Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 64

Hyung, Am I Cute? 64

-The time Si-hyuk was held by Meltz.

-Daycare.

Today, the teacher has prepared something for the children.

It’s an educational activity prepared to correct the stubbornness of the Cheonggaeguri [Green Frog – a Korean term for someone who does the opposite of what they’re told, like a rebellious child].

There are children who always do what they are told not to do.

This can be seen as children not listening, but it can also be seen as them being curious.

However, excessive curiosity can be harmful.

Just like opening Pandora’s box and causing disaster, there are times when curiosity should not be indulged.

Today’s activity is prepared for that.

“Okay~ everyone. There is a very dangerous box here. You must never open it!”

The teacher shook her head and pointed to the box.

A sparklingly decorated box.

It was gilded, making it very intriguing.

As if daring you to open it.

“I’ll leave it here, so don’t ever open it. If you open it, something terrible will happen! You know how it hurts when you touch boiling water, right? It’ll be like that!”

Saying that, the teacher placed the box in the middle of the room.

Seung-joon glanced at it.

Hana saw Seung-joon and grabbed his sleeve.

“Oppa [Older brother – term used by younger girls to address older boys they’re close to]. No!”

“I know, I know everything.”

“Mom told me to watch you!”

“I’m not doing anything!”

It was a common conversation that could often happen at home.

Seung-joon was upset because he hadn’t done anything.

He was a good kid who only did what he was told not to do two out of ten times, even though he was very curious.

“Siha. Aren’t you curious?”

“No.”

“You’re not curious?”

“Ah ah. Siha. Hyung [Older brother – term used by younger boys to address older boys they’re close to]. Curious.”

“Siha is always curious about what Si-hyuk hyung is doing, right?”

“Ah ah. Hyung.”

“He’s working now, so we have to play here. Mom and Dad work every day too.”

“Ah ah. Hyung.”

Siha knew that his hyung always played with him except when he was studying.

So he had no concept of working.

“Then let’s play with this.”

“Ah ah.”

“Hana too. Hana too. Play!”

As the three children were about to play, Jong-soo approached the box.

“There’s nothing in this! Are you all stupid?”

Hana shouted.

“No!”

“Ah ah! No!”

“Don’t do that again!”

Jong-soo smirked and suddenly opened the box.

Bang! Bang!

Something popped out of the box.

Jong-soo was surprised and fell on his butt.

Then a bizarre sound flowed out.

To be exact, it was the sound coming from the recorder in the box.

[Hehehe. I am a lie! Now I will spread lies in this world!]

[I am a wound! I will hurt people!]

[I am heat. I will make your body hot!]

[I am a sore throat. I will make you unable to speak!]

[Let’s all escape!]

After those words, a strange song flowed out.

The director and teachers suddenly acted strangely in the room.

“Why do I keep wanting to lie? Siha is fat. Hana is fat too.”

Hana retorted.

“Hana is not fat! Heeing [Sound of teasing or mocking].”

Siha just stared at his protruding belly.

“Toto?”

He tapped his belly with his hand.

Thump! Thump!

He nodded, looking at his bouncing belly.

The teacher’s face briefly showed an expression that this was not right.

The teacher said.

“Ahem. Ouch ouch ouch! I suddenly got a wound!”

The teacher showed a fake wound on her body and collapsed.

The children looked at the teacher with worried faces.

Seung-joon ran to the director and grabbed his pants.

“Director! The teacher!”

“…….”

The director only moved his mouth.

The teacher looked at the scene and said.

“Oh my. Someone opened the box and all the bad monsters ran away! We have to catch these bad monsters. Kids. They’ll be hiding in this room. Hurry up and catch them and put them back in the box!”

As the teacher said that, the children began to look for the monsters.

Seung-joon, Hana, and Siha also looked for the monsters.

“Okay. Let’s think. Where could the monsters be?”

“Ah ah.”

“Hana knows! The monster is over there!”

The first place the three went was under the table where the kettle was placed.

“Mom told me not to touch it.”

“That’s right! Hana is smart!”

“Ah ah. Hana!”

