Chapter 106: Arbitration Expenses (1)
Chapter 106: Arbitration Expenses (1)
Jo Minjoon’s lips trembled. He tried to force them into a smile, but in the end, all his face showed was disappointment.
Why did this have to happen now, when his family was here?
He could not bring himself to look at Lee Hyeseon or Jo Ara.
Did Chloe feel like this last week? Did she confess to me while feeling this way?
His chest felt tight.
Emily spoke softly, as though trying to comfort him. “Minjoon, you’ve done more than enough. You may not have reached the final, but you can still be proud of making it this far.”
As she spoke, Emily glanced behind him.
Lee Hyeseon and Jo Ara stood and walked over to Jo Minjoon. Lee Hyeseon placed her hands on his shoulders and spoke quietly. “I’m proud of you, Minjoon.”
“…Mum.”
“Don’t look so ashamed just because you lost today. I’ve watched every episode until now. I saw how much effort you put in, how much you enjoyed yourself, and what kind of talent you have. So, son…” Lee Hyeseon’s voice grew wet. “…don’t cry. Lift your head, all right?”
Jo Minjoon swallowed back his tears and covered his eyes with his hands.
Kaya watched him with a suffocated expression.
It was the first time she had ever seen him like this.
He was an adult, and he had always seemed mature. But that Jo Minjoon was crying now, like a child who had scraped his knee and could think of nothing but the pain.
Anyone could cry. No matter how broad-minded someone might be, there was no person who could live without shedding a single tear.
Even so, Kaya did not like seeing Jo Minjoon cry.
If they were tears like the ones he had shed at Rose Island after tasting the calf cheek, she would not have minded. But if he was crying because he was this sad…
She did not want to see it.
Yet there was nothing Kaya could do.
There was nothing between them.
Suddenly, she remembered what she had asked Chloe. When she had asked whether they would be able to maintain their relationship even after the competition ended, Chloe had said they could because their feelings had reached one another.
Will that really be enough?
The thought of even one of them leaving made her heart feel hollow.
Kaya placed a hand over her chest. Beneath the badge pinned there, her heart was beating uneasily.
“Kaya. Anderson. Congratulations. You are now the final two. At the same time, you’ve earned your places on the final stage of Grand Chef. Are you confident you can win?”
“Yes, I am.”
Anderson answered briefly, but Kaya did not respond.
Her gaze was still fixed on Jo Minjoon.
The cameraman smiled as he framed Kaya in one shot and Jo Minjoon at the end of her line of sight in another.
This feels like I’m filming a drama.
The cameraman smiled awkwardly to himself, and Joseph raised his voice once more.
“Kaya!”
“…Ah, yes. Did you call me?”
“The final. I asked whether you’re confident you can win.”
“There aren’t any trophies or certificates in my house.” Kaya spoke in a lower voice than usual. Then she looked at Anderson with cold eyes. “It’s about time I put one on the shelf.”
Perhaps out of consideration for the families who had travelled so far, they were not required to leave the very next day.
Because of that, Jo Minjoon was able to sit comfortably for his interview even though it was already late at night.
It was his first interview as an eliminated contestant.
“I don’t have any complaints about the evaluation. The explanation was pretty long-winded, but… in the end, they had to choose the worst among three people who had all done well. If you only look at the result, it’s simple. Compared with the other two, I didn’t leave as strong an impression. In the end, I was lacking…”
Halfway through speaking, Jo Minjoon sighed.
It was not because he was lamenting his situation.
It was because of the expression on Martin’s face.
“…Martin, I’m begging you. Please stop smiling like that. It’s painfully obvious that you’re happy about this.”
“What can I do if I am? Now I can officially make you the offer. I’m talking about the tasting trip. You still haven’t decided?”
“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it much. This competition is intense enough without spending time thinking about what I’d do if I got eliminated.”
“Good. Then let’s leave that aside for now. We still have plenty of time. When are you planning to return to Korea? No, more importantly, do you have somewhere to stay?”
“…I’m not sure. I do know someone, but I don’t want to impose on them. Is there some reason I need to stay in the US?”
Martin smiled meaningfully. “July thirteenth. Today is June twenty-fifth… so that’s eighteen days from now. Do you know what happens that day?”
“July thirteenth… Ah. That’s when the final airs.”
“The final will be broadcast live, and on a scale that isn’t even comparable to what we’ve done until now. We’ll need you there that day.”
Jo Minjoon nodded in understanding.
He could more or less guess what Martin meant.
He did not remember the final originally being broadcast live, but that had happened in later seasons. Perhaps this season had received a particularly strong response.
Jo Minjoon grinned “It seems the network really likes Grand Chef.”
“…Well, you played a fairly large part in that. After your absolute sense of taste was revealed, our average viewership increased by tens of thousands.”
“I doubt I’m the only one you’ll be calling back… How far down are you inviting people?”
“Hoho. Whatever could you mean?” Martin answered the question with another question.
Jo Minjoon gave him a knowing look. “I don’t think you’re calling us back just to cheer. It’s related to the mission, isn’t it?”
Martin’s expression did not change, but his eyes trembled for a moment.
He tried to maintain his poker face, then abruptly sighed as though surrendering.
“Even if that were true, you know I couldn’t tell you. Fine. You’ll find out once we contact everyone anyway. The top ten. Excluding the two competing in the final and you… Chloe, Sasha, Joanne, Ivanna, Olivia, Hugo and Marco. Those seven will also be there that day. I can’t tell you anything more than that. Feel free to make whatever guesses you like.”
“Well, will you pay for accommodation?”
