Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 70

Siha asked, “Hyung, am I cute?”

“Ah, Alisa! Frog!” he exclaimed, raising his hand with delight.

Alisa and Seo Su-hyeon smiled gently at Siha’s beaming face. He was undeniably adorable.

“Siha, you’re so cute,” Alisa cooed.

“But Siha, why is Alisa ‘Risa’ and I’m a frog?” Seo Su-hyeon asked, a hint of playful confusion in her voice.

It was inevitable, really. The image of the frog umbrella was firmly planted in Siha’s mind.

“Ah… Frog,” Siha repeated, nodding.

“I didn’t get puffy eyes today… Not only oppa [older brother/male friend], but now Siha is teasing me too?” Seo Su-hyeon pouted.

“Ah,” Siha simply responded.

It was a misunderstanding on Seo Su-hyeon’s part. Siha’s thoughts weren’t quite making it across.

“Risa! This!” Siha proudly showed off his clothes – the outfit Alisa had picked out for him last time.

Alisa ruffled Siha’s hair. “You remembered the clothes I picked out for you? Hehe~”

A happy hum escaped Siha’s lips. He was in a good mood, and hummed along contentedly.

Moon Do-hwan, who had been observing the scene, approached Seo Su-hyeon. “Su-hyeon. It’s been a while.”

“Ah, yes. How have you been?” she replied.

“Yeah, always the same. But what brings you here?”

“Ah, a friend named Alisa asked me to come to this motor show. So, I tagged along.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’m just here for a change of pace, really. I’m not particularly interested in cars, but Alisa is fascinated by this kind of design.”

“I see. That’s good. Why don’t we hang out together since we’re all here?”

“I’d love to… Where’s Si-hyeok oppa?”

“Huh?” Moon Do-hwan paused, then pointed upwards. Seo Su-hyeon tilted her head, a question in her eyes.

“Don’t tell me, the second floor?”

“Yeah. He’s working on the second floor.”

“Really? What’s he doing?”

“Simultaneous interpretation. He’s probably working hard right now… or waiting. He’ll come down if you play with Siha for a bit.”

“Ah… He’s amazing as always…”

“What is?”

“Well, I feel like I’m standing still, but oppa is always moving forward.”

Moon Do-hwan smiled gently. “Moving forward… I wouldn’t say that’s quite it.”

“It’s not?”

“It’s just that his environment is different from yours. He has to earn money, and he doesn’t have much time to do anything else. He doesn’t have much free time.”

“Hmm.”

“If you were in that situation, you might have tried to do anything to get ahead.”

“That’s not true. I don’t immediately act on something I’ve decided like Si-hyeok oppa does.”

“He definitely has amazing drive.”

Seo Su-hyeon clenched her fist gently and nodded. “I get a lot of motivation when I see him. So, I’m going to try to challenge myself so I don’t fall behind.”

“What?” Moon Do-hwan asked, noticing Seo Su-hyeon’s gaze fixed on something in the distance.

A man was filming a video, muttering to himself.

“A hobby. That’s the start,” Seo Su-hyeon said.

“Huh?”

“You never know what will happen in the future. Shall we go then? There are a lot of fun things to see.” As they were talking, they turned around to find Alisa and Siha gone. They had already wandered off to explore.

Moon Do-hwan and Seo Su-hyeon panicked and hurriedly chased after them.

***

The advertisement that Meltz released this time was emotionally resonant.

A woman, portraying a pregnant expectant mother, quickly gets into a car.

It’s raining heavily, and her husband drives urgently. The car shakes violently on the rough road.

But the sensor activates, mitigating the impact in advance, making the ride remarkably comfortable.

The scene cuts to the hospital they finally arrive at. The pregnant woman arrives safely.

The video concludes by showing her relieved face, explicitly conveying their message.

And it seemed to be working quite well.

“Thank you for the good contract,” I said.

Was this the fourth time? The contracts were proceeding smoothly from the very first day.

Parts manufacturers were also expressing interest in Meltz’s components, leading to several scheduled meetings.

