God of Cooking

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Weight of Restaurants (4)

“… My head’s ringing. Stop screaming.”

Cho Min Joon spoke while groaning. Kaya stared at him with red eyes. Her eyes were welled with tears, but she held it back by biting down on her lip. Kaya opened her mouth again. Her rough voice was trembling.

“I’m sorry. T-that was all my…”

“That was the sink’s fault, not yours. Why are you sorry? Agh…!”

Cho Min Joon squeezed his eyes shut due to the pain in his neck. It was so painful that he could no longer hold it in. Cho Min Joon clenched down his teeth and took off his cooking outfit. The cold air helped with the pain for a moment, but it came back.

The doctor, who was hesitating in fear that the oil would splatter again, approached Cho Min Joon and helped him up. Chloe, who was shocked by the sudden accident, asked,

“D-Doctor, is he okay?”

“Luckily, the burn isn’t serious. There are some blisters here and there, but most of them are weak. If you take care of it, it shouldn’t get infected. The problem is pigmenting… I’m sorry, but you’ll be left with scars.”

The doctor trailed off with a lack of confidence. Kaya clenched her fist out of anger. She wasn’t mad at anyone. She hated herself. Korea? Immigration? What was the point in worrying about that? She ended up causing this accident as a result.

The doctor put a warm cloth over the wound and said, “You have to keep replacing the tower. Once the heat dies down, use cold water. You have to do this for at least 30 minutes.”

“I’ll do it!”

Just as Kaya was about to step up, Chloe spoke up first. She looked at Cho Min Joon with teary eyes.

“What do we do…? Does it hurt a lot?”

“Yeah. But what can we do?”

He tried to smile, but his face trembled. Chloe sighed and changed the cloth. The temperature of the water actually made it hurt more. Cho Min Joon spoke in a tired voice, “Thanks.”

“… Stop worrying us. We’re all having a hard time here.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.”

Chloe stuck out her lip. Kaya watched quietly and then looked down at her throbbing hand. She must’ve burned herself when she touched Cho Min Joon’s neck because a part of her hand hurt. Kaya turned on the water. Cho Min Joon, who had been watching, raised his eyebrow.

“Kaya, did you burn yourself, too?”

“Barely. Don’t worry.”

“What do you mean? Doctor! Take a look at Kaya’s hand.”

In response, the doctor examined Kaya’s hand. He then shook his head. When he said it wasn’t a burn, Cho Min Joon sighed out of relief, but Chloe felt conflicted while watching this. She spoke in a small voice, “You’re too nice. Your neck is all burnt… Yet you’re worrying about Kaya.”

“… How can I not? I can see it with my own eyes.”

Chloe didn’t say anything. She didn’t think anything could make her feel better, and she knew very well why she felt that way. Chloe sighed and changed the cloth.

“Worry about yourself first. The doctor said you’ll be left with a scar. We have to try to reduce that chance as much as possible.”

“… You sound just like my mom.”

“I know that’s not a compliment.”

Chloe made it clear that she wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Martin approached in worry and asked, “Min Joon, how’s the pain?”

“It’s better thanks to Chloe.”

“Would you like to go to the hospital?”

“No, that’s okay. It’s just a burn. The mission’s coming up, too.”

Martin looked at the doctor for his opinion. The doctor sighed and said, “It won’t be as good as the hospital, but we can treat it here, but the pain will be severe. Also, you can’t go near fire.”

“… Kaya was doing all the grilling anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

Martin wasn’t all too sad about it. Cho Min Joon looked like a hero when he protected Kaya from the oil, and the viewers would like it as well. The problem was the matter of who was responsible for the explosion. It was the restaurant’s fault for not maintaining the sink… But that didn’t automatically translate into oil exploding. His mind was full of conflicting thoughts.

“Sorry.”

“I told you. No need to apologize.”

In response to Kaya’s apology, Cho Min Joon answered in a soft voice. Kaya bit her fingernails and responded in a heavy voice, “I’ll do a good job.”

“Yeah, let’s do a good job.”

Cho Min Joon stuck out his fist. Kaya hesitated before giving him props. Anderson, who was watching from the side, said, “You look like you’re filming a melodrama.”

He didn’t mean much by it, but Chloe couldn’t control her expression. Ivanna put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. Chloe looked back at Ivanna and gave her an awkward smile. Ivanna whispered.

“Just because she got a head start doesn’t mean she’ll finish first.”

Chloe couldn’t answer.

***

Regardless of the accident in the kitchen, dinner time came without any delay. Kaya was flambéing the fish in the oiled frypan. Cho Min Joon put out the decorated plates and watched Kaya. She never failed any of her dishes. Considering her abilities, she would have no problem responding to the rush of the customers.

