Chapter 485 - Chefs (1)
"Will it hurt a lot?" Lisa asked in a cautious voice.
Given that she pretended to be strong and mature, her voice now felt quite like a child's.
The doctor looked at Lisa and smiled gently.
"You don't know if it hurts because you will be in a good sleep."
"I rather hope it hurts, so I can wake up if it hurts."
The doctor knew well enough how much she was afraid now when she cracked such a joke.
Normally, a doctor would have his or her patient not talk and just relax in this situation, but her doctor bothered to talk with her.
He said, "You don't have to think it will hurt, or you don't have to be afraid. If you have the will to fight, you will win. You'll wake up. So don't be scared. If you can't even meet your opponent's eyes, how can you win the fight?"
She bit her lips at his words. She was afraid she would talk like a weak character, so she tried to meet his eyes instead of talking.
The doctor noticed the meaning of her glance and opened his mouth.
"I'm going to have the music play throughout the surgery. After going through about a quarter of Mozart's life through his music, you'll wake up. And after that, you are going to fight the real fight. I'll cheer for you, Lisa."
After he said that, he cast a glance at the nurse next to him. With the nurse playing the music, Lisa slowly began to follow the music smoothly, subtly, slowly, more slowly…
***
"What is the name of this song?"
"Mozart Violin Concerto No. 8."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It's one of my favorite player's repertoire."
Min-joon glanced at the hall, answering Osla's question without hesitation.
The performers, invited by June, were playing in the corner of the restaurant. Of course, they weren't that famous because there was no reason for such musicians to make their pocket moment at restaurants, not at the concert venue. But even so, their performance gave a touching resonance. Why? Was it because the real reverberation which they could not convey through CDs resonated through the air?
"Chef Min-joon," Jerry said. He was a junior chef who just landed a job at June's restaurant. Normally, he would have felt uncomfortable talking to Min-joon because of his seniority in the kitchen, but it seemed he was very comfortable about calling Min-joon.
"Do we really need something like music in a restaurant?"
"Just shut up and bring me the lime zest I ordered earlier. Did you make it already?"
"Yep, here you are."
The moment his boss found fault with him, Jerry quickly pushed the lime zest to him.
While Min-joon was looking at him, not sure whether to praise or scold him, Jerry simpered at him.
Min-joon to the front. Jerry looked at Min-joon with a feeling of not knowing whether Cho Min-joon should be said to be unique or shy, while Jerry laughed and looked at Cho Min-joon.
Since there was something wistful rather than mischievous in his eyes, Min-joon could not scold him, after all. So, he cleared his throat, then put the lime zest on the sea bream with its skin baked well and other parts steamed. After steaming it with pineapple wine this time, he would season it with soy sauce puree. While sprinkling lime zest, not lemon juice, over the flesh of the fish, Min-joon said, "What do you want to ask."
"Music! Isn't it good that we don't have music in the restaurant, so they can focus on eating?"
"Have you ever seen anyone who can't taste food because they focus on music?"
"Well, they can if the music is really good."
"If you want to bring the musicians who can play so well, this would not be a matter of music anymore because it would cost a lot to bring them. Probably the revenues of the restaurant would be in the red."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Think of music as interior," Min-joon said like his senior and an adult supervisor.
"Don't you remember what Chef June has told us all the time? According to her, you have to make customers enchanted by everything around them to convey the taste of your dishes most clearly and excessively. For example, the entrance to the restaurant, the server who escorts them, the gold ornaments on the menu, and luxurious plates. Even if they eat the same dishes as they do elsewhere, they feel even more enchanted here because of such factors around them. In that respect, music is one of them."
When Min-joon said that, Jerry's gaze at him was rather strange. He seemed to be envious of Min-joon or think him rather weird. It was natural because everything he said was right. He thought Min-joon really looked a lot like June.
