears.”

Bae Sang-hyun just gave Siha a gentle smile.

A very warm smile.