Chapter 171 - Chapter 171: Overlapped Shadows (1)

“Ooh…”

Ella grabbed her cheeks with a complicated face, and Janet looked at Ella and asked her in a confident voice, “How is it? It’s good, right?”

“… I like the one Uncle Min Joon made better.”

“Okay. You like what you like, but what about the taste?”

In response, Ella wriggled her lips without a word. It made her angry, but the one Janet made her was much more delicious. Her silence was the answer. Cho Min Joon shrugged.

“Ella, if it was good, it’s good manners to say so.”

“Your jelly was good too though.”

Ella started to even shed tears on top of her anger as if she didn’t want to tell Cho Min Joon that he lost. She was the most passionate fan. Janet spoke in a bitter voice, “Am I the bad guy now?”

“No, you’re just a witch who’s harassing her fairy.”

“… I do hear often that I’m like a witch.”

It was half a joke, but Janet sounded serious. Cho Min Joon felt his body grow cold as he looked back at Janet. Did she say she was a mix between Taiwanese and Japanese? He felt close to her because she looked pretty Korean, but the more he got to know Janet, the harder it was to read her.

‘Seeing how she treats Ella, I don’t think she’s a bad person.’

Of course, it was hard to judge a person just by how they treated a kid. But the face that Janet made sometimes to Ella was so warm that it was more than just interest. It was as if she was looking at her own kid. If she liked other children that much, Cho Min Joon thought she must have good nature.

‘But she’s so cold with everybody else.’

Anderson wasn’t the type to be friendly to strangers either, so he didn’t try to talk to Janet. The cooks were all busy getting close to each other, and the same went for the breadmakers. And of course, the apprentices as well. It was hard for apprentices to get friendly with demi chefs.

One of the prejudices about Western countries was that there was no such thing as rank. Of course, that might’ve been possible in some companies but not in a restaurant.

The rank culture in restaurants could be obviously seen just by the names of the positions. It couldn’t be helped. The more customers that came, the busier the kitchen became, and in that case, the staff didn’t know what to do. In order to avoid making mistakes, it was important to have a clear structure of command.

‘… There’s no need for demi chefs to get close though.’

Since their sections were divided up, there was no need to interact with each other. But that was only the case when talking about kitchen efficiency. In any case, unless something happened, they would be colleagues for years. If it was awkward to see each other, things would be harder for no reason.

In that sense…

“Try this! Lisa made this Kishew. It’s the most Kishew I’ve ever tried.”

Havier was a comfortable person. Positive energy radiated from his body, and he was really like that. Lisa spoke with an embarrassed face behind Havier.

“Stop it.”

“I’m just speaking the truth.”

“Still, everyone knows it’s good.”

“… I guess I didn’t have to hype it up for you.”

In response, Lisa smiled playfully. Cho Min Joon was surprised. Lisa was similar to Janet but was quiet in a different sense, so it was hard to see such a bright smile on her face.

“Oh, Min Joon, what are you doing? Have this.”

“You can’t get my hopes up and then only give me this much.”

Cho Min Joon spoke in a dejected voice. The pie on his plate was only as big as his finger. The outside was crispy and dry while there were melted cheese and dried tomatoes on top. Kishew, it was a French pie that was enjoyed as a meal. Havier smiled.

“We’re chefs. You should know the taste just by one bite.”

He was right. Cho Min Joon put the pie in his mouth and chewed slowly. Since it was a pie, there was a lot of butter in it. The taste was savory, and the cheesy added an oily favor. Cho Min Joon thought for a moment. Where was the cheese from? He thought about it and then checked the system to find out that he was right. Cho Min Joon spoke with a satisfied face, “It’s Gruyere cheese. The fatty taste is strong.”

“You got it right again.”

“Gruyere cheese is normally strong. Ella must be happy. Does your mom make you bread like this every day?”

“Yes. But I like jelly better than bread.”

In response, Lisa looked at Ella with strict eyes. Janet smiled warmly at the way Ella avoided her mom’s eyes. Of course, her face immediately changed when she met eyes with Cho Min Joon.

“It looks like you really like kids.”

“… Who doesn’t like kids?”

“Some don’t, because they’re noisy and annoying.”

“Huh? I’m quiet. I’m not annoying, either.”

“Yeah. That’s because you’re a good girl.”

Cho Min Joon smiled softly at Ella’s sad face. Ella laughed and asked,

“But Uncle, what are you going to cook? Aunt Janet makes… What was it called again?”

“Appetizer?”

“Oh, yes! Aunt makes those. What about you, Uncle?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“I want you to make jelly.”

In response, Janet burst into laughter. She then tried to hold it back and then covered her mouth with her hands. Lisa approached Janet and said, “You must really like my daughter.”

“… She’s a beautiful girl. I’m jealous.”

