Intel Extreme Masters Season IX (2014-2015)
San Jose – League of Legends
SAP Center, San Jose, California, USA
December 6th – 7th

We made a stop at Chipotle first to get some dinner to go, and true to her word, Sooyoung bought burritos, chips and drinks for her and Meteos. We then made the relatively short drive northwest to Palo Alto in a pair of vans.

Mary was the first to enter, and she surprised the receptionist on duty by almost casually coming back in and then telling her she'd brought company – at which point we entered.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so glad to meet all of you, but I'm even more thrilled at the thought of what the children will do!" She said. "Hang on one moment – let me just make sure all the patients and their rooms are ready to receive visitors."

As she went off, Sneaky asked Hai with a knowing grin, "You reckon we ought to do a charity stream for these guys? We've brought a laptop and equipment, so we could even do it from here. Plus, it's not like we haven't done a hospital stream before."

"A hospital stream?" Hyoyeon asked.

"Hai told me about it during Worlds." Taeyeon explained. "When he was hospitalized with the collapsed lung before All-Stars, he actually brought a laptop and streamed from his bed. He even had the nerve to play Surgeon Shen at a time like that. He said he wanted to keep practicing and get his mind off the pain."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"I was also on a respirator and could barely talk, but I could still type in chat." Hai added. "I also accidentally gave the stream chat a big scare when I fell asleep in the middle of a game because I was still weak and woozy. They thought I'd died."

"I saw the footage." Sneaky said, nodding and grinning. "A lot of 'RIP' and some were even asking if he was respawning. You know I love to meme, but that was a bit too dank even for me."

We gladly ended up spending a few hours there. The seven C9 players and coaches all took turns streaming as we visited each patient, and the stream quickly drew the attention of other pro gamers and casters as the donations poured in. We saved Meteos and then Sneaky for last since they had the biggest subscriber bases, and so Sneaky was our anchor streamer as we visited the last patient we hadn't yet met. She was a Korean girl named Mimi who had come over with her family in the past year when her parents had been assigned by their company to partner with an American one, and like Mary, she was also a big fan of both Girls' Generation and Cloud 9. She had just finished a very tough round of chemotherapy for leukemia and was thankfully considered to be cancer-free, but she was still regaining her strength, and one could tell she'd been through a lot by looking at her. She had come the closest to death more times than the others over the previous few months, which was why Mary had said she was the one who could use our help the most and why we'd saved visiting her for last.

Sneaky was streaming with our laptop on a table with his back to the bed, which allowed folks to see a bit of what was going on over there. He was finishing the champion select for an ARAM and reading donations as Yuri came over to check on him.

He smiled and chuckled as he read, "C9Sone donates $10 and says, 'Loving what all of you have been doing for those children – take my donation and shove it right up cancer's butthole.'"

Yuri laughed and smiled at that. He then spotted her and said, "Oh, hi, Yuri noona! You'll really like to hear the one that came in just before that...C9_BlackPearl also donated $10 and said, 'Thrilled to see C9 Generation teaming up again for such a great cause. Could I get a kiss from Yuri, my favorite Soshi and my inspiration?'"

Yuri clasped her hands and was clearly touched. She asked, "Can I borrow your headset, Sneaky?"

"Definitely." Sneaky said, and he even slid over to allow Yuri to sit next to him. She smiled at that and did so as she put the headset on and made sure she was perfectly visible on the stream camera. She then said, "Yoboseyo, Black Pearl! It's me, Yuri. Thanks for donating tonight! I'm honored to be someone you admire – we'll keep working hard for you. Make sure you support Sneaky and Cloud 9 tomorrow because it'll be their turn!" She then blew a kiss at the camera.

"Oh, my God." Sneaky said, blushing slightly. "Kam sam needa!"

Yuri beamed at him, took off the headset and put it back on him before she went back over to where the other Soshis, plus Hai, Aurora and I, were surrounding Mimi's hospital bed (Meteos, Lemon and Balls were visiting other patients again after the other patients had asked if they could see them again.)

"Sunny unnie?" Mimi asked weakly, looking at her and extending her hand as best as she could.

"Yes?" Sunny asked. She took Mimi's hand gently but firmly and added, "I'm here."

"I'm so glad you're here especially...not only are you my favorite, but you helped my friend from when I was in Korea." Mimi said, a happy tear leaking out of her eye. "I think you remember his name – Eunchanie?"

"Oh, my God." Aurora breathed.

"No way." I said, stunned as I recognized the name as well.

We both looked at Sunny, but she was already saying, "I do remember him...the boy who likes Gee and who falls asleep to FM Date because he said my voice is pretty and soothing!" She then turned to the two of us and asked, "You heard it too?"

