Chapter 61: Customers and More Customers (3)
Chapter 61: Customers and More Customers (3)
It was just then, as Jo Minjoon was calculating the bill to give the woman, that the other customers began jeering and letting out mocking whoops. The woman glared furiously at them.
“What are you looking at? People who eat this kind of thing have the nerve to jeer at me? This is suffocating……”
“Customer,” Jo Minjoon said in a low voice.
When the woman turned her head towards him, he flinched. How could he describe it? No, there was no grand way to describe it. Her eyes were simply cold. It was as though all the rage she had accumulated throughout her life was contained within them.
“Thank you for ordering from us despite our shortcomings as chefs. And I’m sorry that we couldn’t meet your expectations. But you can’t take that disappointment out on the other customers.”
“……Ha, haha…… Are you lecturing me right now?”
“There’s no way I would do that. I think this is something everyone already knows, and I think you know it well too. So—”
Before he could even finish, the woman threw the norimaki at him as casually as if she were tossing away a piece of paper. Jo Minjoon picked it up and stopped the security guards who were rushing towards him with a look. Then he put it into his mouth.
The people around him stared with wide eyes, unable to guess what he was trying to do.
Jo Minjoon spoke calmly. “I can’t taste any tuna at all. Because this is tandoori chicken.”
“Tandoori! I hate India! That’s not food. It’s disgusting stomach contents.”
At this point, he no longer even had the energy to get angry. Jo Minjoon sighed, took two dollars from the counter, and held it out to her.
“Here are the two dollars you wanted. Take them.”
The atmosphere had become strange. The woman had clearly been hurling abuse, and Jo Minjoon was simply refunding her money because he had no other choice. And yet somehow, it felt as though he were the one forcing her to take it. The people standing in line were all recording the scene on their phones. Dozens of videos would probably be uploaded later.
The woman hesitated before taking the money. Jo Minjoon bowed his head politely.
“I’m sorry our food wasn’t good enough.”
Someone applauded. That single clap was joined by another, then another, swelling like a snowball until applause filled the area. The woman grimaced and hurried past the crowd with an uneasy expression. Jo Minjoon turned to the man whose order he had been taking before the interruption.
“I’m sorry. I caused a disturbance while taking your order.”
“There are plenty of people around here who are high on drugs. As someone who lives here, I’m more embarrassed.”
Jo Minjoon smiled brightly. It wasn’t a customer-service smile, but an ordinary, genuine one.
“What would you like to order?”
“You remember that customer from four days ago, right? It’s become quite a topic online.”
At the youngest PD’s words, Jo Minjoon shrugged. He had expected it to attract a certain amount of attention.
“There are so many incidents in a country this big, so I’m amazed that a simple argument with one customer became such an issue.”
“That’s because you’re a star. Minjoon, at least while you’re on Grand Chef, you are. Of course, after that…… it’ll depend on your own ability.”
The youngest PD, Robert Banks, spoke with unusual seriousness. Jo Minjoon merely nodded. Robert wasn’t letting him rest at all. This was Robert’s first interview as a PD, and perhaps because of that, he seemed rather nervous. He was wearing the most earnest expression Jo Minjoon had ever seen on him.
But I’m tired.
For the five days since the food-truck mission began, Jo Minjoon had fallen asleep every night as though he had passed out. He never fully recovered, so his body constantly felt heavy. He had thought he wouldn’t feel much pressure, but apparently the anxiety had sunk deeper into him than he realised.
Only then did Robert seem to notice Jo Minjoon’s sunken eyes and rough complexion. He asked cautiously, “Are you not feeling well?”
“……I’m just a little tired.”
“Hang in there. If you make it through two more days, you’ll be able to rest for a while.”
They were little more than obligatory words of encouragement. Jo Minjoon smiled bitterly and rubbed his fingers. The stitched finger normally didn’t hurt, but when he was exhausted like this, sharp pains occasionally stabbed through it as though someone were pricking him with a needle.
“In your opinion, which team do you think will do the best? I’m not judging your confidence as a team leader, so feel free to answer honestly.”
