Chapter 136 - Live Broadcast (4)

He wasn’t kidding when he asked for digestive medicine. When Allan handed him a digestive medicine, Anderson put it in his mouth without hesitation.

When Rachel patted Anderson’s back with pity, Anderson smiled. Rachel asked, “I’m fine when I’m an old lady who lost her husband. You can’t be like this already.”

“… I don’t have any excuses.”

“Can you keep eating?”

“Of course. This is a broadcast, and every single dish is so delicious.”

Anderson was still a chef. At the same time, he was also a food critic. He wasn’t the type to ignore a great dish in front of him. No, to be exact, he didn’t want to show that side of him to Rachel. He wanted to look perfect in front of Rachel. Anderson glanced at Cho Min Joon.

I hope you can be in my kitchen.

He still remembered the words Rachel said to him. What was sad was that she said it to Cho Min Joon and not him. He wanted to hear it, too. He wanted to be acknowledged by Rachel. He wanted her to want him in her kitchen.

‘… It’s not like I’m a boy in love. What am I doing?’

Anderson put the pasta into his mouth and smiled bitterly. What was interesting was that the pasta tasted like the truth despite his complicated feelings. It was delicious. He even forgot about his stomachache and headache. That didn’t mean he felt completely better, but he felt better than before.

[Cheer up, Anderson. We understand.]

[But in the last broadcast, Anderson said he likes to be single. Does he hate seeing that kind of stuff?]

[No one likes being single at that age. He’s just faking.]

“… Why are you attacking me? I really do like being single.”

He wanted to be comforted by the chat, but he was suddenly being questioned instead. He decided not to look at the chat anymore and looked at the pasta when Sarah chatted him up.

“Why do you prefer to be single?”

“… Do I need a reason?”

“Everything has a reason. I’m a food critic because I like to eat, and you’re a chef because you like to cook. If there are reasons for things like that, why shouldn’t there be a reason for wanting to be single?”

“Okay, fine. Stop it. You talk more than my mom.”

Anderson shook his head. Emily glanced at Anderson in understanding, and as soon as Sarah turned toward her, she wound the pasta around her fork. Anderson answered, “It’s because I’ve never felt the need to be in a relationship. I don’t want to get married just because everyone else does it, and that’s why I prefer to be single.”

“Come on, that’s not it. People who prefer to be single believe it’s better to be single, but you just don’t want to be married.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“People who only eat vegetables because they don’t know how good meat is are different from vegetarians who don’t eat meat because of their religion.”

“… That’s true.”

“That means you don’t prefer to be single.”

He felt like he was slowly starting to be convinced. Anderson chewed on his noodles and thought. Was it true? Sarah made him question it. She whispered in his ear. But of course, because of her mic, everyone could hear.

“If you prefer to be single, you wouldn’t be sickened by Kaya and Min Joon over there… Well, at the level they’re acting, maybe even a grandfather who likes to be single would be sickened, too. But still… you know what I mean.”

“Okay. Is it that important what I am? Why are you trying so hard to convince me?”

“Because it’s sad to think that a charming man like you want to be single. I just want to give other women some hope.”

Anderson wriggled his lips, flushed, and turned his head. He didn’t know how to react to such a direct compliment. Kaya clicked her tongue and said, “Anderson, focus. This is a broadcast. Do your dating when the cameras are off.”

In response to Kaya’s pitiful look, Anderson glared back at her. He then looked at Cho Min Joon as if he wondered what he thought, but Cho Min Joon didn’t answer and simply looked at Allan instead.

“Allan, who made this pasta? The oil is nice, and so is the combination of squid and pak choi, but the most important part is the noodles. I think it’s the best pasta I’ve ever eaten.”

“Thank you. That makes me excited. Can I ask for a score?”

“I would have felt bad answering if it was just average, but I think I can answer without any hesitation this time. It’s 10 points. It’s perfect.”

“I did it!”

Allan smiled and threw his fists in the air. Food critics with more experience than Cho Min Joon had praised him as well, but Cho Min Joon’s praise meant a lot more because it meant that his dish was perfect even to the perfect palate. He felt proud as a chef.

[10 points… Has Min Joon given 10 points before?]

[Not since Rose Island. Was it the calf cheek with fried anchovies?]

[Calf cheek…? That doesn’t sound good.]

[But this is hilarious. On Grand Chef, Allan evaluated Min Joon, but it’s the other way around this time.]

[It might be fun to see Min Joon as a Grand Chef judge one day.]