"Yeah, someone put it on YouTube." Aurora said. "I showed it to Carlo and we both enjoyed it. It was too cute." I nodded and smiled as she finished.

"Wait, what happened?" Yuri asked. The other Soshis were listening attentively.

"There was an 8-year-old boy named Eunchanie who wrote a letter in to FM Date back in May." Sunny narrated. "He said that he and his mother really liked the show and listened to it every night, and he also said he really liked me and my voice and asked if I could call him. So I did on the air, and he was just the cutest thing. It turns out that he likes to fall asleep listening to me. I was even able to buy him some chicken that night and invite him into the studio later."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"You want to tell the other thing you said about him, unnie?" Aurora asked. She saw Sunny blushing slightly, and added, "If you won't, then I will – and I don't think it's a bad thing, because it was adorable and a great thought."

"Yes." Sunny replied, smiling and then turning back to the others as she finished, "I said I wanted to have a son like him later."

We all looked warmly back at her. "Hang on, here it is." Aurora said, as she finished pulling the clip up on her phone. We watched it with rapt interest, and by the end, we were all applauding Sunny and giving her high-fives.

"I was so happy when I heard that." Mimi said. "I apologize if this is a poor question, but if you had a daughter instead of a son, who would you want her to be like?"

"Like you, Mimi." Sunny answered warmly. "Who wouldn't want a daughter as pretty and brave as you?"

"Oh, unnie...saranghaeyo!" Mimi cried, almost choked up at the end as she made to hug her.

"Saranghaeyo, Mimi!" Sunny said, allowing Mimi to cry into her. Sunny wasn't crying herself, but she gave off a beautiful and yet powerful aura that told us that she would lay down her life for her if she had to. After a few moments, she asked, "I know you must be anxious to get back to doing everything you loved doing before your treatment...what do you want to resume first?"

"I'd love to get back to singing." Mimi replied.

"I know what you mean." Tiffany said. "Do you have a favorite song?"

"Into The New World, Fany unnie." Mimi answered. "I'd listen to it so much while I was undergoing treatments...I remember it was never as bad if I kept those words in my head and in my heart."

"Omo..." Taeyeon said, putting her hand to her mouth as some of the other Soshis also did. "Tell you what, Mimi, hang on. We'll think of something and do it when Sneaky finishes so he can be here and we can get it on camera."

"Okay, Taeyeon unnie." Mimi said, strength coming back into her voice.

There was a lot of whispering between the Soshis and some talking off to the side figuring out some minor wrinkles they wanted to throw in. Hai actually joined them as well, and as I came over too, I found that he had a cool idea that we quickly decided to use.

Less than ten minutes later, Sneaky looked like he was finishing the game in his favor.

"Ooh, are we good to go? Is Sneaky's team winning?" Seohyun asked.

"Yep, we got it!" Sneaky replied. "All right, watch out, coming with the camera."

He exited the postgame lobby and then unattached the stream camera from the top of the laptop but kept it plugged in and brought it over. He informed us, "Okay, camera's in position. Could someone check it and make sure it's still working?"

Hyoyeon went over to the laptop and confirmed that it was still working. She said, "It's working, Sneaky. Hit it, Tae noona!"

Taeyeon cleared her throat and then began without any accompaniment, with Seohyun following. As they sang, Mimi reached out to Sunny and Yuri on either side of her, and they took her hands. They then supported her as she pulled herself up so that she was sitting upright.

[Taeyeon] Jeonhae jugo shipeo seulpeun shigani
Da heuteojin hueya deullijiman
[Seohyun] Nuneul gamkko neukkyeo bwa umjigineun maeum
Neoreul hyanghan nae nunppicheul

English
[Taeyeon] I want to tell you, even though
The sad times have already passed
[Seohyun] Close your eyes and feel my moved heart
My gaze at you

"Ay yo, GG, where you at, fam!" Hai called. As he finished, he then began to make a beat by clapping his hands and slapping his thighs – boom-clap-boom-boom-clap – in time with the regular tempo of Into The New World. All of us quickly joined in with except for Sneaky since he was still holding the camera.

"Right here, Hai!" Sunny answered brightly.

"Surprise!" Yoona cheered.

"So Nyuh Shi Dae Fighting!" Hyoyeon shouted.

"Girls' Generation, baby!" Tiffany said with a wink.

"Cloud 9 in the house!" Yuri cheered, smiling at Jessica, Aurora, Sneaky, Hai and me.

"Oh yeah!" I whooped. "Back at it again!"

