"It's actually her?"
Who is it?!
The girl Mia Quinn had mentioned, the one Blake now saw, was none other than... a member of Girls' Generation.
Yoona.
And she was also Blake's friend!
"What's going on?!"
Blake was stunned.
How had this happened?
To explain, they had to go back to Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Suns and the Lakers.
At the time, Mia Quinn had just wrapped up filming. Despite having a cold, she still came to watch Blake's game and cheer him on. Afraid she might distract him, however, she never told him she was coming.
Yoona and Jessica had also decided to come at the last minute, so they hadn't told Blake either.
In other words, although Mia Quinn and Yoona were both there that night, Blake had no idea.
During the game, Mia Quinn, exhausted from the long trip, went to the restroom. Her cold suddenly took a turn for the worse, leaving her weak and miserable, and her stomach began to hurt as well.
She could barely move. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't get comfortable whether sitting or standing, so all she could do was clutch her stomach and remain in the restroom.
As luck would have it, Jessica and Yoona went to the restroom shortly afterward and found Mia Quinn seriously ill.
Without hesitation, they took her to a nearby clinic. They stayed until she had received an IV drip and was feeling a little better before leaving.
That was why Mia Quinn had disappeared after spending some time at the arena, and why Yoona and Jessica had also vanished midway through the game.
They made it back just in time for the final moments, arriving in the corridor by the players' tunnel at the top of the arena just as Blake hit his game-winning negative-angle drift shot.
That chance encounter brought Mia Quinn and Yoona together.
They were close in age, one an actress and the other an idol, and both worked in the entertainment industry.
They also both loved basketball, loved the Suns, or perhaps more accurately, loved Blake.
They had plenty to talk about. The more they chatted, the better they got along, and before long they had gone from friends to... best friends.
Blake had been completely focused on the playoffs and hadn't had much time or energy to pay attention to Mia Quinn. Otherwise, if he had been more observant, he would have noticed that she was often talking to someone on the phone.
That someone was Yoona.
Of course, when it came to Blake, both of them simply described themselves as fans.
That meant Yoona had no idea Mia Quinn was Blake's cousin despite the two not being related by blood, while Mia Quinn had no idea Yoona and Blake were friends.
Their friendship had only just begun developing so quickly, and there had been no reason to bring a guy into their conversations yet. That was how the misunderstanding had lasted this long.
Now, meeting again after several days apart, the two happily chatted about what had been going on in their lives.
And none of it had anything to do with Blake.
The moment Blake saw Yoona sitting beside Mia Quinn, he was genuinely surprised. Then he found the whole thing amusing.
"What a small world.
"So this is how those two met."
Blake looked over at them. Yoona noticed him first, followed by Mia Quinn, and both smiled and waved.
Mia Quinn even discreetly pointed at Yoona, as if telling Blake that she was the girl she had mentioned.
Blake smiled back, then returned to his warm-up.
"Mia, let me tell you a little off-the-court secret about Blake," Yoona said with a smile.
"Oh? What is it?"
Mia Quinn immediately perked up.
"Hmm..."
Yoona rubbed her chin, then grinned. "Blake really likes watching horror movies. But don't let the fact that he's tall and strong fool you.
"He's actually a huge scaredy-cat. Every time he watches one, he gets scared half to death.
"But even though he's terrified, he still loves watching them. He's basically the classic case of someone who's terrible at something but just can't stay away from it!"
"Wow!"
Mia Quinn's beautiful eyes widened. "Yoona, how do you know Blake likes horror movies? And that even though he's obviously scared, he still insists on watching them?"
"How do I know?"
Yoona blinked in surprise. "Mia, wait... you know that too?!"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
...
Warm-ups soon came to an end.
The starting lineups took the floor, and the game officially began.
"Jump ball!"
Blake against Bosh.
There was no suspense.
Blake got to the ball first and tipped it to Curry, who handed it off to Nash to initiate the Suns' first possession.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
Nash controlled the ball at the top of the key, then quickly handed it off to Blake.
Bosh was initially in front of him, but in the very next instant, the Heat switched.
"Step!"
LeBron appeared in front of Blake.
That was right.
Bosh simply couldn't guard Blake. LeBron might have been shorter than Bosh, but he was stronger and superior in nearly every physical category.
At least in theory, he was better equipped to contain Blake.
Of course, that was merely what LeBron and Bosh thought, or perhaps what Coach Spoelstra had in mind when he designed the defensive scheme.
"Thump!"
Facing LeBron, Blake dribbled with his left hand and gave a hard pound dribble to sell the drive.
The instant LeBron lowered his center of gravity even slightly, Blake rose straight up.
"Whoosh!"
Three-pointer!
"Step!"
LeBron hurriedly lunged up to contest.
Against a big man with mediocre leaping ability, or a shorter guard, he might have been able to keep up. Even if he couldn't guarantee a block, he could at least heavily disrupt the shot.
But this was Blake.
Not only did Blake have a clear height advantage, his extraordinary leaping ability and explosiveness made LeBron's contest practically meaningless.
The ball sailed right over his head.
It traced a beautiful arc through the air.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net.
Right there in Miami, on the Heat's home floor, Blake opened the game by drilling a contested three directly over LeBron.
The visitors struck first.
A cold splash of water right in the Heat's face!
Heat 0, Suns 3.
Heat ball.
On the ensuing possession, Chalmers brought the ball up against Nash and passed to Wade.
Wade drove past Curry, drawing Blake over to help.
"Whoosh!"
He kicked it back to LeBron in the middle.
"Whoosh!"
The instant LeBron caught the pass, he accelerated again.
George stepped up to defend, and the two immediately collided in a fierce battle of strength.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
George couldn't hold him.
LeBron powered through him, protected the ball on the way up, avoided Frye's block in midair, and somehow banked the layup in through the narrow opening.
An immediate answer.
Then, on the very next possession.
"Whoosh!"
"The Flash" Wade exploded forward with one quick step, blew past Curry, and attacked the heart of the defense.
Inside the paint, he unleashed a Eurostep on his way to the rim.
"Whoosh!"
"Swish!"
He shook Frye off balance and finished with a soft bank shot.
"Wow!"
"Wade is unbelievably fast, especially that first step after the hesitation. It really is lightning quick. The nickname 'Flash' couldn't be more fitting."
At the commentary table, Van Gundy couldn't help praising him.
Mike Breen nodded. "LeBron and Wade are both top-five players in the league, and they're incredibly dangerous attacking the rim.
"The Suns already look like they're having trouble handling them!"
...
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