Y13 [EN]: Chapter 144

Y13-144

00144 2010-2011 Final =========================================================================

At Lauren’s whispered words, Steve looked surprised. Mellie, sensing something, quickly interjected before Emily could speak, saying, “Youngjae and I aren’t like that~”.

“I don’t know why everyone misunderstands, right, oppa [an honorific term used by younger women to address older brothers or male friends]?”

“Umm… yeah, yeah.”

Steve had, in fact, initially suspected something between them when he first heard the story and watched the broadcast. But he never imagined it was just a pure friendship and camaraderie, so he could only stammer in response to Mellie’s question.

“…”

Emily couldn’t help but feel a slight unease as she watched Mellie, who was five years younger and quite pretty, talking to Youngjae. Even though they lived in a liberal society and she believed she had a deep relationship with Youngjae, she couldn’t suppress a flicker of anxiety seeing such a scene unfold before her.

Youngjae glanced at Emily and sensed her feelings. So, he boldly took Emily’s hand in front of everyone. Emily was startled and looked at Youngjae with wide eyes, and Youngjae just smiled as if to say, ‘What about it?’

“Ooh~”

“Kyaaa~ They’re holding hands, huh? Oppa! Will I be like that when I get a boyfriend? Aah~”

“If you want to get a boyfriend, you need to ditch that workaholic tendency… How’s a guy supposed to appear when you’re always buried in work?”

Steve chided Mellie, but Mellie didn’t seem to hear him, lost in her own imagination, dreaming a happy dream like the heroine of a romance comic.

“Why did you do that?”

“… I’m sorry. I was just a little anxious.”

Youngjae felt he couldn’t leave things as they were, so he excused himself and Emily from Steve, Mellie, and Lauren, and took Emily to the kitchen for a moment. He then asked Emily a question. Emily lowered her head, as if she felt sorry for Youngjae, and revealed her true feelings.

“Yoon is such a great player that he’s in the final promotional scene [referring to the NBA finals]. And he competed for Rookie of the Year until the end… Honestly, I think Yoon can go far as an NBA player. No, I hope he does.”

“Emily.”

“But I… just joined Walking Dead for the first time, and I’m included in the main cast, but I haven’t achieved anything yet. Not in music, not in acting. Besides, I’m six years older…”

At Emily’s endless worries, Youngjae hugged her tightly, rested his chin on the top of her head, and clicked his tongue.

“Ack, ah!”

Emily was about to chide Youngjae for seemingly taking her seriously spoken words as a joke, but Youngjae hadn’t taken her story as a joke either. He pulled out a chair for Emily to sit on, knelt down in front of her, made eye contact, and began to speak.

“Who’s better, who’s worse, where does that come from?”

“Huh?”

Youngjae took Emily’s hand with a serious expression, surprising her with his words.

“Whether we match well or not, and who’s better, who’s lacking. Who decides that? The way people see us? Or the media? Or the fans?”

“…”

“In the end, it’s enough if we’re good with each other, right? I also think Emily will soar high as an actress and singer with this opportunity. Without a doubt. That’s why I was worried about unnecessary rumors or being bothered by reporters until then. I was worried that it might hinder Emily’s future, so I said let’s not go public. I’m also still a rookie, and I have the most important game of the season left.”

Emily nodded slightly without saying anything, as if telling Youngjae to keep talking, and focused on his words.

“Some people probably already suspect it to some extent. It’s just not public knowledge. Paparazzi have already spread some photos to the media, and articles are steadily being published. I think it’s only this much because neither of us is that famous yet.”

“Yes…”

“The filming of Walking Dead is over, and my season is ending soon. If we give it a little time, I think it’s okay to go public. So, if you were anxious about me keeping it a secret, don’t be. If you’re still anxious, we can go public as soon as the season ends.”

Listening to Youngjae’s words, who was so considerate of her, the anxiety, worry, and confusion that remained deep inside melted away, and tears welled up without her knowing. She tried to hide them, but they kept flowing, and she couldn’t stop sobbing. Youngjae covered her face with his chest so she wouldn’t be embarrassed.

“Emily.”

“Yes.”

“Speak comfortably.”

…

“Okay.”

Youngjae whispered softly in Emily’s ear.

“I hope you’ll come to the final game.”

Emily understood Youngjae’s heart and nodded as if to say she understood, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

May 30, 2011.

Youngjae stared blankly at the ceiling, thinking he had slept past 7 o’clock for the first time in a long time. Feeling the warmth still lingering from the spot next to him, Youngjae smoothed the slightly pressed mattress with his hand and stretched. It was more of a stretching and yoga pose that had become a habit rather than a typical stretch. Despite his incredibly flexible body, Youngjae frowned as if he was dissatisfied with something.

‘Legs.’

A slight pain felt in his legs, stretched out to 180 degrees. Perhaps because fatigue had accumulated, even after resting and receiving treatment, his whole body was already tattered. Youngjae had never played full-time in college. He had steadily built up his stamina, and he had received some management during the regular season, but he hadn’t been able to do so during the playoffs.

It would be more strange if there wasn’t a single place that didn’t hurt in this situation, but Youngjae was even more dissatisfied because he didn’t want to start the day in such a gloomy way.

“Hoo.”

It might be a very trivial thing, but he was constantly bothered by the fact that the start of the day wasn’t very good. So, Youngjae frowned and slowly walked from the mat to the kitchen. A good feeling that changed his expression completely, felt at once even from a distance. Youngjae stared intently at Emily, who was diligently preparing breakfast, from a few steps behind.

