God of Cooking

Chapter 418: Those Preparing to Leave Rose Island (2)

“You’re leaving Rose Island?”

Chloe opened her eyes wide. She couldn’t figure out why she was shocked by what he said, for it had nothing to do with her whether he would leave Rose Island or not as she was not a chef there.

Maybe it was because she knew him too well. She knew how much Anderson admired Rachel and how much he loved being able to work at Rose Island everyday. Nonetheless, he said he would leave Rose Island. Obviously, his decision meant much more than just a job change.

“Honestly, working as a demi-chef these days doesn’t seem to be of much help. Since I’m focused on one cooking section, I feel like I’m losing a sense of other sections. I want to develop an overall sense of kitchen work while working as a sous chef.”

In fact, Anderson could have a more leisurely life as a demi chef because he was still pretty young, considering his fantastic cooking skills. There weren’t many who served as sous chefs at his age. However, it was clear to everyone that after this Paris contest was over, Min-joon, not Anderson, would take over the position of the sous chef at Rose Island.

Anderson said, “Min-joon will most likely take over the head chef position of Rose Island’s main restaurant. And I think I will take over the sous chef of a local Rose Island branch, assuming there is a position available. Otherwise, I may have to wait indefinitely until I can find one… But I can’t sit idle until then.”

In her eyes, Anderson already seemed to have made up his mind to leave Rose Island to find his own nest.

‘I’ll miss him.’

She hoped that even if Anderson or Min-joon left Rose Island, they would not leave Los Angeles because she got reunited with them only recently. She felt like she would be alone again if they left. Of course, she had a lot of friends other than them, but it was the two she could confide in and rely on when she was really distressed.

It might be because they have the same chef jobs or maybe because they had been together from the moment when they began to dream about becoming a great chef. When she met them, she felt like she was meeting her bosom friends at her kindergarten and elementary school.

‘I can’t play house with them anymore,’ Chloe made a sad smile.

As if he noticed her bitter smile, Anderson said, “We should be adults. We can’t just have fun forever.”

“I wanted to stay with you.”

“Maybe,” Anderson muttered.

Chloe blinked her eyes, tilting her head. Her big eyes that looked green or brown under her long black lashes were asking how.

With a gentle smile, he said, “If we are competent enough to open a restaurant later, we can join hands together and open a restaurant, or each of us can open a restaurant in the same area. Then we can pick a fight, play fun, comfort, or inspire each other when we hit a slump. Growing old like that is my dream.”

At that moment, Chloe made a small groan before she knew it. Suddenly, it came to her mind that they were talking about their dreams while eating Norimaki on Lake Michigan. At that time, Kaya talked about a restaurant where the poor could come in without hesitation and enjoy the best of dishes they could imagine, while Min-joon talked about a restaurant with a menu where they could serve customers what they wanted to eat.

‘Let me forget about it now…’

A restaurant she could run with her lover. Recalling she mentioned it to Min-joon, she found herself kicking the blanket at night. Back then, she should have confessed to her instead of romantically imagining it in her mind. She stopped thinking about it, clenching her hem. By the way, what kind of restaurant did Anderson said he was going to open?

‘Oh, he was agonizing about whether he would run his own restaurant or inherit it from his parents…’

His dream that was only so realistic back then changed so romantically and wonderfully now.

Chloe opened her mouth with a smile.

“Your dream has changed a lot.”

“Well, dreams are always changing. How about you? You still keep that dream?”

“Don’t make fun of me. You already know my situation.” She pouted with a sullen look.

Looking at her with a smile, Anderson put tomato tartar inside the tomato. Then he put it on a plate with curd and tomato stuffing on it then opened the wine cap.

“Are you going to drink?”

“Sure.”

White wine began to drip onto the transparent wine glasses. It was a cheap wine with a price tag of 3 euros, but the smell was very good.

Chloe muttered in a soft voice, “I hope your dream comes true anytime soon. What a beautiful dream!” she said, chewing tomato tartar.

She suddenly looked down at the plate, realizing how fresh it tasted. She felt he was really a professional chef who put cooking before anything else all the time.

Anderson imagined the day when he could make fresh dishes everyday. He felt if they were together, they would be able to live a daily life that no one else in the world could imagine because cooking alone could create all kinds of happiness in the world.

“I will make that dream come true by all means.”

So, he could never give up that dream.

***

“Min-joon has won again.”

Raphael muttered as if he was surprised. His win was certainly surprising. Honestly, he thought that Rose Island’s demi-chefs would be lucky if they could advance up to the quarterfinals of the Paris International Cooking Contest. So, he didn’t even think any of them could make it to the semifinals. I knew Min-joon’s ability, but Min-joon was still lacking in experience, compared to his creativity and ingeniousness.

