God of Cooking

Chapter 217: Everybody has their own story (3)

He put down the empty soup bowl on the floor and gently hugged her.

Her body was hot because of the fever, but he hugged her tightly.

Then he whispered, “I’m sorry. As your boyfriend, I’m just a thin glossy being.”

“I’ve told you clearly you shouldn’t disparage mine.”

“Is this thin glossy being yours?”

“Yeah. So, be nice to me, okay? Don’t get this kind of…”

She gently stretched her finger out. Her thin white fingers fumbled over the burn mark on his neck. She felt sorry for it. She bit her lips and tried to comfort him.

“Min-joon, please don’t have a scar like this again. You’re destroying my property if you are injured like this.”

She rubbed her cheek on his scar.

He muttered, “You said you didn’t want me to catch your cold…”

“If we don’t kiss, you won’t catch my cold, right? No?”

“Even if you breathe out, I’m going to catch your cold.”

“Shall I hold my breath?”

“Come on. Go to bed quickly. Let me go to work after you fall asleep.”

“I’m not very sleepy….”

She replied like a rebellious teenage girl, but she felt she was full after eating a whole bowl of potato soup, and she felt warm in his arms. Besides, the cold medicine was working now. In a few minutes, she was already asleep.

He pulled up a blanket over her. Then he nervously paced up and down in the room for a moment before putting a glass of water and medicine by her bedside. He put his hand on the switch of the lamp, and after hesitating for a moment, he left with the light on.

Since Anderson was not around, he had to get on the bus to go to work. When he arrived at the restaurant, Maya approached him, about to cry.

“Oh, Chef! You have saved me! It’s hard for me to measure the ingredients.”

“I’m sorry. Are all the ingredients okay?”

“Yes, they look fine in my eyes.”

He entered the kitchen and checked the ingredients quietly. Aside from other ingredients, jelly needed special care because once he made it, he could never reuse it. He looked at the jelly and put it in his mouth. As always, he was seeing the system window before his eyes.

[Maturing sea bream broth jelly]

Freshness: 98%

Origin: (Hidden because of several ingredients.)

Quality: High

Cooking score: 6/10

After that, he put fruit jelly or ice cream in his mouth and nodded satisfactorily.

“Hmm. It’s okay. It’s still maturing, so it doesn’t taste right, but tomorrow, it’ll have the same amount as usual. Good job, Maya. You’ve improved a lot.

“Hehe, thank you.”

As if she was relieved to hear that, she let down her shoulders.

Then she asked as if she was impressed by the way he checked the ingredients.

“Even if you have a perfect palate, I just wonder how you can know everything by just tasting it?”

“This is not a matter of a perfect palate. As you know, other chefs also check the condition of an ingredient to some extent when they taste it. Tasting for seasoning is a basic skill.”

“But it’s very difficult to taste the seasoning of jelly, isn’t it?”

“Being difficult doesn’t mean impossible, right? You can do it like me soon.”

“Yep, I’ll try harder.”

She raised both hands to make a V shape.

Janet approached when he grinned at Maya.

“Hey, I hear your girlfriend is sick.”

“Uh, she is having a hard time as a young girl. It looks like she finds it hard to fight the fever.”

“You just got here after taking care of her?”

“Sort of. Oh, where is Mr. Isaac? I have to ask him a favor.”

“I think he is in the office now. By the way, are you going out now as soon as you step in the kitchen?”

“I’ll be back soon, Maya. Let me repeat. You really made jelly well. Thanks for your hard work on a Sunday. You can go home for the rest of the day.”

“Wow!”

It was Garrick, not Maya, who warmly responded to Min-joon’s praise.

Janet slowly turned her head and looked at Garrick. Garrick lowered his head as if he flinched.

Janet said annoyingly, “Are you so moved that he told Maya she could take a rest? You envy her so much?”

“Oh, no! Absolutely not.”

“Hey, be honest. It’s hard, right? Sunday is your off day, as you know. But you have to come here and prepare the ingredients. Besides, most appetizers need some maturing for delicious taste. You’ve got so much work to do, which is really annoying. Don’t you think so? Okay, go and take a rest. Let me take care of the rest. You don’t like to work with a bad demi chef when your colleague is going home to rest, do you?”

“No, I love it. Cooking is the greatest joy of my life.”

“If that’s the case, shut up and make more lime juice quickly. You can’t make all the ceviche today if you are so lazy like this.”

