Chapter 137 - Chapter 137: Kitchen (1)

“Anderson. Stop acting like a kid. When will you grow up?”

‘… I don’t want to hear this from a kid who’s dating live on air.’ Anderson stared at Kaya and then shut his mouth and turned away. He didn’t want to look weird on camera because of her.

When Anderson didn’t give an answer, Kaya smiled as if she won. Cho Min Joon also smiled at Kaya. Anderson probably hated Kaya for it, but in Cho Min Joon’s eyes, Kaya looked pretty. Cho Min Joon reached out his hand and touched Kaya’s hair, but Kaya knitted her brows and glared at him.

“Hey, what are you doing? Don’t touch my hair.”

“I was just fixing your hair.”

“Yeah right! It’s even worse now… You’re the one who told me to keep my hair tidy.”

Kaya grumbled and looked at her hair. She never would’ve done this in the earlier days. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her looks, but she didn’t dress up as much as normal women. That was why she even went around with smokey makeup on, but that was a part of her character now.

“What if customers want you to have smoky makeup on when you’re in the kitchen?”

“They can’t see me if I’m in the kitchen.”

“Open kitchens are the trend these days. Oh yeah. Rachel, is the kitchen at Rose Island open concept?”

“Yes. Daniel always wants to see customers when he’s in the kitchen. He wanted to see customers to see if they were enjoying it or had any complaints. He dreamt of becoming a chef who even maintained the hall.”

He had a feeling of what Rachel was talking about. Cho Min Joon looked back at Kaya. Kaya bent down. She fixed her hair and then turned her head.

“… What?”

“No, I’m just curious. Do you like open concept kitchens? Or would you rather not be seen from the kitchen?”

‘… He only asks her.’ Anderson grumbled inside his head. If the live broadcast was still going on, that was what the chat would have said. [Are they thinking of opening a restaurant together?] He tried to erase the letters that he saw in his head. Kaya thought for a moment before groaning.

“Hm… I don’t know. It might be pretty fun to see the customers eat. But after a few days, it might get tiring. It’s not easy always being watched.”

“That’s true. Even now…”

Cho Min Joon pointed in a certain direction. Kaya looked in the same direction and showed a complicated look on her face. She saw an open kitchen at the end of the hall. It wasn’t particularly busy. Most of the chefs were in their places, and only the youngest chefs ran around delivering ingredients.

If he was in their place… he could endure it once or twice, but it would be mentally draining. Most customers didn’t even look at them, and those who did only glanced over before eating again. But even so, the chefs were bound to be nervous due to being watched.

Kaya shook her head. The way she shook her hair made her look like an Egyptian princess.

“Ugh, I can’t stand being watched.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“… What about you?”

Cho Min Joon was confused as to what she was asking. She was either asking if he liked to be watched or if he thought he would be watched later on. It was a simple question, but he couldn’t find his answer.

Luckily, that answer wasn’t needed. Allan coughed and opened his mouth.

“Let’s go to the kitchen. Didn’t you say you wanted more pasta?”

“Oh, yes.”

“I was actually nervous to find out which dish would get the best score. It feels weird that it was exactly what I thought it would be. I wanted to win points through pasta because it’s Italy, but then again, all chefs want to escape national stereotypes.”

“If the stereotype is that you make good pasta, that’s not so bad.”

“I know. I’m just saying.”

Allan answered in a soft voice. When he was a judge, he felt distant from him, but as a chef and customer, he felt much more comfortable.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, a young female chef immediately ran over to Allan. Alan shook his head. He spoke in Italian, “Berta. Stay in your spot. I’ll take care of them.”

“Oh… Should I bring you something?”

“Didn’t you just hear what I said?”

Allan spoke in a cold voice. Kaya whispered in Cho Min Joon’s ear, “This reminds me of old times.” Cho Min Joon shook his head and responded, “I think he’s worse.” He was even stricter and scarier in his own kitchen, but the young female chef didn’t go away. Was she the same age as Kaya? Berta, who had dark brown hair, glanced over at Kaya. Allan grimaced. And Emily placed her elbow on Allan’s shoulder and said, “I think she has something to say to Kaya. Give her a break, Allan.”

“… Berta. If you have something to say, say it.”

“Yes, Sir!”

Berta nodded with a nervous look on her face. Although she looked the same age as Kaya, she looked much weaker. She was half her height. She was even smaller than Chloe, so the way she trembled looked like a rabbit. She opened her mouth. Her English wasn’t very fluent, but it was easy to understand.

“I… only graduated middle school, too. I’m not as talented as you… but I want to be just like you. You’re… my role model.”

“… Oh, thank you.”

“You two look great together. Thank you for your time.”

