God of Cooking

Even though Min-joon wanted to cut down on his working hours for a more leisurely life, the situation where he was in didn’t help because he had to do several things at the same time. He had to develop new recipes, getting used to the new environment of Rose Island’s New York branch, and attending seminars or dinners hosted by June made him busy all the time.

“It’s natural that Kaya is worried about your health. By the way, I’ve heard some rumors about you recently.”

“Rumors?”

“Yeah, you guys are getting married.”

As if something got caught in his throat, he barely breathed out and looked at Lisa, surprised.

After sipping the green tea, he said, “Where and when did such rumors start circulating?”

“It’s been circulating quite recently. I don’t know the source of the rumors. According to the rumors, you and Kaya are soon getting married. Isn’t that true?”

“Well, I can’t confirm or deny it at this point…”

Anyway, he briefly explained to those in Lisa’s room about how he and Kaya concluded about their marriage. In other words, he said he would plan to marry her after he opened a restaurant. When they heard that, some of them nodded as if they understood his situation, but others seemed to feel they could not understand such a delay.

Basically, Lisa agreed with Min-joon’s plan to put off his marriage later, but at the same time, she also could not understand why.

She said, “I know what you are thinking about, but you had better keep it in mind that there is no guarantee that your lover who is here today with you will be with you tomorrow. The more you delay, the more you may miss what you could have. Am I giving you advice presumptuously?”

“Oh, no. I understand what you mean.”

Since it was Lisa who gave him such advice, Min-joon could really feel it was true. Especially her words that Kaya who was here with him today might not be with him tomorrow had touched him deeply.

“By the way…”

Lisa was trying to say something for a moment, then remained silent. She felt it strange that he and Kaya didn’t have any baby until now because Kaya might have gotten pregnant, given their long and intimate relationship. Besides, contraception wasn’t always perfect, no matter how careful a woman was about it.

Of course, she couldn’t ask him about it. She stopped being curious about it and changed the topic instantly.

“I guess you’re going to be pretty busy because you are the main focus of the head chefs from Rose Island. As you know, they’re now engaged in a fierce war of nerves.”

“Well, it looks like they’re not in a war of nerves at the moment. To be honest, I don’t think they are not that greedy. My hunch is they seem to believe either June or Dave will take over Rachel’s position.”

Lisa replied with a curious voice, “Well, I wonder if they can control their greed rationally.”

***

“I’m going to be more greedy,” Nathan said quietly at the hall full of head chefs, but without any customers in the old headquarters of Rose Island in Santa Monica.

Deborah said, looking at him, “Are you confident?”

He replied, “Do you think this is a matter of confidence? It’s not like that. It’s a matter of obligation. It’s not just for me. You guys, too.”

Looking at the other chefs around his table, he opened his mouth.

“Even if June or Dave is as great as Chef Rachel, that’s not a reason for us to get cold feet and do nothing. Isn’t it frustrating to lead a life, taking it for granted that you are inferior to them?’

“Hey, I know you have always liked to be cool or move around with a swag.”

“Don’t talk about me like that. You are so mean.”

Nathan protested, blushing slightly.

Then Deborah opened her mouth with a cheerful smile.

“Nathan, you are awesome! I really like the way you’re trying to challenge them desperately. You are so cool!”

“Don’t treat me like a kid. I’m older than you.”

“Don’t you know how good it feels to be like a child even when you’re old? If what you’re doing makes people feel you’re old, then you’re really an old man. Do you want to live like an old man even now?”

“That’s not what I mean…”

“Then stop nagging and just thank me. Tell me you are grateful to me for saying that.”

Instead of replying, Nathan turned his head. He was now casting a glance at Dobby. As a head chef, he just made his debut. Because of that, he was at least 10 years behind other chefs in terms of head chef experience.

“Chef Dobby, I know you have worked for Chef June. What are you going to do? Are you thinking of challenging June and Dave?”

“Well, I’ve devoted almost my entire life to working at Rose Island, so if I can be its owner, I’ll definitely aim for that position.”

