Translator:

Ensj

Editor:

Arocks141

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< Everyone's Story (3) >

Putting their own recipe on the restaurant’s menu. This was the dream of every demi chef in the world, but it was a hard one to actualize. It wasn't because there weren't many chances, no. It was because it was very difficult even for an experienced chef to create something that would satisfy the head chef.

It was normal to reject even the recipes developed by sous chefs around here. There were no doubts regarding how difficult Minjoon's task was here.

What made it even more difficult was the fact that Rachel had given this chance to all the other chefs as well. It was to be expected though. Rachel wasn't the sort for favoritism.

"I got a really nice opportunity thanks to you."

"What, you thought of anything?"

"All the time. But I have no idea if it'd work."

Javier shrugged. Rachel often threw her own recipes away, saying that those wouldn't work with the menu. No matter how amazing that said recipe was.

"She refused to put a recipe on the menu despite it getting ten points once, saying it didn't really fit the menu."

If Minjoon was in her shoes, he'd have worked hard to try to utilize that dish one way or the other. But Rachel didn't even blink, and threw away the recipe immediately. After all, despite the dish being something that Minjoon could never reach with his current skill, Rachel could just make another one like it in a flash.

Minjoon turned to look at the walk-in. Hundreds of windows for each and every ingredient popped up in his vision. Minjoon, looking at this ma.s.sive wall of food, muttered to himself.

"I wonder what makes me and Rachel different?"

"Is that an actual question?"

"I mean, of course we'd have our differences. I was wondering what caused it. The ability to find harmony between ingredients? Creativity? The equations we use to bring out flavor? I wonder. I wonder what'd let me step closer to her level of skill… Aren't you curious?"

"I am, but it's not like I'd get anywhere just by thinking. You just gotta stay still and learn."

"Do you really think you'd make a recipe that'd satisfy her by christmas like that?"

"Well, you're the one who wants to do that, not me."

"True, true."

Minjoon tiredly looked down at the floor. Janet gave him a glance from the back before speaking up.

"Aren't you being too greedy?"

"Me?"

"You have everything. Rachel loves you, everyone has their eyes on you, and you even have talent. But you aren't satisfied at all. Can't you just take it easy a little?"

"…Janet, I never thought I'd hear that from you."

"I'm greedy, too. A little impatient at times, even. But I don't think I'm a bad chef at all. I've done well. I've worked hard to come here. Just because there are more steps I need to take before I become a great chef, doesn't mean the steps I've taken to get here mean nothing. So…"

Janet's voice became sharper than ever.

"Stop talking as if you've encountered an iron wall you can't pa.s.s through. It's depressing."

"…Sorry."

"As long as you know."

Janet turned away annoyedly. She sounded like she was picking a fight, but in the end she was just giving him advice. One that really helped.

'The steps I've walked, not the ones I have to walk…'

What kind of a journey had he been on, all this time?

€

There were a lot of times where Minjoon had to come up with a dish in a given amount of time. In the compet.i.tion, he had to do it in the span of just tens of minutes. At Rose Island, he had a longer time to ponder on his own dishes, being able to create something spectacular.

Without a doubt, though, he's never been given this much time in the past. He's almost had a month. But this was, at the same time, the hardest job he's ever gotten. After all, he had to create a recipe while working. He had too many things to juggle around already as is.

"Yes, mom. I'm going to go back to work starting tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I already do."

"Well…"

Minjoon hesitated for a second. He didn't have to hide it, but he was wondering if he wanted to talk about the recipe situation to his mother. After all, the woman's cooking skill was less than great. But he still opened his mouth to talk about it regardless.

"I got homework to do. This christmas, Kaya's family is… Ah, I told you, didn't I? About Kaya's family."

"Yeah, so they decided to come to our restaurant, and Rachel offered to put one of my recipes into the menu if I could make something that good."

"No, I'd be lucky if I could even get one in. Well, the subject is set in stone now. We're using crabs, squid, and oysters for seafood. For fruit, we'll use pomegranate. It looks like this is the best we can do for California in december. We can use any kind of bird or land animal we want."

"It's fine. I wasn't expecting anything."

Minjoon could hear a sigh coming from the other side. Hyesun muttered in a depressed voice.

"Well, I guess those moms can actually cook."

"Right. I lost."

"…Who knows? It's a bit complicated."

Minjoon could immediately tell what she was trying to tell him. His mouth widened in surprise.

"Make something that Kaya and her family would want… is that it?"

"Got it. Thanks, mom. I'll think about it."

"Ok, I'll call you next time."

Minjoon turned the phone off and turned to look at the kitchen. There wasn't much food in the fridge, since he was in the house. There was just… Some meat, a pomegranate, and some frozen squid in the freezer. He could hear a voice coming from the back of the room.

