Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Head Chef’s Role (3)

Anderson had no choice but to think about it. ‘Should I refuse or not?’ But he saw in Jacob’s eyes that he would use his force card if he declined, and if that happened, feelings would be hurt and it would be a waste of the force card.

He didn’t bother declining. Anderson walked forward. Jacob smiled and shook Anderson’s hand.

“Thanks for coming.”

“… Who will you pick next?”

“I’ll think about it after Kaya’s pick.”

They both looked over at Kaya.

Kaya was looking at the people behind her with a troubled face. She was closer to Marco and Chloe more than anyone. Kaya spoke without hesitation, “Chloe, come here.”

“Phew. Thanks.”

Chloe let out a sigh of relief and then Marco was left. He looked a little anxious, but Cho Min Joon wasn’t worried. Marco hadn’t shown his abilities properly on the show. Other contestants just knew Marco was pretty good at baking, so he didn’t think Jacob would pick him.

“Marco, come here.”

So Cho Min Joon was surprised by what Jacob said. He didn’t think Jacob would pick him, and Marco must have been surprised too because he looked at Jacob with a confused face

But Marco had already decided. Marco forced a smile and walked toward Jacob. It wasn’t wise to decline as long as they had the force card. Even if they didn’t have the card, Marco didn’t have the personality to directly tell someone that he didn’t like them.

‘That means the force card is useless.’

Cho Min Joon sighed. The judges probably gave them that card knowing it wouldn’t be of much use. It wouldn’t be fair if all of the talented contestants went to Kaya’s team.

Once all 16 contestants joined a team, there wasn’t a single contestant who turned a team leader down. Kaya only picked among the people that picked her, and Jacob had a force card, so they didn’t even think to turn him down.

Some of the contestants who didn’t want to be on Jacob’s team might have been sad, but this was the best-case scenario. They didn’t hurt each other’s feelings, meaning they could work together as a team.

Emily said, “Great. We have our teams. We’ll now announce the mission topic. This mission…”

Emily paused, but no one was curious about what she would say next because it was too obvious. There was only one possibility after splitting the contestants into two teams of 9. Emily smirked and continued, “You probably already know. It’s a full course. In French, it’s called Haute Cuisine, but of course, it doesn’t have to be French. Please make a full course of a similar form.”

No one was surprised. They either sighed of relief or looked at Emily with excited looks on their faces. Cho Min Joon was on the excited side. A full course. Haute Cuisine. That was the dream of all chefs.

Emily continued, “I won’t ask you to come up with the idea right now. You have until tomorrow. Please speak with your team and come up with the menu today, and there’s something else you must remember. This will be evaluated by 40 people that we will invite from all different classes of life. The losing team will compete in a disqualification round, and 3 of you will leave the Grand Chef House.”

As always, the word ‘disqualification’ gave everybody the chills. Emily smiled at the nervous looks in the contestants’ eyes. Allan spoke next, “This will be your hardest mission thus far. Let me give you a tip. Think carefully and share your thoughts. If you all draw up a plan without communicating it… You’ll just end up ruining the entire picture.”

In response, Cho Min Joon looked at Kaya. Would this feisty girl be able to complete a proper picture?

Following the mission announcement and the formation of teams, Cho Min Joon and the rest of his team gathered in the 4th floor lobby. They began discussing their course meal. Hugo from Mississippi spoke first. His face had many strong features of Spanish people. Cho Min Joon listened carefully.

“How will we split up the parts?”

“… First, let’s all share what we want to work on.”

Kaya spoke in a low voice, but they all minded her and were unable to speak. There were many different parts to cover. Salad, soup, risotto, pasta, and more. It was embarrassing to pick something too easy, and picking a main came with too much pressure.

Cho Min Joon opened his mouth.

“I want to do an appetizer. Dessert… wouldn’t be bad either, but I can only make ice cream or pudding. Breadmaking isn’t my specialty.

He thought about taking a main, but it was hard for Cho Min Joon to fully utilize his system for a recipe that centered around foods such as steak. Of course, he could make the steak and give the other recipes to his team members, but they all liked to cook as well. They liked their food to be evaluated, but there was no way they would use someone else’s recipe.

So he wanted to make an appetizer of which the recipe was the most important. Kaya nodded.

