While Kaya was vowing to let her know the truth about Min-joon, Delia checked her expression nervously. Sometimes when people were so absorbed into something, they often forget why they were doing it, only focusing on achieving their goal.
That was the situation Delia was in now. Certainly, she approached Kaya to lay the foundation for winning over Min-joon’s heart and hire him later. But at some point, she was only thinking about how to lay such a foundation.
“So, if you come to New York, you are willing to work for me, right?”
“Well, let me think about it if it’s certain that I’m going to New York,” Kaya replied, smiling cheerfully. If Terry had been here, she would have let out a deep sigh. Terry would probably have complained to Delia that if she begged Kaya like that, she would lose to Kaya from the beginning of this contract. But Terry was now waiting in the car outside her house.
There was nobody right next to Delia who would help her make a rational judgment.
“Min-joon, is it certain that he is going to New York to work for June?”
“Perhaps.”
“What? You are not sure, yet? Then, are you going to turn down my offer when he is not certain yet?”
“Because he hasn’t made up his mind yet. But he will go. I’m sure.”
“How are you sure?”
“Because he thinks that is the best way he can choose as a chef.”
Kaya said that then sighed with a tired expression.
Sweeping her hair up, she said, “If he thinks it’s the best option for him, he never changes it. He is such a guy.”
***
“I didn’t think you would come to see me like this,” Min-joon said with a trembling voice.
June smiled lightly, looking at him.
“Don’t you think it looks good that I have come here? I’m here to hire the winner of the Paris International Cooking Contest as my sous chef. Anybody can have this kind of opportunity, right?”
“Well, it’s an opportunity for you, not me, right?”
“Honestly, I can’t describe your working for me as an opportunity. Aren’t you rather patient? You can become a head chef if you make up your mind, but you have decided to be my sous chef. How can’t I call it an opportunity? That’s why I’ve flown to Los Angeles to meet you. I think I should pay you back if you want to work for me.”
When she said that, Min-joon turned his gaze from her with an awkward expression. Since she always looked cold, he found it rather uncomfortable to see her speaking to him softly. Of course, he couldn’t help but feel that her attitude and her expressions were still stiff.
“Let’s get to the point.”
“Well, we are in a serious discussion now. I’ve come here to just talk with you. If you have not made up your mind yet, I want to win over your heart by all means. I think there’s no one on earth who cooks better than you? You are probably the best sous chef.”
Although she said it jokingly, it didn’t mean that she was not serious, for what she said was true. The reason he wanted to work as a sous chef, not a head chef, was not because he was less competent as a chef but because he wanted to move on step by step. Originally, someone with competent skills like Min-joon wasn’t satisfied with the position of a sous chef.
In that respect, Dobby and Raphael were very rare examples, who stayed as sous chefs on purpose. For example, Dobby wanted to stay with June until he got a local branch of Rose Island, while Raphael wanted to stay with Rachel because he wanted to see and learn her cooking style. Otherwise, both of them, who were cooking level 9, would not have stayed as sous chefs.
Because of that, June had no choice but to covet Min-joon because apart from political reasons, head chefs always looked for excellent sous chefs. Considering that a sous chef was lacking in something, compared with a head chef, it was natural that it was much more difficult to meet a good sous chef than to meet a good head chef.
Min-joon did not know it, of course. He did not know how they found out how valuable he was as a sous chef, but he could easily guess it by looking at the repeated calls of various hotels and restaurants trying to hire him as their sous chefs. Was it because of that? When he thought the way June tried hard to hire him was nothing unusual, he was not impressed by her attitude.
He said in a sullen voice, “You didn’t have to come this far. I was thinking of joining you in your New York branch.”
“If so, I should come to see you all the more. You are going to work for me, right?”
“Well, I feel a bit uncomfortable about your description.”
“As you know, you feel completely different, depending on how you use each word. And I don’t think the relationship between people is different. I think our relationship can change completely differently depending on how we define it.”
“What’s the status of our relationship now?”
“Well, let me say it this way, I’m wary of you, and because of that, you feel rather uneasy about me. That shows our current relationship.”
She calmly defined her relationship with him as if she said something obvious.
Having heard that, he smiled faintly. Actually, he felt awkward, wondering how she could characterize her relationship with him so casually.
She said, “So, I’m going to do something for our relationship.”
“How?”
“I’m not going to be wary of you anymore.”
