Chapter 133: Their Live Broadcast (2)
Chapter 133: Their Live Broadcast (2)
“……Why are you looking at us like that?”
Kaya asked, her voice trembling slightly. Jeremy slipped a finger into his empty spoon and spun it around as he spoke.
“You two really do get along well. Especially considering you’re a man and a woman.”
“You’re not about to start some tired argument like, ‘Can a man and a woman really just be friends?’ are you?”
“Haha, I’m old. I don’t have the energy for debates like that anymore. But there is something I’d like to ask, if it isn’t rude. You two really are just friends? I’m curious because you seem awfully close for people who are only friends.”
[I knew Jeremy would be the one to do it.]
[Please, God. Just don’t let them answer, ‘Yes, that’s right’……]
Comments like those immediately sent the chat scrolling faster. Sera and Emily looked at Jo Minjoon and Kaya with expectant eyes. Kaya, however, did not seem flustered. She merely raised one eyebrow and replied calmly.
“Is there some standard for how close friends are allowed to be?”
“Of course not. Still, to this old man, the relationship between you youngsters looks both unusual and as though it’s progressing somewhere. Kaya, do you really have no feelings for him as a man? I’m only asking because you two are so nice to watch together.”
Jeremy said everything with a laugh. Kaya hesitated, looking slightly bewildered, then glanced sideways at Jo Minjoon. Jo Minjoon smacked his lips briefly as well. It was difficult to say, This is exactly what it is, but it was certainly true that feelings like that had passed between them more than once.
Just then, Anderson spoke.
“What if they do? They can’t even meet properly.”
Thanks to the unexpected defence, Kaya and Jo Minjoon were able to breathe sighs of relief. Sera glanced at Anderson and spoke in a strange tone.
“Hey, what does it matter whether they can meet or not? What matters is how they feel.”
“And what good are feelings if they can’t talk properly or spend any time together? People who are meant to be together will be, and people who aren’t won’t. Stop teasing innocent people.”
With Anderson’s words, Jeremy instantly became a foul-tempered old man. Anderson paid no attention to whatever sighs might be coming from the chat and calmly pointed ahead.
“Bring out the next dish.”
[Ah! Anderson, why is he being so tactless?]
[Feels like he’s doing it on purpose…]
[Look at Sera beside him. She looks genuinely disappointed. XD]
[My face looks exactly like hers.]
Before long, however, everyone’s expressions brightened as though they had never been interrogating the pair at all.
The ceviche served as the appetiser was beautiful. Thinly sliced tuna, red like raw beef, had been arranged flat across the plate, while cooked shrimp had been stacked into a pointed tower above it. Apple mint, coconut jelly, white foam, and the other garnishes resembled little houses and trees. With the tuna spread beneath them, the entire dish looked almost like a tiny village.
Sera stared at it in fascination before speaking.
“I know I’m going to sound terrible saying this as someone who calls herself a gourmet, but……I mean things like this foam. Even when there’s a lot of it visually, there’s actually so little that you can barely taste it. Do you know why chefs put it on? Of course, someone like Jo Minjoon with absolute taste might be able to detect what such a tiny amount does, but ordinary people probably wouldn’t notice much. Is it basically decoration?”
[I agree. I’ve never thought something tasted better just because there was foam on it.]
[Are you disrespecting beer foam right now?]
[No, that foam and this foam are different…]
[Honestly, I don’t even know if beer foam tastes that good.]
Perhaps because it was something many people had wondered about, Rachel responded immediately.
“How could that be? Of course, I’m not saying decoration has nothing to do with it. Eat it first. We can talk afterwards.”
Rachel put some of the foam on a piece of shrimp and ate it.
“I’m certain of it. Most people probably won’t think the flavour of this foam itself is particularly special. But the person who made the dish certainly understands what it does. Think about why they chose to put this foam here.”
At Rachel’s words, the others began eating the ceviche as well.
