Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 51

Hyung, Aren’t I Cute? 51 (51/500)

-May 5th. Children’s Day.

Siha was at home, contemplating what to wear today.

“Ah, hyung.”

“No penguin suit. It’s May, so it’s getting hot now. Let’s go out in short sleeves today, okay?”

“Ah, Pepe. Short sleeves.”

“We don’t have a penguin short-sleeved shirt.”

Sullen.

He became depressed at the sad news that there was no penguin short-sleeved shirt.

Si-hyuk stroked Siha’s head.

“I’ll look for clothes later, hyung [older brother or male friend] will. But we need to buy clothes now, right?”

“Ah!”

Siha raised his arm.

He was so happy to be able to get a penguin short-sleeved shirt.

“Let’s bring a jacket in case it gets cold.”

“Ah.”

“I should buy a lot of summer clothes tomorrow. Bear with the bear clothes today.”

“Ah.”

Siha liked bears, but not as much as penguins.

But the best was still the penguin.

“Then, now that we’re ready, shall we go?”

“Ah.”

Si-hyuk headed to the Han River Park pier with Siha.

According to the investigation, there were many events.

Drawing King, Dance King, Song King, Kids Tattoo Experience, Costume Experience, Graffiti Experience, and various cruise events.

Among them, the one that caught my attention was the Drawing King (drawing contest).

The first prize was a SN Hotel family accommodation voucher.

Considering that the hotel meal costs as much as 100,000 won [approximately $75 USD], it was a contest that everyone would covet.

Siha may not win first place, but it seemed like it would be a fun memory at least.

“Siha, Seung-joon and Hana are here.”

“Ah.”

Seung-joon and Hana were already jumping around, ready to play.

“Seung-joon! Hana!”

“Siha, hello~!”

“Hello~! Siha.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s play soccer today.”

“No, I’m going to ride a boat with Hana.”

Everyone was insisting on what they wanted to do.

Si-hyuk watched the children next to Seung-joon’s mom.

“First of all, I’m going to participate in the Drawing King contest with Siha.”

“Oh my, that sounds fun.”

“Right? First, you have to register on-site. They said they’ll provide the drawing tools there. Let’s go.”

“Okay. Oh, right. Did you buy the cruise tickets?”

“Of course, I did. You can’t participate without it.”

“I think it’s a subtle marketing ploy.”

“Haha, that’s how these contests are.”

After showing the tickets, they finished registering with the kids.

They received the drawing tools and were asked to submit them by 6 p.m.

There was no separate theme, and there was a designated area for drawing, where most people were drawing landscapes.

And seeing the agents around, it was impossible for adults to help with cheating.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used colored pencils. Siha, shall we draw?”

“Ah.”

At that time, Seung-joon grabbed Siha’s hand.

“Siha, let’s go draw over there.”

“Ah.”

Siha waved his hand to hyung.

Si-hyuk watched Siha and carefully followed him.

The place they arrived at was a bench with a good view of the sea.

As the three of them were about to sit there, a child threw his bag.

“My spot!”

The bag read ‘1st Grade, 1st Class, Kwon Soon-tae’.

Soon-tae took his place on the bench and looked at Siha.

After looking at his clothes, he smiled slyly.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Looking at your clothes, you don’t seem very rich. Your dad must be a two-million-won bug.”

“Huh?”

Two-million-won bug.

These days, elementary school students were dividing levels based on their parents’ income.

If you earn 2 million won [approximately $1500 USD], you’re a two-million-won bug.

If you earn 3 million won [approximately $2250 USD], you’re a three-million-won bug.

If you earn more than 5 million won [approximately $3750 USD], you’re classified as a gold spoon [born into wealth].

This wasn’t the case for all elementary school students, but the parents who said that were largely at fault.

Of course, Siha didn’t understand these words.

“You’re a baby who can’t even draw. Go away.”

“Huh?”

Siha didn’t know what Soon-tae in front of him was saying.

It wasn’t a question he was asking because he really didn’t know the meaning, but a question he was asking about the words ‘can’t draw’.

“My mom told me not to play with kids like you. This is my spot, so go somewhere else.”

Seung-joon frowned.

“What are you saying? Why would we play with you? Are you stupid?”