“We can cover your lodging and meals. If for some reason we can’t arrange a room, I’ll make sure you can stay at my house, so don’t turn this down. This offer isn’t simply about appearing in one more episode. It could become one of the greatest opportunities of your entire life.”
Jo Minjoon could not quite tell what Martin meant by that.
Martin grinned, apparently satisfied by his confused expression.
“You said earlier that the network seems to be showing Grand Chef a lot of affection. I’ll make sure you properly feel that affection.”
“…Fine. I don’t have anything else to do anyway. And opportunities to see the others again won’t come around often.”
“Good decision. Then let’s go back to what we were discussing earlier. The tasting trip.”
“Tell me more about it.” Suddenly, a very slender woman’s voice came from behind him.
Jo Minjoon jumped slightly and turned around.
Emily was standing in the doorway, watching the two of them.
Jo Minjoon spoke wearily. “Emily, you haven’t left yet?”
“I wasn’t expecting an explosive reaction, but that was still a little much. I’m your fan, you know.”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant…”
“Forget it. I was joking. You don’t mind if I join you, do you? I think I have some say in whatever you’re discussing.”
“…Fine. Robert, bring over another chair.”
“Is there really any need? There’s a seat right here.” Emily said it calmly and sat down beside Jo Minjoon in the empty space on the sofa.
Seeing Jo Minjoon sigh as though exhausted, Martin had a thought.
The two of them really did resemble a mischievous aunt and her prickly nephew.
Their ages even fit the image reasonably well.
Of course, Emily would never agree that she was old enough to be called an aunt.
“Minjoon, there’s no need to think about it for long because I’ve already thought about it for you. You should accept the tasting trip.”
“…Emily, let me ask you honestly. Why are you so determined to bring me into the epicurean world? What does my becoming a food critic have to do with you?”
“If you want every reason, we could sit here all night and I still wouldn’t finish. Do you want to hear them all?”
“Give me the three most important.”
“Three… Only three?” Emily rested her chin on her hand and fell into thought.
Judging by her expression, she genuinely seemed to have so many reasons that narrowing them down to three was difficult.
Only after a long while did Emily raise her head.
Her expression was unusually serious. “You’re the only person in the world who can become a star food critic.”
“…The only one? You’re a star too.”
“The reason I’m a star isn’t because my sense of taste is exceptional. There are probably plenty of people with better palates than mine. Even so, the reason I could become a judge on this programme is… well, there’s no point pretending otherwise. It’s because I’m the heiress to Potter’s Beer. The glamorous life of a conglomerate heiress, combined with fairly good tasting ability. I was simply in a position that was easy to use.” Emily added, “Of course, my actress-like beauty probably helped too.”
Jo Minjoon shook his head as though thoroughly fed up with her.
“Even so, I still don’t understand why I’m supposedly the only person who can become a star food critic.”
“You really don’t understand? You’re the only person in the world whose sense of taste people can’t argue with. You can detect everything that goes into a dish. With that alone, if you say a dish everyone else thinks is flavourless is actually delicious, then people will start believing it’s delicious. And when the people who heard you go to that restaurant and eat the same dish, they’ll insist there was a flavour they hadn’t noticed before.” Emily’s face reddened with excitement. “Your palate inspires that much trust. People would treat your opinion as more absolute than that of critics who have spent decades travelling around the world eating at restaurants.”
Emily leaned forward. “You can obtain people’s trust effortlessly. Trust is one of the hardest things in the world to earn, but for you, it practically comes for free.”
“…The second reason?”
“That one’s simple. I want to see what kind of world your sense of taste exists in. Food critics can be inspired by someone else’s way of tasting just as artists can be inspired by another artist. Even if two people eat exactly the same dish, depending on who explains it, the flavour can seem completely different.” Emily’s eyes shone. “I want to know how flavours are expressed inside your mouth. I want to understand what you experience. Because merely learning the way you taste things would make my own life much more interesting.”
Despite all the praise, Jo Minjoon’s expression did not brighten.
If anything, it became stiffer.
He could not help it.
Jo Minjoon did not actually possess that kind of palate.
So he calmed himself before asking quietly. “Then what’s the last reason?”
“I’m curious.” Emily answered simply.
It was such a short answer that it seemed to contain feelings too numerous to express no matter how long she spoke.
Naturally, however, she still had to explain.
“Everyone’s sense of taste is different. Their preferences are different, and the way they experience flavour is different. That’s always been accepted as part of the world of gastronomy.” Emily paused. “But perhaps, if you could establish an absolute standard… If you could distinguish perfectly between flavours that are genuinely present in a dish and flavours that aren’t… then it wouldn’t affect only food critics. The tasting standards of everyone in the world could rise.”
Her voice grew more intent. “A world with an absolute theory of taste. Something that can’t be refuted, something that isn’t subjective. That’s the kind of theory I’m talking about.”
Jo Minjoon remained silent for a moment.
He was not capable of doing that.
He could pretend to possess an absolute sense of taste, but he could never become someone who truly had one.
Yet he could not say that.
And, truthfully, he did not want to.
Greed had begun to rise within him.
Even without an absolute sense of taste, if he did not let this opportunity pass, the experience alone would be invaluable.
His ability to analyse recipes would allow him to build his own recipes more solidly.
Silence settled among the three of them.
Jo Minjoon was the one who finally broke it. “You’ll regret it.”
“…What?”
“Putting that much expectation on me. I’m not as incredible as you think.”
But simply because he was not incredible did not mean he could ignore the treasure glittering right in front of him.
Jo Minjoon spoke. And the fish took the fisherman’s bait. “I’ll accept it. That offer.”
Could that fish grow into something enormous?