Was it because there were so many accidents when only a few days passed? While he was meeting the members of Rose Island, Min-joon felt like he was back after a long trip.
Bumping his fist against Havier’s, Min-joon said, chuckling, “How have you been?”
“I’m doing fine. How about you?”
“I feel like I’ve been to my hometown. So, I feel rather lonely because I’ve left the place and come back like this.”
“Anyway, you sometimes get too sentimental. Hey, Kaya, it’s been a while!”
With a bright smile, he reached out. Kaya waved her hand for a moment and looked around.
“What about the other guys?”
“Well, they are taking a rest in the room. It’s been pretty tough today. I think I sold 400 hamburgers.”
“How did you come out?”
“Well, there should be somebody here to welcome you guys back from a long journey.”
“I’m a bit touched, Havier,” Kaya said with a smile.
Min-joon looked at him, taking out the carrier from the car.
“Have you reserved our room?”
“Sure. I’ve reserved a special room for you. A single room!”
Havier replied with a mischievous expression.
Instead of replying to his joke, Min-joon asked again with a dull expression, “Is Rachel sleeping right now?”
“No. She is talking with a guest.”
“It must be Chef Dave then.”
Min-joon nodded, saying so. He thought if she had a guest in Chicago, there was only one chef, namely Dave. There was a reason why Rachel picked Dave and June as her best students. Obviously, Rachel valued Dave and recognized his skills. At the same time, she liked him. The reason she took pains to stop by Chicago on her way back to Los Angeles was not because she wanted Min-joon to have a vacation at the Grand Chef House.
‘I have something to ask.’
But Min-joon didn’t have to ask him right now, so he stepped into the hotel, escorted by Havier.
Anderson and Janet didn’t come out. Apart from their fatigue, they were not the type of persons who would come out to welcome Min-joon at this time.
Kaya lay down on her bed without taking off her clothes.
Frowning at her, Min-joon said, “Wash first before lying down.”
“Stop being mean to me, will you? I didn’t sweat at all today.”
“Your face is shiny because of the grease on your face.”
“It’s greasy because of my oily face.”
“Are you going to pick a quarrel with me now?”
“It doesn’t matter if you want it, but just go and wash your face first. I wish my girlfriend could be nicer and more decent.”
“Which girl wants to live with a guy like you?”
Shaking her head, she was letting out a sigh. At that moment, a doorbell rang outside.
He peeked outside the door then came back to her and whispered, ‘Wash your face,’ then moved to the door.
“Oh, Dave!”
“It’s been a while, Min-joon!”
Dave smiled nicely and looked at him. Kaya, who was curious about the stranger, approached him, narrowing her eyes. Turning back, Min-joon opened his mouth, looking at them.
“It’s your first time meeting like this. Kaya, this is Dave, Chef Rachel’s favorite student. He has three stars. Dave, this is Kaya. She is my girlfriend.”
“Why are you introducing me as your girlfriend when you introduce him as a chef?”
“It looks like you’re being teased a lot today,” Dave said, grinning at him.
Dave said, “I’ve heard a lot about you. You are known as a legendary couple who makes everybody envy you, but it looks like you are not when I see you now.”
“You’re right. Actually, we’re not as fantastic as you think. By the way, how come you are here?”
“Well, I want to see your face after a long time. I’m afraid I might not be able to see you for a while if I don’t meet you right now. Rachel also wants to see you and Kaya. Would you like to come with me?”
“Okay, I’ve got to ask her a favor anyway. How about you, Kaya?”
“Well, it looks like I have to go…” she said, pouting.
Rachel looked pretty tired when Min-joon saw her in several days. He didn’t know whether it was a food truck service or some other things that made her exhausted like that. As soon as Rachel saw him, she smiled lightly and opened her mouth.
“Welcome back, Min-joon. Did you have a good vacation?”
“Yes. I can’t say that I took a break, but I think I did have some fun.”
“Wherever you go, I don’t think you will take a break. I heard you got caught in various things when you visited Korea on vacation ”
He laughed awkwardly at her gentle reminder. While she was talking to him for a minute, he spoke to her with an air of pride, like a boy craving for his grandmother’s praise.
“This time, they are telling me that Kaya and I are hitting it off well.”
“Really? I understand both of you haven’t formally worked together in the kitchen.”
“That’s right. So, I’m pretty surprised this time too. So, can I ask you a favor?”
“Favor?”
