Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 479

“Hyung, aren’t I cute? Hyung, aren’t I cute?” Extra – 54

Extra 54: Vacation (8)

Today was a bit of a special day.

It was the day Mr. Bae Sang-hyun asked if I wanted to hang out with Siha.

I wondered if he had a change of heart.

He’s been very proactive since we went to the water park together.

For me, those offers were welcome.

Siha might not know, but I understand what he’s feeling.

For Bae Sang-hyun, whom I’ve seen so far, it took great courage and effort to ask.

I feel sorry for him, but I also admire his willingness to do anything to spend time with us.

I looked at Siha next to me in the car.

“I’m looking forward to what we’re going to do today, right?”

“Yeah. Art Teacher is fun.”

“I’m glad you think it’s fun.”

Art Teacher. I wonder if the day will come when that title changes?

To be honest, I’m a little scared. I’m worried Siha might be confused, and I’m worried I won’t know how to act.

Even though it’s just a change in title, the relationship feels like it would easily change.

I couldn’t help but worry about a future that wasn’t even visible.

Well, Siha might take it lightly.

Children often show stronger sides than we give them credit for.

“We’re here. Let’s get out.”

“Okay!”

When I got out of the car, Mr. Bae Sang-hyun greeted us.

I don’t know if he was sweating because it was summer or because he had rushed out, but his bangs were stuck to his forehead with sweat.

Did he do some work in a hurry?

“Hello.”

“Art Teacher. Hello.”

“Yeah. Hello.”

We greeted each other.

Bae Sang-hyun’s sweat ran down his cheeks to his chin.

I looked at him and asked, “It’s very hot, isn’t it?”

Bae Sang-hyun smiled softly. “Yes, it is. I should have asked you first.”

“What does it matter who asks?”

“I was doing some work. Ah! Come on in. I’ve prepared everything.”

“Did you install something fun in the house?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Now I’m even more curious.”

Siha’s eyes sparkled as if he was really curious.

“Art Teacher, is there something amazing?”

“I don’t know if it’s amazing, but I can say that I worked hard to make it.”

What the heck did he work so hard to make?

It unnecessarily stimulates my imagination.

Could it be that he decorated the inside of the house with huge art pieces like installation art?

I shook my head at the scale of my imagination.

That kind of work can’t be done in a day or two.

You have to install things like drywall and make artwork, but where would you find the time to do that during vacation?

Still, the fact that he made something made me feel excited.

Siha and I went inside the house.

“It’s the same?”

“Haha. It’s the same here. I decorated the second floor first.”

“Ah. The second floor?”

“Yes.”

Siha quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor.

He seemed to be the most excited.

“Art Teacher, which room is it?”

“It’s the room right in front.”

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

Siha threw the door open.

I followed him and was speechless when I saw the room.

It wasn’t a special sight if you were in Korea.

Of course, it was very special to have this kind of scenery in a home.

What I mean is that there were several computers lined up in front of me.

That’s right.

A PC Bang [Korean internet cafe] scene was unfolding before my eyes.

‘Even a kiosk, seriously.’

It was unnecessarily detailed.

I saw that the desktops were shining in various colors and booting up, and not only were there speakers, but headsets were also attached in red and black colors.

Even the lights were on, making it dazzling.

‘Eight computers.’

How much money do you have to spend to get this kind of setup?

No. Why a PC Bang?

Is this one of those places? You know, where they train professional gamers?

“You made a PC Bang?”

Siha reacted to my words.

“Hyung, is this a PC Bang?”

“Yeah. Does it feel like a PC Bang?”

Bae Sang-hyun, who was behind me, had a slightly proud look on his face.

“I did some research. I looked into what elementary school students like these days. Basically, they like games, and they go to PC Bangs often.”

Well, if you live in Korea, that’s true.

“But it seems like there are cases where elementary school students are noisy in PC Bangs and people don’t like that.”

You’ve done a lot of research?

“So I thought, what if I made a PC Bang at home where they can play loudly? It would be fun to play games together here.”

