Brother, Am I Cute? [EN]: Chapter 80

Hyung, Am I Cute? Episode 80 (80/500)

-KI Media.

Finally, the field training has begun.

The duration is 4 weeks.

I was assigned to work here with Seo Soo-hyun and Kim Byung-soo.

Of course, I doubt they’ll actually give them any real work.

We were greeted first by Manager Hong Jin-soo.

“Haha. Welcome, everyone. Nice to meet you. I’m Hong Jin-soo. Si-hyuk, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, it has. But are you going to be showing us around today, Manager?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t entrust this important task to anyone else.”

Was it really that important?

Usually, these field training sessions involve a quick tour and then getting handed off to some junior employee…

Anyway, we entered KI Media following Hong Jin-soo’s lead.

He introduced us to various departments.

It was a space I had seen before, but it felt new somehow.

It even felt like a real job experience.

After various explanations, we sat in the lounge and drank coffee.

Hong Jin-soo said,

“Actually, this is the first time we’ve participated as a field training company, so I was wondering what kind of work to give you all. At least, it can’t be something that just lets you slack off.”

“That’s right.”

“There are usually many people who jump into this publishing industry. Of course, there are many who don’t make it. After hearing my explanation, is there any department you would like to work in?”

I looked at Seo Soo-hyun first.

She looked utterly flustered, as if she hadn’t even considered the question.

After thinking for a moment, she glanced at me.

Why are you looking at me?

‘Well, now that I’m here, I want to see the planning side of things. And I hope they give me actual work to do.’

Thinking about it, it seemed like it would be fun.

“Manager Hong, I would like to go into planning.”

“Haha. Si-hyuk, Si-hyuk, I’ve already prepared a good spot for you. I even polished your desk yesterday until it sparkled.”

Excuse me? Why is there a desk for me at KI Media?

Was choosing KI Media a mistake?

Useless regret washed over me, but there was no turning back.

“Then I’ll go to planning?”

“That’s right. The Overseas Sales Department.”

“Huh? P-Planning?”

“That’s planning too. Haha. How is it? It will be very helpful.”

It seems like I’ll be giving help rather than receiving it?

“We’ve even installed a good computer. With a curved monitor!”

“Why though?”

No, no.

Doesn’t this feel like I’ve completely joined the company?

“Just kidding. It was originally there. There’s a vacant desk because someone quit.”

“You still haven’t found someone?”

“No, we found someone. We increased the number of staff, but there was a problem because someone went to a better place.”

“Ah.”

They must have lost an editor.

Well, there’s a clear limit to how high you can climb in the publishing industry.

So they probably went to a place that offered a better salary.

I would probably do the same.

‘They must have offered a salary that couldn’t be matched.’

Hong Jin-soo, sensing my thoughts, added,

“It’s a bit difficult for a publishing house to beat a platform [online publishing platform]. Don’t worry. If our book sells well in the US this time and the Overseas Sales Department works hard, we’ll spread our wings too.”

He looked very confident.

Then Seo Soo-hyun raised her hand.

“I want to go to the Overseas Sales Department too.”

“Are you good at foreign languages? English or other languages?”

“I’m not very confident in speaking, but I’m confident in reading! I can also share a lot of ideas and sing pop songs well!”

“Good confidence. Actually, there aren’t many things we can have you do. You said you’re good at reading? Then there’s a perfect job for you.”

Hong Jin-soo wore a sly smile.

I had a feeling I knew what kind of work she would be assigned.

‘She’s going to be writing book review reports.’

The job of selecting books to translate into Korean.

Seo Soo-hyun was smiling brightly, unaware of what was to come.

Just say you’ll go to another department!

The Public Relations Department is good! There won’t be much to do there.

I gave Seo Soo-hyun a look.

I hoped my signal would be conveyed.

Seo Soo-hyun met my eyes.

She moved her eyes left and right, signaling that it wasn’t a good idea.

“Pfft!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just saw something funny. Ahahaha.”

