Chapter 63: Aftermath (2)
Chapter 63: Aftermath (2)
Jo Minjoon’s voice was firm. It might have been different if this were an ordinary food truck, but they were in the middle of a mission. If they sold everything to a wealthy fan, then it would no longer be a competition between chefs, but a competition over who was more popular.
For the sake of fairness, refusing Rachel’s golden bell had been the right decision.
The result, however, was that Rachel had to wait until they finished business. And because of that, the person who became even more nervous was the youngest PD, Robert. Someone who could not be left out when talking about major figures in American business—no, even the global business world—was sitting right beside them. If Robert felt no pressure in a situation like this, there would have to be something wrong with him.
Rachel paid no attention to Robert and brought a piece of tuna-avocado norimaki to her mouth.
Because the nori used for kimbap had gone through several stages of processing, its texture was just right. It was neither tough nor overly crisp. The tuna mixed with mayonnaise carried faint notes of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, while a hidden freshness lingered beneath the creamy texture of the avocado. The richness of the fats brought the entire combination into balance.
Each time she chewed, the nori clung lightly to the roof of her mouth, while individual grains of rice rolled pleasantly over her tongue. The aroma of the tuna seemed to spread throughout her entire mouth rather than remaining only on her tongue.
It was delicious.
Perhaps because the rice had been seasoned with kelp water and vinegar, it tasted light and fresh. Thanks to that, even when paired with other rich flavours, nothing became overwhelming or tiring.
The taste remained faithful to the fundamentals. Of course, using balsamic-flavoured mayonnaise was a fresh touch, but that was not the important part. What mattered was that they had made the mayonnaise themselves and put genuine effort and care into something as small as a piece of norimaki.
They have the basic heart of chefs.
Rachel looked warmly at Jo Minjoon, who was standing at the counter. Even at a glance, exhaustion was written all over his face, yet there was not a trace of insincerity in the smile he gave the customers.
She liked that.
“Um…… would you like a mojito?”
“No, I’m fine. Green tea is enough for me.”
The norimaki had been slightly rich, but the clean, refreshing flavour of the green tea washed over her tongue and throat. The feeling that she had eaten a wholesome meal brought a smile to Rachel’s face.
Meanwhile, despite appearing perfectly normal from the outside, the inside of the truck was filled with tension and confusion. There was no particular problem with the business itself. It was simply that Rachel Rose’s presence made it impossible for anyone to relax.
Even Anderson, usually so cold and composed, looked visibly excited.
Jo Minjoon asked in confusion, “Just who is she?”
“You…… really don’t know? No, I suppose that makes sense. She hasn’t appeared on television for more than ten years. You know Rose Island, right?”
“Oh, I think I’ve heard of it. It’s a restaurant.”
“It’s not just some restaurant. It’s one of the most highly regarded restaurant groups in the world, and she’s the owner.” Anderson sounded almost frustrated.
Jo Minjoon didn’t respond and continued taking orders. To be honest, he wasn’t particularly interested. Even if she owned one of the world’s top restaurants, she was still someone he had never seen before.
As Anderson had said, the biggest reason was probably that she hadn’t appeared on television in years. Jo Minjoon had watched countless cooking videos from around the world, but most of them had been filmed relatively recently. There was no reason for him to know much about a star chef from long ago.
After all, when Rachel had been most active on television, Jo Minjoon had still been in primary school.
Seeing that he still showed no reaction, Joanne added, “Oh, right. You’ll probably understand if I put it this way. She’s famous for being Alan’s mentor.”
“Yes, that’ll be four dollars. Thank you. ……The Alan I know?”
“Yes. It’s only a rumour, but apparently Martin originally wanted Rachel instead of Alan.”
That finally made Jo Minjoon look at Rachel differently.
He glanced towards her.
Then a chill ran down his spine.
Rachel had been staring at him the entire time.
She was smiling, but somehow he felt as though he were facing the headmaster back when he was still in school.
Jo Minjoon muttered quietly, “She isn’t going to hate me because I wouldn’t let her ring the golden bell, is she?”
