God of Cooking

As the wedding day drew nearer, people around Kaya and Min-joon asked them how they were feeling. But frankly, the two were not sure how to answer such a question. In fact, these people obviously asked that question, imagining how happy they were, but the two chefs weren't as happy as they thought.

Of course, it didn't mean that they didn't want to get married. They didn't change their feelings for each other. However, as much as they expected to benefit from their marriage, they had no choice but to worry about what they would lose because of their marriage. For change was not always sweet.

Two days before the wedding, Kaya and Min-joon were sitting on the sofa in the living room, idling away their time. They felt sort of empty with the passage of time, but they didn't feel displeased with that emptiness.

It was Kaya who broke the silence.

"Well, I wonder if we were better off running Lotus Bridge when we were lovers, not a couple like this. If we're married, we can't run the restaurant as lovers, right?"

They might not have cared about this kind of trifling thing at all when they were lovers, but now that they're getting married, they felt just sorry for something they didn't do, which they didn't give any meaning to in the past.

"Let's think about it positively. Since we're going to run Lotus Bridge after we get married, we can give more meaning to our new restaurant, right? If you run Lotus Bridge as Kaya Lotus, your name still is there…"

"Are we now having a meaningless conversation?"

"Sometimes we can have a meaningless conversation."

He replied, smiling at her who asked in a mumbling tone, then stroked her hair.

She frowned at him for messing up her hair, but fortunately, she didn't have to go out today.

Resting his chin on her crown, he thought about something quietly. He felt her warmth, her soft skin, and the faint scent of her own, all of which he took for granted naturally. There were times when it was not even natural for him to draw her attention. Looking back, he could not believe he was now so close to her like this and getting married to her.

He remembered what Rachel had told him. She said that his feelings for her would change, and he didn't deny it. Actually, when he saw Kaya, he wasn't thrilled as before. Sometimes he admired her looks. It was about time he was sick and tired of looking at her face, but he still thought she was surprisingly cute and lovely when he looked at it.

But even her beautiful face would have wrinkles when she grew old. Her smooth skin would also have wrinkles, and her flesh would get flabby helplessly. Her hands and feet would get cold, and her sparkling eyes would be dull some day as if it was taken for granted.

Could he still find the same beauty in her when she grew old? Could his affection for her get cold just like he was no more thrilled to see her in his youth? Could his love still be the same as before?

"How many children shall we have?" he asked.

"I think we're lucky if we can have only one," she replied calmly.

"Sometimes you say you want to have kids, and sometimes you don't want to. What do you want?"

"Well, I just feel different according to the circumstances. Our baby must be cute. We'll feel happy seeing our baby smile. But when I think about how our lives will change after we have a baby, I don't really want to have a baby. As you know, we can't focus on our work, right? Maybe one of us has to babysit at home. I value my work more than our unborn child because my dream is not to be a mother, but a chef."

"I know what you mean."

In fact, Min-joon thought about it like her. Of course, once they had a baby, they would have to change their lifestyle, so they could adapt to the new reality. Their life would revolve around their baby, so they wouldn't feel any regrets even if they sacrifice everything for their baby. But he was scared about such a reality. He feared that the master of their lives would be their unborn baby.

She murmured in a thoughtful tone, "But if we don't have a kid, what will be different after we get married?" she asked.

"Well, my name Kaya Lotus will be Kaya Cho."

"And then?"

"I could introduce you to other people as my wife and not my girlfriend. And this concept of a wife is important. I really like the implications of this word."

"Gosh, you have changed a lot," she said, giggling at him.

He looked back quickly. It was a nice house they were in now. Unless it was a big mansion, they could not find a better house for the two of us to live in than this one

Perhaps the two would spend their lives in this house. Come to think of it, he came to appreciate the landscape of this house, which he didn't pay much attention to until now.

He thought that their marriage was meaningful in that sense. Their place was to be determined both socially and physically.

In the future, the place where he was located was this house, the kitchen of Lotus Bridge, maybe in front of the camera, or next to Kaya, just like she was going to be by his side all the time.

"I think marriage is a promise."

"Promise?"

"A promise not to separate," she said in a low voice.

"Think about it. Even in this country where individual freedom is a virtue, the word divorce makes you feel uncomfortable. The only difference between lovers and a married couple is the marriage certificate. Why are people treating those who got divorced as somebody who failed in their lives?"

"It's because they didn't keep your promise not to separate, regardless of what their reason is."

"That's right."

Even if a person broke up because of the other person's fault, that person was to blame for having found the wrong partner. That was why marriage was more scary than sweet.

Min-joon hugged Kaya a little tighter. He needed her warmth, the touch of her soft skin and solid bones."

"Let's not fail in our marriage."

"I won't."

She hugged his arms, which felt warm and cozy. She hoped she could stay with it.

"Never, ever."

<hr />

Min-joon and Kaya's wedding ceremony was very strange. They decided they would not hold a grand wedding ceremony. Actually, it was not big. Even though all the tables at the Rose Island Venice branch were filled with their guests, they numbered a little over 100. Given that it was common to have a wedding ceremony with several hundreds of guests attending, their wedding ceremony was small and simple.

But the thing was the names of the guests. More celebrities including Chloe and Rachel attended their wedding ceremony than they expected. There were many celebrities Min-joon and Kaya met while hanging out with Chloe. For example, Teresa Page, the singer who made Cho Reggiano world-famous by posting it to the Star Book, was also sitting next to Chloe.

Looking around the guests, Min-joon's father Suyop Cho smiled brightly. There was a saying that if one wanted to see if somebody had succeeded, just look at those around him or her. Most of those around Min-joon was far from ordinary. Whether they were chefs or singers, they had good names in their own field.

If Min-joon had just concentrated on making friends without any concrete fruits, there would have been zero possibility that he would see the celebrities here. The reason they came to this place was because they thought Min-joon was on a par with them. 'He's succeeded in life.'

It wouldn't be a lie if he didn't feel bitter. He and his wife had always stressed the importance of stability to Min-joon. That was the advice they could give him as his senior who already had bitter experiences in the real world, for they witnessed many people ruining their lives when they were thrown into society with ideal goals.

After all, their advice ended up catching up with Min-joon. Nonetheless, Suyop Cho didn't think it was wrong for him to emphasize the importance of stability to Min-joon.

If Min-joon had given up instead of challenging his words, he would not have achieved anything remarkable like now. In other words, Min-joon had succeeded because of his strong determination to overcome Suyop's worries and concerns. Since he had the courage to come to America alone and challenge the Grand Chef competition, he could establish fame and succeed in American society.

Nonetheless, Suyop felt bitter. After all, he did not do anything to help his son succeed. This wasn't a matter of pride, but it disturbed him when he thought that his son had already grown mature enough to get out of his protection.