Chapter 93 - Chapter 93: Weight of Restaurants (5)

“… What are you looking at?”

Life came back to Kaya’s voice. Cho Min Joon looked away with an unnatural look on his face, but why? He knew Kaya was a genius, and he knew just how much she would improve, but as soon as her level increased, his heart sank.

‘… Am I jealous?’

But that wasn’t strange in any way. He was human, too. No matter how close they were, it was hard not to be jealous when she was thriving so much. He couldn’t believe he was jealous of a young girl whom he admired once.

That wasn’t the last 9-point dish. Not all of her dishes were 9 points, but there was more than one. Did she cross a limit? From Cho Min Joon’s experience, levels didn’t go up just because of experience. It was when a chef’s skill improved. It was possible that Kaya had been on the border between 7 and 8 all along.

Cho Min Joon stopped thinking about it. He couldn’t plate the customers’ dishes with jealousy. Cho Min Joon fixed his eyes on the plates.

His burn throbbed.

***

‘… Huh?’

Allan looked confused. The customers in the hall began to look more relaxed, and that was rare. Normally, two types of people came to restaurants. Those who wanted to have a good time and those who came to evaluate the food.

And the proportion depended on the restaurant. The restaurants with solid reputations had more of the former, but the new ones had more of the latter, and it was announced that the Grand Chef contestants would be cooking their food instead of the regular chefs. They were excited but doubtful at the same time.

That was how they were throughout their meals. ‘Let’s see just how good you are.’ Their thoughts and attitude were in that zone throughout the whole experience, so it was inevitable for them to feel less enjoyment from the food. After all, food that was eaten with excitement and doubt tasted different. Even if it was the same dish, they could receive two different scores.

So even when good dishes came out, the customers didn’t respond favorably. They just thought it was okay, but the vibe began to change, and the turning point was once they began to eat Kaya and Cho Min Joon’s dishes.

It wasn’t like that at first. The change only arose once 10 tables were cleared, but the change was clear. They began to smile and even laugh. Some even exclaimed in awe.

‘I can see the evaluations taking place already.’

“Hm, shall we taste it as well?”

Emily gulped as she saw the customers. Allan laughed. She had quite the gluttony.

The judges sat at their table. Emily flipped through the menu and asked, “Are we all ordering the same thing?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”

“We should order different things and share.”

“… I’m not fond of sharing food with others. It’s for sanitation issues and lack of focus.”

“You’re so uptight. Joseph, how about you?”

“I’m sorry, but I agree with Allan.”

“Sigh, you’re making me look lame.”

Emily stuck out her lip with a sad look on her face. Allan looked at Emily and sighed.

“I’ll give you some on your plate before we start eating.”

“Really?”

“I don’t lie about that kind of thing.”

Emily smiled in response to Allan’s offer. Allan coughed and turned away.

The dishes were quite decent. The saffron mussel soup and the cod mousse that Chloe and Ivanna made wasn’t too much different from the original versions. Of course, they were given the recipes so it made sense, but it was impressive that they managed to reenact it.

But the highlight was the main dish in terms of both order and quality. Allan immediately was in awe as soon as he tasted the fried bass. It was the most delicious dish he had ever tasted on Grand Chef. He could say that was the best dish Kaya had made as well. It had deep flavor, it was stimulating, soft, and…

“… This is the best I’ve tasted thus far.”

His despcription was lacking for a food critic, but Allan didn’t care. It was the best, and that was the best way to describe the dish. The fried bass as well as Emily’s salmon steak.

“No wonder the customers are smiling.”

What was impressive was that the quality didn’t come from just one plate. There was no way they could have only made these plates taste extra good because they didn’t know they were going to the judges. If the customers were eating dishes this good, they had no choice but to be delighted. Joseph smiled and said, “I could trust them with the main section of my own restaurant… Actually, they could even be the sous chefs. Haha… I never thought they could be this good. I wonder if we’ll ever be satisfied in the future seasons.”

“We’ll have no choice but to be more nitpicky at this rate.”

Allan smirked with his response.

The customers finished their meals. After seeing their opinions, Allan nodded. If they had tasted the same dishes he had, the answers were understandable.

As for the results, both Kaya and Cho Min Joon only received praise. They were praised for copying the original perfectly and received the least amount of complaints. The only complaints pertained to the customers that tasted Kaya’s first few dishes when she wasn’t adjusted yet.

