Chapter 83: Scandal (1)
Chapter 83: Scandal (1)
“Don’t make that face, Ivanna.” Joanne gently stroked Ivanna’s hair, her own eyes growing teary.
Ivanna bit her lip and hugged her tightly. “I’ll do your share too.”
“Yeah. Win. I’ll be cheering for you.” Joanne smiled and patted Ivanna on the back.
Perhaps it looked as though the person being comforted had somehow switched places, but Joanne did not mind. If anything, seeing how badly Ivanna was taking it made her feel a little better.
Was it because she realised she had made such a good friend?
She glanced at the other contestants. To be honest, at some point Joanne had begun to think that she would not be able to win. When she seriously considered victory, the other contestants simply seemed too strong. Anderson in particular seemed capable of working as a sous chef at a fairly famous restaurant, perhaps even as a head chef. His fundamentals were certainly solid enough.
“...Whew. I knew this day would come eventually.” Joanne murmured bitterly.
Eliminated.
Today was the day that label was finally attached to her name.
Anderson slowly spoke. “You did well.”
“You really are blunt. Even at the very end, you keep it short.”
“Shut up.” Anderson avoided her gaze as though embarrassed.
Partings were never easy. Still, Joanne could not simply leave immediately. She had an interview to complete first. Until that was over, she could not properly say goodbye.
Perhaps the production team had deliberately given her a little more time with everyone, but Joanne found this period more burdensome than comforting. Anyone would feel uncomfortable when surrounded by regretful looks directed entirely at them.
She needed to change the mood.
Joanne turned towards Chloe beside her, took both her hands, and raised the corner of her mouth. “Good luck. I hope you get it.”
She obviously did not mean the championship.
Chloe blushed and smiled awkwardly. She did not say anything, but denying it and mentioning Jo Minjoon by name would have been equally strange.
Joanne glanced briefly towards Minjoon before changing the subject.
“Speaking of Minjoon, you said Chloe’s dish was worth nine points. Was it really that delicious?”
“...Honestly, shark fin itself isn’t particularly delicious. It has almost no flavour or aroma, just texture. Maybe gourmets can find something more in it... but I still haven’t learned to taste things the way they do. Still, the dish itself was surprisingly good. Good enough that I wondered whether it was really her first time making it.”
“It wasn’t exactly my first time. I’ve made it with my mum before. Of course, I can’t really say I have much experience with it either, since I wasn’t the one leading the cooking...”
“I guess your mother really is a good cook. You said you learned almost all the dishes you know from her.”
“Yeah.” Chloe smiled bashfully and nodded.
Among everyone there, Minjoon was probably most envious of Anderson and Chloe. Chloe had learned to cook from her mother, while both of Anderson’s parents were professional chefs. How many excellent dishes must they have eaten from childhood onward?
Joanne smirked and asked again. “So, was Kaya’s dish delicious?”
“...Don’t ask me about that again. I don’t want to remember it for the rest of my life.”
“Are you bad-mouthing my dish right now?”
“I’m not bad-mouthing it... No, think about it normally. Would you have liked it if I’d made you eat that?”
“I already told you. You’re a failure as a chef. Why are you picky about ingredients? Do you know how much food costs? I eat everything because wasting it is such a shame.” Kaya looked completely serious.
Minjoon stared at her with a disgusted expression. “Don’t you have food preferences?”
“Well, I didn’t live such a miserable life that I don’t have preferences.” Her voice was self-mocking.
Minjoon narrowed his eyes. “Fried chicken. Which part do you like best?”
“The wing. ...No, wait. That’s different.”
“That’s still a preference, isn’t it?”
Kaya glared at him and shut her mouth. She had no comeback.
Joanne, who had been watching them with amusement, turned back to Chloe. “By the way, can I ask why you cried earlier? I never thought I’d see you cry. You always seem so cheerful.”
“...It’s a little embarrassing to answer.”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Girls are prettiest when they cry.”
“Then why don’t you cry now? Seems like the perfect time.” Anderson said it as though teasing her.
Joanne frowned. “I could never marry a jerk like that.”
“I’m celibate.”
“...You are?” At Anderson’s answer, Minjoon looked even more surprised than Joanne.
Anderson nodded as though it were nothing important. “I don’t think that’s something worth being so surprised about.”
“No, I just never got that impression from you...”
“Minjoon, don’t believe him yet. Guys who declare they’re going to stay single are usually the ones who get married before anyone else.”
“...Come to think of it, there’s a similar saying in Korea.” Minjoon nodded at Joanne’s words.
Anderson frowned. “Don’t decide what other people believe for them.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight.” Joanne smiled and raised both hands.
Since she had already apologised, Anderson apparently could not bring himself to keep arguing. He swallowed his irritation and looked away.
Kaya, who had been watching the two of them bicker, spoke with a mocking voice as though the entire thing were ridiculous. “What is this? Do you two like each other?”
Silence fell for a moment.
Anderson raised one eyebrow and looked at Kaya. Joanne wore almost the same expression.
Kaya shrugged. “Then forget it.”
“That was a horrible question.” Joanne shuddered as though even imagining it disgusted her.
Kaya replied calmly. “You do this to me and Minjoon all the time.”
At that, Joanne fell silent, unable to argue.
Minjoon smirked and held out his palm towards Kaya. The corner of Kaya’s mouth twitched as she stared at it.
The first person called by the staff was Joanne. Once she left, some of the tension in the room eased.
Chloe sighed and looked at Minjoon. “Thanks for today.”
“For what?” “For the handkerchief. And for the nine points.”
“I only gave your dish the score it deserved. There’s no reason to thank me for something you achieved yourself.”
“Even so, I’m grateful.” Chloe smiled brightly, almost childishly.