My message failed to get across.

How amusing.

I don’t know anymore.

Kim Byung-soo, who was watching us, also raised his hand.

“I want to join too. Hahaha! It’s better to be with friends, after all.”

He’s probably saying that because Seo Soo-hyun is going there.

Judging by his eyes, he definitely still has feelings for Seo Soo-hyun.

He seems to have been rejected a lot, but I don’t know if he’s unaware or just shameless.

“Byung-soo, are you good at foreign languages?”

“Hahaha! Of course! I even went on a working holiday. I even ate combat rations with foreign soldiers when I was in the military. We trained together too. Haha!”

So, the source of his confidence was his military life?

No way. Did he spend his working holiday with soldiers too?

I shook my head.

Anyway, he chose the worst workplace like a moth to a flame.

Tsk tsk.

Hong Jin-soo said,

“Haha. Byung-soo, you can do the same work as Soo-hyun.”

Seo Soo-hyun looked disgusted when she heard that.

She must really dislike Kim Byung-soo.

Anyway, our tasks were decided like that.

We moved from the lounge to the conference room.

The current meeting was really about contracts.

The story began with a work I knew.

Teacher Song Taek-soo’s martial arts novel.

The goal of this project was to secure a contract with a platform for entering the Chinese market.

Korea also has a huge number of works in the web novel market, but China has an even greater number of works, probably because of its large population.

If you don’t get promotions or banners, you’ll be buried.

Even the author is Korean.

There might be all sorts of mocking and slanderous comments.

Of course, such ignorant people are only a minority.

‘The problem is the scale of that small number of malicious comments…….’

This is all because of the large population.

Oops. I need to focus on the meeting.

This experience might be helpful later.

Actually, I don’t know why they’re showing us this meeting.

I can only guess that Hong Jin-soo is planning something.

“We now have the opportunity to discuss a contract with China’s giant web novel platform, UX. Originally, we would have to go to China, but this time it’s different. Their team has decided to come to Korea because of work.”

So we’re going to meet in Korea?

That would be interesting in its own way.

“They made an interesting proposal. They want to create an exchange event between Chinese martial arts writers and Korean martial arts writers. You know that our management has quite a few martial arts writers, right?”

“Then I’ll contact the person in charge and proceed with gathering the writers.”

“Then we’ll need to find an interpreter. Simultaneous interpretation isn’t that easy.”

At that moment, Hong Jin-soo looked at me.

“Si-hyuk, do you know Chinese?”

I shook my head.

Of course, I don’t know Chinese.

Maybe German and English, but not Chinese.

“I don’t know any Chinese at all…….”

Then the hand holding my phone tingled.

My tongue twisted strangely, and my words came out weird.

“Runeereudaaaaa? Cough!”

Everyone burst out laughing at my strange words.

I laughed awkwardly and said,

「I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to speak it.」

The words that came out of my mouth were clearly Chinese.

Hong Jin-soo’s eyes sparkled when he heard that.

“As expected, it’s Si-hyuk. I believed in you.”

***

-A few hours later.

Kim Byung-soo rubbed his dry eyes.

At first, he thought he was doing a comfortable and good job because he was reading books.

It would be helpful and beneficial to him.

But it didn’t take long for him to realize that was a delusion.

‘Ugh! What is all this! It’s too much manual labor.’

A review report on one book.

It’s hard to read one book a day, but when he sees other people editing and proofreading, they finish it very quickly.

Not only that, but they even request revisions.

They looked like they were pinpointing everything.

‘This isn’t what I signed up for.’

Kim Byung-soo looked at Seo Soo-hyun sitting at the desk next to him.

A person trapped in the same predicament as himself.

In fact, the reason he applied to KI Media was all because of Seo Soo-hyun.

To be honest, he was interested in her.

No, he likes her.

‘She’s not easily swayed.’

He tried, but it didn’t work out.

But he couldn’t give up.

His strengths are his steadfastness in pursuing something he’s set his mind on, his diligence in working like a cow.

