Honestly, Min-joon didn’t feel comfortable after kicking Willard’s butt, who was getting on his high horse. When he calmed down, he even thought he might have been rude to Willard.
Of course, Min-joon didn’t feel sorry for Willard because it was true that he didn’t appreciate Kaya’s cuisine by his biased and narrow-minded yardstick. He might not like her dish because it didn’t suit his taste, but he should not have commented on it as if it was a poor dish.
Min-joon couldn’t understand his arrogance. He would probably understand if Willard was a chef with extraordinary cooking abilities, but he thought Willard was not as good as himself. Maybe that was why Min-joon got even more upset. He didn’t liked the fact that a mediocre chef like Willard was pretending to be an authoritative chef.
Chloe and Kaya were on the same page with Min-joon on this matter. Chloe thought Willard behaved so badly as to incur Min-joon’s anger, while Kaya regretted that she couldn’t kick his ass in person.
“You were clumsy in dealing with him.”
However, only one did not support Min-joon’s position. It was June.
Min-joon opened his mouth with a slightly dejected expression.
“Really?”
“You’re known to people. If you had nothing and you weren’t famous, nobody would care even if you harshly treated somebody. If they made an issue of your behavior and raised your worth, it would be beneficial to you. But you wouldn’t get anything from this fight.”
“Well, I might not gain anything, but Chloe and Kaya did. Thanks to the internet, they were widely known to the public. All of them say their dishes are much better than before.”
“Yeah, I know. But even without this kind of quarreling, they would be known to the public gradually. As long as you maintain the quality of your restaurant, people will naturally visit your restaurant. But if somebody bears a grudge against you, it’s a different story, Willard won’t forget his humiliation on that day.”
When she said that, he scratched his head with an awkward expression. He felt like a student who was scolded by a school teacher.
He asked in a cautious voice, “Do I have to really care about his grudges against me?”
“Of course, you should. A grudge is always important no matter whose grudge it is. Even if you think the person who bears a grudge against you is a small fry, he or she might stand in your way when you don’t expect it at all. So, you should not let anybody bear a grudge against you. Not for them, but for yourself.”
“But what’s the point of worrying about it? If Willard already has resentment against you, I have to live with it, right?”
“Well, it’s not that simple,” she said with a sigh.
She thought he sometimes looked mature for his age, but he was not in this case. Perhaps he had no idea of how terrible somebody’s grudge against him could be, for he had not gone through it. That might be good for him in some respects. The fact that he doesn’t know the dark side of humans meant he was a bright man. And he must have lived a bright life.
But this case was different. The higher one climbed in the social ladder, the more one was supposed to meet as many of those who were dirty and wicked as those who were good.
It was hard to describe Willard as dirty and wicked, but he was certainly a chef with a jaundiced eye. June thought he was now in the thick of gnashing his teeth to get even with Min-joon.
“I’m nervous because I don’t know when and how Willard is going to counterattack. Remember this. When you criticize somebody, you will have to undergo lots of annoying things.”
Three days passed after June gave Min-joon such a warning. After all, something annoying happened to Min-joon.
***
In conclusion, June knew well what type of person Willard was. He didn’t want to make light of or ignore Min-joon’s humiliation of him. He was a person who never forgot anybody who humiliated him. From the moment he was insulted by Min-joon, Willard began to investigate this guy named Min-joon in more detail. And he realized one thing, which was that Min-joon was not as immature as he thought. His background told it all. He was formerly a demi-chef of Rose Island, and he was Rachel’s favorite chef. Right now, even June, the most powerful chef in New York, hired him as her protege.
Honestly, that was the trickiest for Willard. It wasn’t really that important to him that Min-joon had a perfect palate, and that he was capable enough to win the Paris International Culinary Competition. Unsubstantiated skills in cooking didn’t mean anything to him. In his mind, what was substantiated in cooking was a restaurant that he actually owned and ran.
“Stupid guy! How come he has become June’s sous chef when he is so widely known? If he has won the Paris International Cooking Competition, he should have established his own cooking philosophy. Why would he want to work for June?”
But Willard never thought that Min-joon was trying to make up for what was lacking in him. As a result, he began to make all sorts of wild speculations about Min-joon. He even made ridiculous speculation that he might have a secret relationship with June. After all, he began to speculate in a way that most suited his mean character.
‘Yeah, this guy has solid backing from Rachel.’
In other states, many people said convincingly that he could be Rachel’s successor, but not in New York. Willard firmly believed that June would be Rachel Rose’s successor because he knew well who she was. Dave’s reputation was also famous, but people thought that given June’s skillfulness and masterly management, there was no better candidate than her as Rachel’s successor.
Willard analyzed Min-joon’s relationship with June. Based on that conclusion, Min-joon knew he couldn’t be Rachel’s successor, so he wanted to deepen his relationship with her to be the next successor after her.
