Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Head Chef’s Role (4)

He only realized after he said it that he sounded like a man in his 30s, but Kaya didn’t seem to mind. She grew up in a market. So she was used to such jokes. When Kaya saw that Cho Min Joon looked embarrassed, she looked away.

“I don’t know about the halls, but there are cameras in the rooms. Don’t forget.”

“Ahem. Anyway, what did you want to ask?”

“I don’t even know the basics, so I don’t know what to ask. Just think of it as teaching a beginner.”

Cho Min Joon groaned. Even if he agreed to teach her, he wasn’t even that much knowledgable about full courses. All he knew were things he researched online and a few things he learned during practice.

He began to explain in a low voice. At times, Kaya showed a blank face, and at the others, she grimaced. She didn’t say anything except ‘okay’ and then spoke up for the first time when he talked about gueridon.

“So it’s like cart service, right?”

“Yeah. Just think of it as bringing a completed meal and finishing it in front of the customer.”

“But we don’t have enough people.”

“We need people to serve anyway. We have to make the mains right away, but when it comes to desserts and soups, we can make it ahead of time.”

“… Hm.”

That was how the conversation went, but he couldn’t make it long. They were taking a very long time in the ‘washroom’, but he couldn’t explain it simply either. After over 10 minutes, Kaya and Cho Min Joon returned to their team members.

“Did you go to the washroom?”

“We’re back.”

In response to Chloe’s question, Cho Min Joon muttered with a laugh. Some of the team members laughed and looked at the two of them. They had a feeling Kaya went away for a short lesson, but there was no need to bring it up. They had enough fun just seeing the two of them bicker.

Joanne twisted her blonde hair and said, “While you two were in the washroom, we gathered our opinions. The mains will be bass, turkey, and ossobuco.”

“Aside from ossobuco, everything else is pretty familiar.”

“We can’t work with the materials we’ve never worked with before, and since it’s not food critics but average people who’ll taste our food, it’s not good to make things they don’t know, but the head chef should make the final decision.”

“I don’t care. You all decided.”

Kaya rolled her eyes. She thought of something and then stuttered.

“Daeridon… I mean, Gueridon service. I think we should do that service. If there are 40 people, that’s around 10 tables… Oh, but will the customers be tasting both teams’ foods?”

Kaya knitted her brows. Chloe then clapped her hands.

“Come to think of it, I asked the producer about that. Apparently, they’ll eat the course meals of both teams.”

“… They’ll probably get tired.”

“No, it’s not like that. They’ll split into two groups and eat one team’s meal during lunch, and then switch for dinner.”

“They should have told us earlier.”

Kaya grumbled, but Cho Min Joon understood. This was a broadcast. They couldn’t explain every single one of those details in front of the camera.

At that moment, Hugo passed Kaya a piece of paper. Kaya flinched and then accepted it with a nervous face. Hugo said, “These are the recipes we came up with. Take a look.”

Cho Min Joon also poked out his head and checked the recipes. They did it in a hurry, so it wasn’t detailed, but they put their effort into it. As soon as he read the recipes, he saw the cooking scores as well as the structure score. Cho Min Joon’s face grew dark. The cooking score was 6 and the structure score was 5.

“It’s not good.”

Cho Min Joon wasn’t the one who said that. It was Kaya. She knitted her brows and continued, “The arrangement aside, the recipes are all too shabby. Just looking at it makes me lose my appetite. Do you want the customers to send back the plates?”

Normally, he would have talked Kaya out of it, but Cho Min Joon agreed this time. They were shabby recipes. Kaya said, “The main dish is weird. Turkey with homemade mustard? Customers don’t want to come here and eat instant food. Jeez. I can’t believe this. Whose idea was this?”

In response to Kaya’s question, a man lifted his hand. Peter Gray. He was an Indian American. Kaya looked at him with a glare.

“What are you trying to do? Do you really think a simple dish like this will work? If you’re going to work like this, don’t do a main. What are you…”

Kaya’s voice grew louder. As soon as Chloe tried to calm Kaya down, Peter cut off Kaya with a quiet voice, “Isn’t this better than what you’re used to eating?”

“… What did you say?”

“I heard you’re from the slums. You even dropped out of middle school. Isn’t it comical for a person like that to dream of becoming some kind of a great chef?”