And his confidence that he never loses without giving up.

When he objectively evaluates himself like this, he’s not inferior to any man.

His appearance isn’t the best, but he thinks he’s decent enough.

‘Ah, this isn’t the time for this.’

He was thinking of finishing quickly and helping Seo Soo-hyun next to him, but it wasn’t easy.

First of all, the book is in English.

So it was natural that his reading speed was slower than reading Korean.

‘I have to write a review report too.’

Seo Soo-hyun next to him was groaning.

This wouldn’t do.

He had to write the review report quickly and go help her.

Kim Byung-soo’s hands moved faster.

The plot of this book, the characters, what he felt.

Lastly.

[It seems like it will be popular in Korea if translated.]

Kim Byung-soo, who finished like this, saved the file and sent it to the staff by email.

Ding.

The employee who received the email was Deputy Lee of KI Media.

He had been very busy until recently, but these days he was working leisurely.

But stress was already building up.

His nerves were on edge due to the stress he couldn’t release.

The deputy opened the file to see what kind of review report the student had written this time.

He was determined to see how well he did.

Honestly, he didn’t interfere with Lee Si-hyuk’s work.

He was sure he would get chewed out if he intervened.

But Kim Byung-soo was different.

A novice among novices.

Click.

“Hmm. Not good.”

He read a few lines, quickly skimmed through it, and just sent it to the trash can.

The deputy got up from his seat and approached Kim Byung-soo.

“I threw the report in the trash right away. Do you have any idea why?”

“Yes? Ah. Was it too bad?”

“Yeah. Very bad. You, the feelings you wrote weren’t convincing at all.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Kim Byung-soo was honestly embarrassed to hear these words.

He heard that he was bad at his job in front of Seo Soo-hyun.

“Sorry is not enough. That’s not how you write a review report. Usually, busy editors don’t write review reports. They often hire people to do it part-time. Take a good look.”

The deputy pointed to Kim Byung-soo’s writing.

“You did well to write the plot first. But when you write about the characters, you have to clearly express what kind of person they are.”

The review report has to be meaningful with clear content.

Content that can be understood at a glance.

But what Kim Byung-soo wrote couldn’t be called a review report.

“If you do this, you won’t get paid even if you work part-time. It usually costs 100,000 to 150,000 won [approximately $80-$120 USD].”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“But it’s not easy. You have to pick a book that hasn’t been pre-empted.”

“Ah…….”

“The books we gave you haven’t been pre-empted. And it’s good to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the book, but we don’t need your feelings. We’ll decide whether it will sell or not through a meeting.”

The deputy looked at Kim Byung-soo and smiled fiercely.

He had a face that said he had caught him.

The deputy’s words came out like a machine gun, and Kim Byung-soo’s mentality was shattered.

Seo Soo-hyun, who was watching from the side, felt sorry for him.

At that time, Si-hyuk came behind Seo Soo-hyun.

“Is it going well?”

“Yes? Ah. It’s not easy to write a review report.”

“I’ll help you a little. Let’s see. Yeah. It seems to be well organized, but I’d like you to add something here…….”

Kim Byung-soo shed tears of blood inside as he watched the scene.

‘I should be the one doing that role!’

But the reality was that he lacked the ability and had to listen to the deputy’s advice, which wasn’t really advice.

“Here! Here’s a well-organized report. You’ll get a feel for it if you do it like this. Haha. Why are you so discouraged? Cough. It’s all advice that will become your blood and flesh because I’m thinking of you.”

The blood flowed on his cheeks, and the flesh on his body crumbled.

‘Lee Si-hyuk…….’

Kim Byung-soo burned with jealousy.

Lee Si-hyuk glanced at Kim Byung-soo.

“Byung-soo, do you want me to help you?”

“No!”

Kim Byung-soo suddenly felt empty.

Because Lee Si-hyuk’s eyes, unlike his own, were looking at him with pity.

Honestly, that was more hurtful.