"You want a reason to sing, fight and believe, call our names. We'll help get you there." Jessica said, smiling at Mimi and then waving at the camera.

"Oh yes, we will!" Sooyoung agreed fervently.

"Aurora, you ready?" Jessica asked.

"Ready, unnie." Aurora answered.

Jessica smiled back and counted her in: "Hana, dul, hana, dul, set, net!"

They then continued the first verse together, followed by Yuri, Tiffany and Sunny:

[Jessica/Aurora] Teukbyeolhan gijeogeul gidariji ma
Nunapeseon uriye geochin gireun
[Yuri] Al su eomneun miraewa byeok bakkuji ana
Pogihal su eopseo
[Tiffany] Byeonchi aneul sarangeuro jikyeo jweo
Sangcheo ibeun nae mamkkaji
[Sunny] Shiseon sogeseo mareun piryo eopseo
Meomchweojeo beorin i shigan

English
[Jessica/Aurora] Don't wait for a special miracle
There's a rough road in front of us
[Yuri] With unknowable future and obstacles, I won't change
I can't give up
[Tiffany] Protect me with an unchanged love
Also my wounded heart
[Sunny] Looking in your eyes, no words are needed
Time has stopped

The fact that it was acapella with the only accompaniment being the beat that we were making by clapping and slapping our legs like a step team or like something out of Stomp made it feel even more invigorating somehow, like a war chant.

Mimi had been watching all of us with wide eyes, her gaze going from singer to singer as something almost visibly stirred within her. When the chorus started, she summoned it, regained her full voice and joined in. All eleven girls sang together,

Saranghae neol i neukkim idaero
Geuryeo watteon hemaeime kkeut
I sesang sogeseo banbokttweneun
Seulpeum ijen annyeong
Sumaneun al su eomneun gil soge
Himihan bicheul nan jjochaga
Eonjekkajirado hamkkehaneun geoya
Dashi mannan naye sege

English
I love you just like this
The longed end of wandering
I leave behind this world's
Unending sadness
In the many unknowable paths
I follow a dim light
It's something we'll do together to the end
Into my new world

"Whoo!" Tiffany cheered. Everyone broke out into applause, with Mimi clapping the hardest.

"Oh, my God, that was too cool. Way to go, everyone!" I said, feeling chills.

"Mimi fighting!" Seohyun said cheerfully, beaming at her. "You were awesome!"

"Thank you so much!" Mimi replied, getting high-fives and hugs from all of us. After a minute, a lady wearing a lab coat, stethoscope and ID came in, and we parted ranks to let her come alongside the bed.

"Dr. Ryder!" Mimi said. "Was that okay? Were we too loud?"

"No, it was beautiful, Mimi!" Dr. Ryder said, smiling at her. She then turned to the rest of us and said, "Thank you all so much for that...she's really been brave in the midst of all this."

"Can I go to the SAP Center tomorrow?" Mimi asked. "I know I'm still getting better, but I need to be there to watch the unnies and oppas win again."

We all smiled at that around her. Dr. Ryder replied, "It may be a challenge, but we should be able to manage something. We may even be able to get the entire ward there."

"Yo, I heard what you said. We'll smack 'em tomorrow for you guys." Hai told Mimi, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I know you can, Hai oppa." Mimi replied. "I'm counting on you, but I believe in you guys!"

--------------

The following day, Mary, Mimi and their fellow patients had been driven down to the SAP Center and were in second-row seats. The audience was also a sellout crowd, both because we were there and because they anticipated another Girls' Generation/Cloud 9 collaboration right there. We all smiled to ourselves because they were going to get that but still had little to no idea of just what we would be aiming to do.

We all wore steel blue button-down shirts – in Hai's, Sneaky's, Balls', Meteos', Aurora's and my cases, over our jerseys. These were what we called our dress uniform shirts. Similar to our outfits for the Summoner's Cup presentation and finale performance, each Soshi's shirt, including Jessica's, had the blue Cloud 9 logo over one breast pocket and the pink GG Crown logo over the other.

Neatly arranged on the sleeves were white bar sponsor patches, and every C9 player, coach and manager also had a black patch with the Worlds logo and the year 2014 on it, signifying that we were the winners. One more white bar sponsor patch had been added in all of our cases, and it was the logo of Blanc. In one more cool twist, we as a team had offered to advertise some of Jessica's new clothes, and she had enthusiastically accepted and come up with the idea to design our dress uniform shirts, which we wouldn't be wearing all the time but as a change of pace and for situations where we wanted to look just a bit more put together.

