It was about the time when the soft morning fog was on the hard head of the Statue of Liberty. Min-joon, full of drowsiness on his face, had to leave the hotel with his hair messed up without properly drying it. When he left the door of the lobby, June, who was in a luxury sedan shining in silver-blue light, slightly lowered the window and looked at him.
‘He looks terrible.’
As far as stubbornness or tenaciousness was concerned, he was second to none. Even the chefs working with him at June’s restaurant gave up while trying to keep pace with his kitchen work.
However, June managed a very tight schedule that even Min-joon could not catch up with. At first, he thought that he could keep up her schedule in one way or another even if it was hard, but these days, he wondered if he could really do it. As time passed, his fatigue was piled up, and he became much more sensitive to the same stimulus.
“Did you have a good sleep?”
“I don’t think it’s nice for someone who called me at dawn to ask that question.”
“If the sky isn’t black, isn’t it time you woke up? That’s the way I go to sleep and wake up.”
“I don’t know why you woke me up so early today.”
“Do not complain and just listen to me. It’s a pretty good opportunity for you.”
“Well, as you mention an opportunity, you want me to meet somebody, right? Who is it this time? What’s this person’s profession? Politician? President of a broadcasting company? Or somebody else?
While talking like that, he found himself perplexed about himself. He had never thought of meeting such people before he started his career as a chef, but he didn’t think it was a big deal to meet them now. When did he begin to feel like that?
However, she didn’t answer, but she smiled subtly instead. He thought she wanted to see him anxious to know, so he didn’t bother to ask. He didn’t want to play into her hands.
However, June thought even his stubbornness seemed cute. Would she feel like this if she had a cousin? As a matter of fact, she was nervous and uneasy enough to sleep fitfully because of him. But as soon as she decided to make him her man, she thought what made her scary until now was just nothing to worry about.
At that moment, he asked, “Does it make sense for you to do it for me like this?”
“You know well that it’s meaningful, right? I think you have something else to ask me.”
“I thought you were strong. I had the impression that you would not give in to anybody and do whatever you want to achieve your goal. And that’s why I wanted to work for you.”
“Because you want to learn from me how not to give in to anyone?”
“Oh, it’s rather weird if you describe it like that.”
Min-joon scratched his head with a complicated expression. Although he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, it was difficult to articulate his provocative thoughts in a gentle, refined manner.
As if she already read his mind, she said with a smile, “I know what you want to say. Because you are so soft, you might want to learn from me how to be strong. No?”
“Probably that’s what I think is the most accurate answer.”
“I can’t make you strong. That’s Kaya’s job.”
At that moment, he was figuring out what she was trying to say, but he soon found out the answer when he saw the driver holding back the urge to laugh.
Bursting into a feigned laugh, Min-joon said, “You are harassing me sexually now, June.”
“I can’t make you a person like me. No one can make you the same as them. I am me, and you are you. No matter how much I teach you, and even if you learn a lot from me, It’s not a matter of learning but a matter of choice. And…”
She explained to him what he wanted to know. He wondered how she could clarify what was vague in his mind so clearly and succinctly.
She continued, “You are agonizing whether you want to follow my kind of lifestyle, right? You obviously don’t like the way I make a feigned smile when others are making fun of me.”
“Even if I do, how can I say that to you?”
“Well, you had better point out things like this more sharply.”
Although he felt sorry for her because she noticed what was on his mind, she didn’t care.
While reading some papers, she asked, “Min-joon, what do you think about pride?”
“Well, in my mind, when you are treated unfairly, you should be able to speak out. I would call it something like pride.”
“Then, what do you get at the end of the day? You’ve already been insulted, and if you’re angry with it, you’ll only be the subject of gossip among people. And you won’t get anything from the other party. So, you end up being a loser after all, don’t you?”
“I’ve gone through a similar situation before several times. but I didn’t hesitate to speak out each time. If I hadn’t, I would have become an easy victim by now.”
“Yes. I know what you have been through because I was already briefed about you.”
Min-joon suddenly felt creeped to hear that. She said she got briefed about his past. How?
How much did she find out?
While he was lost in thought, she opened her mouth as if to make fun of him.
“But your opponents were small fries, right?”
“Well, you can’t describe them like that.”
“What I mean is they were not big shots. I mean they are not in a position to mess up your life, aren’t they?”
He was at a loss, not knowing how to respond. It was true that he was in a different situation from her, but he could not easily understand what she was trying to say.