Jo Minjoon felt as though he understood what Rachel meant. The moment he ate the tuna together with the shrimp, foam, and herbs, he could almost sense Alan’s intentions behind the dish.
Rachel, watching him, spoke.
“Minjoon. Can you explain it?”
“Yes. Shrimp and fish have that particular smell……though calling it fishy isn’t quite right. It’s closer to the scent of the sea than an unpleasant odour. Still, sometimes a smell that’s perfectly tolerable on its own becomes unpleasant when it meets another ingredient. It’s like sprinkling salt on watermelon and making the sweetness stronger. A fishy scent can become stronger too, depending on what you combine it with.”
“You understand it well. This lemon foam acts as a bridge between the ingredients. It threads itself between the different flavours and binds everything together. You got it right.”
[I think Rachel loves Minjoon more than Kaya does. Even my grandmother never looked at me with eyes that warm.]
[Is he going to become her real disciple at this rate? It looks like Rachel’s slowly coming back.]
[Even if she does, that’s way out in Santa Monica. It’s far, and the prices will be insane. Even if I wanted to go, I couldn’t.]
[Jo really knows how to taste things, and he describes them in such a refined way too. Sometimes it feels like Jo speaks better English than I do.]
“Thank you.”
“Yes?”
“……Ah, I was talking to the chat. Someone complimented my English.”
Jo Minjoon had been smiling towards the camera, but when he saw Rachel looking at him strangely, he answered in embarrassment. While the others laughed, he turned towards Kaya.
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
At his question, Kaya rolled her eyes as though thinking for a moment, then smiled.
“Yeah. It doesn’t taste unfamiliar.”
“That’s good.”
He did not ask whether it was delicious. That much was obvious.
It was an eight-point dish.
Jo Minjoon was not disappointed by the score. Alan’s cooking level was 9, and if Alan personally cooked a dish, he would probably be able to produce nine-point dishes fairly often. But the role of a head chef was not to personally cook everything. Even if he wanted to, he could not possibly prepare every dish served to every customer by himself.
In the end, being a head chef was about what Rachel had demonstrated before: how well you could control the people in your kitchen.
Even someone with a cooking level of 7 could become a sous-chef without much difficulty if they had the ability to lead. And naturally, the cooks under a head chef would often have cooking levels of 5 or 6, perhaps 7 if they were especially skilled. That was simply how it worked.
So the fact that Alan could lead them and still produce dishes like this already proved his ability.
If I were put in charge as a head chef……
To be honest, he thought it would be difficult.
He had technically been a head chef once during Grand Chef, but rather than controlling the others, he had relied heavily on their individual abilities. That had only been possible because it was a competition, and because they were all amateurs.
Kaya glanced around and said,
“The food suits my taste, but the atmosphere doesn’t. I’m not used to high-class restaurants, there are cameras right in front of me, and the chat keeps pouring comments at us. Ah, you people. Please stop pairing us up just because we’re talking. Are we not even allowed to have a conversation?”
Kaya had been speaking to Jo Minjoon, but then she glared towards the camera in annoyance. Jo Minjoon hurriedly patted her on the back.
“I thought your temper had mellowed, but Kaya Lotus is still Kaya Lotus. Just let them pair us up. We’re not going to die from it. That’s still better than getting criticised because we got angry at the viewers.”
[One vote for them having a scandal before New Year’s.]
[That’ll be difficult this year. Kaya’s getting called everywhere because of Grand Chef.]
[Then is this basically their only chance to spend time together? Now that I think about it, that’s kind of romantic.]
[But isn’t Minjoon basically claiming her after saying that in public?]
[He’s a terrifying bastard.]
“……Everyone. I’m not that gloomy.”
“You kind of are.”
“Ah, how can you say that too?”
Jo Minjoon looked at Kaya with disappointment. Kaya smirked, then reached over and raised the collar around his neck to cover his scar.
Jo Minjoon gave an awkward laugh.