"Were you talking to your mother just now?"

"Yeah. She was worried about you."

"Really?"

"You think I am lying, then?"

"…It's nice. The fact that someone is worrying for me."

"You're saying no one's ever worried for you?"

"Not a lot."

Kaya smiled. Minjoon spoke up with a calm voice.

"Thousands of people are going to worry about you from now on. You're that kind of person now."

"Being serious now, are you?

"I can't treat you like a child forever."

Minjoon responded with a calm voice. He took out the ingredients from the fridge, and asked a question slowly.

"Your family doesn't have anything they don't eat?"

"Not my mom or Jemma. But…"

"Yeah, I suppose you wouldn't know about your father."

"…Yeah."

Kaya spoke with a heavy tone in her voice. She put an arm around Minjoon's chest, and put her chin on top of his shoulder. It didn't seem to be out of love or anything. She felt more like a baby cat who needed a hug. Kaya spoke up with a hurt tone.

"It's hilarious. I don't know what he likes, or what he's even like. Just because he's related to me, I call him father. Just because he's related to me, he takes up a big part of my life."

"You don't like it?"

"I don't know. It's not great. No matter what kind of a person he is… He still abandoned his family for twenty years. Even if we say he had no choice… I'd still hate him. But."

Her arms around Minjoon got even tighter. He could feel Kaya tremble. Minjoon didn't say anything. His silence helped bring out the true feelings in her heart.

"I'm going to forgive him."

"Why?"

"Because inside, I really do want to. Because I want a father that loves me in my life. No matter how much I hate this… There's nothing I can do about it."

Minjoon slowly took Kaya's arms off of himself. He turned around to hug her.

"It's ok. I know you're a really nice person despite the way you act. Some people might say you're asking for too much, but so what?"

"…I was wondering why I liked you. It's because you always take the parts of myself that I hate and tell me they're good."

"They're not something to be hated at all. Lots of people in the world, lots of different ways they think. But anyway, thanks. I know now what I want to do for the recipe."

"Recipe? What are you gonna do?"

Instead of responding, Minjoon kissed Kaya. He grinned after seeing the girl's eyes widen.

"A dish that's going to bring an awkward family closer together. The food with Kaya Lotus' heart in it. I want to put the story of your family in my food."

€

The opportunity came from Minjoon himself, but the idea of being able to put up a recipe into the menu on christmas was a tempting offer even to other demi chefs. Rachel sounded like she'd give plenty more chances in the future, but it was impossible for them to present a recipe they've been working on for a long time. After all, the menu of the restaurant always followed what was in season.

Due to this, all the other demi chefs were busy at work with their recipes as well. They even went so far as to working in break time. They could always wait till next time, but Minjoon's fervor made them almost feel nervous about being set back.

'Minjoon's just…'

Javier let out a sigh. To be honest, Minjoon was the chef with the brightest future in the entire group. After all, not only was he skillful, but he also had an aura of a star about him.

It was almost as if he was born to be a star. He had a tongue that could taste just about anything, he had the t.i.tle as Rachel's disciple, and the fact that he was in the top three in Grand Chef. Unless something crazy happened, it would be nigh impossible to topple the man from his throne.

But that person was willing to take the hardest of paths all the time. That could only make people like Javier excited themselves. It was the same for Janet and Anderson. Anderson was a chef grown up to be an elite. His skill was among the best among all the chefs, and… Janet's perseverance was almost disgusting to look at.

Among people like those, even Javier couldn't help but be motivated himself. He took his crab cake topped with pomegranate salsa, and walked over to Minjoon. Minjoon was taking his time getting rid of all the suction cups on the squid legs. Javier carefully opened his mouth.

"Minjoon, sorry for interrupting you. But could you try this real quick?"

"Ah, yeah… Crab cake…"

He didn't have much strength in his voice. His face seemed dead tired as well. His eyes were a little swollen, and his cheeks were getting red as well. He looked incredibly sick and tired.

"Are you alright? You look sick. I told you to be careful in winter."

"Winter here's just like spring back in korea… I thought it'd be nothing. Plus, I didn't get it from the weather."

"How'd you get it?"

Minjoon shrugged.

"From a kiss."

End.

Translator:

Ensj

Editor:

Arocks141

Support us by turning off ad-block! Join Yado Inn's to join the community!

If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator's site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry ?

< Everyone's Story (4) >

"…What was that?"

Javier looked at Minjoon dumbly. Minjoon's eyes curved up with mischievousness. Maya, looking at this, simply let out a deep sigh.

