Y13 [EN]: Chapter 95

Y13-95 (95/296)

00095 2010-11 Regular Season =========================================================================

Youngjae, having gotten into his SUV—his beloved car—checked the countless messages piled up on his smartphone but didn’t reply. Among them were messages from Mellie Yeon, David Yeon, Brian Cardinal from the Aztecs, Kawhi Leonard, and even messages from D.J. Gay, Kelvin Davis, and Malcolm Thomas, who were playing basketball in Spain, Greece, and Korea. However, Youngjae didn’t have the courage to check and reply to each one. The reason they were contacting him was only one thing.

There were also many missed calls. He hadn’t kept his smartphone by his side for two days, so he could only answer calls when he happened to be holding it. The rest of the time, he lived as if he didn’t have a smartphone, sitting blankly on the bed watching TV or falling asleep and having nightmares, and two days passed.

“……”

Youngjae thought about apologizing now, saying he couldn’t make it to the appointment, and going back home, but he figured he had already made up his mind and gotten into the car, so it wasn’t right to go back home.

Vroom-

The ride in the SUV was always good. It was stable and smooth, but for some reason, Youngjae felt nauseous. He even felt motion sickness, which he never got, and as he watched people walking around outside, completely disconnected from him, he felt a strong urge to hide at home. Even after arriving at the meeting place, Youngjae couldn’t easily get out of the SUV.

Honk-

Youngjae stared outside from inside the car for a long time, and when the person he had made the appointment with arrived in front of his car, Youngjae carefully honked the horn. The person, who had arrived at the meeting place and was looking around, was surprised by the horn, but soon, when their eyes met with Youngjae, who slightly lowered the window, they couldn’t help but be shocked.

“First, get in. Let’s talk inside.”

Screech-

His body wouldn’t move properly today. The steak, which he usually made quickly, was left unattended and burned black on the outside. The pasta was boiled for too long and crumbled like udon noodles [thick, chewy Japanese noodles], and the knife skills were erratic, so the diced vegetables were all different sizes.

“?!”

Unexpectedly, Youngjae accidentally cut the back of his hand while chopping, and he dropped the knife on the floor without realizing it. The person who came with Youngjae was startled by the loud noise of the knife falling on the floor and rushed into the kitchen.

“Yoon!”

The person was none other than Emily. She had been wearing a hat and had taken it off, so her hair was slightly pressed down, but her youthful, pretty face and beautiful hair were still there.

“Yoon, are you okay?”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Youngjae blankly grabbed the knife and started chopping the messed-up vegetables again. Emily couldn’t bear to watch that precarious sight any longer.

“Yoon, I’ll do it. Okay? And your hand is bleeding.”

Unexpectedly, Emily calmly comforted Youngjae. Emily, who had watched the game against Philadelphia, had directly witnessed the scene where Youngjae was almost injured by Spencer Hawes, and she was worried because Youngjae’s contact had suddenly stopped after that. Emily took advantage of a break in the filming of *The Walking Dead* Season 2 to come and see Youngjae.

Emily was curious about what had happened to Youngjae, as he was so different from the witty and mature Youngjae she knew, but she couldn’t pry. The current Youngjae was like a precarious Jenga tower that would collapse with the slightest touch.

“Here, I have a bandage. Put this on and sit down for a while. Believe it or not, I’m a good cook.”

“……”

Youngjae slumped down in a chair and stared blankly at Emily’s back as she cooked. He couldn’t see Emily’s expression, but he could feel it from her back. She had taken time out of her busy filming schedule to come all the way here, and even though he had suddenly demanded to go home, she had followed without complaint. Emily was trying to cheer him up.

Whether she knew Youngjae’s thoughts or not, Emily’s expression was full of worry. She had thought there might be a problem, but she never imagined he would be so mentally broken. Emily wondered what to say and what to do, but she decided that feeding him delicious food was the first thing to do. After making up her mind, she began to show off her skills after a long time.

“Here, try it.”

Emily skillfully diced the steak into bite-sized pieces and arranged them around the pasta, plating it perfectly so that he could eat the pasta and steak on one plate, and handed it to Youngjae.

Youngjae mechanically said thank you and repeatedly ate the pasta with a fork and then ate the steak. Emily silently handed Youngjae water, and Youngjae took the cup, quenched his thirst, and repeated the process.

After finishing a plate in 10 minutes, Youngjae slid the plate aside and bowed his head to Emily.

“I’m sorry. You came all the way here because of my change of heart, and I should have treated you better.”

Youngjae’s face was gaunt, and his voice was monotone. Then, Youngjae laughed like a madman and shook his head.

“I don’t know why I’m like this. I really don’t know.”

The deep frustration and despair contained in those words ached Emily’s heart as she vaguely saw her past self in Youngjae.

“Yoon, you *do* know.”

Emily didn’t know why, but she didn’t know why she became so defenseless in front of this man. Stories she didn’t want to tell, memories she didn’t want to recall. It was painful to bring up those memories, but Emily felt that it would be worth it if it would comfort Youngjae even a little.

