Chapter 103 - Chapter 103: Cooking Style (1)

“If I’m a candle that’ll blow out anyway, I want to light a fire on a big mountain, so that my shadow will stain the mountain and never get erased.”

Kaya spoke in her usual confident voice and bright presence. The white chef suit that she had on made her look more vibrant than any fancy dress, and on her face was a confident smile that some perceived as unlikable.

She had a face that kept her guard up with people, but no hostility or jealousy could be felt from it. That was the face that Cho Min Joon looked up to. The confidence that chefs required. She might have been rough around the edges, but she had a strong ego that could be sensed in every single word she spoke, and she had so much ambition that it was a little dangerous. That was the reason why Kaya Reuters was so lovable.

But as soon as Cho Min Joon reached out his hand, he realized that his arm was too short. No, he was too small. He was so small that she couldn’t even detect him.

He immediately felt disgusted and felt like a cockroach. Cho Min Joon sprung up with a pale look on his face as if he had seen a ghost. A dream. Normally, he would have been relieved by this, but not this time. This time, he felt even more disgusted. The dream he just had was showing him a reflection of his true self.

He breathed in and out heavily. Cho Min Joon felt his sweaty neck and knitted his brows. It was an unpleasant morning.

That feeling didn’t disappear even after he showered and left his room. He was so down that even Kaya, who tried to speak to him in the hall, flinched.

“… Did you have diarrhea or something?”

“Make me breakfast.”

“You’re treating me like a maid now. I only promised to make you breakfast until I get disqualified, so it won’t be long.”

“Are you planning to be disqualified soon?”

“… No, I’m going to win.”

“Then you’d better keep making me breakfast.”

In response to Cho Min Joon’s casual remark, Kaya showed a mysterious look on her face

“You want me to keep making you breakfast?”

“I’m just kidding. That’d make me a con, not a chef. But… I’m surprised you kept your promise until now. Good work.”

“Hmph. I told you. Just because I grew up poor doesn’t mean I don’t’ have a conscience.”

“Yeah. I believe you.”

Kaya was only able to grow so much because she grew up in a clean and upright environment. He suddenly saw her as a star. A star that he couldn’t quite reach. Although they had the same opportunity and breathed in the same place, why was it that he kept falling behind?

“… Why do you always get so serious in weird places?”

“What’s weird? I’m just talking about trust between people.”

“Forget it. You always make me into the weird one.”

Kaya grimaced and turned around. He wanted to pinch her cheeks, but he was afraid he would be charged for sexual assault. But of course, Kaya would never call the police on him.

While Kaya headed over to the pantry, Cho Min Joon went with her and looked through the ingredients. Kaya looked at him in surprise.

“What’s gotten into you? You always make me make breakfast.”

“I had a stimulating dream. If I don’t make an effort even in the small things…”

“Sigh, stop working so hard. I like that about you, but it’s frustrating at times.”

Cho Min Joon smiled without a word. He normally had this personality, but he really didn’t have a choice now. There were many people who wanted to go back in time, and he was one of them. He didn’t know why or how he came back in time. It was possible that there was no reason, and he was just lucky, but he didn’t care. All he knew was one thing. That time had turned back, and he was given an opportunity. The opportunity to cook. If he missed this chance. Cho Min Joon could no longer be confident with himself.

“It’s because I want to be a great chef like you.”

“You’re sucking up so I’d make better food, aren’t you?”

“All the food Kaya Reuters makes is delicious.”

“Ugh, stop complimenting me. You’re grossing me out.”

She said that, but her face was smiling. She tried to wipe it off her face and then let out her anger.

“Hey! Stop making me smile!”

“Why? What’s so embarrassing about that?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. I’m going to cook. The kitchen is a dangerous place if you let your guard down! You know that, right?”

“Are you trying out for a public safety commercial now?”

Kaya didn’t answer and glared her eyes. If he thought of this as cute, did that mean he was blind? Since she was no different from an idol in his eyes, it was understandable why he felt that way. Kaya rubbed her eyes and said, “Ouch, my eyes hurt. What should I make for breakfast?”

“I’m good with porridge or paella.”

“If Chloe was here, she would lecture us about consuming too much carbohydrates.”

“It’s not like we’re bodyguards… I mean bodybuilders. You don’t even work out.”

“Yes, I do. I even lift those weights.”

“Only a few times.”

Kaya looked away without answering. Cho Min Joon shook his head.

“You have to get rid of the idea that you can only eat eggs for breakfast. I really hate eating eggs for breakfast.”

“What? Why?”

“My mouth and throat get all dry while sleeping, so imagine an egg going in. It’s gross.”

“That’s why you eat sausages and bacon with it. It’s the savory flavor of the egg that makes everything come alive. You don’t understand that?”

“I hate eating oily food like sausages and bacon for breakfast. I’d rather grill a fish.”

“Fish is oily, too. I understand your cooking style, but stop being so narrow-minded!”

In response to Kaya, Cho Min Joon’s face turned blank. He stared at Kaya as if he was possessed. Kaya knitted her brows.

“What?”

“… My cooking style?”

“Yeah. Your cooking style. What about it?”

“Do I have a style, too? I… just make a little bit of everything. They’re mostly imitations, too. And my way of cooking tends to be boring, but I have a style?”

“that boring aspect is your style, idiot.”

Kaya spoke as if she didn’t understand.

“Are you a machine? You’re a person. People have personalities, and that personality translates into the food you make.”

