Chapter 70 - Chapter 70: Temptation of Three Stars (4)

Was she getting back at him for not replying last time? Cho Min Joon laughed bitterly and closed his phone. He had no intention of pressing her for an answer. He would find out later anyway.

‘It can’t be Marco…’

Who else was on that team? Cho Min Joon traced his memory. The only contestants he was close to were Hugo and Marco, and it was a little iffy, but he recently became closer to Jacob as well. Other than that…

‘It doesn’t matter who it is.’

Aside from those 3, he wasn’t very close to any of them, and to be honest, he wouldn’t be sad no matter who got disqualified. He just wished it wasn’t the three of them. Of course, they would have to part eventually, but he wanted to delay it as much as possible.

But things always went the opposite of what he hoped. When the van arrived at the Grand Chef House and they went up to their accommodations on the 4th floor, they saw Jacob coming out with his things.

Cho Min Joon’s face stiffened for a moment before it loosened up again. If he had to leave, he didn’t want to send him off in a worrying way. He spoke in a calm voice, “Are you leaving?”

“Yeah. It’s too bad.”

“Did you say your father cooks French food? Does that mean you’re going to work at your father’s restaurant again?”

“No, I don’t think so. I realized it’s different working at my father’s restaurant and working elsewhere. I’ll end up getting scolded, but I have to start paving my path.”

Cho Min Joon smiled and felt relieved inside, but he felt anxious, too. Marco’s gourmet baking level was 7 and Hugo’s was 6 but Jacob’s was 5. If he made one slip, it was going to be hard for him to get back up. It wasn’t common for chefs to have high gourmet baking levels, but level 5 was even lower than that of Cho Min Joon.

‘If I had competed in that disqualification round…’

Just thinking about it made him shiver. Cho Min Joon’s gourmet baking level was only 4. He would have been disqualified. His cooking level might have made up for it… But that wasn’t going to be enough to save him.

Cho Min Joon showed a sad smile.

“See you.”

“See you. I hope you last.”

Jacob was about to walk off when he paused. Jacob and Anderson met eyes. Jacob was actually closer to Anderson than Cho Min Joon. It probably began when they were doing the mission against Kaya’s team. It was a short time, but they grew quite close.

And that might have been why not many words were needed. Anderson kept it short.

“Good work.”

“… I hope you win, Anderson.”

Jacob showed a bitter smile and started walking about, but no one followed him. Seeing him off would have made him feel even more uncomfortable.

As soon as Jacob disappeared, Cho Min Joon let out a sigh. Anderson looked around with a sharper gaze than usual. Anderson’s eyes scanned Kaya at first, but it then moved on to Marco who was beside her. He spoke in a higher voice, “Why did Jacob get disqualified? Explain this to me.”

“… He put cheddar on his apple pie and put it in the oven.”

“What?”

Anderson couldn’t believe what he heard. That recipe was a failure without even having seen the result. Apple pie with cheese. Those two things didn’t go together no matter how talented a chef was.

He immediately understood why he was disqualified. Anderson sighed. Kaya glanced over at Anderson before looking at Cho Min Joon. Just as she was about to speak, Chloe approached him.

“How was the three-star?”

“Perfect.”

Cho Min Joon offered a short answer. There was no need for any more words. It was perfection. That word accurately depicted the meal they enjoyed. Adding any more words to it would only make things messy. The dishes contained everything that cooking was supposed to be about.

It sounded simple, but anyone who loved food could understand how much experience, effort, and care was required to make the perfect dish. Chloe looked confused at first, but she then spoke in understanding.

“You’re so lucky.”

Cho Min Joon responded with a smile. It was a truly happy smile. Chloe blankly stared at his smile before turning her head. Kaya spoke in a sullen voice.

“Don’t smile, you pig.”

“Do I need your permission to smile now?”

“I’m jealous. I hate it when people eat delicious food without me.”

“You have a horrible personality. You should feel happy for your friends.”

“I hate it even more if it’s a friend.”

Kaya stared at Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon smirked and sat on the sofa. The other contestants gathered around him. They were curious about the three-star restaurant. They showered him with questions.

“What dishes were they?”

“Did you meet the chef? What did they say?”

“How much did the course meal cost?”

Cho Min Joon lifted his hand. He then spoke in an annoyed voice, “Why are you asking me? Ask the others.”

“… Because you have a sensitive palate. You probably tasted it better. Tell us.”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know how to describe it…”

“Okay. Then give us a score. What were they?”

He expected this question. Even Martin asked him to score the dishes. Cho Min Joon responded with a smile. He didn’t bother pausing.

“There was a 10-point dish.”

Everyone exclaimed in response. They knew just how stingy Cho Min Joon was with his points. The 7-point and 8-point dishes were amazing, too, so 10 points meant a great deal. Just hearing it gave them an idea of how it was.

The conversation lasted a while. He didn’t want them to feel so sad about Jacob leaving, so he exaggerated more than usual, but that didn’t mean he made things up either. Three stars were the dream of all chefs, but due to the price and lack of amount, it wasn’t easy for middle-class people to approach.

And the contestants were no different. They all dreamt of becoming chefs, but most of them were average people with little to no experience in cooking. Even Chloe was a student at law school.

They chatted until past midnight. Meanwhile, they got so hungry that they even made snacks. They weren’t going to have a mission for another few days, so it was okay for them to stay up just this once.

As it got later into the night, they started opening alcohol bottles. They were supposed to be used for cooking, so they weren’t great alcohol, but they got the conversation going.