"You're seriously joking about this right now? I ended up doing your job for you today."

"You did well. Good job, Maya."

"That's all you have to say to me after all that?"

"…You sound quite rebellious today, don't you?"

"Look."

Maya extended her hand out towards him. Her tiny hand was trembling, as if she was holding something heavy.

"Now do you see how tired I am?"

"Oh dear, you must be very tired. How about you try going to the hospital? You don't have to worry about the kitchen. We can always get new recruits."

"Ugh, do you really have to respond like that?"

"I'm really good at arguing with people, you know? So stop trying to pick a fight and just go back to the jellies."

"Aren't we working with too much jelly here? It almost feels like I'm in a jelly factory."

"That's just what molecular gastronomy is like. What, you bored?"

"…You're going to make another speech if I say yes, aren't you? Fine, I'll go back to work."

Maya pouted and went back to her station. Anderson watched all this with a bit of an annoyed expression.

"Aren't you being too lax on her?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"She's too relaxed around you."

"We're family inside the kitchen. It's better to be relaxed around each other."

"And here I thought Asian families were strict."

"It's case by, cough, case. Our family isn't strict."

Minjoon coughed a few times as he spoke. Anderson looked over him with a worried face.

"Are you really alright? You sure you don't need some rest?"

"I'm good. I'm already giving the poor thing too much work by being sick. Don't worry about me."

"How can we not? Kaya's going to try to nurse you the moment you get back too. To think you'd get sick right after Kaya… Dear G.o.d, you two were born for each other."

"And here I was thinking you were being nice for once…"

Minjoon shook his head in annoyance. Javier handed him the crab cake.

"They say crabs are good for the cold."

"Really?"

"No. I have no idea, actually. But food is always good for the cold, you know?"

Minjoon took his mouth off to take a bite of the crab cake. He immediately shook his head. It was 6 points. A clear failure.

"The crab cake itself is well-made, but the salsa is too weak. This is tomato and pomegranate, right?"

"Yeah. Is that weird?"

"Right now, yeah. I can't taste much of the pomegranate. It's kind of pointless as a sauce."

"Gotcha. Thanks. I'll think about it again."

Javier went back to his station to work. Break times were the only time when the chefs could spend some time on their recipes. Minjoon slowly began to think about the direction to take with his food.

'Kaya's family has a lot of wounds. But they don't even have any memories that would really tie them together either. What should I do to fill the gap between all of them?'

The first thing he thought of was something homely. But with Minjoon's skill, it was hard for him to create something fit for a high-cla.s.s restaurant with homely food. Plus, he's never had good luck with it even during the compet.i.tions. Even Chloe failed in the compet.i.tion trying it. It was really no wonder that he would feel a bit hesitant.

'There was that weird turkey dish, too.'

t.u.r.ducken. It was a dish made out of a turkey, duck, and a chicken. One would put a duck inside a turkey, a chicken inside the duck, and cook it in the oven. It was a dish befitting the Americans' love for meat.

'The first time the family meets is during christmas…'

Other demi chefs just had to make food that would fit the holiday theme, but Minjoon had to make Kaya's family happy on top of that. It just made Minjoon's job harder, but Minjoon didn't really mind it.

A theme. It was practically the first time after the compet.i.tion that he had to work around a theme. All the other food he made after the compet.i.tion didn't really have any theme other than 'make the customers happy'. Janet walked up to him right then.

"Yo, try this."

"…You guys think I'm some sort of a tool for measuring the power level of food?"

"You're not?"

Janet looked as if Minjoon had said something incredibly strange. Minjoon sighed, and looked over Janet's dish. There were quite a few things on it. A piece of turkey whose skin was glazed with honey. Cannelloni filled with shrimp, and some braised beef. Who would think to put those three things all in one dish? The only problem was…

It got quite the score despite such a strange combo. The food score got a 9 as well. It was probably the best Janet could do for now. Minjoon picked up a fork.

"Is there an order I need to eat it in?"

"Try the cannelloni first. I put shrimp in it. It should help get the saliva flowing. Then try the beef, then the asparagus, and finish it all up with the turkey. It'll leave a nice aftertaste on your tongue that way."

"Gotcha."

Minjoon put the cannelloni in his mouth. Cannelloni was a type of tubular pasta. It seemed to have been baked in the oven, based on its crunchy texture. The shrimp inside complemented it well. And the aroma…

"You used saffron, huh. Planning on getting the customers' attention with it?"

"You can tell?"

"Of course. You're being too obvious about it. I like it. It's really good."

He nodded, and put the other ingredients in his mouth. The beef's tenderness and the vanilla's fragrance carefully covered up the aftertaste of the shrimp. He washed it all away with a bit of asparagus, and put the turkey in his mouth. Minjoon subconsciously found himself nodding when he did so.

