Y13 [EN]: Chapter 149

Y13-149 2010-2011 Finals

[Ah! Youngjae Yoon is finally heading back to the locker room. He recorded 16 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals in 16 minutes today, and it looks like he’ll finish the game like this.]

[Even if Youngjae Yoon is the starting shooting guard, Jason Terry can sufficiently fill that spot, so it seems Coach Carlisle doesn’t want to push Youngjae Yoon too hard. I also think it’s best to avoid playing with an injury if possible. Of course, if he’s an irreplaceable player on the team and a veteran, he might play. Above all, I think the coach made this decision based on the location and condition of Yoon’s injury.]

[Actually, Nowitzki is currently playing with an injury to his left middle finger. If you look closely, he’s been playing with his left middle finger taped up from practice to the actual game. Haywood is also playing with a slight injury.]

Nowitzki was also shooting, doing layups, and passing with his left finger taped. That’s how important Nowitzki’s presence is to Dallas, and his finger injury was bearable enough to play through. You can often see players playing in the playoffs with their fingers taped up. Superstars like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant often showed their fighting spirit by playing through minor injuries and even dragging their feet.

“…”

Still, Youngjae felt disappointed in himself. He was frustrated to the point of madness, but he decided to trust the players, Rick Carlisle, and the coaches. As he headed to the locker room, he applauded the fans.

Clap clap clap-

A thunderous applause. Youngjae could finally smile slightly at the wonderful applause and cheers sending him off with ‘Good job.’ However, Youngjae couldn’t bear to look at Emily, who was watching him with worried eyes, mixed with anxiety and sadness, until the end.

Tick- tock- tick- tock-

Youngjae was lying face down with pads that looked like suction cups attached to his back, receiving electrical stimulation. Because it was a home game, he immediately went to the team’s designated hospital for a thorough examination. Fortunately, the results showed that it wasn’t a serious injury, just a common bruise, and Youngjae could breathe a sigh of relief.

– Yoon, how are you? –

“It doesn’t hurt that much. I think I’m almost recovered now.”

Youngjae was talking to Emily on speakerphone while receiving treatment. The ticking sound felt like it was shooting his back, making him feel strange, but he made a refreshing expression, feeling that his stiff muscles were definitely loosening up.

– That’s a relief, really. I thought it was a major injury when you left before the game even ended. The hospital said it’s nothing serious, right? –

“I told you~ It’s nothing serious. Just a bruise. They said I can play in the next game.”

Emily asked several more times, wondering if Youngjae was hiding anything because he was worried about her, but Youngjae kept smiling, finding Emily cute, and told her several times that it wasn’t the case.

– … I miss you. –

“Me too. I miss you too.”

Youngjae smiled so wide that his mouth almost reached his ears at Emily’s shy confession.

Beep beep beep-

“Yoon, treatment is finished. Fortunately, it was a much minor injury than we thought, but since it’s the area it is, please get enough rest before the game. If possible, it would be good to rest during team training tomorrow as well.”

At the physical therapist’s words, Youngjae reassured Emily, saying, ‘Did you hear that?’ and Emily smiled bashfully and replied that it was a relief. Even as he put on his clothes and left the hospital, Youngjae didn’t turn off the phone and continued talking to Emily. After getting in the car and placing his smartphone on the cradle, Youngjae continued to chat with Emily.

“I’m going to the mart [supermarket], what should I buy?”

Youngjae knew that the note Emily wrote was in his wallet, but he asked again nonchalantly because he wanted to hear her voice one more time.

– So, soybean paste and red pepper paste and… tofu? And zucchini… –

Listening to the ingredients Emily was listing, it seemed like she was going to make *jjigae* [Korean stew]. After listening to everything, Youngjae pretended to be even more surprised and expressed his affection.