‘Hmm.’ The reaction wasn’t as explosive as I had anticipated.

Looking at the contracts, they were very interested in the design and the new car itself.

Still, judging by Liam’s expression, he seemed quite satisfied with how the event was unfolding.

After all, this motor show could lead to even more contracts after it was reported in the news.

I didn’t think it was necessary to make any hasty decisions.

“Liam.”

“Yes.”

“The idea I came up with was used, but was it effective?”

“I don’t know. It’s only the first day.”

“That’s true, but now that we’ve revealed our hand, it feels…subtle.”

“Is that so? I think differently.”

“Really?”

“Yes. This time, we were able to try a new approach at the motor show, which always seemed to have the same predictable theme.”

I smiled wryly. The new attempt had to be successful to be considered good.

Did I meddle unnecessarily? The thought crossed my mind.

Maybe it’s because I don’t see any concrete results yet.

‘No. It’s not my company. Whatever.’ It would be nice if everyone did well. I had no real risk involved. Still, it would definitely be a merit if Meltz succeeded.

‘That’s just a shame.’

Liam smiled, noticing my expression. “Si-hyeok, this motor show is much better than you think. Maybe in two days? As early as tomorrow? The event organizers might change things up.”

“Really? What do you mean?”

“I mean, using the ideas we came up with at Meltz as fuel, they may come up with more enjoyable content.”

“Is that so?”

I couldn’t quite picture it. Could event booths change that quickly?

“There are many problems with motor shows. I also hear that they are behind the times. I just heard that other places have brought in VR [Virtual Reality] devices.”

“It’s going to become a game soon.”

“It may really happen next time. Isn’t this the IoT [Internet of Things] era?”

“That’s right.”

Was this a bigger deal than I thought? If it changes like this, how will Meltz’s position and articles be written?

Superiority. The feeling of being ahead of the curve.

Only then did I realize what Liam was implying.

‘Superiority of trend.’

The image of being ahead of others was not easy to cultivate.

‘Is this really why he said it was a benefit?’

New attempts. New challenges. The struggle not to be left behind is to thoroughly build this image.

If you build up such an image, no one can truly know the price of its value.

“You see far ahead?”

“I don’t look far ahead. Just one or two steps ahead.”

“Just one or two steps ahead…”

“That’s enough. If you go too far, it becomes pretty garbage.”

“Thank you. I’m learning a lot.”

“You’re welcome. Ah! Someone’s here.”

It seemed another buyer had arrived while we were talking.

I wasn’t sure if we’d get to a contract or just schedule another meeting.

I needed to do my best with this translation as well.

‘But this person doesn’t seem Korean?’

It wasn’t that only Koreans came, but this foreigner looked quite old.

Just based on appearance, Southeast Asian?

But their English was closer to British.

These days, I find it fun to guess countries like this.

‘A bit of an accent?’

Knowledge bubbled up in my head.

Sensory knowledge, a bit different from the knowledge that governs information.

After an indescribable sensation washed over me, I concluded that the person was Singaporean.

The intonation was heavily influenced by Chinese or Malaysian.

「I’d like to entrust the translation to that person.」

Suddenly, that person pointed at me.

Liam called me.

I looked at him with questioning eyes.

Why would he suddenly call me for translation?

Of course, it wasn’t that I was bad at English.

But there was no particular reason to choose me.

There were plenty of people who could do simultaneous interpretation in English.

‘Their gaze has been a bit… since earlier.’

The expression was full of interest.

I wondered if we had met somewhere, but I didn’t remember.

Let’s greet them for now.

「Hello. I’m Lee Si-hyuk, the interpreter.」

「Yes, hello. I’m Daniel.」

We discussed the contract.

This time, it was about a technical agreement related to the sensor part in Meltz’s car.

Things were progressing smoothly when Daniel revealed his curiosity about me.

「How did you get into interpreting?」

「I just got into it through an introduction.」

「Is that so? Is your father an interpreter? Or your mother?」

「Ah. My father did work as an interpreter. But why do you ask?」

「Haha. In cases where someone is so good at such a young age, it’s often an interpreter family.」

「Oh, is that so?」

I don’t really think that’s the case?