After he came to a conclusion like that, Willard could target Min-joon more clearly. He wanted Min-joon to go through some difficulties that would trouble him for the rest of his life.
He had two options, namely driving a wedge between Min-joon and June or making June pay no more attention to him because of her disappointment with him. At the same time, he had to find some way to recover his tarnished reputation.
It didn’t take that long for Willard to put his plan into action because it was his specialty to do such dirty tricks behind one’s back. When he was done planning, he immediately put it into action without waiting. He wanted to get even with Min-joon as soon as possible.
The first thing Willard did was to use reporters he had close ties with. He had them put out a false report that Min-joon was given a job offer by somebody, so he might leave June.
Of course, June and Min-joon, who knew each other well, could ignore such groundless reports, but even a little thing could sway one’s fragile mind.
Next, Willard wanted to make use of his connections in the restaurant world. He had his chef friends spread false rumors about Min-joon to the effect that he was more ambitious than people thought, so he was in the New York branch right now because he wanted to take over Rose Island by using June as a springboard. Of course, Willard made sure his name should be kept secret while they were spreading such rumors.
With such rumors widely spreading in the New York area, Willard finally stopped by the New York branch to check out the atmosphere.
“I always feel overwhelmed whenever I come here.”
When his secretary said that, he stared at her. Although she looked down, surprised by his reaction, Willard also agreed with her to some extent. June’s restaurant was flawless enough to be ranked the top not only in New York but also around the world. So much so that even those chefs who felt they were successful got cold feet when they got here.
June and Min-joon were the main characters of the kitchen of such a restaurant. Although he complained about Kaya and Chloe’s restaurant, he could not find any fault here, not to mention the service and the interior of the restaurant. The kitchen was so gorgeous and beautiful that it was like he was watching an opera. Despite piling orders, the chefs were doing their work calmly when they were exposed to sparkling flames from roasting flambe steaks.
Regrettably, this was the ideal kitchen that Willard had been dreaming about. The atmosphere of the kitchen was so overwhelming that he almost forgot the purpose of coming here.
Even the dishes here were so delicious that every customer seemed satisfied with the quality of the food. Even the plating was so beautiful that he thought it might be true that June hired an exclusive food coordinator.
Was it because of that? After eating, Willard had to feel humiliated as if he was a loser.
At that moment, Min-joon approached his table.
“Oh, what has brought you here?” Min-joon asked in a sullen voice.
Willard was about to lose his temper at his cold voice, but he held it back and smiled softly. He had no other way to hand his head for shame.
“Well, I think I was rude to you last time, so I just want to apologize.”
“You don’t have to…”
He looked at Willard with a surprised expression. From what he heard from June, Willard was not the type who would apologize to anybody.
But Willard opened his mouth in a calm voice.
“I thought a lot about it after what happened on that day. There weren’t many people who gave me painful advice. So I wanted to see you again. I also have something to tell you.”
“What do you want to tell me?”
“I heard rumors about you these days, such as why you are here in the New York branch and what your ambitions are.”
Min-joon narrowed his eyes at his remarks. Of course, he heard nasty rumors about himself, but he didn’t care because it was inevitable for famous people like him to hear such groundless rumors. But he felt rather strange when Willard mentioned such rumors.
Willard said, “I want to make an offer, with due respect to your ambitions.”
“Alright, let me listen first.”
“Would you like to work with me?”
Min-joon made an embarrassed expression. So, he looked at Willard in embarrassment as if he could not understand what Willard just said.
But Willard said, interpreting his embarrassed expression like the way he wanted.
“Of course, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand your big picture. But I can give you as much of Rose Island as possible. I’m more talented in running a restaurant than cooking. Honestly, with your skills, wouldn’t it feel cramped for you to just be a sous chef here? Isn’t it frustrating to work as a sous chef with such abilities?”
Since then, Willard had been playing a lot of ridiculous stories. Cho Min-joon could barely endure this. After that, Willard kept babbling about nonsense, but Min-joon responded while keeping a straight face. Recalling what Willard said, he recalled what June once had said.
‘Don’t make an enemy. But if you think you have an enemy, keep in mind. You have to trample on him to a point that none of his words and action affects you. Can you do it?’
He looked at Willard in front of him, recalling her advice. What choice should he make? Should he trample on him? Or should he focus on making himself more influential?
After all, he replied quietly, “I’m sorry, but I would like to decline your offer. You have misunderstood me. I’m not at Chef June’s side simply to work for her. I’m here because I have something to learn from her.”
Did Willard know what kind of offer he had received from rich restaurant owners other than June? Obviously, Willard underestimated him because he was a young and inexperienced sous chef.
Min-joon said, “But I don’t really want to learn anything from you, Mr. Willard.”