“As for the food truck service, I want to make a pair with Kaya this time.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows slightly. She didn’t look startled, but she never expected anything like that. He added hastily, noticing her surprise, “Of course, I won’t if you feel uncomfortable about it. I just wanted to know how you feel about my proposal.”
“Oh, no, I don’t. If you can grow, I have no problem with that. But your proposal is a bit interesting. I just wonder what made you think about cooking with her.”
“Well, I heard someone saying that when Kaya and I were cooking together, it looked like he was watching you and Chef Daniel cooking together as a great duo.”
The moment Rachel heard that, her expression showed some embarrassment.
While Dave was casting a wistful glance at them, Min-joon continued, “If possible, I want to reproduce it. You have always said you can make more than what you can when you paired with Chef Daniel. I want to find out that feeling.”
“Do you think you can do it?”
“Well, we can’t surpass you, but…”
“As you know, we can make quite a delicious dish.”
At that moment, Kaya cut in and interceded. Casting a challenging glance at her, Kaya continued, “We’ve got talent and ability. And our teamwork is great. If you and Chef Daniel did it, we…”
Min-joon looked back at Kaya as if to ask her what she was talking about.
But Kaya ignored his glance and said, “We can do it, too.”
“LOL!”
After all, Dave burst into laughter at her remarks.
Glaring at Dave, upset, she said, “You were thinking of something weird, right?”
“Weird? What’s it you can call weird here?”
Dave looked at Kaya casually as if he could not understand what she was talking about.
Kaya got embarrassed at that. She cleared her throat and turned her head.
“Oh, if you didn’t, that’s fine,” she quipped.
Rachel also stared at Kaya feeling embarrassed. She found Kaya’s remarks fresh. She had seen many saying they wanted to be like her, but there were none like Kaya who boldly stepped forward and said they could do the same as her.
Maybe that was the fate of masters like her. In other words, they were the object of learning, not that of a challenge by their students. But Rachel didn’t like it very much. She wanted someone to challenge her. She didn’t want to settle down. She wanted somebody to make her stay alert and nervous.
‘This girl is…’
Was she so challenging because she was his girlfriend? Looking at her right now, she felt Kaya was definitely a good match for him.
Rachel said, smiling brightly, “You seem to want to surpass me a lot.”
“Do you know how often Min-joon talked about you when he got home? I even suspected he was dating you, not me,” Kaya said.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Rachel, I want to change the subject of his admiration to me, not you.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“It’s not impossible, though.”
Kaya looked at her with a provocative expression. Rachel found her provocative look charming. Smiling gently at her, Rachel said, “Yeah, give it a try. Let me allow you to use a truck. You can take Maya with you, too. He’s your cook. If you want, I’ll give you Justin, too.”
“I’ll take them all.”
“So, what are you going to make?”
“Well, we’re going to think hard about it from now on. We still have time.”
“It won’t be enough, but if you want to stop by the grocery at dawn, you had better organize the recipe before it gets darker.”
“Oh, you’re right. In that sense…” Kaya said, stepping back.
Watching her, Min-joon said with a sigh, “I’m sorry, Rachel. She is a little excited right now.”
“Nope, I’m not excited at all. I’m completely calm now.”
“The fact that you are calm means that you are excited.”
At first glance, what he said sounded like nonsense, but since the other party was Kaya, his remark was convincing. She stared at him with an angry expression, but he responded with a smile.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Rachel,” Min-joon said.
“Yeah. Hope you can come back to see me with a good recipe.”
As soon as he left the room, he stared at Kaya right away. Kaya raised her chin as if to ask him what was wrong then stared at him sharply.
“Kaya, do you know what you did to Rachel?”
“She is your teacher, not mine. I don’t think I was rude to her. If you think it’s rude I told her I could cook as well as her, you’re too servile toward her.”
“I’m not talking about your rudeness, but… Whew! Let’s go in first.”
Min-joon sighed and inserted the key into the door lock. As soon as she stepped in, she lay on the bed. Suddenly, he thought of arguing with her about the way she challenged Rachel, but he was too tired to bring it up again.
When he came out after taking a shower, she was leaning against the bed, with her arms folded. She was obviously upset like an unruly child. He thought she was cute, but at the same time, cheeky. He roughly wiped off his head with a towel and sat next to her.
“Don’t be angry. I’m too tired to comfort you or argue with you.”
“Why are you always polite to Rachel?”