“The fried bass is done. Sprinkle some sauce on it for me.”

“Okay.”

Cho Min Joon set up the puree sauce on the plate and put the fried bass and onions on top. Cho Min Joon saw the 8 points that popped up on top of it. Although he had a level 7 in cooking now, he didn’t have the confidence to make 8-point dishes so easily, and among the dishes she made, some even had higher scores than the ones they tried in the hall. Kaya used the same recipe but managed to do some things that not even the chefs here could catch.

‘She’s impressive…’

Cho Min Joon’s eyes contained mixed emotions. He felt like every time he felt like he could catch up to Kaya, she took another step ahead, and he didn’t know how he could reduce that gap.

Kaya had many thoughts in her head as well. She was focused on cooking, but she also felt sorry and angry at the same time. He wanted to do Cho Min Joon a favor at least once. She had always leaned on him for the disqualification round and the team mission. She didn’t want to do that anymore.

‘I’m talented and strong-willed, too…’

Fire shot up from her frypan. Kaya’s eyes flashed as it reflected the purple light of the fire. She couldn’t make Cho Min Joon get disqualified. She didn’t want him to be disqualified while being on the same team. She didn’t know if the losing team had to compete in a disqualification round or if they would be sent straight home… But neither was good for Cho Min Joon. After all, he wasn’t in the best condition.

She wanted to protect him. Just like how he had protected her, she wanted to do the same. That might have been why she was thinking about immigration. Her face expressed just what she was thinking. Her pursed lips, knitted brows, and upward slanted eyes.

Cho Min Joon calmly prepared the vegetables while glancing at Kaya. He might have been preparing them early, but when cut too early, it turned out less fresh. There were times when rushing ended up in having to do it all over again. She wanted to tell him that… But it wasn’t the right time.

He decorated the plates that Kaya handed him, and they conveyed the beauty of a French dish. His decoration level was 5. Decoration levels weren’t that important, but except for Anderson, everyone had level 5s and 6s, and in order to increase it, they might have to improve their carving technique, but that was more of a food coordinator’s job than that of a chef.

All Cho Min Joon could do was make shapes with the sauce or splatter it in an abstract manner, but for most of them, the food was placed in the middle with the sauce spread on the outside. It was enough to make customers feel like they were at a gourmet restaurant. Cho Min Joon smiled with satisfaction.

“This one turned out well, too. Good job.”

“… Yeah.”

Kaya didn’t look happy or dissatisfied. Her eyes were fixed on the gauze on Cho Min Joon’s neck. Cho Min Joon replied, “Don’t worry about me.”

“How can I not?”

“I knew something like this would happen in the kitchen eventually, and it was an accident. Stop dwelling on it. It makes me uncomfortable.”

Cho Min Joon’s calm voice made her feel angry. Kaya took out the cod from the steamer and said, “I’m going to worry about it.”

“I said there’s no need.”

“You always worried about me, so why can’t I do that for you?”

“Well…”

Cho Min Joon was about to answer, but he shut his mouth. He didn’t know what to say. Kaya scoffed.

“See? You’re the same way.”

“…”

“So don’t say anything about me worrying about you. I can’t help it.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could do was smile. Kaya turned her head with flushed ears. She mumbled, “Don’t smile like that either.”

Kaya focused back on her pan. Besides a few competitions, it had been a long time since she cooked for the sake of someone else. She did cook lunch and breakfast for Cho Min Joon… But this was different. After all, her food was what would determine if Cho Min Joon would go home, so the pan felt heavier than usual, but it didn’t make her feel bad in any way. This moment actually made her feel quite rewarded. She felt proud. The customers in the hall were important, too. But she liked that by doing well, she could save Cho Min Joon. She felt pressured… But compared to when she worried about her next meal while working at the market, this was nothing.

The olive oil and bass splattered in the pan. The oil seeped into the cut made into the bass, and she could feel it cook more clearly than usual. She wasn’t cooking out of joy. It was probably out of being the head of a household. Responsibility. That one word motivated Kaya.

‘… I think this turned out well.’

She handed the grilled bass and the apricot puree to Cho Min Joon and focused back on the pan. And at that moment, Cho Min Joon knitted his brows. There wasn’t a problem. It was actually a good thing.

‘9 points?’

The cooking score was 9 points. Grilled bass with apricot puree. It was a good combination, but it wasn’t so special to be worth 9 points but it was. Unless the bass was grilled perfectly, that was an impossible achievement.

Cho Min Joon forgot about his burn and stared at Kaya in surprise. At that moment, his eyes spasmed and a smile spread across his face.

[Kaya Reuters]

Cooking Level 8

Breadmaking Level: 6

Gourmet Tasting Level: 10

Decoration Level: 6