“……I’m not sure. Putting confidence aside, I think our team has the best chance of winning. I heard Hugo’s team is running a café truck, but there’s a limit to how much they can bake inside a truck. I’m sure they came up with a good strategy, but you can tell quite a lot just from the reactions online. A lot of people are complaining that it’s too expensive. People expected food-truck food to be cheap, and they shattered that expectation. I think that was a bad move.”
“You answered that very smoothly. It sounds like you think about these things quite a lot. Then what about Chloe’s team? Why do you think you can beat them?”
Jo Minjoon smiled wearily.
“For the same reason. I heard they’re selling grilled skewers and sandwiches. Those are harder to make than kimbap. As you get more tired, it becomes harder to keep selling all day. Well, the same is true for us…… but judging by the sales figures, I think our team is still better off.”
“So your conclusion is that you’re confident you can win. ……All right. Minjoon, you can go. Looking at your face, I don’t think I can keep interviewing you. Rest for a while. Oh, come to think of it, I suppose resting right now will be difficult.”
It was exactly as Robert said. Episode six was about to air. No matter how tired they were, they couldn’t help but watch it. And it wasn’t only Jo Minjoon. None of the contestants ever missed a live broadcast.
When he entered the motel room, he saw his teammates gathered beyond the cameramen.
“Has it started?”
“It’s about to.” Anderson answered casually.
Jo Minjoon sat on the bed and looked at the screen.
Episode six covered the vegan mission—the mission that had sent him into the elimination challenge, and at the same time, the episode in which his absolute sense of taste would finally be revealed.
“I bet the viewers’ reactions are going to be insane.” Joanne sounded even more excited than he was.
Jo Minjoon didn’t answer and simply watched the screen. Before long, the broadcast began.
The director seemed to have decided to make Jo Minjoon the central focus. The first face to appear was his, and the Jo Minjoon on the screen spoke in a clear voice.
[Ever since I was little, I thought chefs were really cool. But maybe because I was too young when I first had that dream, once I grew older, I couldn’t bring myself to pursue it so easily. Childhood dreams somehow felt frivolous and immature. I tried to convince myself that I only wanted to become a chef because I didn’t understand reality and wasn’t mature enough. But that wasn’t true. It wasn’t a frivolous or childish dream. It was the only path I could walk while remaining true to myself.]
As those words played, scenes of Jo Minjoon cooking passed across the screen: catfish meatball stew, sea bream, the foie gras he had made with Kaya, and the agedashi tofu from the three-course mission. Anderson swallowed. It wasn’t simply because the food on screen looked delicious. The background music and the editing made the entire sequence strangely tense.
After the vegan mission was announced, the camera focused almost exclusively on Jo Minjoon cooking. It was enough to feel slightly excessive, but considering the scene that was about to come, the choice made sense. Even Anderson remembered clearly what had happened that day. He himself had been deeply shocked.
[In my opinion, Minjoon isn’t making a single dish. He’s preparing an entire Korean table meal.]
[A whole table meal…… Will he have enough time?]
Jo Minjoon was so absorbed in cooking that he didn’t even answer the judges, making him look intensely serious. Watching it now, Jo Minjoon himself was surprised. He hadn’t even realised the judges had spoken to him at the time.
Joanne opened her mouth. “What kind of nerve did you have to ignore the judges like that?”
“……I was so focused that I didn’t even notice they’d come over.”
“You were that focused, and you still chose miyeokguk and bibimbap? Even at a glance, isn’t that the kind of menu that would be hard to pass with?”
Jo Minjoon didn’t reply and kept watching the screen. Joanne grumbled, “Now he’s ignoring me too.”
Peter, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke quietly. “Maybe it was for the best.”
“What? What did you say?”
“I mean, maybe it was good that it happened. Because he failed that mission, he got the chance to show his absolute sense of taste. If he hadn’t, he might never have had a chance to reveal it……”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
“Shh. Shut up.” Anderson glared sharply at both of them.
The judging had begun. After Chloe’s evaluation, another contestant was judged, and then it was Jo Minjoon’s turn.
