Chapter 142: People at the Crossroads (2)
Chapter 142: People at the Crossroads (2)
Kaya’s eyes trembled in confusion. Even after she finished reading the message, closed her eyes, and turned off her smartphone, the words would not leave her mind.
I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly, Kaya. To get straight to the point, I’m your biological father. If you see this message, could you reply?
She remembered what Tess Gilly had told her when they met some time ago.
That her father was looking for her.
When she first heard it, Kaya had assumed that ‘father’ meant the man who had gotten her mother pregnant with Gemma and then left.
“He wasn’t……Gemma’s father?”
“What are you muttering about?”
Startled by the voice right beside her, Kaya turned her head.
Only then did she realise she was still holding Jo Minjoon’s hand.
And she had been hiding it beneath her cardigan.
Kaya hurriedly raised both hands.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“You were looking at your smartphone…… Did you get another nasty comment?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. And comments like that don’t really hurt me anymore…… Probably. Anyway, I’m not weak enough to fall apart over something like that now.”
Kaya spoke with a determined expression.
Jo Minjoon smirked and raised his hand.
The cardigan Kaya had draped over their joined hands came up with it.
Kaya flushed and hurriedly pulled it away.
“I only took it off because I was hot.”
“The air conditioner is on.”
“They only turned it on just now. It was hot before. I’ll put it back on.”
Kaya answered like that, slipped the cardigan on again, and sighed inwardly.
It was still hot.
Back at the lodging, Kaya stood beneath the shower and simply let the hot water pour over her body.
Her wet hair clung to her back, and droplets of water continuously gathered on her long eyelashes before falling. She hated the feeling of her hair sticking to her neck.
No.
She simply felt awful.
Tomorrow, she would leave this place and return to another string of busy schedules.
And then there was the message that had suddenly arrived.
She had considered the possibility that someone was impersonating her father, but if that were the case, how had he gotten her phone number?
Kaya had never seen her biological father even once.
He had left before she was old enough to remember anything, so naturally she had no memories of him.
To be honest, when she was younger, she had sometimes even wondered whether her mother, Grace, knew who her father was.
“……I’m sorry, Mum.”
Her quiet voice disappeared beneath the sound of the water.
Kaya stared for a long time at the droplets running down her body before finally turning off the tap.
Beneath her brows, her deep-set double eyelids sharpened.
Kaya abruptly opened her eyes and glared at herself in the mirror.
“Kaya. Get a grip.”
But what exactly was she supposed to do once she had gotten a grip?
Calling her mother seemed as though it would only worry her for no reason.
She had thought a shower might clear her head, but when she stepped out, it still felt as heavy as wet cotton.
Emily looked at her with concern.
“Kaya, is something wrong? You look gloomy.”
“……Life is always one big mess.”
“You seemed fine until this afternoon. What, did you fight with Minjoon?”
“Minjoon doesn’t make things hard for me.”
Kaya’s eyes sharpened fiercely.
Emily hurriedly waved her hands.
“That’s not what I meant…… Well. It looks like you aren’t going to tell me even if I ask. Should I at least comfort you?”
“I’m fine. I can handle it by myself.”
“Do you have to?”
The one who answered Kaya was not Emily, but Sera.
She was lying on the sofa watching television, which was tuned to an Italian channel, and was staring at Kaya as though she could not understand her.
Kaya smacked her lips, briefly taken aback.
Sera was already difficult to deal with because of the contrast between her ladylike appearance and harsh personality.
And now the subject she had brought up was even harder to answer.
Kaya hesitated.
“Obviously, I don’t want to burden anyone.”
“How is receiving comfort a burden? The person comforting you isn’t exactly suffering. If anything, they might feel good about being able to comfort someone. Especially if that person is very close to them.”
It was unclear exactly whom Sera meant.
Was she talking about Jo Minjoon?
Or simply people close to Kaya in general?
But the person who immediately appeared in Kaya’s mind was Jo Minjoon.
And in that instant, she understood what she wanted.
I want to be beside Jo Minjoon.
Whether he comforted her or not came afterwards.
She simply wanted to be with him.
She felt as though that alone might calm her emotions.
But……
“I still don’t want to.”
“……Why?”
“If this keeps becoming a relationship where I only receive things from him, I’ll be too ashamed to look Minjoon in the face.”
At those words, Sera fell silent.
That was no longer something she had the right to interfere with.
Rachel smiled gently as she listened.
“It’s nice to see.”
“……This is?”
“All these worries are a sign of youth. Getting older doesn’t mean your worries disappear, but it becomes difficult to keep such a lovely face and heart while carrying them.”
At Rachel’s compliment, Kaya awkwardly touched her nose.
She quietly perched on the armrest of the sofa where Rachel was sitting.
Sera watched her and smirked.
“I noticed on the broadcast that you sit on sofa arms a lot. Is it a habit?”
“Ah. At home, we only had one sofa for two people. There were plenty of sofas people threw out on the street, but we didn’t have room to put another one anywhere. So whenever my mum and sister sat down, I always sat on the armrest.”
It was a rather bleak piece of her past, considering how calmly she said it.
Because Kaya spoke so casually, none of them knew whether they should react with sympathy.
Sera managed not to let her discomfort show on her face, but she could not quite accept the words lightly either.
She did not know what to say.
Rachel spoke calmly.
“Poverty is tragic while you’re living through it. But once you overcome it, it can make a person shine even more than before. Between someone who climbed out of poverty with nothing in their hands and someone who never had to overcome it in the first place, people naturally find the first person more remarkable.”
“You’re saying I’m amazing, right?”
“You could call it admiration. Everyone in the world will probably be watching to see just how brightly you can shine. And I’ll likely be one of them.”
