God of Cooking

But even they seemed to have decided to judge independently.

One of them muttered, “I really can’t help but support Chef Min-joon this time.”

Of course, he didn’t decide to support him for his own good. He thought that even if he supported Brian, Min-joon would prevail anyway. The moment Kaya took a breath to count them, Min-joon raised his hand and opened his mouth.

“Wait a minute. I think we forgot one important thing.”

“Pardon?”

“I think it’s more fun to bet on something in a competition like this. What do you think is a proper one?”

Brian hated the way Min-joon smiled mischievously at them while saying that.

Gnashing his teeth deep down in anger, he made an awkward expression and thought to himself, ‘Man, I thought at first he was a guy who wasn’t good at saying honestly to others...’

In his eyes, Min-joon seemed full of determination to get even behind his naive face.

Little did he expect that Min-joon would be so cruel to him even though he already knew that he won. Not only Brian, but other participants could not help but take another look at Min-joon.

‘Man, I’m going to be humiliated like this for my thoughtless behavior...’

Brian couldn’t even decline his offer because he had said only a little while ago that it was not over till it was over. If he backed off now, he would show them that he also admitted his defeat.

If he had not bragged, he could have backed off without losing his face.

“Okay. What would you want to bet?”

“Well, I’ve got nothing to bet on this, and we never know when we’ll meet again. I don’t think we take this competition too seriously. Why don’t we do it simply?”

With a smile, Min-joon pointed at the plates. At that moment, Brian felt a sense of insult rankling with him. Compared to Min-joon’s plates that they emptied without leaving any single drop of sauce, his plates were still full of mullet flesh leftovers, let alone the sauce.

Referring to the dishes, Min-joon said in a calm, sober voice, “How about washing the dishes?”

The moment he said that, the participants burst into laughter, so did Kaya.

Min-joon looked at Brian silently.

Brian answered briefly, “Sure.”

For the past several years, he washed dishes at his house only. Since he was the head chef of his restaurant, he had no reason to wash dishes there. But now he would have to wash dishes in the presence of his teammates if they declared Min-joon the winner.

His pride was hurt, but he couldn’t help it.

Kaya opened her mouth with a mischievous smile on her face like a bad boy.

“Okay, let’s vote again. If you like Brian’s dish better, raise your hand. If you disagree, just don’t move your hands.”

Having said that, she didn’t even move at all with her arms folded. Like her, they didn’t raise their hands. Brian looked at his teammates desperately, but they didn’t even look at him.

It was understandable that Brian was in a miserable position at the moment, but it was more difficult not to support Min-joon in this situation.

‘Who on earth can say that this mullet tastes more delicious than the sea bream? As a chef, I can’t.’

‘I don’t want to look like a fool by saying the mullet tastes better.’

Most of them thought so.

Now Kaya opened her mouth casually. “Okay. You know how to shout one, two, three. Once again, let me repeat. If you think Brian’s dish is better than Min-joon’s...”

“That’s enough...” Brian said in a depressed voice. He looked at Min-joon and Kaya with a resentful expression. Then he looked at the participants one by one. He pretended to be calm, but he muttered in a voice filled with despair, “Please stop here. I lost.”

“Then go and wash the dishes,” Kaya said quickly.

“...”

Brian looked at her blankly without saying anything then finally headed to the table with a heavy sigh. His teammates cautiously approached him when he was collecting the plates. Brian looked at them dryly and then shook his head.

“Don’t help me. I lost, so let me wash the dishes.”

“But, Chef Brian...”

“Don’t call me a chef.”

Watching him clearly looking upset like a child, Kaya turned up the corner of her mouth.

In the meantime, the cameramen seemed to be agonizing over how to edit this part of the Grand Chef Season for this season. They couldn’t put this kind of scene on air.

Clicking his tongue, Min-joon turned to Kaya.

“Hey, you didn’t have to be so mean to him, Kaya. He’s going to cry.”

“It’s you, not me who proposed the idea of the loser washing the dishes. I did what I had to do as the host.”

“I’m not blaming you.”

“I’m not making any excuses either.”