And then Emily turned around. Emily, who met Youngjae’s eyes, looked even more pure and beautiful, perhaps because she was receiving the morning sunlight.

“You’re awake? You should have told me if you were awake~”

She was wearing a thin beige tank top and short cotton pants, but at that moment, she was undoubtedly the ‘most beautiful’ woman to Youngjae, who had seen countless women in his life.

“You’re even good at cooking now?”

Youngjae playfully spoke to Emily to hide his embarrassment, and Emily simply smiled and turned her gaze back to the cutting board, continuing to prepare the vegetables that looked fresh just by looking at them.

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll do the rest.”

Youngjae thought Emily, who had diligently prepared food early in the morning, was cute, so he said he would do the rest, but Emily said, ‘It’s okay on other days, but not today!’ and blocked Youngjae from taking the spot in front of the cutting board with her whole body.

“Today is a really important day. I want to do it for you just for today… Can’t I?”

He wanted to shout that there was no way she couldn’t, but Youngjae held back and just nodded. Looking at the healthy vegetables and boiled meat with the oil drained, which she had prepared so as not to put too much burden on him, Youngjae was surprised.

“This is, suyuk [boiled pork belly slices], right?!”

The vaguely remaining Korean taste. Come to think of it, seeing that she woke up early today and was busy, Youngjae guessed that Emily had probably found out and made suyuk herself.

“I thought that if it was oily food, you might not feel well and it might be hard to play the game… So I tried to find a meat dish among Korean foods that was low in oil and delicious.”

Instead of kimchi, it was a vegetable salad mixed with dressing, but Youngjae boldly put a large piece of suyuk and salad into his mouth, and Emily watched Youngjae with a very nervous expression.

“Um, um! This is perfect! Perfect! And eating it with salad is something unique and fresh, not bland or greasy!”

Only then did Emily smile brightly and enjoy breakfast with Youngjae. Emily had already washed up, so Youngjae took his time washing up and preparing to go out for morning training.

“You’re coming today, right?”

At Youngjae’s nonchalant tone, Emily nodded with a smiling face and grabbed Youngjae’s jersey collar.

“I’ll be back.”

Before leaving, Youngjae bent down slightly to hug Emily, thinking he would hug her once. But before he knew it, he wanted more, from just a kiss on the cheek to a light kiss on the lips.

“Yoon.”

But Emily was worried about Youngjae, who would be playing an important game today, so she stopped Youngjae and just kissed Youngjae lightly on the lips and pulled away.

“I don’t want to make you waver before an important game.”

“Oh… and. I’m just saying… when you go out, wear something a little longer…”

Emily glanced at her outfit at Youngjae’s words and whispered to Youngjae in a small voice like a mosquito, as if she was a little embarrassed.

“This is home. It’s home and… I wouldn’t wear this unless it’s in front of Yoon. Uh, hurry up and go! I’ll go to the stadium later! You’re going to be late!”

Youngjae started the SUV and drove to the American Airlines Center as usual, but he kept laughing like a madman, perhaps because Emily’s last words kept lingering in his mind.

‘I wouldn’t wear this unless it’s in front of Yoon.’

May 31, 2011, 9 PM. Dallas.

[Hello! This is ESPN bringing you the 2010-2011 NBA FINAL!! The first game! It’s being held at the American Airlines Center. Today’s commentators are Mike Breen! Steve Kerr and Jeff Van Gundy will be providing commentary. Nice to meet you!]

The American Airlines Center was filled with tremendous excitement, befitting the final game of the NBA season. Already packed with spectators in every seat, the audience expressed their pounding emotions by stomping their feet and clapping their hands to the intense music of HOOBASTANK.

[Finally, the end of this season’s NBA has arrived. Jeff? Steve? As commentators, how do you feel about watching this finale?]

[Should I say relieved but also sad? It’s a stage that everyone desires, but it’s also a place that comes with a tremendous amount of pressure. The team that overcomes that pressure will remain.]

[Overcoming that pressure is also a virtue of a great coach, and it’s also the ability of a player leader. Through this series, the true colors of the two young coaches will be revealed, and the leadership of Miami’s Big 3, Kidd, and Nowitzki will also be revealed.]

[This matchup is also a rematch after 5 years. It’s a case where the same teams meet again in the finals after 5 years. In 2005-2006, the Dallas Mavericks suffered an absurd result of 2 wins at home followed by 4 consecutive losses. The Miami Heat reversed the series with Wade’s all-time performance. Even the fact that Dallas has home-court advantage is the same. Nowitzki and Terry, Wade and Haslem are also playing as shooting guards and power forwards. It’s an interesting match in many ways.]

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

★Thank you to those who gave advance reservations, recommendations, comments, and coupons!!

Eunshinseolya-nim/// You’re fast, lol. You’re the first commenter today too, lol.

dsmk12-nim, ㅎ0ㅎ-nim, 찬란한유산-nim, CountOfDark-nim, 파이넨시아-nim///Thank you for always commenting!!

맛간냥이-nim///lol You binge-watched at super speed.

goimosp-nim/// Haha, we have to make it explode. Of course, even if we do, it will be Youngjae’s personal popularity rather than the popularity of basketball, lol.

울트라10-nim///Yes. So they were the underdog team, and it was divine help that there were no injuries in the second half. It’s a team where organization is life…

비켜봐-nim///Reality is so dramatic that I’m worried about whether it’s possible to reproduce even half of it ㅠ.ㅠ

라피르and진트-nim/// Depending on the style, it seems that there will be comparisons with Curry whether he changes positions or not, haha.