He looked at her as if he was asking what the hell she was talking about. But she smiled at him brightly. At that moment, she looked innocent like a girl, but her smile looked more awkward because of that.
“You are not wary of me?”
“You know what? The more I’m wary of you, the more I admit you are the right candidate for Rachel’s successor. At the same time, I tend to lose confidence in myself. I’m going to stop staying wary of you. Instead…”
The smile on her disappeared. However, he could feel something warm and humane in her hardened face this time.
“Try to be my type of person. And I won’t betray my man. Don’t you think it’s a good deal for us?”
That was the best that June thought of, for she would get nothing for being wary of him. But if she could embrace him, it was a different story because his growth would be her growth.
He sighed, looking at her because he realized that she was a woman who led a life by calculating the losses and gains of dealing with people. How could she lead such a hard life? Of course, he tended to calculate like her, but he knew it was so tough and exhausting to live like her.
“I don’t know what you mean by being your type of man, but I think I can be your friend if you are open-minded.”
“Friend?”
It had been a long time since she heard that word. At some point, she had only friends with business interests. Other than them, she had only kitchen members that she had to care about. Feeling bitter, she opened her mouth. Her voice was so clear and resolute.
“It would be okay for you to work with me as a friend of mine, but can I think you have decided to come to my New York branch?”
“I already told you that I would have come to your branch even if you had not come here. I would like to learn lots of things from you.”
“From me?”
“Yes, because you have a lot of things different from Chef Rachel. I expect I can find some other things from you that I have not noticed from Rachel.”
She was different from Rachel. She reflected on what he just said. Just like Rachel, who made every effort to narrow the gap in talent with Daniel, June was also thinking of all the elements that could make her dishes surpass Dave’s and stand out.
This was a similar situation she was in, and she wanted to get out of it. But she ended up pursuing different dishes and a different kitchen. Why?
‘Of course, I should be different from him.’
Rachel was living under Daniel’s shadow, but she couldn’t bind herself to Dave’s shadow.
The same was true of Min-joon. She didn’t want to be held in check by anybody because she was sick and tired of looking up to anybody. So, instead of looking up to anybody else, she just wanted to stand on her own feet and walk her own path.
“I’m looking forward to you, too,” she said.
Maybe Min-joon would give her an opportunity. By embracing him, she might seize an opportunity to step forward instead of standing behind him.
“I’ll teach you everything I know. So…”
***
It was almost confirmed that Min-joon would go to June’s New York branch.
So, everyone paid attention to who would take over the sous chef position of the Rose Island main restaurant. Honestly, it was Janet or Anderson that seemed to be the most likely candidate. Unfortunately, it was an open secret that Havier was less competent than them.
“I think Rachel must ponder over this matter a lot,” Kaya muttered, touching her phone.
Min-joon nodded. Honestly, even if he were in Rachel’s position, it wouldn’t be easy for him to choose between the two because it was hard to decide which of the two was superior.
Besides, there were many similarities in their cooking, personal relationships, and personality.
“Anderson seems to walk out if he is not chosen as the sous chef this time.”
“Where is he going if he quits?”
“Well, just like Fabio and Amelia, he can go back to Gluto’s, or maybe he can find a job at another restaurant. Honestly, given his cooking level, there are lots of restaurants who want him.”
“But don’t you think it’s rather reckless for Anderson to quit if Rachel doesn’t have him as her sous chef? He’s worked as a demi chef for only one year,” Kaya asked as if she could not understand Anderson’s action.
But Min-joon couldn’t say anything about the problem because he understood why Anderson decided to do so. Anderson considered Min-joon as his rival. Now that Min-joon would be June’s sous chef, Anderson would not be able to accept Rachel’s decision not to have him as her sous chef. Besides, he was as competent as Min-joon.
“You know you can’t be a chef with a romantic mindset. If you can’t get the treatment that suits your skills, it’s natural for you to find a job at another restaurant.”
“Oh, you have changed a lot as you say so…”
“It’s not that I’ve changed. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Honestly, a chef like Anderson can’t stay as a demi-chef forever. Even if he can learn just by working for Chef Rachel, he can’t look up to her forever.”
“Man, I don’t know. Whoever is chosen as her sous chef, it won’t change his or her life overnight.”
“Of course not, but…”
Depending on the outcome, either Anderson or Janet would feel so frustrated and bitter.
Min-joon didn’t dare to express his opinion.
It was the next day that Rachel finally decided on her sous chef.
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