Y13 [EN]: Chapter 176

Y13-176 2011 Off-Season

They arrived at the Getty Center before they knew it. As he parked, Youngjae noticed Emily speaking shyly, and he quickly closed all the car windows. The windows were heavily tinted, preventing anyone from seeing inside. Emily, thinking it was time to get out, unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Mmmph! Mmm…”

Youngjae felt a surge of desire. How could he resist when Emily, so honest, unreserved, and beautifully proud of him, sat shyly beside him, making no attempt to hide her feelings? He couldn’t help but close the windows and kiss her.

“Ah, ah… Yoon… we need to get out, ugh!”

Emily managed to create a small gap and tried to stop him, but Youngjae seemed unwilling to let her go. He gently pulled her waist with his left hand, settling her onto his lap, and wrapped his right arm around her right shoulder from behind. This time, Emily clung tightly to him, wrapping her arms around his head and shoulders, openly expressing her affection.

More than ten minutes later, they emerged from the car with flushed faces. People noticed their appearance, exclaiming, “Oh!” but couldn’t help but wonder why their lips looked so particularly red.

The two strolled around the Getty Center, feeling their hearts lighten. Youngjae, almost completely ignorant of art, simply followed Emily around. However, even he could appreciate the countless amazing works. Emily offered various explanations, but she looked even cuter with a swollen and sore lips when she occasionally brought a cold water bottle to her lips, than when she was being knowledgeable.

As sunset approached, they returned to their accommodation in the rental car after a few hours of sightseeing. Now, they could confidently enter their room without worrying about prying eyes. Emily linked arms with Youngjae and shyly admitted she was a little embarrassed. Youngjae responded by wrapping his arms around her waist even more, saying, “Why worry about such things?”

However, the atmosphere inside the room was completely different from what they had expected, and they awkwardly did nothing for an hour. Emily washed up first, then Youngjae. While one was in the bathroom, the other sat on the bed, pretending to watch TV, hiding their anxious hearts.

They ordered room service, ate dinner, had snacks, and sat side by side on the bed, not holding hands, watching TV from a distance. Eventually, they seemed to adjust to the hotel atmosphere and began to chat. They talked about their excitement for the ESPY [Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly] event the next day. What should they wear? Who would be there? Then, Emily drank some of the alcohol in the room, which led to what happened next.

From then on, the content of their conversation became irrelevant. Youngjae was drawn to Emily’s champagne-scented fragrance and hugged her tightly. Emily, slightly tipsy, embraced him and didn’t let go.

“…”

When Youngjae woke up, he felt ecstatic as he looked at Emily sleeping next to him, holding his arm. He couldn’t help but laugh, thinking, ‘What happened last night was really real…’

‘Don’t you see me as a woman? Am I just a good older sister?’

‘I won’t hold back anymore. I don’t have to hold back with Yoon.’

Emily had said that. And he had spent the night with her for the first time. The dizzyingly blissful memory enveloped Youngjae, and he felt a thrilling sensation as Emily, without a single thread on, tightly hugged his arm.

‘I should say her clumsiness is cute.’

From trying to endure everything to the end and then making a sound, to her body trembling, to her clumsy but earnest efforts, he couldn’t help but laugh even in that situation.

‘Still, it was amazing.’

Youngjae stroked Emily’s blonde hair and sighed. Still feeling a little weak, he jokingly mumbled to himself that he had to be careful of this woman, then hugged the sleeping Emily tightly.

“Ugh… just a little more…”

“You want to sleep more while you’re not wearing any clothes and clinging to me?”

“It’s okay… because it’s Yoon… then let me sleep a little more…”

Youngjae couldn’t hold back any longer and laughed heartily, then placed his chin on the top of Emily’s head and firmly closed his mouth.

2011 ESPY Awards.

Youngjae and Emily finished taking pictures at the photo zone of the LA special stage, arm in arm, with a huge crowd gathered. Various questions flew at them, and the two no longer hid their relationship, honestly talking about each other.

After entering, Youngjae met several players, mostly those he had faced in the NBA. Starting with Kobe Bryant and Russell Westbrook, whom he knew, players who had built rivalries with Youngjae approached him and greeted him and Emily.