“But my personality is on the flat side without much character.”

“The fact that you don’t have much character is your style. Does everyone have to be vibrant and fancy?”

“… Then what was your favorite dish out of what I’ve made?”

“Anything that you make with sauce.”

Kaya answered in a calm voice. While Cho Min Joon opened his eyes wide, Kaya continued, “I like the taste of your sauce the best.”

“… What if that sauce is from someone else’s recipe?”

“Of course. How many people really have recipes of their own? It’s hard to cook without using other people’s influences.”

“That’s true… You seem really mature today.”

There was no answer.

Breakfast consisted of blueberry yogurt, toast, basil butter, thick bacon, and a Spanish omelet filled with tomato paste and egg. Cho Min Joon took a bite of the omelet and asked, “How’s it going with Tess Gilly? Has she been keeping quiet?”

A long time had passed. It had been almost one month since the Tess Gilly incident took place. Just yesterday, the 14th episode of the show aired. It was an episode covering the restaurant mission of the 6 remaining contestants. All that was left now were 3 episodes. The quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the finals.

‘… There are only 2 missions left.’

Cho Min Joon’s face turned serious. Kaya swallowed a piece of buttered bread and answered, “If she keeps going, it’ll be obvious that she’s an idiot. Unless she’s completely stupid, she won’t keep it going. She’ll probably still annoy me sometimes… But I don’t know. It seems like Martin is handling it somehow.”

“But compared to before, it seems a lot calmer.”

“If I make a big deal out of it, it’s my loss. People always talked behind my back, but the only difference now is that I can see it happen in live time on the internet, but if I don’t look at it, it doesn’t matter.”

“Good thinking.”

“Not again. I told you to stop treating me like a child.”

“Yeah, you’re not a kid anymore.”

Cho Min Joon laughed. He sounded proud and sad. She was starting to become the completed version that he remembered from the future. It was a good thing, but he also felt restless… because it was hard to catch up to her.

‘Maybe by finals…’

He felt bad for Anderson, but he wanted to be the one to face off against Kaya in the finals. He didn’t care if he lost. The 300,000 dollars in prize money and the honor of being the Grand Chef didn’t matter to him. What was important was whether or not he could become a chef.

“Anyway, why isn’t Anderson here?”

“I don’t know. He’s probably working out again. That con.”

“Con? Oh… When he said Martin called you guys?”

“Yeah. He’s weird. Does he have some kind of illness? Why did he make a joke like that? He’s too old for that stuff.”

Kaya poked at her omelet. The yolk poured out along with the tomato paste inside, but as soon as she looked to the side, Anderson was entering the kitchen.

“Are you going to eat?”

“Just yogurt and bread.”

Anderson answered as he plopped down in his chair. He simply sat in the seat closest to him, but it happened to be beside Kaya. Kaya glared at Anderson and moved over to the seat beside Cho Min Joon with her plate, but what was unfortunate was that she was now across from Anderson.

“Hey, con.”

“… Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah, you con. Because of you, I couldn’t even give Chloe a proper goodbye.”

“Sigh, you should’ve treated her well while she was here. No use in making it up to her in the end.”

“Shut up. You have no right to say that. Why did you lie anyway? Were you just trying to screw me over?”

Anderson didn’t answer. Kaya looked at Cho Min Joon and vented.

“See? He’s always like this.”

“Hold it in. I’m sure Anderson had his reasons.”

“Yeah right… But what’s this?”

Kaya looked at what Cho Min Joon was writing down. Cho Min Joon was typing something on the notepad on his phone, but she couldn’t make it out. It wasn’t the handwriting, but the letters themselves. It was Korean. Cho Min Joon answered in a calm voice, “I’m just thinking about recipe ideas. Like you said, if my strength is my sauces, I should work harder on them. I should keep making them better.”

“… You work so hard. I’ve always thought about this, but Korean letters look so cool.”

“It depends on your handwriting. Compared to the alphabet, it can look really bad depending on who writes it.”

“Hm… Oh yeah. Then can you do that for me?”

“Do what?”

“Write my name in Korean. You should give me a Korean name, too.”

A Korean name. Cho Min Joon looked at Kaya. He then wrote two large letters. Kaya looked at the screen with excitement.

“How do you read it?”

“Gaya. It’s the same as your name. If you just loosen up the first letter, it’s a pretty name in Korean. Back in the ancient days… There were even countries named Geumgwan Gaya.”

“Gunggangwaya? Ugh, I don’t know. Gaya. Okay, cool.”

Kaya smiled as she wrote the letters on her plate with a fork. Kaya hadn’t smiled like a little girl in so long that Cho Min Joon couldn’t help but smile, too. At that moment, Anderson coughed and said, “Do it for me, too.”

“Your name?”

“Yeah.”

Cho Min Joon knitted his brows. Anderson’s name was hard to make into Korean. After much thought, Cho Min Joon slowly typed it on the screen. Anderson looked at the screen with excited eyes.

“How do you read it?”

“… Ahn Deok Sam.”

“Ahn Deok Sam. Wow… It sounds really Asian. I’d better introduce myself with that name if I go to Korea or meet a Korean.”

“Oh… There’s no need for that.”

“No, I like it. Can you send that to me over text?”

“S-sure.”

Cho Min Joon stuttered and smiled awkwardly. ‘Ahn Deok Sam.’ How would he react once he found out the truth behind it?

‘… I hope he doesn’t kill me.’