Chapter 216 - Everybody has their own story (2)

Min-joon looked at the smartphone screen for a while even after he hung up the phone.

As someone who was raised with love in an affluent family, he found it hard to fully know the pain of poverty that Kaya’s family suffered. But he could understand their pain because he could see it clearly. Although they were largely out of poverty, they were suffering from it even now.

‘What can I do for her?’

He could not think of anything right now. All he could do right now was to properly boil the potato soup. There was nothing special about it because it was the soup leftover from the hotel kitchen. At best, he could make bacon foam with a whisk. He did it several times a day, so it was so easy to make that he didn’t even feel it was part of molecular cooking.

When he entered the bedroom with the potato soup, the warmth of the bonfire from the fireplace was heating up the room. He approached Kaya. He removed the wet towel from her forehead and touched the back of his hand on her neck. It was still hot. She smiled feebly.

“I’m sorry for being sick again.”

“Nobody wants to be sick, so don’t say that. Come on. Just get up for a second and have some soup.”

“I would rather lie on the bed. I don’t have any appetite now.”

“No. If you don’t eat anything because you have no appetite, you will never get better. This soup is really delicious. So, trust me and get up.”

He put his arm behind her back. Her clothes were wet with sweat, but she didn’t care when he touched it because he was her lover. She leaned on his arm and smiled.

“Oh, it looks like you have muscled up.”

“You told me to exercise until I can muscle up like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“To be honest, that’s too much.”

“Glad to hear that!”

Min-joon smiled and scooped the soup with a spoon. She ate it like a baby bird and smiled gently. “Now I know why you’re so confident. What the heck is this? Why does it taste like bacon? I don’t think there’s bacon in the soup.”

“Well, it’s bacon foam on top.”

“Oh, it wasn’t just a bubble. Tastes good. I’m surprised to find you can recreate potato soup like this.”

“Isn’t it surprising that the diet for a patient can be so delicious?”

“You’re right. I think I want to be sick if I want to enjoy this soup!”

“Nah, don’t say that. Why the hell are you so weak? You said you survived even in harsh places like the market.”

“Well, I have to do more work than I used to at the market as you know. Besides, I travel around the world sometimes, so I find it hard to get adjusted to jet lag. Stop talking and give me more soup. It tastes really delicious.”

“Man, you said you have no appetite, right?”

He raised the spoon with a smile. She swallowed the soup with an effort then leaned her head under his chin as if it’s hard even to swallow.

She asked in a slightly anxious voice.

“You are not going to blame me because I have not washed my hair, right?”

“Kaya, I’m not that inflexible. Do you really think I am?”

“Well, you’re usually, aren’t you?”

When she balked, he grinned. He then kissed her cheek. And he put the soup in his mouth this time. She opened her eyes wide and raised her voice.

“Hey! No! You’re going to catch my cold!”

“Nope, I didn’t catch your cold last time. It looks like I don’t catch your cold.”

“Are you kidding, you idiot? As a chef, you have to take care of yourself properly. Okay?”

“Are you caring about me as my wife now?”

“Yep, that’s right! Any problem?”

“No, not really. I like it.”

As soon as she was about to say something again, he pushed the soup into her mouth.

With her face red because of fever, she was looking at him in dissatisfaction. He kissed her forehead then immediately stuck out his tongue, shaking his head.

“It’s salty on your forehead, Kaya. It tastes sweaty.”

“You need my good scolding, right?”

“I don’t think it will hurt even if a patient like you punches me.”

“Don’t you know it really hurts even if a baby hits your private area?”

“Oops! Sorry, I won’t tease you anymore then.”

Min-joon immediately got cold feet. She pinched his chin as if she liked his quick apology then asked with a low voice, “You called somebody in the kitchen earlier. Did you call my mom?”

“Yes, I told her she didn’t have to worry.”

“I think I know how she reacted. She must have said she was sorry. I just don’t understand why she keeps saying sorry, sorry, sorry when she didn’t commit any crime. She didn’t do me wrong anyway.”

“Well, as you know, parents wish they could do more for their children, but they could not for various reasons. After all, they want to be the best parents in the world.”

