Chapter 60 - Customers and customers (1)

At that moment, Joanne’s expression spread to all of the others. There was no way. Chloe had never gotten mad in the last month, but Chloe started a fight?

Cho Min Joon spoke in a confident voice. He was so surprised that his voice cracked.

“Who did she fight with? A team member? Or a customer?”

“I think it was a customer… Come take a look.”

At that moment, they all realized they had their own phones. Cho Min Joon read the comments on his phone.

Elly Dean: Something happened at a Grand Chef food truck. I heard a customer and Chloe screamed at each other.

CRJ: I was there, and Chloe wasn’t screaming. Her voice was raised, but that was nothing compared to the customer.

Elly Dean: @CRJ Why? What happened?

CRJ: @Elly Dean I don’t know why the fight started, but I heard what he was saying. The customer asked why they were scamming him with such crappy skewers. What’s funny is that he hadn’t even paid them yet. He hadn’t even tasted it.

Samantha Croft: It wasn’t a good sight to see. I know that kind of thing isn’t easy to deal with, but Chloe should have held back.

Rihanna PRatchett: That really depends. Only people on the outside can say you need to hold back in ridiculous situations.

Samantha Croft: @Rihanna Pratchett Yeah, I don’t have much to say to that, but it’s true. No matter how hard it is, she shouldn’t have fought with a customer.

No comment said exactly what had happened, but one thing was clear. Chloe fought with a customer. Nothing was written on how that happened, but it probably happened after talking at the register. It was hard for the people around them to know what they were talking about.

He considered texting Chloe to see what happened, but comfort wasn’t going to help this situation. Anderson spoke in a dry voice, “It was probably a jerk customer. Chloe’s not the type to get mad so easily.”

“… It’s weird to hear you speak so highly of someone.”

“It’s not like I’m the type to diss people all the time either.”

“That’s true, but I’ve never heard you say a compliment.”

“It’s not a compliment. I’m just saying it like it is. She’s not the type to get mad at people.”

Anderson put his phone in his pocket.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll have to deal with something like this, too. There are so many assholes in this world, but when that happens, don’t do anything about it. What they want is for you to roll around in the mud with them, and of course, the ones held responsible will be us.”

It sounded like he had dealt with this many times before. Cho Min Joon clapped his hands.

“Okay, let’s focus on our break. We have to rest for an hour, buy more ingredients, and then get back to cooking. Since it’s past 2 right now… Let’s rest until 3:30 and then prepare our ingredients.”

“But do we need all 5 people to prepare the ingredients?” Peter asked.

He was right. He minded Peter before asking, “Should we do rock paper scissors…?”

***

“See you!”

Joanne waved her hands at the entrance of the market. Anderson glared back at her. Cho Min Joon tapped Anderson on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

“… Hmph.”

“This is great. They’re going to clean. Same thing.”

“I hate markets,” Anderson said. Cho Min Joon looked at Andreson in surprise. Most chefs were very fond of markets. Beyond the crucial need, since there were many ingredients at the market, it was inevitable for them to enjoy it.

Anderson looked back at Cho Min Joon. He stared at him intensely. Anderson lifted his finger. He plugged his nose and then took it off again.

“I’ve hated markets ever since I was little. I was always dragged along with my parents against my will.”

“But shouldn’t it be different now?”

“They say habits from when you’re young lasts forever, so I still hate the markets. Anyway, what do we need to buy?”

“Since 1 kg of rice makes around 30 rolls… Let’s buy 20 kilograms. We might get a huge dinner rush, too. Since we have chicken for the Tandoori chicken, we need chicken breast for the karaage, avocado, and salmon. Actually, if we’re going to make Tandoori tomorrow, we should buy chicken thighs, too. We’re taking the sea urchin roe out from the menu, so we don’t need that. We’ll just have to buy hamburgers and the other ingredients.”

The sea urchin roe wouldn’t sell. There weren’t many good online reviews of that menu either.

On the other hand, the Kimbap was crucial. Compared to the other Norimakis, not much vinegar went into it, but there were people who preferred a cleaner taste. Anderson brought a cart and said, “We couldn’t have done it without a cart. This is why we needed at least 3 people.”

“If it’s too hard this time, we’ll send 3 people next time, but aren’t you used to this? You should be since you do this with your parents all the time.”

“Just because I’m used to it doesn’t make it easy.”

That made sense. Even when Cho Min Joon worked as the youngest at the restaurant, he got used to things, but it was still hard.

“At least we’re selling Norimakis. The ingredients are simple.”

“It’s not even that simple because we have so many kinds. It’s hard to deliver rice to the truck all the time. Chloe’s team might have it easier. All they need is rice and bread.”

“That could be hard too if they make the bread themselves.”

Anderson went into the meat shop without answering. Cho Min Joon watched him leave and walked away.

