Chapter 79: - Chapter 79: Spring, spring, spring (2)

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Spring, spring, spring (2)

Jason Bean: Rose Island… I wish I could go there too. I wonder how much it is.

Sophia Chen: It depends on the region, but it’s around 300 dollars per person in Chicago. If you just want to eat at a 3-star restaurant, you can probably find one that’s half the price.

Jason Bean: @Sophia Chen It’s not that expensive considering their brand. I thought it’d cost thousands.

Sophia Chen: @Jason Bean It’s hard to find a restaurant that expensive unless you buy lots of expensive alcohol.

Tomos Surrey: The food trucks looked pretty charming. I liked Min Joon’s conversation with Peter, too. They displayed warm friendship in the midst of a war, but that doesn’t mean Peter can be forgiven for what she said to Kaya in the past.

Dante Miles: I understand, but I can’t sympathize. I don’t care about the situation. I just didn’t like him.

Sienna A: I liked that Anderson really showed off his skills in the food truck mission. I liked that Chloe defended Kaya, too.

Luke Joe: I like that part. Seeing Chloe react like that made me feel refreshed. She has such a good personality. I want to be her friend.

Kaya Lotus: I’m Kaya.

Glori Castillo: Then I’m Cho Min Joon.

Kaya Lotus: @Glori Castillo Are you saying you’re sitting right next to me?

Gina Carr: @Glori Castillo Don’t respond to all of them. They just want attention.

Kaya Lotus: @Gina Carr I’m still Kaya.

Roy Sherfan: I’m going to marry Kaya.

Wretic: Cho already has dibs.

Roy Sherfan: @Wretic I’m going to steal her away.

Pat Fiasco: Anyway, I didn’t know Rachel would show her face on TV again. I thought she was only in the past, so it was nice to see her again. I bet their viewer ratings were through the roof.

K.R.R: I heard they got 1/3 more than usual. I was more surprised that Rachel was interested in Min Joon. I heard everyone Rachel ever worked with has a Michelin star. Min Joon has a bright future ahead of him.

Pat Fiasco: @K.R.R It’d be nice if Min Joon and Kaya opened a restaurant together and get married.

Tess Gilly: I have something to say. Back in middle school…

“… It’s all about Min Joon and Kaya.”

Chloe put her phone back in her pocket. She tried not to care, but she couldn’t help but feel sad. “I’m working hard, too.” She mumbled to herself, but no one could hear her.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t popular. She had character and was a skilled contestant, but Kaya and Min Joon’s popularity trumped all, and Anderson was also more popular than Chloe. Of course, such ranks didn’t matter, but she still felt sad.

She felt sad as if it was fall and not spring. Chloe poked her cheeks with her fingers and stuck out her lower lip. Joanne and Ivanna saw this. They exchanged glances and walked toward her. Joanne asked, “Why do you look so down?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

Chloe smiled. It was a weak smile. Ivanna took out a piece of chocolate from her pocket and handed it to Chloe.

“Eat this. It’ll help.”

“… Thanks.”

As soon as she took a bite of the chocolate, the hidden cookie inside broke inside her mouth. Inside it was cream. Chloe was in awe.

“Did you make this yourself?”

“No, Sasha did.”

“I’d better ask her to make me some, too.”

The chocolate and cream went perfectly together. Chloe smiled.

“Sasha’s been making really delicious food these days.”

“You think so too? So do I.”

Joanne spoke with fascination. Once Chloe finished the chocolate, she even licked the chocolate off of her fingers. At that moment, they saw Cho Min Joon and Kaya entering the kitchen. While Chloe watched them silently, Joanne said, “Looks like Kaya’s making him breakfast again. Are you sure they’re not dating? I’m so confused… Hey, why are you staring at me like that?”

Joanne stopped and glared at Ivanna. Ivanna pinched Joanne in the thigh and told her to hush. She then glanced over at Chloe. Joanne looked at Ivanna’s finger, the back of Chloe’s head, and then the kitchen, and showed a strange face.

“… Really?”

“Yeah. Chloe likes Min Joon.”

“What?!”

Chloe flinched and looked behind her. Joanne grabbed her forehead. She couldn’t believe she said that out loud. Chloe shook her hands.

“Are you trying to get me involved, too? That’s not true.”

“Okay then.”

Ivanna spoke as if she didn’t care. Chloe got up with an overexcited attitude.

“Let’s ask Sasha to make more. This is delicious. Are you coming? It’s time for breakfast.”

“…”

There was no answer. Joanne simply stared suspiciously.

Chloe looked like she was about to cry.

***

After Cho Min Joon’s visit to Rose Island in Chicago, their number of reservations exploded. Of course, since they were a 3-star restaurant, people always had to make reservations, but not this much. Their phone rang without stop, and customers had to call at least 1000 times to get through.

