Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 495

Extracurricular 70: Sports Day (3)

The day of the sports day arrived.

Siha and I walked to school together that morning, and Siha was humming, clearly in a good mood.

“I get to go to school with Hyung and stay with him all day!”

“You like it that much?”

“Yeah. It’s my first time being at school with Hyung all day long.”

Uncle chimed in from the side.

“It’s my first time too, you know?”

Siha smiled at him.

“Since Uncle’s going to school, you have to study hard today.”

“I know all that stuff even without studying.”

“The teacher said we have to review even what we know.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

Uncle shook his head, then leaned in and whispered to me.

“Baesanghyun is coming today, right?”

“Yes. He said he’d be here. I thought it would be good for Siha to see him since he’s running in the relay. I told the teacher in advance, too.”

I really hoped Baesanghyun would make it to Siha’s elementary school sports day.

I thought it would be a good experience for him to attend his son’s sports day.

Other kids will have their parents come, but Siha only has me.

He might not realize it now, but I wanted Siha to be able to think later that his parents were there too.

“But are all the parents coming today? There seem to be a lot of people.”

“I asked around, and it seems like some people can’t make it. Some people can’t take the day off on Labor Day.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“But they said at least one parent will be here for each kid.”

“That’s a relief.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a sports day.

Not since college, which is saying something.

It’s always the same sports day events, but strangely, when I feel a sense of belonging, I want to win.

If our team is losing, my motivation goes down too.

Well, those old memories were flooding back.

I didn’t like that feeling, but I also kind of did.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“It would have been nice if Hyung had this shirt too.”

Siha tugged at the neck of the class shirt he was wearing.

It had a drawing of three Pepe frogs drawn by Siha.

The sight of them holding hands was really sweet.

“Yeah, it would have.”

“Should I ask the teacher to make one more later? It’s easy to make.”

“Hahaha. Let’s talk about it later, okay? Later.”

I suddenly felt self-conscious about the shirt in my crossbody bag.

In fact, I had already received a class shirt.

Since I was running in the relay as a representative of Class 1, I had to wear the class shirt.

I was planning to change into it without Siha knowing and surprise him.

Siha would be happy that he’s matching with me, right?

Just imagining it made me smile.

“Uncle, this is our school.”

“I know.”

“I’ll introduce you to my class, too.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, I want to introduce you.”

“I saw it in a picture.”

“It’s different from seeing it in person.”

“No, it’s the same.”

“It’s different! It’s different!”

Siha insisted on going inside the school and showing him Class 1-1.

The classroom was deserted.

Today was the day to gather on the playground, so no one was there.

“Uncle, this is the blackboard.”

“I know all that too.”

“This is the bulletin board.”

“I know, I tell you.”

“There’s a beam projector up there.”

“??”

Uncle looked up at the beam projector hanging from the ceiling.

“What elementary school has a beam projector?”

“I know, right?”

“No, seriously. How much money do they have here?”

“I know, right?”

“Sihyuk, aren’t you surprised?”

“I’ve been here before, so.”

At first, many things were amazing, but now they’re not so amazing anymore.

Siha excitedly told him about this and that.

“Uncle, there’s a place to put books under the desk here too.”

“Uncle went to school too, so I know everything.”

“Then do you know this?”

“What?”

“A kid was looking at his phone here and got caught by the teacher and got scolded.”

“Tsk, tsk. Already looking at his phone like that.”

Siha pointed to the teacher’s desk.

“The teacher can see everything if they’re in front. They can even see what kind of picture is drawn on the back of your clothes. They can see everything.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“It’s true! I asked the teacher what’s written on the back of my clothes. The teacher said ‘Breaker’ was written, and everyone was surprised. They got it all right.”

“They must have known in advance; they couldn’t have seen the back.”

“No! They said they can see everything if they’re in front.”

Of course, you can really see everything if they’re doing something else in front.

Still, saying they can see what’s on your back was too much of an exaggeration.