Minjoon scratched his nose awkwardly.
Chloe hesitated for a while, smacked her lips, then slowly continued. “Actually, even while I was making it, I wasn’t confident at all. I tried harder than ever, but... I kept wondering whether it would really be okay. Before the judging, you smiled at me with your eyes. Surprisingly, that comforted me. You hadn’t even tasted my soup yet, so there was no way you could have known whether it was good... Strange, isn’t it?”
“...If it comforted you, that’s good enough. What’s strange about it? In the end, what matters is how someone feels.”
“Anyway, I wanted to thank you if I survived. No... even if I’d been eliminated, I think I still would’ve been grateful.”
Minjoon did not need time to think of an answer. Before he could say anything, Joanne came out of the interview room and called him.
“I’m done. Minjoon, they said you should go in.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Chloe seemed to have more she wanted to say, but he could not keep the staff waiting.
The moment Minjoon entered the interview room, Martin grinned teasingly. “I hope you enjoyed your meal.”
“...I’m neither grateful nor resentful. It was a good meal overall, but there were also things I desperately wanted to wash out of my mouth.”
The shock from Kaya’s stew still had not completely disappeared. Still, Chloe’s shark fin had tasted much better than he expected, so he felt a little less sorry for his tongue.
Minjoon gave a bitter smile. “That offer you made last time, about travelling around to taste different foods... I did think about it for a while, but after what I went through today, I think I’m starting to lose interest.”
“...All right. My fault. Just don’t scare me like that. I’m really hoping you’ll join us. Seriously.”
“Am I going to have to eat things like that there too? Stinky tofu, surströmming, roasted tarantula, monkey brains...”
(Translator’s Note: Surströmming —literally “sour herring” — A Swedish preparation of lightly salted Baltic herring fermented before canning. Fermented fish preservation in northern Sweden dates back centuries, while commercial canned surströmming developed during the nineteenth century after canning technology became available. It is particularly associated with northern Sweden and is famous for its extraordinarily strong smell.)
“Hey, you really think I’d make you do that?” Martin smiled.
Minjoon sighed.
Even so, he still did not know whether he would actually participate in the programme. If he won Grand Chef, the offer would become irrelevant anyway.
Martin asked calmly. “I know today was your first time eating cow phallus. How was it?”
“Horrible. Regardless of whether it’s cooked well or badly, it’s honestly an ingredient I never want to put in my mouth again.”
“Come on. If you’re a chef, you should be able to eat that much.”
“...That’s occupational discrimination. Look at the judges. Even they clearly didn’t want to eat it. Well, Emily ate it without any problem... but she isn’t a chef in the first place. She’s a food critic.”
It was unusual to see Minjoon grumbling this much in the interview room. That alone showed just how unpleasant the experience had been.
Martin was wearing an apologetic expression when Robert, the youngest producer, suddenly approached him with a serious face and whispered something into his ear.
Martin’s expression froze.
What happened?
Minjoon watched him in confusion.
Martin hesitated for a moment before standing.
“I’m sorry. Let’s take a break.”
“Is there a problem?”
“It isn’t your problem. ...No, maybe it could become your problem too. But for now, just rest.”
Martin walked past Minjoon’s confused face and approached the staff.
He frowned heavily.
“Who wrote what?”
“It’s a comment that was posted about two days ago. The writer claims she went to school with Kaya... Whether it’s true or not, it’s attracting a lot of attention. Here. Look at this.”
Tess Gilly: I have something to say. I went to middle school with Kaya, and the Kaya Lotus I knew is pretty different from the one they’re showing on television. Sure, it’s true that she was poor and picked up plenty of bad habits. And her personality really is as filthy as they show on TV. But “a victim created by the dark side of society”? “A neighbour we can sympathise with”? I couldn’t stand seeing people say things like that anymore. That girl isn’t just some troubled teenager going through puberty. She’s completely messed up, and she’s trash among trash. Just look at what she’s doing with Jo. She went there to cook, but all she does is flirt. That’s what that b*tch is really like. Selling some fruit at the market and taking care of her little sister doesn’t suddenly make her a good person. And...
“Why is she being this vicious?” Martin frowned.
However he looked at it, he had grown quite fond of Kaya. Of course, he did not know how Kaya herself thought of him, but after seeing her past and the way she behaved, he had begun to feel as though he wanted to look after her like a niece. There was no way he could be pleased by this kind of malicious attack.
“You can see for yourself. There are already more than five hundred replies under that comment alone. Even if we only count the people who’ve read it, we’re talking thousands, maybe tens of thousands. And once you factor in the rumours spreading by word of mouth... in the worst case, this could turn into something the press picks up.”
“...Call every newspaper office. Tell them that if they turn this into an article, we’ll immediately pursue them for defamation.”
“Do you really think that’ll scare them? At worst, it’s only a civil case...”
“Then are we supposed to sit here and do nothing?”
“What if we used it as buzz marketing instead, like with Peter...”
Martin let out a long sigh and looked at Robert as though he could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Are you serious? Do Kaya and Peter’s situations look the same to you? Kaya is bringing in thirty per cent of our ratings! A scandal around Kaya won’t become buzz marketing. It’ll just become noise. We won’t be able to sell the couple angle to viewers anymore, and her bad-girl image will fall apart too.”
“...Then what can we do?”
“I don’t know.” Martin answered curtly and sank into thought.
Suddenly, he remembered something Kaya had once said during an interview.
The stage where you start getting close to someone. I’ve gone through that with a lot of people. Eighteen. It sounds like a short life, but it isn’t. I’ve met good people, and I’ve met people who made me suffer. I’ve had that stage where you start getting close. But I never actually got close to anyone. I only ever pretended to be close. And in the end, they all left.