Enjoy cooking?
June was lost in thoughts, dwelling in that expression.
Min-joon said in a quiet voice, “You have three weeks to go. You might think three weeks is short, but it’s not impossible for you to achieve something during that time. So, please do your best.”
In fact, he pointed out the problems of her cooking from start to finish. Since she was trying to be a perfect chef all the time, she often surprised people with original ideas and flawless recipes nobody had seen before.
Of course, it didn’t mean she lacked something. In some respects, she was fully qualified to be called the best chef in the world, but she was still behind Dave in cooking, just like Rachel was not as good as Daniel.
‘Man, should I call this her destiny?’
As it turned out, the two were lacking in innate senses. Min-joon pondered how to make June surpass Dave, but he couldn’t easily get an answer no matter how hard he pondered over it.
It was really hard for him to find the solution.
In the meantime, Los Angeles International Airport was very noisy with lots of people. It wasn’t noisy because a celebrity appeared. Actually, they were widely known to the public, but not enough to cause such a noisy scene.
Lots of famous chefs including June, Dave, Deborah, and Min-joon came to Los Angeles International Airport. However, it would be hard to describe their arrival at the airport as noisy because it was not a big deal to see such famous people there.
But what if their entourage followed them at the airport? What if hundreds of chefs, dressed in chef uniforms, got off at the airport? People watching them would have reacted with the utmost curiosity, with their eyes open wide, as if something had happened.
People started filming them with their mobile phones. Their videos quickly started circulating on the internet, and people wondered what happened. They were curious about why so many chefs came to Los Angeles all at once.
It didn’t take long for them to find the answer. They came to know immediately that there was a scheduled competition to determine the head of Rose Island as Chef Rachel’s successor. In fact, most knowledgeable people already got wind of it. It was not because this was simply a famous event. A broadcasting team was already assigned to the event to film this historic moment.
The competition was planned to go on for almost a month. That meant that all the Rose Island branches around the world would stop operating for a month. Since they flew to Los Angeles as head chefs, they would have no reason to complain about the shutdown anyway. Above all, the upcoming event would go down as a significant moment for all the members of Rose Island.
“Are you nervous?” Min-joon asked June in a low voice.
She had been adjusting her clothes for a while now.
She replied with a faint smile, “I would lie if I say I’m not.”
“You will be able to win the competition. At least, I see the possibility you can win.”
“Are you not saying that I’m going to win unconditionally?”
“Well, I would not say that.”
“What a cold-hearted guy!”
She grumbled at his reply, but she didn’t look unpleasant because she also knew Dave would win. If he was not a chef that would have made her convinced he would win, she would not have fallen in love with him.
“Aren’t you jealous? Honestly, if you had met Rachel ten years or even three years earlier, you would have been able to participate in this competition as a candidate.”
“Well, I have confidence that I can command a huge army of chefs that can be comparable to the Rose Island chefs.”
“That’s cool.” She nodded, admiring his ambition.
He glanced at the watch quickly. Soon it was time for June and her chefs to enter. But Min-joon was not supposed to follow her because he was one of the judges of the competition and not her sous chef.
“See you later.”
“Okay.”
She entered. Min-joon was also sitting quietly in the waiting room where everybody was silent. Probably by now in the main auditorium, the chefs from each branch, who were close to each other, would be lined up side by side. He was wondering how nervous they would be right now when Rachel came in.
“Oh, you are here!”
He greeted her with a gentle smile.
“Well, I’m not participating in this competition, but I don’t know why I’m nervous, too.”
“You know what? Judges are just as nervous as the contestants at the competition because everything is determined by what the judge says and does. And you’re the only judge except for me now.”
“Are you really sure I alone am enough as your co-judge?”
She smiled at him gently. In fact, she didn’t think of evaluating the participants with him alone. Originally, she thought of having him and Jack as the judges, but Jack was not with them any longer.
“Yes, I have no problem with that.”
Rachel didn’t bother to mention Jack because it would make the atmosphere gloomy here and make Min-joon uncomfortable, too.
“Are you ready?”
“Not really. I just don’t know what to prepare. I’m not even psyched up for this event.”
“Rose Island’s top position will be taken by one of your seniors, but you’ll be the subject of them who will continue to be conscious of your evaluation in the future. What you are saying will empower them. It would be no exaggeration to say that you’re going to be the emotional prop of Rose Island and even mascot. I mean even if I’m not in this world anymore.”
“Can you refrain from saying that now, Chef Rachel?”
“You don’t have to be depressed by what I just said. People will die anyway. If I can’t achieve what I’m dreaming of before I die, I might be a little depressed, but I’m determined to accomplish it. Fortunately, I’ve got someone like you who is willing to realize my dream”
He blushed at her words as if he felt embarrassed.
Watching him with a satisfied smile, she continued, “What this contest will change the most is probably your world. Whenever people talk about Rose Island, they’ll think of your face. That’s what you need to prepare today. In other words, your world.”
“My world…”
“Let’s go.”
When he was about to ponder over what she said, she immediately stood up, then opened the door and walked to the hallway. He quietly followed her because that was all he could do right now. In other words, just following her. He thought he would be able to reach the place he had in mind while he was following her like that.
And today, he could take a glimpse of his dream and ideals, to say the least.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward him the moment he opened the door of the main auditorium. Chefs lined up like soldiers who were about to go to war, as well as lots of camera flashes greeted Min-joon. And hundreds of people were just looking at Rachel and Min-joon.
Only then did he realize what kind of role he had in this world.
In other words, he was the main character.
As a matter of fact, he could not find the right words to describe how happy and gratified he was at the moment. Even though Rachel reminded him of his role in the competition and people’s expectations of him, he could not properly understand before he entered the venue.
Once he entered the competition venue, he had no choice but to understand now. Every chef’s eyes turned toward him. He wasn’t just a judge here right now. As Rachel’s youngest student, he became a judge for all of his senior chefs. In other words, he assumed a position in which he could determine their future.
The way the chefs looked at him was different from before. There was clearly a sense of tension in their eyes. Certainly, they were his seniors, but they felt in awe of him right now.
The participants here were arguably the best chefs not only in the United States but also around the world who were working as the head chefs of the Rose Island branches. In the past, Min-joon was struggling to learn something from them, who were as good as him in cooking skills, but they were now doing their best to hear compliments or praise from him now.
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that made Min-joon think he was the main figure of this competition. Numerous cameras in the auditorium were now turning toward him and showing all kinds of expressions from every angle of him. They were paying attention to him. They were paying all kinds of attention to make a shot of even his small feelings.
The star of today’s competition was not the winner of the competition, but Min-joon, the judge. The reporters were more interested in how he would overwhelm and judge the huge army of Rose Island chefs than who would win the competition.
The bottom line was that he didn’t have to overwhelm them from the beginning.
They applauded Rachel and Min-joon with a resounding welcome. It was maybe June or somebody else who started clapping their hands, which soon prompted all the other chefs to cheer and clap their hands