“I also heard from the next class that the teacher uses *jangpung* [a martial arts technique that allows one to emit a powerful force from their palms].”

Siha made a gesture of *yyap!* with his hand forward.

“*Jangpung* that blows wind.”

Uncle chuckled.

“There’s no such thing as *jangpung*.”

“It’s true! The teacher next door showed *jangpung* to the kids. They even blew out a candle.”

“Sihyuk and I can do that too, you know?”

“Really? Uncle and Hyung can do it too?”

Siha said in surprise.

Well, I guess we can do it.

We can blow out a candle by waving our hands.

We’ve all had that experience once when we were kids.

“Of course. Everyone else does that too.”

“What? That’s all it is?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“Then the teacher next door isn’t amazing.”

Siha, don’t you mean the teacher in the next class?

For a moment, I said it so naturally that I thought it was right.

“But the teacher next door said you can levitate if you train!”

“What do you mean, levitate?”

“It’s true! They said you can float for 1 second if you train for 30 years. With your legs crossed.”

If you train for 30 years and float for 1 second, why are you even training?

Uncle seemed to think the same thing and was dumbfounded.

“What’s 1 second? It should be 1 minute.”

“You *can* do it for 1 minute!”

“How?”

“The teacher next door said you can use it continuously. Floating up and down every second. *Pong-po-bong-bong-pong!* Like this.”

Is it like jumping on a trampoline a few times while sitting down?

Thinking about it that way, it looked very unimpressive.

What even is that?

Uncle’s lips twitched as he imagined it.

It must look funny.

“Let’s go to the playground now. We’ve seen everything.”

“Okay!”

*Buzz buzz.*

Looking at my phone, I saw that Baesanghyun had contacted me.

He must be looking for where we are.

“Let’s go quickly! Let’s go!”

“Okay!”

We left the classroom and headed back to the playground.

I felt it when I came in earlier, but there were really a lot of people.

Now most of them had arrived, and it was bustling.

I should say that it’s a relief that 1st grade only has 5 classes.

120 people in 1st grade alone. Even if only one parent came for each student, that’s 240 people.

Even just looking at 1st grade, it’s a large crowd.

It’s a good thing the playground is wide.

‘Gangin Elementary School does it in a unique way.’

They hold the sports day over 3 days.

Day 1: 1st and 2nd grade.

Day 2: 3rd and 4th grade.

Day 3: 5th and 6th grade.

It’s unique that they don’t do it all at once.

I don’t think there’s any other school that holds a sports day like this.

“Siha, the art teacher came too?”

“Huh? It’s the art teacher! Art teacher! Hello!”

Siha waved his hand at the art teacher.

The art teacher smiled his signature smile and waved back.

I wonder how Baesanghyun feels right now.

“Hello, Siha.”

“Yes!”

“I heard you’re having a sports day today?”

“Yes! We’re having a sports day today!”

“That sounds really fun.”

“But why did the art teacher come here?”

“Well, the art teacher came here to take pictures of the kids during sports day. I thought it would be nice to draw them later.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Uncle, who was next to me, fiddled with the camera he had brought with a wary look.

“A competitor.”

“What are you competing with, Uncle?”

“But my camera is expensive, so the performance isn’t bad.”

“The art teacher is going to take pictures with their phone anyway.”

“Sihyuk, your eye for detail has gotten worse. Look at that bag. There’s definitely a camera in that big bag they brought.”

That made sense.

Looking at Baesanghyun, who has been doing a lot of research lately, it was a plausible inference.

But what if they *do* have a camera?

What are you going to compete with that?

“I’m going to take better pictures with this expensive camera.”

“Uncle, expensive doesn’t mean good pictures come out.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve studied a lot professionally too.”

“Huh? When?”

“There are a lot of good videos on YouTube these days.”

He looked like someone who had studied hard with books and was confident in practice.

Can I trust him?

Has his skill improved?

“Uncle.”

“101 ways to take *gamseong* [emotional, atmospheric] pictures!”

I shook my head.

