Unanimous decision. Everyone who felt what it meant was silent. Even the audience forgot to clap. It was something everyone thought about at least once. Each of the dishes Min-joon and Kaya had made until now was far from common, so many of the people who were here believed that the pair would win the finals without any doubt.
But nobody here ever thought the pair would win with the judges’ unanimous decision because it meant the pair’s dish was undoubtedly perfect, or superior to Dobby and Eva, not ordinary chefs affiliated with Rose Island and the runner-ups in this contest.
‘After all, the Min-joon and Kaya pair have made it!’
When the judges first realized that they tended to pay more attention to Min-joon and Kaya, they were all expecting the pair’s victory, but nonetheless, they were embarrassed. It was not because they felt sorry for Dobby, or they were trapped in childish sentiment like that. As a matter of fact, their unanimous decision could have made the weight of the pair’s victory lighter.
The reason was simple, because it was unrealistic. There was nothing realistic about the path Min-joon and Kaya had been walking so far. How was it possible that one woman who hadn’t even made a debut as a chef yet, and a chef who had less than two years of cooking experience stood out among the chefs with decades of experience as the winner of this contest?
Actually, their participation in this contest itself was dramatic enough, but they won in the finals with the judges’ unanimous decision. Their victory sounded like a lie, so people wondered if this was a show rather than reality.
However, it was difficult for the judges to change their opinions because all of them wanted to vote for Min-joon. Their unanimous voting for him sounded like a lie, but it was true. It wasn’t a matter for them to worry about whether the audience could accept their decision or not.
“The dish that Chef Dobby and Eva made was definitely great. But the dish Min-joon and Kaya made was shocking. You can enjoy great dishes in quite a few places, but shocking dishes are not common because what’s common can’t be shocking.”
When Norris said that, Dobby silently bowed his head. Dobby agreed, honestly. He knew his dish was not perfect enough to present in the competition. More precisely, he could not beat Min-joon and Kaya who continued to make innovative dishes in this contest.
Min-joon and Kaya listened to Norris blankly. In fact, they couldn’t understand what he was talking about while listening to him. Their hearts were full when they thought of their win in the Paris International Cooking Contest, the judges’ unanimous decision, their rosy future, and one million US dollars as the prize money.
At the end of the day, they were so happy. They began to smile brightly. Min-joon kissed Kaya’s cheek. Kaya looked at the judges with a reminiscent expression without looking back at Cho Min-joon. With excitement, she just looked at the judges even without turning to him.
The pair had been fighting with determination to win in this contest and believed so. When they confirmed they won like this, they could not help but feel quite differently now.
In particular, Min-joon felt overwhelmed because this was his first victory in the competition. During the Grand Chef competition, he wasn’t even a runner-up. So, this was his first time winning a well-established cooking contest.
“How do you feel?”
“It’s hard for me to express it in words. Seriously.”
Min-joon burst into a smile while talking to the judges.
At that moment, Dobby came to them.
“Congratulations, Min-joon!”
“Oh, Dobby.”
Dobby looked at him with a smile. Min-joon thought he was agonizing over the pain of defeat, but he could not find it in his expression. He was not sure if Dobby hid his expression or he wasn’t distressed at all.
Dobby opened his mouth in a calm voice.
“Thank you for letting me know that there was something I could not do, no matter how much I worked hard and concentrated.”
“Well, we also worked hard and concentrated.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Don’t be too disappointed, Dobby. We never think that you are not competent or anything like that,” Sophie cut in at that moment.
“You don’t have to explain it again. You said my dish was not shocking.”
“Oh, that’s true,” Sophie nodded with a sorry expression.
Watching Sophie’s reaction, Dobby briefly wondered if June would have been defeated for the same reason if she had taken part in this contest.
No, perhaps June might have her own way. She must have presented the kind of dish that could certainly lead her to victory after she noticed immediately that she would certainly lose to Min-joon if she made an ordinary dish. That was the way she coped with a situation like this.
That was why Dobby could not help but feel he was lacking in many ways. At some point, he started to feel that he had learned enough from June. He thought he became almost perfect as a chef.
Dobby quietly listened for the sound of his tower built of arrogance and ego collapse as well as the screams of his pride. But soon there was no sound left in his mind.
“This time, I have lost, Min-joon.”
“You’re talking as if you want to compete with me again next time.”
“Well, we’re going to compete everyday because we chefs have a small world.”
Dobby raised his hand. At that moment, the judges stepped back, stunned, because he was holding a knife. But it wasn’t an ordinary knife. When the judges noticed that the knife was engraved with a rose pattern, Dobby slowly opened his mouth.
“You know we have bet on this. So, let’s close it.”
