Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 53

Hyung, Aren’t I Cute? Episode 53

-Sihyuk’s Childcare Diary

-May 4th

The usual day was interrupted by a delivery.

The sender was my ex-wife and Sihyuk’s mother.

I carefully handed the gift to Sihyuk, who just stared at the box.

Then he picked it up and threw it into the trash can.

I was at a loss in this sudden situation.

After a long deliberation, I scolded Sihyuk.

I told him this was impolite. How could he do this when his mother had thoughtfully sent him a gift?

Eventually, Sihyuk burst into tears.

He said he didn’t need his mom’s gifts. Why was I doing this to him? He hated Dad.

I didn’t know what to do.

Sihyuk was too difficult for me.

He must miss his mom at his age…….

Only then did I realize something was wrong.

I don’t know where this unusual reaction came from, but maybe it was a wound for Sihyuk?

It felt like I had touched a time bomb.

What should I do?

What should I do?

I’m still too clumsy. But I want to approach Sihyuk in a friendly way.

I’m a lacking father, but please understand me.

I’ll try harder.

-May 5th

Today, I went to buy a cake to cheer up Sihyuk.

Holding hands, we entered the store, and I saw a chocolate cake.

So I asked if he wanted to eat it, and he said he did.

I had no choice but to grant Sihyuk’s honest request after a long time.

We came home and watched TV while eating cake together.

He was scooping it up with his tiny hands, and his mouth was covered in chocolate.

I wiped it off for him, one by one.

I asked if there was anywhere he wanted to go today, and he said he wanted Dad to read him a fairy tale, so I read him as much as he wanted.

I was satisfied because Sihyuk seemed satisfied.

I could tell that Sihyuk’s mood had improved a lot.

I should make time for this occasionally.

Ah! I found out later that Sihyuk didn’t want to eat the chocolate cake, but he wanted the toy on top of it.

I can’t help but think he is a lovely son.

Who does he take after to be so smart?

Of course, he seems to take after me.

***

I opened my eyes.

Today, I had a dream from the old days for the first time in a while.

A dream of Children’s Day with my father.

Is it because I spent Children’s Day with Siha yesterday?

It wasn’t bad to see my father after a long time.

No, it was a little bad.

I felt a longing and wanted to see him again.

Is this what it feels like when good memories become bittersweet?

Only intact emotions remain in my heart where fragmented pieces are.

Is that why my heart is so heavy?

“Ugh.”

I lifted the blanket.

The reason my chest was heavy was probably because Siha was on top of me.

“Siha.”

“Aah.”

Siha rubbed his eyes with his little hands.

“Let’s get down now.”

“Aah. Hyung~”

Siha became limp on top of me.

He rubbed his face in my arms and acted cute, so I couldn’t possibly put him down.

I lifted my arm, hugged Siha, and rolled to the side.

Tumble, tumble.

“Siha. You have to get up now.”

“Koo.”

“I know you’re awake even if you pretend to sleep, okay?”

Siha glanced open his eyes and pretended to fall asleep again.

“Koo~”

“You can’t sleep anymore~”

“Koo. Siha. Sleep.”

“People who are sleeping can’t talk, right?”

Siha covered his mouth with his hand.

I guess he thinks that if he covers his mouth, he won’t talk.

Siha was so cute.

That’s not it.

“Later, Uncle Baek Donghwan is coming to eat cake, so you have to show him a clean face. Right?”

“Cake?”

Siha reacted to the word cake and jumped up.

As expected, it’s cake rather than Baek Donghwan.

“Cake!”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s wash up and eat. Got it?”

“Aah!”

Siha ran to the bathroom.

“Hyung!”

“Okay. I’m coming~”

Now Siha was urging me.

After getting ready, we waited for Baek Donghwan.

Ding-dong.

“Yes. I’m coming out.”

When I opened the door, Baek Donghwan was holding a box.

“Hyung. Hello!”

“Oh, yeah. Come on in. But what is this box?”

“This is the voice actor experience learning material I prepared.”

“There’s such a thing?”

“I thought it would be good for Siha to practice his pronunciation. Actually, I used it to practice my pronunciation at first. It’s for kids.”

“Oh! Really? That’s amazing.”

“I also put the microphone I used to use in the box. It will be enough for Siha to use.”

“You didn’t have to do that much.”