“……You’re really good at compliments.”
The corner of Kaya’s mouth lifted gently.
Rachel’s subdued praise reached her without feeling burdensome and loosened something inside her.
Kaya added,
“I keep thinking that if I entered your kitchen, I’d probably have a really good time.”
“Because of me? Or because of Minjoon?”
“Don’t ask things like that. You already know the answer.”
As they were talking, the bell at the front door rang.
They looked at one another.
Emily spoke.
“Looks like the guys are back. I’ll go.”
Emily stood and went to the intercom.
The moment she looked at the screen, she doubted her eyes.
Just as she had said, the men had returned.
But among them was a face that should not have been there.
“……Alan?”
A smile froze on her lips.
Emily hurried towards the door and nearly tripped over her own feet.
The moment she flung it open, someone cried out.
Anderson was bent over, clutching his side and frowning.
He groaned in pain.
“Ugh……Emily! Open the door more slowly.”
“Ah, ah. Sorry.”
“Why are you blaming her? Her heart must’ve been in a hurry.”
Jeremy spoke with a smirk.
Emily flushed at the look in his eyes, as though he understood everything she was feeling.
Even though she had already seen Alan through the intercom, she widened her eyes as though noticing him for the first time.
“Alan? Why are you here?”
“I finished service, and the night is still young. Teacher Rachel is leaving soon, so I wanted to see her one more time. I doubt I’ll be able to see you off at the airport tomorrow. And……”
Alan started to say something, then stopped.
Emily answered awkwardly.
“Ah. Right. We won’t be able to see each other tomorrow.”
“……Can I come in?”
“Of course. Come in.”
Emily hurriedly let him inside.
Alan looked towards Rachel and smiled brightly.
“Teacher. I’m here.”
“Why did you come again?”
“Of course, to see you.”
Rachel gave Alan a sharp look.
She could clearly tell that was not the only reason, but she allowed him to use her as an excuse just this once.
Looking at him almost like a fond grandmother watching her grandson, Rachel said,
“I’m glad we came today. Olive Island. I didn’t teach you for very long, but seeing you find the right path on your own makes me proud for no reason.”
“I still have a long way to go. One day, I’ll open a restaurant greater than the main branch of Rose Island.”
“Right. That would have meaning of its own. I hope I’m still alive to see it.”
“You’re going to live another hundred years. Stop talking as though you’re that old. You’re still young.”
“If I live another hundred years, I’ll be one hundred and sixty. Are you telling me to live alone for another century?”
“Why? I have a few sexy old men among my friends. Want me to introduce you?”
Jeremy laughed mischievously.
Rachel did not even bother replying.
She simply acted as though she had never heard him.
Then she smiled brightly and looked towards Anderson and Jo Minjoon.
“My disciples are here.”
“Come to think of it, I really did become your disciple.”
Rachel’s tone had become much lighter than before.
It sounded unfamiliar, but pleasantly so.
Anderson spoke excitedly.
“But Teacher, the kitchen you were talking about……you mean the one in Venice, right?”
“That’s the only place I belong, isn’t it?”
Rachel replied with loneliness and grief mingled in her voice.
Then she looked at Jo Minjoon and Anderson with eyes burning with ambition.
“But I want to make that place shine brighter than it ever has before. I won’t let it become Daniel’s tomb. I want you to help me do that. If we can manage that, later…… No. I shouldn’t say that yet.”
Rachel stopped herself.
Then she looked towards Kaya.
“Anyway, it’s a little unfortunate that Miss Kaya won. I want her badly enough that I’d take her with me immediately if I could.”
“But Teacher.”
Alan spoke, looking slightly concerned.
“Anderson and Minjoon are certainly skilled. They’re talented too. One day, they’ll become excellent chefs. But……while they might manage as demi-chefs, making them sous-chefs would be difficult because they lack experience. What are you planning to do about that position?”
“This is a secret, but……Alan, come closer.”
Rachel whispered something into Alan’s ear.
Alan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“That person? No, how did you……”
“It seems I’m still rather popular.”
Rachel smiled triumphantly.
Naturally, the conversation shifted towards what sort of restaurant Rachel intended to run.
She spoke with the voice of a young girl describing a dream.
“I want to restore the restaurant to what it was when Daniel was alive. The menu will change periodically, and every dish has to be good enough to overcome differences in personal taste. Everyone on staff will think together with you. What should we make tomorrow? What condition are the ingredients in? Of course, that alone won’t be enough. It wouldn’t be any different from other restaurants. My experience might let me recreate Daniel’s old dishes, but it’s difficult to reproduce his extraordinary understanding of flavour and imagination. That’s why I wanted you so badly, Minjoon.”
Jo Minjoon simply met Rachel’s gaze.
He looked at an elderly woman who seemed far more exhausted than someone her age should be, and yet because of that exhaustion, she seemed to burn her remaining soul even more fiercely.
Rachel spoke with affection, expectation, and gratitude filling her voice.
“Thank you for coming to me. I’ll help you use that sense of yours to its fullest potential. At the very least, I’ll make sure no one can surpass you when it comes to creating flavours. Will you trust me?”
His chest felt tight.
But the decision had already been made.
He could not put it down now, throw it away, and run.
Jo Minjoon opened his eyes wide.
Perhaps the others would have thought the determination in them looked almost desperate.
But he could not help that.
He wanted to repay Rachel’s trust, even if he had to give everything he had.
“I trust you, Teacher. And I’ll do it. No matter what happens.”
Rachel smiled.
Jo Minjoon smiled as well.
Although the feeling behind each smile might have been slightly different……
What they were looking towards was probably the same.