Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 7

“Hyung, aren’t I cute?”

“Siha, just a moment. Phone. Phone.”

I pulled my face away from Siha’s butt.

“Huh?”

Siha turned around to see what had touched her butt.

But I had already moved my face away, so Siha didn’t notice.

Sliding down the remaining part of the slide, Siha started moving to climb up again.

It seemed she liked the slide.

Ah, I need to answer the phone.

I took out my phone from my pocket.

[010-XXXX-XXXX]

It was an unknown number.

“Hello.”

「Yes, is this Lee Si-hyuk?」

“Yes, it is. Who is this?”

「This is Hong Jin-soo, section chief at KI Media. You sent me a sample, right?」

“Yes, that’s right.”

「I called this morning, but you didn’t answer.」

“Ah, I don’t answer unknown numbers. I only answer if it’s a number I recognize.”

「Ah, so that’s why you didn’t answer. To be blunt, I’m trying to offer you some work through the professor’s introduction.」

A clear statement that the work was being given due to the connection with the professor.

I could understand his position.

Even if they liked the sample, I was still a rookie and a novice translator.

They could easily use experienced people, but the reason they were considering me was probably thanks to the professor’s recommendation.

「Still, it seems you have the basics down in the sample, so we’re giving you the work. It’s not just giving work solely based on connections.」

“Thank you.”

「It might be a bit much, but we can only offer about half the usual rate for a buyout contract.」

“I understand. I know that other translators start like this too.”

I also knew that there were cases where people received even worse offers than this.

Half wasn’t bad for a first start.

Usually, it takes about two years to establish oneself as a translator.

I knew it took about 10 books worth of work.

「If you do well on this book, we’ll consider increasing the rate next time.」

It was a better offer than I expected.

If I showed my skills well in this book, they would increase the rate.

Then I could buy Siha another toy.

“Sounds good. I’ll show you what I can do. Ah, when should we sign the contract?”

「It would be good to meet and talk first. Send me a text or KakaoTalk [a popular Korean messaging app] with a time that works for you.」

“Okay. I’ll text you as soon as I check my schedule.”

「Okay. Have a good day.」

“You too, Section Chief Hong.”

As soon as the call ended, Siha came down from the slide.

“Hyung.”

“Yes. Did our Siha have fun?”

“Hyung.”

She was only calling me now, so she must have been waiting for the call to end.

Siha pulled on my leg.

“Okay. Let’s go ride the slide again.”

I rode the slide with Siha.

I got butt-attacked a few times, but it was a lot of fun.

“Siha, let’s go inside and play now.”

“Aww.”

I held Siha’s hand tightly and went inside.

I know I need to spend time to make her feel comfortable, but what should I play with her?

“Hyung.”

The answer was with Siha.

She dragged me and pointed to the piano.

“Pi, piano?”

“Aww.”

“Hyung can’t play the piano, though?”

“Aww.”

“You know that?”

“Aww.”

“You know and you still want me to play it?”

“Aww.”

Then I heard the director’s voice from behind.

“You can communicate with her like that?”

“Ah, well, roughly.”

Why is she looking at me with such a strange expression?

Did I do something wrong?

“It looks like Siha wants to play with you, Hyung.”

“Ah, is that so? Is that right, Siha?”

“Aww.”

“She says yes.”

The director had a lot to say, but she didn’t say anything.

I lifted Siha and sat her on the piano bench with me.

I opened the cover and put my fingers on the keys.

Sol sol la la sol sol mi, sol sol mi mi re.

It was ‘School Bell Rings’ that I had heard once when I was young.

Siha’s eyes widened by about 1mm, as if she was amazed that music was coming out.

That was a surprised expression.

“Hyung!”

“Yes. This is how you play the piano.”

It feels like I’m cheating, but maybe Siha sees me as a pianist?

I have to show off Hyung’s majesty while she’s this young.

She’ll find out when she grows up.

I want to enjoy this admiring gaze now.

“Okay. Shall we play together, Siha?”

“Aww!”

Ttang ttang ttang.

Siha started playing enthusiastically, as if she was amazed by the sound of the piano.

I was also burning with passion and kept playing ‘School Bell Rings’.

This time, I completed it up to sol mi re mi do.

The two of us sat in front of the piano and kept banging away for a long time.

***

We picked up the laptop we had left and returned home.

Siha was already doing her own thing.

I turned on my laptop.

‘Why won’t it turn on again?’

Yes. This is strange.

What I experienced today is also strange.

I couldn’t shake the thought that the only problem was my father’s laptop.

I turned on my father’s laptop.

Zhiiiiiing.

“Dad!”

At that moment, Siha threw the tissue box away and clung to my leg.

“Dad.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. It’s Dad’s laptop.”

How does she know and come to me like a ghost?

“Hyung has an experiment to try. So, will Siha help me?”

“Aww.”

“Keep a close eye on Dad’s laptop here.”

“Aww.”

I took my laptop and went outside the door.

I pressed the power button again.

Zhiiiiiing.

The fan started spinning and the screen came on.

“It works…….”

What should I call this mysterious phenomenon?

Why is this happening?

Does that laptop have some big secret?

I took the laptop and went back into the house.

The moment I did, the laptop screen went blank.

‘It doesn’t recognize any laptops other than me. Is that the feeling?’

If the laptop had intelligence, that’s what it would say.

“In the end, I have to use this laptop…….”

Ding.

The laptop screen I was holding suddenly started to display something.

[Updating. Starting connection with nearby devices. 1%… 2%…]

“What the.”

I stared at the laptop in disbelief.

The update screen that suddenly started was neither Windows nor the laptop manufacturer’s logo.

I didn’t even know what update it was doing.

It was the moment when the extraordinary intervened in ordinary life.

