Chapter 208 - One, two, three (3)

“Chef, the bubble went out!” Maya served the soup, crying out.

It was a potato soup with bacon foam that she also served the 36 head chefs. To be exact, Janet was in charge of the soup and Min-joon was in charge of the foam.

Min-joon said, looking at Maya calmly, “Of course, it’s supposed to go off. I told you already, the cream base foam was supposed to go out when you apply heat. What did I tell you to do to stop it?”

“Ah! You said I should add egg whites, starch, belsa whip, or agar, etc.”

“Okay, you know it well. Then you know what to do next and how to fix it?”

“Alright. I’ll fix it right away.”

Raphael said with a nod, seeing Maya walking to the counter right away, “It’s still difficult for you to adapt properly here. But you are already making her grow up as a cook. Great, Min-joon, I recognize your great adaptability.”

“Cooking is team play. It’s good for me to improve my skills, but I thought improving the skills of my colleagues is also very important to solve the problem. Of course, this kind of process will also help me improve my skills.”

“Molecular cuisine has the highest correlation between knowledge and skills of cooking styles. It means that if you know how to cultivate your taste, you can improve your skills. Well, in fact, when it comes to large restaurants, the basics are your taste because it’s virtually impossible for the head chef to make all the dishes. In places like sushi and noodle restaurants, they can put the spirit of a craftsman on every plate, but we are basically different from them. Do you understand it?”

“Yes, I get it.”

Min-joon nodded. He also understood well that cooking skills and the ability to lead the kitchen staff were different.

The restaurant was supposed to open tomorrow. Even Raphael, who always seemed detached from worldly worries, seemed to be very tense when he said, “People would think that Rose Island will testify to it tomorrow. In other words, they will say the legend of Rose Island is no illusion, and there are dishes at Rose Island where just eating alone can help you forget all your sadness. They will believe that the place we are standing now is the red carpet laid with glory and applause.”

“But what you want to say now is in reality, it’s a big challenge, right? If you make even a little mistake, you can fall off the cliff anytime. Are you nervous?” Min-joon asked.

“How can’t I be nervous? Where in the world are there parents who are not scared when they give birth to babies? Even though they know the joy that will come along quite soon, they must be scared in the face of the immediate pain. They might be afraid of what they should do if something goes wrong? Or they will be consumed by that kind of nervousness. I’m no different. I’m afraid of tomorrow. But at the same time, I wish tomorrow would come as soon as possible.” “Maybe Master Rachel is more nervous than we are now, right?”

At his asking, Raphael looked straight at Rose Island without replying.

Rachel was quietly watching the kitchen chefs cooking.

There was no slack or relaxation in her eyes. Like a bowstring pulled firmly with tension and determination, she was overflowing with energy that would explode anytime soon.

Min-joon asked, looking at Raphael, “I’ve got one question I always wanted to ask. It’s a little personal. Can I?”

“Just ask me anything. I’m not a girl in her teens, so I don’t want to say, ‘ please respect my privacy’ or anything like that.”

“Why are you wandering here and there? You’ve been serving as a sous chef at La Garde at Arzo Hotel. I heard that you were mentioned as the next head chef, but how could you give up all that and think about running a food truck? Of course, your business was successful after all, but nobody could understand your decision.”

“Min-joon, I didn’t know you would ask me such a question. You ran out too from Korea, and your parents, right? I heard that it’s quite difficult for Asians to be independent of their parents.”

“I ran out, but it’s because I could not reconcile my goal with my parents’ under any circumstances. In your case, weren’t you on the same page in terms of the direction of the hotel? Well, even if it wasn’t a hotel, the food truck would have been right for you. That’s why you ran out like that and tried it yourself. Even if it had not served your purpose, you could have changed the direction little by little to your taste.”

Min-joon was curious about this guy named Raphael. In terms of being innovative, he was the most innovative guy in the chef world. Perhaps, there was no chef with a more unique mental world than this man, at least in America.

But he wasn’t just innovative and unique alone. Raphael was certainly a great chef. He looked peculiar, not because he was weird, but because he discerned something others didn’t notice. Minj-joon could understand him a bit because he himself also discerned something invisible to others. Of course, what he noticed was a bit different from what Raphael saw.

