God of Cooking

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: End of Vacation (1)

By the time they arrived at the Grand Chef House in Chicago, it was already past midnight. There were no contestants waiting for them, and there was no crew either. It was understandable. No matter how much they missed each other after a week apart, sleep was more important.

There was one thing everybody learned through the food truck mission, and that was the fact that sleep had never tasted sweeter. They woke up early to get groceries, started cooking, and sold food. Even when the average worker was heading home, chefs still had to cook. Beyond daily lifestyle, it consumed a lot of stamina.

Even the staff were tired just from filming them, so it was even worse for the chefs. No wonder they headed right to sleep.

But Cho Min Joon couldn’t do that. The insomnia he suffered in the last week still wouldn’t go away. Maybe it was because it was the last day. Cho Min Joon got up and went out to the lobby. He then let out a laugh. He saw a familiar face. No, familiar faces.

“Chloe. Hugo.”

“… Min Joon? What are you doing up so late…?”

Hugo seemed surprised, but he smirked soon after. They realized it as soon as they looked at each other. After all, they had been through a lot in the last week. Their faces looked exhausted. Chloe laughed tiredly.

“Min Joon, you too?”

“Thanks. I thought I was the only one. It’s comforting to know I have comrades.”

“What do you mean? Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

In response to Hugo, Cho Min Joon sat down without a word. They must have still recognized they were on different teams because they were a little distant from each other. Hugo spoke with a very confident voice, “Our team can win. It’s very possible, so you two better get ready to fight over 2nd place.”

“Ha, where does all that confidence coming from? Didn’t you see the internet’s response? The other sushi places are getting more customers thanks to us.”

“That doesn’t mean you can beat us.”

Hugo and Cho Min Joon’s eyes clashed, and in between them, Chloe sighed.

“Stop it. Cats only perk up their fur when they’re scared.”

“… Come to think of it, are you okay? I didn’t text you because I thought it’d only make things worse. You stepped up for Kaya.”

“It’s what I had to do as the team leader, but there’s so much for team leaders to do. So many responsibilities. If it’s this hard to do for a week, I wonder how hard it’ll be to manage a restaurant.”

Cho Min Joon and Hugo didn’t respond. They didn’t even want to imagine it, but if they continued on this path, that fate would come sooner or later. Cho Min Joon said, “I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it by then. We’ll be more experienced.”

“Now I see why more experienced people are stiff.”

Chloe laughed. Hugo looked at the two of them and then looked around them. Since they had been gone for a week, he didn’t see any cameras installed in the lobby. Hugo cautiously asked, “How much did you make in profits…?”

“Are you crazy? You expect me to share that with you?”

“Who cares? It’s not like it’s against the rules.”

“Still…”

Chloe trailed off in hesitation. Chloe was usually cheerful, but she wasn’t brave, so she didn’t want any kind of derailment. Hugo politely said, “Us sharing this information won’t cause anything bad to happen. It’ll just put us at ease. I’ll be honest. If I’m going to have a hard time sleeping, I’d rather toss and turn in disappointment. I’m sure you agree.”

“… If the news isn’t good, I’ll wish I didn’t hear it.”

“Then you’d probably just work even harder tomorrow. It’s for the best.”

Chloe looked down at the ground without a word. Right when Hugo tried to say something else. Chloe opened her mouth.

***

That night, Cho Min Joon was able to get some decent sleep after a week. Early next morning, when he headed to the shower with disheveled hair, he heard a familiar voice

“… I heard you dissing me yesterday.”

The first voice he heard in the morning was none other than Kaya’s. How long was she there for? Kaya was leaning against the room door while glaring at Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon smiled.

“You’re up early.”

“You’re up early? Do you mean to say you have nothing to say about calling me stupid for calling your Norimaki ‘Norikami’?”

“Did you have breakfast yet? I wonder if the others are up yet.”

“… Don’t change the subject.”

Kaya spoke in disbelief. Cho Min Joon pointed at his hair and said, “Don’t you see my hair? Let me wash up first.”

He thought she would get tired and leave while he showered, but when he returned 10 minutes later, Kaya was still there. Cho Min Joon was a little surprised. This was the first time Kaya followed him around like this.

“… Are you being like this because of what I said yesterday?”

“The culprit always has peace of mind. I really knew it, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just say that I believe you.”

“No, really. Are you looking down on me for being less educated?”

Kaya’s pupils shook. She wasn’t mad, but she was anxious, and that was when Cho Min Joon wondered if he activated a past trauma of hers.

“I’m not. Who would look down on a friend?”

Kaya closed her mouth when he called her a friend. Her face looked complicated. Like she said to Martin before, she didn’t like the word ‘friends’ all that much. To be more exact, she didn’t believe in friendship.

But Cho Min Joon didn’t know that much. He sighed and continued walking. Kaya followed from behind.

“Why are you leaving? I’m not finished.”

“Sorry. I didn’t respond because I was sleepy. Let’s have breakfast first. Remember our promise when we were on one team? You promised to make me breakfast every morning if I helped you. You did it for a few days, but then you stopped.”

