God of Cooking

Min-joon and Kaya could not afford to make their new restaurant end up being experimental like Irregular Lab. In other words, they were not running it for real, not for an experiment. They had to bet everything on it to achieve what they wanted.

“Chloe asked me if we wanted to change the name of the store.”

“Well, you said you didn’t like all the store names we mentioned.”

The name they thought of first was Chotus.

Naturally, lots of their acquaintances were opposed to it. They commented that the name Chotus sounded like a joke rather than sophisticated. Chotus Guide was also a problem. They thought Chotus Guide was something like an entity that offered a gastronomic evaluation of restaurants. In that respect, if Min-joon and Kaya named their new restaurant Chotus, it would most likely be overshadowed by Chotus Guide instead of benefiting from their wide recognition among the public.

Of course, that wasn’t what Min-joon and Kaya wanted. Chapters Guide was definitely a meaningful experience and entity for both of them, but their dream wasn’t to create the world’s best gastronomic entity. The two had to open a restaurant and the best one in the world at that.

Anyway, they decided to withhold Chotus as the sign of their new restaurant.

What came to their minds next was Six Reggiano, a combination of Min-joon’s signature dessert Cho Reggiano and Kaya’s signature dish Six Meats.

Their acquaintances didn’t raise any particular objection to it because they could not find any particular reason to do so. At the same time, it was a name that they had no particular reason to recommend. It was certain that the name was meaningful, but its impact was not strong, compared to its meaningful name.

So they came up with another name. This time, it was a pretty meaningful name in many ways. Lotus Island. At first glance, it might seem a little strange. Lotus was Kaya’s last name, and Island was part of Rachel’s Rose Island. How should one find Min-joon’s traces in it?

That was the whole point of this name. Min-joon and Kaya did not publicize their achievements on the name of their new restaurant. It might look strange, but her last name Lotus was something she would have to give up when she got married to Min-joon. That was the same case with Island for Min-joon. To him, Rose Island would mean almost nothing except for his brief association with it in his life.

In other words, Min-joon was no longer Rose Island’s chef, and Kaya was no longer Kaya Lotus. They were going to collect what they lost and use it for their new restaurant. It was a good idea, and at the same time, it was a romantic idea. They liked the process of coming up with the name.

But even that name had one shortcoming.

“Lotus Island sounded very good, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I just feel it sounds awkward…”

Lotus Island. They had no problem with the name Lotus, but Island was the problem.

Min-joon graduated from Rose Island with great difficulty, so they could not use the legacy name Rose Island for their new restaurant.

Why didn’t Min-joon take over the Rose Island main branch as Rachel Rose wished? Maybe it was because he wanted to break free from the bondage of being somebody like Rachel Rose’s successor.

So, they could not use Lotus Island under any circumstances. Whenever people heard the name Lotus Island, they would always recall the name Rose Island. Just as Allen’s Olive Island eventually became Rose Island’s wannabe, Lotus Island might end up as Rachel Rose and Daniel Rose’s wannabe. So they had to avoid it, but he didn’t let go of it completely.

While they were agonizing about their wishes and reality, the two tried to find the most satisfactory middle ground. After all, they could find one by getting around it. The first name that came to their minds was to translate Lotus Island directly into Korean, which meant something like ‘Yeon Flower’. But that name was rather difficult and awkward for people to pronounce and remember easily.

At some point, Min-joon and Kaya continued to ponder over things like that. Some might ask them if it was really necessary for them to give meaning to the name of the restaurant, but for both of them, naming their new restaurant was not as simple as it was when they coined the name of Irregular Lab. And they felt instinctively that the restaurant name they would choose would follow them for the rest of their lives.

But they finally found the answer soon.

“Lotus Bridge.”

Lotus bridge.

Min-joon repeated that name quietly. Yes, the name bridge. He came up with that name while thinking about his birthplace. He was from an island, and he had to get aboard a boat or move through a bridge to get out of the island. He didn’t know if the bridge was linked to the mainland or another island. All he had to do was just walk along with the lotus.

Anyway, the important thing was that the bridge meant he already left the island. The bridge symbolized the fact that he lost the island.

Anyone with a literary sensibility must have noticed one thing at this point. But wasn’t the sign of their restaurant only concerned with the process of his walking? Was it possible that the bridge could contain its final destination? What was at the end of the bridge? What was the bridge for?

Min-joon didn’t know the answer to these questions.

Maybe one day he would be able to find the answer. Perhaps he would be able to find out what was at the end of the bridge he was running hard to. For now, he could not know it because he just left the island. He was just walking along the bridge, expecting vaguely that there was something at the end of the island.

How could he discuss the final destination of the bridge at this point?

“Well, Lotus Island is a good name, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it’s still vague.”

“Well, no matter how good the new name is, it’s supposed to be vague anyway. But you don’t have to feel sorry about it. Just as the plain name of Rose Island sounds the most luxurious in the country, our bridge will be able to make people aspire for it the most someday.”

Having said that, he glanced at her legs occasionally. Of course, she knew why he did so. It had been quite a while since she learned to speak Korean. So, she knew that the Korean homonym of a leg was also a bridge.

“If I hear any rumors that the Lotus Bridge is actually my leg, I’m going to kick your butt. Got it?” she grumbled.

“I don’t think I should be responsible for that!”

“It’s not a matter of your responsibility or not. I’ll flatten you if I hear any rumors about it.”

She was pretty illogical at the moment, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

Giggling at her, he gently placed his hand on her leg and said, “Hope I’m in your good hands, my bridge!”

It didn’t take long for the new name of Min-joon and Kaya’s restaurant to be widely known to people. They obviously mentioned it to only a few of their acquaintances, but soon, lots of people came to know about it and began to talk about the new restaurant name Lotus Bridge.

While they were talking about Lotus Bridge, they showed lots of expectations for the new restaurant. No wonder they showed such expectations because it was a new restaurant to be run by the most talented and competent chefs in America.

In the meantime, lots of netizens cracked childish jokes about the name when they found out that the Korean translation of ‘bridge’ could be ‘leg,’ but they stopped doing so soon.

There was a reason why they had no choice but to stop joking about them, for they announced their marriage.

Their expected wedding date was October 12, when the Grand Chef competition would be over. It was Saturday. They had to discuss the wedding venue, though, because Min-joon was from South Korea while Kaya was from America. Besides, they kept moving from one place to another until now.

After all, they decided on Los Angeles as their wedding place. He was going to bring only his family members in Korea to his wedding ceremony. As a matter of fact, most of their friends and acquaintances lived in America and Los Angeles at that. Except for her friends in Los Angeles, Kaya didn’t know many people in New York. As a result, she didn’t have many people who were close enough to attend her wedding.

Of course, the two had no intention of having a fancy wedding. They didn’t want a wedding hall filled with people that they had never had a serious conversation with or they could call close friends.

Kaya muttered, “By the way, what should we do until the wedding date?”

“Why are you waiting for that day? Just enjoy as much as we can while we are single like this.”

“Wait a minute. Do you prefer staying single?”

“Since we’re getting married soon, I prefer to stay single for now. As you know, this is our last remaining time we can stay as lovers before getting married.”

“What an eloquent speaker!” she nodded, smiling at him.

He glanced out the window. The sun was shining brightly as ever.