Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 76

Am I Cute, Hyung? Episode 76 (76/500)

Usually, emoticons go through a process of review, approval, examination, and launch.

It takes about three months, and until then, the emoticon artist draws new pictures.

Or they divide the contract and go through the work of revision and security.

But there are always exceptions.

For example, a popular emoticon artist.

In such cases, the launch date is set very quickly, and the review is quickly completed.

This is inevitable.

You can’t put rookies and established artists on the same level.

“Ugh! My eyes are going to fall out!”

Lim Si-hoon, who was reviewing emoticons today, rubbed his eyes.

An artist can just submit their work for review, but the employees who review them have to look at dozens a day.

At the morning meeting, a few good ones are selected and put on the agenda, and if the response is good, the review is passed.

Then, they divide the contract and go through the review process again.

There are so many similar ones these days, so they are paying close attention to copyright.

‘Especially there are too many rabbits.’

Is it just my imagination that all kinds of rabbits are coming out?

Even if the drawing is good, if the concept is too similar, it will be disapproved again.

Lim Si-hoon was now a veteran at spotting these things.

“Isn’t there anything good?”

So, he was looking for something innovative.

Or something cute.

Then, one emoticon caught Lim Si-hoon’s eye.

To be exact, it wasn’t the emoticon but the name.

‘Huh? Siha Pepe?’

Lim Si-hoon knew this name.

A rising artist on Pixiv [a Japanese online art community] these days.

The drawing style is light, but the meaning inside is not light at all.

Rather, it was hiding a heavy punch.

‘Could it be the same artist? No. It must be the same artist.’

This simplified drawing style, like an emoticon, was definitely the same person.

‘Interesting.’

He was looking forward to it.

Penguin.

A common if common, uncommon if uncommon animal.

There are already many penguin emoticons with strong images, and he declared war on them.

Lim Si-hoon looked closely at the emoticon.

“Oho?”

The title of the emoticon was [3-Year-Old Pepe].

The greeting was also interesting.

Usually, they take the ‘ha’ from Hi and attach it to the greeting.

If Lim Si-hoon was the name, it would be ‘Lim-ha-‘.

Or they would put the word ‘Hello’ in plainly.

But this emoticon was a little different.

“Hello! Hase! It’s unique. It has a feeling.”

An unusual greeting method from the start.

I don’t know if a 3-year-old actually says that, but it seemed plausible.

Of course, Lim Si-hoon didn’t know that Siha was saying that.

“Let’s see. Hmm. Oh! It’s good? It’s exactly what a 3-year-old who can’t speak well would say…….”

The drawing style was cute, and it maintained a clear concept.

This was enough to be approved.

And frankly, his personal feelings were involved.

Lim Si-hoon really liked the artist Siha Pepe.

‘I should put this on the agenda tomorrow.’

He felt good because he found an emoticon he liked after a long time.

But that feeling didn’t last long.

“Everyone, gather in the conference room!”

Everyone stopped working and gathered in their seats due to the sudden summons.

“You all know that the emoticon launch date is set for the Tuesday after next week, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ve already matched the concepts for six emoticons and scheduled promotions.”

“That’s right.”

Usually, a launch doesn’t just happen.

All emoticons are scheduled to launch from Monday to Friday, and promotions are also scheduled.

In other words, a firm concept is established through meetings.

“There’s a problem.”

“What is it?”

“Well. Sigh. When I checked the approved emoticons, it turned out to be plagiarism. Seriously, how are you doing your job!”

The manager frowned as if he was annoyed.

The employee who was pointed out shrank back.

Lim Si-hoon understood.

There weren’t just one or two emoticons, and it wasn’t possible to check each one for plagiarism.

Of course, they do check.

They run a program that scans image files for similar ones.

But sometimes they still can’t catch it.

“Anyway. I can’t help it. I guess my memory wasn’t good. No, what if this emoticon becomes popular? What would that artist say later?”

Lim Si-hoon checked and found that it was an emoticon from an unpopular artist.

That’s not a put-down, that’s the actual reality.

If such an unpopular artist proceeds with a lawsuit, that’s also a headache.