“… That’s because people made fun of us.”

“They’ll make fun of us either way. We’re already their sources of entertainment.”

Kaya kept up with Cho Min Joon’s pace. She then glanced over at Cho Min Joon’s face. They had only been away for a week, but he became a lot leaner. Kaya spoke with a smile.

“Did you lose weight from managing a food truck? You’re so weak. How are you going to handle a restaurant later?”

“I know, right? Maybe I should exercise.”

“Men need muscles. Men should at least look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“… That’s not a man. That’s a beast.”

Cho Min Joon shook his head. Kaya squinted and said, “Anyway, you should exercise. Chloe had a hard time too, but she was still okay because of her stamina.”

“… Did Chloe do okay?”

“You know Chloe.”

Cho Min Joon stopped himself from telling her that Chloe didn’t look so good last night and headed to the cooking station. Kaya pouted.

“Are you really going to make me do everything? I’m tired.”

“Make something simple. Like an omelet. There’s no need for 2 chefs to make that. Oh, not just an omelet. A Spanish omelet. Put potatoes in there. Not too spicy or salty, and I want the surface to be seared, but I’ll cut up the fruits.”

“… You expect so much.”

Kaya sighed and prepared to make the omelets. She made the egg mixture with care. She cooked the egg mix with onions and put potatoes in between.

It was a clean taste. The potato didn’t smell since it was cooked beforehand, and the right amount of butter and egg made for the perfect savory flavor.

The texture was soft, and the potatoes were chewy. The egg mixture around the potatoes were a little raw, but that was what made it taste like a sauce. It was a good Spanish omelet.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“No news is good news. People don’t usually speak if they’re enjoying food.”

“Then I guess all the dishes the judges praised were lies.”

“… That’s different because they’re judges.”

“I want an evaluation, too. How many points?”

In response, Cho Min Joon coughed loudly. Kaya wasn’t so kind to pat him on the back. Only after a while could he look Kaya in the eyes.

“Are you asking me for points too? You never did before.”

“Just tell me. Everyone else is doing it, so I want to join in.”

“… With your palate, you don’t need someone else giving you an evaluation.”

“I’m on the sensitive side, but I’m not good enough to get 20 out of 20 ingredients correct. I can probably only get about 15 of them right, and how do you know my palate is sensitive anyway?”

“Because we’ve cooked together for a while.”

He couldn’t tell her that he knew she had a gourmet level of 10. Kaya stared at him blankly.

“So how many points? Is it that bad?”

“No. Your cooking is usually always 7 points, and when you do well, sometimes they’re 8.”

“… Hm, really?”

Kaya smiled. She nodded with satisfaction. Cho Min Joon glanced around. It was morning, but not a single person was around.

“Is everyone still sleeping?”

“It’s probably best for everyone to get more sleep than eat breakfast. I normally would have done that, too.”

“Are you doing all this just because of me?”

“Do you want some nice words to go with your breakfast?”

“Yes?”

“No. And it’s true I’m only here because of you.”

Kaya spoke in a rough voice while putting a piece of omelet in her mouth. At that moment, her facial expression loosened up. Cho Min Joon laughed at the satisfied smile on Kaya’s lips.

“It’s not common for people to be that satisfied with their own cooking.”

“Why? Just because I made it doesn’t mean it tastes worse.”

“That’s the case for me. The food other people make usually tastes better.”

“That’s because you’ve never lived poorly. You should know that just having ingredients alone is happiness.”

“… That’s what my mom always used to say.”

Kaya stuck out her lip in response and focused on her food. She valued eating time as much as cooking time.

Was she not nervous about her upcoming mission? Cho Min Joon was fascinated. She was weak in some ways but strong in others.

“Aren’t you nervous? We’re going to start our food truck mission soon.”

“Why should I be nervous? Even if my team loses, I can just win the disqualification mission.”

“That’s true… But it’s always worrisome if you consider the probabilities.”

“Wouldn’t you say the daughter of a street market vendor coming on this show is less probable than getting disqualified? And seeing from your face, it looks like you lost all your energy in the last week.”

She spoke without much emotion, but there was a bit of worry inside her words. Cho Min Joon smiled.

“I’m better now.”

“Right now? Shouldn’t you feel burdened right now?”

“… Can I be honest?”

“Duh.”

“I don’t think we’ll come in last.”

Kaya looked confused. She asked in curiosity, “So you struggled for a week, but now you don’t feel like you’ll be disqualified? For no reason?”

“Do I need a reason? It’s my feeling. I feel like I’ll dodge the last place. That’s how I feel.”

“Then who do you think will come last?”

Cho Min Joon smiled bitterly. He remembered what he talked about with Hugo and Chloe last night. Cho Min Joon’s team had earned 5700 dollars, and Chloe’s team earned 50 dollars more than that. And lastly…

“If it’s not you or me, there’s only one other team.”

Hugo’s team failed to surpass 5000 dollars in profits.