It was evident by looking at us that she'd thought of some minor options that already gave quite a bit of variety. To start, some were short-sleeved while others were long-sleeved. Also, the type that some including Jessica, Lemon and Taeyeon had was like a regular dress shirt since they wanted to tuck it in, while the type that others including Yuri, Sneaky and I were wearing had a fly front placket, which has a flatter bottom in the front, since we weren't tucking ours in.

Similar to how we and TSM had entered for our Worlds semifinal, we would enter through the back down the aisles through the crowd. Jessica, Tiffany, Hai, Taeyeon, Aurora, Yuri, LemonNation and I would come down one aisle, while Yoona, Sneaky, Meteos, Sooyoung, Sunny, Balls, Seohyun and Hyoyeon would come down the other.

Onstage, Sjokz was saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. They are the Season 4 World Champions and still hungry for more in their first event of Season 5. Please welcome Cloud 9!"

Thre crowd cheered at that but then quieted as a brief teaser clip began playing on the video screens of the eight of us putting on the dress uniform shirts, with the camera panning to each of us even though it didn't show any markings or logos. Finally, it went to Hai, who was putting his on over his jersey and asking Jessica, "Do I look all right?" It was then that people could see the Cloud 9 logo on the shirt.

"Don't worry, you all look great! All right, let's get this started – everyone's waiting for us." She answered.

Then it showed us leaving to head towards the stage, and the camera then revealed the new Blanc sponsor marking to reveal just who had been making the shirts.

"What music are we entering with, unnie?" Aurora asked as the teaser finished.

"You're about to find out." Jessica answered with a grin. "I don't think you'll mind one bit, though."

Just a few seconds later, the opening of Gee hit.

"Oh, my God." I said as the crowd recognized it and revved up. "This is gonna be sick!"

"We had to do it sometime, and today was as good a time as any. Not that we mind, of course!" Taeyeon said with a smile.

"Hey, neither do we!" Hai said, beaming. "It's about to get serious – as in seriously crazy!"

"You're not kidding!" Aurora said. "Once I start moving, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to stop. I'm that hyped now."

[Tiffany] Uh-huh, listen, boy
My first love story (Ooh-ah-ah, ooh-ah-ah, yeah)
[Jessica] My angel and my girls
My sunshine (Uh, uh, let's go!)

"Let's get 'em!" Jessica told us, now beaming.

The other seven of us smiled back and followed her down, and the crowd grew louder and louder as they realized just what we were doing. At the same time, Yoona was leading the other column down. As the crowd discovered that all sixteen of us were there and heading towards the stage, more waves of energy almost visibly swept through the crowd. For a moment, I was afraid that we had almost gotten them too fired up and that one of them was going to grab hold of us and try and pull us out, but thankfully, it didn't happen.

[Seohyun] Neomuneomu meotjeo nuni nuni busheo
Sumeul mot shwigesseo tteollineungeol
[All] Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
[Tiffany] Oh neomu bukkeureoweo cheodabol su eopseo
Sarange ppajeoseo sujubeungeol
[All] Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby

English
[Seohyun] You're so, so handsome, I'm blinded
I can't breathe because I'm trembling
[All] Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
[Tiffany] Oh, I feel embarassed, I can't look at you
I feel embarassed because I've fallen in love
[All] Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby
Gee Gee, Gee Gee, baby, baby, baby

Judging from the reactions of the fans as we made the journey to the stage, they were all some combination of flabbergasted and ecstatic. They were screaming things like,

"Yo, this is insane! Again?!"

"Oh, my God, it's Hai! It's Taeyeon! Lemon! Aurora! Jessica!"

"Go get 'em today! Show 'em why you're World Champions!"

"Hey, we will, man!" Hai said, slapping hands with that fan. "We're all locked and loaded today!" He looked back at Taeyeon as he finished.

"Yes, we are!" She said, also high-fiving the same fan.

[Sunny] (Eotteoke hajo)
[Yoona] Eotteok-eotteokajo
[Sunny] (Tteollineun naneun)
[Yoona] Tteollineun naneunyo
[Sunny] (Dugeundugeun dugeundugeun)
[Yoona] Dugeundugeungeoryeo
[Sunny/Yoona] Bamen jamdo mot irujo
[Jessica] Naneun naneun babonga bwayo
Geudae geudaebakke moreuneun babo
Geuraeyo geudael boneun nan

English
[Sunny] (What should I do?)
[Yoona] What should I do?
[Sunny] (About my trembling heart?)
[Yoona] My trembling heart
[Sunny] (Thump thump)
[Yoona] My heart keeps thumping
[Sunny/Yoona] So I can't fall asleep at night
[Jessica] I guess I'm a fool
A fool that knows only you
​Yes, as I look at you

Hai, Sneaky, Meteos, Balls, Lemon, Jessica, Aurora and I hit the stage just as the chorus hit and saluted the crowd, with Jessica and Aurora even having a bit more fun and throwing in the shuffle straight out of Gee on beat. Looking out at the crowd, we could see the crowd dancing too as well as cheering. It was a full-blown party atmosphere, but at the same time, we all also knew they were excitedly awaiting some action. In our eyes, that was the message we wanted to send – if we had our way, we were going to kick butt while having fun and putting on a great show.