I just hope Siha’s pictures come out well.

But I’m curious about what’s in the art teacher’s bag.

“Excuse me, art teacher?”

“Yes.”

“What’s in that bag?”

“Ah, this? I’ve done some research on sports days.”

Yeah, he *did* do some research after all.

I expected this much now.

Baesanghyun carefully lifted the bag and opened the zipper.

“I heard that sports days are all about lunch boxes. So…”

What was in the big bag was a 3-tiered lunch box.

“I packed a lunch box that’s second to none.”

“Yes?”

“It’s amazing, right?”

“Uh… well… Actually, the school is giving out lunch boxes at lunchtime this sports day.”

“Yes?”

“I should have told you in advance, but I didn’t think you’d pack a lunch box.”

These days, schools just give out lunch or lunch boxes during sports days.

It’s very different from the old days.

What sports day *did* you research?

Baesanghyun zipped it up.

“Actually, I brought lunch box props to bring back the old feeling.”

Baesanghyun rubbed his neck and changed his words.

His ears were red, so he must have been very embarrassed.

“But I have other things besides this…”

“Ah, other things?”

“Yes.”

He opened the zipper slightly and put his hand in and rummaged around.

“A towel to wipe sweat.”

“Oh.”

“Two cheering balloon sticks.”

“Oh?”

“Cheering clappers.”

“Uh?”

“A cheering horn.”

“Eh?”

“I prepared everything just in case.”

Why did you prepare so many cheering supplies just in case?

Is *that* right?

Is that what the research is supposed to be?

“I heard that cheering gives you strength.”

“That’s true, but…”

I think the research is too much.

No, it’s not that the research is too much, but the preparation is too much?

“Haha, well, let’s go to 1st grade, 1st class. There’s a sign set up there.”

We went to the playground.

Seungjun and Hana waved to Siha.

“Siha!”

“Siha!”

“Seungjun, Hana, hello!”

Seungjun was wearing a band on his wrist, and Hana was wearing a hairband on her head.

Yeonju, who was next to Hana, was also wearing a hairband and sticking together, so anyone would think they were sisters.

It seemed like they had decorated themselves in their own way.

“Yeonju, Jongsu, Jaehwi, hello too~”

Jongsu smiled at Siha.

“Lee Siha, you’re the last one.”

“No, I went to the classroom.”

“You idiot, why did you go to the classroom?”

“I was going to introduce the classroom to Uncle, so I’m not the last one.”

“Still, you’re the last one to come *here*.”

“Then I’ll be the last one.”

Siha shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

Jongsu had a look on his face that said, “Huh? That’s not what I meant?”

Looking at Jongsu, I thought he was still the same.

The two of them are very close.

“S-Siha, good luck with the relay today.”

“Yeah, Jaehwi, thank you.”

This time, Siha waved and greeted Yundong and Eunwoo.

Eunwoo wore his hat low.

“Hey, hey, hey.”

That’s how he received the greeting.

Yundong just nodded his head and received the greeting.

You could say it’s a chic vibe.

Then Uncle said.

“Okay, Siha, sit down there quickly. I’ll take a picture.”

“Okay!”

Siha sat down where his friends were.

“Hyung, come quickly.”

“Okay, okay.”

I greeted the parents around me and sat next to Siha.

Uncle nudged the art teacher’s back.

“Teacher, go sit down too.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Come on, hurry up. Don’t just pretend to take pictures.”

“Hahaha, then…”

The art teacher also leaned slightly next to me.

“Okay, everyone, I’m going to take a picture.”

Somehow, we ended up taking a group photo.

Other friends also looked at Uncle and held up Vs [peace sign].

*Click.*

The picture was taken.

A picture that will be a page of fun memories to start the sports day.

And I heard the children chattering.

“Is that foreigner Siha’s uncle?”

“That unemployed guy?”

“The one who watches dramas all the time?”

Siha, over there?

How do your friends know so much about Uncle?

Did you talk about Uncle as well as me?