God of Cooking

219  Everybody has their own story (5)

"Well, I don't know. I just can't like it all the time. In fact, my daddy was a good man, regardless of whether he was a gangster or not. But he has deserted us for almost 20 years. Let me admit that he didn't do it because he hated us, but because he could not support us financially. If that's the case, I would have hated his incompetence. But…"

She tightened her arms, holding his chest. He felt her body trembling on his back.

He did not say anything, so his silence could help her speak out.

"I'll forgive him at the end of the day."

"Why?"

"Because I want to forgive him deep down. Because I want to have a beloved dad in my life. I know I'm such a pathetic girl, but I can't help it. That's me anyway."

He slowly took her hand off his chest. He slowly turned around and hugged her.

"You're fine. At first glance, you look scary and sullen, but in the end, I know that you're a gentle and good woman. Someone may say you're stupid, but who cares? A stupid person can get by in a stupid way."

"I thought about why I like you, Min-joon. You tell me that you like even what I am ashamed of. Always."

 "You have no reason to be ashamed of. There are so many people in the world, and all of them have different thoughts. Thanks anyway. Because of what you said, I got a sense of what kind of recipe I have to prepare this time."

"Recipe? What are you going to do?"

Instead of answering, he kissed her lips. He smiled at her, looking into her surprised eyes.

"Well, it's a recipe that will make your family feel less awkward. A dish with Kaya Reuters's heart. I would like to reflect on your family's story in my dishes. On my plate."

***

Although Min-joon created an opportunity, it was a pretty attractive topic for other demi chefs as well. In fact, Rachel seemed to give them a chance to come up with a recipe at any time after the reopening of Rose Island, but it was impossible for them to have ample time to prepare a recipe because the ingredients of Rose Island always changed with the change of the season.

Since the main ingredients changed, they could not use even the prepared recipe unless it was in line with the season.

So, all other demi-chefs were eager to come up with quite a new recipe of their own. Otherwise, they wouldn't have started cooking like this during their break time. Honestly, they could take a break this time and aim for the next recipe. However, Min-joon was so seriously absorbed into devising a new recipe that they could not help but feel a sense of crisis, namely a crisis that they might lag behind him.

'Min-joon is really…'

Havier admired him, but at the same time, let out a sigh. In fact, Min-joon was the most promising demi chef among them. To a chef not only his cooking skills but also his popularity was important. No matter how delicious a dish one made, what was the point if they were not popular enough to publicize them?

However, Min-joon did not have to worry about his popularity at least for the rest of his life. With a perfect palate, he was Rachel's disciple and 3rd place in the Grand Chef competition. Unless a dirty scandal involving him breaks, life would treat him very well.

Nonetheless, Min-joon was always pursuing a difficult and tough journey when he could live comfortably. Havier could not help but be spurred on by his terrific professionalism and ambition. It was the same for Janet and Anderson. In the case of Anderson, he was already rumored as the best demi chef in terms of cooking skills, and Janet would ultimately make her name in the cooking world with her intense focus on her goal. Since he mingled with them, Havier, who had a relaxed personality, had no choice but to get motivated.

Havier approached Min-joon, holding a dish with a cake made from cooked crab with pomegranate salsa. Min-joon was removing the sucker from the squid's legs at the moment.

Havier cautiously said, "Min-joon, sorry to bother you. Could you taste this?"

"Oh, yeah... It's a crab cake."

Min-joon replied feebly. And his expression was also gloomy. His eyes were a little swollen, and his cheek was red. With a little sweat on his forehead, he looked like a cold patient.

Havier asked in an anxious voice, "Are you okay? It looks like you are sick. It's wintertime, so be careful."

"Compared with Korea, it looks like spring weather here. So, I thought it's nothing. In fact, I didn't catch a cold because of the weather."

"Then, how come you got caught?"

Min-joon shrugged and said, "Because I kissed her."

"Man, did I hear something wrong?"

Havier looked at him blankly. Min-joon closed his eyes mischievously.

Maya, standing beside him, said with a sigh, "How come you are kidding in this situation? As Chef Min-joon is sick, I did all the work today."

"Yeah. I appreciate that. Good job."

"Come on! You had me prepare all this, which I didn't have to do. Do you think that's a good compliment?"

"Maya, you are rather provocative today."

"Look at me." Maya reached out. Her small hands were trembling hard as if she was holding something heavy.

"I got this hand tremor because of the hard work today."