Of course, everyone in the room already knew the result. The judges tasted his food and discussed it amongst themselves with regretful expressions. Peter glanced at his phone to check the online reactions. Most people were watching the episode live, so there weren’t many comments being posted, but the mood was overwhelmingly optimistic. The viewers already knew Jo Minjoon had made it as far as the food-truck mission. Whatever happened here, he clearly wasn’t going to be eliminated, so there was no reason to worry. That seemed to be what everyone was thinking.
But this isn’t the real bombshell.
Peter didn’t actually possess an absolute sense of taste himself, but he found himself strangely entertained imagining how people would react once Jo Minjoon’s ability appeared on screen.
And Peter wasn’t the only one. Joanne and Anderson’s hearts were pounding with anticipation. Ivanna sat absent-mindedly as usual, but even if it wasn’t your own story, it was impossible not to feel nervous at a moment like this.
If they felt this way, then how must the person at the centre of it all feel?
Thinking that, Anderson looked at Jo Minjoon. But Jo Minjoon’s expression was comparatively calm. No, rather than calm, he simply looked exhausted. He had clearly been worn out for the past several days, but to look like this while watching what might be the greatest climax of his life……
A trace of concern entered Anderson’s eyes.
[I’m sorry. You’re an elimination candidate.]
At Joseph’s voice, Anderson turned back to the screen. The episode continued, and before long, the eight elimination candidates had gathered for their challenge.
The mission was to identify the fillings inside fried tofu pockets. Five correct answers would have been enough to survive, and in fact, most contestants finished after identifying around five. When the seventh contestant, Dany, correctly named eleven ingredients, everyone erupted in cheers.
Then it was Jo Minjoon’s turn.
The programme replayed things he had said in the past, while the judges and other contestants spoke highly of him. And then came the moment they had all been waiting for.
Without a single hesitation, Jo Minjoon began naming the ingredients one after another.
The result was exactly as they remembered.
Twenty ingredients.
Twenty correct answers.
The screen showed the judges’ stunned expressions. Every viewer was probably wearing exactly the same face.
Anderson switched on his phone. Sure enough, on the main page of the Y portal, Jo Minjoon and his absolute sense of taste were already shooting to the top of the search rankings.
What kind of expression is Minjoon making right now?
Thinking that, Anderson turned towards Jo Minjoon.
Then he smirked.
He was asleep.
If you were looking for a major player in the restaurant business, Rose Island was a name that could not be left out. Despite sounding like the name of a restaurant, Rose Island was exactly that. The reason it was considered such a major force compared with ordinary restaurants was simple: Rose Island operated thirty-seven restaurants around the world, and the Michelin stars held by those restaurants totalled twenty-seven.
The owner of Rose Island, Rachel Rose, was rumoured to be a peculiar woman. Some said she was kind, others said she was temperamental, while still others described her as calm. There were all sorts of rumours surrounding her.
And the subject of those rumours was now an elderly woman sitting in an armchair with tears running down her face.
She was in her sixties. She felt far too old to be sitting here crying. Though she had never thought of herself as old, she knew perfectly well that she was no longer at an age where she could behave like a young girl. Yet at this moment, she felt as flustered as one.
Her eyes were fixed on the television screen in front of her. On it, Jo Minjoon was staring into the camera after correctly naming all twenty ingredients.
“……Isaac. Isaac!”
“Yes, Head Chef.”
“Stop calling me Head Chef. How long has it been since I left the kitchen?”
“Even so, to me, you will always be my Head Chef.”
Rachel looked at the secretary who had grown old alongside her with a dissatisfied expression. Isaac, meanwhile, regarded her with a curious look. He had been with her for more than forty years, but this was the first time he had seen her display this much emotion since her husband died. If anything, he was pleased. It seemed that the old girl had finally found some energy again after a long time.
Isaac smiled brightly. “Was there something you wanted to tell me……?”
“Grand Chef. You need to contact the PD of that programme. No, that won’t do. I need to contact them personally.”
“Is there some reason you’ve suddenly taken such an interest in it?”
“We can talk about that later. Isaac, what matters right now is that I need to meet that young man. As soon as possible.”
“Yes. I’ll look into it immediately.”
Isaac answered respectfully and left the room. Rachel stared at the screen in silence, then quietly repeated the name of the contestant she was watching.
“Min…… Joon.”