“You’re right.”
Min-joon slowly accepted the Rose knife from Dobby. He touched the back of the rose knife affectionately because it was meaningful to him in many ways.
Watching him quietly, Dobby opened his mouth with a low voice.
“I will leave my knife with you…”
“I can return it to you if you want.”
“Don’t do that. That will undermine my resolution.’
Dobby shook his head. He was the first to challenge Min-joon by betting on the knife.
So, it would be ridiculous for him to ask for Min-joon’s hospitality, and he could not forgive himself for that.
Dobby said, with his eyes sparkling, unlike a defeated man, “If you want to give it back to me, do it when I beat you someday. Then I think I can accept it gladly.”
“I don’t know,” said Min-joon, smiling softly.
“If you’re going to beat me, you had better hurry up. I’m still young and lacking in many ways.
In other words, I have a lot of room for growth. I think I’m growing faster than Chef Dobby. So, as time goes by, your chances of getting the knife back will go down.”
“I’m not a mathematician, I’m a cook. So, such a probability doesn’t matter to me,” said Dobby seriously. “I’ll see you again with the best ingredients, recipes, and inspiration.”
Having said that, Dobby went back to Eva.
Watching him going back, Min-joon felt quite strange. To be honest, his cooking skills were behind him. Even the system showed Dobby was superior to him as a chef. And the reason he could win in this finals was because Kaya helped him.
The next time he met Dobby, he would probably have to compete with him without her help.
Even though he thought so, Min-joon wasn’t really nervous. Was it because he was walking in the air now? No, he wasn’t. He didn’t ignore Dobby, nor was he complacent.
He was just confident he could beat Dobby even in the future. He knew that when he met Dobby again, he would stand before Dobby as a different chef from now.
Min-joon slowly looked at the judges. Perhaps because they saw a bit of a war of nerve between the two, they were looking at him very curiously.
At that moment, Kaya said, “By the way, how are you going to do the taxes of our prize?”
<hr />
“Wow, you guys have made it!”
On the way back to the hotel after the awards ceremony was over, Angela got in their car with Min-joon and Kaya and muttered like that.
Kaya asked with a smile, “Are you interviewing us now? Or are you just going to chat?”
“Of course, I want to interview the two of you. How do you feel now?”
“I’m happy. I wonder how I can use the prize money, and I think people will recognize me a little now. But at the same time, I’m a bit confused. While I was here, I could focus only on the competition, but now I’m jobless again. Well, Min-joon has a workplace he can go back to.”
Kaya scratched her head. It was a long competition. In fact, she continued to take part in competitions after the Grand Chef competition was over, so this Paris contest was sort of an extension of such competition to her.
So, when she thought about going back and working at the restaurant again, she felt a bit frustrated. Angela looked at Min-joon while she was looking at the tip of her nails that had been cut short.
“How about you, Min-joon? I heard that depending on the outcome of this contest, the sous chef position at Rose Island would be decided. Are you going to take over that position when you go back to Rose Island?”
“Well, it’s hard for me to answer because I am not in a position to decide on that.”
“That’s right. Then, what do you think? Can you still be satisfied with the position of sous chef at Rose Island? As you know, major figures in the restaurant world are watching it closely, though it’s not popular among the general public. I guess they will reach out to you for hiring offers from now on. If they give you an offer to run a restaurant, can you ignore it?”
Min-joon was about to comment when he thought twice about it. Actually, he thought about it before coming to this contest. He recalled June’s advice. June told him that since Rachel relied on him, she could not reveal her real worth. She also added that she was living as an old woman who forgot progress and wanted to pass on everything to him.
The reason Min-joon could reject Delia’s offer to be her head chef with a high salary was because her intentions were impure. Back then, he didn’t realize that Rachel was not making any further progress because of himself. But what about now? If someone like Delia gave him a similar offer, could he reject it?
When he hesitated, Angela seemed surprised because she knew how much he respected Rachel. So, she expected him to reply that he would stick with Rachel. Given that he didn’t reply so, she wondered if he was willing to go somewhere else.
At that moment, Kaya said, “Well, he is always walking the best path for everyone. Whether he wants to stay with Rachel or leave her, he knows his decision will bring her the best results. Even if he has a job at another restaurant, it’s not just because he likes their hiring condition better.”
“Oh, I see. I think I am way ahead of what’s on his mind. It’s time you indulged in the joy of victory rather than thinking hard about your next step. Anyway, it’s funny. Remember what you guys said to me when I asked why you took part in this contest?”
“Um… what did we say?”
“You said you were taking part because you were bored,” said Angela, giggling at them. “Gosh, you have won the finals in this contest you took part in because you were bored!”