"Thank heavens! You really had a hard time. How about going to the hospital? Don't worry about the kitchen. Let me ask Master Rachel if I can get a new cook. I guess there are a bunch of applicants for the job."

"Don't you think we're dealing with too much jelly? Nowadays, I feel like I'm not a real cook but a jelly 14:54

factory worker."

"Oh man… can you stop quibbling about my words?"

"Well, I can pounce on anybody when it comes to quibbling. So, stop complaining and trim the jelly quickly."

"Don't you think we're dealing with too much jelly? Nowadays, I feel like I'm not a real cook but a jelly factory worker."

"Molecular cooking is like that. Are you bored?"

"If I say yes, you want to preach to me again, right? Got it. I don't want to make you sick more."

Maya pouted her lips and walked back to the countertop, grumbling along.

Watching them, Anderson opened his mouth as if he was a little displeased.

"Don't you think you are cutting her slack too much?"

"Why are you saying it suddenly?"

"Well, I think she is talking to you like a friend."

"If we are in the same kitchen, we're a family. Wouldn't it be better for the family members to feel comfortable toward each other?"

"I hear that most Asian families are strict."

"Well, that depends. My family is not strict," said Min-joon, coughing several times.

Anderson checked his look as if he was worried.

"Are you really okay? Why don't you just go home and take a rest?"

"Well, I'm sorry for being sick like this. How can I go and take a rest? I'm okay, so don't worry."

"How can't I be worried? If I go back home, Kaya is going to make a big fuss over taking care of you, man. How come you are sick as soon as Kaya gets better? You guys are hitting it off really well."

"Now I seem to know why you care about me so much…"

Min-joon shook his head, muttering in an embarrassed voice.

Havier gave him crab cake again, "I hear crab cake is good for a cold."

"Really?"

"I don't know well, but any food is always good for a cold, right?"

Min-joon took off his mask and put it in his mouth. He then shook his head.

His cooking score was 6 out of 10. He expected it would taste good, but it didn't.

It was definitely a failure.

"You made crab cake itself well, but the salsa sauce seems to be too weak. It's mixed with pomegranate and tomato, right?"

"Yes. Is it weird?"

"You might want to mix it a little differently. Otherwise, you won't get the taste of pomegranate. Besides, the sauce is just too plain."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll think it over again."

Havier returned to the kitchen table and started working on the recipe again. In fact, the only time he could devote his time to a recipe was his break.

Min-joon began to calmly organize the concept of his recipe.

'Kaya has been scarred by her family a lot. Besides, she doesn't even have good memories of her family. What kind of dishes should I make to fill that void?'

The first thing that came to his mind was home-style dishes. However, it was difficult for him to transform home-style dishes into fine, high-quality dishes, no matter how skilled he was in molecular cooking. Besides, he had bad memories about home-style dishes because at the Grand Chef competition he didn't have good results when it came to home-made dishes. Even Chloe failed while trying to cook home-style food. So, when he recalled the episodes, he just felt uncomfortable about home-style dishes.

'There was something strange about the turkey dish last time.'

'Toltoku.' It was a word someone coined by mixing the names of turkey, duck, and chicken. First, put a duck in the stomach of a turkey. Second, put a chicken in the stomach of a duck. Lastly, bake them in the oven. It was a dish that showed the time-honored preferences of Americans who love meat and heaps of food.

'But they will meet for the first time on Christmas Eve…'

Other demi chefs could make dishes that reflected only the Christmas mood, but in his case, he had the secondary goal of pleasing Kaya's family. It was a tougher job, but he did not like this situation very much.

After the Grand Chef competition was over. It was almost the first time he worked on a certain theme on cooking. There was no special theme on the dishes that he made since then. Even if there was a theme, it had to be something like the universal idea like 'Making the eater happy.' At that moment, Janet approached him and handed out the plate.

"Hey, try this."

"You guys think I'm a powerful cooking scout?"

"Absolutely!" Said Janet, looking at him with a strange expression.

Min-joon glanced at her plate with a sigh. There were different kinds of food on the plate. Roasted turkey tenderloin made with honey glazed and polished skin. Beef neck meat steamed in a braised method with cannelloni and vanilla stuffed with jumbo shrimps inside.

Min-joon thought to himself, 'Definitely, Janet's cooking skill is amazing.'

He felt jealous, but he had to admit it. At least for now, Janet was a much more capable chef than Min-joon.