Daniel said.

「Could you tell me your father’s name? I’m curious since you’re so good at interpreting.」

「Lee Jang-hyuk. Haha. You probably haven’t heard of him. It’s been a very long time since he worked as an interpreter. In Korea, he’s probably probably better known as a translator than an interpreter.」

「Ah. Is that so? That’s even better. There are many people who originally do other jobs and then switch to interpreting.」

「Really?」

「Yes, that’s right. Haha.」

We had a smooth conversation and scheduled the next meeting.

As Daniel got up, he shook my hand.

「I hope we can meet again.」

「If fate allows.」

「I really hope fate allows it. I was so disappointed back then.」

「Pardon?」

「I once missed out on a really desirable interpreter. I made that person a pretty good offer, but they turned it down. They seemed almost ready to accept, too.」

「They must have been an amazing person.」

「They were very knowledgeable and good at mediating when the atmosphere got bad.」

What is it?

Why is this person being so kind to me?

「It was nice meeting you.」

「Yes, you too.」

I parted ways with Daniel like that.

Liam, who had been glancing at Daniel as he left, subtly came closer to me.

「Si-hyuk. Have you ever thought about living in Germany?」

Why is this person doing this again?

「No!」

It’s almost 3 o’clock, I should go see Si-ha.

***

“Hyung!”

Si-ha comes and hugs me tightly.

I missed this warmth and smell.

It’s better than a warm boiler, and smells sweeter than tiramisu.

Is it formula smell?

Si-ha doesn’t drink formula anymore.

Whatever.

I rubbed my cheek against Si-ha’s cheek.

“I missed you so much, Si-ha.”

“Si-ha too!”

“Let’s not be apart anymore. It’s too hard.”

“Ah ah.”

Moon Do-hwan said in an absurd voice, looking at me.

“Anyone would think you’re a separated family. Were you apart for like 10 years? It’s only been 6 hours.”

“Hyung! Six hours for Si-ha is like six nights.”

“There’s no way, right?”

“Yes, there is. Totally. But why are you two together?”

“We met by chance.”

Seo Soo-hyun and Alisa waved their hands.

Well. It seems Si-ha wasn’t lonely while I was gone.

“Si-ha. Did you see everything?”

“Ah ah. Car. Many.”

“You saw a lot of cars? Will it be helpful later? Like, ideas are springing up about the design. Creativity is increasing. Do you feel that way?”

“Ah? Hyung!”

So, there’s no such feeling and hyung is the best, right?

Still, I hope today’s viewing was helpful to Si-ha.

There were some fun things prepared for the kids to enjoy, so it wouldn’t have been boring.

“Thanks for playing with Si-ha today. In that sense, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

Everyone raised their arms and cheered.

Seo Soo-hyun came up to me and said.

“Oppa [Older brother/term of endearment for a close male friend]. I’m thinking of becoming a YouTuber.”

“Really? Good luck. There are a lot of people who do it as a hobby these days.”

“Yes.”

“So, you’ll do your main job separately?”

“I have to think about that. How about a librarian? I think it would suit me well.”

“Well…”

I avoided eye contact.

“Ah, why!”

“I think there are frogs, so the kids might be surprised?”

“You’re mean. Really.”

At that time, Si-ha pulled on my pants.

“Ah ah. Hyung.”

“Yeah, Si-ha. Why?”

“Car!”

“Yeah? Car?”

“Si-ha too. Car~”

I looked where Si-ha was pointing.

A red, sleek sports car. Porsche.

The price on the sign says 340 million [Korean Won, approximately $250,000 USD].

Si-ha’s standards have gotten very high?

“Oh? Si-ha. There’s a penguin car over there!”

“Ah?”

Si-ha’s eyes sparkled.

I grabbed Si-ha’s side and quickly moved to another booth.

I wanted to buy anything for him, but the world wasn’t that easy.

***

A few days later.

Si-ha and I got a new car.

And it’s red.

“???