“My mom was the best for me. She is still the best.”

“Yes, I guess so.”

He caressed her cheek with a smile. She narrowed her eyes, looking at him.

“Sometimes you seem to treat me like a child, not a woman.”

“You’re a baby, aren’t you? Let me keep reminding you of this. You’re still a teenager.”

“Whew! Don’t say that ever again. Let’s talk about my mom. If she comes to Los Angeles soon, I have to have her meet my father too. I just can’t guess what the hell will happen.”

“I guess your mother has a lot of thought on her mind. I think you feel complicated, too.”

“I don’t care even if I feel complicated because I don’t have to express it. I wish my mom knew that I think we were not deserted by my father, even though it’s a lie. I think I feel less painful to think my mom and I are separated from him for a while rather than living as an abandoned wife and daughter, respectively.”

“I don’t think it’s a lie. It’s funny to judge a person by looking at him or her, but I felt your mother didn’t lie about it.”

Although Min-joon was not sure of her mother’s intentions, he felt it would comfort Kaya more if he said so. Kaya sighed then looked up at him.

“The first thing I worry about now is where I have them meet.”

“They can meet at a restaurant.”

“That’s the issue now. At first, I wanted to invite them to the restaurant I work at, but I would like to have them meet at the best restaurant, if possible. As you know, this is the best moment of my life.”

“The best? Are you thinking of…?”

“Maybe….”

“Yes.” Kaya nodded.

“Rose Island, the world’s most famous and prestigious restaurant. And it’s a place where one of my family works. Don’t you think there is no better place than this one where my broken family members can meet again?”

He didn’t respond immediately. At that moment, one word that she just said kept echoing around his ears. A restaurant ‘one of my family’ works. He didn’t have to think long about who she was talking about.

He looked at her face. Obviously, she didn’t say it on purpose, so there was no awkwardness on her face, which made him feel she looked more lovely.

“I want to kiss you, Kaya. Can I?”

“I said no. And my body twinges if a nerd like you is being cheesy like that. Got it?”

“What’s wrong? Kissing you is better than not doing anything? No?”

“No thanks. By the way, what do you think? Is it okay if I invite them to your hotel restaurant?”

“It’s your first meal as a family. I think you can’t find a better place than Rose Island. Like you said, it’s a restaurant where one of your family works, isn’t it?”

“What the heck?! Why are you saying it emphatically?”

Only then did Kaya pout her lips with an embarrassed expression.

Instead of answering, he poked her lips with a spoon.

She opened her mouth again, and he asked in a quiet voice, “Are you having a hard time now? I mean your work, not your sickness.”

“Any work is hard, you know.”

“Do you feel rewarded?”

At that question, she raised her head and looked at him. He felt it before, but now he felt again the way she looked at him now was so lovely. She looked so lovely and pretty that he even felt she was not real. At this moment, he again felt that the shadow of the sunlight over her nose was so lovely. Her thick double eyelids swelled because of fatigue, and her freckles on both cheeks reddened from fever. He felt it all anew again.

She opened her mouth. Then she began to reel off her own story with a heavy heart.

“I felt my job was rewarding in the beginning. I thought so because I felt I achieved something.

Then after I came to Los Angeles and found myself like a puppet, I became lethargic for some time. Then I got recharged after meeting you and did my best. Finally, my restaurant listed my menu, and I’m happy again.”

“It’s the same for me. You know what. Whenever I was in trouble, struggling hard, I used to cheer up with your advice.”

“Then, please be a little nicer to me, okay? You had me prepare breakfast every day, let alone cleaning and throwing the garbage. That’s why I’m sick, right?”

“Even if I said I would help you, you said you wanted to keep the promise, you didn’t want to be a coward, right?”

“Even if I don’t like it, just help me. Even if I pretend I’m okay or pretend to be strong, please hug me sometimes. Even if I say that, I’m not really okay, or I’m not strong. I told you again and again that I’m still a young teenager.”

“Oh, you’re right. I often forget it because you are so cool.”

“You’re paying me lip service all the time!”

As if she didn’t like it, she hit her head against his shoulder.