Min-joon wanted to make everything about Raphael his own, namely his thoughts, his gaze, and his world. He wanted to understand and accept them. Fortunately, Raphael wasn’t the type of man who liked to hide his thoughts or feelings.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“I think cooking is an art. It has to change and improve all the time. Of course, not everyone thinks that way. Not all chefs think that way. And I’m not saying what I think is right. It’s just the direction I’m pursuing.”

“I know what you mean. There are restaurants that give you warm satisfaction through your meals, while there are restaurants that give you a thrilling shock. If I rate you, Chef Raphael must belong to the latter, right?”

“Well, kind of. That’s why I hated a hotel restaurant. They taught me what fine cuisine was, but that’s it. When I became a sous chef, all they could give me was a raise in my salary and a head chef position. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I became a chef because I wanted to do artistic cooking, not because I wanted a stable job with a high salary. So, I ran out and set up a food truck.”

“In fact, I’m most curious about that part. I know you are the most successful businessman as the owner of molecular cooking food trucks. But how come you gave up everything and came to Rose Island again? Of course, since you have a food truck chain, you don’t have to manage it directly, but don’t you think you might regret your decision?”

“Yeah. I’ve got regrets about it. As you know, I’m human. How can I not regret it?”

Raphael responded briefly and quickly glanced down at his hands on the countertop.

His hands with blade scars and burn marks were ugly, but he was proud of his hands.

Raphael said, recalling his pride, “Min-joon, The way to live a decent life is simple. All you have to do is live what others tell you to do, namely the way others think it’s okay. If you go that way, at least you won’t live in poverty.”

“After all, you were not persuaded, right? You didn’t want that kind of life.”

“Nope. I don’t want anything like success. I can’t stand still and accept myself falling in a rut every day. For some, it’s a peaceful and happy life, but for me, it’s a hellish life trapped in a wheel. I told you cooking is an art. I am an artist. A life that has ceased to change is of no value to me, even if I’m surrounded by gold and jewelry.”

“I understand what you mean,” said Min-joon.

Raphael smiled and looked at him.

Then he asked in a curious voice, “I’ve told you a lot about myself, but I didn’t really hear your story, Min-joon. What kind of cooking do you want? What kind of chef do you want to be?”

“I’m…” Min-joon moved his lips hesitantly.

But he didn’t agonize for long. He replied with a subtle smile. Raphael, who heard the answer, wriggled his eyebrows as if surprised for a moment. He then nodded with a serious expression.

“Yes, that’s a good dream. Your dream is great.”

“Thank you.”

There was silence between them again. The sound of fans rattling and flames shooting into the air as well as the boiling of meat and water silenced the second hand of the clock ticking. But it didn’t mean that time stopped. The clock was definitely ticking.

There was one more day to go before the opening of Rose Island or 14 hours.

***

Rose Island’s opening day.

As soon as Kaya opened her eyes, she turned her eyes to the opposite bed. But it was weird. Min-joon, who was supposed to be asleep there, was not seen anywhere on the bed.

Kaya opened her mouth in a sleepy voice.

“Min-jun, are you there?”

Her own slow and little voice turned into a lullaby and tried to put her back to sleep.

She closed and opened her eyes for a moment. Maybe that moment was longer than she thought.

But Min-joon was not seen anywhere. She thought vaguely, feeling hazy, that he might be in the bathroom. But he should be back by now.

As she got more and more sober, she realized that the sunlight was too bright for her to think it was around 7 AM.

Just in case, she lifted her smartphone and immediately frowned. It was well past 7 AM.

“Dang it! Why didn’t the alarm go off?”

It didn’t make sense to get annoyed now. She let out a deep sigh. She got up and left the room.

She leaned against the door frame with her arms folded. As expected, Min-joon was in the kitchen. Why did he look so attractive, dressed in a neat T-shirt, a white shirt and holding a ladle?

Kaya wondered if she had ever had such a beautiful and happy moment in her life. She felt so good about watching him from behind, so much so that it didn’t matter if time stopped forever.

Right at that moment, Min-joon opened his mouth without even looking back.