Chapter 218 - Everybody has their own story (4)

“Don’t worry, Min-joon. If your dishes are not good enough to meet the perfect standards of Rose Island, I won’t accept them. So, try it! Think hard what your own dishes are and what kind of dish you want to treat them with.”

“No matter how much I think about it, I’m not sure if I can make any better recipe than yours in less than a month.”

Rachel shook her head and said, “A chef is an adventurer. You don’t know that there is an island on the other side, but you just set a boat afloat. Min-joon, I trust you. Can’t you trust me?”

Min-joon moved his lips slightly. Without an air of pretense, arrogance, and timidity, he said, with a bit of faith in his heart, “Well, I …”

Putting one’s own recipe on the menu was what the demi chefs at all restaurants were always dreaming of, but it was pretty hard to realize that dream. It was never easy for a demi chef to produce a menu good enough to satisfy the head chef’s standards.

In some cases, even the sous chef’s recipe was rejected by the head chef. So, it was not hard to believe how difficult the homework Min-joon had at the moment.

To be exact, it wasn’t just Min-joon’s homework. Rachel gave such an opportunity not only to Min-joon but to other demi chefs as well. She couldn’t show her favoritism only to Min-joon.

“Min-joon, I got a good chance, too, thanks to you.”

“Do you have any recipes in mind?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a recipe in mind, but I’m not sure if it will work,” Havier said, shrugging his shoulders.

Rachel often discarded even her own recipe, saying it was not good enough, although Min-joon and other demi chefs thought it was perfect.

‘I remember she put it off even though she had an expected cooking score of 10,’ Min-joon thought to himself.

He thought about what he would have done if he had been in her place. Maybe he would have bent over backward using that recipe because he was satisfied with the perfect score.

But Rachel was different. Even though the score was perfect, she didn’t hesitate to discard it if she was not satisfied. It might be an ideal dish that Min-joon could never make in his lifetime, but she could easily make it with a bit of hard thinking.

Min-joon looked at the warehouse. He saw dozens or hundreds of windows overlapping the food inside it. Facing the ever-growing windows out there, he muttered in a vague voice.

“What’s the difference between me and Master Rachel?”

“Do you think you’re asking the right question now?”

“Of course, there is a difference. But I just want to know what makes the difference. The ability to grasp the harmony of ingredients? Creativity? Or the formula to extract the taste? What is it? What can I do to get even one step closer to her ability? Aren’t you curious?”

“I’m curious, but you can’t solve it by just thinking. All you have to do is to learn what she teaches you as a rule and follow her teachings.”

“Well, It’s you who wants to do something until Christmas.”

“That’s correct, too.”

Min-joon bowed his head with a gloomy expression. Janet glanced at him a bit and said, “Aren’t you too greedy?”

“Me?”

“You have it all. Rachel’s love, customers’ attention, and cooking talent. But I don’t think you’re satisfied. Can’t you be a little more relaxed?”

“Janet, I didn’t know I would hear you talking to me like that.”

Janet said, “I’m greedy, too. I might be a little impatient. But I am not too hard on myself because I’ve not achieved much. Actually, I’ve done well. I’ve come as far as here. Just because there are more steps for me to walk up, it doesn’t mean all the steps I’ve walked up are meaningless. So…” Janet said again in a sharp voice, “Don’t say that to me desperately like that as if you were facing a barrier that you can’t overcome. You’re making me frustrated .”

“Sorry, Janet.”

“Good to know you got it.”

Janet turned her head sullenly. She spoke to him defiantly, but after all, she was advising him.

This time, she gave him useful advice.

‘It’s not the stairs you have to walk up, but the stairs you’ve already walked up. What stairs have I walked up so far?’ Min-joon asked himself.

***

Min-joon had lots of experiences with devising a recipe within a given period. With the cooking contest around the corner, he had to come up with a plausible recipe within minutes. On the other hand, when he was preparing a food tasting event before Rose Island reopened, he had a lot of time to devise a recipe.

In terms of preparation time, it had never been as long as now. Min-joon was given almost one month until Christmas Eve. However, he found it harder this time because he had to come up with a recipe while working at Rose Island. There was too much work for him to properly focus on the recipe.