It was natural for Jerry to think so. What the rich in the world keep telling people was that they should not get close to those who were pessimistic about their lives. Obviously, the rich didn't respect pessimists, they didn't have any inclination to imitate such people, but they fear they might be contaminated by their pessimistic worldview.
Even if one stayed with somebody else that they didn't like, one wouldn't look like them at all.
But Min-joon even respected June, so it was only natural that he was resembling her gradually.
'Just like I want to resemble Chef Min-joon.'
Jerry's eyes twinkled. He liked Min-joon. Actually, that wasn't anything new. When Min-joon came here first, most of the chefs in the kitchen were a little uncomfortable with him because of Eva, but there was none who disliked him these days.
More precisely, everyone liked Min-joon. He was a man who made them inevitably like him as a person and as a chef. When they observed the way he cooked and behaved himself, they had no choice but to be amazed before they knew it, uttering 'Wow!' deep down.
Min-joon was an exceptional chef they could not even dare to imitate. Nobody told each other to follow him because it was impossible to do so. Even if they succeeded in catching up with him they would not think they could match him, given his remarkable achievement for his age.
That was why they couldn't easily accept Min-joon at first. Their reluctance was somewhat different from something like hatred. He was literally different from them. So, they couldn't even think of hanging out with him together.
It was Min-joon himself who changed all of that. First of all, he never ignored anybody in the kitchen. Of course, he sometimes had to act tough when he needed to as the sous chef.
But nobody had ever seen him trying to be overbearing or treat them roughly. Of course, that was the basic manners of a human, but there were so many people who couldn't even keep such basic manners. But Min-joon was not just content with keeping the basic manners. Even after he worked with them for only several days, he already began to memorize the names of everyone in the kitchen and called their names one by one. Over time, all of them became his friend.
It was at that moment when Jerry wanted to become a chef like Min-joon, not June or any other chef. It was not because Min-joon was humble that he didn't get on his high horse. It was certain that Min-joon didn't think his achievement was more than enough. What seemed like a big achievement to him was nothing to Min-joon. Such a difference between him and Min-joon touched Jerry.
And it wasn't just Jerry alone who was enchanted by Min-joon.
At Los Angeles International Airport.
"How do you feel?"
June asked Min-joon subtly. Min-joon looked around quickly. Compared to New York, the air was warm and mild here. But the place he was heading to now wouldn't be that mild.
"Well, I'm nervous."
"Thanks for being by my side. You are helping me a lot more than you think," she said with a smile. As a matter of fact, she was occupied with keeping him at bay when she first saw him, but the moment he grabbed her hands gladly, everything changed. Maybe it might be because she thought he would not think she would hold him in check, but she was grateful to him anyway. She felt that if she had been in his shoes, it would have been very difficult for her to work for him.
"Do you think we are gathering today for the reason we have in mind?"
"Other than that, there is no reason for Rachel to call all the head chefs together like this."
June's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, it's about time she decided on her successor."
June had been waiting for this occasion for a long time. Rose Island, which looked as beautiful as a jewel, was finally within her reach. Although she pretended to be calm, she was full of excitement, fear, and thrill.
"Are you confident?"
"Do you remember I was wary of you in the past?"
"Yeah, you were. Why?"
"Back then, I was so confident that I would be the next executive chef after Rachel. I reassured myself that the highest position of Rose Island would be mine. Although Dave was my rival, he was not interested in things like the top position. He was so busy running his own restaurant anyway.
"It seems like you were not conscious of other head chefs at all."
"Do you think I'm so conceited?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.
He shrugged and opened his mouth.
"Well, I don't know. If you say you are confident, that's fine because you are not the type who says that without any good reason."
"It's all because I have you with me."
"What do you mean?"
He suddenly looked at her as if he was surprised.
But she didn't bother to explain to him in detail. His presence itself was actually a shock not only to her but also to other head chefs, for Rachel didn't pick her as a head chef despite her excellent cooking skills. So, June thought all along that Rachel was unhappy about something about her.