‘But the manager is amazing. As expected, his memory…….’

The manager was known for having a really good memory.

The problem is that he also has a terrible temper.

He’s even petty.

His memory is too good, that’s the problem.

‘This isn’t a problem. Then we need to fill that promotion vacancy…….’

Emoticons that have already been launched cannot be moved.

The promotions are also different.

And if you bring it forward, word gets around in this industry.

Various rumors will circulate.

They didn’t want that here.

‘Then, among the emoticons that haven’t been launched yet and have been approved… Since we also need to sign a confidentiality agreement, an artist who hasn’t signed a contract yet…….’

Lim Si-hoon, who thought of the artist Siha Pepe, raised his head sharply.

And he raised his hand.

“Manager! There’s an emoticon that matches the promotion concept! The artist is also a bit famous on Pixiv!”

“Oh? Really?”

Lim Si-hoon grinned.

***

Siha opened his eyes.

It was dark night, probably because he fell asleep for a while after coming home.

He quietly got up and peeked into the living room.

Hyung [older brother or a term of endearment for a close male friend] was sitting at his desk, studying hard.

‘Hyung.’

Siha knew that Hyung was studying.

He quietly went back into his room and opened Hyung’s bag.

Today, Siha also felt like holding a pen and studying.

He took out the pencil case from Hyung’s bag.

‘Hyung’s.’

Inside, there were pens of various colors.

First, he dumped out all the pens and looked around as if he was shopping.

He put his favorite pens back into the pencil case in order.

Then, he put the pencil case in his penguin bag and finished.

‘Same as Hyung.’

Now the bag was the same as Hyung’s.

Siha closed the penguin bag and Hyung’s bag.

He quietly peeked into the living room again.

Bright light was coming into the room.

Hyung’s shadow was also visible.

“Ah?”

Watching that, Siha poked the side of the shadow with his finger.

The shadow flinched and bent to the side.

Siha found that very fascinating.

“Ah ah!”

“Siha, you’re awake.”

“Ah?”

Siha turned his head and looked at Hyung.

His body was bent to the side.

“Hyung~”

“Haha. Siha~”

Siha snuggled into Hyung’s arms.

Si-hyuk smiled and lifted Siha up.

“Siha, while you were sleeping, the review got finished quickly. It’s approved! Approved.”

“Ah?”

“You don’t know what ‘approved’ means? It means Siha’s emoticons will be released. We just need to sign the contract and talk.”

“Ah, ah.”

“Siha likes it too, right?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha didn’t quite understand, but he liked it.

Si-hyuk picked Siha up and spun him around.

“Hyung!”

“Yeah. It’s fun, right? It’ll be even more fun when other people use Siha’s drawings later.”

“Ah, ah. Hyung. Drawing!”

“Yeah. Are you going to draw today too?”

“Ah, ah.”

Siha came down from Hyung’s arms and turned on the tablet.

As he gripped the pen tightly, a pink light enveloped Siha’s hand.

Today, they draw together again.

***

I have concerns about the contract issue.

Should I sign the contract under Siha’s name?

Or should I sign it under my name?

A contract should be built on trust and reliability.

Of course, I came up with the words and concepts in Siha’s drawings.

Even if I’m not a co-author, wouldn’t I be about 20% involved?

‘This is a dilemma.’

I chatted with the representative and discussed it.

They said they had something to say and wanted to meet in person, which was very awkward.

Honestly, I thought they would just send the contract by mail.

They said there were things difficult to say via KakaoTalk [a popular Korean messaging app], so I had to meet.

‘Hmm.’

At this point, I felt something was off.

Well, I didn’t think they would say anything strange, but I wondered if it was necessary to meet in person for this contract.

After much deliberation, I decided to take Siha with me.

I didn’t want to tell a lie that would inevitably be revealed.

‘Still, it would be better to say we’re co-authors, right?’

First, I arrived at the Chinese restaurant with Siha.

It seemed like they wanted to eat together and talk.

“I have a reservation under the name Im Si-hoon.”

“Ah, yes! Please go into that room.”