Her voice was not only sincere, but it was heavy. But Lisa was Lisa. She wasn’t taken aback and responded in a heavy voice as well.

“She’s my biggest pride and joy.”

“I can see you’re close, but don’t you think you’re too much like a documentary?”

“I never told you about our lives though.”

“Not all documentaries share information. Maybe it’s not a documentary but…. Hm… What should I call it?”

“Kitchens are normally a comedy or a drama.”

Cho Min Joon joked to Havier. Havier smirked and replied, “Drama it is. Comedies seem tiring.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I feel bad for Janet… But I want to do the appetizer, too.”

“You’re overlapping. Were appetizers always this popular?”

“This is good for us.”

A low voice followed from behind. It was Anderson. Cho Min Joon looked at him and asked, “I thought you were interested in appetizer, too. Where do you want to go?”

“Pasta.”

“… Hm.”

Cho Min Joon crossed his arms and cupped his chin. He said he wanted pasta, but that section also made risotto. So that was the section Cho Min Joon was interested in as well.

Every restaurant was different in the way they separated sections. In the case of Chinese restaurants, they were split into noodles, fire, and knife, while Western restaurants depended on their scale. They either separated the chefs by fish, meat, and grain… or pan, oven, and pot.

The sections that Rachel offered were five types. The main section, which would take care of cooking down meat or fish or make steak. The appetizer section, which would be in charge of soups, mousses, or carpaccio. The grain section, which would take care of pasta or risotto. The patisserie, Lisa would be in charge of the desserts that require the oven, and the remaining section…

‘Molecular cooking.’

Rachel retired before she could universalize molecular cooking. No one knew just how much she knew about it, but Rachel was confident. It was as if she had something up her sleeve.

What was for certain was that Cho Min Joon wasn’t going to pick molecular cooking. He was interested, but he didn’t know anything. Molecular cooking had a completely different set of basics. He wasn’t sure if he could carry it out as a demi chef.

When he thought about his system, the best section was the appetizer. After all, the proportions of the ingredients were the most important for appetizers. And with his system, if there was a problem, he could figure it out using the cooking score.

But what Cho Min Joon was considering was the pasta or main. When it came to appetizers, it was more about waiting than rapid decisions, and with Cho Min Joon’s personality, he was more suited for the pasta or steak, where he had to focus much more. Cho Min Joon contemplated on what to do before letting out a sigh.

“… But what’s the point in talking about it? It’s not like we decided on how to choose.”

“That’s why we’re talking about it now. We have to talk about what we want now, so we can figure out how much we get paid.”

In response to Havier, Cho Min Joon shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’m still unpaid.”

“Come on, why does that matter? You have Rachel’s card, and you even have a place to live.”

“But I’m still thinking. Oh, but one thing’s for sure.”

He spoke sternly, “I won’t do molecular cooking.”

***

“4996. 4998. 4999…”

Cho Min Joon counted as he refreshed the screen on his phone, and then a bright smile spread across his face.

“5000!”

“… You’re just rubbing it in my face, aren’t you?”

Rachel’s house, to be more exact, Cho Min Joon’s room. Anderson looked at Cho Min Joon uncomfortably. Cho Min Joon smirked and asked, “Are you jealous?”

“… Not really.”

The number Cho Min Joon was counting was the number of his Starbook followers. Compared to Anderson, who had 4000 despite starting much earlier, Cho Min Joon was very ahead. Anderson grumbled and opened his mouth.

“That’s because I don’t post very much.”

“Really? You post at least once a day, like cooking tips.”

“… Shut up. I’m going to sleep.”

“Hey, don’t lay on my bed.”

“I’ll buy your bed. How much?”

“Issac said the mattress alone is 4000 dollars.”

In response, Anderson sprung up and looked at the bed. He then poked the mattress with a strange face

“This costs as much as my monthly pay?”

“To be more exact, it’s 500 dollars more than your monthly pay.”

“… You don’t even get paid.”

“I was sad about that at first, but this isn’t so bad. I get to sleep on a mattress that’s worth more than your pay.”

“I want to live here, too.”

“That won’t happen under your parents’ watch.”

“I don’t know if Rachel would even let me in. I’m jealous. She treats you like her son. How does it feel?”

Cho Min Joon didn’t answer. He wasn’t ignoring him. The notification on his phone turned him stiff. Anderson looked at Cho Min Joon with a weird face

“What? What’s wrong?”

“… W-what? Hey, is today the 25th?”

“No. It’s the 23rd. Why?”

“Look.”

Cho Min Joon showed him his phone screen. There was a photo. A photo of a plane ticket. The destination was LAX. The airport in LA. The arrival date was August 25. Anderson asked in a confused voice, “What about it?”

Instead fo answering, Cho Min Joon pressed on the screen. The text message that appeared made Anderson sigh.

[Kaya: The woman who needs to go on a diet is on her way.]