Chapter 474 - Between Art and Cooking (1)
“What the heck are all these potatoes?” Kaya asked, who came out of the kitchen in the morning, looking at the potato lumps on the cutting board.
Min-joon or Chloe would not have taken care of ingredients in a sloppy manner like this. Besides, they were not the type of cooks who would stop in the middle of cooking.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Chloe said, hurriedly clearing the potatoes. Chloe and Min-joon were sort of in a panic at the moment. Both of them were at a loss, not knowing how to explain the situation to Kaya, so they began to get out of the kitchen. It was Chloe who first made herself scarce with an embarrassed expression. Left behind, Min-joon didn’t feel up to cooking at all.
Kaya looked at Chloe suspiciously, but she could not ask because of the potatoes. She knew that she teased Chloe until she finally shed tears.
“Anyway, Min-joon. As for what I asked you for yesterday, all good?”
“Yes. No problem, so don’t worry.”
Cho Min-joon nodded as if he had no problem at all.
But Kaya opened her mouth with an anxious look.
“Don’t pretend to get on your high horse, okay?’
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“Yes. Min-joon can figure out all the recipes just by eating the food, not to mention the ingredients. But that’s very basic. What’s really important is that he knows how to use his senses, no matter what kind of dishes he cooks. That’s why his dishes are special. He can see and feel what others can’t,” said Kaya.
Recalling what Kaya told Min-joon in the morning, Chloe sighed, for it was Kaya herself who not only boasted about herself but Min-joon. Fortunately, Kevin didn’t look embarrassed. Rather, he seemed to be in a good mood. If there was one change in Kaya, she made people around her feel good these days, while she used to make them feel uncomfortable in the past.
The reason was simple. Kaya was full of ambition and confidence, no matter what. Sometimes that made her look a bit childish, but it was not that bad.
It was rather Chloe who was the problem. Kevin was done interviewing Kaya, and it was Chloe’s turn now. She had a conversation with Kevin in a gentle manner. But while talking with her, he had no choice but to feel that there was no substance in what she told him.
So, he stopped asking in the middle of the interview.
Chloe asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression, “Kevin? What’s going on? Did I put my foot in it?”
“No, nothing. Chloe, do you want to say something now?”
“Say something?”
“Yes, In fact, our conversation is one-sided, as you know. I’ve kept asking questions, and you have only answered exactly what I asked.”
Chloe shut her mouth at that moment. Certainly, that wasn’t her way of talking because she was far from passive. But the reason she could not say much or speak her mind fully was because…
At that moment, she knew the answer. What came to her mind was very unkind and cruel.
So Chloe couldn’t tell Kevin the answer and just smiled awkwardly.
“I’m sorry.”
“If you really think so, can you tell me what you want to say, Chloe?”
“What I want to tell you…” she slurred.
What did she want to talk about? Suddenly, she remembered introducing herself in class at school as a child. Back then, she didn’t have much to say, but she had to. She felt really frustrated and awkward while trying to put her best foot forward.
At that time, she probably tried to portray herself as best as possible because nobody would try to understand her even if she tried to look generous and kind-hearted or be negative about herself.
But at this moment, she didn’t want to repeat the same thing. She thought that if she wore a mask again now, that mask would stick to her face forever.
“People tell me a lot of good things about me, such as ‘It’s great to see you take such an adventure’ or ‘You’re really really immersed in cooking ‘or ‘I’m surprised to find your cooking level is higher than I think… but there is somebody who keeps talking about me cruelly.”
“Can you tell me who that person is?”
“It’s me.”
A bitter smile was on her face at that moment.
She continued, “I don’t think my dishes are great. Even though my dishes may be delicious, I don’t think they contain enough of my personality. Maybe they do. But I’m not satisfied with the kind of dish that doesn’t reflect my personality and style. I would like to feel what kind of dish I am making, and what kind of dish I really can make.”
“It seems like you are more concerned about art or philosophy than cooking.”
“I think cooking is completely complete only when the two areas converge. Maybe I feel that way because there are so many people thinking like that around me.”
When she said that, Kevin immediately thought of Min-joon. Although he didn’t talk with him yet, he knew through various media reports what type of person he was. And his impression of Min-joon was that he was a geek.
‘Well, ordinary men around the geek often get frustrated.’
Every time the geeks do something, ordinary men around them hate themselves for not doing as much as the geeks do. They often try to imitate the geeks, but it didn’t mean they could successfully imitate them. In that respect, it wasn’t strange that Chloe thought like that.
A few hours later, Kevin encountered that geek he was talking about.