But Kaya and Min-joon made up for their lack of experience with some other merits. Should it be called a sense of taste or a cooking talent? Min-joon’s perfect palate and Kaya’s natural sense of cooking. There must be quite a few different reasons for that. What was certain was that it was really not realistic that the pair survived until the semi-finals. Raphael thought it was almost a miracle.

‘What’s interesting is that wherever Min-joon goes, he brings about miraculous results.’

If he could deliberately work miracles, was it not a miracle anymore, but his skill?

Thinking about it like that, Janet asked Rachel tacitly, “I think you have already decided who would take over the sous chef position here since Min-joon only has advanced to the semi-finals.”

“…”

Rachel didn’t answer. Janet’s eyebrows wobbled slightly, wondering if Rachel had not yet decided. She wondered if she could still have a chance of being promoted to the sous chef position. She knew it was a vain hope, but she clung to it. She had to because she wasn’t young. She was older than Anderson. So, she needed to get the position a little faster.

Janet once again called Rachel.

“Chef?”

“Oops, what did you ask?”

“I’m asking you about the sous chef position here. Can I believe you have decided on Min-joon for that position?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you said you would decide on the candidate, based on the results of our performance in the Paris contest, right?”

“Well, more precisely, I told you I would like to make sure you guys were really capable enough to carry out that job.”

“Min-joon has made it to the semi-finals. Honestly, if you don’t think he is not qualified to be the sous chef, don’t you think you set the bar too high?”

Rachel didn’t answer. And Janet could get an answer from her silence.

Janet paused for a moment and looked at Rachel blankly.

Janet said, “It’s not his capability that makes you agonize now.”

Janet was right because Rachel was thinking about what June told her about Min-joon the other day. June talked to her about him a lot, but her message was simple—Rachel’s greed was ruining Min-joon’s career.

But Rachel could ignore her message, but she couldn’t until now because she was asking the same question to herself. She told herself it was childish and ugly for her to try to find Daniel’s traces in Min-joon. And she knew that her greed could suppress Min-joon rather than make him grow, so she honestly wondered if it was alright for her to keep him forever.

“Janet, let’s talk about the sous chef position when they come back from the Paris contest.”

“Got it.”

The matter of the sous chef position was very important to her, but she knew she couldn’t hear a good reply from Rachel even if she demanded it. Janet left her office.

Rachel didn’t say anything for a while. Then she glanced at Raphael.

She asked, “Raphael, Who do you think would be the best suited for our sous chef position?”

“Well, every demi chef here is qualified. They will have a hard time adjusting to it at first, but eventually, they will.”

“I don’t want to hear that.”

“I’m serious. Janet will take over all the chefs with her domineering attitude. Of course, from the point of view of the chefs, they will have to stay tense everyday, but the kitchen is like that anyway. I think she is most suitable for this position in that respect. Anderson is perfect in every way. To be honest, I’m a bit worried about Havier. It doesn’t matter that he’s a little less competent than other demi chefs. The most important thing is his personality. Given his gentle personality, he would not even shout to the demi chefs. So, it’s his fatal weakness that he doesn’t have the charisma to take over the kitchen staff as the sous chef. ”

“How about Min-joon then?”

“Honestly, Min-joon is more suitable as a head chef than as a sous chef. He certainly knows how to check out the atmosphere of the kitchen staff, and his leadership is outstanding among the demi chefs here. But I can see the best of his merit when he creates something on his own. As you know, the sous chef is a position that may be more passive than the demi chef because the sous chef just follows what the head chef instructs.”

“But I can’t give him the head chef position right away without any experience as a sous chef.”

“That’s true. And he doesn’t have the ability to take that position yet. Of course, he can run a restaurant. What’s the point of saying this? After all, what you are concerned about is not his capability, right?”

Without making any excuse for his remarks, she muttered, “I’m not qualified to be a teacher. Actually, I was concerned only with my greed with the pretense that I’m taking care of him. Even if I reflect on myself like this, I feel like I won’t change my attitude even if he comes back.”

In her eyes, Min-joon was like an attractive drawing paper that made her draw something on it.

Of course, Rachel was competent enough to draw something that nobody could dare to surpass, but she was not sure if the picture perfectly suited the color and size of the drawing paper.

“I don’t want to make him a fake because I’m his teacher.”

“Then, what are you going to do?”

Rachel didn’t answer for a while. And she soon showed her cell phone to Raphael.

He groaned after seeing the screen.

“Ah, this is…”