“Haha. Just think of it as a Children’s Day gift. I don’t need it anymore anyway.”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept it.”

I received the box and showed it to Siha.

Siha peeked out his face, showing interest.

“Siha. It’ll be fun. Right?”

“Aah.”

“Then shall we try it once?”

“Aah.”

I brought the laptop at home and installed it.

The program in the USB was running, and the cartoon in the learning material script was playing.

Perhaps because it was made for education, cute puppies were saying what the kids had to do.

Baek Donghwan said.

“If you look here, the ‘eu’ pronunciation is not easy. So the ‘eu’ pronunciation is mainly focused on.”

“Is that so?”

“Let’s watch the video once and follow along.”

“Okay. That’ll be fun.”

The video played.

[Title: Chika’s Chiki Chaka Choco Choco Cho.]

A puppy, Chika, and her mom are on the table.

「Wow! Today is snack day!」

「Chika. Here’s chocolate. It’s very sweet~」

「Wow! But can I eat it all?」

「Yes.」

Chika and her mom ate chocolate deliciously.

Nom nom. Nom nom.

Chika, who had eaten everything, stroked her belly.

「I’m full.」

「If you’re done eating, brush your teeth.」

「No.」

「If you don’t, your teeth will get cavities.」

「No. No.」

Chika didn’t listen and went to sleep.

The next day.

Her teeth hurt so much that she cried.

「Mom. It hurts. Waaaaah.」

「I told you to brush your teeth, didn’t I?」

「Yes. I should have brushed my teeth.」

「There’s no choice. We have to go to the dentist.」

Chika and her mom went to the dentist.

Weeeeee.

The dentist removed Chika’s cavities with a machine.

Chika cried because it hurt.

「Waaaaah」

「Now you have to brush your teeth after eating everything.」

「Yes. I will.」

Chika, who came back home, brushed her teeth after eating chocolate.

Chika Chika.

She brushed her teeth thoroughly.

Up, down. Up, up, down.

Chiki Chiki Chaka Chaka Choco Choco Cho!

The chocolate in her teeth gradually disappeared.

Chika looked in the mirror and checked her teeth.

「Eee~! Eu~!」

Chika’s teeth were now clean, so germs didn’t attack.

The end.

The video ended.

It was a shorter video than I thought, but I could definitely see that there were a lot of ‘eu’ pronunciations.

Even in the line ‘Today is,’ there are two ‘eu’ pronunciations.

It seemed like a child was supposed to play the role of Chika.

And the interesting thing was that the breathing parts in the lines were also marked with ‘/’ so that they could be easily followed.

Of course, Siha can’t read the letters, so he can’t read this.

‘When are we going to study Korean?’

I put aside such questions and decided to start dubbing.

The narration came out automatically, so it was easy to record.

“Siha. Okay, let’s do it.”

“Aah.”

Siha spat out the first line.

“Wow! Snack!”

“Um. Siha. If you shorten it, it’s meaningless, right?”

Even the ‘eu’ pronunciation ‘Today’ disappeared.

“Huh?”

“Then let’s do ‘Today.’ Today!”

“Todey!”

“Good. You’re doing well. Today.”

“Todey!”

“It’s snack day. Eating!”

“Snack eat~”

“Haha. It’s not easy after all. Okay, next.”

The next one was also recorded, showing the beauty of brevity.

The sound seemed to be recorded quite well because the microphone was good.

“That’s it. Shall we listen to it once?”

“Aah.”

We played the recorded video.

Siha’s voice came out.

“Aah! Hyung! Siha!”

“Yeah. It’s Siha’s voice, right?”

“Wow!”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Aah. Hyung. Hyung.”

“Yeah. There’s Hyung’s voice too.”

Siha raised his arms in the air, feeling good.

“Chika Chika Choco Choco~”

“Ahahaha. You remember that?”

“Chika Chika Choco Choco~”

He must have liked the narration pronunciation.

“Then shall we eat a cake as sweet as chocolate?”

“Huh?”

“We decided to eat cake today. Donghwan. I’ll go get it now. Play with Siha.”

“Yes! Don’t worry!”

I left Siha to Baek Donghwan and took out the cake from the refrigerator.

A cake with frozen penguin-shaped cream on top.

I carefully removed the cloth on top.

I felt good thinking about how much Siha would like it.