“I… didn’t make the pasta myself. There’s someone who supplies our restaurant with pasta. They made noodles for us for decades, so the quality is different from what’s on the market.”

“I bet.”

“Just like how you need to be connected to a patissier if you want to manage a restaurant, there’s no better weapon than noodles in Italy. Each village has at least one master chef who makes noodles from scratch, and that’s what makes this the country of pasta, and I take care of those noodle makers. They’re the great craftsman of Italy. That also means they’re the top of the world.”

His words gave him a lot of thought. Connections with noodlemakers and breadmakers were important. Many people were required to operate a restaurant. The thought of finding such connections made him feel like an explorer. He felt afraid but curious and excited at the same time. That was what made Cho Min Joon’s heart pound.

He felt alive. He was able to leave everything behind and appear on the Grand Chef in order to take this path, and the path that felt so far away was now right in front of Cho Min Joon’s feet. No, it was behind his feet because he was already walking on it. The path to becoming a chef.

The dishes continued to come out. Starting with pear risotto and grilled fish, a t-bone steak with five different dressings, a pizza, and white chocolate with cherry jelly came out.

The risotto and grilled fish were 9 points, while the rest of them were 8 points… But was it because of the shock of the pasta? All he could think of was the elastic and smooth noodles. The same went for Kaya. She looked at Allan and begged.

“Can I have more of that linguini from earlier?”

“… The meal is over.”

“Still. It’s not fair to only have such a small amount of such good food.”

“Okay. Come to the kitchen after filming.”

“… Can I go, too?”

“Min Joon, too. Everyone can come. I’ll make it myself for you.”

[She’s a rulebreaker in many ways.]

[But I understand. Restaurants always give you lots of not so good food while they only give you a pinch of good food.]

[I want to eat pasta in Italy. All the restaurants these days are too salty, but some make tomato spaghetti bitter on purpose. As for cream spaghetti, it’s always so sticky that it almost tastes like pizza dough…]

Martin quietly watched the viewers’ conversation. The number of viewers increased to around 310,000 people. It was a very decent number. Compared to sports internet broadcasts, it was nothing, but this was a food tasting broadcast.

What was important was that the viewers weren’t leaving so easily, and Martin believed that the biggest reason was Kaya.

‘No, maybe it’s both Min Joon and Kaya.’

They had quite the fandom. Of course, they had fans of their own, but when they were together, the response was completely different.

He felt it during Grand Chef as well. When Cho Min Joon or Kaya were alone, their number of viewers didn’t go up, but when they were together, it exploded.

‘If Kaya didn’t win, I would have brought both of them along.’

Martin smacked his lips in sadness. At that moment, Rachel was disappointed as well. To be more exact, she was greedy. Kaya appeared to be such a genius that she didn’t know why she didn’t notice it earlier. If Cho Min Joon wasn’t there, she would have gone for Kaya in a second.

‘I wish I could have them both…’

But Kaya was pickier than Cho Min Joon. Not her, but the situation. After all, Kaya had to work with Grand Chef for at least a few more years. Jeremy coughed.

“I see greed in your eyes. Shouldn’t it die down with age?”

“I guess you’ve grown old. I’m not old yet.”

“We’re almost the same age… Anyway, since you can’t seem to bring it up, I’ll do it for you. Kaya, I think she really wants you. Are you interested?”

“Pardon me?”

It was a random offer, but Kaya thought about it seriously. It was clear what Jeremy was talking about. The first thing she thought was that she could see Cho Min Joon there. She couldn’t believe that was what she thought about first, but she couldn’t help it. A moment later, Kaya’s face grimaced. The people in the chat were getting on her nerves.

“Hey, I wasn’t thinking about it. I’ll go because of Min Joon? I’m not that stupid!”

“… I’ll hear your response later.”

Rachel laughed and changed the subject. Kaya glared at the screen and camera before sitting back down. Sarah whispered in Emily’s ear, “I think Kaya’s more feisty than I am.”

“… Maybe.”

The live broadcast was coming to an end. Since the meal ended, the show had to end as well. Just as they wrapped up the show with final words, something caught their eye in the chat.

[Kaya <3 Min Joon]

“… People are so childish.”

Kaya spoke in a bitter voice. She hadn’t lived a dignified life, but in her eyes, the people on the internet were even more childish. Cho Min Joon smiled bitterly. Why did the last words have to be those? But then again, the whole chat was about them. Anderson patted his belly and said, “Just date, you idiots.”