We then looked at the front two rows – at the Soshis in the front row and then at the kids including Mimi and Mary in the row just behind. Their faces were also lit up, and they were cheering and pointing at us, and that gave us more energy than anything else we saw in the audience.

[All] Neomu banjjakbanjjak nuni busheo, no, no, no, no, no
Neomu kkamjjakkamjjak nollan naneun, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Neomu jjaritjarit momi tteollyeo, Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee
Oh jeojeun nunppit, oh yeah
Oh joeun hyanggi, oh yeah, yeah, yeah

English
[All] So bright my eyes are blinded, no, no, no, no, no
I'm so surprised, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
So excited, my body is trembling, Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee
Oh, glittering eyes, oh yeah
Oh, sweet scent, oh yeah, yeah, yeah

Before everyone took their stations, we came down from the stage and all sixteen of us huddled up again.

"This is it, guys. Start of the new League season, and more importantly, the stakes have been raised because these kids haven't been scared to go all in when they've had their backs against the wall." Hai said.

"Absolutely." Taeyeon said. "I don't know about you, but while we're gladly keeping all of those kids in our minds and hearts today, I can't help but think back to what Mimi said."

We all nodded, getting the message. Yoona responded, "Yeah, she wanted to be here so she could see her unnies and oppas win again. And she is here along with the whole ward, so now it's up to us."

"You got that right, Yoona." Jessica said. "Listen, let's make sure we stay locked in and own that stage but also make sure to have fun. Let's also make sure we're playing to win instead of playing not to lose, because if we do that, then we'll pay the price anyway – and besides, that wouldn't suit us, would it?"

"You bet your life it wouldn't, Jessica!" Lemon replied. "All right, first things first – UOL. They're going to try and make it crazy, but I don't think they're ready for another team who also likes to get funky in more ways than one."

--------------

These were the rosters of the four semifinal teams, including us, as we'd looked them over earlier. There'd been quite a bit of buzz when Rekkles had joined Alliance from Fnatic and when TSM had brought in Lustboy from CJ Entus Blaze and Santorin from Team Coast, and those would have been the big offseason move stories of the tournament but for the fact that Jessica was also our new consulting manager.

Cloud 9 (North America)
Top - Carlo (Phillip Carlo Santos, USA)
Jungle - Meteos (Will Hartman, USA)
Mid - Hai (Hai Du Lam, USA)
AD Carry - Sneaky (Zach Scuderi, USA)
Support - Aurora (Carolina Aurora Lea, Canada)
Substitute - Balls (An Van Le, USA)
Coach - LemonNation (Daerek Hart, USA)
Manager - Jessica (Jessica Jung / Jung Sooyeon, USA)

Unicorns of Love (Europe)
Top - Visiczacsi (Tamás Kiss, Hungary)
Jungle - Kikis (Mateusz Szkudlarek, Poland)
Mid - PowerOfEvil (Tristan Schrage, Germany)
AD Carry - Vardags (Pontus Dahlbom, Sweden)
Support - Hylissang (Zdravets Galabov, Bulgaria)
Substitute - Gilius (Berk Demir, Germany)
Coach - Sheepy (Fabian Mallant, Germany)
Manager - Khagneur (Romain Bigeard, France)

Alliance (Europe)
Top - Wickd (Mike Petersen, Denmark)
Jungle - Shook (Ilyas Hartesma, Netherlands)
Mid - Froggen (Henrik Hansen, Denmark)
AD Carry - Rekkles (Martin Larsson, Sweden)
Support - Nyph (Patrick Funke, Germany)
Substitute - Tabzz (Erik van Helvert, Netherlands)
Coach - Leviathan (Jordan Thwaites, Canada)
Manager - Maelk (Jacob Toft-Andersen, Germany)

Team SoloMid (North America)
Top - Dyrus (Marcus Hill, USA)
Jungle - Santorin (Lucas Larsen, Denmark)
Mid - Bjergsen (Søren Bjerg, Denmark)
AD Carry - WildTurtle (Jason Tran, Canada)
Support - Lustboy (Ham Jangsik, South Korea)
Substitute - Xpecial (Alex Chu, USA)
Coach - Locodoco (Choi Yoonsub, South Korea)
Manager - Leena (Leena Xu, USA)

