#Side Story 01
There was a cute kid next door that I adored.
During my elementary school days, I vaguely remember moving from Seoul to Yongin. Around that time, I heard the news that the friendly teacher couple next door was pregnant.
I, who had always wanted a younger sibling, was overjoyed. Thrilled at the news of getting a sibling, my young self would often speak gently to the aunt’s belly.
“Come out quickly. Your big brother will take good care of you.”
Whenever I did this, the aunt next door would gently stroke my hair. Her belly grew larger over time. My mother said this meant the day to meet the baby was getting closer.
And ten months later, just as I had hoped, the baby was born. It was a boy, and they named him Lee Cheongmyeong, using the characters for ‘blue’ and ‘bright’. It was a name that clearly showed the poetic sense of the uncle, who was a Korean language teacher.
The newborn baby had a very cute impression with his clear white skin and large round eyes. Somehow, he seemed like he would suit an even cuter nickname than Cheongmyeong.
Chaehun hyung seemed to have a similar opinion, so instead of “Cheongmyeong-ie”, we took the last syllable and called him “Myeongmyeong-ie”, then changed it to “Meongmeong-ie” because it was too difficult to pronounce. When our mother complained that it reminded her of a puppy, we changed it to “Mongmong-ie”, and then to “Mungmung-ie” because it sounded cuter. We ended up calling him by the nickname Mungmung more often than his real name.
It was natural for Chaehun hyung and me to fall in love with this cute baby who was quiet and smiled brightly from birth.
The cute baby grew slower than his peers and often looked about two years younger, which made him even more adorable.
Like a doting parent, I wanted to show off Mungmung to everyone in the neighborhood. I wanted to keep him by my side and never let him go for a moment.
It was an amazing process to see the baby I had adored so much that I wanted to bite and suck on him start crawling, walking, and clumsily speaking. While Chaehun hyung loved Mungmung so much that he carried him on his back, I was no different, but for some reason, I also had a desire to tease Mungmung whenever I saw him. Maybe it was because Mungmung would react immediately when I played tricks on him.
I still remember an anecdote related to this. It was probably around the time I was about to enter middle school. Mungmung, who had become quite talkative, would call Chaehun hyung “Chaeni hyung-ah” and me “Heoni hyung-ah” with his short pronunciations.
This was very cute, but on the other hand, it was also enjoyable to tease Mungmung and see his whimpering face. When I teased Mungmung and made him pout, then comforted him with a hug, he would cling to me even tighter.
That day, I was in the middle of teasing Mungmung as usual.
“Heoni hyung-ah, play with me!”
Mungmung said with a pronunciation closer to “noa jo” than “play with me”, spreading his arms wide. My mischievous side activated, and I responded exactly as I had been teasing him lately.
“I don’t want to.”
Mungmung showed a deeply furrowed expression. I was expecting him to cling to me as usual when I said, “Just kidding. Come here.” But that day, Mungmung made a different choice. He went straight to Chaehun hyung.
“Chaeni hyung-ah. Play with me.”
“Sure? Want to play with hyung? Shall I read you a book?”
“Yeah.”
Mungmung nodded and followed Chaehun hyung, holding his hand. I was dumbfounded as I watched Mungmung’s back. The bear on his pants, which was bulging at the rear due to his diaper, looked especially forlorn.
After a moment of blankness, I leaned against the sofa, grumbling. I couldn’t believe that Mungmung, who always followed me around saying he only liked me, had chosen another man. I couldn’t believe it, but feeling sulky, I glared at Chaehun hyung’s room with an “I don’t care anymore” attitude.
Mungmung likes me more than Chaehun hyung. Without thinking about my own fault, I felt resentful towards Mungmung for not clinging to me.
Let’s see how well they play. Grumbling to myself, I pretended to focus on the TV but couldn’t take my eyes off Chaehun hyung’s room. It was only a moment before my thought of “Let’s see how well they play” changed to “Should I go see how well they’re playing?”
I’m just checking. Hypnotizing myself, I carefully got up. It was quick to get to Chaehun hyung’s room. Walking quietly on tiptoe, I gently pressed my ear to the door crack.
“So Snow White fell after eating the apple given by the wicked witch.”
“Fell… down.”
I heard Mungmung’s usual habit. He was repeating what was being read to him from the fairy tale book. Just as I was about to pull my ear away, thinking they were playing well without me, I heard Chaehun hyung’s different voice.
“Mungmung. But there’s something stuck here. Looks like rice. Is it a booger?”
“…No.”
“It’s not a booger? Oh, are you cry… Huh? Why are you crying?”
At the mention of Mungmung crying, I almost threw open the door without thinking. But I barely managed to hold back, fidgeting nervously. A quiet silence fell in the room. Chaehun hyung’s urgent voice continued.
“Why are you crying? Did someone bully you at daycare?”
“…No…”
Mungmung’s voice that finally came out was full of tears. Chaehun hyung asked urgently.