No. No. Normal people don’t even think about making a PC Bang there?

“Ah! So, to make it feel more real, I also prepared a menu. I bought ramen and instant food. I can cook it for you quickly. I went to a PC Bang and asked them about things and did some research.”

You even did preliminary research?

Why are you going so far! There must be a reason!

Is this the right direction for your efforts?

Of course, it’s a place that elementary school students would go crazy for.

A PC Bang in my house.

You can play games with your friends and order food for free.

What could be more like heaven than this?

Whatever it was, I was speechless at Mr. Bae Sang-hyun’s efforts.

I felt it at the water park, but he does so much preliminary research even though he’s not filming a program.

Anyone would think the production company was building a set for filming.

Bae Sang-hyun said awkwardly, “I tried to make it as similar as possible.”

That… Shouldn’t you be trying harder to get closer to Siha?

Did you become serious while doing it?

First, I opened my mouth with difficulty. “But Siha has never played PC games before.”

“Ah! Is that so?”

“Ah. Well. You can start playing now.”

No. Is this right now? Is this right?

Even I am confused.

“Hyung! Come and sit down quickly.”

Siha was already sitting in a chair, taking up a seat.

I guess this is right.

“Then excuse me.”

“I’ll excuse myself too.”

“No. Teacher, this is Teacher’s house.”

“Hahaha. I feel like this space isn’t my house, but a separate space.”

Well, it looks foreign to me too.

“First, how about using the kiosk?”

“Can I use this?!”

“Yes. I’ve already registered it. I put in your ID and name. Of course, I’ve also charged it.”

“Ah. Really?”

“Yes. I put it in English name.”

What’s with all the details?

Then is the actual payment going to be made?

As if he noticed my thoughts, Bae Sang-hyun said, “You can’t actually pay with a card. It just fills up when you press it.”

“Yes?”

“I got help from a friend to change the program a bit.”

“???”

What is this scale?

How much money did you spend?

Isn’t this an excessive amount for playing with him once?

Well, it might be okay if you made it with the intention of playing with your friends here for a long time.

But this is a bit much.

Well, it’s a relief if Mr. Bae Sang-hyun has a lot of money.

Actually, I don’t know how successful he is, but he must have a lot of money.

Looking at how he just got this house, it seems like it.

“That’s amazing.”

Honestly, that’s all I could say.

“Hyung, I want to try the kiosk.”

“Okay. First, put in your ID.”

Siha easily clicked on his ID.

[siha]

He can easily write his English name.

I felt proud for no reason.

[50 minutes 1000 won [Korean currency]]

Siha clicked this button.

I doubted my eyes when I saw the remaining time.

[Remaining time: 9999 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds.]

Do I need to charge this?

He charged it in advance, so how much game time did he charge?

It’s not like the 10,000-hour rule [a concept that suggests 10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery], is it?

“Hyung, I have a lot of time?”

“I guess so.”

Can I use all of this?

Isn’t this like an unlimited pass?

“I don’t have to charge it.”

“I guess not.”

I blankly watched Siha press the cancel button and looked at Mr. Bae Sang-hyun.

He slightly avoids my gaze.

Your love for Siha is amazing.

If you play games here for 10,000 hours, you won’t become friends with Mr. Bae Sang-hyun, but you’ll just become friends with the game?

“Let’s sit down and do it.”

I didn’t think I needed to use it again.

I sat down and typed in my ID.

“The password is the same as the ID.”

“That’s right.”

Let’s leave aside whether the password should be this easy.

It’s not a real PC Bang anyway.

This is not a problem at all.

If there is a problem.

“What game should we play?”

Siha and I have never played PC games at all.

If you want to play a game, you have to go through the hassle of signing up.

The important thing here is which game to choose.

“I’ve played games for research.”

Mr. Bae Sang-hyun had a determined look on his face.

You’ve played games. Yes. I knew it.

“I carefully selected what you would like and installed them in advance.”

“Is that so?”

Really, several games were installed on the screen.

“Top 10 games that elementary school students like! Among them, I recommend Gun Gale Online.”

