Chapter 163 - Seeking Company (3)

Why was it?

Why did she think that she was the only one getting old and sick over the course of the last 10 years? No person was free from the passage of time.

Rachel, who was standing up straight, wobbled and fell over onto the couch. Jack simply watched. Rachel shook her head, unable to believe it.

“I can’t believe it. You, you were selling bread…”

“Lisa is 30 now. If you think about it, she’s been making bread for 20 years. So she’s not lacking in terms of skill.”

The conversation stopped. Rachel stared at the fireplace with blank eyes. Her mind was in chaos. No, she couldn’t think of anything. All she felt was guilt. At that moment…

“Grandpa…”

A tired voice rang. Rachel turned slowly. And at the end of her focus was a little girl in pink pajamas. She had dark eyebrows, curly brown hair, and small hands. Jack smiled and reached out his hand.

“Ella, you’re awake.”

Ella ran into Jack’s arms. Rachel felt unfamiliar as she watched his hands pat Ella’s back. Although he could no longer make batter, he could still pat his granddaughter. While that was warm… it also felt cold.

“Is she Lisa’s child?”

“Yeah. Ella, say hello. This is Rachel. Your grandpa’s…”

Jack stopped for a moment. She exchanged glances with Rachel and then looked back at Ella with a soft smile.

“She’s an old friend of mine.”

No grandfather could speak ill of anyone in front of their granddaughter especially if they had love in their heart. In response, Ella smiled at Rachel.

“Hello! I’m Ella!”

“Hi. Nice to meet you. You look just like your mother.”

“Heh, my mom is pretty. Oh, Grandpa, washroom.”

“Okay, go.”

Ella ran over to the washroom. Rachel, who watched her leave with a smile, slowly opened her mouth.

“What about her father?”

“I don’t know either.”

Rachel looked at Jack. Jack mumbled in a sad voice, “Lisa won’t tell me. It’s possible not even she knows who her father is.”

“… Lisa’s a good child. There’s no way.”

“Hmph. What good child would live without a husband and rip her father’s heart? Besides, Rachel, you haven’t even seen how she’s lived for the last 10 years.”

“But I did watch her for the 20 years before that. The Lisa I know is mature, seeing how she’s still by your side now, And she even looks after you.”

“Stop being friendly. I don’t want to be weak.”

“… I’ll pay you back.”

“How?”

Jack asked shortly, but Rachel didn’t know how to answer his question. Jack wasn’t angry. He opened his mouth with a calm voice.

“If you don’t know, I’ll tell you. And it’s up to you whether or not you do it.”

She didn’t have to think because she had no right to. Rachel answered, “I’ll do whatever you ask.”

***

“… Are you unable to catch on, or do you just choose not to?”

At the table, Cho Min Joon had already finished the bread that he bought, so he bought a hotdog sandwich, and other pieces of bread and stuffed his face. Anderson didn’t understand Cho Min Joon. He wasn’t slow, so how could he be so calm while Rachel was so serious?

Cho Min Joon spoke in a calm voice, but he wasn’t answering him. He was biting into a bread filled with tomato sauce and cheese. Anderson spoke with an intimidating face, “Answer me.”

“What can I say? It’s not like I was unable to catch on or chose not to.”

“Then why are you so calm?”

“Being serious won’t change anything. Think about when your parents fight. Do you get all serious?”

“… No.”

“It’s just like that. No matter what Rachel and that Jack Hudson talk about, us being serious won’t help. All children can do while adults fight is smile.”

“I see what you mean…”

“Then eat. You’ve been staring at my bread. You want to eat it too, don’t you?”

In response, Anderson’s face flushed. The bread looked good. And since he didn’t have breakfast, the scent of the carbohydrates and butter smelled sweeter than usual.

In the end, Anderson picked up a sweet potato cake. By the time they cleared the plate and went back to buy more for the 5th time, Lisa looked at them weird and asked, “I don’t want my customers to get stomachaches. Are you sure you can eat more?”

“Good food never hurt anyone.”