Kaya giggled at him. Others shook their heads, watching the two chatting like that.

They knew that her temper was violent and capricious. They also knew she was a lump of sugar deep down, but she would never forget anyone who earned her grudge. Of course, there was none in the world who was purely an ordinary person, but she was really a freak.

When they knew such a freak woman had a boyfriend, they were really curious about what kind of man he was and how he could deal with her. And now they found the answer.

‘As expected, birds of a feather flock together.’

***

“It’s been a while, Joseph. Emily, you, too.”

“In fact, it’s not been so long since we met last, but it feels like it’s been a long time,” Joseph said with a smile.

When they heard that Min-joon was in Chicago for Grand Chef, the judges got on the plane one day before the contest to meet him. There were three judges—Joseph, Emily, and Takeshi. Alan was no longer serving as a judge because he was dedicated to running his restaurant.

“How do you do, Min-joon.”

Takeshi reached out with a calm and friendly expression. Min-joon also smiled and held his hand. Takeshi was forty years old, but he looked about thirty, so at first glance, it seemed as if they shook hands as friends.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Chef Takeshi. I hear you’re running the best Japanese restaurant in America right now.”

“I’m flattered. Well, even if I bring all the combinations of sushi, they are nothing, compared with Cho Reggiano.”

He didn’t seem to say that pretentiously. In fact, if he hadn’t been interested in Min-joon in the first place, he wouldn’t have tried to come here today in advance because they had nothing to do with each other anyway.

Watching them silently, Emily said with a smile, “I heard about the news. You caused trouble didn’t you?”

“Well, you know I like to cause trouble.”

Emily burst into laughter at that. A little farther away from them, Brian and Laura watched them chatting like that.

Brian muttered in a low voice, “I just wonder how he has achieved such a status so quickly.”

He didn’t say that just because Min-joon was standing next to Takeshi, Joseph, or Emily. Only now did Brian realize that Min-joon was standing on par with them, not as a junior chef who asked for their coaching. Obviously, he was younger than Brian, but he already pulled ahead and walked on his own path instead of following somebody else’s trail.

Brian hated that because he was so envious. So much so that his heart was aching.

Looking at him with a pitiful expression, Laura said in a calm voice, “I guess he must have been lucky, he must be talented, and he must have made a lot of effort. Besides, he had a perfect palate, and he won 3rd place in the Grand Chef Season 3 where lots of genius chefs competed. He also learned from Rachel Rose, the owner of Rose Island’s main store. It’s only natural that he is far ahead of you.”

“I don’t want to admit it. This is unfair.”

“If you want to argue about it, go to the courtroom, not the kitchen. The law of the restaurant is the deliciousness of food, and the judges are the customers. And you already lost in this trial. If you want to appeal, try to improve more.”

“They can’t judge me like this by ruling on only one competition. There are lots of dishes that I haven’t shown him yet...”

“Do you think Min-joon has shown you everything?”

As if he was struck by that question, Brian looked at Laura with a blank expression.

At that moment, Kaya approached them and said with a relaxed smile, “Well, you will never see the end of Min-joon’s cooking techniques. Even I haven’t seen how far he can go as far as cooking is concerned.”

“Kaya...” Brian groaned, calling her name.

Without even turning to him, she said, “How much you can show is not important or interesting enough. If they feel their first taste of your dish is not good, how can you make a good dish? You said you lost. If you are sincere, just admit it.”

“Well, not all wars are over in one fight.”

“That doesn’t mean that war happens all the time. Your war is over. You still don’t know it yet?”

Kaya looked at Brian coldly. “If you have a sense of challenge, that’s fine. But Min-joon is not the type of chef that you can regard as your rival. He is in a different league from you. Don’t you get it?”

Brian looked at Kaya in frustration then lowered his eyes as if he had anything to say.

She continued in a stern voice, “So, don’t make him tired. If you harass my boyfriend like that again...”

He glanced at her and froze right away. There was no fox who was wagging her tail in front of Min-joon. There was a beast with sharp teeth, revealing it to a little mouse.

“If you do it again, you are going to be in big trouble instead of washing the dishes.”