"I thought the honey on the skin wouldn't do too much, but it really adds a lot. It makes you salivate a bit more, and makes you feel a bit satiated as well. It's awesome. …Why are you working as a demi chef? You might as well become a sous chef with your skill."

"Hmph, stop it with the pointless compliments."

"No, seriously."

Minjoon wasn't the type to lie about stuff like this to begin with. Janet knew this as well. Her face had a light smile because of it. An equivalent of a very, very big grin on any other normal person. Janet coughed a little before continuing to talk.

"So, what do you think Rachel would say?"

"I'm not her, but… If I was a judge…"

Minjoon smiled brightly.

"I'd fail it."

"…You know that face of yours is completely different from what you're saying?"

"But people smile when they eat something tasty."

"It's tasty, but it's not menu-worthy?"

"You know it too, don't you? This would be amazing in any other restaurant. After all, it's tasty, and it's new. But how should I say… It doesn't have that oomph. It just makes me think 'wow, that combo works?' and nothing else. And…"

Minjoon stopped for a second. He put a hand on his forehead, and put his mask back on. He let out a cough immediately.

"Sorry. I almost got you with me."

"It's fine. Keep talking."

"It's nothing special. I just wanted you to remember that the food of Rose Island is Rachel's food. If you're going to make anything, it has to be something as good as what Rachel would make. So… Cough. Mm. My head hurts."

"Alright. I get it, so you go rest. You look like you're about to faint."

"Being sick is pretty nice, huh? I get to see Janet actually worry about someone."

Minjoon teased the woman a little bit. He found it a little strange to see her worry about someone like this. It was almost like seeing Kaya change a long time ago. But Janet was different. Kaya would've acted angry, but Janet just spoke up with a low voice.

"I know a person like that. A person who ended up suffering a lot because he kept working so hard."

"Suffering?"

"It's nothing. Anyway, you need to take care of yourself. Your life might go to s.h.i.+t in an instant otherwise. Thanks for tasting my food."

Janet left Minjoon's station immediately afterwards. Minjoon decided to leave it, as well. He turned to Maya to ask for a favor.

"Maya, I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to need to take a nap for thirty minutes. Can you wake me up later if I don't come back? I'll be at the break room."

"Yup, sure. Hope you feel better afterwards."

Maya responded with a worried voice. Minjoon turned to walk towards the break room with a tired face. By the time he was about to lie down on the bed, though, he ended up stopping. There was someone there before him.

"Uncle Minjoon!"

Ella was waving her hand at him with a smile. Next to her was Lisa, sleeping soundly on the bed. When Minjoon sat down on the sofa, Ella tried to sit next to him. Minjoon quickly waved her away with a quiet voice.

"Don't. You're going to get sick."

"I only get sick once a year. I got sick this year already, so it's all good!"

"When did you last get sick?"

"Mmm… January?"

"That's almost a year. Don't."

"Awhh…"

Ella lay down next to Minjoon's spot with a sad face. Minjoon glanced over at Lisa. Seeing how she didn't even wake up when they talked, she must be in real deep sleep.

Lisa was the one person suffering the most in this kitchen. After all, not only did she have to run her own bakery, she also had to work in Rose Island full time as a baker as well. This was the only time she had in the entire day to rest… It made Minjoon feel sorry for her.

"I could play with mommy a long time ago, but she just sleeps now."

"Good of you not to wake her up though."

"She's tired. I don't want to trouble her."

"Ella, what do you want from Santa this Christmas?"

Ella started thinking for a hot second. She grinned happily when she made up her answer.

"I want to see mom smile."

"…Mm?"

It was an unexpected answer, to say the least. Minjoon was expecting something a little more… Childish. Something like food, or a doll, or even a dress.

"Mom just doesn't laugh anymore. But the TV said laughing lets people live longer. I want to live with mom forever."

"So you want her to laugh?"

"Yeah."

"I hope santa helps you out."

"…He might not. I cried a lot this year."

"It's ok, Ella. I can talk to Santa. I'll tell him you've been a good kid."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Thanks, uncle. You're the best."

Ella looked up to Minjoon with bright eyes, then lay down on his lap. Minjoon put up his hands with a panicked face. He was worried that she might get sick, but maybe this much was alright? Minjoon slowly closed his eyes.

'Christmas…'

"Ella, do you have anything you want to eat for Christmas?"

"Mm… Candy! And Jelly!"

"That's more for Halloween than…"

Minjoon's eyes lost focus right then. He had thought of a recipe. He could see where he should go with the dish.

'Right, with this…!'

End.