“I debuted in 2006. For a year, I wasn’t given any work, any opportunities.”

Youngjae shook his head, feeling that Emily was bringing up difficult stories because of him. He told her not to bring it up if it was hard, not to do that because of someone like him, but Emily ignored him and continued her story.

“Then, starting with a drama called *Game Killer*, *New York Special Investigation Unit*, and *UnUsuals* offered me minor roles. It was quite a famous drama in the United States. But almost no one knows that I was in it.”

“Emily.”

“After that, I wasn’t given any more opportunities. Just minor roles and minor roles. And minor roles. And the singing I wanted to do didn’t work out properly either. I thought it was because I wasn’t working hard enough.”

Youngjae wanted to stop Emily, but Emily steadfastly revealed her wounds. Youngjae couldn’t stop her anymore because of her determined expression.

“I got vocal nodules, and I couldn’t sing for more than three months. I was scared from then on. I was frustrated because I couldn’t sing properly. I didn’t think I would be able to sing anymore.”

“……”

“So I took a break from activities. Then, I happened to meet the current producer of *The Walking Dead*. I was just humming, and the producer heard my humming and said that he really wanted to hear *The Parting Glass*. He said that a tone like mine was rare.”

“Emily.”

Emily’s eyes welled up with tears as she recalled that time. It must have been a deep and painful wound. It was as mentally painful as what the San Antonio Spurs’ number 19 player had suffered. As soon as he came to that thought, Youngjae could feel that he was genuinely worried about Emily.

“Ah, there are still people who want to hear my song. Even if my vocal cords are damaged again, there is meaning in singing. My efforts… are not in vain. That’s why I am who I am now. Yoon, I don’t know what pain you have. But… don’t be like this. I think the fastest way to overcome deep and painful trauma is to face it head-on. It won’t be easy. But I have no doubt that Yoon will be resurrected and return to the player who received the MVP [Most Valuable Player award] at the Rookie Challenge.”

Youngjae felt Emily’s wounds and deep consideration with his whole body, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Why, can you be so sure?”

“Just. I think so.”

Youngjae stood up from his seat and sat next to Emily, gently wiping the tears from her eyes with a tissue. Youngjae was drawn to Emily as if the N pole and S pole of a magnet were attracted to each other, and he whispered in Emily’s ear as he hugged her.

“Why… why are you doing this for me?”

Emily just hugged Youngjae’s waist with both arms and leaned her head on Youngjae’s shoulder, as if she didn’t know either.

“I don’t know either. It’s just… my heart tells me to.”

The two people hugged each other for a long time, feeling each other’s body temperature and breathing. Then, Youngjae swallowed hard and carefully opened his mouth.

“Are you okay with a guy like this?”

“I was like that too.”

“I might be like this again. And, there might be things I can’t say until the end.”

Emily nodded with a pleasant smile.

“I’ll forgive white lies.”

Apart from Youngjae receiving a week’s rest, coach Rick Carlisle, coach Dwane Casey, and coach Terry Stotts were waiting for the players at the training ground, talking. All three of them had frustrated expressions on their faces.

“It’s a headache. Chandler gets injured on the same day we traded Ajinca. Chandler has been maintaining his pace this season without any major injuries…”

“Besides, our team’s power forwards don’t have players who can double as centers. That means we have to endure with Haywood and Mahinmi for the time being. Originally, we were thinking of using either Mahinmi or Ajinca as the 4 [power forward position], but it’s a shame that it didn’t work out.”

Coach Casey and coach Carlisle frowned and talked. Immediately after Tyson Chandler was injured in the game against Philadelphia, the trade with the Toronto Raptors, including Ajinca, was officially approved. Of course, since they didn’t expect Chandler’s injury at all, there was no point in arguing about the right and wrong of the trade, so the three people knew that solving the current problem was more productive and important than regretting the trade.

“The problem is that it is difficult to expect good performance if we have to endure 48 minutes with just Haywood and Mahinmi. Haywood and Mahinmi are not players who can play more than 15 minutes and 10 minutes, respectively. Unless Haywood recovers his performance from last year, our team’s defense and rebounding will have serious problems until Chandler returns. Mahinmi is not very reliable on defense, let alone offense.”

After transferring to Dallas in the 09-10 season, Haywood was at a level that was not inferior to a starter on a strong contender team. He recorded almost a season double-double in Washington, and even after transferring to Dallas, he was at a decent level with 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. That’s why Dallas gave him a long-term contract of 6 years last summer. However, Haywood in the 10-11 season shattered those expectations.

“Haywood’s rebounding stats have almost halved this season, and his opponent’s field goal percentage has increased by more than 8%. Mahinmi has no answer on defense due to positioning and BQ [basketball IQ] issues. What are you going to do?”

Following coach Casey, coach Stotts looked at the paper and expressed his opinion and asked coach Carlisle’s thoughts.