“Kobe, how was your Asia tour? You went to Korea too, how was it?”

“Ah, Yoon, how have you been? I had a good trip. But how did you know I went to Korea? Were you searching for me? This was probably my third visit to Korea.”

Kobe, whom he had met after a long time, was the same as ever. He was a player with a strong desire to win on the court, but in places like this, he was easygoing. Youngjae greeted him by asking if he had a good trip to Korea, and Kobe laughed and responded.

“Hey, you’re a superstar, so it was a big deal when you visited Korea. I look at Korean internet sometimes, you know. Of course, I knew.”

“Haha, is that so? Well, if you check the news of your country, you would have seen it. The tour was fun. It was a short time, but I enjoyed seeing various kids. Korea… the kids were working hard. It’s a little disappointing that the young kids seem exhausted rather than enjoying it. I don’t know why the students are tired rather than enjoying playing basketball.”

Kobe tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand. In his view, the enthusiasm was a little lacking compared to American students, and he felt that they were working hard rather than enjoying basketball. He heard that it was a clinic with 8th and 9th graders (middle school 2nd and 3rd graders), but they felt like they were taking a test rather than enjoying it.

“Ah, that can’t be helped. It’s a unique problem in our country, but it doesn’t seem like it will be fixed. In our country, kids who play sports from a young age don’t study and only exercise for more than 10 hours a day. So, there’s no way they can enjoy it. It’s boring. Well, I lived that kind of life until 9th grade. I don’t think there are any advantages… but the disadvantages seem bigger.”

Youngjae recalled Korea’s elite-oriented education. Sports scholarship students formally attend classes until the morning, but in reality, they only sleep and rarely study. And it was common for them to be exhausted and fall out due to training all day and the coercive education of seniors and teachers. Of course, they couldn’t enjoy it.

“Oh, you only exercise all day… at that young age? I don’t think I would enjoy it either. Young age should be like a young age, it’s a little disappointing. The story got too long. Then, see you later.”

“Go ahead.”

The two, who had been talking for a short time, parted ways as Kobe moved on to meet other people. Youngjae also sent Kobe off first to greet his colleagues and other acquaintances.

“Yoon. After winning the championship, your face looks like it’s covered in gold, your impression has improved a lot?”

Youngjae smiled slightly and nodded at the stylish appearance of John Wall, who was wearing white suit pants, brown shoes, a gold tie, a white shirt, and finally a black suit jacket.

“Wall, you’re amazing too? If you dress so nicely, what am I supposed to be?”

Certainly, Youngjae’s outfit had a slightly casual feel rather than a suit. Since he didn’t like suits in the first place, even in this kind of setting, he wore black suit pants, a slightly V-neck white short-sleeved T-shirt, a casual suit jacket with a slightly leather jacket feel, and a couple necklace with a lemon-shaped pendant and a wristwatch. Youngjae’s appearance gave off a dandy feel rather than a formal one.

“Hey, that’s because you don’t like it because it’s stuffy. But you’re dressed appropriately enough?”

“Of course. I have my person next to me, so if I don’t show respect, I’m a rude person.”

Emily, wearing a pure white dress that suited her fair skin, greeted John Wall gracefully. John Wall was almost mesmerized by Emily’s appearance, but he regained his composure and nudged Youngjae’s side with his elbow.

“When did you get such a beauty? I’m so jealous. I’m going. See you next time?”

“Okay. See you next time, ah. Wait a minute.”

Youngjae briefly called out to John Wall and took something out of his wallet and handed it to John Wall. It was none other than a temporary business card with Youngjae’s contact information.

“Contact me when you’re bored. Let’s practice together sometime.”

Youngjae smiled playfully, stretched out his thumb and pinky finger to make a phone shape, and waved his right hand near his ear. Then, John Wall also smiled, followed Youngjae’s gesture, and disappeared into the crowd.

After that, Youngjae briefly greeted this year’s draft rookies, such as Jimmer Fredette, who had the best performance in the 2011 NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association], and Kemba Walker, who showed the best performance in the Big East Conference Tournament. Finally, Youngjae met the Dallas Mavericks members and greeted them happily.