“Great. What about the others? If you don’t say anything, I’ll just assume you’re okay with anything.”

“I want to make a main. Maybe a fish.”

Chloe raised her hand. She was lively but also cautious, so it probably wasn’t easy for her to call a main since that meant she would be one of the stars. Since this was a team mission, it wasn’t particularly favorable to gain attention but still. Kaya nodded and answered, “It’s first come first serve. Who else wants to make a fish as our main?”

Kaya looked around, but no one said anything. After all, fish was a difficult dish to make. It was difficult to clean and cook fish.

“No one? Then Chloe will make the fish.”

“How many main dishes are there? Two? Three?”

“Hm…”

Kaya was taken aback by the question. It was understandable for her. She had never eaten a proper course meal before. She tried making a course meal of her own, but that was just an imitation. She didn’t know the structure and the rules of a course meal.

Kaya twisted her hair with her fingers and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t the type to lie, so Cho Min Joon spoke up, “I feel like three might be good. If Kaya manages and the rest of us cook, we have to make 8 dishes. I don’t know about appetizers and main, but salad and fruits don’t require much work, so we should focus on the mains, right?”

“… What he said.”

Kaya did her best to look relaxed. Luckily, no team member had any interest in harassing their young team leader. Since they all saw the show, they knew what kind of past Kaya lived. They had no reason to blame her for not knowing anything about course meals.

Joanne spoke up next. She had long curly hair that made her look like she was from the 1920s.

“What does the team leader do? Does the head chef not cook?”

“…”

Kaya didn’t answer and glanced over at Cho Min Joon. She couldn’t decide on that on her own since she didn’t know what the head chef did. She looked at him for help. So Cho Min Joon responded, “It’s hard for the head chef to cook, too. She’ll be busy enough checking up on everyone. It’d be nice to add Kaya’s skills to our meal, but that’ll be too difficult.”

“I see…”

Joanne nodded in agreement. Kaya stared at the table. She wasn’t glaring, but it seemed that way because of her eye makeup. Kaya kept her gaze on the table and said, “I need to go to the washroom. Min Joon, come with me.”

“Okay… What?”

Cho Min Joon answered without much thought and then looked up at Kaya when he realized what she said. Same with the other team members. Cho Min Joon laughed and asked, “The washroom? With me?”

He couldn’t hide his surprise. Kaya nodded with a calm look on her face.

“Yeah. The washroom. This is the head chef’s orders. Follow me.”

Kaya then walked toward the washroom. Cho Min Joon blankly looked at the team members and then got up. Chloe got up and pulled Cho Min Joon’s sleeve. She then whispered, “Scream if Kaya tries anything. Got it?”

“… Are you going to save me?”

“No. I’m going to watch.”

Chloe laughed jokingly. He couldn’t even get mad at her smiling face. Cho Min Joon took a step forward.

“I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t even have the courage to check what his team members’ faces looked like.

Once he got to the washroom, Kaya was nowhere in sight. At that moment, he heard the sound of knocking against the wall. Kaya was standing in the hall down from the washroom. She pointed behind her. That was her accommodation.

Before Cho Min Joon could say anything, Kaya entered her room. Cho Min Joon hesitated before following her. It was a temporary accommodation, but he felt weird entering a girl’s room.

“Is this the washroom?”

“If you need to go pee inside. There’s a washroom inside the room.”

“… That’s not what I mean. What’s going on? What girl tells a guy to go to the washroom? This is weird.”

“Sorry.”

Hearing Kaya apologize shocked Cho Min Joon. She wasn’t the type to apologize so easily. Cho Min Joon sighed and spoke in a calmer voice. He had an idea why Kaya did this.

“I think I know why you called me here, but why me? You have Chloe, too.”

“… I just feel more comfortable asking you for help, but don’t get me wrong. I don’t’ think you’re easy or anything.”

Kaya raised her right hand with a serious look on her face.

“I’ll pay you for your tutoring sessions.”

“Pay me with what?”

“… I’ll make you breakfast every day. Until I get disqualified, that is.”

Cho Min Joon smirked at the simple yet tempting offer. Cho Min Joon asked, “And if you win, you’ll make me breakfast for life?”