God of Cooking

“Alright, let me make one more dish for you right away.”

Min-joon smiled brightly and made a new meringue. A little later, Anderson looked at him, receiving a new plate from Min-joon. Min-joon was putting roughly three plates of Parmigiano Reggiano dessert in a packaging container.

“You want to take it home?”

“Well, I’m going to have Kaya taste it.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“Let’s go. I want to feed her right away.”

“Shut up. I’m not done eating yet. Just go and relax in the break room. Or you can take a taxi.”

“I don’t have money for a taxi. Let me wait in the break room. See you soon.”

Smiling at him, Min-joon tapped him on the shoulder then headed for the break room gladly.

Anderson stared at him as if he didn’t like it. He then began cooking again with a sigh.

Min-joon thought he could relax alone in the break room, but he could not. Trainee Justin was carefully tasting the dish he received from Min-joon a little while ago.

Min-joon asked curiously, “Justin, what’s up?”

“Oh, Chef Min-joon. I’m sorry. I wasn’t goofing off here…”

“Justin, I’m not going to scold you. So, don’t be nervous.”

“Ah, I see.”

Even if Min-joon told him not to be nervous, Justin was tense and nervous.

It was not because Min-joon was his boss. To put it simply, he respected Min-joon so much.

After he tasted the Parmigiano Reggiano with five flavors and savory textures, he respected Min-joon more deeply.

There was an awkward silence between them for a moment.

Sitting down on the sofa, Min-joon opened his mouth.

“Let me lie down for a moment. I’m so tired. Is it okay with you?”

“Of course. This is a break room anyway.”

“Oh, yes. I was very tired today, seriously.”

“But I think you must be so happy because you made such a wonderful dish like this.”

Min-joon closed his eyes silently and smiled. Justin looked at him silently, thinking, ‘Why does his tired expression look so cool?’ Someday he wanted to lie down on a sofa, exhausted like him, after making an incredible dish. At the moment, he was so anxious to ask him something.

Justin hesitated and opened his lips several times. I didn’t want to harass Cho Min-joon because he looked so tired. But my curiosity, as always, wasn’t a guy he could suppress.

“Can I be a chef like you someday?”

Justin immediately realized he asked a pretty stupid question. Min-joon looked at Justin, narrowing his eyes. Justin shook his head, scratching his head.

“I’m sorry, I asked a stupid question.”

“No, I don’t think so. I like your question. You asked me how you could be a chef like me, right? You asked because I looked good to you.”

“That’s right. You are the most anticipated chef in the world. You have a perfect palate, and you are Master Rachel’s successor, though nobody said it openly.”

“Well, I feel uncomfortable if you describe me as her successor. She has many more students who are better than me. So, don’t say that in the future.”

“Got it. I’m sorry.”

Justin bowed his head with a sullen look. Min-joon sighed deep down.

Lying on the sofa, Min-joon opened his mouth.

“I feel a bit embarrassed if you ask me how you can be a chef like me. So, let me tell you about some other things. For example, how to be a good chef. Or let’s assume your question is how to be the best chef in the world. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“If they have a very ridiculous goal, people are usually divided into two groups. Some of them give it up as a bad job, thinking it’s immature and childish. But there are those who want to achieve it under any circumstances.”

“Have you ever had such a goal?”

Min-joon nodded at that question. The expectations and attention of those around him were the goals itself to him. So, trying to live up to their enormous expectations was a tough challenge for him.

“A lot of people are agonizing over whether to dream of something or face reality. You know what? I have faced reality and have dreamed of something.”

Justin didn’t seem to understand his point well, but Min-joon wasn’t lying to him. He was once a teacher when he faced reality, and he became a junior cook when he dreamed of a great chef. And he was still dreaming of that.

“When you get your feet on the ground, you come up with lots of excuses. For example, you have to think about the possibility of achieving your dream, how to lead a stable life, or how your life can be ruined by the uncertain future. Then you keep thinking about many other reasons why you can’t. Once you dream, however, you keep thinking about one thing only.”

“What is it?”

“I just keep thinking ‘How can I do it?\'”

Min-joon replied in a calm voice. His voice was calm, but at the same time, it was filled with passion and dreams.

“How can I be the best chef? How can I cook my dish a little more deliciously? How can I make my hands more agile? How can I better understand and control the kitchen? What’s interesting is that when you keep thinking about it, you can find the answer at the end of the day.”

“I get your point.”

“Well, that’s what I want to tell you as someone who has come as far as here because of such a dream. How about you, Justin? What would you do? Do you want to have a dream or just keep seeing reality?”