“You don’t have to worry about it. Even I don’t.”
“You remember what I said about that scar, right? So don’t tell me not to worry about it. It isn’t a matter of whether I should worry or not.”
“……Now you’re talking about something only the two of you understand?”
Sera forced out a laugh. Jo Minjoon cleared his throat in embarrassment. Kaya also flushed, as though realising she had gone too far, and merely touched her hair.
Rachel looked at Kaya and spoke gently.
“Kaya. What did you think of the ceviche?”
“This ceviche……it feels like a letter to you.”
“……What?”
At the unexpected answer, Rachel’s eyes widened. Kaya pointed towards the now-empty plate.
“You said it yourself. The ingredients were arranged like a village over the red tuna. Doesn’t it make you think of the words ‘Rose Island’?”
At Kaya’s words, Jo Minjoon let out a small exclamation. Now that she mentioned it, the dish certainly could be interpreted that way.
They all looked towards Alan. He smiled awkwardly.
“That’s the right interpretation. To be honest, I was hoping Teacher Rachel would notice it……”
“Wasn’t this something you normally served?”
“It was. I wanted to show off wherever I could that I’d learned under you……and this was what came of it. I hoped it would become a gift you liked.”
Rachel pressed her lips together, struggling to hold back her tears. Her wrinkled mouth slowly trembled. A sound almost like a sob escaped her before she closed her mouth again.
Sera, sitting beside her, placed a worried hand on Rachel’s shoulder. Rachel forced herself to smile as though she were fine, then looked at Alan through tear-filled eyes.
“Thank you, Alan. It’s a wonderful gift. Truly.”
“……Don’t cry. I didn’t give you a present because I wanted to make you cry.”
Alan spoke with regret in his voice.
The teacher who had once been brilliant and composed now seemed weakened by time. People became weaker as they grew old, both physically and emotionally. Had he really thought that such an obvious rule would somehow spare Rachel?
Seeing this vulnerable side of her made his heart ache.
[Rachel…… It’s nice seeing her again after so long, but the mood suddenly got heavy.]
[Maybe it’s because of the memories. Or because those memories are already part of the past. Either way, I suddenly really want a beer. I’m going to the fridge.]
[I want to see Daniel too. Why do geniuses always leave so early?]
[I was only ten when the Rose Couple were active. Were they really that amazing?]
[To the person asking whether they were amazing: they were legends. They raised the standard of American restaurants all at once.]
Watching the chat and Alan’s reaction, Jo Minjoon felt something warm rise in his chest.
Alan and everyone else were looking back on their memories.
A chef who lived on in someone’s memories.
No—a chef who could live on in someone’s memories.
Was that not the most complete kind of life a chef could have?
That was what Jo Minjoon thought.
Slowly, he spoke.
“I’m jealous. Of Rachel and Alan.”
He was not saying it out of politeness.
At the quiet voice, filled with genuine feeling, Rachel turned towards him with tearful eyes. She asked with a strange expression. Although her face was still wet with tears, hearing his words did not seem unpleasant.
“Why……?”
“I’m jealous of you and your husband for being remembered by everyone, without exception, as great chefs. And I’m jealous of Alan because he was able to be with chefs like you.”
“Minjoon will be able to do the same soon. You’ll meet a good chef and learn properly under them. And personally……I’d like that person to be me.”
“Yes?”
Jo Minjoon stared at her in confusion.
Rachel continued calmly.
“I’ll be returning to the kitchen before long too. And……”
Rachel’s eyes remained fixed on Jo Minjoon. Her voice was even clearer than her gaze.
“I’d like you to be in my kitchen.”
Jo Minjoon stared at Rachel blankly.
The offer had come so suddenly, in such an unexpected setting, that he could not organise his thoughts well enough to answer.
Only a lone comment appeared on the otherwise empty monitor.
[……I’m eating frozen pizza while watching this broadcast, and this guy is getting a job in the middle of it.]