Chapter 84 - Chapter 84: Scandals (1)

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Scandals (1)

“Don’t be sad, Ivanna.”

Joanne patted Ivanna on the head as she sobbed. Ivanna bit down on her lip and hugged Joanne tightly.

“I’ll do a good job for both of us.”

“Okay. Just win this thing. I’m cheering for you.”

Joanne smiled and pat Ivanna on the back. She felt like the comforting was directed backward, but Joanne didn’t care. Since Ivanna was having a hard time, she felt a little better. She felt happy that she made a real friend here.

She glanced at the other contestants. After a certain point, Joanne knew she wasn’t going to win. The other contestants were too strong. In the case of Anderson, he could become the sous chef or even the head chef of a famous restaurant. After all, he didn’t fall behind in terms of any basics.

“… Sigh, I knew this day would come.”

Joanne mumbled in a sad voice. Disqualified. Today was the day that word became reality. Anderson slowly opened his mouth.

“You did good.”

“You’re uptight until the very end, huh?”

“Shut up.”

Anderson glanced away from the awkwardness. Saying goodbye was never easy, but that didn’t mean he could leave either. They still had interviews to do. They couldn’t part until the interviews were over.

In a sense, they had more time to spend together, but Joanne just felt uncomfortable. Anyone would be uncomfortable when they become the topic of pity in the room.

The mood had to change. Joanne looked back at Chloe. She then held onto her hands and grinned.

“Good luck. I hope you win.”

She didn’t mean win the competition. Chloe flushed and laughed awkwardly. She didn’t even bring it up, so it would have been weird to say she didn’t like Cho Min Joon. Joanne glanced at Cho Min Joon and changed the topic.

“Come to think of it, you said Chloe’s dish was a 9. Was it that good?”

“… To be honest, shark fin is not a delicious ingredient. It doesn’t have a flavor or scent. Although, maybe some food critics can taste something… But I’m not educated enough yet. Anyway, the dish was surprisingly delicious. I couldn’t believe it was your first time making it.”

“It wasn’t the first time. I made it with my mom a few times. But of course, my mom always took the lead, so I just helped out…”

“Your mother must be an excellent cook. You said you learned pretty much everything from her.”

“Yeah.”

Chloe nodded. Cho Min Joon was the most jealous of Anderson and Chloe. Chloe learned how to cook from her mother, and Anderson’s parents were professional chefs. They must’ve eaten lots of delicious food since they were little. Joanne smirked and asked, “Then how did Kaya’s taste?”

“… Don’t ask me again. I don’t want to think about it.”

“Are you dissing my cooking?”

“No… Just think about it rationally. Do you think I like eating that kind of thing?”

“I told you. You’re not cut out to be a chef. You’re so picky about ingredients. Expensive ones at that. I’d eat everything just so I don’t waste it.”

Kaya’s face looked serious. Cho Min Joon spoke with an annoyed face, “Don’t you have taste in certain foods?”

“I never lived a life where I could be picky.”

She answered in a self-ridiculing kind of way. Cho Min Joon glared his eyes and then said, “Which part of the fried chicken do you like the most?”

“The wing… No, wait. This is different.”

“That’s a preference, too.”

Kaya knitted her brows and shut her mouth. She thought about what to say. Joanne, who was watching by, asked Chloe, “Can I ask why you cried earlier? I didn’t think you knew how to cry. You’re always so cheerful.”

“… I feel embarrassed to talk about it.”

“Why? Women are pretty when they cry.”

“Then why don’t you cry right now? You should be in this situation.”

Anderson smirked and teased her. Joanne knitted her brows.

“If you stay a jerk, you’ll never get married.”

“I’m celibate.”

“… Really?”

Cho Min Joon was surprised by Anderson’s response. Anderson nodded and answered, “Why are you so surprised?”

“I just never got that idea from you…”

“Min Joon, don’t believe him just yet. Celibates always end up getting married first.”

“… There’s a saying like that in Korean, too.”

In response to Joanne’s remark, Cho Min Joon nodded. Andreson glared his eyes and said, “Don’t judge other people’s beliefs.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to pick a fight.”

She smiled and lifted up her two hands. He didn’t have anything to say once she apologized. Anderson swallowed up his anger and turned around.

Kaya, who was watching the whole dispute, spoke in a cold voice,

“Do you like each other or something?”

It grew silent for a moment. Anderson looked back at Kaya with a raised brow. Joanne had a similar look on her face. Kaya shrugged her shoulders and said, “If you don’t, forget it.”

“… That was a horrifying question.”

Joanne shivered. Kaya answered in a calm voice,

“You always do that to me and Min Joon.”

Joanne didn’t’ have anything to say to that. Cho Min Joon smirked and showed the palm of his hands. Kaya smirked and gave him a high 5.

