Min-joon did not immediately respond to Delia’s suggestion that day. There were still some other things to do before he made a formal proposal to Kaya. So he thought it was enough just to know that Delia would cooperate at any time.
‘My immediate concern is about raising my cooking level.’
He decided to focus on the most pressing problem, namely his cooking level. Perhaps this was the very greed that June told him about. Because of his dream, he just wished he could do other things, but he actually didn’t pursue it. In other words, without trying to achieve happiness, he was waiting for happiness to come along. He knew how foolish it was just to wait for it, but even so, he couldn’t ignore his desire for upgrading his cooking level as soon as possible.
In fact, he hadn’t spent much time in the kitchen lately. The reason was simple. He already had lots of workload as a sous chef, and at the same time, he served as a judge of the Grand Chef competition. No wonder that he did not have enough time to develop new recipes. And he was in the same situation now.
So he chose the smartest move he could choose right now.
“You came early because you wanted to cook?”
“Yeah.”
When Gwen asked, he just nodded and moved his hands. She couldn’t understand what was going on. She could understand he was working hard, but she could not understand why he chose this particular kitchen where she and other participants were cooking now.
Of course, he noticed she was curious about his sudden appearance. It wasn’t just her who was curious. Even though they didn’t ask any questions, those participants behind her looked puzzled, wondering why he came to this place.
“Well, my situation is complicated in many ways. I can’t cook at home, nor can I at the restaurant. So I think it would be okay to just come here and cook with you guys while mingling with you.”
“Are you sure you want to mingle with us?”
“Sure, why not? Let me cook my dishes, you guys cook your own dishes. If you want to stand next to me and learn something, you can assist me, of course.”
Whichever one they chose, there was nothing for him to lose. It didn’t matter if they cooked their own meals or if they tried to help him while standing next to him. If they decided to work for him at the moment, they could even develop a sense of kitchen leadership, and if they made their own dishes and asked for his feedback, it would be a great opportunity for them to peek into this young chef’s sense of cooking.
‘If I can find any room for improvement, I should strive harder.’
Min-joon thought he should move forward. Otherwise, he didn’t know when the stairs he was walking on would collapse if he didn’t move on at all.
He glanced at the chefs who volunteered to work for him. Five participants, including Gwen, were staring blankly at him. Peter or Hugo was not among them nor was Michael.
‘Well, I understand they might feel embarrassed to work for me.’
Even though they were not at the same cooking level, they were once friends who competed with each other. The fact that he would evaluate their dishes as a judge of this competition must have hurt their pride a lot.
“So what are you going to make?” Gwen asked first.
He cast a quick glance at her. Was it because her question was quite stimulating or did she ask to pretend to show him how much she was interested in cooking? He had no way of reading her mind now.
“What do you want to make?”
“Well, isn’t it you who wants to make the dish, not us?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought at first, but now that we’ve come together like this, I think it would be okay for me to cook the dishes you guys dreamed of the most.”
When he said that, the eyes of the other participants twinkled, except for Gwen’s. She just asked him a simple question. Namely, what kind of food did he want to cook? Any cook was supposed to be ready to answer such a question anytime anywhere. But nothing came to her mind.
‘Do you like cooking?’
That was what Min-joon asked her the other day. Since then, his question kept ringing in her eyes. He clearly said she should like cooking. At that moment, she recalled how shabby she was, thinking she could not even like cooking when she decided that she would overcome all her difficulties with her cooking skills only.
But she had some excuses for that. Since she had already emptied all her emotions such as happiness, love, and passion, there was no more room for her to think positively any longer. As a matter of fact, she wanted to argue that her depression was based on extremely scientific and rational grounds.
But whatever her excuses, there was no change in the fact that she had no choice but to make excuses because of her current situation.
“How about molecular cuisine?” Min-joon asked.
“I think it would be fun to make Japanese food,” one of the participants said.
“Ah, Chef Min-joon is from Korea, right? I think Korean food would be great, too!” another chimed.
Other participants were presenting him with various cooking ideas. They didn’t expect their experience cooking with him would help them improve their cooking skills immediately. And they didn’t think his appreciation of their assistance would make him grade their dishes better.
But they had an opportunity to be able to work with him and make their own dish with him. So this was something that young chefs participating in this Grand Chef competition might have dreamed of because cooking with him was worth tens of thousands of dollars just for that.
He accepted their request fully. He seemed to think of some recipes for a moment. He then came up with dozens of recipes in an instant. Then he accepted the opinions of other participants and revised his recipes, and when somebody said that he wanted to eat a specific dish, he changed the whole cooking concept altogether.
At that moment, Gwen stared blankly at him and other participants working for him. They looked really happy. Well, they were happy about participating in his cooking. They, who were as happy as him now, were feeling a pleasure they had never felt before.
They have never felt this kind of pleasure while cooking. Normally they could not have even imagined it, consumed by suspicions of their own recipes, but Min-joon helped them overcome it instantly. He helped them to check out whether they could cook it or not, how the ingredients would affect the dish, and which combination of ingredients would bring out the best taste.
Even if they came up with a wrong idea, he corrected it right away, so they didn’t feel any burden. They felt totally different about him, compared with when he was a judge.
“Wow! This is Chef Min-joon’s true colors.”
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth before Ken knew it. He just felt thrilled. Watching the Grand Chef Season 3, he knew well what kind of chef Min-joon was. As a chef, he would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel how great of a potential Min-joon had.
But it didn’t take longer than Ken thought to realize that Min-joon translated his potential into action. He could confirm it vividly when Min-joon coached the participants on their dishes at the moment.
None of them missed the way he spoke, and the way he moved the pan or his hands. Ironically, Ken peeked into a giant chef’s fantastic cooking in action. Min-joon looked like a chef who had already mastered everything about cooking. Besides, what he was now telling them, or more precisely, lecturing them, was something that an ordinary chef could never come up with.
Of course, the way he spoke about cooking was not all Min-joon could show them. A little later when they began to cook earnestly, Ken felt as if he was floating in the air, which he could not describe properly.
‘Man, it looks like I’m not what I am…’
Ken wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Everyone, including Gwen, felt the same way. Actually, Min-joon went the extra mile explaining to them what they should do from start to finish, which was far more than what he could do as a rule in a situation like this.
For example, he explained to them which part and how much they should cut, if they had to cut something, and if they had to heat the pan, how high they should raise the heat. In short, he gave them a step-by-step explanation as if he taught a young child one by one. So, even though he was known to be very kind to his junior chefs, as a rule, he was excessively kind to them.
And they soon came to know why.