I then went backstage with Jessica and LemonNation as we had elected to start Balls against the Unicorns, who had just qualified for the EU LCS and been the fan-voted European team for IEM San Jose. They'd won the previous day with some unconventional picks including jungle Kayle, so we stuck to more comfort picks since we knew more matchups with them, including less familiar ones. All of us – especially Lemon, Jessica and Hai – had also put a high importance on picking Syndra when possible. It was a double whammy – not only did it deny PowerOfEvil one of his signature champions, but there was the obvious Girls' Generation parallel with Hoot as the dance for Classic Syndra, so there were both practical and fun sides to it.

Balls visibly relished getting to play again onstage, bullying Visiczacsi's Hecarim with Maokai during a victory in Game 1 of the best-of-3. Watching happily backstage, we saw how especially excited Sunny was in the crowd as the other players came backstage. We congratulated them heartily before Balls handed me back the reins for Game 2. There, Hai got the chance to pick Syndra, and we could see the Soshis and also some of the fans including Mimi and Mary doing moves from Hoot during champion select, and it became his turn to thrill the crowd – especially Taeyeon – as he carried Game 2 with a 6/0/4 KDA.

The kids and the fans were then in for another surprise before the second semifinal between Alliance and Team SoloMid. Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, the head of ESL – the organizer of IEM – had been in contact with us during our visit to Lucile Packard and had offered us the chance to play a Dominion game to benefit the hospital, and we had quickly and happily accepted. Hai, Aurora, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Jessica and I had already been asked to play in an OGN pro/celebrity showmatch before the start of the 2015 Spring Split, so we excluded ourselves.

From there, the other ten of us quickly sorted themselves into teams – Sneaky, Meteos, Yoona, Sooyoung and Seohyun would be the blue side team, while Lemon, Balls, Sunny, Yuri and Hyoyeon would be the red side team. As a further tribute to the kids, they had been given the bulk of the picking power, as they each voted on champions for both teams to play.

It wound up being a thrilling game that also brought the crowd to its feet, including Yoona winning a crucial 1v1 as Ahri against Yuri's Syndra that allowed them to take the Quarry and stay in the game before they made the game-winning push that was not led by Meteos or Sneaky but by her and Sooyoung as Shyvana. The six of us who would be playing on OGN were going nuts as well on the commentary and analysis desks, where we had joined the casters for the match and were chipping in.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the showmatch and the chance to raise even more money for the hospital, but we quickly refocused afterwards as the second semifinal, which would determine our opponent, started. It ended up being a match where the existing chemistry of Alliance, which was greater than that of TSM (only one change to Alliance compared to two for TSM) won out. However, while we were impressed with Alliance and respected them – especially Froggen, who is one of my favorite European players because of his willingness to experiment – we certainly weren't intimidated.

Balls led off again, and we elected not to ban Froggen's signature Anivia because Hai was confident he could play against it – and more importantly, we could plan and play around it. It didn't pay off in Game 1 of the best-of-5 finals, though, as Wickd got a sizable advantage over Balls when he had an off game. He told us not to deviate from our plan too much, though, putting the blame for the 1-0 deficit squarely on his shoulders.

I helped us take Game 2 with another good Leona game, but I was frankly more worried about Balls in Game 3 because I knew he badly wanted to redeem himself and not go 0-2 in the finals – but he managed to do just that with a surprise Elise pick, going back to one of his favorites from the previous year. He then tagged me back in with a big and relieved smile, and I proceeded to pull out Lissandra as a surprise for Jessica as Hai went back to Zed. I played well and went unkilled, but not as well as Sneaky, who played Corki and racked up his first career pentakill to clinch the game and the championship.

The best moment was still to come, though. We had a talk backstage before the award ceremony, and when we were handed the winner's check for $25,000, Jessica and Hai called the children to the stage and passed the check to them, explaining that we were donating it to the Packard Children's Hospital to help pay for their treatment and the treatment of others in their position. We had understood that our mission in San Jose had also become a mission of mercy – something that Girls' Generation also understood completely, as they joined us and Tiffany announced on behalf of the group that they planned to match the contribution.

It made everyone onstage, even the vanquished players, stand up, applaud and cheer, and we felt a flash of the incredibly warm, empowering feeling we'd experienced after the Worlds final and in Tiffany's and my dream of Taeyeon and Hai's wedding – like we'd continued to give hope to people. It was then that we really started congratulating each other and celebrating another job well done.

