Chapter 51

Chloe’s parents were landscape architects.

Her father always said that since people lived in houses, it had to establish harmony with nature. Chloe didn’t understand this when she was little, but she always thought her father looked cool. Why else would Chloe have picked the boring career of landscape architecture as her dream?

But that dream didn’t last long. Just like the harmony of her family, which she thought would last forever.

Chloe’s parents might have created harmony between houses and nature, but the husband and wife didn’t pay enough attention to their harmony. As a result, her parents got a divorce before Chloe even graduated from elementary school. The child custody went to the mother, Diana Chung, which was why Chloe Klook turned into Chloe Chung.

Diana was always busy, but after getting a divorce, she came home from home extra late. She didn’t want Chloe to live an abnormal life just because she was raised by a single mother, so she let her do everything she wanted including martial arts, horseback riding, karate, and swimming. Perhaps that was what Diana wanted more. She might have wanted to assure herself that her child was living a normal life.

But in the end, Diana was unable to do the most important thing for her. Chloe never knew the meaning of a homecooked meal. Diana was a skilled cook and often cooked for Chloe on weekends, but it was difficult for her to do that on weekdays.

That was also how Chloe became such a good cook. Chloe wanted to eat a lot of different things aside from just pizza or hamburgers. At times, she used the internet or her mother’s recipes to get better and better at cooking.

She never dreamt of becoming a chef. She still wasn’t sure if that was what she really wanted, but she liked to cook, so she casually applied for the competition, and right now…

“It’s heavy.”

Chloe looked up at the ceiling from her bed and mumbled to herself. Many different faces flashed through Chloe’s mind. Kaya, Cho Min Joon, Hugo… etc.

The common point in all of them was their passion and love for cooking. Of course, Chloe also loved to cook, but if one asked her if she could put everything on the line for it, she wouldn’t have been able to answer.

She couldn’t fall asleep. Chloe put on her sweats and left her room. Walking outside at night was weird and dangerous. Who knew what kind of crazy was wandering out on the streets? So Chloe didn’t go outside and simply walked around within the Grand Chef House.

‘… It’s still scary.’

The air was cold, and it was too boring by herself. That was why when she saw a man on the bench next to the path, Chloe’s face beamed.

“Min Joon! Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“Huh? What are you doing here? It’s late.”

“I could ask you the same question.”

Cho Min Joon smirked. Chloe’s eyes immediately went over to Cho Min Joon’s phone. There were many words written on his bright screen, but Chloe couldn’t read Korean.

“What are you looking at?”

“The comments.”

“I can’t read those because it makes me sad.”

“Same.”

“Then why are you looking at them?”

“Because if someone’s cursing me out, I want to know what they’re saying.”

Cho Min Joon shrugged. Chloe sighed.

“Then why did you say that to Kaya? You said she was wasting her time and energy. You sounded like a teacher scolding a student.”

“… Because Kaya’s young. It’s probably hard for her to handle.”

“And you’re old?”

Cho Min Joon answered Chloe’s question with a smile. Chloe sat next to Cho Min Joon and opened her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve grown up yet. I’m too young.”

“Why do you say that? Are you getting sentimental because it’s nighttime?”

“Just because.”

Chloe smiled. Cho Min Joon looked at Chloe and asked, “Are you worried about something?”

“No.”

“Then why are you out here late at night? It’s almost midnight.”

“You’re out, too.”

“Well, I’m worried about something.”

Cho Min Joon pointed at his phone screen. Chloe grabbed her head to surrender and answered, “Okay, fine. I’m sorry I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“What’s wrong?”

Cho Min Joon asked again in a serious voice. Chloe bit down on her lip and hugged her knees. She was cold.

“It just seems like everyone else is working so hard… While I’m not.”

“You’re working hard, too. What’s the problem?”

“I’m not so passionate about cooking that I would cross the sea for it. Cooking is my favorite thing to do… And I’m liking it more and more over time, but I wouldn’t do something that risky. I’m not sure if I’m willing to put my life on the line for cooking.”

“Then what else would you do?”

“I want to be a detective. I’m a Holmes fan.”

“Oh yeah, didn’t you say you were in law school?”

Cho Min Joon looked at Chloe with surprise. She clenched both of her fists. It was possible that she was just cold. Cho Min Joon considered giving her his coat, but he decided not to. They didn’t have that kind of relationship. Cho Min Joon smirked and said, “It must be tiring to have many talents. You have many paths to choose from.”

“What’s the use in having a lot of paths? It’s all about how far you walk along one.”

“You’ve walked far enough so far. No need to feel restless.”

Chloe shook her head.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m wondering if I should keep walking.”

“I like your cooking.”

He spoke in a calm yet charming voice. Cho Min Joon continued, “I think your personality is conveyed in your cooking. Not too much, friendly, and considerate. I don’t taste anything bad-natured.”

“Just because I don’t do anything bad doesn’t mean I don’t think it. You’d be shocked to find out what I’m actually thinking.”

“You can do whatever you want in your head. As long as you don’t actually do it. The Chloe I know is nice, a little timid, but also strong and knows how to find strengths in everyone.”