Business remained unusually busy. During lunch alone, they had to cook rice two additional times, and by the end of it they had sold more than seven hundred pieces of norimaki.
It was the highest number they had ever sold in a single session.
“……Your absolute sense of taste really seems to have had an effect.”
At Joanne’s words, Jo Minjoon merely shrugged.
Just then, the people who had been waiting for nearly two hours rose from their seats.
Someone audibly swallowed.
It was Anderson.
He was wearing a nervous expression, and there was even cold sweat on his forehead as he approached Rachel.
“Hello, Chef. I’m Anderson Rousseau.”
“Rousseau? That sounds familiar…… Oh, are you perhaps Fabio and Amelia’s son?”
“Yes. I remember meeting you a few times when I was little.”
“Right. I vaguely remember now. Your parents must be happy. Their only son grew into such a handsome young man.” Rachel smiled gently.
She might simply have been saying that she remembered him out of courtesy, but even so, Anderson couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from rising.
It was the first time they had ever seen Anderson look this excited, almost like a child.
That only made Jo Minjoon more curious.
Just how remarkable was Rachel Rose?
Rachel began walking. Her steps stopped directly in front of Jo Minjoon.
Unable to think of what to say, he could only look at her awkwardly.
Rachel spoke first. “I heard you possess an extraordinary ability.”
“……Thank you.”
“I’m sorry for coming so suddenly. I became impatient and couldn’t wait.”
“Is there a reason?”
Surely she hadn’t rushed all the way here simply because he was a chef with an unusual ability.
Rachel opened her mouth, then closed it again. After letting out a sigh, she looked at Jo Minjoon, then at his chest. She closed her eyes and sighed once more before slowly turning her head towards the surrounding cameras. “Of course, there is something I want from you. But it would be difficult to bring it up somewhere this public. For today, I only want to ask you one thing. I know it may be impolite, but could you answer me?”
“……As long as it isn’t too difficult a question.”
“It’s simple. This absolute sense of taste of yours—are you certain that’s what you have?” Rachel’s eyes shone with seriousness.
Jo Minjoon flinched.
It was difficult to explain that what he possessed was the system’s ability rather than an absolute sense of taste. At the same time, however, saying he truly had an absolute sense of taste would not exactly be correct either.
He slowly opened his mouth.
He had no desire to make an enemy of her, so even his voice became gentler. “An absolute sense of taste has never been properly documented before, so I can’t say with certainty what one really is. That’s why I have to be careful whenever someone asks me whether I have it. All I can say is that I can perceive the composition of ingredients a little more clearly than other people. That’s the most accurate answer I can give you.”
“……I see. That makes sense. Then I’ll change my question. I’m sorry. The older I get, the more persistent I seem to become.” Rachel smiled as though slightly embarrassed, then continued. “When you eat something, what do you feel?”
Contrary to what he had expected, Rachel’s question wasn’t particularly specific.
Jo Minjoon fell into thought.
He didn’t know why, but he wanted to give the senior chef standing before him the most accurate answer he could. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the answer she was hoping for, but at this moment, he wanted to be more sincere than ever.
“First, I analyse it. What ingredients are in it, how it was cooked, and what flavours have been emphasised. Enjoying the taste comes after that.”
“……So during that analysis, you can identify all the ingredients?”
“Yes.”
That wasn’t a lie.
Rachel looked at him for a long time, her expression impossible to read.
Many emotions seemed to fill her face.
Happiness, sadness, regret, grief……
Just like the wrinkles lining her face, those emotions seemed deeper and denser with age.
Rachel looked as though she wanted to say something, her eyes beginning to glisten with tears, but in the end she held herself back.
Then she spoke quietly. “……Yes. If it’s you, perhaps it really is possible.”
“Pardon?”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m getting old, so I keep talking to myself. Thank you for answering me. Keep devoting yourself to your craft. Until the day you become a complete chef in your own right. You’ll probably become a good chef.”