Not all of them came, but seven people attended: Nowitzki, Kidd, Terry, Chandler, Marion, Barea, and Cardinal. Including himself, there were eight people.

“Wow~ Hello!”

However, Youngjae was an afterthought, and everyone’s attention was focused on Emily in her white dress, and they were busy greeting her. Emily was embarrassed by the sight, but she smiled as brightly as possible and greeted Youngjae’s teammates happily.

“Hey- am I not visible?”

“Ah, you came?”

At Youngjae’s grumbling, the team members greeted him as if they were teasing him. Youngjae pouted, thinking it was too much, but since Emily had already become the main focus of the conversation, Youngjae couldn’t help but smile, feeling good in his own way.

The special event hall was literally packed. However, the Dallas Mavericks players, who were nominated for awards, were assigned to good-looking front seats, literally prime spots. The ESPY Awards were literally a festival where players who had performed tremendously in sports during the year gathered in one place. That’s why players from the NBA [National Basketball Association], NFL [National Football League], MLB [Major League Baseball], MLS [Major League Soccer], WNBA [Women’s National Basketball Association]… and even sports such as skiing and tennis, who had the best performances this season, and various celebrities all gathered.

“Wow…”

Since Emily was taking a seat in such a place, she seemed nervous, looking around and finding it difficult to calm her pounding heart. But Youngjae reassured her and held Emily’s right hand to ease her tension.

“Now, you’re going to become an actress and singer who is equal to the people here, why are you nervous?”

“Ah, it’s not yet. I don’t even know if I’ll definitely become one…”

But Youngjae cut off Emily’s words in a firm tone.

“You’ll definitely become one. Trust me.”

For some reason, Emily seemed to have gained a little confidence from Youngjae’s conviction, and she began to enjoy the ESPYs with a much more relaxed expression. The ESPYs were, as expected, a huge event, glamorous and extravagant in every way.

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

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

＠I’m sorry for taking a break from updating yesterday. My allergies were so bad yesterday that I was in pain all day. I took medicine and passed out, and when I woke up, it was past midnight.

＠The ESPY Awards are quite a glamorous and well-known event. It’s as good as the Grammys or the Academy Awards. It is a representative awards ceremony among the National Sports Awards.

＠In fact, Kobe visited Korea on July 14-15. It was his first visit in 5 years since 2006. It was a tour with Kobe’s name on it, and he worked quite diligently. He held clinics for high school and college students, had a 1:1 match against middle school students, and had a talk show with editors-in-chief Cho Hyun-il and Son Dae-beop. It is said that this was Kobe’s third visit to Korea. At this time, he jokingly said that if the lockout was prolonged, how about coming to the KBL [Korean Basketball League]? He said that playing in the KBL would be interesting.

gae-goo-ri power/// ㅠ.ㅠ I’m writing about everyday life…

il-lu-mi-ne/// Since the meeting period is short, they are dating hard~~

eun-sin-seol-ya/// We are also lonely ㅠ.ㅠ

rtg98/// That’s right. He is the only black man among the 30 team owners, and he is in the top 5 of sports star income every year. He is almost always number 1 among basketball players. He is a shoe store owner haha.

ultra10/// Kobe will be similar to A-Rod [Alex Rodriguez]. He exceeded $30 million two years ago. But there are several MLB players who are higher than Joe Johnson or Dirk Nowitzki below him. The NBA has a maximum set, but baseball doesn’t… But starting next year, basketball will surpass baseball. It seems like there will be double-digit players with salaries of over $30 million ㄷㄷ. LeBron’s maximum seems to be close to $40 million;;;

h0h/// We are also lonely haha

CountOfDark, -DarkANGEL-, Financia, Omarion/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a nice day tomorrow too~

so-sim-jji-jil-yeol-deung-nam, goimosp/// Thank you for your words. There are no players who only exercise all day ㅎㅎ

Ha/// I’m glad you were immersed in it. I’ll see you often in the comments in the future~

woo-yu-dong-ja/// It seems that the reservation rate is already hitting the bottom;; Why didn’t they catch it properly in the past and just covered it up… Anyway, there are too many people in our country who use their heads to cover it up first.