The three found the ‘Heat Monster’ card under the kettle.

They picked it up and quickly put it in the box.

“Found the heat!”

The teacher, who was singing ‘Hot hot hot. Hot hot hot hot!’, stopped.

It was a song that revealed the teacher’s age, but the children were too young to notice.

“Wow! The teacher is not hot anymore! But I still want to lie and the wound hasn’t healed!”

At those words, the children moved busily.

They searched hard for the cards.

The ‘Wound Monster’ card was stuck on a sign that said [Don’t Fight], and the ‘Sore Throat Monster’ card was under the piano pedal.

But the ‘Lie Monster’ card could not be found anywhere.

Seung-joon hit his chest as if frustrated.

“Ah. Where is it?!”

“Hana can’t find it anymore either.”

“Siha too…….”

As the children were getting tired, the teacher stepped in.

“I feel like I’m going to keep lying. Siha farts all the time~ Hana and Seung-joon fart too. Their butts are red.”

Siha looked at the teacher.

The teacher kept lying.

“Ah ah!”

Siha seemed to realize something and approached the teacher sitting down.

The director’s eyes lit up.

Siha finally noticed!

The last ‘Lie Monster’ card was in the teacher’s back pocket.

That’s why the teacher kept talking about butts.

But what Siha looked for was not the butt but the teacher’s nostrils.

It was because his hyung had read him a fairy tale about how the nostrils flare up when you lie.

Siha’s finger poked the teacher’s nostril.

“Ouch! Not there! Siha!”

“No!”

Lee Siha.

He was a real man who pushed through to the end once he deduced something.

“Lie monster is too painful. Here it is.”

The teacher took out the ‘Lie Monster’ card to protect her nostril and offered it to Siha.

After putting all the bad things in the box, they closed it again.

The song that kept playing repeatedly was no longer heard.

The teacher and the director got up from their seats.

“Okay! Everyone must listen to their parents. If they tell you not to do dangerous things, you must listen carefully!”

“Yes!”

“Jong-soo. Got it?”

“Yes…….”

Jong-soo nodded, knowing his mistake.

It was a very eventful process, but the ending was good.

The teacher nodded.

Today’s education was also successful.

The director next to her was looking at the teacher with questioning eyes.

***

On the way back from being a little harassed at Meltz.

I took a taxi, feeling exhausted after the meeting finally ended, to pick up Siha from daycare.

I’m splurging a little today.

It makes me think I should really buy a car.

If I have one, I might become someone who can’t live without a car.

‘Anyway, it was tough. More meticulous than I thought.’

I could see the power of Germany, where translation and publication take a year.

Of course, there were also Korean people, but their meticulous questions and plans made my body shiver.

It seemed like a lot of stories were exchanged, but in the end, it was simply a story about the direction of the motor show.

Simultaneous interpretation was also conducted on detailed discussions and the import/export model.

Because the opinions of Korean people were also needed.

I unintentionally ended up doing interpretation work today.

Signing for a hefty sum was a bonus.

It was quite big for a bonus.

‘I should take Siha to eat something delicious with this.’

Thinking that, I arrived at the daycare.

“Siha!”

I called Siha loudly.

Siha ran quickly, perhaps because I was later than usual due to work today.

Toto dog.

Wiggling his short legs diligently.

“Hyung!”

A smile spreads on my face at the sound of him calling me.

Isn’t this the taste that all fathers raise their children for?

It felt like all the fatigue I had today was flying away.

“Siha!”

I picked up Siha and spun him around.

“Was daycare fun today?”

“Ah ah.”

“Did you play well with your friends?”

“Ah ah. Hyung. Today. Papak! Hesses [Likely a child’s mispronunciation of a word, meaning unclear without further context].”

“Oh! That’s amazing!”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but he must have done something amazing.

I bowed my head, looking at the teacher who came out to greet me.

“Thank you for today too.”

“Yes. I put what kind of education we did today in Siha’s penguin bag, so please read it.”

“Thank you as always. When I see things like this, it seems like daycare teachers have a lot of work. You also do the remaining work after sending all the kids home, right?”