So, he said, “But you are a big shot, Chef June. You’re the head chef of the Rose Island New York branch. It’s not an ordinary branch, but one of the best branches of Rose Island. There are few New Yorkers who visit restaurants who don’t know about you. So, I wonder if you need to act subserviently to them?”
“I’ve never acted subserviently to others.”
She took her eyes from the report she was reading, then opened her mouth, looking at him.
“This is what I want to tell you right now. I don’t care what the other party does to me. If the other party is a funny guy, just let him do the funny thing. You should not play with him and end up being the same funny guy as him.”
“In other words, just ignoring such a guy is your answer?”
“Of course, you don’t have to ignore him if you can make use of something he gives you. It seems that you think it’s something like me surrendering if I smile at somebody. But even if you think it’s me surrendering to them, it’s me who wins if I can stand tall at the end of the day. While so many idiots were tripping over and falling, I built up my castle step by step. Someday I will be able to have a larger castle than those idiots.”
“…”
“That’s my answer. I’ll look down at them from the top of my castle. And then I’ll ignore them, but without any pretense or smile.”
Min-joon lowered his head. He could not refute her. Her patience until now was elegant and noble. Even if he kept arguing with her, he would bring about more ridicule.
“I’ve lost to you.”
“Don’t say you lost. This isn’t a fight. Thanks to you, I could reflect on how I dealt with them. Thanks.”
“So, where are we going now?”
“To Amila.”
“Who is Amila?”
She said, shrugging, as if she was answering the obvious.
“She is my favorite noodle maker.”
***
“Go away, June.”
‘Didn’t June say Amila was her favorite noodle maker?’
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Amila shouted at June, which made Min-joon feel nervous. Since she said Amila was her favorite noodle maker, he thought they were close friends, but they seemed to be enemies.
Amila was a Hispanic woman who looked about the same age as June. Speaking in high-tone English, typical of Hispanics, Amila was growling at June, holding the roller in her hand.
“I clearly told you I would kick your ass if I see you again here!” Amila said.
“I think I also told you I would see you again.”
“Why the hell did you come here to see me?”
“Because I missed your pasta. Will you make one bowl of spaghetti aglio e olio?”
“Are you kidding? You think I’m not going to hit you, right?”
“You can hit me if you want. If you do, my lawyer will take away more than ten times what you have. But don’t worry. If you work for me, let me wipe off all your debts to me.”
“Man, how shameless you are as before! You nasty bitch!”
When they were arguing like that, Min-joon could not figure what kind of relationship these two women had until now. He was not sure if they were bad friends exchanging hostile conversations or if their relationship really turned sour. He thought June would not have brought him here if their relationship had been bad, but he was not sure, given June’s unpredictable temper.
‘Well, let me see how they work out their problems…’
There was no sign of the two women finishing their conversation anytime soon, so he was determined to stay quiet until then.
But he was stunned to hear Amila harshly criticizing June.
“So, you want to use my noodles for your terrible dishes?”
At that moment, Min-joon could not believe his ears because he had never heard anybody calling June’s dishes terrible. Of course, they might not like June’s dishes, depending on their different taste because it was all a matter of different tastes anyway.
Min-joon was staring at Amila with an angry expression. As if she also noticed his angry look, Amila flinched and looked at him.
Amila asked June, “Who the hell is this man? Is he your lawyer?”
“He’s my sous chef. I’ve hired him only recently.”
“He’s quite young to be a sous chef. He looks like your lover, but you don’t want to say it because you are embarrassed, right?”
“Gosh, how come you don’t recognize my sous chef, Min-joon? It looks like you have been living in seclusion, right?”
“Nope, I’m not really curious about your life!”
June was about to say something at Amila’s ridiculous reply when Min-joon suddenly cut in.
“How come you can talk to Chef June so rudely?”
“Pardon?”
“Have you ever tried Chef June’s dishes? I mean her recent dishes. Maybe she might have compromised the New York branch’s cuisine to make money, but if you can’t make your dishes delicious, you can’t make any money. As far as I know, Chef June’s dishes are delicious and proper. She doesn’t deserve your groundless criticism.”
His eyes were full of hostility toward Amila. June sighed, feeling that what she told her a little while ago was meaningless now. At the same time, she thought about his sensitive reaction to Amila’s comment about her cuisine. As a matter of fact, he put up with it when June heard all sorts of ridiculous bullsh*t or something like sexual harassment from the people she met, but he showed such a knee-jerk reaction when Amila pointed out her dishes.
In a way, his reaction meant that he valued cooking more than anything else, and in some respects, he put more value on her dishes than her.
As if she was dumbfounded, June looked at him.
‘Should I be upset or happy about this behavior of him?’