"There we are!" Sunny said brightly, taking the trophy that had been passed around and handing it to Mimi. "Here's the trophy from today, Mimi!"

"Ooh..." Mimi said, taking the small crystal trophy. "It's pretty...but it's not as pretty as you, Sunny unnie. But thank you so much for today...it was so much fun last night and today and it made everything we went through worth it."

"Ah, Mimi, you're far too kind!" Sunny replied, giving her a hug and pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. "Listen, if you ever want to talk to me, here's how you can..."

Rap
[Yuri (originally Yubin)] Hit me one time baby dasi hanbeon (Tell me, tell me)
Okay banggeumhan geon aljiman tto hanbeon (Tell me, tell, tell me)
[Yuri/Hyoyeon (originally Yubin)] Gyesok malhaejwo deureodo deureodo deutgo sipeo
Eojjeom ireon iri kkuminga sipeo
(Omona!) Omona! Johaseo eojjeona
(Dasi hanbeon malhaebwa) Baby baby!

Rap – English
[Yuri (originally Yubin)] Hit me one time baby, one more time (Tell me, tell me)
Okay, I know what you did just now, but once more (Tell me, tell, tell me)
[Yuri/Hyoyeon (originally Yubin)] Yeah, keep telling me, even if I heard, I wanna hear it again
Sometimes I wonder if this is a dream
(Oh my!) Oh my! I like it, what do I do?
(Say it again) Baby baby!

[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Taeyeon (originally Yeeun)] Nareul saranghandago nal gidaryeo watdago
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Taeyeon (originally Yeeun)] naega pillyohada malhae malhaejwoyo
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Jessica (originally Sunye)] Jakkuman deutgo sipeo gyesok naege malhaejwo
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Jessica (originally Sunye)] Kkumi anirago malhae malhaejwoyo

English
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Taeyeon (originally Yeeun)] That you love me and that you waited for me
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Taeyeon (originally Yeeun)] Say you need me
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Jessica (originally Sunye)] I want to hear it all the time, say it to me again
[All] Tell me, tell me, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell me
[Jessica (originally Sunye)] Say it's not a dream

--------------

As we waited at Mineta Airport to board our flight back to Los Angeles, Tiffany was at the gate window, looking out at the rapidly darkening sky as stars began to come out. She was saying with a wistful but sincere smile,

"Mom, I could feel you watching us again yesterday and today...I know you'd have loved what I and my adopted family did in San Jose...not just the girls who have been my adopted sisters for a long time, but another sister from Canada and six boys from here...five who are like my brothers already and one who's the one I love."

Seeing and hearing her, I closed my laptop and came over quietly, following her gaze in contemplation.

"Please keep watching over us all, because I know they all have my back and I couldn't be more thankful for that."

"We all do, Fany noona." I said, taking her hand reassuringly. I then added, fearful I'd intruded, "I'm sorry if I came in at a bad time."

"No, don't worry, I don't mind. In fact, you didn't come too soon at all." She replied with a smile.

"Is it okay if I talk to her too?" I asked.

"Of course! I know she would like that...Mom, this is Carlo, the boy I was telling you about." She said, turning back to the window, and she took my shoulders supportively. I took a deep breath and organized my thoughts and words as best as I could and said,

"Mrs. Hwang, I may never get to meet you in this world, but I know you must have been an incredible woman, because Tiffany's an incredible young lady, not just a great idol, and she's never forgotten you. Tiffany's trust in Cloud 9 is something we treasure and we'll do our best as more of her adopted North American siblings...I know I also want to be someone who you would have given your blessing to if I asked for it...someone you would have been proud to have as your son."

"Oh, Carlo..." Tiffany said, hearing that and giving me a slow but firm hug. "Thank you very much...I know she would have loved to meet you and give you her blessing when the time came."

"Hey, least I could do...but thanks." I said, hugging her back.

Meanwhile, Sneaky had come over and asked, "You taking a moment for your mom, Tiffany noona?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm okay, but thanks for checking on me." Tiffany replied. She then had a thought as she looked at him and asked, "Did you want to say hello to her?"

"Actually, yeah." Sneaky replied. He looked out and said, "Mrs. Hwang, I just wanted to say thanks for bringing Tiffany noona into this world and raising her like you did, because it's been an honor for us to be her friends – her adopted brothers and sisters. Also, if you see him, could you say hello to my dad too for us? My sister Emma was telling me she misses him."

"You lost your dad, Sneaky?" Tiffany asked, looking at him sympathetically.

"Yeah, just before we made our LCS debut." Sneaky replied. "So it's been about a year and a half."