No, maybe the extraordinary intervened in my life starting today.

“Hyung. Dad.”

Siha pointed alternately at the table and my hand with her finger.

“Dad. Dad.”

At that moment, I felt something was wrong.

Why does Siha call my laptop Dad too?

What the heck is going on here?

[…99% …100%]

[Update complete.]

With that, the laptop screen lit up again.

Now this laptop turns on even when I’m inside the house.

I tried to understand it somehow, but I couldn’t.

‘It’s not hacking.’

There’s no way someone would hack so obviously.

Even if the light is dim under the lamp, that wasn’t it.

I didn’t even go to any strange sites, and I usually just did reports or web surfing.

I put the laptop down and put my fingers on the keyboard.

Surprisingly, nothing happened.

‘Did it just make it a laptop again?’

I searched through various files, but the contents inside didn’t seem to have changed.

Just in case, I went to the sites, but that didn’t seem to have changed either.

‘What the…….’

At that moment.

The letters on the site suddenly floated into my view.

The letters that floated like holograms instantly transformed into another language.

It was English.

The news article I just clicked on was translated into English in real time before my eyes.

Blink blink.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at the screen again.

The hologram disappeared like a mirage.

But there was definitely a change.

I could now easily translate the articles that were in Korean into English.

All the sentences were in my brain.

A strange feeling of reading Korean in English.

I didn’t know how to express this.

Only Siha.

“Hyung!”

Was calling me as usual.

***

Hong Jin-soo, section chief at KI Media, groaned from being overwhelmed with work.

“Ugh. The work never ends.”

“Section Chief. Can’t we please hire some more people?”

The assistant next to him also groaned.

The workload had piled up because two people suddenly left KI Media.

Hong Jin-soo also wanted to hire people.

“If it were that easy to find them, would I be in this state?”

“That’s true. Ah, really.”

Then one person approached Hong Jin-soo with a stiff face.

“Section Chief.”

“Oh, Assistant Manager Han. What’s wrong?”

“Isn’t the novel you were going to assign this time supposed to be assigned to me? I wanted to do the translation work too.”

“Ah, that. Look at the current situation. Can you handle it all?”

“I…….”

“I’m going to assign it to someone else. We’re too busy right now.”

“But I really wanted to work on that writer.”

“I know. But it’s not good if the work is delayed like that. You understand, right? It takes at least a month to find someone suitable. Realistically, it will probably take three months.”

Assistant Manager Han Tae-sung nodded as if he understood.

It was because he knew that there was no point in arguing.

He couldn’t insist, knowing the situation so well.

“Who is the translator? I’m worried because it’s a writer I like.”

“Ah, I’m going to assign it to a rookie I found this time.”

“Yes? To a rookie?”

“Yeah. His sentences are elegant. I think I can trust him.”

“No way, really?”

Han Tae-sung had an unbelievable look on his face.

“Why are you assigning a novel to a rookie?”

“I’m going to stick with him as an editor to build some trust. Turns out he has a pretty impressive family connection. You know Lee Jang-hyuk?”

“Don’t tell me Lee Jang-hyuk is taking on the translation? No, you said he was a rookie.”

Hong Jin-soo nodded lightly.

“Lee Jang-hyuk is dead. The person I’m going to assign it to is his son.”

Han Tae-sung was speechless at the news that Lee Jang-hyuk had passed away.

After a moment of silence, Han Tae-sung spoke with difficulty.

“No matter what, there’s no way his son inherited his translation skills. This is a matter of experience.”

“I think so too…….”

A strange smile appeared on Hong Jin-soo’s face.

“Maybe he did inherit it. Lee Jang-hyuk’s former job was an interpreter. He might have taken his son with him or educated him that way.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I saw the sample and it was perfect. There were no unnecessary additions. Do you want to see it too?”

Hong Jin-soo handed over the A4 paper he had printed out.

Han Tae-sung read it.

“The basics are there.”

“Right? And he used the appropriate writing style. But the dialogue is different.”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t it good enough to entrust it to him?”

“Yes. It is.”

Han Tae-sung nodded reluctantly.

It was then.

The CEO came and called Hong Jin-soo.

“Hey, Section Chief Hong.”

“Yes, CEO. What’s wrong?”

“You have to go somewhere this afternoon.”

“Ah, no. I have a contract meeting.”

“Pass it on to the other guys.”

“Everyone’s busy, who do I pass it on to? I’m already busy handling calls and processing documents because I’m being dumped with work. I even have to work overtime to edit.”

The CEO glanced behind him and pointed to Han Tae-sung.

“Send Assistant Manager Han who’s standing there. He looks free.”

“No, what’s the big deal?”

“Writer Taek-soo is releasing a new work. And he liked you, so he picked you.”

“Me? Haha. All I did was help with some farming [likely referring to helping the writer with research or background information related to farming for a previous work].”

“That’s what worked. So go to the meeting now. I said I’d send you down soon. Do you think it’s easy to schedule?”

“That’s true, but I have an appointment.”

“Oh my. You’re frustrating. We’re short on people right now, so time is money. We have to process things quickly to get back on track. Actually, I wasn’t even going to send you to the meeting if it wasn’t for Writer Taek-soo.”

Hong Jin-soo knew how important this was, so he had no choice but to nod.

Hong Jin-soo said.

“Assistant Manager Han. Go in my place. You can take the standard contract to Little Cafe. The rate is set at about half. Please.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll make a call to apologize. I’m too busy to make time. It seems like they’re in a hurry too.”

With that, Hong Jin-soo put on his clothes and left the office.

Han Tae-sung scratched his chin and returned to his seat.

He opened the standard contract on the screen and changed the rate.

‘Hmm. Lee Si-hyuk…….’