“I love Rose Island,” June said.
“It’s my dream to make Rose Island more beautiful than ever. But I have to do it by myself. It’s just meaningless to me if somebody else can make it much more beautiful than I can…”
“I understand your feelings.”
“But I thought if I had Rose Island, it would be the end of all the trials in my life. But it was not. My trials would not end there. Rachel was always right.
June was rambling a bit. But he understood her. When could she ramble on like this if she didn’t today? When could she complain like this when she could not today?
She asked, sobbing, “Shall I leave Rose Island?”
His expression hardened.
“Don’t make a reckless decision!”
“I know I’m impatient, emotional, and I’m not calculated. But don’t you think it’s rather unnatural if I don’t think like that?”
“Think about it slowly. June, it’s never too late when you decide to go out. For now, you have to think about making use of the four years you’ll serve as the head of Rose Island.
“You’re always right.”
Min-joon was always right, and that was why she tried to turn to him all the more to get his opinion. “If what you say is right, it looks like I can keep sobbing like this, right?”
He ordered another beer instead of responding to her. He didn’t look at her. No one looked at her. She began to sob again amid their kind indifference.
Nobody comforted her. But she felt that was why she was comforted.
<hr />
“Chef Rachel, you were too harsh on Chef June.”
After drinking with June, Min-joon went to see Rachel as soon as the day broke.
She smiled bitterly at his voice that seemed a little angry to her.
“It looks like you have become attached to her a lot.”
“This is not a matter of my attachment to her. If you wanted to introduce a four-year limit for the head of Rose Island, you should have at least informed Chef June about it in advance even if your action is unfair.”
“You’re taking sides with her openly. Are you very angry?”
“Yes, I am. June is also very upset. I think you didn’t have to make what could end up being a festive event a tragedy.”
“Let’s call it an ordeal, not a tragedy. In other words, an ordeal to make all of this into a comedy. If you keep going without the ordeal, the whole thing may end up being an absurd tragedy. Can’t you think I’ve taken action with that in mind?”
“I can’t tell you to do this or that, but I’m just frustrated. Of course, I admit she can’t go on without going through any ordeal. I just can’t believe her ordeal is not yet over.”
“Don’t you covet that position?” she asked casually.
He noticed her intentions and looked at her sharply.
She smiled, looking at him who grew a lot more mature while she hadn’t seen him since he left for New York to work for June.
“It seems you think you feel guilty about coveting June’s new position.”
“No matter how good a chef is, he or she can run one restaurant at the end of the day.”
If a chef wanted to do more than he could beyond cooking, such a chef was more like a business-minded chef rather than a pure chef. Min-joon wanted to be an ordinary chef from start to finish. That was the main difference between June and him. Nobody could say which was right or wrong.
“The position of a Rose Island head chief is of no value to me.”
“Then how about the chief of Rose Island’s main restaurant?” she asked suddenly.
Seeing him embarrassed a bit, she said quietly, “The Venice branch of Rose Island is still empty. Since June is to take over the head of Rose Island, she is going to be very busy. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time for you to get out of her patronage, isn’t it?”
“Well…”
“I think you’re ready,” she said. “I mean you are fully ready to be a head chef.”
The time for change had come.
He was embarrassed at her words. He didn’t understand why she suddenly changed the topic while talking about June. At the same time, he was more embarrassed because he didn’t find her change of topic strange because he had been thinking about it all the time—the Venice branch of Rose Island.
Although it was not the main branch now, it would be meaningful in many ways to him if he inherited it. Many people said if somebody inherited the Venice branch, it would be like inheriting the main restaurant of Rose Island. “I don’t think it’s a topic we should discuss right now,” he said.
“I know,” she replied, nodding as if she took it for granted.
She was talking about June until a moment ago, so even if she talked about the main restaurant of Rose Island, he didn’t want to be distracted from the main topic.
So he asked, “You don’t want me to talk about Chef June?”
“Well, I don’t have anything to talk about her. She has become the new head of Rose Island. I think she will do her best for the next four years no matter what happens. She is such a passionate woman.”
“What will happen after she serves for four years?”
“She knows the answer.”
He let out a sigh again at her reply. He wanted to argue with her on why she shifted all the responsibility to June. But he knew that nobody else could take the responsibility she was supposed to bear as the new head of Rose Island during the next four years. It was her own responsibility and right.
So, he had to admit that Rachel was not bad. Rather she was the one who cared more about June than anyone else. Otherwise, she would not smile sadly like that whenever she talked about June.
“Well, we’re back to square one at the end of the day,” he said as if he was resigned to the situation. In fact, he was complaining to her tacitly. He knew June didn’t stay stagnant until now. Even if she served as the new head of Rose Island only for four years, she was still its head. She finally got what she wanted. What she didn’t get was a sense of stability, which she wanted so much.
To be honest, even if he was in Rachel’s position, he would not make a different choice. June was not her only student. It was unclear how Rachel would deal with her ownership of Rose Island later, but if he was in Rachel’s shoes, she would give it to the head of each branch.
‘Is there any other way she can do it?’
He thought for a moment, but he couldn’t think straight for now. What was certain was that June couldn’t take sole ownership of Rose Island even if she was its head. Even if she had the desire to own it and even if she had such a dream, her position itself would not automatically give her the right to own it.
“The only thing June can take from this restaurant is its name.”
Rachel looked at him with a slightly surprised look when he said that. During that short span of time, he already grasped the structure of Rose Island. He even peeked into her thinking.
Obviously, he didn’t waste time while working for June.
Rachel smiled bitterly and nodded.
“The name of Rose Island will give her a lot more power than she thinks.”
The biggest advantage she could have as the chief of Rose Island was that she could represent its name. Even though she would be its head only for four years for now, she could keep her title 8, 12, 20 years, its name would have been hers at some point.
It was more valuable to her to associate that name with her than to have all the branches.
Of course, she would have to achieve more under that name to reach that stage. It was going to be a tough time for her. But Rachel had no intention of giving her an easy life, for her position could not make her complacent and easy-going. In some respects, Rachel and June were the types of chefs who would sink to the bottom of that swamp if they didn’t work hard until the very end.
“If she can’t endure it, it’s okay for her to give up her position midway through.”
Rachel’s statement was cold-hearted. But what was so scary about her was that she fundamentally loved June instead of ignoring her. Give up Rose Island? Give up the title of Rose Island head? Give up that fast and beautiful road?
“If there is a paved road, people can’t think of making a new road. The same goes for June. If she sees a road that I have already paved well, she won’t think of stupid things like making another road beause she is clever. A clever woman like her can’t take the risk.”
“Actually she took lots of risks.”
“But she didn’t take the risk only when she knew the answer, right?”
He was at a loss for words when she asked calmly. She was right. June didn’t take any risk unless she knew the answer clearly.
