Chapter 100: The Mirror Recipe (3)
Chapter 100: The Mirror Recipe (3)
Once the decision was made, the person who left the Grand Chef house was Chloe.
Chloe had made a simple dish that delivered delicious flavour, while Jo Minjoon’s execution had fallen slightly short despite having a good recipe. If someone asked which of the two had been more outstanding, it would not have been easy to answer.
But Grand Chef had always been clear about what it valued. The judges had once sent Jo Minjoon into an elimination mission because the Korean meal he prepared did not fit the nature of the competition. There was no reason for that standard to change now.
The conclusion had been reached.
Jo Minjoon survived, and Chloe was eliminated.
Sitting on a sofa in the lobby, Jo Minjoon stared blankly ahead. It was not Chloe’s elimination itself that had shocked him. What he hated was himself—the part of him that had wanted to survive even if it meant benefiting from someone else’s misfortune.
He had thought he would be free from that kind of greed.
“...Why are you making such a gloomy face?”
The voice was not particularly familiar.
Jo Minjoon turned around and saw Rachel looking at him.
He smiled bitterly. “This isn’t really the time to look cheerful.”
“Your friend was eliminated, but you survived. Aren’t you happy?”
“We weren’t together for that long, but she’s a friend I really care about. I shouldn’t be happy. But maybe part of me is. And that scares me.”
“If you’re human, it’s perfectly normal to think that way. Nobody will blame you for not being a saint. Nor do you need to be one. Look at Sergei. Does he look like a saint to you?”
Instead of answering, Jo Minjoon shifted his eyes awkwardly. Even as a joke, he could hardly make fun of such a distinguished senior chef.
He asked quietly, “Why are you paying so much attention to me?”
“Because I fell for you. Your tongue, specifically. That is a gift from God.”
Normally, it would have been the sort of compliment that made anyone happy. But Jo Minjoon could not be pleased.
Even Rachel was surprised. There was not the slightest trace of happiness on his face.
Jo Minjoon asked in a low voice, “Then if I didn’t have this sense of taste, you probably wouldn’t have paid attention to me in the first place.”
“...Probably. But does that matter?”
“The ability I have is different from what you think it is, Rachel. If what you’re really looking for is someone with an absolute sense of taste... she might be better.”
As he spoke, Jo Minjoon looked away.
Kaya had just finished her interview, and she flinched when Rachel suddenly turned towards her.
“...Why are you looking at me?”
Rachel did not answer.
Something seemed to catch in her chest.
Sergei had said the same thing, and now Jo Minjoon was saying it too.
That the person she should be looking at was Kaya Lotus.
Her talent was obvious just from watching her cook. If Rachel had never met Jo Minjoon, Kaya might well have been the raw gemstone she chose to take as a disciple.
Am I making a mistake...?
Rachel’s gaze sharpened.
Kaya quietly sat down beside Jo Minjoon and opened her mouth.
“Why haven’t you left yet? That old man Sergei disappeared the moment everything ended.”
“Sergei has a restaurant to run.”
“Don’t you?”
“I’m only the owner. There’s a separate head chef.” Rachel answered before looking at Jo Minjoon again.
Even if Kaya was an excellent gemstone, Rachel did not believe she was better than the young man sitting before her.
That was her judgement.
“Do you have any plans for after this? Whether you win or get eliminated, you should have some idea of what comes next. Ah, am I being too intrusive?”
“...Not really. If I win, I’ll probably have to attend a lot of events as the winner of Grand Chef. After that, I’ll need to join a restaurant somewhere. If I’m lucky, maybe someone would even hire me as a head chef. But honestly, I’m nowhere near ready for that.”
“There are geniuses like that sometimes. People who become head chefs at twenty and earn a Michelin star, then receive their third by thirty.” The moment she said it, Rachel’s eyes grew moist. She continued quietly. “But if you truly believe you lack talent, come and find me. If you need teaching, I can teach you as much as you want. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
“...You didn’t come all the way here just to tell me that, did you?”
“I suppose you’d be more moved if I said yes... but unfortunately, no. I also need to announce to the world that Rachel Rose isn’t dead yet. I can’t keep living as a recluse forever. And...” Rachel’s eyes shifted towards Kaya. “Your dishes today were good too. I’ll make you the same offer. One day, you may need my help. When that day comes, don’t hesitate to find me.”
Rachel stood. “I’m sorry for taking up the time of you youngsters. I hope you achieve even better results from here on.”
Kaya watched Rachel’s retreating back with a bewildered expression. “Why did she suddenly get like that?”
“What?” “That whole thing about going to find her. And what does she mean by some day when we’ll need her?”
“Just take it as a compliment. It means she thinks highly of you.”
“That means...?” Kaya rolled her eyes upwards, still looking confused.
Jo Minjoon smirked.
The heaviness in his chest eased, if only slightly.
“Don’t worry about it. Just keep being yourself.”
Kaya did not answer. She simply looked at Jo Minjoon.
She had eyes too, and she knew how to read the atmosphere. She could clearly tell that he was not comfortable with what had happened.
“It’s sad that Chloe got eliminated... but you don’t have to look like you committed some crime.”
“It’s not that I feel like a criminal...”
“It’s your face. You look like one.” Kaya paused. “Even though I’m sad... I’m honestly happy too. Not because Chloe was eliminated. Because you’re still here.”
Her eyes shone seriously.
Jo Minjoon simply stared back.
