Chapter 88: The Weight of a Restaurant (1)
Chapter 88: The Weight of a Restaurant (1)
“Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty... Okay. Get up, Chloe.”
“...Whew. That was hard.”
Chloe lay on the exercise mat, breathing heavily. Minjoon, who had been holding her legs in place, released them and asked, “Isn’t it difficult training every day? Even people who exercise regularly take rest days. You’ll get injured.”
“But I don’t do that much at a time. And there aren’t that many exercise machines here...”
Chloe looked around the gym regretfully. The facility had been set up for both the contestants and the staff, but it was not particularly well equipped. Minjoon glanced at Anderson, who was doing squats nearby. Anderson’s body was more muscular than he had expected, certainly more built than his own.
“...Should I start exercising too?”
“You came here to exercise, didn’t you?”
“Rather than coming here to exercise, I came to get some motivation.”
“You don’t get motivation from other people. You have to motivate yourself. If all you do is mutter, ‘I really should exercise...’ while your body stays exactly the same, then your determination hasn’t changed either.”
“Fine. Then maybe I’ll start to—”
Before Minjoon could finish saying today, his phone rang. He raised a hand towards Chloe and stepped outside the gym. The name on the screen was Jessie Dean. He had not seen that name in a while, so a welcoming smile appeared on his face.
“It’s been a while since you called. What’s up?”
[Nothing much. I was bored and didn’t have anything to do.]
“But shouldn’t you be at school right now? Ah, New York is an hour behind.”
The conversation continued as they caught up with one another. Jessie was still making jelly, and she asked how large the Grand Chef house really was. Inevitably, one particular question came up as well.
[Aren’t you two really dating?]
“I already told you we aren’t.”
Jessie groaned as though she did not believe him.
Minjoon sighed and changed the subject. He was thoroughly tired of hearing about it. Jessie was hardly the only person who asked about Kaya. Whenever his family or friends called, they invariably brought her up too.
“How is Mr. Lucas doing?”
[He seems to be starting a new company or something... He doesn’t really tell me about that stuff. But he’s doing well.]
“That’s good.”
More than anything else, Jessie’s voice sounded much brighter than before. That alone was enough to ease any lingering concern he had about her.
Jessie hesitated before asking another question.
[But that Lotus girl... There are some bad rumours about her online. They aren’t true, are they?]
“Of course not. People always tend to see themselves as the victim. Tess Gilly is... well, you can think of her as that kind of person.”
[Well, you should be careful about judging people.]
“Tell the people around you too. Kaya isn’t that kind of person.”
[...You really do look after her a lot, don’t you?]
Jessie sounded suspicious.
Minjoon answered in a thoroughly fed-up voice. “Let’s stop here. I need to exercise.”
[Ah, sorry. Don’t hang up. I’m bored. I’m bo—!]
Even though Jessie protested desperately, Minjoon had already pressed the button. As the call ended and the screen went dark, a familiar voice came from behind him.
“Sounds like you were talking about me.”
“Ah! You scared me... Make some noise when you approach someone.”
When he turned around, Kaya pointed at her feet instead of answering. She was wearing high heels. She took a few steps.
Clop, clop.
The sound was far too distinct for her to have approached silently.
Minjoon scratched his chin awkwardly. “I don’t hear much when I’m on the phone.”
“I think you’re just deaf. So? You were talking about me, weren’t you?”
“Whenever someone calls me, they usually ask about you. Doesn’t the same thing happen to you?”
“...There isn’t really anyone who calls me. Except my sister and Mum.” Kaya pouted as she answered.
Minjoon knew the words themselves should have sounded sad, but with that expression on her face, he found her strangely cute and smirked.
“And your sister and mother don’t talk about me?”
“They do. They ask why I keep an idiot like you around me.”
“...Really? They actually said that?”
“And you believed me?” Kaya clicked her tongue and shook her head.
Minjoon frowned. Whenever he played with his younger cousins, he was usually the one who fell for childish tricks like that. Somehow, the same thing happened whenever he was with Kaya. Whether that was good or bad, he could not quite decide.
“I’m going to exercise. Go away.”
“You’re really going to exercise? You never did before. Why? Because I teased you?”
“Do I look like a child to you? Who starts exercising just because somebody makes fun of them?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a child. And it hasn’t been that long since you stopped being a teenager. Why don’t you stop trying so hard to act like an adult?”
For a moment, Minjoon felt genuinely annoyed, but he refused to be dragged along by her pace. From Kaya’s point of view, he had only recently stopped being a teenager, but that was not really true. Originally, he had lived into his thirties. He was already at an age where he should have outgrown childish behaviour.
“It hasn’t even been that long since I got out of the army. My body isn’t in that bad shape.”
“Army? You were a soldier?” Kaya’s eyes widened.
She clearly had never imagined it. Minjoon had never told anyone here that he had served in the military, so he shifted his gaze slightly.
“Yeah. I fired guns and went through training too.”
There was no need to mention that he had served in an administrative role. Minjoon deliberately left it at that.
Kaya’s eyes darted around as though the revelation had genuinely shocked her. After hesitating, she asked carefully, “Then... did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“That... ki— No. I mean... did you ever shoot someone?”
No matter how hard she tried to hide it, there was a strange light in her large eyes that Minjoon had never seen before, and her hands were moving far more than necessary. Perhaps because of that, even knowing it was childish, he suddenly wanted to tease her.
The man who had once lived to thirty answered in a deliberately meaningful voice.
“Korea is technically still under an armistice.”