When he said that, Nathan grinned at him and held out his fist. When Dobby touched his fist against his, Nathan turned to other chefs and said, “Look. Even the chef who worked for June is positive about challenging them. Does it make sense we are already getting cold feet when we’re their colleagues?”

“More precisely, we are not their colleagues. You have landed a job at Rose Island a bit later than June, right?”

“That’s not my point!”

“Well, anyway, I know what you want to say. Then try harder. It doesn’t matter how others think about you. If you want to challenge them, just do it. Do you want all of us to challenge them? Is that what you want?”

“What’s wrong with that?’

“It’s not wrong, but I wonder if we need to be obsessed with it.”

Nathan remained silent at that question. Obsession? That was true. As a matter of fact, he was almost obsessed with this matter. What was the reason? Was he scared? Challenging June and Dave by himself was one thing, but challenging them with other head chefs was another thing. And he thought it was worth a try to challenge them with others.

‘Am I scared now?’

Nathan hardened his face at that unexpected question.

Right at that moment, June approached and interrupted them.

“Hey, guys, what are you talking about? I think the atmosphere at this table is the most dynamic.”

At that moment, everybody at the table became quiet. They knew it was rather awkward to tell her they were debating whether to challenge her and Dave for Rache’s position. Even Nathan, who was the most vocal about the challenge, kept silent. He even got cold feet because of her charisma. But for some reason, he became rather defiant.

Looking into her face, he said, “Well, we talked among ourselves that you might not necessarily win the competition.

“Oh, really? That’s interesting. What’s the reason?”

“Because my cooking is better than you think.”

Nathan said firmly, “I’m not saying I’m the same as you just because we have received three Michelin stars. I’m confident that I am not behind you as a chef. So, I have the right to claim Rachel’s position. I’m competent, so I am not diminished by you at all.”

“I haven’t asked for it.”

“That’s not my point.”

June smiled at his reply. She had some beer before approaching them. So, getting a little tipsy, she said cheerfully, “You’re good, Nathan. I didn’t know you’re anxious about that position. But you look like my sous chef. Ah, not you Dobby, but Min-joon.”

Dobby lowered his head, rather sullen.

Giggling at him, she cast a strange glance at Nathan.

Then she put her hand over his shoulder and said, “Can I help you?”

“Help me? Are you serious?”

“I can improve your cooking skills or expand your personal network. Well, I can do it for you, but I don’t bother to. But I want to give you a chance to recognize the difference between you and me.”

“Chance to recognize the difference between you and me?”

“Let me send you Min-joon for a day or two, but not more than that.”

At first, Nathan made a puzzled expression as if he didn’t understand what she was talking about. But he soon realized what she meant because Min-joon was recognized as a chef with an absolute gastronomic ability. Besides, he was a judge of the competition. So, this was literally an opportunity for him to check out the difference between them most objectively.

“Okay, let me take that opportunity.”

She smiled deeply at his positive reply.

At that moment, Dave sitting at the table some distance away from Nathan’s table, made a nervous expression while watching her chatting with Nathan. But pretending not to care about her at all, he whispered to Daisy in a casual voice, “Why is June putting her hand over Nathan’s shoulder? Why is she smiling so affectionately? Are they dating?”

Daisy snapped with a sigh, “Come on, man. I don’t know, dude!”

When she replied coldly, Dave lowered his head with an embarrassed expression.

Daisy sighed deep down. She recalled the first time when June and Dave started dating.

Even if she tried not to remember it, she couldn’t help it, for she was the biggest victim of their foolish courtship. Dave was literally a fool with naive thinking while June was a lady with a shrewd mind. Although those who know them were saying only these days that their dating was not a big deal, it was literally a big scandal back then, so much so that they could not believe their eyes.

‘By the way, I wonder how Dave was doing back then.’

She recalled the bygone days when she first confided to her that he was romantically interested in June.

“To be honest, I like June.”

It was during the summer when they were young. When he drank one and a half bottles of beer at the bar, Dave confessed, getting a bit tipsy.

Actually, Daisy was disappointed to hear that. At that time, she was a good friend of his, so she wanted to keep that relationship in the future. So, when he told her he wanted to say something ‘important,’ and called her to the bar they knew, she had some expectations that he might want to date her formally.