I moved to the place I was guided to.

The person in the room resembled Winnie the Pooh.

Im Si-hoon greeted me.

“Hello. Are you the artist Siha Pepe?”

“Ah. Yes, hello. I’m Lee Si-hyuk. And this is Lee Siha.”

“Ah, hello! Ha-seyo!” [a casual greeting in Korean]

Siha raised his hand.

Im Si-hoon gave a warm smile, finding Siha cute.

“Ah! Is he the artist’s son?”

“No. He’s my younger brother.”

“There’s a big age difference. His name is Siha? Ah! So that’s why the pen name is Siha Pepe!”

“Haha. Well, yeah.”

First, I sat down and had some water.

Im Si-hoon said,

“Actually, today I need to talk about the contract with the artist and also about the promotion.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Let’s order food first. Actually, I got a corporate card from the company.”

Im Si-hoon held up the card in a somewhat cool manner.

A corporate card.

A very good card.

The card that makes the person holding it look cool.

I should gratefully have a meal.

“Then I’ll have fried rice. Siha, let’s eat black bean noodles.”

“Ah, ah.”

Actually, I ordered black bean noodles and fried rice for Siha.

It would be nice to eat both.

If he can’t eat it all, I’ll eat it all.

We placed our order and got into a serious conversation.

“First, please sign the confidentiality agreement. That way, we can talk a bit.”

“Okay. But can I add something to this contract?”

“Yes? What would you like to add?”

“There are things we need to keep secret from each other. The contents of this promotion are confidential, and I’d like to keep things about me confidential as well.”

“Ah~ The artist doesn’t like being exposed.”

“Well, I don’t like things getting noisy. And I don’t want the company to know much about me.”

“Specifically, what kind of things?”

“Like what kind of person this artist is. Male, female, young, old, things like that?”

“Ah, that’s natural.”

“Can I add it to the contract?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

I added a line to both contracts and signed them.

Can I feel somewhat relieved now?

Well, he didn’t seem like someone who would go around blabbing.

“First, can you tell me why you’re doing this?”

“Ah, yes. Actually, this promotion is a bit unusual. I quickly reviewed the artist’s emoticons.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Actually, the situation was just right. A spot opened up for the emoticons being released this time. So I pushed the artist’s work that wasn’t scheduled for launch.”

“Ah, I see.”

Im Si-hoon looked at me with shining eyes.

I felt like my shoulders were rising slightly.

“Actually, I’m quite capable. Everything I’ve reviewed meticulously has done quite well. Have you ever seen these emoticons?”

I glanced and saw a hamster and a really simple drawing of a person’s emoticon.

They were popular and trending emoticons these days.

“Yes, I’ve seen them.”

“I was in charge of them. In short, my eye is pretty good.”

“Ah, so having results means you have power?”

“That’s right. Even if my hands aren’t as good as the artist’s, my eye is good. How good is it? You see that tree outside?”

“Yes, I see it.”

“I can even see the caterpillar on that leaf opening its mouth to drink the dew.”

I chuckled.

This guy. He seems to exaggerate a bit.

“No way.”

“I’m serious. Anyway, I really like the artist, so I recommended you like this.”

“Excuse me?”

“I often go on Pixiv [an online community for artists]. I’ve seen all the artist’s works.”

“Ah…”.

I nodded.

I feel a little sorry at this point.

It’s not even my drawing.

I guess it’s time to reveal it.

“Actually, Siha Pepe isn’t one person.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s two people.”

“Really?! Wow! Really! Amazing!”

Im Si-hoon covered his mouth in surprise.

“Then where is the other person?”

“He’s here.”

I pointed to Siha.

“Siha.”

And I pointed to myself.

“Pepe.”

At that moment, the black bean noodles and fried rice came in together.

There’s always black bean sauce on top of the fried rice.

Like Siha and me.

“Together, we are Siha Pepe.”

“So, Pepe is the one who draws?”

“No. Siha draws.”

“What?!”

Im Si-hoon’s eyes widened.

I guess my eyes are as good as Im Si-hoon’s.

I can see the blood vessels in the whites of his eyes.