“Yes. It’s really hard because we have to write and send documents every day.”

“It’s like a school teacher. Handling remaining miscellaneous tasks after class…….”

“Maybe school teachers have it harder?”

“Still, it might be better because they are civil servants?”

“It depends. Well.”

“That’s right.”

While having such ordinary conversations, I took Siha and headed home.

Siha’s hand, which I held tightly, is warm.

I felt the need for a car, but it seems good to go back holding hands like this.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah. It says Siha was amazing today?”

“Ah ah.”

I almost wouldn’t have understood what he was saying if I hadn’t read this notification.

I looked at Siha and shook the hands we were holding.

“Then Siha won’t lie to Hyung anymore?”

“Ah ah.”

Siha has never actually lied.

Come to think of it, isn’t our Siha very kind?!

Maybe he’s the only creature like him in the world?

“You don’t hide anything from Hyung either, right?”

“Ah?”

Siha slightly avoided my eyes and started to think.

Could it be that he’s hiding something already? Is he going through puberty?

Kids these days grow up fast.

That might be the case.

“Hyung. Siha. Jiho hyung. Secret.”

“Yeah?”

“Jiho hyung. Secret.”

Siha made a shushing expression with his finger.

“Ah. Did you share a secret story with Jiho?”

“Ah ah.”

“What is it?”

“Ah?”

“You can tell it only to Hyung.”

“Ah ah.”

Siha nodded and started to speak.

“Bung~ Ah ah. Jiho hyung. Siha aya [Aya is likely a child’s mispronunciation of ‘together’ or ‘with’]. Meet. Jiho hyung and Nora. Jiho. Soo [Meaning unclear, possibly a mispronounced word or name].”

What on earth is this?

It might be faster to interpret Morse code.

“Bung Bung!”

“Yeah. Is that so?”

“Ah ah.”

“There was such a secret.”

“Ah ah.”

I shook Siha’s hand.

“Okay. We’re home.”

“Ah ah.”

“Now we have to wash up.”

“Ah?”

As soon as I took off his shoes, he started running away.

I went to catch Siha as he was.

I know he doesn’t hate washing up, but he wants to play with me like this.

“Caught you!”

“Ah ah!”

Siha raised his arms.

I picked him up as he was and went straight to the bathroom.

Today, Siha had the experience of opening Pandora’s box.

Will Siha open Pandora’s box again when this happens again?

If he opens it, will he try to fix the mistake like this game?

With the name of hope left behind.

***

-A few days later.

A fairly powerful law firm decided to handle the car accident.

Maybe that woman in her 50s will be punished.

It seemed like it would go to criminal punishment because she didn’t agree to a settlement.

I heard this news and met Park Joong-hyuk again.

I thought about Pandora’s box last time, but I might be opening it now.

But I need to make it clear.

“Uncle. It’s been a while.”

“You’re the first person to visit me twice in the hospital, Si-hyuk.”

“I heard you decided not to settle?”

“Haha. Si-hyuk, you could have been in danger too. I was too disgusted.”

“I see. I think so too.”

“Haha. Well, I have the money to pay the fine.”

“That’s right. After all, even if it’s a wrong thing like this, you have to receive legal punishment, right?”

“That’s right. You have to be punished if you do something wrong.”

I put down the fruit I brought.

“Since there is a child watching, you have to show righteousness.”

“Well, my son saw it. He might see it again if even one line of an article comes out later. Haha.”

“That’s right. That’s right.”

I looked at Park Joong-hyuk.

“So you get punished too, Uncle.”

“Yes?”

“Jiho. I accidentally saw your body. Why did you do that?”

“What are you talking about?”

Park Joong-hyuk had a face that he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“You had bruises. Not an injury caused by falling.”

“Are you saying the child was hit? No…. Could it be, the child’s mother?!”

I sighed.

‘That’s what happened…….’

I swallowed the feeling of something rising up very quietly and hotly and looked at Park Joong-hyuk.

“As far as I know, Jiho’s mother is not around…….”

Park Joong-hyuk’s face stiffened.