“You’re about to become a Korean food master~ I love women who are good at Korean food so much~”

– Ah, hey… It’s my first time making it. It might not be good. You have to help me next to me. –

Perhaps feeling burdened by Youngjae’s expectations, Emily acted coy, and Youngjae laughed happily, saying he understood. Arriving at the mart, Youngjae looked around each corner, looking at the note he had put in his wallet, and began to pick out the ingredients one by one. Fortunately, it was a large mart, so Korean food ingredients were quite well prepared, and Youngjae picked up soybean paste, red pepper paste, tofu, green onions, chewy-looking pork, and mushrooms. And then, he picked out pasta ingredients and sauce, a few pieces of beef tenderloin to be used for steak, and finally grabbed a handful of broccoli.

“Hmm, hmm~”

Chop chop chop-

Youngjae finely chopping the ingredients placed on the cutting board. And Emily, the main chef of the day, tilted her head while tasting the soybean paste stew that was bubbling.

“Yoon, is this the taste?”

Youngjae tasted the soup given by Emily, who was wearing an apron and fixing her bangs with a pin, and let out a short exclamation.

“This is it, this! Yeah, this is *doenjang jjigae* [soybean paste stew].”

Emily was worried because it was her first time, but her worries were unfounded. The *doenjang jjigae* Emily made was enough to suit Youngjae’s taste. Youngjae liked to add a little *gochujang* [red pepper paste] to the *doenjang jjigae* to add flavor. As expected, *gochujang* did not betray the taste of Koreans. Emily wiped the spoon they had tasted with cleanly and slowly began to boil it over low heat.

“And this is Korean-style rice.”

Emily was very amazed as Youngjae, who had been living alone for several years and had a knack for cooking, scooped the pot rice onto a plate. Looking at the Korean rice, which boasted a slight viscosity and shine instead of flying away in the wind when blown, she picked off a grain of rice stuck to her finger and ate it.

“Wow!”

Emily expressed the meaning of delicious with her whole body like a child. Youngjae watched Emily with a satisfied smile and skillfully began to prepare pasta and steak as side dishes for the guests. With soybean paste and red pepper paste, Youngjae started to show off his skills after a long time, thinking of making the sauce Korean style.

Ding-dong-

“Oh, they’re here!”

At the sound of the bell ringing from the entrance, Youngjae hurriedly plated the dishes and came out to the front door with Emily.

“You’re here?”

Tyson Chandler, Corey Brewer, and J.J. Barea, who were standing outside the door, came into Youngjae’s house with gifts in their hands. Youngjae had invited his teammates to coincide with the end of team training since he had taken a break today. They were Chandler and Brewer, who were the closest players on the team, and Barea, plus one more. Considering Dallas, which is full of veterans, it could be seen as a gathering of the team’s 20-something players, excluding the injured Beaubois.

“Oh~ Is this Y13’s house? Thinking about when we train, I thought it would be more gloomy and depressing, but the atmosphere in the house is surprisingly bright?”

In response to Barea’s silly joke, who was coming into the house at the forefront, Youngjae smiled and replied that he refused cheesy jokes, and then looked at the gifts in the hands of the three and shone his eyes.

“You brought gifts in both hands as I said, right? Let’s see what you brought.”

“Ehe~ You have to introduce the lady next to you before that, huh?”

Chandler stopped Youngjae, who was trying to take the gifts without even introducing them, and pulled the gifts back, then nudged Youngjae’s stomach with his elbow. Youngjae confidently wrapped his arm around Emily’s waist as if he understood and said.

“Emily Kinney. She’s my girlfriend.”

The three players teased Youngjae, saying ‘Oh~’ and joking that Emily was a waste and that he was a player as rumored.

“Okay, okay, the food is getting cold, so come in first. Oh, everyone, don’t forget to take off your shoes and come in.”

“Huh? Why take off your shoes?”

The three players made bewildered expressions at something they were experiencing for the first time, and Emily kindly explained, wiggling her bare feet, instead of Youngjae.