“Hana thinks he’s stupid.”

“Ah, stupid.”

Soon-tae huffed.

“You guys are the stupid ones! Geez. What am I doing to kids? Go away. This is my spot.”

Siha stared at Soon-tae, took out a tissue from the penguin bag behind him.

And handed it to Soon-tae.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Dirty.”

“What? Is there something on me?”

“Dirty.”

Siha threw the tissue at Soon-tae.

Fluttering.

Then he turned around, took Hana and Seung-joon’s hands, and moved to another place.

Si-hyuk and Seung-joon’s mom, who were chatting, tilted their heads when they saw the kids coming.

“Huh? Siha, why are you back? Are you going somewhere else?”

“Oh my, weren’t you guys going over there? Huh? Someone’s sitting there.”

Siha grabbed hyung’s pants.

“Two-million-won bug? What?”

Seung-joon next to him said.

“That kid told Siha that his dad is a two-million-won bug!”

“What?!”

Si-hyuk’s face hardened.

Siha was so worried about hyung.

It was the first time he had seen that expression.

“Hyung?”

“Huh? Ah, sorry. That’s a bad expression, so you shouldn’t use it. Dirty. Dirty.”

“Ah. Dirty!”

Siha nodded.

He knew what dirty meant.

Because Soon-tae was the same as some ajusshi [term for older man, often used informally] who used to bully Si-hyuk at the cafe.

“Ah!”

“Yeah. But it looks like that kid is participating in the Drawing King too?”

“Ah.”

“Our Siha. Shall we teach him a lesson by drawing really well?”

“Ah.”

He didn’t know why he had to teach him a lesson, but Siha nodded at hyung’s words.

“Good. Let’s draw an amazing picture.”

“Ah.”

Siha took a seat with Seung-joon and Hana and drew a picture.

The seat on the grass was soft, and the Han River reflected in the sunlight looked bright.

“Siha, I’m going to draw that boat.”

“Ah.”

“Hana is going to draw the river over there.”

“Ah.”

Siha wondered what to draw, then turned his head and turned his back to the Han River.

Then he drew quickly.

“Mom. Mom.”

The pink light that formed at the tip of his hand brightly and warmly enveloped Siha.

With the colored pencils, the drawing began to be drawn.

There was no background, and he drew big eyes.

He briefly drew the adults and children on the eyelids.

He briefly transferred the colorful people into drawings.

“Hand!”

The pink light was warm.

He felt it wrapped around his hand, and the lines were drawn smoothly.

Rustle, rustle.

This time with mom was a great joy for Siha.

“Mom. Mom.”

Finally, he drew the Han River and the cruise ship in the pupils with blue and white colored pencils and finished.

“Ah!”

Seung-joon next to him widened his eyes.

“Wow, those are huge eyes!”

“Hana is scared.”

If Seung-joon liked unusual things, Hana was scared of the picture.

Siha didn’t say anything because he just drew what he saw.

But he wanted to be praised by hyung, so he got up from his seat.

“Hyung~”

“Oh? Are you done drawing?”

Si-hyuk greeted Siha with a serious expression.

“Ah.”

“Where should I take a look?”

Si-hyuk looked at Siha’s picture.

“Wow, you drew really well?!”

“Ah.”

“This is picture-worthy. Let’s take it quickly!”

“Ah.”

Si-hyuk took a picture of Siha’s picture.

He thought it was a little lacking, so he took a picture with Siha too.

“All three of you, hold up your pictures and stand there.”

“Si-hyuk hyung, there’s a boat kicking a ball in the Han River.”

“Hana’s river is going up to the sky!”

Suddenly, it became a picture presentation.

Each and every one of them was a creative picture.

Si-hyuk smiled softly, picked up his phone, and took a picture.

Click. Click. Click.

“Let’s take a picture together too.”

“Shall we?”

Siha took a picture with everyone holding their pictures.

The point was to make a V sign with your hand.

***

After submitting the picture to the operations booth, we boarded the cruise ship.

The cruise ship had a fun event, which was the Ani Music Cruise.

It was a program where people dressed as characters acted and sang children’s songs.

“Huh?”

But I saw a familiar man somewhere.