“A shooting game?”

“Yes. Of course, it’s not a real FPS [first-person shooter] game where people shoot guns. Strictly speaking, it’s a game where cute characters shoot energy waves with guns, eat items, and attack.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Elementary school students play it a lot these days.”

“I see.”

“Of course, this isn’t the top 1. It’s roughly in the top 5. You can meet together.”

“I see.”

First, he’s going to play a game that’s about 5th place.

We logged into the game, created IDs, and played the game.

I was wearing a headset and talking together, so I wondered if this was necessary.

Because it’s right next to me.

You might not need a headset microphone that much?

“Hyung, it’s fun!”

It was enough if Siha was having fun.

I was shooting the gun hard, and I could see the HP [health points] bar of the game character decreasing.

Bae Sang-hyun praised him enthusiastically through the headset microphone next to him.

“Siha is really good! You’ll be a perfect shooter even if you go to the army later.”

Is that the right compliment?

Does the internet not have a better way to praise elementary school students?

Siha said, “Art Teacher, I died! Please avenge me quickly!”

“Leave it to me! I’ve played this game hard.”

In the end, all three of us lost.

Of course, there were times when we won, but basically, we lost because we weren’t used to playing games.

“Is there anything Hyung can’t do?”

Siha had a shocked expression.

Cough. It’s because I’m not used to this game yet.

It’s been a while since I’ve played a game, so my hands are stiff.

“Hyung can do well soon if he does it a few times.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

I’m also an unavoidable Korean.

I didn’t want to hear that I couldn’t play games.

Then Bae Sang-hyun said, “Shall we do some more then?”

At that, we fell into the game.

At this moment, no matter how old I was, I went back to my childhood and fell into the game.

Everyone is a child in front of the game.

***

Siha took off his headset.

“My ears are hot.”

He touched his ears as if they were sweaty.

I took off my headset a long time ago.

I unplugged the cord and turned on the speakers.

It was more comfortable.

Bae Sang-hyun said, “Siha, aren’t you getting hungry? Ahem. Teacher also prepared food like a PC Bang.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I told you earlier, did you forget?”

“Wow. What do you have?”

“Do you want to see?”

On the second floor, there was also a space like a bar where you could put alcohol or cups, but it was filled with cup ramen and snacks instead of alcohol.

“Here. You can pick what you want to eat. There’s hot dogs, fried rice, and jajangmyeon [black bean noodles].”

I was a little impressed and worried.

Aren’t you going to throw this all away when it expires later?

Siha asked, “Hyung, what are you going to eat?”

“There’s something I always eat at PC Bangs when I was young.”

“What is it?”

“Tempura Udon.”

When I came to the PC Bang, I ordered Tempura Udon among the cup ramen.

Or Sari Gomtangmyeon [beef bone soup ramen].

Strangely, I didn’t eat those kinds of cup ramen at home, but I always ate them when I went to the PC Bang.

Bae Sang-hyun said, “We have Tempura Udon. But, my recommendation is Jja Gye Chi.”

“Jja Gye Chi?”

“Jjapaghetti [instant noodles with black bean sauce], egg, cheese.”

“Ah…. It sounds salty.”

“No, it’s a popular menu. And right away, Sotteok Sotteok [sausage and rice cake skewers]. This too.”

Mr. Bae Sang-hyun, you’ve done a lot of research.

“Then I’ll have one Jja Gye Chi.”

“Hyung, me too.”

Siha wanted to eat the same thing.

Bae Sang-hyun smiled. “Let’s all share so we can eat a lot together. Tempura Udon, Jja Gye Chi, Sotteok Sotteok. Order received. Come on, let’s go in and play the game. I’ll prepare it.”

“Should I help you?”

“No, I’ll prepare it and bring it to you.”

“Yes, then please.”

Hey, are you really going to open a PC Bang?

Is it right to research so much and play like this?

Which dad would play with his son like this?

Then Siha pulled my hand.

“Hyung, I’m looking forward to the food, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I guess it’s enough if Siha likes it.