(Translator’s Note: Korean Armistice Agreement —The agreement signed on 27 July 1953 that halted large-scale fighting in the Korean War. It was signed by representatives of the United Nations Command, the Korean People’s Army, and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. It created the military armistice system and helped establish the Demilitarised Zone, but it was not a peace treaty. Consequently, the Korean War was suspended rather than formally ended.)
To be honest, Kaya had no idea what he meant. She was bad at interpreting roundabout answers. Did he mean that, because it was an armistice, soldiers did not actually shoot anyone? Or that precisely because the country remained under an armistice, incidents like that could happen? Judging purely by the weight of his voice, she assumed it was the latter.
Is it difficult for him to talk about?
It was perfectly understandable for her to reach that conclusion. Too embarrassed to admit that she had not understood, Kaya looked at him earnestly.
“I wouldn’t think badly of you even if it happened. I understand.”
“Thanks.” Minjoon smirked.
He had no idea what kind of situation she was imagining. Perhaps she thought South Korea was as dangerous as some active war zone. He was not sure when he should clear up the misunderstanding—or how many irritated punches he would receive once she realised he had deliberately misled her.
I’ll worry about that later... First, exercise.
In the end, however, Minjoon never exercised that day. Before he could even pick up a dumbbell, a member of staff came rushing over and shouted, “We’re moving to the mission location! Everyone get ready and come to the garage!”
Naturally, the main topic of conversation on the bus was the upcoming mission. Sasha spoke first. “It’ll be a restaurant, right? When they take us outside, there aren’t many other places we’d go.”
“There could be hotels too. But whatever form it takes, one thing is certain: we’re going to a kitchen.”
“...Do you think only one person will be eliminated today too?”
“I don’t know. Judging by the numbers, probably. But there could always be an unexpected twist and two people might get eliminated. Just don’t think about elimination. It’s easier that way.” Anderson answered cynically.
Hearing Sasha sigh, Minjoon turned towards the window. How long had it been since he had left the Grand Chef house? Recently, so many reporters had gathered outside that the contestants could hardly go anywhere. Simply being able to look at the scenery again made some of the suffocation inside him ease.
In the seat directly behind him, Kaya glanced at his back. Seeing him silently staring out the window made her wonder whether her earlier question had stirred up painful memories from his military service.
...How dangerous is a country if it’s technically still under an armistice?
There was no reason she would have learned much about Korea, nor had she ever been particularly interested in it. Kaya poked Chloe in the side.
Chloe, seated beside her, turned with a puzzled expression. “Why?”
“Shh. Come closer.” Kaya lowered her voice considerably. “Is Korea—I mean, South Korea—still a dangerous country? Do people actually shoot guns there?”
“I’m not sure. Not as far as I know. I even have friends who travelled there. Well, I’ve seen on the news that the two Koreas argue with each other sometimes. Why?”
“No reason.”
“What is it? Now you’ve made me curious. Are you really not going to tell me? If you’re asking about Korea, doesn’t it have something to do with Minjoon?”
“Shh! I told you to keep your voice down!” Kaya glared fiercely and pressed her thumb against Chloe’s lips. Chloe raised her eyebrows and alternated her gaze between Kaya’s face and the finger on her mouth. Kaya withdrew her hand. “Use some tact, Chloe.”
“What exactly am I supposed to be tactful about?”
“...You can’t tell anyone.” Kaya glanced around vigilantly. Minjoon was still looking out of the window, Anderson and Sasha were discussing the mission, and Ivanna was asleep. No one appeared to be listening. “Minjoon said he was a soldier.”
“I think military service is compulsory in Korea, so of course he went to the army. What about it?”
“If you’re a soldier, doesn’t that mean you go to war and things like that? I’ve known some older men who served in the army, and they all had a hard time because of their memories. Minjoon doesn’t show it, but... what if he’s suffering on his own? You know, those symptoms. PT... whatever it’s called.”
Chloe gave Kaya a strange look. Just what was this girl imagining? Kaya, however, was completely absorbed in her own thoughts.
“And eventually he’ll go back to Korea. I never really thought about it before, but isn’t that dangerous? He should at least apply for some humanitarian unit. Do you think I should tell him to do that now?”
“...I think you’ve misunderstood something badly, Kaya. Korea isn’t anything like what you’re imagining.”
“It’s a country under an armistice. He said war could break out at any moment.”
“That part is true, but...”
Chloe did not know how to explain it. In truth, she did not know that much about Korea either. The real problem was something else. If she let Kaya continue misunderstanding the situation and worrying about Minjoon all by herself, she was rather adorable. On the other hand, Chloe was not confident she could handle Kaya’s reaction if she pretended innocence now and Kaya later discovered the truth.
“Kaya, actually...”
“We’ve arrived!”
“So they say. We’ll talk about this later.”
Chloe’s determination was cut short by the staff member’s shout. Well, it’s not like this is my only chance to tell her, she thought as she turned towards the window.
Outside stood a restaurant. Half of the building extended over the water while the other half rested on the shore. Most of the structure was made from white-painted timber, giving it a distinctly romantic atmosphere.
Anyone seeing it for the first time would have admired it, and Kaya was no exception. The moment she stepped off the bus, she forgot all about Minjoon’s military service and simply stared at the restaurant in appreciation.
Then a voice rang out, and a microphone suddenly appeared in front of her face, shattering the mood. “I’m Jessica Prada from Daily Street. We received a tip claiming that you maliciously bullied one of your schoolmates. Is that true?”