God of Cooking

Min-joon looked at Karin. She got cold feet like a child, overwhelmed by his dish, but in fact, she was a celebrity that he could hardly meet in the past because she was a popular TV show host.

But she was now just a flare to promote him.

June couldn’t boast of Min-joon. Even Min-joon couldn’t boast of himself because people would not believe him even if tried to promote himself.

Of course, people would react differently if Karin mentioned him. Actually, she had been loved and trusted by lots of American people, and she had dined at other restaurants than June’s, so if she admired Min-joon’s dishes much more than others she had enjoyed so far, it would definitely influence the way they think about Min-joon and his cuisine.

People would accept her admiration as theirs. Her admiration would make them curious about his cuisine and whet their appetite. When there were more people who wanted to eat his dishes than those who could eat them, their images of him would gradually become closer to the realm of fantasy than to the realm of reality.

Min-joon pulled a chair and sat down next to June, Karin, and the table with the empty plates, with Karin admiring him.

“Well, both of you are the talk of the town these days. I mean, you are setting the trend. In particular, you are showing a new aspect of fusion cuisine, Min-joon. So, I just don’t know. I’m so thrilled right now that I just can’t figure out what I’m talking to you about, or what I want to talk with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Pardon? Why do you thank me?”

In response to his appreciation, she asked back with an embarrassed expression.

He looked at the empty table. He was looking at it warmly and lovingly as if he looked at his kids.

“Because you have felt my dishes the way I wanted you to. It seems simple, but surprisingly, there are not many customers who respond to my intentions obediently.”

“Then, do you mean that I know how to enjoy a meal?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Karin smiled gently at his words. It wasn’t the first time she heard it. How to enjoy a meal? Most of the people would have heard it from somebody, but she felt totally different when she heard it from Min-joon. If somebody were praised by Michael Jordan for playing basketball, wouldn’t he feel the same way?

Karin opened her mouth. With a voice full of excitement and anticipation, she whispered with joy, “I think my life after today will be very different. I want to start eating cheeseburgers at the local burger house right now.”

“I don’t know if you can change as much as that.”

“Well, I just want to come to this restaurant more often. You always serve this kind of dish, right?”

“Well, typically, they serve June’s dishes here, but her dishes will surprise you, too.”

Karin did not object to the fact that he worked for June. Nonetheless, he was the king even to June as far as cooking was concerned.

“Genius, genius. When I heard about Min-joon, I heard that word so often, so I honestly thought people abused that word. But when I introduce you to others, I’m afraid I can’t introduce you properly without using that word.”

“I’m curious about that, too,” said June with a smile. She then looked at Min-joon.

Then she just asked Karin, “Karin, think of the best position a chef can reach. What do you think it is?”

“Well, I would say White House chef or royal family chef, hotel head chef or head chef of a famous restaurant like you. Oh, going further than that, the executive chef like Chef Rachel, who oversees the whole Rose Island.”

“But all of them are there thanks to somebody else’s hard work.”

“I guess so…”

Karin looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if she didn’t know what the hell June wanted to say. But Min-joon felt like he knew roughly what June wanted to say.

June slowly opened her mouth.

“I think Min-joon will achieve a position that no chef has ever done before. It’s not just a position. Should I say that you have to look at it in a symbolic sense? Honestly, I can’t even imagine it right now. But you know what? Chef Rachel wants to give him everything she can give.”

Karin’s jaws dropped at that. Even Scott who was filming the interview clenched his fist. In fact, there were rumors that Rachel had Min-joon in mind as her successor, but it was rare for a person from Rose Island to confirm the rumor in person.

At that moment, June added, “And I want to give him everything, too.”

“Suddenly, I feel like I want to get very close to him. Actually, I’ve wanted it for long.”

“Please do. But the reason you need to be close to him isn’t because Rachel and I want to support him, of course. It’s his shining talent that makes us feel like that.”

Karin swallowed when June said that. Come to think of it, she felt she was now meeting a terrific figure because the way June talked about Min-joon made her feel that he was a genius chef who could be compared to Einstein in the scientific world.

Of course, there was nothing strange about that. If anybody who was not as good as Min-joon made this dish, she thought she wouldn’t understand why she visited other restaurants until now. The chefs there must have devoted themselves to cooking most of their lives, so she could not understand that there was such a big difference between their dishes and his.

Karin looked at Min-joon. He looked moderately handsome, moderately sharp, and moderately tough.

“So, Min-joon, what do you think?”

“Pardon?”

“What do you think of your future dream? I mean, what kind of dish do you want to make, or what kind of chef do you want to be, or what do you want to do.”

Min-joon smiled bitterly without responding right away. He thought he would not hear questions like the one about his future dream anymore. He thought about it carefully. It didn’t take longer than he thought. He thought he didn’t know the answer, but that was not true. He already knew the answer from the moment he wanted to be a chef as his career.”

“The best chef in the world.”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t it cool? The world’s best chef. I want to work as the best chef in the world at the world’s most delicious, biggest, grandest, and most colorful restaurant. I want to have a future when everyone wants to eat my food, and all the talented chefs want to work in my kitchen. That’s my future dream.”

“It’s definitely an answer that I didn’t hear from average chefs.”

The chefs she met while hosting this TV show program until now just said that they wanted more prosperity for their restaurants, more customers, better dishes or better ratings.

In some respects, their wishes or ambitions were natural because it was just ridiculous to dream of being the world’s best chef. Given that the ratings of cuisine were in the subjective domain and luck, the world’s best chef might not make any sense at all from the beginning.

However, Min-joon mentioned the best chef in the world. Was it because he was young and immature? Was it because he began to understand what it was?’

Karin thought he began to understand what being the world’s best chef was, for he was like Michael Jordan in basketball.

“I think you can make your dream come true. I’m sorry for the other restaurants I’ve been to, but I enjoyed your dishes the most. I’m not saying this just for my show. I think yours is the best among all the restaurants I’ve been to in my life. I’m afraid I can’t find any better restaurant than here.”

“If you like, I can recommend you a good restaurant.”

“Thank you! I feel like I’m going to gain weight.”

He smiled silently at her compliment then said, “But you will eventually come back to this restaurant because it tastes better.”

***

Doug Feick: Hey, did you guys watch Brunch at Brooklyn show?

└ Steven King: Yeah, I saw some chefs. That woman chef was beautiful.

└ Doug Feick: @Steven King Hey, are you crazy? How did you notice that woman when Min-joon was on the show?

└ Steven King: @Doug Feick Oh, that chef! His confidence is skyrocketing! He confidently said he would be the best chef in the world. He didn’t seem to be conscious of others. I think it’s because he’s from Los Angeles.

└ Annika Pallasch: @Steven King Min-joon is the pride of Los Angeles. When I saw him in a picture last time, he was wearing a Dodgers hat! Not in LA, but in New York!

└ Fahmida Alam: @Annika Pallasch Hey, New Mexico kids also wear Dodgers hats. I’m from Los Angeles. You can’t say he is from Los Angeles just because he is wearing the hat.

Esther Kim: It’s not that important right now. Min-joon announced that in this broadcast.

└ Michael Bary: Oh, I was surprised when I heard the news because I just speculated.

└ David Entin: @Esther Kim Yeah, he is really quite ambitious, isn’t he?

└ Annika Pallasch: @Esther Kim It’s because he’s from Los Angeles.

Andy Sanchez: Hey, guys, tell me. What did he announce?”