“In Korea, they take off their shoes and live in the house. Yoon was born and raised in Korea, so he lives that way in the house. So the floor in the house is clean. It’s surprisingly comfortable~”

The three nodded as if they understood and came in after taking off their shoes. Even Barea, who was the smallest at 6-0 (183cm), made the house feel cramped, and Emily almost panicked at the feeling that a wall was standing in front of her. She had become immune to tall people while meeting Youngjae, but in Chandler’s case, she had to look up at him quite a bit.

After having the three players sit at the dining table, Youngjae also had Emily sit on the opposite side and began to bring out the food. Emily said she could do it herself and argued with Youngjae, but in the end, Youngjae brought the food. Emily also poured *doenjang jjigae* separately and poured the remaining *doenjang jjigae* into the rice in a large pot.

The side dishes were steak and some pasta made by Youngjae. It might have been a very strange combination, but it was a table set with the desire to taste both Korean and Western food evenly.

The three players began to eat with gusto, falling into the charm of Korean food that was hard to taste on a regular basis.

“As expected! Yoon’s cooking skills weren’t just rumors!”

“I know, right. Is this what you call Korean food that I’m eating now?”

But Youngjae shrugged his shoulders and replied, ‘I didn’t do it?’

“Emily did all of this. All I did was cut the ingredients next to her.”

“Oh oh! Is that so?! Wow, that’s amazing! Ms. Emily. Isn’t this too delicious?”

Emily made a flustered expression when she suddenly became the subject of the conversation, but when Youngjae grabbed Emily’s left hand under the table, she understood Youngjae’s intention and thanked him.

“I’m glad you like it. I made it thinking I made a lot, but I’m wondering if it’s a little lacking…”

“Oh! Don’t worry, this amount is enough.”

“Still, I can keep eating this, right? Isn’t it too delicious?”

The five people, who made a fuss like that and emptied the rice, let out a satisfied sigh.

After finishing the meal, Youngjae and Emily told the three to go to the living room and relax on the sofa while watching TV, and decided to do the dishes in the kitchen. Of course, even here, the two bickered, saying that they would do the dishes, but in the end, Youngjae did the dishes and Emily decided to make coffee to drink for dessert.

“Phew~ My mouth had a feast. My mouth.”

Barea made a dazed expression as if he still couldn’t get out of Korean food, and Chandler snapped his fingers with a bored expression and told Barea to come to his senses. Brewer turned on the laptop he had brought and plugged in the USB, regardless of whether the two were doing that or not.

“There’s not much to drink, so I brought coffee, and I’ll put the syrup in the middle, so you can add it to your taste.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

Emily handed out coffee one by one, and Youngjae also finished washing the dishes and came back and sat on the sofa.

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

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

＠I couldn’t write it as well as I wanted, so I finished it after waking up. I hope you all have a good day today.

H0h///Congratulations on your first comment! Haha… It’s your first season and you already have such an injury ㅠ.ㅠ

goimosp/// Yes. When I think of the young players who were lost due to injuries, there are so many unfortunate players.

-DarkANGEL-, RapierandJint, CountOfDark, Financia, Omariyon/// Thank you for your comments!! Be careful of the hot weather ^^.

Ultra10/// The first game was actually motivated by the third game, so it was a disappointing defeat… Is it the beginning of the counterattack now??!!

Fabian/// Back injuries are really cruel in reality too ㅠ.ㅠ

Silver Road/// The brain and eyes made a mistake lol. What I see with my eyes is Bosh, but what I think with my brain is a different player…

zigichacha/// That’s right. Seeing how Howard’s form dropped so much due to a back injury;;

reinhard, Vanishing Soul/// I’m sorry. I have corrected the typo. I guess I wasn’t in good condition yesterday, so I made two mistakes. ㅠ.ㅠ

Lord of Shrimp/// You’re a new reader. Thank you!! I will continue to write good articles.