“… Hey. You’re making me shy.”

“Yeah, how do you think I feel? If this was recorded for TV, I would have kicked my blanket to sleep. Ugh, so corny.”

Cho Min Joon wriggled his fingers. Chloe squinted her eyes and glared at Cho Min Joon. Her short hair blew in the wind.

“You’re distracting me from my worries. I haven’t even resolved it yet.”

“Words never solve worries anyway. You just have to try it out to find out. If you’re hesitant about that…”

Cho Min Joon put his phone in his pocket and got up. He then pointed toward the path and smiled.

“I’ll at least walk with you.”

Oh Hyun Joon: It’s cool to see a Korean on a foreign TV show. He’s a total Korean, not an overseas Korean.

Asdf: Why is it so cool? It’s pretty common. Superior Koreans who go abroad!

Lee Geon Eun: @asdf Superior Koreans, my ass. He’s just a failure who went abroad because he couldn’t succeed in Korea.

Kim Bo: But why is he flirting with a white girl? If she was blonde too, I would’ve been jealous.

Crow: she could just dye her hair. Tsk, tsk.

Kim Bo: @crow Then does that mean you become black just by tanning?

Shin Se Yeon: I’m hungry after watching that show. Grand Chef is fun. I wish they had one in Korea, too.

Hello: Your profile photo is pretty. Are you…?

JK KOO: Rather than arrogant dishes like those, it’s better to just order chicken.

Nope Man: Nope.

JK KOO: @nopeman Why are you opposing my opinion?

Nope Man: @JK KOO Nope.

Waldo: I spotted a filthy weed! Help!

Kim Young Chan: I hope he wins, too. A foreigner better not get all the honor and prize money.

Lee Joo Hee: But if he wins this thing, wouldn’t he just stay there? He’d have no reason to come back to Korea if he got famous there.

Kim Young Chan: @LeeJooHee who knows? Maybe he’ll miss home, but then again, he’d probably be better off in America.

Nope Man: @KimYoungCHan Nope.

Kimchi Pepper Man: I hope Kaya and Cho Min Joon start dating.

Cho Min Joon looked away from his phone. The responses from Koreans were better than he expected, and most people were talking about other people, not him. He was slightly sad that people didn’t focus on him as much, but it was for the best. There were more bad sides to being famous.

“Are they Korean?”

Kaya glanced over and asked in a quiet voice. Cho Min Joon nodded. Kaya carefully asked, “Are they talking about me, too?”

“Not really.”

That was a lie. Most of them were talking about her and Cho Min Joon, but he felt embarrassed telling her that. Kaya looked relieved. Cho Min Joon smiled bitterly and asked, “Are you that worried?”

“Who likes to be cussed out?”

“Then be a little nicer on TV then you’ll get rid of half of your anti-fans.”

“Forget it. That’s not me.”

“There’s nothing I can say to that.”

Cho Min Joon turned off his phone and lifted his head. All the contestants were gathered in the kitchen, but they weren’t gathered to eat together. A mission was about to begin soon.

The missions weren’t evenly spaced out. At times, it happened every 2 days, and at other times, every 7 days. They had to go according to the judges’ schedules, and the wait pained the contestants.

That was why the contestants were relieved this time. Hugo asked Cho Min Joon with a nervous look on his face, “What do you think the mission will be?”

“I’m not sure. There are so many possibilities. It’ll probably be a single dish this time, and they’ll probably make us use a specific ingredient.”

“I want to try something like Texas BBQ.”

“You have to watch the fire for 24 hours. Are you sure you want to do that?”

“That’s true.”

Hugo easily agreed and shrugged. At that moment, the doors at the end of the kitchen opened. The contestants gulped as they watched, but something was off. Something was different from before. It was the number of judges entering. To be more exact, Joseph and Allan weren’t there. Emily was the only one coming in.

Emily coughed once she got on stage. The contestants looked at each other curiously, and Emily smiled brightly.

“Hello, everyone. It’s been a long time, but it doesn’t feel that way.”

Emily smiled at every single contestant. When she met eyes with Cho Min Joon, Emily smiled even brighter, but Cho Min Joon avoided her gaze. After she asked him to become a food critic, it became awkward between Cho Min Joon and Emily. He felt uncomfortable, but then again, they were never close enough to not be awkward, to begin with.

“Today, you must choose between Allan and Joseph, and just so you know, this won’t be a team mission. So please pick carefully, but there’s no need to worry about who’ll give you an easier time. After all, it’s not a team mission.”

Cho Min Joon got an idea of what the mission was about as soon as he heard that. He guessed that there was a dish that Allan and Joseph liked to cook, and depending on who they chose, they would cook just that. He also remembered there being a mission like that.

“You’ll find out the details later. If you pick Allan, please go to the garden, and if you pick Joseph, stay where you are. You have 1 minute.”

They heard a bell in their heads. The contestants began thinking without saying a word. ‘What’s this mission about? Who should I choose?’

And then a minute passed. Emily announced, “Take your picks!”

Cho Min Joon took his first step.