“Kaya, is she better now?”

“Yes, Mom. She is going to go to work again tomorrow.”

“You seem to have a hard time at a young age. Be nice to her. I told you this, but I am not sure what they think in America, but I think if you have already begun to live with her, you are as good as married to her. Don’t think you are just her boyfriend or lover. Think of her as your wife and family. Got it?”

“Don’t worry. That’s how I treat her now.”

“Anything unusual these days?”

“Well, nothing special, but…”

Min-joon hesitated for a moment. He didn’t need to hide it, but he wondered if he needed to consult with his mom—Hye-sun Lee—about the recipe, for her dishes didn’t impress even her children at all last time. But he didn’t want to avoid her question.

So, he said casually, “I have received an assignment. This Christmas Eve, Kaya’s family will… Oh, I told you about it last time, right? I mean Kaya’s father.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Well, Kaya’s family will gather at Rose Island on Christmas Eve, but Rachel has asked me to come up with my own recipe for Kaya’s family.”

“Oh, does it mean you are serving only your dishes for them?”

“No. I would be glad if I could include even one more with my recipe on the menu. Anyway, Rachel has given me the homework. I have to buy crabs, squid, and oysters as seafood.

The fruits are mainly pomegranate. It seems that this is the best in California in December. I can use any meat and fowl.”

“Got it. I’m sorry, but I really don’t have anything to tell you as far as cooking is concerned.”

“That’s fine. Anyway, I didn’t expect it from you.”

When he said that, he heard a loud sigh from her over the phone.

She muttered in a depressed voice, “Other kids say their mother’s dishes are the best…”

“Well, their mothers must be good at cooking”

“Enough, son. You’re too straightforward. I just want to tell you one thing. Remember the last time I and Ara went to the tournament?”

“Yes, I lost at that time.”

“What did you have on your mind back then? You just wanted to win? Or you wanted to show your dishes to us? Or you wanted to make dishes that we wanted?”

“Well, I think I wanted all of them you just mentioned. After all, we humans are…”

“You might ignore what I’m saying because I’m poor at cooking, but let me give you a piece of my mind. You are a professional chef now. In other words, you get paid for making dishes for your customers. I think the difference between a professional and an amateur is whether they do what they want to do or do what customers want.”

Although she was a bit critical, Min-joon immediately understood what she was talking about. He opened his mouth with a big sigh.

“What you mean is I have to make dishes for Kaya’s family, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re smart, my son!”

“Got it, Mom. Thank you. I’ll take that into account deeply.”

“Good. Let me hang up the phone now. You must be tired.”

“Sure. I will call you next time.”

He hung up the phone and immediately looked back at the kitchen. There were not many ingredients in the refrigerator at home. What he had in it was meat, pomegranate, and squid frozen in the freezer. While he was lost in thought, watching them, somebody called him.

It was Kaya.

“You talked with your mom, right?”

“Yes, she was worried a lot about you.”

“Really?”

“Do you think I’m lying to you now?”

“I feel good. Lie or not, it’s good to know that someone cares about me.”

“Didn’t you feel it usually?”

“Not many times,” said Kaya, smiling lightly.

Min-joon replied with a low voice, “From now on, thousands, tens of thousands of people will worry about you. You are such an important woman now. You are now an adult.”

“What the heck?! Are you telling me I’m an adult now?”

“I can’t treat you as a child all the time.”

He replied with a calm voice as if to say it was natural. Then he pulled out all the ingredients from the refrigerator and asked slowly, “Is anybody in your family picky about food?”

“Mom and Zemma are not picky, but…”

“Oh, you are not sure about your father.”

“Nope.” Kaya replied with a heavy heart. She put her arms around his chest and put her chin on his shoulder. He didn’t feel like she was showing her affection. Rather, he felt she looked like a kitten that wanted to be held in anyone’s arms.

Kaya said gloomily as if she was scratched and hurt, “Isn’t it funny? I don’t know what he likes or what kind of person he is, but I come to call him my father just because he has a blood relationship with me. Whether I like it or now, he is supposed to take a really big place in my life.”

“You don’t like it?”