God of Cooking

At that moment, Dave looked at June with mixed feelings.

“I don’t have any intention of competing with you.”

“Do you mean you want to give up?”

“I don’t give up. But I don’t want to give up what I’ve cherished so far because of the executive chef position of Rhodes Island. I’ll just do what I’m doing, so I won’t get distracted by my greed.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “So, I hope you can do the same. I don’t want you to lose what you already have.”

Watching him quietly, she thought he just said that casually despite his mixed feelings.

His affectionate tone gave her the illusion that their relationship, which had already ended, was not over yet. But she quickly tried to pull herself together and controlled the expression on her face. But it seemed she failed to do so because her voice was also surprisingly affectionate before she knew it.

“You know. Because of my greed, I already missed everything. I don’t know what you have cherished until now, but what I cherished so far is my greed.”

Why did she mention it? She must have confirmed a few years ago how her affectionate feelings about him ended up. Back then she realized that her greed and Dave’s dream could not go together. Nonetheless, why did she still feel affectionate toward him?

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When one looks at the mountain, one sees the greenery of the leaves. When one looks at the sky, one sees the dazzling sunlight, and when one looks at the sea, the waves are so sparkling that one feels touched.

Min-joon thought life was like that. But it wasn’t. What he found in Ella’s smile was not light, but sadness, when he hugged her tightly. He was not sure whether it was her sadness or his. All he could see was that she seemed to have grown bigger while he couldn’t see her and that she tightened her grip on his arms.

“Have you been doing well, Ella?”

“No,” Ella replied with a sullen voice. “I was lonely.”

It wasn’t something a child like her could mention easily. Actually, she should not have mentioned something like that. He carefully stroked her hair. There was nothing he could say about her loneliness because he could do nothing about it.

He looked at Lisa sitting on the hospital bed behind her.

She seemed a little more skinny. There was something like a hospital smell from her.

“I heard that your surgery was successful. Congratulations, Lisa!”

“Thank you. It’s just beginning, but I think I can endure it,” she said with a smile.

Watching her smile, he wondered if she was feigning a smile or if her smile was real because she believed she could overcome her illness. He had no choice but to keep wondering about it because if she lost the fight against her illness, that would be it. She would have no more chance of standing up again.

“Ella. Can I talk to your mother for a minute?”

“I want to be with you, too.”

“Excuse us for a minute, won’t you?”

“Okay…”

Was it because she had to part with him, who she met again after a long time? With her shoulders drooping, she stepped out of her room in frustration.

Lisa slowly opened her mouth to him, who was looking back at Ella.

“I’m sorry. I think I’ve made you worry about me.”

“If you think you’re sorry, don’t say it that way. I’m the one who desperately wants your story to be a comedy, not a tragedy. I don’t want anything like a gloomy development in your story.”

“That’s right. I thought I would be a little energetic when I saw you, Min-joon. Anyway, you’re one of the most energetic chefs around me. Maybe that’s why Ella follows you, in particular, right?”

He smiled slightly, nodding at her.

Watching him quietly, she opened his mouth with a calm voice.

“I heard that you were selected as a judge this time. Congratulations!”

“Thank you. In fact, I’m not sure if this is something you can congratulate me for.”

“Of course you should be congratulated because you are in a position to judge many head chefs. Who else has been invited as a judge like you until now?”

“None yet…”

“People will probably think a chef named Min-joon has just stood out as a great chef for a young age, but he is remarkable enough to judge his senior chefs in the branch offices. They will be more curious about you. Well, the thing is you have once again attracted their attention.”

Min-joon looked at Lisa quietly. He could not figure out why she mentioned it all of a sudden. She was not in a position to praise him now.

At that moment, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“You are so great, Min-joon. That’s why I want to ask you a favor because you are the one Ella likes most and I trust the most.”

“What kind of favor do you mean?”

“Can you be Ella’s godfather?”

He made an embarrassed expression. He has never expected such a question from anybody. And he was at a loss, now knowing what to answer. Watching him desperately, she continued, “Ella doesn’t have a dad, and she won’t in the future. For her, your role as a godfather might mean almost being her father. Yeah, I’m asking you a favor, which is ridiculous and absurd, by using my illness and your sympathy for me.”