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Min-joon had been quite busy lately. In fact, it was hard to pick any time when he was not busy, but these days, he was really busy because he had to pay some attention to Irregular Lab and Chloe’s troubled heart. But what made him the most was Rose Island.
As he got used to the position of the sous chef and got on top of it, he realized that there were more and more he had to learn as a sous chef. The reason he could easily get adjusted to his new life as a sous chef was because June fully took into account his position. From the beginning, June gave him step-by-step coaching, such as what he lacked in which section and in which order he should cook.
Min-joon did well. Considering that he had no career as a sous chef, he was clearly showing tremendous qualities. Of course, the power of the system helped him a lot, but for whatever reason, Min-joon could get things done in a way that June didn’t have to raise her voice.
But the problem was Min-joon himself. Since he had to take care of the whole kitchen, he tended to be quite nervous even about little things. At first, he could control himself properly. But when he was distracted by lots of other stuff like these days, he couldn’t control his feelings well.
After all, he made the mistake of shouting at Osla loudly today.
“Osla! Can’t you be more alert? Don’t you remember the customer’s steak order was medium rare? Are you sure what you’re baking now is medium-rare? I think the meat is already past medium-rare.”
“Ooops! Let me double-check it right away!”
Startled by his sudden instruction, Osla shoved a needle into the meat and took it to the back of her hand to check the temperature. And her face turned a bit gloomy. The steak was rather warm enough to say it was medium-rare.
Min-joon shouted angrily, “Do you know how many steaks you have overcooked today? Do you think we have a surplus of steak meat?”
“Sorry.”
“What are you doing now?! Stop baking the meat quickly. You can send the steak to the customer at Table No. 3, not 7. Fortunately, he is almost done emptying the plate.”
“Sure!” Osla replied, sweating. She had never thought he could be so sensitive like that.
And it was about when the business hours was almost over
Downey approached Osla and said something angrily, “How come you got cursed like that because you didn’t check the meat properly?”
“Oh, I was busy anyway. And he scolded, not swore at me. I deserved it anyway.”
“I don’t like it,” Downey grumbled.
He didn’t like the way Min-joon acted as if he was a boss. He knew he was foolish, but he even suspected Min-joon’s cooking skills were really great. When he recalled, Dobby was much more competent than Min-joon as a sous chef.
At that moment, Min-joon said, “If you have any complaints, why don’t you come and complain to me in person?”
Osla’s face turned pale. Checking her face, Downey slowly turned his head to him
Obviously, Min-joon was staring at him with a pretty annoyed expression.
Downey opened his mouth nonchalantly.
“Will you listen to me if I do?”
“I hate that you’re throwing a tantrum like a child, but let me listen anyway.”
Downey made a scornful smile at that. He didn’t like to be treated like a child. He didn’t like the way Min-joon pretended to have a long cooking career and took his sous chef position as granted, just because he had cooking talent.
“If I may point out the most basic stuff, I hate you, Min-joon.”
“I know that, as well. But why do you hate me? Because you think I took Eva’s place? Because I suddenly appeared and acted as your supervisor? Or are you jealous because I’m too talented?”
Osla giggled at that before she knew it, while Downey hardened his face.
“I don’t care about why you hate me, but I’m interested in how you feel toward me. But if you make other chefs feel uncomfortable about each other and drive a wedge between me and them, I won’t sit idle.”
“You’re saying as if you can do something about me if I don’t follow you.”
“A restaurant is like a cog. Each person has to interlock for smooth running. If there is a broken cog, it will eventually break. Then, what should I do?”
Since she instantly realized what he meant, Osla looked nervously at Min-joon. Downey stared at him.
Min-joon said without changing his expression at all, “I’ll have to get rid of that cog if it doesn’t work.”
“That cog could be you, not me…”
“That’s up to Chef June. She will decide.”
Downey clenched his fist at that. He wanted to tell Min-joon that she would fire him, but he didn’t because he was not sure.
Downey said quietly, “I have dedicated myself to this restaurant, and I will. Can you say so casually that I’m nothing?”
“No, I can’t. But you can’t say something to disparage me so easily.”
After having words with him, the two were locked in an uncomfortable standoff for a while.
It was Eva who broke the ice.
Letting out a sigh, she stood between them and pointed to someone behind Min-joon.
“Can’t you stop fighting, guys?” We have a guest.”
Min-joon looked back to find Kevin standing there.
As soon as he saw him, Min-joon noticed that he was the editor of a cooking magazine Kaya had mentioned.
Kevin said, smiling awkwardly, “Did I come at the wrong time?”
“Yes, you did.” Min-joon sighed as if he was a bit tired. “We were having home education.”