He headed to a place that polished rice. As soon as the rice was polished, they went into oxidation. Rice that was just polished tasted amazing, and this effort was worth making for the customers.

‘… A few hours shouldn’t make a difference.’

It was no easy task to go grocery shopping all the time. At first, the team members were willing to do it for the customers, but he realized this might have been a foolish way to go about it.

Cho Min Joon decided to slowly change the process as he said, “I’ll take 20 kilograms, please.”

“You’re here so early in the morning. You sell Norkimakis, right?”

“Yes. Our business is to the east of this market. It’s a food truck.”

“I’d go pay a visit if I could close down the shop…”

The owner with black hair and glasses spoke in a sad voice. The owner, who seemed to be around 30 years old, was Korean. To be more exact, he was a Korean American, but he couldn’t speak Korean.

The owner didn’t think of himself as a Korean, but it seemed like he had a longing for Korea. At the same time, he was also a fan of Grand Chef. He continued to chat, “How does it feel to be here from Korea? Have you tried the other contestants’ cooking? How are they?”

“It always depends. I tend to like my foods bland so most taste salty to me, but I try to enjoy it.”

“Well, chefs make delicious food no matter where they’re from. Please make good use of my rice.”

The man spoke as if he harvested the rice himself, but Cho Min Joon didn’t criticize him for it.

As he headed out of the shop, his phone rang. Cho Min Joon held the rice with one arm and took out his phone. He wondered if it was Anderson, but the name on the screen was unexpected. Cho Min Joon picked up his phone.

“Hello?”

[… What are you doing?]

“I’m buying rice.”

[Why are you buying rice now? Didn’t you buy all of it in the morning?]

“I wanted to use fresh rice every time, so I was going to buy them little bits at a time. Is that too much?”

[That’s definitely too much.]

“Really?”

They stayed silent for a while. They had a lot to say, but they were hesitant. In the end, Cho Min Joon spoke up first, “Are you okay?”

[What do you mean?]

“The team. I heard Chloe fought with a customer.”

[…]

No sound could be heard from the other end. Cho Min Joon didn’t press her. Kaya spoke in an angry voice.

[It’s because of me that Chloe fought.]

Cho Min Joon wasn’t surprised. He figured. Chloe wasn’t the type to easily go off on a customer, especially during a team mission. If it was Chloe who started the fight, he would have thought it was for another person.

And it wasn’t weird that that other person was Kaya. It made sense. Kaya was a troublemaker, but there was no need for Cho Min Joon to say that. Cho Min Joon kept quiet and listened to Kaya’s voice. Her thick voice. She always sounded like she had a cold, but her voice was even more cracked than usual.

[That man told me I looked delicious. I don’t know if he was talking to me or the skewer, but…]

“Wait, what? What did he say?”

[I told you. He said I looked delicious…]

“No, forget it. No need to think about it again. Is that why Chloe went off on him?”

[No. She got mad because of me, but it’s a little different. You know my personality. I’m a little hot-tempered. I’m not the type to shut up when I hear that.]

Cho Min Joon was confused. Many comments online didn’t mention Kaya, but it didn’t take long before he found out the reason. Cho Min Joon groaned.

“Chloe didn’t fight because she was mad. She was protecting you.”

[… Yeah.]

Kaya answered in a low voice. As a result of Chloe stepping up, a big fight occurred between Kaya and the customer, and the public’s attention shifted to Chloe as well.

It was possible that this was for the better. Kaya’s image and Chloe’s image. There was a huge difference between the two. If Kaya got into that situation, people would have said they saw it coming but not with Chloe. She was portrayed on TV as an angel. ‘I’m sure there’s a reason.’ That was what people probably thought.

But it was unlikely that Chloe did that after calculating all of that. She just wanted to protect Kaya. What was for certain was that Chleo did protect Kaya, but she became the focus of the public as a result.

[Why… do I keep getting into trouble?]

“It’s not your fault.”

[I don’t care. I feel bad, seeing Chloe’s face.]

He understood how she felt. She must have been frustrated to have called him. Cho Min Joon stayed silent for a while. He didn’t know what to say. In the end, he said, “We can’t pick and choose our customers.”

That was all. Kaya didn’t answer. She just breathed into the phone.

“If that wasn’t your choice, it’s not your fault.”

[You’re trying too hard to comfort me.]

“But did it work?”

[… I’ll cancel it.]

In response, Cho Min Joon rolled his eyes. He didn’t know what she was saying.

“Cancel what?”

[When I told you to screw yourself. I’m hanging up. I’m busy. I have to get back to work.]

“You’re the one who called me…”

Cho Min Joon stopped and looked at his phone. She had already hung up. Cho Min Joon looked at his phone in shock before mumbling to himself, “Customers…”

That word no longer sounded so sweet.