Chapter 141: People at the Crossroads (1)
Chapter 141: People at the Crossroads (1)
The dish went out, and the empty plate came back.
You did not have to think very hard to understand how delicate and sweet the bridge between those two moments could be.
The dishes made by the three of them were like that. Anderson’s, Kaya’s, and Jo Minjoon’s.
After they sent out the final pasta for the final table, the tension that had held them tight finally began to loosen. Jo Minjoon took a deep breath as he turned off the flame.
“This is fun.”
“……It is, but it’s too hot.”
Kaya wiped the sweat running down her forehead and fanned the front of her clothes. Then she quietly leaned towards Jo Minjoon’s ear.
For a moment, he caught the scent of her sweat-dampened skin. Then her husky voice filled his ear.
“Let’s go to the refrigerator.”
“No. You can’t.”
“Can’t you just tell me I can?”
“Stop acting spoiled. And……”
Jo Minjoon awkwardly caught Kaya by the chin and pushed her face away. He cleared his throat.
“I’m hot too. Don’t stick to me.”
“……Cruel bastard.”
Kaya glared at him reproachfully before walking away.
Anderson clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Do you know how frustrating it is watching the two of you?”
“……I know what you’re trying to say, but don’t say it.”
“I hate interfering in other people’s business too, but I can’t help getting frustrated.”
Instead of answering, Jo Minjoon looked towards Kaya.
She had gone over to Berta, who was washing dishes, and was talking to her while teasing her like a bully.
Like paper slowly dissolving in water, Jo Minjoon’s feelings gradually spread across his lips in the form of a smile.
“Kaya…… I think she’s a really good girl.”
“……I don’t think I’ll ever reach that conclusion in my life.”
“Why not? She is. She’s lived a hard life and she talks rough, but her heart isn’t like that.”
“She’s only like that towards you. You can say that because you haven’t seen the faces of the people Kaya has cursed at.”
“That might be true too.”
Jo Minjoon shrugged and moved over beside Alan.
It was not because he particularly wanted to talk.
He simply wanted to see how the customers in the dining room were eating the linguine he had made.
Only three tables were still eating it: an elderly couple, a young couple, and a family of four with small children.
Their forks twirled through the linguine, and each time a bite entered someone’s mouth, Jo Minjoon swallowed unconsciously.
Whenever their eyes softened with satisfaction, his heart seemed to release a quiet sigh along with them.
“I want to go out there and ask them.”
“Ask what?”
“Whether the linguine was delicious. I want to ask every one of them.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Because I might disturb whatever feeling the dish gave them. If I can’t make the food taste any better, I shouldn’t interrupt a happy moment. And……”
Jo Minjoon’s voice was filled with happiness.
“I don’t think I need to ask.”
The elderly couple, the young couple, and the family of four were all eating with satisfied expressions.
He could not hear what they were saying.
But somehow, he felt as though he already knew.
Sera came to stand beside Jo Minjoon and looked out into the dining room.
She spoke as though she genuinely did not understand.
“How does it feel, seeing that as a chef?”
“It’s the best. What else could I ask for? Chefs exist to give customers delicious memories. If a customer leaves the table happy, that alone can make a chef feel recognised for the rest of his life. Those smiles……they’re telling me my life isn’t worthless. How could I not be happy?”
“I’m jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Everything. You have a sense of taste every food critic and chef would envy, and you can become happy just from seeing a customer smile.”
Jo Minjoon, who had been watching the dining room, turned towards Sera.
Sera flinched.
He was three years younger than her, practically still a teenager in her eyes.
And yet, the depth in his gaze somehow seemed greater than her own.
……What is it with those eyes?
They made people nervous for no reason.
It felt as though he could look straight into the deepest parts of someone’s heart and touch whatever was hidden there.
Perhaps Kaya had fallen for him because of those eyes.
Sera swallowed.
She felt every muscle in her face stiffen.
Jo Minjoon spoke.
“Sera, you’re a good food critic too.”
“What are you basing that on?”
Sera gave him a provocative smile.
But it was only a façade.
Jo Minjoon could see the thread of insecurity hidden beneath her confidence.
“Sera, what do you think a chef needs most?”
“……I wonder. The desire to make delicious food?”
“That could be one answer. Chefs argue about things like that all the time. Some say what matters most is caring about the customer. Others say you have to protect your own philosophy. Honestly, is there even one correct answer to a question like that? But……”
Jo Minjoon looked directly into Sera’s eyes.
He spoke almost like a teacher instructing a student.
“You said it yourself. That the desire to make delicious food is the most important thing for a chef. Then if you, as a gourmet, are filled with the desire to enjoy food, isn’t that enough? Don’t be jealous of me. Sera, you already shine plenty on your own.”
He had occasionally seen negative comments about Sera online.
That she was merely pretending to be a food critic celebrity and using her looks as a weapon.
Jo Minjoon did not agree.
Sera understood perfectly well how dishes were composed.
And he did not think that simply because her tasting level was 8.
It was because, in the end, nearly everything she said naturally came back to food.
Jo Minjoon believed Sera was a good gourmet.
Because of that, he could not agree with her feeling ashamed of herself.
“You really think that……?”
“People think I’m gentle. I’m not. If I didn’t think well of you, I wouldn’t bother comforting you like this.”
Sera fell silent.
Several thoughts passed through her mind.
The person she both envied and admired was acknowledging her like this, and she did not know how she was supposed to take it.
Should she insist that she was still worse than him?
Or simply thank him?
One thing was certain.
Strangely enough, Jo Minjoon’s words comforted her.
