After a brief interview with the press, Min-joon headed straight to Rose Island. He didn’t know that as soon as the long Paris cooking contest was over, he would go back to work. Looking back, he wondered if he was really a workaholic.
‘Should I think of cooking as work?’
If he did think it was work, he was right because he was obviously making money by cooking. But his perception of cooking as a job was different from what the general public felt about a job.
To him, cooking was fun. He could work overtime at night or do extra work, no matter what. If he, as the head of a house, told his son that he did a good job for himself, he would feel very strange. One could cook to support one’s family. It was not wrong to feed one’s family as a chef, but the purpose of his or her cooking was probably not for their family.
Min-joon cooked not just because he liked it but because he enjoyed cooking it, completely immersed in it while he was at it. So much so that he could not compare it with any other thing in the world.
When he came back to Rose Island after a long time, however, he didn’t feel it was as warm as he used to. He felt rather awkward because he had never worked in this new place since it moved downtown, or because he felt Rose Island itself was a headache when he thought about his next move after the Paris contest.
“Hey, Chef Min-joon!”
As soon as he entered the new restaurant of Rose Island, Annie called him. When she approached him, opening her arms wide, he hugged her before letting her go awkwardly.
She said with a gentle smile, “You’re back! How was your contest in Paris?”
“Well, it was awesome in many ways. By the way, I thought you were working as a server at another restaurant.”
“I came here right away after I heard that the main restaurant of Rose Island reopened here downtown. I’ve been hired as a sommelier, not a server.”
“Sommelier?”
“Actually, my main specialty is a sommelier rather than a server. When I came to Rose Island, there was no opening for a sommelier, so I landed a server job first. I heard that the previous sommelier Malvin got a job at another restaurant,” she said, with her eyes twinkling.
Min-joon nodded. Since she did a good job as a server, he believed she would do great as a sommelier, too.
“I guess you’ll receive a lot of tips.”
“Yeah, I’m good at getting tips. I’m thrilled.”
“By the way, I didn’t know that you were a sommelier. Why did you bother to come to our restaurant as a server?”
“No matter how small a shark is, could it be bigger if you put it in a fishbowl? At least it should be as large as an aquarium, or even an ocean. Only then can it grow as a good shark. I don’t want to live as a small fish in a fishbowl.”
Min-joon just nodded silently at her words. Normally, he would not have cared about what she said, but with the Paris contest over, he had no choice but to ponder over it a lot.
At that moment, Anderson said, “Min-joon, stop by the office. Chef Rachel has something to tell you.”
“Uh, what do you mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Anderson said he didn’t know, but he seemed to know something.
In fact, Min-joon also seemed to know what she would say because it was clear to them what was the most urgent matter facing them now.
Before he headed to Rachel’s office, he said to Annie, “It’s nice to see you after a long time. See you later.”
“Min-joon?” Annie called him. “I hope to see you here for a long time. I think we can be good friends.”
Min-joon replied with a smile, “I hope so, too.”
***
“So, what’s your name?”
“Delia! It isn’t a difficult name, right?”
“It’s not a difficult name, but it’s not a name I should remember. I’m meeting a lot of people these days. I can’t remember every single drunkard like you,” Kaya replied curtly, with her arms folded. Delia blushed, surprised by the way she treated her as if she was a street lunatic.
Delia wondered if Kaya could not really remember her name or pretended not to know her because she had approached Min-joon several times to hire him in vain.
Delia took a deep breath. She decided that she couldn’t get excited. As Terry, who stood right behind her repeatedly reminded her, this was the last opportunity for her to win over Min-joon’s heart through his girlfriend Kaya.
“Then I’ll give you a reason for you to remember my name. I want to hire you. Well, a pasta house in my hotel is going to move out soon. So, I want to let you run it. Of course, I will give you a great salary that no other hotel restaurants can match. If you want, I can provide a private room for you in my hotel, or even buy you a house near the hotel, and a car with a chauffeur…”
“Wait a minute.”
“Huh? Do you like my terms? Or do you feel like I’m lying? Don’t worry. I’m not going to mess with you.”
Delia looked at Kaya triumphantly. Maybe Kaya could blatantly reject her offer like her lover Min-joon did. Aside from her rejection, Delia’s terms of contract were too good for her to reject. As a matter of fact, what Delia wanted to get from hiring Kaya was not to seek any increase in the revenues of her hotel restaurant.
“Why do you want to make such an offer to me?”
Delia flinched for a moment at her unexpected question.
But she regained composure and said, “Why? Because you’re famous, and people know you’re a celebrity. I think our restaurant will surely be popular if you join us. Maybe many other people including me might think so. Haven’t you received any offers yet?”
“Have you ever tried my food?”
“Uh, not really.”
“How dare you try to hire me without ever trying my dishes? Who are you? Are you a hotel owner?”
“Yes, I’m a hotel owner.”
“Really? How come a hotel owner like you has come to see me in person? It looks like your hotel is very cheap.”