“I don’t know about that. Medicine is bitter while poison is sweet.”

“I’ve never had poison before, so I wouldn’t know.”

“… Well, I have. That’s 4 dollars and 40 cents.”

By the time they returned to their table, customers were lining up. The reason was simple; it was because they were running out of bread. There was a lot before, but they were almost empty already, which made Cho Min Joon shake his head.

“Do American bakeries always do this well?”

“Of course not. You just tasted how good this place is.”

“Come to think of it, you’ve probably been here many times. Do you know Lisa, too?”

“I just know her face. We’re not close.”

“Yeah, you’re not the type to be friendly with people.”

Anderson knitted his brows but didn’t refute because he was right.

Rachel’s chat ran longer than expected. When the door opened, Anderson and Cho Min Joon’s head turned around at the same time, but it was Amelia. Amelia sat next to them and opened her mouth.

“Phew, this is tiring. Can I eat one?”

“Of course. How’s it going in there?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not good or bad. That’s all it is when you make up. The same goes for when you give up.”

He understood making up, but not the part about giving up. She must’ve noticed it because she bit into her bread with cream cheese as she said, “Oh, I guess you don’t know yet. Jack is retired now. Not because he wanted to, but because of his body. He can’t make bread anymore.”

“… That’s sad to hear. Then why…”

Cho Min Joon stopped talking out of realization. His eyes were fixed on Amelia’s bread. Amelia nodded.

“Lisa’s a talented breadmaker. Jack can’t stand in front of the oven anymore. In that case, it’s quite meaningful for the daughter to be able to make her father’s dream come true. Besides, the two of them had to meet one day anyway… right? Lisa.”

Amelia looked behind her with a smile. Lisa approached and looked down at her with calm eyes. She opened her moth.

“Amelia, you can’t do this.”

“You know this is something that had to be resolved eventually.”

“… Father is very tired.”

“Maybe he’ll have more energy once he gets through today.”

“You could’ve at least called me.”

“That’s true. I’m sorry.”

Her apology was too quick. It seemed like Lisa had more to say, but she simply sighed. Amelia finished her bread and looked behind her. There were no customers, and no more bread left either. She spoke in a disappointed voice,

“Do you have any more bread in the back?”

“We do have an unbaked batter. Would you like some?”

“… I’d rather just eat some jam.”

Amelia grumbled in a sad voice. At that moment, small Ella opened the door and walked over. She then planted her face against Lisa’s waist.

“Mom!”

“… Ella, didn’t I tell you? You can’t just roam around in your pajamas.”

“Aw… But I like my pajamas.”

“What a beautiful daughter.”

Cho Min Joon spoke in a sincere voice. She was so cute she could’ve been a child model on TV. Ella glanced back at Cho Min Joon before smiling and hiding behind Lisa. Lisa sighed.

“Ella, don’t pull on my clothes. They’ll stretch out.”

For someone who didn’t like children, Anderson’s eyes looked quite soft. At that moment, they heard footsteps approaching. Cho Min Joon wiped the smile off of his face and got up.

“Did you… finish your talk?”

“I did…”

Rachel stared at Cho Min Joon with strange eyes. Cho Min Joon didn’t understand what her gaze meant. At that moment, Jack stared at Cho Min Joon and reached out his hand.

“I’m Jack Hudson.”

“I’m Cho Min Joon.”

Cho Min Joon grabbed Jack’s hand. His hand was trembling, but Cho Min Joon pretended not to notice. As soon as they let go of each other’s hands, Jack opened his mouth.

“I heard you’re Rachel’s new hope.”

“Rachel thinks too highly of me.”

“Do you think the hope will be in vain?”

It was a light question, but he couldn’t answer it lightly. Cho Min Joon opened his eyes wide and answered, “No matter what Rachel expects from me, I”ll be sure to satisfy her.”

“… Even if she asks you to pick a star for her?”

“She’s not the type to have unrealistic expectations.”

“No, you’ve got her all wrong. Just to warn you, this woman is crazy.”