They were not that different from what Emily had told her.
Yet coming from Jo Minjoon, they felt different.
Sera stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“French fries. Do you pour the sauce over them, or dip them?”
“I dip them.”
“I pour.”
Jo Minjoon looked at her as though wondering what point she was trying to make.
Sera smirked.
“Just because someone with an absolute sense of taste dips them doesn’t mean the people who pour are wrong.”
Emily, who had been listening to their conversation, laughed softly.
Alan, standing beside her, looked over.
“Why are you laughing?”
“That girl still looked dissatisfied when I talked to her, but the moment Minjoon said something, she sorted herself out immediately. I found it fascinating. Do the same words really feel different depending on who says them?”
“……Probably. Even for me, when someone says my food is delicious, the happiness I feel depends on who says it. When Teacher Rachel……or an excellent food critic like you tells me my food is delicious, of course it feels better.”
“Oh, please. Don’t say things like that in front of the camera.”
Emily flushed in embarrassment.
While that was happening, Rachel was smiling brightly in front of Anderson and Kaya.
“You two did very well today.”
“What did we even do? In the end, we only supported Minjoon.”
“But there are no dishes without support. You performed the roles that were needed perfectly. Isn’t that reason enough to compliment you?”
Anderson answered almost as though mocking himself, but Rachel continued smiling because she meant every word.
Jo Minjoon was not the only impressive one.
Even repeating the same task for hours without making a single mistake was already enough to prove their ability.
Rachel opened her mouth, hesitated, then continued.
“I feel as though I’m becoming a greedy old woman, saying things like this in front of the cameras……but I still can’t keep quiet. Anderson, Kaya. I want to make the same proposal to both of you that I made to Minjoon.”
Anderson’s eyes widened sharply.
It was obvious what proposal she meant.
She was offering them a place at Rose Island.
A place in Rachel’s kitchen.
Anderson hurriedly opened his mouth, then closed it again.
If he spoke immediately, he thought his voice might tremble.
Rachel gently patted his arm, looking apologetic.
“You’ve always treated me with such respect, yet this is all I can offer you in return.”
“N-no. Thank you. I’m really……truly grateful.”
It felt as though all the disappointment that had built up inside him until now was being washed away.
Tears threatened to rise.
Anderson swallowed the sob climbing into his throat and looked at Rachel with determination.
“I’ll make sure I repay you for believing in me.”
“It’s good to be determined, but don’t turn it into a burden. You don’t cook for me. You cook for the customers. A chef’s heart always colours the food they make.”
“I think that if Teacher Rachel is standing in the kitchen, I’ll be able to cook happily for the rest of my life.”
Rachel nodded with a faint smile, then turned towards Kaya.
Kaya looked bewildered and could not answer immediately.
Rachel spoke as though she understood.
“Kaya, I know your circumstances make it difficult for you to answer right now. But my offer will remain open much longer than you probably think. I believe I told you during Grand Chef that when the time came, you should take my hand. I think that time can come after you finish all your obligations as the winner of Grand Chef.”
“……I’ve never really thought about something like this before, so it’s difficult to answer immediately. But I’ll think about it seriously.”
“Yes. I’ll wait for a good answer.”
A short while after their conversation ended, they were on the bus returning to their lodging.
Kaya sat beside Jo Minjoon on the aisle side, once again thinking about Rachel’s proposal.
It was tempting.
Once all her Grand Chef obligations were finished, there were essentially two paths she could choose.
The first was to find the owner of a small restaurant willing to hire her as head chef.
The second was to start from below and gradually climb the ranks at Rose Island, a restaurant with enormous prestige and reputation.
Depending on her choice, the results would be completely different.
If she chose the first path and did well, she might become a recognised head chef at a very young age.
If she chose the second, she might not gain anything impressive immediately, but she would at least be given the chance to learn properly and grow.
For someone who had never received formal culinary training, the opportunity to learn beneath a giant like Rachel was more precious than almost anything else.
And yet, strangely enough, Rachel herself was not the part of the offer Kaya found most appealing.
The main branch of Rose Island.
If she went there……
He might be there too.
Kaya slowly turned her head.
Perhaps he had worked himself too hard, because Jo Minjoon was asleep with his head resting against the seat.
She half expected his head to eventually tilt towards her, the way it always happened in melodramas.
It did not.
Jo Minjoon’s neck was stubbornly straight, and even asleep, his posture remained firm.
Kaya looked around.
Emily seemed to be texting someone, her eyes fixed on her smartphone.
Alan and Rachel were discussing what would happen in the kitchen.
Jeremy had fallen asleep.
Sera was staring absent-mindedly at the unfamiliar scenery of a foreign country passing beyond the window.
The only thing left was the installed camera.
Pretending to feel hot, Kaya tugged at her clothes, then took off her loosely knitted cardigan and spread it across both her own knees and Jo Minjoon’s.
She worried that he might wake up.
Fortunately, he did not.
Beneath the cardigan, Kaya’s fingers slowly crept out.
Her hand moved uncertainly across his leg until it reached Jo Minjoon’s hand.
A satisfied smile appeared on Kaya’s lips.
She lightly touched the back of his hand for a moment before finally taking it in hers.
Her heart began to race because it felt as though she were doing something wrong.
And yet, strangely, holding his hand made her feel calmer.
She thought she might be able to fall asleep like this.
Just as Kaya was about to close her eyes, something vibrated in her pocket.
Wearily, she took out her smartphone and turned on the screen.
A moment later, Kaya unconsciously tightened her grip on Jo Minjoon’s hand.