I felt the shadow of Baek Dong-hwan in that muscular figure.

It was Muscle Monster from Penguin Monster.

“Muscle! Muscle!”

Siha pointed at Muscle Monster.

“Ah. Hyung. Muscle.”

“Yeah, it’s Muscle Monster.”

“Next door!”

“Huh?!”

It seemed like Siha noticed too.

Well, Muscle Monster’s muscles were real muscles, so he couldn’t help but notice.

Especially since there weren’t that many people with that huge body in the world.

It seemed like he was working part-time here.

Baek Dong-hwan also found us and waved his hand.

“Ah! Baek Ddong!”

“Pfft.”

It was the moment Baek Dong-hwan became Baek Ddong.

Whether he knew it or not, Baek Dong-hwan smiled and sang a song.

“Peng. Peng. Peng. Oh!”

The kids started singing along.

“Peng. Peng. Peng. Oh! Turn Attack!”

The addictive anime song made my body sway.

The adults with kids knew it well and sang along too.

“Peng. Peng. Peng. Oh! Turn Attack! Peace. Peace. Pistol~”

Siha also sang along with shining eyes.

Since watching Penguin Monster at that time, he had been watching it little by little from episode 1, so he knew the song well.

“Siha, are you excited?”

“Ah!”

Thump, thump.

I burst out laughing at Siha’s meaningless butt dance.

Siha is really cute.

‘Next time, I’ll make sure hyung doesn’t get ignored.’

I was very angry when I heard what happened today.

I knew there were things like that, but I didn’t think our Siha would be a victim.

What kind of education do they give to children that they divide classes based on their parents’ income?

‘That’s not the important thing.’

I hoped that today wouldn’t be remembered as a strange memory for Siha.

‘Hyung will do better. Okay?’

I gently stroked Siha’s head.

“Huh?”

“Siha, shall we dance a little more?”

“Ah.”

I danced with Siha.

And the time to announce the winners of the Drawing King was approaching.

***

-Judging seat.

The people who would pick today’s Drawing King were judging.

First, the first task.

They divide the drawings into well-drawn and poorly-drawn drawings just by looking at them.

There weren’t many well-drawn drawings among the children’s drawings.

Among them, ingenious drawings were set aside as well-drawn drawings.

It’s very convenient to flip through them.

“If middle and high school students were counted as child participants, the judging wouldn’t be done in just one day like this.”

“That’s true.”

The two men flipping through the drawings in front of them chuckled.

After the first task was finished, the second task began.

This time, they had to pick the drawings that would actually receive awards.

Grand Prize (1 person), Gold Prize (2 people), Silver Prize (2 people), Bronze Prize (5 people).

A total of 10 children will receive awards.

“Let’s see. Let’s pick 10 now. Huh? Wow, what is this? It’s ingenious?”

One of the judges held up Siha’s drawing.

“Everyone, look at this.”

“Oh! Actually, I also liked that drawing, so I picked it.”

“It’s really amazing. The name is Lee Siha? Wow, the idea is amazing.”

“Right?”

He pointed to the people in charge of the eyelids with his hand.

“Look at the people in charge of the eyelids here. These are the people who came to the event. Children and adults.”

“What’s even more interesting is that it expresses that there are people behind those eyes.”

“I think differently from that. I think he drew the scenery that many people are looking at. What’s the intention of drawing only one eye instead of two eyes? Everyone is looking at the same Han River and cruise ship.”

Siha only drew one because it was easier to draw than two eyes.

He had no intention of doing that at all.

“Even though it’s a white background, he drew it in white, so the cruise ship became faint. This means that it will eventually be a memory that will fade for people.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think a child would even think of that meaning?”

“Then what intention do you think he drew this creative picture with? Do you really think he drew it without any intention? That’s really ignoring this child as a child. There’s no age limit when it comes to art skills.”

At that time, one of the people watching raised his hand.

“But I’m saying this on the premise that he’s going to win an award, but what award are you going to give him?”

“That’s…….”

“Hmm. Definitely this award.”

“No, this award.”

Their opinions differed, so coordination was needed.

After sharing their opinions for a long time.

“Then let’s decide on this.”

Everyone nodded.