“Ta-da~”

I revealed the penguin cake to Siha.

Siha was so excited that he jumped around.

“Aah!! Pepe!!”

Jump. Jump.

It was the first time Siha liked something this much.

Does he like penguins that much?

I rubbed my nose for no reason.

“Then shall we cut this now?”

“Aah. No.”

“Huh?”

“No.”

“You have to cut the cake to eat it.”

“No.”

It seemed like he couldn’t allow the penguin to be cut.

What should I do?

Then Baek Donghwan said with a smile.

“You can leave the top and gently dig around the sides.”

Then Baek Donghwan poked the side with a fork.

He took it as if he were taking land…….

Crack.

One of the penguin’s arms broke.

“Gasp!”

Siha’s eyes widened by 1mm.

“Pepe. Ouch…….”

Other people may not know, but I can tell.

Siha is in great shock right now.

Gloomy.

His face was very depressed.

‘What should I do?’

Baek Donghwan was also flustered and tried to fix it, but the broken arm did not return.

Baek Donghwan said.

“Siha. Pepe will want you to eat him.”

He picked up the broken penguin’s arm and put it in Siha’s mouth.

Siha received a second shock.

“Mashiso…. Ouch…….”

The shock that Pepe’s arm was delicious and the shock that Pepe’s arm was broken.

It seemed like Siha was feeling very complex emotions in his baby life.

Even I was seeing Siha’s expression for the first time.

“Hyung…….”

In the end, he hugged me and rubbed his face against me.

“Haha.”

It happened so quickly that I couldn’t stop it.

Actually, I was going to eat that penguin anyway.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s just eat it like this. Siha.”

“Aah.”

“The cake will be really delicious.”

“Aah.”

I carefully cut only the cake without touching the remaining penguin and put it in my mouth.

“Is it delicious?”

“Mashiso.”

“Hyung made it. I’ll make you another penguin next time. Okay?”

“Aah.”

Siha ate the cake diligently, as if his mood had improved.

Chomp, chomp.

It must be really delicious to see him eating with his cheeks full.

It was a great success even though it was the first time I made it.

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

Siha, who had finished eating the cake, said.

“Chika Chika.”

“Oh! Are you saying let’s brush our teeth?”

“Aah.”

That voice actor experience is effective, isn’t it?

I decided that I should do it with Siha often because it was surprisingly educational.

I should thank Baek Donghwan for this.

***

Siha, who had finished brushing his teeth, was drawing pictures while shaking his feet up and down.

I glanced at Siha and talked to Baek Donghwan.

“How’s becoming a voice actor going?”

“Umm.”

Baek Donghwan smiled bitterly as if he was in trouble.

“It’s not going well?”

“I applied to an educational broadcasting company this time, but I failed the interview.”

“Ah…….”

“It feels like I almost got there but missed it?”

“That’s too bad.”

“Actually, there weren’t many T.O’s [Table of Organization, meaning available positions]. It was a competition for one person, so the competition rate was very high.”

“Umm.”

I couldn’t say anything.

It was really a shame if it was one person.

I haven’t seen many aspiring voice actors, but I felt that Baek Donghwan was very good when I saw him.

“I guess it’s talent after all.”

“Huh?”

“One of the kids I recognize passed there.”

“Ah, one person…….”

“I shouldn’t compare myself, but I feel pathetic when I compare myself for no reason. Haha. That was a weak sound that doesn’t fit my size, right?”

“No. There’s no such thing.”

Baek Donghwan fiddled with the coffee cup in front of him.

“It’s bitter. Very.”

My heart sank slightly too.

“If it’s too bitter, sweetness will come out later.”

“Yes?”

“It does come out. It’s very easy to distinguish whether it’s sweet or bitter. So next time, it will definitely be sweet.”

“Thank you. You’re still the best, Hyung.”

“What do you mean by ‘still the best, Hyung’?”

Then the phone rang.

“Ah, just a moment.”

“Feel free to answer.”

The person who called was Hong Jinsu from KI Media.

“Hello.”

After a few words of greeting, I covered the phone’s speaker with my hand and looked at Baek Donghwan.

“Donghwan.”

“Yes?”

“Are you good at English dubbing too?”

“Yes? Ah…. I’m not bad.”

“Oh. Really?”

I smiled slightly.