“I don’t want to see you weak-minded like that.”

“Maybe I have to fight with my back to the wall. When I fear Ella might be left behind alone, I can’t even afford to get weak-minded. But if some inevitable situation happens to me despite my burning all my bridges, I just want to reassure myself I am not afraid even if I face it. Can’t you tell me Ella will be alright when I’m faced with such a situation?”

Min-joon looked at her with a heartbroken expression. He felt more heartbroken for her confession than he felt her request was burdensome. He felt heartbroken because of the situation she was in. He would not let Ella suffer without anybody’s help if she was left behind alone. And Lisa knew she was so afraid of that when she had to ask him to be Ella’s godfather.

“I’m a coward, Lisa. You know well that I can’t say no to such a request.”

“Min-joon…”

“Ela will be alright,” he said quietly.

When Lisa was about to say something with a happy but sad expression, he said first, “It’s not because I’m going to be Ella’s godfather or you have asked me this kind of favor. It’s because I love Ella, but I can do everything for Ella except for one.”

“What is it?”

“Bread,” he said with a smile. “I’m not good at baking. So, don’t be weak-minded. I can take your place in lots of areas, but not this one…”

He said a bit bitterly but warmly, ” As far as baking bread is concerned, I can’t take your place.”

When he said that, she just looked at him without responding.

Soon she said with a bitter smile, “Thank you.”

In fact, her simple response with ‘thank you’ contained everything she wanted to express to him.

Min-joon and Lisa did not bother to tell Ella that he would be her godfather. If he suddenly told her he would be her godfather, she would probably find out the reason although she was young.

In other words, his consideration for Ella might rather hurt her feelings.

The best that he could do for Ella right now was to meet her eyes and play with her.

But he couldn’t do it for long because most of the Rose Island kitchen staff visited Lisa’s patient room to comfort her or meet him.

Lisa said with a naughty smile, “I don’t know if this is the meeting place or a hospital room. Did you guys come here to see me or Min-joon?”

“Well, do we have to tell you?” said Maya with a cheerful smile. She then took out a plastic bag from her bag. It was full of fruits like apples and grapes.

“We have bought something to eat. Do you want to eat any particular stuff?”

“Not really.”

“Come on. You have to eat things like this often to recover quickly. Oh! I have New York-style cheesecake and tiramisu. Don’t you really want to try?”

“Do you have tea or coffee?”

Maya smiled at that, then searched for something in the table next to her.

And she soon took out a bucket full of tea bags and coffee powder.

“Are you a little interested now?”

“Can I ask you for a cup of hot coffee?”

All of a sudden they came to have a teatime.

While Min-joon was rinsing his tongue with green tea, Marco opened his mouth.

“Now you’re discharged after two days. How’s your condition?”

“I think it would be okay if she was asked to work right now.”

“Nope, I’m not recovered well enough to go back to work.”

“I was kidding. I don’t want to work right away. I’m not that stupid.”

Of course, it would be a lie if she didn’t want to go back to work again. Even now she felt strongly tempted to whip her eggs while looking at the texture of this cheesecake.

Normally her desire would have made her head to the kitchen to make it, but it was just meaningless greed and obsession, given her illness. And she didn’t want to make Ella suffer because of her obsession.

‘If Ella had not been here…’

Lisa would most likely have insisted on going back to her bakery right now without Ella.

While Min-joon was lost in thoughts like that, Lisa touched Ella’s cheek with a more affectionate expression. Ella looked at her mother’s sudden affectionate touch blankly, but Lisa just smiled at her.

Then she said, “Min-joon, take care of your health! You never know you might collapse like me suddenly, given the way you overwork yourself. It’s good you are trying hard, but take care of your health.”

He replied, “Sure, I’ll keep it in mind. In fact, Kaya is telling me the same thing a lot these days. As a matter of fact, I’m trying hard to cut down on overworking these days, compared with what I used to…”