“Got it, Chef!”

Garrick replied loudly then headed to the refrigerator. Maya looked at him with a sad expression.

Min-joon giggled at him and said to Maya, “You had better think how lucky you are when you lost to him in the rock-paper-scissors game. What would have happened if you had been assigned to Janet and not me?”

“… Thank you for being nice to me, Chef. Ah, I want to go home later. I would like to practice cooking with some recipes in the kitchen.”

“It’s up to you. Keep up the good work!”

“Yes, Chef.”

With a bright smile, Maya headed to the cooking table.

Watching the two, Janet said with a sigh, “You have a good cook. Garrick is really…”

“What’s wrong with him? First of all, be nice to him. Then he can be a good cook for you.”

“Hey, don’t preach to me like that. I’m not interested in it.”

“Anyway, let me go and see Isaac first. See you a bit later.”

He then turned. Honestly, he didn’t feel good about having to go to work on Sundays, although he was a demi chef because he was pretty tired. Of course, he just stopped by the kitchen briefly then went back home. But apart from his mental power, he suffered great fatigue.

‘Is it true that they had no Sundays in Rose Island 10 years ago?’

With such a hard job and tight schedule, it was not unreasonable that Daniel Rose collapsed.

The reason Rachel had her staff took a day off on Sundays was because she hoped she would never see anybody collapsing like him again in the kitchen.

When Min-joon entered the office, Isaac wasn’t alone there. Rachel was also with him.

Min-joon smiled at them awkwardly.

“Oh, you were all here.”

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, I want to ask Isaac a favor.”

“Me?”

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing for me to talk in front of you and Rachel, but I would make a reservation for four. The date is Christmas Eve.”

“I think all the reservations are already booked on Christmas Eve.”

“I know. So, please secure a table for me when somebody cancels their reservation.”

“What’s the matter?” Asked Rachel curiously.

Min-joon hesitated for a moment then opened his mouth.

“Well, Kaya’s family will be gathering for the first time. They want to come to our restaurant. If I could cook the dishes for them at their first gathering here, I think they can have a great time here.”

“Oh, I see. That’s good news. Isaac, has anybody canceled yet?”

“On other days, there are people who cancel the reservation or just make a reservation and don’t show up. As for Christmas Eve, it’s a bit hard for me to figure out. Besides, we can’t accept any more reservations than necessary, assuming they won’t show up.”

“Then, it’s simple. Place one more table. If you add one more table in the hall, you don’t have to agonize over it. Add one more where you can see it in the kitchen, so Min-joon can see them.”

Rachel’s words were shocking. But Isaac was not surprised because he had seen her generosity a lot in the past.

So, Isaac asked instead of being surprised, “Shall I use a round table or a square one?”

“How about you, Min-joon?”

“Oh, I think a round table is better. I don’t think it’s easy for them to sit side by side. By the way, can you make the decision so quickly like this?”

“It’s my restaurant, it’s my kitchen. So, I can do whatever I want.”

“Thank you, Master Rachel.”

Min-joon smiled broadly. Of course, he laughed often as a rule, but it has been a long time since she saw him smiling so brightly.

‘You are that happy they’re meeting together? You’re so happy to be able to treat them at this restaurant? How kind-hearted you are, Min-joon!”

To be honest, Rachel only thought about his perfect palate at first. But when she took the time to think about him, she found out he was a good chef who had a lot of merits, in addition to his perfect taste. He was her good disciple and he was a good man.

Issac muttered to Min-joon in a low voice.

“Compared with a bad-natured old man, you have a very good personality.”

“Thank you. But master Rachel is also really the best chef I’ve seen. Besides, she has a fine character…”

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Jack grumbled.

Min-joon didn’t bother to respond because Jack had a good reason.

So, Min-joon said cautiously, glancing at him, “It looks like you have a lot to talk about. Can I go out?”

“Before you go out, let me offer you one suggestion.”

“Suggestion?”

“You know, our restaurant’s menu changes every 15 days. By the time when your customers come here, I think we have a new menu. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an appetizer, main or dessert. Can you take the initiative??”

“Me?” Min-joon asked in a confused voice.

He knew what she was talking about. But what she said was too unrealistic for him to nod nonchalantly and reply in a positive way.

“They are your dear customers. Instead of just cooking, don’t you want to treat them with your own dishes that follow your heart?”

“Can I do it? No, I don’t think so. Definitely, I will damage your reputation.”