“Well, I …”

Justin didn’t hesitate long. What he replied was something Min-joon never expected.

“I want to see you, Chef Min-joon.”

“Me?”

“Yes. If you can tell me I can, I feel like I can do it. So, can you tell me so?”

Min-joon chuckled at him, feeling Justin was thinking the world of him too much.

Min-joon said in a calm voice, “I can’t tell you you can do it. But I can say you can work with me. Let’s challenge and let’s dream.”

“Thank you.”

“Okay. Let me take a nap then.”

“Oh, wait a minute.”

The moment Min-joon was about to close his eyes again, Justin called him.

When Min-joon looked at him, Justin asked, looking at the container next to him.

“I think you have leftovers in the box. Can I eat it?”

Cho Min-joon replied firmly, “No. It’s for my wife.”

When Min-joon firmly said no, Justin gave up readily because everybody in the kitchen knew he loved Kaya too much.

Min-joon’s breathing became quieter, which was so quiet that he seemed to stop breathing.

Was it because he was so tired?

Justin looked at him quietly, thinking, ‘Aside from cooking, he’s an eloquent speaker!’

Did he practice alone? What was certain right now was that Justin really wanted to be like Min-joon.

When Anderson entered the break room, Min-joon was already fast asleep.

As soon as he saw him asleep with his face looking exhausted, Anderson frowned, as if his cooking didn’t work out well.

“Ah, Chef Anderson, he was really deeply asleep right now…”

“So what? It’s not his home. Wake him up!”

“Well…”

Anderson sharply glared at Justin when he hesitated a bit. After all, he shook Min-joon reluctantly.

“Chef, wake up. Chef!”

But Min-joon did not answer. He just made a little moan, which was hardly audible.

Watching him for a moment, Anderson picked up the cheese dish box next to him and opened his mouth, “If you don’t wake up, I’ll eat all of this now.”

“No. I’m going to give it to Kaya.”

As if he didn’t sleep at all, Min-joon quickly woke up, startled.

Anderson sighed and turned around, “Follow me right now. If it is five minutes later, I might fall asleep at the wheel of my car.”

“Okay. I heard you, man. You’re threatening me now.”

Grumbling a bit, Min-joon stood up from the sofa.

Chuckling at him, Min-joon tapped Justin on the shoulder.

“Let’s cheer up!”

“Yes, Chef!” Justin replied with his eyes twinkling.

When he got into the car, Anderson muttered in a low voice, “It seems Justin had a crush on you.”

“I know. Sometimes I myself have a crush on myself because I’m so cool.”

“I wonder if you have been contaminated by Kaya who has grandiose narcissism.”

Without replying, Min-joon just smiled. Anderson was silent while driving as he was tired. Then he opened his mouth by the time they arrived at their house.

“Sometimes, I envy you, Min-joon.”

“Why me?”

“I know you are not making a dish in an easy way. I know you’re trying as hard as anyone else, as you’re right next to me in the kitchen. Still, I envy you because you always get rewarded for your efforts.”

“Do you think you don’t get it?”

Anderson couldn’t answer Cho Min-joon’s question. Even though he knew it wasn’t good, he was haunted by negative thoughts when he was tired or when he was not so sure of his dish. Whenever he was feeling weak, his thoughts haunted him. And when it was really hard, or when he couldn’t shut up, he abruptly spoke his mind like now.

“Why should I keep envying you like this?”

Anderson spoke without thinking about it deeply. He was just honest with his feelings at the moment. Because of that, Min-joon had to think deeply about his question. He looked at Anderson with a serious expression, but Anderson did not look back at him. It wasn’t because he was driving. The traffic light was red, so he could turn his head back easily.

But Anderson couldn’t. He was afraid the moment he looked into Min-joon’s eyes, he would look small to him. So, he couldn’t even make eye contact with Min-joon.

Anderson said in a heavy voice, “I’m sorry. I think I said something stupid.”

“Why are you thinking you keep envying me?”

“I don’t know. I just said what I was feeling. It’s a slip of the tongue. So let’s stop here.”

The traffic light changed to green. Anderson drove again, with a thick wind blowing through the slightly open window. Min-joon thought it was a pretty pleasant and cool wind only a little while ago, but he felt the wind was suddenly sharp and cold. He slowly closed the window. The inside of the car, which was filled with the sound of the wind, quickly became quiet.

“I also envy you, man,” Min-joon said.

But Anderson didn’t respond. Their uncomfortable silence didn’t go away until they arrived home. Hearing the sound of the car, Kaya ran out to the front door, frowning.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you guys? Why are you so gloomy?”