Dave wasn’t sure if he should be happy or troubled. It was good to have many customers, but their regulars had a hard time getting through on the phone…

And those who reserved on a whim because of the show often canceled last minute, but that was the better scenario. If they reserved but didn’t show up, they lost all of their food ingredient costs. Since that happened many times, Dave felt troubled.

But it wasn’t long before his face grew brighter. After hearing something from the youngest chef, Dave went to a room, and the people sitting inside the room made him smile.

“Oh my god. Joseph, Allan, and Emily! I didn’t expect you here.”

All three of them got up to shake hands, but with Allan, they exchanged a hug. Allan and Dave once worked together in the same kitchen. Allan spoke in a calm voice, “This is the first time since you got 3 stars.”

“You’re right. How have you been?”

“You know, same old. I feel like I’d do better if I got one more star though.”

Dave took their orders with a smile, but there was nothing to order. Meat or vegetarian. They just had to choose between the two, and all three of them chose the meat.

Dave went back to the kitchen and the three judges were quiet for a while. They exchanged a few light words before Joseph got straight to the point.

“The contestants this season are very high level.”

He sounded happy yet frustrated. It showed on his face. He looked like a student faced with a difficult test problem. Same went for Allan and Emily. Emily sighed as she said, “Min Joon said this in his last interview; that there were 6 dishes with 8-point scores during the buffet mission. We shouldn’t fully trust Min Joon’s evaluation, but it makes sense. The 6 dishes Min Joon referred to were very well made. They could be used in restaurants if decorated correctly.”

“That’s why it’s even harder. What should we do for our next mission…?”

They normally would have used the missions that were already prepared, but not this time. They had to come up with a mission that would challenge this season’s contestants.

As soon as the last mission ended, Martin made crying noises. They had to make mistakes for good TV, but that didn’t happen. Disqualifying less good contestants was different from disqualifying a contestant that made a huge mistake.

Of course, the standard rose as only the best remained, but some mistakes were needed in order to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. He needed something to make it nerve-wracking. Emily said, “Why don’t we get them to try oriental food? Most aren’t familiar with it, but it could be good to see them look inexperienced.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but that could been seen as favoring Chloe and Min Joon. Seeing from how popular Min Joon was in the last mission… They could think that the producers did it on purpose…”

Allan stopped. He gulped and looked at the servers that were approaching. Amuse bouche was placed on top of a piece of wood. He put a piece of gougere in his mouth and enjoyed it. The savory and sweet flavors made him loosen up. Allan spoke in a more comfortable voice than before, “Anyway, we’ll keep the oriental food in mind for another time. We need something more certain.”

They were unable to make a decision until after the main. They were too focused on the food to talk. Dessert. While Emily ate the green apple jelly with sudachi curd, she was in awe.

“Min Joon’s recipe was very good. It tastes almost the same. It tasted like something made at a restaurant. I just thought it was somewhat similar…”

“… I can’t taste the difference. I don’t think we should evaluate his palate with normal standards anymore.”

Allan spoke in an annoyed voice, and Emily, who was looking at him with a smile, spoke while showing her red lips, “If Min Joon decides on his path, he could become a great food critic. But what about as a chef? He might be able to recreate dishes perfectly, but he didn’t prove to us very much that he has great cooking abilities.”

“But that doesn’t mean we should assume anything from that just yet. I think highly of Min Joon’s cooking abilities. He has talent. After all, it wasn’t just luck that kept him alive.”

Allan and Emily showed sharp looks in their eyes. While they kept their guards up, Joseph spoke in a soft voice, “But Min Joon wants to become a chef. That’s all that matters.”

“… Who knows. Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

Emily spoke in a sad voice. Joseph answered, “Emily, just like how you can’t leave the food critic world, Min Joon can’t leave the cooking world. All people have a place in this world, and if they’re not in the right place, they become miserable. And as for Min Joon…”

Joseph lifted his finger. The finger was covered in burn and cut marks. The finger that was neither fine or ugly pointed toward the kitchen.

“He belongs there. No matter how much you want it, you can’t change his path. No one can do it, and no one should.”

Emily didn’t respond. She knew very well that she was greedy for wanting Cho Min Joon. She sighed out of frustration. At that moment, Allan said, “I thought of a mission.”

Joseph and Emily both looked at Allan. Allan grinned.

“The reason why our opinions are conflicting is because of Cho Min Joon, who is unlike anyone we’ve seen before. That’s also why we’re here today. The contestants are much better than those of past seasons, and the ingredients that are hard to work with are rotting away. Then we should do the obvious.”

Allan laughed. Emily asked out of curiosity, “What is it? What are you thinking of?”

“Ingredients.”

Allan continued, “Let’s make them work with ingredients they’ve never worked with before.”