The judges gathered all of the contestants in the lobby between the hall and the kitchen. Most of them looked anxious, even Kaya. She didn’t know her cooking had taken her to the next level because she didn’t taste it, but she had a feeling she did well.

“How did you feel about today?”

No one answered. Joseph glanced around before fixing his gaze on Cho Min Joon. To be more exact, it was on his burn. He slowly opened his mouth.

“This is what restaurants are like. It’s hard to be vulnerable even if you have to go to the hospital. It’s common to have to keep working after putting on just a gauze. Whether you get hurt or not, the customers will still be waiting. That’s your responsibility.”

Kaya clenched down on her teeth. She felt a strong responsibility today. Joseph looked at Kaya and clapped to clear the air.

“It’s time to make our announcements. Not everyone received praise. It’s possible that the evaluations were harsher than you deserved, but that’s something you must endure.”

Joseph closed his mouth. Allan continued, “It’s hard to receive praise in this mission. The customers tasted your food with expectation, doubt, and suspicion. That’s probably because they heard that the food was made by you and not the chefs here, but there’s a team that received great praise regardless. As such, this team will be eliminated from disqualification. As for the other two teams, they will compete in the disqualification mission, and at least one person on each team will go home.”

Silence filled the room. Ivanna grabbed on tightly to Chloe’s hand. She couldn’t lose. She didn’t want to leave. Her eyes of hope fixed on Allan’s lips.

“Kaya, Min Joon. Congratulations.”

But no miracle took place.

***

“This will hurt.”

“Ugh…”

A long and thick needle pierced through his arm. It was childish to be afraid of needles at his age, but he still felt scared. The nurse smirked and said, “Relax. It’ll hurt more if you tense up like that.”

“Thank you.”

Cho Min Joon answered with an awkward smile. While the other 4 contestants completed in the disqualification mission, Cho Min Joon had to go to a hospital nearby. Of course, Kaya had to watch the mission. Cho Min Joon should have been there, too… But no one forced him to.

He had no idea he would have to go to the hospital.

‘Right now…’

Cho Min Joon looked at his watch. It depended on the mission, but the evaluation probably took place already. He considered texting Kaya but decided not to. He didn’t feel all that at ease. Was it because at least one person would go home? Or…

He didn’t tell his parents about his injury. They would find out eventually through TV, but he would have been almost healed by then. Then he could tell them not to worry.

His head hurt. Was it the medicine? He felt drowsy, so he closed his eyes, and then he opened them again. The lights in the hospital room were off.

‘Did I doze off?’

He felt something weird in his right hand. He turned his head. He saw hair—long and curly. It was Kaya’s. Kaya was sleeping on the edge of his bed, and she was holding his hand.

He didn’t want to wake her. Cho Min Joon put his hand on Kaya’s hand and then picked up his phone. He saw a few messages.

[Chloe: Are you okay?]

[Chloe: Two people were disqualified. Ivanna and Sasha. I’ll tell you the details later.]

[Chloe: I wanted to be there with you. I’m sorry. I couldn’t say anything because you were sleeping. They said only one person could stay with you overnight, so I thought Kaya should be there.]

The texts didn’t make him feel so good. Chloe sounded down, but he assumed it was because Ivanna and Sasha went home. Knowing her, she probably felt just as upset as they were. Cho Min Joon opened another text message.

[Kaya: I’m coming.]

“Yeah, you’re here now.”

Cho Min Joon smirked and looked down at Kaya. She must have been dreaming because she mumbled, ‘Immigration… Immigrate here.’

‘Her face is small.’

Her head was small, too. There were some malicious comments online saying, ‘She can’t think properly because of that tiny head of hers’, and now he understood.

He normally would have only seen her through the screen. He wouldn’t have been able to see her with his naked eyes. He would never have known the smells of fruit. Her hand was rough but soft and that beyond the pride was anxiousness.

He should have been thankful for that, but he couldn’t. Every time he saw Kaya’s face, he was reminded of that window. No, it wasn’t the window. Even if he turned away, all he could think about was her level, his as well.

Cho Min Joon quietly stared at Kaya’s face. He couldn’t see it well because it was dark, but her nose, forehead, lips, and chin were shining. She was just a young girl, but she would become a grown adult soon, and she would become a chef. An amazing chef at that.

‘Will I be able to catch up?’

Cho Min Joon grabbed tightly onto her hand. Kaya groaned and tossed. By then, he already let go of her hand. Cho Min Joon looked out the window. It was night time, but he couldn’t fall asleep.