The atmosphere grew cold. Kaya stared at Peter with a straight face. No, it looked like a straight face, but her muscles were trembling as if she could blow up at any moment. Kaya spoke in her signature husky voice, “So I have no right to say anything about your shitty recipe?”

“Shitty recipe? I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re referring to. I guess you know a lot, huh? But then again, you are from a shitty place.”

“You little…!”

Kaya sprung up from her seat. In response, Chloe flinched and grabbed onto Kaya’s side. It was the right choice. If she was any later, Kaya would have pounced and punched Peter in the face. Peter continued to cuss while staring at Kaya in Chloe’s arms.

“I guess you don’t want to hear that you’re homeless even if you are. Sorry. I apologize.”

“Hey, you’re being too harsh.”

“Stop it.”

Even the team members tried to talk Peter out of it. As for Kaya, she was spouting all sorts of curse words that no one understood. Peter watched her with a forcefully relaxed look on his face. At that moment.

“This is bullshit.”

The low voice rang through all of the commotions. At first, everyone ignored the voice, but then they lifted their heads. It was Cho Min Joon. He cursed with a very calm voice.

Even Kaya stopped cursing and looked over at Cho Min Joon, but the attention didn’t catch Cho Min Joon off guard. He actually glared at the two of them.

“What are you doing? What are you here to do? Cook, right? Then why are you wasting time cursing each other out?”

“But he just called me homeless…”

“It’s true Peter crossed the line but so did you. Why do you attack people with words? You know it’ll only cause trouble. Haven’t you come to your senses after messing it up on Anderson’s team?”

Kaya’s lips trembled as she looked at Cho Min Joon with shaking eyes. She was more shocked by Cho Min Joon’s words than Peter’s. When did it begin? When did she start to think that he was obviously always on her side?

Peter spoke up, “Yeah. I went overboard, but if you didn’t start it…”

“Don’t even think about turning it on her. You’re not a victim. Why would you attack someone just because of some words? How old are you? 23? 24? You’re older than me. What are you doing to a kid who’s not even 20 yet? Get it together.”

He wasn’t using any curse words, but his voice sounded just as cold. Peter wanted to say something, but he was speechless. After all, Cho Min Joon was right. He was worried about what the other team members were thinking.

Kaya also thought of what to say. She wasn’t just an immature and stubborn girl. She understood why Cho Min Joon was mad, and it wasn’t right for her to talk back in this situation.

But She couldn’t help but be sad. If Chloe hadn’t hugged Kaya at that moment, she would have cried, but since Kaya was a hand bigger than Chloe, it almost looked like Kaya was hugging Chloe…

Cho Min Joon sighed. He then calmed down and said, “Let’s get it together. We’re too old for this. Do we have to act like babies here?”

It was harsh, but Kaya and Peter didn’t think it was uncalled for. They had no right. Cho Min Joon continued, “And the recipe is definitely not good enough. Are you slacking off because this is a team mission? I won’t say turkey with mustard is a bad idea, but it’s too lacking for a gourmet course. Kaya might have been harsh, but she was right.”

No one answered. In the midst of the awkward atmosphere, Cho Min Joon sighed inside his head. He didn’t want to take the lead either, but if he left them alone, his team was going to fall apart. If anyone but Cho Min Joon stepped up, Kaya wouldn’t allow it. Only Cho Min Joon could keep her under control.

“Let’s not cause any problems. We’re here to cook, and we’re going to have customers tomorrow. This is my first time having customers as a chef. I’m excited, and I’m sure you are, too. Right? Then let’s not serve our customers with food filled with frustration.”

Cho Min Joon finished off with a sigh. Kaya and Peter were calm now, and they were both sitting in their seats with their cheeks out.

Cho Min Joon glanced at the camera in the corner. He thought Martin would really like this scene when he saw it later.

‘No matter what happens, that guy always benefits.’

He didn’t like Martin and the thought of how he would smile. Cho Min Joon sighed and leaned back on the sofa. Chloe glanced over and whispered to Cho Min Joon, “What are we going to do? It’s so awkward now.”

“I don’t’ know either.”

Cho Min Joon cut off his sentence at every word. Chloe trembled at the tickle on her ear and got up. She then exclaimed.

“Let’s eat dinner!”

“… It’s only 3:30.”

“That’s okay. Let’s make something that only takes a while, and if we finish earlier, we’ll just eat.”

Chloe smiled and looked at everyone.

“Do you have a disease where you die if you eat dinner?”