"He'd be proud of you, you know." Tiffany told him as I nodded firmly.

Sneaky nodded back, smiling gratefully. Yoona, who'd come over as well, laid a hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Just be thankful he was there, Sneaky. Not all of us are that lucky."

Tiffany nodded somberly. She explained to Sneaky, both to fill him in and to spare Yoona from having to tell him herself, "Yoona's mother left her family when she was very little. She grew up without her."

"Oh, what the f**k?" Sneaky asked, looking at Yoona. When she nodded somberly, he said, "Oh, my God...I'm sorry. You must think I'm a little s**t for getting a little sad when he was at least there."

"No, it's okay." Yoona said reassuringly. Then she smiled at him and said, "You mentioned you have a sister...what's she like?"

"Oh, Emma's great. I think you'd like meeting her, Yoona." Sneaky said, smiling back. "There was a week where she came out to watch us play and basically became our mascot for the week..."

They continued talking as they went off by themselves. We went over to Hai, Taeyeon, Jessica and Aurora, passing the others along the way, who were talking about the showmatch, the tournament and the upcoming video shoot. As we approached, we heard the four of them talking animatedly.

"Wow, that sounds like some wedding reception!" Hai was saying.

"Yeah, it was the best dream either of us had had in a long time." Jessica said.

"You two looked so amazing, so in love!" Aurora added.

"I'd love to make that a reality someday – I certainly wouldn't turn down getting married in Hawaii." Taeyeon said, as she and Hai snuggled up to each other. "Do you remember what we were wearing?"

Tiffany and I raised our eyebrows and grinned at each other. Tiffany spoke up at that moment and told them,

"Let me guess. Pink dresses for the girls, blue tuxes with white vests for the boys – with the exception of Carlo who has a barong Tagalog since he's Filipino – an all white tux for Hai and a white dress with pink gloves for TaeTae?"

Jessica and Aurora looked at her, thunderstruck. Hai and Taeyeon also looked surprised.

"How the heck did you know?!" Aurora asked.

"We got a glimpse on the fight to LA after Worlds." Tiffany replied, indicating her and me. "But it wasn't the reception – it was the ceremony."

"Oh!" Taeyeon said, her surprised smile shared by Hai, Aurora and Jessica. "Could you two tell us what you saw?"

"Gladly!" Tiffany said as we sat down next to them. "One question first – Jessi, Aurora, what song was playing at the reception in your dreams?"

"One from our debut album." Jessica replied. "Carlo, Aurora, do you remember Ooh La-La! ?"

"Oh, I've heard it – that's a good one!" I said. Aurora also nodded and smiled, and I quickly pulled it up on my iPhone and let it play through my headset while it hung around my neck as we once again put together a shared vision of the future, happy and thankful that we knew we had the power to make it a reality.

[Yuri] Juwireul dulleobwa
[Seohyun] Meotjin wangjanim
[Jessica] Naneun gongjunim
[Jessica/Seohyun] Modudeul urireul chukahaeyo

[All] Ooh-la-la! Naneun ajigeun eorijiman
[Tiffany/Seohyun] Geudaeye jonjaereul mideoyo
Dan han myeonge namane wangjanimeul
[All] Ooh-la-la! Geudaemane gongju dwellaeyo
[Jessica/Hyoyeon] Geudaeyege jal eoullil
Nan gongjuga dwellae
[All] Geurae Ooh-la-la!
[Jessica] Ooh-la-la! Ooh, what a feeling!

English
[Yuri] Look around
[Seohyun] Handsome prince
[Jessica] I'm the princess
[Jessica/Seohyun] Everyone is congratulating us

[All] Ooh-la-la! Although I am still young
[Tiffany/Seohyun] I believe in your existence
My one and only prince
[All] Ooh-la-la! I want to become your princess
[Jessica/Hyoyeon] The one who will go well with you
I want to become a princess
[All] Yes, Ooh-la-la!
[Jessica] Ooh-la-la! Ooh, what a feeling!

Closing Author's Notes
Whew! And with that, that's the end of the regular portion of Brioso. I'll mark the story as complete as a result, but I may add on extra stuff – namely, bonus scenes (from Seasons 5 and 6, or outside the story's timeline) or deleted scenes (scenes I could have included or expanded on but didn't.) Usual rules apply – reviews welcome, but no flaming because you're not a fan of Girls' Generation, Cloud 9 or North American League. Also would like to thank those who have given me feedback here, on Twitch and elsewhere – it's been a real pleasure putting this together for people like you. Also would like to recommend tuning into Twitch for the all the action before and leading into BlizzCon, because there's more going on than you can shake a stick at in so many games!