He had never realised before how deep her pale blue eyes looked beneath her thick double eyelids. Without makeup, the skin around her eyes seemed clearer than ever. To the point that he wondered whether he had spent all this time looking at her with only one eye open.
Perhaps her lips were naturally moist, or perhaps they merely caught the light, but they gleamed faintly as they parted.
Then Kaya turned her head.
Anderson and Chloe were coming into the lobby.
Chloe smiled awkwardly. “Hello.”
“...Why are you suddenly greeting us?” Kaya answered strangely.
Anderson frowned. “Don’t talk to dead people.”
“...Saying I’m dead actually hurts.” Chloe immediately looked close to tears.
Anderson coughed awkwardly and sat down.
Kaya glared at him. “Why don’t you watch your own mouth first?”
Anderson had no reply.
Jo Minjoon sighed and looked at Chloe.
It was not as though he had actually done anything wrong to her.
He had simply thought something horribly selfish for one brief moment. Anyone might have had such a thought.
But he still felt sorry.
Because Chloe had treated him almost like family.
And sometimes, she had been so gentle with him that he had misunderstood what it meant.
“...I’m sorry, Chloe.”
At Jo Minjoon’s words, everyone beside him made strange expressions.
Chloe was no exception.
She looked confused.
“Why are you apologising to me?”
He could not answer.
It was far too embarrassing to say aloud.
And even if he did explain it, it would only hurt Chloe.
Jo Minjoon forced a smile. He did not want to send her away while wearing a miserable expression. “No. It’s nothing. Thank you for everything.”
“Why are you thanking me...?” Chloe scratched her cheek awkwardly.
Kaya asked in a voice that could not even jokingly be called cheerful, “But why did you do that?”
“Huh?”
“The mission. Why did you suddenly make such familiar food? You could have made something much better.”
“I don’t know...” Chloe thought for a moment. “You know when your mum is scolding you, and you know answering back will only make the lecture longer, but you still do it anyway? I think it was something like that.”
It was a strange answer.
Yet somehow convincing.
While Kaya and Anderson nodded, Jo Minjoon continued looking at Chloe without saying anything.
Chloe also seemed to have many things she wanted to say, but perhaps because Kaya and Anderson were there, she could not bring herself to speak.
Anderson glanced at Chloe.
Then, without his phone making so much as a sound, he suddenly raised it to his ear.
“Yes, Martin. Yes. Right now? Understood.” Anderson stood and looked at Kaya. “Hey. Get up.”
“What? Why all of a sudden?”
“Martin says he has something to ask us. We need to go for a moment.”
“...I wanted to stay with Chloe a little longer.” Kaya pouted sadly.
But she could hardly throw a tantrum when the producer was supposedly calling for her.
At that moment, Anderson and Chloe’s eyes met.
Anderson smirked.
Seeing that expression, Chloe vaguely understood what was happening.
She blushed and shifted her feet awkwardly.
Jo Minjoon muttered in confusion. “Why is Martin calling them?”
“Y-Yeah. That doesn’t usually happen.”
“Well, we’ll find out when they come back.” Jo Minjoon looked at Chloe.
They sat opposite each other with the table between them, both cautiously watching the other for completely different reasons.
Chloe slowly opened her mouth. “I have to leave first.”
“...We’ll see each other again. You’re going to keep cooking, right?”
Honestly, the things she had said during the elimination mission had remained in Jo Minjoon’s mind.
They had moved him.
They had also made him worry.
Would Chloe decide this path did not suit her and leave cooking behind?
Chloe smiled brightly and nodded. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning to quit. I just... rebelled for a moment. This kind of cooking is acceptable, but that kind isn’t. I don’t really like dividing things that way. I told you I’m going to run a restaurant.”
“Right. You said you wanted to run one as a couple. I hope your dream comes true.” Jo Minjoon smiled gently, though there was sadness in it.
Chloe simply stared at that smile. She liked the expression he sometimes made. Because whenever she saw it, she could feel that he was thinking about her. From a single smile from Jo Minjoon, Chloe imagined ten things, twenty things. She saw things that were not visible. She heard things that had never been spoken.
Chloe forced herself to sound casual. “If I want to open one, money will be one problem, but I’ll also need a husband to run it with me. And he’d have to be a chef too.”
“Ah, that’s true. That really does make it a difficult dream.” Jo Minjoon smiled bitterly.
Chloe hesitated. Perhaps this single sentence could ruin everything. But she could no longer retreat. Anderson had even lied to give them privacy. Perhaps she looked pathetic right now... But if she could not even say these words, she would not merely be pathetic. She would be miserable.
At least that much, she wanted to avoid.
Chloe opened her mouth.
Between her lips, the tip of her tongue appeared briefly, red and moist, before retreating again as though embarrassed.
Jo Minjoon thought she was about to let out a sigh.
Instead, Chloe raised her eyes and looked directly at him. “...I’d like it if it were you.”
Jo Minjoon’s eyes trembled.
Slowly, he met Chloe’s gaze.
There was a fierce torrent of emotion inside it.
A whirlpool.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. It was merely a silent expression of bewilderment.
Chloe continued looking at him.
Anxiety and expectation.
Shyness and boldness.
And love.
They were all contained in her eyes.
No, not only her eyes.
They were in her flushed face, her trembling lips, and the tears gathering there.
They were even in her tightly clenched fists.
It was all so obvious that Jo Minjoon could not understand how he had failed to notice until now.
Then those feelings finally became words. “I’d like it... if you were in my restaurant.”