“It’s not cheap! My hotel has five stars!”
“I’m sick and tired of stars, regardless if they are hotels or restaurants.”
Kaya shook her head as if she was frustrated.
Checking her mood a bit, Delia asked in a feeble voice, “So, you don’t like my offer?”
“Are you ignoring me because I’m a bit of a high school dropout? If I come to work with you, it will affect my future plan for at least several years. How can I decide it right here after talking with you briefly like this?”
“Then, are you going to consider my offer?”
“Well…”
Kaya really hated the way Delia’s eyes sparkled with hope. So, she cast an unpleasant glance at her then grabbed her stomach.
“I’m hungry.”
“Shall we talk while eating?”
“That’s good. I know a good place here. What are you doing? Get in quickly.”
Kaya beckoned her to get in the car. Watching her blankly, Delia murmured in a sullen voice, as if she didn’t like Kaya’s attitude.
“Hey… This is my car…”
***
“So, is this a good place that you mentioned a minute ago?”
After driving to the place that Kaya mentioned, Delia murmured as if she was dumbfounded.
The restaurant she guided Delia was a burger house, and a fast-food burger house at that, not a homemade burger house.
Shrugging, Kaya said, “Why? You are not enjoying a burger?”
“No, not necessarily. I heard that your sense of taste was sophisticated. I’m surprised you like this kind of burger.”
“Well, just because my tongue is sensitive, it doesn’t mean I only enjoy foie gras dishes. Cheap food has its own delicate taste.”
Watching her pathetically as if she had a long way to go, Kaya waved her fingers. At that moment, Delia had no choice but to agonize seriously whether she really had to hire Kaya to lure away Min-joon. She was disappointed Kaya was praising the beauty of fast food as a chef.
“Are you not going to order any burgers?”
“Well, let me order the same burger as yours.”
“Okay. Can I have two American Burger combos?”
Kaya calmly began to order. While Kaya was heading back to the table with the order number tag, Delia opened her mouth, rather surprised.
“I’m not sure if I have to hire you or not.”
“If you don’t like the way I do things, just go back now. I won’t stop you.”
“Oh, no, no,” Delia replied with mixed feelings.
At that moment, Kaya glanced at Terry, who was standing outside the burger house, then said, “Isn’t that woman eating with us?”
“She ate already. Me, too.”
“Then, are you going to eat again when you ate a little while ago? Man, you have a great appetite.”
“Would you think I’m considerate enough not to make you eat alone?”
Having said so, Delia began to unpack the burger. She was rather clumsy, though.
When Kaya was taking a bite of her burger, Delia was still struggling with how to bite it while frowning.
“I hate burgers. Why don’t they make burgers in a way we can bite them more easily?”
“Oh my God… You have never had burgers before?”
“I’ve no reason to eat them.”
“You can’t find any decent restaurant at night. You can only eat fast food or have dinner at the Korean restaurants in Korea town at night. I don’t think you’re going to cook.”
“We have hotel room service at my hotel. They serve almost all kinds of food because I’m the owner. Besides, I’ve maids cooking and doing chores for me at my house.”
“You’re strange. I’m very reluctant to work with you.”
“Really? Good for you! I was feeling the same way.”
While saying so, Delia put more pressure on her chin and opened her mouth.
But the burger was still too big for her mouth.
Watching Delia struggling to eat the burger, Kaya asked, “So, why do you want to hire me?”
“Pardon?”
“Why are you trying to hire me? There are lots of chefs who are more competent and popular than me. Why?”
“Can’t I try to hire you?”
“I understand you are trying to hire me, but I don’t understand why you are going out of your way to give me such great compensation and benefits to hire me. Why are you trying to treat me better than anybody else? I guess there must be a reason why other restaurants are not giving as generous compensation as you.”
“Well, that is because…”
Delia could not bring herself to say it was because she wanted to hire Min-joon through her.
Watching her hesitating to reply, Kaya quipped cynically, “Hey.”
“Uh?”
“My boyfriend won’t work with you even if you try to win over my heart.”
At that moment, Delia spaced out. Kaya already noticed that she was making all kinds of shallow excuses to win over Min-joon’s heart by hiring her first. Delia felt so ashamed.
She glared at Kaya resentfully and said, “You said you didn’t know my name.”
“I didn’t know your name. Why do I remember it? I just knew that there was a stalker girl with a bad temper who was following and trying to win over Min-joon’s heart. So, I immediately sized you up. This woman was strange, and her personality wasn’t good, either. You are that stalker, right?”
“Why do you think I’m a stalker?
“From A to Z. The way you are speaking, wearing clothes and eating a burger. Everything.”
Delia looked at her blankly. She always thought that as far as her personality was concerned, she admitted it’s the worst, but she had never seen a woman who was as rude and frank as Kaya when they met for the first time.
“So, don’t you think you are a stalker?”
Delia hung her head and said, “You’re right…”