Berta finished and ran away in embarrassment. Cho Min Joon and Kaya looked at each other with awkward smiles. Kaya asked, “We would’ve gotten teased so bad if we were still on live broadcast.”

“Even if we’re not live, we’d get made fun of if this got out. Martin, are you going to use this?”

“Of course.”

In response to the unexpected answer, Cho Min Joon opened his eyes wide and looked at him. Martin smiled and said, “I’ll edit it to make it more impactful.”

“See? He’s always like that.”

“… He’s a slave to the viewers.”

“That’s because my bonuses depend on the viewer ratings.”

“Martin, you always said we raised your viewer ratings. If you got your bonus, you should take us out to eat.”

“That’s what I’m doing now.”

“… This is paid by the show!”

Martin answered and looked away. Cho Min Joon patted Kaya on the shoulder and said, “Stop acting like a baby. You always act like a kid when you almost look like an adult.”

“Women want to be girls sometimes. And at times, they want to be adults.”

“You want to be a girl in front of Martin?”

“Do you only want me to be like that with you?”

Cho Min Joon was at a loss for words, and Kaya also knew that she crossed the line. Cho Min Joon lifted his head while Kaya flushed and looked at the ground. Allan, who brought the pasta over, looked at them and nodded in understanding.

“Did they film another drama scene again? What’s the genre this time?”

“I’m not sure. Melodrama?”

“I look forward to their action scene.”

“Who knows? Maybe they’ll film a family drama.”

Emily spoke with a smile. Cho Min Joon thought Emily looked like she was in a good mood for some reason. Of course, she was normally easygoing, but she was especially happy, and he wondered if it was because of Allan. Every time Emily looked at Allan, she tried to smile more than usual. Cho Min Joon spoke up, “Sarah, doesn’t Emily look like she’s in a good mood today?”

“Uh… yeah, you’re right. I wonder why.”

Sarah looked confused before catching onto Cho Min Joon’s gaze. She spoke with a smile. Meanwhile, Emily’s face flushed. Allan then pretended not to hear Sarah and placed the pasta on the plates.

“It’s in the ideal state that native Italians favor. It’ll taste even better than before because I made it myself.”

“… Allan, your image from Grand Chef is ruined.”

“This isn’t Grand Chef.”

When Kaya made it sound like she couldn’t adjust, Allan answered in a calm voice. Rather than butting in, Cho Min Joon decided to put the pasta in his mouth. If it was any other dish, it would have been less touching since he had eaten it before.

But what was interesting was that that wasn’t the case. Oil pasta wasn’t the type of food that people got sick of, but it was the charm of a 10-point dish. No matter how much he ate it, he couldn’t get over the savory noodles. Even Rachel and Jeremy continued to eat the pasta, and that said it all. Rachel smiled with pride.

“Allan, you’ve improved so much. You hired a really good noodle-maker.”

“Oh, about that… You know them, too.”

“I do?”

“Yeah. Long time no see.”

The answer could be heard from behind the producers. Everyone turned around to the sudden voice. An old man with grey hair was looking at Rachel. Rachel, who squinted to get a better look, exclaimed in a surprised voice, “Alfredo?”

“You’ve aged.”

“You live here?”

“I should be the one to ask you questions. You were the one who went MIA for 10 years.”

“… That’s true.”

The elders were speaking in fluent English, not Italian. So the others had no problem understanding. Of course, they all looked at them in confusion, and after scanning around, Rachel spoke in an emotional voice, “When we first opened our restaurant in Venice, Alfredo supplied pasta to us.”

“The noodles you’re eating right now is made by me.”

Alfredo spoke in a confident voice. Cho Min Joon looked at the elder with abrupt eyes.

[Alfredo Argento]

Cooking Level: 6

Baking Level: 6

Tasting Level: 8

Decoration Level: 4

His levels weren’t impressive. But then again, making noodles was different from baking. Cho Min Joon looked over at Allan.

“Allan, may I take a look at the raw noodles?”

“Sure, here you go.”

Allan immediately handed him a few from the cupboard. Cho Min Joon stared at the linguine. The flat noodles smelled of flour, and it was quite soft. The cooking score was 7. Just the noodles alone were a 7, and Cho Min Joon knew exactly what that meant.

Cho Min Joon tasted the noodle without hesitation. And at that moment, Allan smirked and said to Alfredo, “Be careful. This guy is famous for his perfect palate. He might find out your secret.”

“Haha. I’ve worked on it for too long to be found out from one taste. My whole life is in that noodle. I made it while checking the temperature, humidity, and even my own temperature. No matter how sensitive his palate his, he can’t read everything about it.”

Alfredo felt confident. Cho Min Joon swallowed the noodle and looked up. He saw a familiar window in front of his eyes.

[You’ve acquired the recipe for Alfredo’s linguine noodle!]