“Chef.” Jo Minjoon opened his mouth. He hesitated, wet his lips, then asked in an uncertain voice, “When you say I’ll become a good chef…… is that because I’m sensitive to flavours?”
It was an extremely important question to him.
He couldn’t simply feel happy whenever people praised him for possessing an absolute sense of taste. There was a gap between the ability everyone believed he had and what he actually possessed.
Because of that, words like You’ll succeed because you have an absolute sense of taste didn’t move him at all.
Rachel simply looked at him.
Beneath her blonde hair, countless fine wrinkles spread beneath her eyes.
“I enjoyed the norimaki. I think it was a dish that clearly showed both your attitude and that of your teammates. All of you like cooking, don’t you?”
Everyone nodded almost unconsciously.
Rachel smiled. “If you truly love it, anyone can become a good chef. Because this world does not betray hard work.”
“……You lucky bastard.”
After the evening business was over, while they were on the road back to Chicago, Anderson spoke with undisguised envy.
Jo Minjoon didn’t bother replying. Anderson had already grumbled about it more than ten times. He seemed deeply envious that Rachel had taken such an interest in Jo Minjoon.
Jo Minjoon sighed. “You got to talk to her for quite a while too.”
Even after Rachel had finished speaking with Jo Minjoon, she had stayed and talked with the others about various things. Of course, it was obvious that Jo Minjoon had been the main reason for her visit, but Rachel was not the kind of person who would ignore young chefs simply because they weren’t the person she had come to see.
Jo Minjoon closed his heavy eyelids.
He was exhausted.
The public attention and the responsibility of being team leader were both weighing heavily on him. To be honest, when he had first been made team leader, he had never imagined it would be this difficult.
Yet expressing that weakness in front of the others felt strangely oppressive.
No, perhaps oppressive wasn’t quite the right word.
More accurately, it felt restrictive.
He had to do well so he wouldn’t disadvantage his team. He had to choose good locations. He had to design the menu properly, accommodate everyone’s tastes, and make sure the food appealed to the public.
Taken individually, none of those things seemed especially difficult. But once they were piled together, the burden of thought and responsibility only grew heavier. Of course, much of that was because Jo Minjoon was the type of person who felt responsibility strongly.
Normally, he would have simply thought, Leave it to fate and do whatever I can.
But this time, Jo Minjoon wanted to reach the destination together with everyone else aboard the same boat.
“Am I being too greedy?”
“Huh? What?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
At Peter’s question, Jo Minjoon shook his head.
Then he looked at Peter.
Come to think of it, it hadn’t even been a week since Peter had been terrified of how he might be edited on the programme. Yet compared with back then, he now looked considerably calmer.
Perhaps Jo Minjoon’s clumsy advice had helped settle his mind after all.
I just need to improve myself. Jo Minjoon smirked and looked out of the car window.
They were leaving Madison and heading towards Chicago.
Chloe’s and Hugo’s teams would also be making their way there by now. On the final day, all three teams were going to work in the same place.
That was what the production staff had planned for the seventh and final day.
Will I get to see Kaya again?
He was also curious about how Chloe and Hugo were doing. Were they just as exhausted from being team leaders as he was?
Just as he was about to get some sleep, his phone vibrated.
He picked it up.
It was a message from Kaya.
[Kaya: When are you getting here? We already arrived.]
[Me: About an hour.]
[Kaya: You’d better be ready. I’m going to crush that norikami of yours.]
The message wasn’t gentle in the slightest, yet somehow it made Kaya seem distinctly girlish.
Jo Minjoon felt some of his exhaustion ease.
In a lighter mood, he replied.
[Me: It’s not norikami. It’s norimaki.]
The reply came almost immediately.
[Kaya: Typo.]
[Kaya: It’s not like I didn’t know.]
[Kaya: Ah. Seriously, that’s not what happened.]
[Kaya: Do you really think there’s anyone who would call it norikami instead of norimaki?]
[Kaya: Are you ignoring me right now?]
Jo Minjoon didn’t reply.