Chapter 26
The reason Kaya looked at Jo Minjoon and wanted him as a partner was simple. It couldn’t be said that they were close, but it could be said that they had some sort of friendship. She didn’t think about Jo Minjoon’s skills or anything of the sort. She just needed someone she could be comfortable with.
However, Jo Minjoon couldn’t help but hesitate looking at Kaya. Jo Minjoon remembered the theme of the next mission. Foie gras. He did know how to make it, but it was something he had never made before. And it was also the same for Kaya. There was no way for someone from the ghetto to have cooked it.
The reason Kaya could survive in the past was because the partner she had chosen was Chloe. Chloe knew how to make it and even had experience doing so. She was different to Jo Minjoon.
Because of that, Jo Minjoon couldn’t help but hesitate. Letting a hand in vain at that poor girl could rather get him results he hadn’t expected. It meant that he didn’t know if she would face disqualification that wasn’t destined to happen. And that wasn’t a simple disqualification. It was changing Kaya’s life.
He needed to refuse. He had to. It was for the sake of Kaya. He thought so. But in the next moment, Jo Minjoon was already getting downstairs. With each step he took, his head got filled with more and more confusion. Just why? This decision wasn’t for the sake of anyone. Just acting like a good person could play in stake Kaya’s life and the money she had earned. But.
He couldn’t stop his steps. Jo Minjoon walked towards Kaya with a rigid face. Even if it was now, he wouldn’t be late. He had to tell her. That he wasn’t confident.
But the moment he looked at Kaya, he couldn’t open his mouth. Joseph’s voice could be heard. He was asking him right now.
“Minjoon. Are you willing to be Kaya’s partner?”
“……First, let me ask her something.”
Jo Minjoon said that and looked at Kaya. Her sky blue eyes was darker than usual. Jo Minjoon talked with a voice a teacher had when he was teaching his student.
“It could be a mistake picking me. But are you sure you aren’t going to regret it?”
“……I don’t know.”
Kaya replied in a low voice. It was similar to a patient who had caught a cold.
“Just….. I just thought of you. To help me.”
If the situation was different, it would sound pretty romantic. But right now, it was only heard as depressed and dejected. Jo Minjoon just looked at her. And opened as if he had decided something. The original future didn’t matter. What was important right now was that Kaya asked him for help. The idol who he had always admired was asking for his help right now.
Was it unavoidable to hold her hand?
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
“……Thank you.”
Kaya replied without strength. Joseph, looking at them, clapped his hands. As everyone turned to look at him, he opened his mouth.
“As the team making is completed, now I’ll announce the mission. Everyone go to your respective countertops and check the box put on top.”
Jo Minjoon and Kaya went to the countertop that was farther away. An ice box the size of an apple box was in the place. Jo Minjoon already knew what would be inside of it. Foie gras. Kaya opened the lid hurriedly. It was as he remembered. A frozen foie gras that was vacuum sealed was inside of the ice box.
The disqualifying candidates all let out sighs. They could only do so. Because there wasn’t a more difficult dish to handle than foie gras. The price was as expensive as the best meat, and if you couldn’t cook it well it was comparable to just a meat chunk.
Foie gras. The name was okay but in the end, it was liver. And like every living being’s liver, it’s disgusting aroma was strong. That aroma, perhaps even calling it aroma was excessive. But to remove that smell and make it better was the main point of foie gras.
“……I don’t know how to do it.”
Next to him, Kaya mumbled anxiously. She was biting her lips to not express it, but it showed even more from her expression. Jo Minjoon talked with a low voice. It was a voice that could calm your heart just by hearing it.
“I have never cooked it. No, wait. Don’t make that face. We can do it. Kaya. You have cooked chicken liver or cow liver, right?”
Jo Minjoon consoled Kaya. Kaya nodded with a nervous face.
“I have. But foie gras is a bit different.”
“Even if it’s different, it’s still liver. Listen. This…..”
It was at that moment when Jo Minjoon wanted to continue speaking. Alan’s voice sounded in the room.
“What’s in front of you will be the theme for this mission. Foie gras. But you can’t prepare it at the same time. You will have to change who cooks in intervals of 5 minutes, and while you have shifted, you are not permitted to help if not by talking.”
Anxious voices could be heard from the place. Even while excluding Jo Minjoon and Kaya, there were still many people not accustomed to making foie gras. For people that weren’t even pros to make foie gras and have experience doing so was very hard. Because it was not an ingredient that was easily handled. Only Anderson could have handled it. But on top of that you had to tag between yourselves, the difficulty of this mission would have risen to the top.
“We’ll give you 20 minutes to think of the recipe. Decide in that time. And the time given to cook will be 60 minutes.”
Jo Minjoon looked at Kaya. And opened his mouth.
“Let’s roast it.”
It was brief, but Kaya understood. She had never cooked foie gras, but it wasn’t that she had never heard of it. Because even she had studied the ingredients she had never handled before.
There were two main ways to cook foie gras. The first was roasting, and the second was grating it with spices and making it as a pate mousse.
But realistically speaking, pate wasn’t an option Jo Minjoon could choose right now. Because he, and also Kaya didn’t completely understand about foie gras. For a flavor they couldn’t understand to mix it with different spices and making a pate? It was obvious that a flavor worse than sausage that was sold in markets would come out instead.
Kaya frowned. She understood why Jo Minjoon chose that. But there was a mistake in that.
“It seems that you have forgotten, but this is frozen. I can’t say much because I don’t know about foie gras, but won’t the flavor be lacking a bit?”
“Nowadays freezing is done at high speed. It’s completely different than the freezers we have at our houses. If we handle it well, there won’t be a big difference with it being frozen.”
Of course, there would be some small differences compared to frozen ingredients. But it is enough to roast it. In the first place, if it was foie gras that couldn’t be roasted, the theme of the mission would be changed to making pate or cream.
And the main reason Jo Minjoon chose to roast it was because, in the original future, Kaya also chose to roast it. Jo Minjoon still remembered that scene. The scene where she cooked without having eaten nor seen with her own methods. He remembered that difficult challenge.
With that dish, Kaya was able to survive. She showed her worth. And he hoped that she would also do it this time. He didn’t want her to get disqualified because it was him and not Chloe that was besides her. He had to win. So because of that, Jo Minjoon couldn’t help but be more serious than Kaya.
“I promise you. I won’t get you disqualified.”
“……Whatever you do. I’m not planning to do so.”
Kaya replied bluntly. Jo Minjoon just smiled without saying anything. He got a feeling that he was looking at his little sister Jo Ara. He couldn’t become a nuisance when he was asked for help. Jo Minjoon closed his eyes. The basic form of cooking it was putting puré on top of the roasted foie gras. He thought of tens of recipes for the puré kinds, and the estimated cooking score appeared as much as the recipes he had thought of. 5 points. 4 points. 5 points. 5 points. 6 points. 5 points…..
7 points
< Getting help in the face of getting disqualified (1) > End
Translator’s note: Regular chapter! Geez guys. About the previous chapter’s ‘rock as hard’. Are there only perverts reading this novel? You can see it as his face froze. No one seeing the romance? Hmm….
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Translator : Subak
Proofreader : Maled