The Chef's Tears and a Call to the Chairman
"This is……."
It was enough to make him doubt his own eyes.
Go Jin-mook's eyes went round as saucers.
Only hours ago, while he'd been working out in the field, his vision had been a blurry haze. Even as he sat down at the table, everything in front of him had refused to come into focus. And now—this.
The moment he ate the carrot, it was as if a veil that had hung over the world was peeled away, and everything snapped into vivid clarity.
Thump—
The chair Go Jin-mook was sitting on rocked violently. His massive frame had jerked upright without meaning to.
After a moment of being stunned by this new world, he came back to himself, shook his head with a snap, and turned it sharply.
……Could it be!
Would it work in the kitchen too?
Had a miracle like this truly, actually happened to him?
I'll just have to test it myself.
Go Jin-mook carefully asked Kim Mi-suk, who was seated beside him.
"Excuse me—would it be all right if I borrowed your kitchen for a bit?"
"……Right now?"
They were in the middle of dinner.
Go Jin-mook hurried to explain, seeing her bewilderment.
"Oh, no, not now! After dinner, I mean. I'd love to make you all a simple dessert as a thank-you!"
"Oh my. If you're offering, how could I say no?"
At the word dessert, his mother's face lit up.
Chef Go Jin-mook was a cook skilled enough to command an entire multi-course meal, and his end-of-course desserts had always been famous for being something special. Remembering Chef Go Jin-mook's desserts from his NutTube videos, his mother beamed—then, a beat later, her expression clouded with worry.
"But I heard something's wrong with your eyes, Chef. I'd hate for you to hurt yourself in an unfamiliar kitchen……."
It wasn't even a kitchen he knew well—just one in a house he was briefly staying at, one he'd never set foot in before. For a man whose eyes were ailing, an accident could easily happen.
As if he'd sensed her concern, Go Jin-mook answered with a bright face.
"Funny thing, actually—as soon as I ate that stir-fried side dish just now, my eyes cleared right up. No pain at all, and I can see beautifully."
Ah. So the Clear Eye Carrot had worked on Go Jin-mook's eyes as well.
And to a very positive degree, at that.
His mother must have noticed it too, because she nodded along.
"Sounds like the carrot helped."
"The carrot?"
"Yes. It's a special carrot our Ji-on grew himself."
His mother launched into a brief round of boasting—about the carrots, and about her sweet potato (which was really boasting about her son).
Go Jin-mook, looking for all the world deeply moved, nodded fervently and echoed every word she said.
Did it really have to be that enthusiastic……?
God, embarrassing.
Go Jin-mook took a slow circuit around the refrigerator and cupboards, surveying the ingredients, then got straight to work.
It looked like he'd be using eggs, milk, a bit of flour, and the leftover carrots from dinner.
"Pancakes all right with everyone?"
Jolt.
My body flinched.
Pancakes. Why did that name feel so familiar?
It was the favorite food of the original owner of this body, Seo Ji-on—and his body reacted before his mind could. Tender cake that pulled apart like silk, edges crisped to golden perfection when cooked just right, sweet sauce and butter spread on together, and one bite of it all……!
Swallow.
I hadn't even taken a single bite myself, and my mouth was already watering.
In the kitchen, a rich, golden aroma was already spreading. Amid the crackle of the stove and the sizzle of oil, the pancakes were puffing up thick and fluffy.
Who knows where he found them, but Go Jin-mook blitzed the carrots along with a few other fruits in a blender. Then he gently spooned the resulting carrot purée over the domed pancakes.
"Ready."
A beautifully plated dessert, one serving per person.
I carefully cut off a piece of pancake with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth. The pillowy softness of the pancake melting on the tongue, the sweet-yet-bright tang of the carrot purée—a harmony of flavors.
The little rascals were dancing in my mouth!
'What! Why is everyone eating delicious food except me?!'
Bong-gu, who had slept the whole day away and was only now heading out for his night patrol, caught the scent and came tearing over to the table.
'Give to me too!! Smell is tasty!'
'No. You'll get a stomachache if you eat it. Go do your patrol like a good boy.'
'Whine……!'
Seo Bong-gu rose up on his hind legs in an unmistakable threat.
'Tasty food, me no give up!'
'You'll get an upset stomach, I'm telling you. Tell you what—finish your patrol tonight and I'll give you a honey-glazed carrot. That's on top of your weekly pay.'
'……Honey carrot. Good.'
I'd barely talked him down.
Bong-gu slunk off toward the door, sulking and grumbling under his breath.
"Bong-gu's off on his night walk again?"
"Yep. I guess it's his routine."
A routine it was, all right. If you're living under someone's roof, you've got to clock in for work.
Putting the departing Bong-gu behind me, I gave Go Jin-mook a thumbs-up.
"This is seriously delicious!"
"Haha, I'm glad to hear it."
Go Jin-mook's face looked unburdened. It was the look of a man who had finally done something he hadn't been able to do for a long time.
I was glad I'd quietly slipped him that carrot.
Getting to taste something this delicious was more than enough for me.
A week had already flown by, and it was Saturday again. In the meantime, Go Jin-mook had kept making us desserts and light meals. I'd thought I was satisfied, but given the chance, I would have gladly wrung every last day out of him.
There's no going back to the days when I didn't know this taste!
But my wishes carried no weight with time, which flowed on mercilessly. And at last, the system window displayed the notification I'd been dreading—(hoping for).