“Will we be able to make food like that…?”

That was what Hugo said. He was drunk, so he looked ahead of him with squinting eyes. No one knew what he was looking at. It could have been the champagne or the tiramisu beside it. Cho Min Joon took a sip of his mojito and spoke. It was non-alcoholic.

“Successful chefs say effort is all it takes… but who knows. The advice of successful people and the ones who failed are bound to be different, but hearing it from successful people is probably more useful…”

“Failed chefs… Wait, that doesn’t sound right. It’s not like the chefs who didn’t get Michelin stars didn’t make effort. Very few people in this industry make no effort at all.”

In response to Hugo’s response, Anderson nodded. He then said,

“Besides my parents, I know a few people who have three-star restaurants. One of them got three-stars at 30 and maintained it for almost 10 years, and then he committed suicide. Apparently, he was afraid of dropping to two stars. If it’s that burdensome to have three stars… I don’t want it. I just want to cook.”

“But your food gets evaluated. Even if you try not to think about it, you have no choice. Don’t your parents feel the same?”

“I’m not sure. I’m sure they feel pressured, but they’re not the type to be swayed by other people’s opinions either, but then again, even if they have a hard time, they probably won’t tell their children about it.”

Anderson took a sip of his wine. As time went on, his face became as red as the wine. Cho Min Joon opened his mouth in worry. He didn’t really like alcohol, so he didn’t have any, and as a result, Cho Min Joon was just fine.

“You guys will wake up as zombies at this rate. Maybe you should stop.”

“Shut up. If you’re not going to drink, just shut up and eat your snacks.”

“… Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

Cho Min Joon put a biscuit in his mouth. The lime scent of the biscuits Marco made was the type that he could never get tired of. He then said, “Ugh, I have to improve my gourmet baking skills, but it’s not easy.”

“I thought people in your country don’t really bake.”

“For us, it’s more of a snack than a meal, and not many people make it at home.”

“That’s good. That means you’ll take the fall for us if we have a baking mission next time.”

Cho Min Joon smiled bitterly at Anderson. He couldn’t deny it.

“I just have to pray there won’t be a baking mission.”

“… Do you want me to teach you?”

“Whoa, seriously? You’re never this nice.”

He would have been thankful if Anderson taught him. After all, he was a level 7 just like Marco. Anderson spoke in a sad voice. Because of the alcohol, his voice shook more than usual.

“Now that Jacob is gone… No one can deal with my personality except you.”

“Then fix your personality. Both you and Kaya.”

“Don’t compare me to her…”

“I can hear you. Shut up.”

Kaya spoke in a cold voice at a table a little further away from Anderson. Although Kaya didn’t drink much, her face was very red. Anderson smiled. He was obviously drunk.

“Are you going to beat me up if I don’t?”

“… You don’t know how tough I can be because of your gentle upbringing, huh?”

“Gentle upbringing, my ass. I had a rough life, too. You’re always like this. You always think anyone who lived with some money never had any worries or hardships.”

“I doubt you ever had to use leftover cabbage from your market to cook.”

In response, Anderson shut his mouth. He shook his head and got up.

“Ugh, forget it. I’m going to go to bed. You guys keep drinking or do whatever you want.”

Anderson wobbled over to his room. Kaya stared at him with her cheek against the table. Cho Min Joon let out a sigh.

“You look drunk, too. Go to bed.”

“No. Don’t tell me what to do. You think you can boss me around because I’m poor?”

“… See? You’re drunk.”

Cho Min Joon propped his arm on Kaya’s shoulder and got up. Chloe, Marco, Joanne, and the others were all passed out, too, but Kaya came first. They were too passed out to cause any accidents. Kaya walked as if she was being dragged. Cho Min Joon sighed.

“You shouldn’t drink like that. In America, you have to be 21 to drink. That means you’re underage.”

“Don’t be so strict. Didn’t you drink when you were my age?”

“No.”

“… You’re no fun.”

Kaya grumbled. Cho Min Joon knitted his brows and grabbed on to Kaya’s arm even harder. Kaya stopped walking. He then said, “Walk properly.”

“No. I don’t want to. Have you seen cows getting dragged into the slaughterhouse?”

“We’re not going to a slaughterhouse. We’re going to your room.”

Cho Min Joon pinched Kaya’s hand. Kaya screamed and glared at Cho Min Joon with resentful eyes.

“I hate people who use violence…”

“That wasn’t violence.”

“This is why alcohol is bad. That man was also drunk… when he hit my mom… right in front of me, and he called himself my father. Alcohol is bad.”

It was Kaya who drank, not Cho Min Joon, but he didn’t say anything. When he dragged her up to her room, she stared blankly at the ceiling. Cho Min Joon sighed.

“I understand because you’re drunk…”

“I’ll kill you.”

Cho Min Joon stopped talking in response. He stared at Kaya. No matter how drunk she was, that was uncalled for. Kaya opened her eyes as widely as possible and glared at him.

“I’m going to get rid of all the obstacles getting in my way. I won’t get disqualified again. I won’t go down again, not even in life. Just you see. Watch how far up I go. I’m… going to kill you all.”

When Cho Min Joon tried to say something, Kaya’s eyes closed and she fell on the ground. Cho Min Joon immediately helped her up. Her freckled nose, and her flushed cheeks. He saw the tears dripping on top as he asked, “Are you that scared?”

But Kaya didn’t hear him.