Rachel’s lips twitched. She wanted to say something, but since she was at fault, she couldn’t. Cho Min Joon held back his laughter and said, “I heard she was once very unruly.”

“… And Daniel was the only one that it didn’t work on. Daniel had the things that Rachel lacked. I’m not sure if I should call it inspiration or food philosophy. I hated that selfish old man, but I do acknowledge one thing. He was the best in the world. And you… will have to fill his shoes. Are you confident you can do that?”

“Yes.”

Cho Min Joon didn’t hesitate. Jack knitted his brows, but it didn’t sound like it was from pure arrogance. Jack spoke, “I heard you have a perfect palate. That’s a very special talent. You’ll become a chef that everybody knows of one day.”

“Jack, I’ve never thought of my palate as special. It’s just a little more sensitive, but that’s it. I’m not confident to fulfill Rachel’s expectations because I have this palate.”

“… Then why is it?”

“The more care I put into my cooking, the more delicious it gets.”

Cho Min Joon then glanced to the side. There was one piece of Brioche left. It was 8 points. Cho Min Joon put it into his mouth. He then read the system window in front of his eyes.

“I know a lot of things after eating this Brioche. I know you left it to mature every time you made the dough and put on the butter. I also know you used 4 egg yolks for the batter.”

Jack’s eyes trembled. The same went for Lisa. They had heard rumors of Cho Min Joon, but it felt strange to witness it themselves. Even Ella, who was hugging Lisa’s waist, had her eyes wide open.

“But all that does is teach me. I have to think inside the kitchen as a chef just like everybody else. Perfect palate? Seeing a whole different world of food? I wouldn’t say that it doesn’t help. But those we serve all have normal palates. So I’m not all that different from all the other chefs.”

“… Okay. Then why does Rachel trust you so much? If there’s no special worth to your palate, what should she see value in?”

“My desperation.”

It was an unexpected answer. He thought he would name a special talent that he had, but Cho Min Joon didn’t do that. He couldn’t. If talents like that determined everything and limits were set from the beginning… he couldn’t survive that reality.

He did have talent. Even without the system, he had a perfect palate, and he had the inspiration to create new recipes, but that wasn’t an outstanding talent. Kaya was the one who had outstanding talent.

So talent had to be something that he could overcome. Kaya’s rival. He couldn’t accept that the story would end in that same position. Cho Min Joon spoke in a heated voice, “Many probably live their lives desperate over what’s on their plate, but as desperate as I am, I also have the stamina, youth, and will. Just like how a dish becomes more delicious over the time spent on it, I think it’s the same for chefs.”

“But you should know that that’s not why Rachel likes you.”

His heart sank in response. It was true. Rachel was seeing Cho Min Joon, but not for the real Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon bit down on his lip. At that moment, Rachel put her hand on his shoulder.

“No, you’re wrong about that, Jack. What I think highly of isn’t Min Joon’s palate.”

“Then what is it?”

“Min Joon. Him as a preson.”

Both Cho Min Joon and Jack were at a loss for words. Ella, who was staring up at all three of them, pulled Lisa’s clothes. As soon as Lisa looked at her, Ella gestured her to come closer. Lisa whispered, “What is it, Ella? Are you hungry?”

“Mom, did that man just guess how we make our bread?”

“… Yeah. Are you surprised?”

Ella nodded. 6 years old, she was still young, but she had seen countless people ask for their recipe but got turned down. The recipe for their bread was a mysterious question mark, so the fact that Cho Min Joon found out…

“Is that man a fairy?”

“What?”

“Mom, you said there was no way for people to know how we make our bread. So since he got it right, he’s a fairy, right?”

No one knew how she came to that conclusion but what was funny was that the child’s prediction was more realistic than most. Lisa nodded. At that moment, Ella came to a conclusion. Cho Min Joon was a fairy. And there was only one fairy that she knew of. That was how she made a conclusion. Ella asked with a shocked face, “Is that man… Tinker Bell?”