“No? Then why are you crying? Who made Cheongmyeong cry?”
Just as I thought I should open the door even at the risk of embarrassment, I heard a small sniffling sound, and then Mungmung mumbled.
“…Heoni hyung-ah…”
It was an unexpectedly unfamiliar name. I couldn’t believe that the reason Mungmung was crying was because of me. As if expressing my thoughts, Chaehun hyung urged.
“What did Saheon hyung do?”
“…He-Heoni hyung-ah… Mungmung-ie… doesn’t like me…”
What are you talking about? I finally couldn’t hold back and threw open the door. Mungmung, who was sitting on the bed next to Chaehun hyung, looked surprised and then started dropping tears from his round eyes.
Hueeeng. The fact that this child, who usually didn’t cry out loud, burst into tears when our eyes met was quite shocking. Chaehun hyung was surprised by my sudden entrance, then put on a stern expression.
“Kwon Saheon. What did you do to Cheongmyeong?”
“No, I…”
“Heoni hyung-ah… Don’t… huu… be angry at him…”
Mungmung burst into sobs at Chaehun hyung’s stern voice. Chaehun hyung, flustered, started to soothe him first.
“I’m not angry. I’m not. I won’t be.”
But no matter how much he tried to soothe and comfort, once the crying started, it seemed impossible to stop. Mungmung started crying loudly.
Hueeeng, hiccup hiccup. It was quite a scene. Seeing Mungmung’s face flushed red and dropping clear tears, I approached hurriedly. Our mother, startled by the commotion, came running.
“What’s all this fuss? Why is Cheongmyeong crying!”
“Mungmung says he doesn’t like Saheon.”
“No… I don’t… don’t dislike him…”
It was a total mess. Mungmung shook his head violently, crying loudly and reaching out his arms to me as if asking to be hugged. I hugged Mungmung quickly, not knowing what to do. Our mother let out an incredulous laugh and muttered.
“What are these kids doing?”
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Hyung doesn’t dislike Mungmung.”
“Hyung-ah, don’t dislike Cheongmyeong…”
“I don’t dislike you. I don’t dislike you. I like you. I love you.”
I was busy trying to comfort the crying Mungmung. I couldn’t understand why he had thought that way. Avoiding Chaehun hyung’s incredulous gaze and our mother’s giggles, I retreated to my room, cradling Mungmung in my arms.
“Mungmung, don’t cry. Ah, shall we play the telephone game? The one you like the most?”
Because of the paper cup telephone game that Mungmung loved the most, there was always a paper cup phone ready in my room. As I hurriedly picked up the paper cup on the desk, Cheongmyeong turned his head away, still crying loudly.
“Hello, hello? This is Saheon hyung. Is Mungmung there?”
I persistently called out. But Mungmung just kept dropping tears full of sorrow with his face buried in my shoulder.
“Mungmung isn’t there because he’s crying? That’s strange. He said he was hyung’s brother.”
I muttered nonchalantly as if I didn’t know anything. Of course, it was loud enough for Mungmung to hear clearly. The small child glared at me sharply, a look I had never seen before, but it had about as much impact as a water-soaked basil seed.
“Isn’t Mungmung hyung’s brother? I guess not. Maybe he’s younger than Sejun.”
Sejun was the name of Mungmung’s newborn cousin. It seemed to touch the pride of the three-year-old, as Mungmung pressed his lips together and held back his hiccuping sobs. His face was still flushed, and his determined expression was so cute.
“…Mungmung-ie is hyung’s brother.”
“Mungmung is hyung’s brother? Oh? I guess you are a brother. You’re not crying anymore, now.”
Relieved that the tears had stopped, I kept kissing Mungmung’s white, soft cheeks and his reddened eyes. As the kisses rained down, his crying seemed to calm down a bit, and Mungmung breathed out with hiccups, his back heaving heavily.
I gently patted Mungmung’s back. The small, soft, and warm child’s body temperature clung to me even more. I held one side of the paper cup phone to my mouth. Now that he was somewhat comforted, it was time to carefully move on to the main point.
“Does Mungmung dislike Saheon hyung?”
The child, who had been pouting, put the paper cup I handed him to his mouth and shook his head. It seemed like there was no need to use the paper cup if he was going to answer like that. I had to hold back the laughter that was about to escape.
“Hyung doesn’t dislike Mungmung either. Why did you think hyung disliked you?”
“…Hyung-ah… keeps…”
“Keeps?”
“Saying he doesn’t want to play with Cheongmyeong…”
The child mumbled in a small voice, and then, as if about to cry again, chicken-pea-sized tears started to well up. But this time, perhaps wanting to be the older brother, he roughly buried his face in my shoulder. He wasn’t a cat, but he seemed to think he wouldn’t be seen if he just hid his head.
He’s so cute I could die. But I was mildly shocked. Yet Mungmung was cute. He was cute but shocking, and I felt like I might have teased him too much, but he was still cute. This was a severe case.