“First, let’s try to use Haywood for more than 30 minutes. Either way, Haywood is a player we have to save in our position. If Haywood regains his skills from last year, our team can have a strong center for 48 minutes, and we can prepare for next year.”

“Next year, are you talking about Chandler’s contract expiring this season? Are you preparing for Tyson Chandler’s possible transfer?”

Coach Casey tilted his head and asked at Carlisle’s last words. Carlisle’s last sentence was something he couldn’t say in front of the players.

“You never know. I’d be grateful if the club caught him, but they might not catch him for business reasons. It’s still a distant future. It’s just insurance.”

Carlisle revealed that it was his personal opinion with a calm expression.

“Well, there’s no guarantee that you’ll catch 100% of FA [free agent] players. Besides, he’s an unrestricted FA and one of the players whose stock has risen the most this season. By the way, Haywood’s stamina will be a problem. He hasn’t played more than 25 minutes in any game this season.”

Coach Casey agreed and worried about Haywood’s stamina. No matter which team it is, there is no guarantee that an unrestricted FA player can be caught by the original team 100%. A restricted FA can be caught by the original team unconditionally if the team has the will.

“He’s a 10-year veteran, so let’s trust him. Also, he hasn’t played a real game for a long time, but it seems like his stamina and condition have been slowly improving since last month.”

Carlisle had been watching Haywood and receiving reports from the trainer, so he knew that he had felt something after his argument with him and had started training positively.

“Still, there will be times when we have to use Nowitzki as a center in the middle. We need to prepare tactics for this. We also need to talk to Mahinmi so that he can focus more on defense as his playing time increases.”

The three people shared their opinions on the power forward to some extent, and then they sighed as if they had thought of another concern.

“It’s worrying that even Yoon is suffering from mental problems in this situation. If he’s not there, the guard defense problem in the front line is also serious. If both the defense cores of the backcourt and frontcourt are missing, our team’s score may easily exceed 100 points.”

Coach Carlisle was also very worried about that part. Youngjae Yoon, who showed amazing performance that was hard to see as a debut season. His sincere and fighting spirit, as well as his skillful and sly play, were enough to shut the mouths of those who criticized him for picking him instead of other players. However, the three people had no choice but to become deeply concerned about his appearance, which had collapsed so rapidly that he was receiving psychiatric counseling.

“This is entirely his problem. He has shown a strong mentality so far, so we have no choice but to trust his mentality. This is a part that cannot be solved with simple training.”

“It seems like the players are coming little by little. Let’s talk about the details later after training and at the meeting. For the time being, we need to make up for the lack of defense with a lot of offense.”

“Haha. I guess we should change the zone defense rotation a bit. It would be better to raise the tempo a little more often.”

The three people finished talking about the center position as they watched some players open the door and come in. It was time to focus on training, and the rest was a problem that needed to be discussed in depth at the meeting again.

“Did everyone have a good rest? Is everyone here… Yoon?”

Coach Carlisle greeted the players simply as usual and tried to start training. However, Carlisle couldn’t help but be surprised to see Youngjae, who had been given a week’s rest, standing in the front row wearing a jersey.

“Thank you for your consideration, Coach. I want to participate in training again now.”

Coach Carlisle, Dwane Casey, and Terry Stotts couldn’t help but smile at Youngjae’s appearance, who had regained some of his appearance before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, although the mental shock did not return at once.

“Good! The youngest is here today, so should we have a dinner bet?!”

Unlike usual, captain Nowitzki welcomed Youngjae’s return and shouted loudly, and the players clapped their hands, burning with the thought of getting a free meal today.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

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

＠It’s a weekend where you can take a short break during the exam period. Have a great weekend, everyone, and students who haven’t finished their exams, let’s go live like a shut-in with us. Today’s amount is a little more than usual lol.

Frog Power, ㅎ0ㅎ/// For now, it’s overcoming… I guess. Of course, there’s always a risk of recurrence of trauma ㄷㄷ. Besides, it’s not completely overcome.

Kangja Il/// Yes. Usually, rookies don’t get like that because it’s not their own injury…

Yabes/// Yes. It’s a little too early.

Caesar Night, Move Aside, Laytime, Modern People, Revermiya/// After all, if you have a memory of suffering an injury that ended your career, you can have enough trauma.

Rough99/// Sigh. As long as there is an incompetent KBL [Korean Basketball League] that cannot even continue the popularity of the Asian Games gold medal…

Kundara, Gold Medal, -DarkANGEL-, Omari On, OLD-BOY/// Thank you for your comments as always!!

Luscinia/// Cheer up!! We’re also busy because it’s exam period ㅠ.ㅠ Thank you for the coupon!!

After all, Youngjae has to overcome his shortcomings with his mentality. We also had the final on the day of the exam, so we missed the live…

Lafir and Jint, misscherry/// For now, the urgent fire is off lol. It will take some time to completely overcome it. Just like it took Choo Shin-soo a lot of time to overcome the trauma of the ball near his body.

huhcafe/// Yes, that’s right. There are quite a few cases.