Currently Cultivated Crops
— Clear Eye Carrot (100%): Ready for Harvest
I couldn't plant the next crop until the carrots were out of the ground, so there was nothing for it.
Three of us headed out to the field together—my father, me, and Go Jin-mook.
"You did call them special carrots. Special indeed, it seems. Growing this fast……"
Go Jin-mook had been flustered at first, but once the harvest actually began, he threw himself into the work.
In a corner of the vinyl greenhouse, the harvested carrots piled up in a deep heap.
"Whew, whew. There really are a lot."
Full-sized carrots had been planted across the entire large greenhouse, so of course the harvest was no small chore.
"Finally—the last one……!"
Go Jin-mook yanked up the final carrot from his section and shouted. For a long while, he ran his hands over it, checking its condition.
"I've never seen carrots of this quality in my life."
A man who had handled countless ingredients could tell at a glance: every carrot grown here was top-grade. On top of that, they were nearly identical in length and thickness—even the color of each one was uniform.
Even in a single field, these had all come from different seeds.
"How can they possibly be this consistent……?"
He'd heard the word special over and over, but he hadn't imagined they'd be this special.
"And growing this fast, supply will never be a problem."
It was one of the most critical issues for any restaurant: sourcing ingredients of uniform quality, fresh, every single day. By that measure, these carrots—no, every crop grown on this farm—might be the very definition of perfect ingredients.
'This is the baseline for being able to serve people genuinely good food.'
At the thought, something reignited in him—his passion as a chef.
Go Jin-mook set down the carrot he was holding onto the pile near the greenhouse door and spoke up.
"As much as I hate to say it, I think it's really time I head back."
"You're leaving today?"
Evening was already drawing near.
"Yes. There's still a train, so I'll be fine. I have to hit the ground running bright and early tomorrow."
Once home, Go Jin-mook gathered his things and bowed deeply at the front door.
"Thank you for everything."
"We should be the ones thanking you for all the wonderful meals."
His mother said it with obvious, heartfelt reluctance.
"Come visit again."
"May I, really?"
"Of course! And if you ever need carrots, just call anytime."
With that, she pressed a plump, bulging bundle into Go Jin-mook's hands—a cloth-wrapped package of side dishes made from the carrots.
"This is……?"
"They say cooks rarely bother making food just for themselves to eat. I figured maybe even Chef Go Jin-mook was like that, so I butted in a little."
At his mother's words, Chef Go Jin-mook's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Achem—thank you, truly."
Seeing a man as big as a mountain shedding tears in front of my mother stirred something strange in me.
"All right, let's get going before you miss that train."
My father clapped Go Jin-mook on the back and climbed into the car. Go Jin-mook bowed once more and offered his final farewell.
"Next time, I'll come back and treat you properly. Take care until then—I'll see you soon."
The car carrying Go Jin-mook, who kept looking back until the very end, pulled away.
My mother watched until the car vanished from sight, then said with a smile,
"He really was a good man."
"He was."
Anyone who could put a smile like that on my mother's face was a good man, full stop.
Back inside, his mother headed into the kitchen to start dinner, and I returned to my room to sort out my plans for the future.
It was the notebook where I'd laid out my growth plan on the day I resolved to seriously expand the family business. I flipped through a few pages until I reached the one headed Business Expansion.
"Yeah. It's time to start expanding in earnest."
We had distribution channels sending cash in on a regular schedule, and the carrots had been harvested without a hitch. It was truly time to move to the next stage.
I picked up my phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hello? Chairman, do you have a minute?"
Honorary Chairman Choi Tae-seok.
Through the receiver came the sound of him grumbling.
—Now see here, boy. You were perfectly happy calling me Grandpa Choi, and why the sudden switch back to stiff titles like 'Chairman'?
"Haha, I'm not calling just to check in on you today."
—Not a social call? ……Then don't tell me—
Honorary Chairman Choi Tae-seok urgently called for his secretary.
—Secretary Jang! Get ready to take notes, right now!
Good grief, what's gotten into him.
Serious business couldn't be settled over a phone call anyway.
"It's past six—why not give your secretary the evening off?"
—Eh? Secretary Jang lives on-site. Even if he clocks out, he's in the next room. He volunteered for it, the boy did. No use blaming this old man.
From behind the receiver came a small, obedient voice: Yes, sir.
My, my. Volunteering for hardship like that.
—Anyway, so I take it you're calling for the reason I'm thinking of?
We both knew exactly where this was going. No need for drawn-out banter.
I answered straight away.
"That's right. I'm calling about the carrot deal."
—BWAHAHA! Well thought out, boy! Well thought out indeed!!
Chairman Choi's laughter boomed through the speaker.
This old man really was beside himself with excitement.
—But Ji-on, you've overlooked something.
"Overlooked?"
—That's right. I'm the honorary chairman. I've stepped back from the front lines. I can't see a direct contract through to signing with you.
This old man? Seriously?
—But the fact remains that your carrots would be a huge boon to our Taeram. The one who stands to lose here is us. So here's my thought…….
Chairman Choi paused for a beat, then continued.
—How would you feel about meeting my son face-to-face?
His son? If we're talking about Honorary Chairman Choi Tae-seok's son……
Chairman Choi Jin-hyuk—the real power behind Taeram today?!
Snap—
I shot up from my seat without even realizing it and shouted,
"Of course I'll meet him!"