The staff called Joanne first for the interviews. Once Joanne left, the awkwardness subsided a little. Chloe sighed and looked at Min Joon and said, “Thanks for today.”

“What do you mean?”

“For the handkerchief and the 9 points.”

“I just told it like it is. You shouldn’t be thankful for your results.”

“I still am.”

Chloe smiled like a baby. Cho Min Joon scratched his nose with an awkward look on his face. Chloe smacked her lips out of hesitation and then continued,

“To be honest, I wasn’t confident when I was making it. I did my best… but I wasn’t so sure, but you smiled at me before the evaluation, and that’s when I felt comforted. Since that was before you tasted my soup, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go… Isn’t that weird?”

“… I’m glad I could help. What’s weird about that? People can think about how they want.”

“So I wanted to thank you if I survived. No, I was going to thank you even if I was disqualified.”

He didn’t’ have to think about how to answer Chloe. Joanne came out of the interview room and called Cho Min Joon.

“I’m done. Min Joon, you turn.”

“Oh, okay.”

Chloe looked like she had more to say, but he couldn’t leave the staff waiting. As soon as Cho Min Joon entered the room, Martin playfully smiled as he said, “I hope you enjoyed your meal.”

“… I’m neither thankful or resentful. The dishes were good, but I still want to wash out my mouth.”

He was still traumatized by Kaya’s stew. Chloe’s shark fin, on the other hand, was so flavorful that it graced his tongue. Cho Min Joon smiled bitterly as he continued, “I thought about the tasting trip program you talked about the other day. After today, I’m starting to change my mind.”

“… Okay, I’m sorry. Don’t scare me like that, okay? I really want you to join us. Did you mean that?”

“Wouldn’t I have to keep eating food like that? Stuff like stinky tofu, grilled tarantula, or monkey meat.”

“No way.”

Martin grinned and Cho Min Joon sighed. He still didn’t know if he was going to join that program or not. After all, if he won the show, he wouldn’t be able to participate. Martin asked in a calm voice, “You tried penis for the first time today. How did you feel?”

“It was disgusting. Beyond the dish, I just didn’t want to put that food in my mouth.”

“Come on, chefs should be able to eat that much.”

“… That’s career discrimination. Chefs have preferences in food, too. Look at the judges. They didn’t want to eat it either, but then again, Emily seemed to be just fine… But she’s a food critic.”

It was rare for Cho Min Joon to grumble in the interview room. That meant he was very dissatisfied. Martin looked a little sorry when the youngest producer, Robert, approached with a serious face and whispered in Martin’s ear. At that moment, Martin’s face stiffened up.

“What is it?” Cho Min Joon questioned. Martin hesitated before getting up.

“I’m sorry. Let’s take a break.”

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s not about you. Actually, maybe it could be. Just take a break.”

Martin left with his staff. He knitted his brows and asked, “Who said what?”

“It was posted 2 days ago. The person is claiming to be a former classmate from Kaya’s middle school… But whether or not it’s true, it’s getting a lot of attention. Take a look.”

Tess Gilly: I have something to share. I was classmates with Kaya Reuters in middle school, and the person that’s conveyed on TV is really different. I know she was poor and didn’t get an education, and it’s true that her personality sucks, but seeing her being conveyed as some poor victim with a sad history makes me want to bark. She’s just a teenage girl in puberty. She’s a total thug. Look at her relationship with Cho. She’s going around dating on that show. That’s who she really is. Just because she sold fruits at a market and took care of her sibling doesn’t mean she’s a good person. Also…

“… Why is she being so harsh?”

Martin frowned. He had grown close to Kaya over the days. Of course, he didn’t know how Kaya felt about him, but he saw her as a little niece that he wanted to take care of, so he didn’t like seeing this kind of post.

“There are over 500 comments on that post, and as for views there could be over 1000 or 10000. Those people are bound to spread rumors… And in the worst-case scenario, it could even end up on the news.”

“… Call all the newspapers. Tell them we’ll sue them for defamation if they write anything on this.”

“Do you think they’ll be scared of that? It’d just be a civil case…”

“Then do we just sit back and watch?”

“Maybe we should use it for noise marketing like Peter…”

Martin sighed. He looked at Robert with great disappointment.

“Are you serious? You think Peter and Kaya are the same? 30% of our viewer ratings are thanks to Kaya! Kaya’s scandal will just turn into noise without the marketing. She won’t be able to continue her character with Min Joon, and she’ll turn into an evil character.

“… What do we do?”

“I don’t know.”

Martin fell deeply into thought. He then remembered something Kaya said in an interview.

‘I’ve gotten close to many people. 18. That seems to be a short time, but it’s not. I’ve met all sorts of horrible and great people, and I’ve gotten close to people, but I’ve never actually gotten close to anyone. We might have pretended to be close, but in the end, they all left me.’