Chapter 23
Chapter 23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Provocation (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shortly after firing back at Oh Jun-seo's provocation, a message arrived from Jjijik.
"Worth tagging them after all."
When I countered Oh Jun-seo's provocation, I'd tagged the Jjijik Star Talk account in the comments below.
The goal of this matchup wasn't revenue from views.
It was to let as many people as possible see Oh Jun-seo lose, tarnishing his reputation.
To that end, I'd convinced my sister.
Instead of filming a video and uploading it to Nutube, let's do it as a live broadcast from the start so viewers could watch in real time.
If I won, people might suspect manipulation since it was edited footage, and the on-site energy would feel diminished too.
Sis agreed once she heard that.
But that didn't mean we could foot the bill for filming ourselves.
The costs for a set, live cameras, host, and judges were beyond what we could handle.
So I'd tagged Jjijik on Star Talk to reel them in.
With all the attention on Relay Cooking Race, there was no way they'd pass up this entertaining spectacle.
We exchanged emails with the Jjijik rep.
"Exclusive, huh. Not bad?"
"Yeah. Better promotion than if we uploaded to our channel."
"Sucks about no revenue, but winning will give equivalent promo anyway. Fine by me."
Sis showed me data she'd researched. Followers of people who did well in rap battles and cooking contests skyrocketed.
We went back and forth with the Jjijik rep, hashing out the broadcast format.
That way, when Oh Jun-seo lost, he couldn't make excuses like a bad theme or poor ingredients.
Luckily, Jjijik centered the broadcast around 'fairness,' so they accepted easily.
Once the format solidified, they coordinated dates based on our inputs.
A banner even went up on the Jjijik platform main page.
"Whoa, check the comment speed."
The audience lottery mention had comments flooding in like crazy.
Oh Jun-seo's fame from Yori King plus the Star Talk snipe had interest exploding already.
Even I was intrigued by the chance to witness one of them get their pride crushed up close.
They say the world's best entertainment is watching a fight live.
"Wonder who the judges will be."
We hadn't heard who was judging during format talks. I'd win anyway, but biased commentary would be annoying.
"Jjijik will handle it right? They don't view Oh Jun-seo favorably either."
"True. More stimulating for them if I win over him anyway."
Oh Jun-seo had blasted Jjijik's program as unfair publicly. His already poor image crumbling would be juicy—they'd handle it fine.
"Should we go even more extreme then?"
"What do you mean extreme? This is already wild."
"He knows the situation too. Even if I win, he could claim unfairness."
"Nah... he wouldn't stoop that low."
"You don't get chefs' pride, sis."
Losing to a civilian in cooking is unthinkable for a chef. If he wasn't desperate, he wouldn't have dragged sis into it.
I squeezed sis's hand tight.
Every moment with her was bliss.
Waking to her cute sleeping face, her grumbling or shy looks—all lovable. Just her being by my side made me happy.
But Oh Jun-seo was crashing in, ruining it.
What dish should I make him eat.
I hated showing that side in front of sis, but for a brief moment, I'd revert to my old self.
I stoked my battle spirit staring at Oh Jun-seo's snipe post, now my wallpaper.
The studio buzzed with pre-broadcast heat and tension. Staff hustled about.
"Filming starts now! Cast to the stage, please."
I stood, checked the mirror. White chef uniform—felt awkward after so long.
"No weird spots?"
"Nope."
I hugged sis tight. Her peach body wash tickled my nose. Energy charged.
"Be back soon."
"Fighting. Win and come back."
Walked to stage center. Two cooking tables in the middle, ten lottery audience seats up front.
Oh Jun-seo at the opposite table. He smirked at me.
"You actually showed instead of running?"
"Shouldn't you be the one running? You already lost to me."
"What? This punk lost it. Talking to a senior like that."
"You started the trash talk. Oh, guess no basic manners explains picking on civilians."
His brow twitched. First crack in his arrogant face.
"Nutube fans hyping you made you think you can cook? That kitchen play won't work on me."
"They ban cream in your kitchen or something?"
"What?"
"Thought they banned cream sauce and steak pairings after your mess-up."
His face flushed red. Prodded his oversized chef ego. He knew—the mistake from Relay Cooking Race.
His fists trembled briefly before blaring music heralded the host bounding onstage.
Energy ignited instantly.
"Yes, hello viewers. Kim Ji-su here to host the Relay Cooking Race side story."
She gestured dramatically, introducing us alternately.
"Now, the matchup rules. See the fridges behind the chefs?"
Kim Ji-su pointed at mine.
"Production filled them with random ingredients. Once it starts, check yours and decide your dish."
Format I'd heard before. Just knew 50 ingredients, nothing else.
"Finally, introducing today's judge: Professor Park Chi-hong of Korea University."
"Hello, Park Chi-hong here. First time in a spot like this, might be awkward, but I'll judge coldly and fairly."
A middle-aged man climbed onstage.
I knew Park Chi-hong.
He wrote monthly food columns. High quality—I'd referenced them studying Korean cuisine.
Trends in Korean food, restaurant reviews and ratings, ingredient prep deep dives. Broad knowledge sharing, no niche.
His reviews showed how picky he was on taste.
Never expected him here.
"Chefs, check your fridges and decide your dishes. 10-minute limit."
Opened the door. Packed with variety.
Common like eggs, milk, green onions, onions; rare like lamb, sea urchin roe.
Mostly Western and Chinese ingredients. Western for Oh Jun-seo the Western chef; Chinese maybe mistaking me for one.
Since I did Chinese in Relay Cooking Race.
What to make.
Dozens of options from these. Mulling it.
Safest: meat stew or roast, pasta side. Chinese ingredients good too.
Park Chi-hong can catch fine taste details.
Decided.
Back to my spot, Kim Ji-su grabbed the mic.
"Time's up. What dishes? Oh Jun-seo first?"
"Saw oysters in there. Planning Oyster Rockefeller and garlic pasta with oysters."
"Oyster mains overall. And you, Haneul?"
Camera on me. Oh Jun-seo and Kim Ji-su looked over.
I spoke slowly.
"Saw on Star Talk how Oh Jun-seo questioned the matchup's fairness. I agree. Even perfect judges have tastes."
"Uh... Haneul?"
"So I'll compete with the exact same dishes as him."
"What?!"
Kim Ji-su's eyes bulged as she yelped.
Same menu judging meant pure skill gap.
Comparing different dishes is tough, but picking the tastier identical one is easy for pros.
This turned variety show into real-skill docu.
I'd agonized too. Average judge might miss detail diffs.
But Park Chi-hong? He'd nail the nuances between mine and Oh's.
"Kuh! Shocking choice! Arrogance or confidence—we'll see now. 30-minute limit. Finish your dishes. Start!"