God of Cooking

“Did you see me lying to you? Now, shake hands with Marco.”

Ella hesitated. She looked back at Marco and fidgeted with her hand. But as if she was shocked by the gloomy image of him when he appeared in the dark hall, she hugged Min-joon’s neck and trembled with tearful eyes. Min-joon patted her on the back and looked at Marco with an awkward expression.

“I guess the light was too dim when you showed up. Ella was scared.”

“Well, there were some kids that were scared of me sometimes.”

Marco replied in a soft voice. Lisa shrugged and stepped inside.

“What about the Ciabatta? Are you done making it?”

“Yes. I was just done with it. Would you like to try it?”

“Sure. In fact, I was thinking of a night snack.”

“Mom, I want to eat it too.”

Ella slightly opened her mouth, and the moment she saw Marco’s eyes, who turned to her with Lisa, she got scared again. Seeing Ella’s hand, holding Min-joon’s hand, turning white, Marco sighed and turned his eyes away from her.

Min-joon was rather embarrassed by his diffident voice.

But Lisa did not deny Marco’s confession that he screwed up.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Yes, the most important thing is the savory texture. I think it lacks some stickiness.”

“Well, it tastes good to me. No?”

“Yeah, it tastes okay. But when you make a few Ciabatta, that’s fine. But if you make a lot of Ciabatta, any subtle difference in taste makes a big difference.”

“I don’t understand it very well. Does it mean that kneading a lot of dough can be tricky?”

“Yes. That’s what I want to say. If you have a lot to pay attention to, it’s hard to focus on the details. What I mean is if you really make it for the consumers in the kitchen, it’s hard to produce better Ciabatta than this one. Of course, you can make better Ciabatta with more practice…”

Lowering his head with a sullen expression, Marco listened quietly to Lisa. While pretending not to notice it, Lisa watched him closely. Usually, if a baker was pointed out like this, he or she could get easily upset, regardless of whether they are good or bad, but Marco remained calm.

‘He’s got a fine personality,’ Lisa thought.

Nobody likes to be pointed out, but cooks and chefs didn’t like it, in particular. However, in the field of art or cooking, respecting one’s individuality was clearly different from one’s right or wrong. Of course, it was possible that the artist’s stubbornness might create something unique to him or her. But it was not true when it came to cooking, for the chef’s stubbornness only results in his or her regression.

“I’m sorry. Actually, I didn’t have to point it out, but I think I got greedy because you were so good. Good job. I hope I’m in your good hands.”

“Pardon?”

“It means you have passed my audition.”

At that moment, Marco made a mixed expression. He was happy to hear that, but at the same time, he felt gloomy because he had to move here from New York. He even wondered if he really deserved her recognition, given his shallow baking experience in the field. His expression showed this kind of mixed feelings clearly to Lisa and Min-joon.

At that moment, Ella stood up and walked up to Marco. Of course, she seemed a bit scared by his big build. When Marco looked at her with a bit of embarrassed expression, she shook her arm from top to bottom. When Marco looked at it blankly, Min-joon opened his mouth.

“Hey, she wants you to lower your head, man.”

“Oh, okay.” Marco tried to squat carefully, but he eventually fell on his buttocks because of his weight. Ella slowly approached him. She stood on tiptoes and patted him on the head.

“Congratulations, Uncle Bear.”

<hr />

The next day at Min-joon’s house.

“Wow, really? Are you serious?”

Chloe asked with her eyes open wide.

Marco nodded with an awkward smile.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wow, this is great. So, five of us are living in Los Angeles?”

“There’s no city like this where you can make your dream come true. The only problem is prices here are too expensive,” said Anderson, shrugging.

Chloe was all smiles. She just stopped by to see Marco’s face, but she couldn’t think of hearing this good news.

“In a way, you guys are working in the same place.”

“Well, it’s hard to say Marco belongs to Rose Island.”

“By the way, where does Marco live now? Did he found a place already?”

“He is staying with us now.”

“Don’t you have only two rooms? Where does he sleep?”

“Right here,” said Marco, pointing to the sofa they are sitting on. At first, Anderson tried to have him sleep on the sofa in his room, but he only did that for a day because he was snoring during the night. He was snoring so much that even Kaya and Min-joon in the room next door heard it.

Anderson said, grumbling, “This fat guy told me he didn’t snore, so I believed him initially. That’s not true.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t know I was snoring.”

“Hey, Anderson, you never know you’re snoring. Don’t be mean to him. It looks like Marco is having a hard time sleeping on the sofa, given his height and weight. Oh, I have an outhouse at my house. Would you like to move?”

At that moment, Kaya giggled as if something got caught in her throat.

Looking at Chloe, Kaya said, tapping her chest, “Outhouse?”

“Don’t take it seriously. The previous owner of my house renovated a warehouse in the garden into a one-bed studio. It has a kitchen and bathroom. I sometimes used it for cooking-related work or for personal broadcasting. The problem is it’s a bit far from Rose Island. It takes between 40 to 50 minutes to commute back and forth.”

“Can I use it?”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to receive monthly rent from you. Of course, at a reasonable price you can accept. Are you interested? Our neighborhood is Hollywood. There are lots of places to enjoy and eateries.”

Marco gulped. Watching them quietly as if surprised, Kaya muttered blankly, “Chloe. You’ve made lots of money,”

“Huh? No, I’m not rich. I didn’t buy the house. My agent has arranged for me to live there.”

“Dang it. Why does my agent not buy me a house with an outbuilding.”

“Hey, Kaya, you are graduating from the Grand Chef competition after a year, right? Which agent is going to buy a house for a chef like you when you are leaving after a year?”

Min-joon stroked Kaya’s head as if comforting her.

But Kaya still muttered with a sullen expression, “Well, they have to treat me well because it’s a one-year contract.”

“Isn’t it enough you got 300,000 dollars?”

“Well, I don’t have much left after I bought a house for my mother and Zemma.”

“Look. You have a house. That’s enough.”

“Don’t worry, Kaya. You have a good boyfriend like Min-joon,” said Chloe with a light smile.

Rather embarrassed at the moment, Min-joon turned his gaze from her.

Kaya said, pinching his cheek, “Are you kidding? He’s still a kid.”

“Man, I didn’t expect I would hear that from you.”

“Enough. Chloe, aren’t you dating someone? I guess you know lots of singers and actors…”

“Well… I am not interested in having a boyfriend yet. I like my work better,” said Chloe casually with a smile.

The moment Kaya was about to say something, Chloe hurriedly added, “Oh, as you mention I’m rich, it reminds me of something I heard, I hear a funny woman bugged Min-joon the other day. Is that true?”

“Oh, that b*tch? Who the hell does she think she is? She tried in vain to buy off my boyfriend. If she had been interested, she should have come to me first.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because I own your intellectual property.”

“I don’t think you don’t use that word in such a situation…”

“Stop it. Is that b*tch still coming to Rose Island?”

“Well…” Min-joon blurred his words.

In fact, Delia did not come again. But her friend, Terry, was different. He didn’t know why, but Terry often appeared to see him, for example, in the park where he was jogging or at the supermarket.

“I don’t want to think about them again.”

“By the way, that girl named Delia, was she pretty?” Chloe asked.

Min-joon looked at Chloe with a ridiculous expression.

“How come women are all the same? Kaya asked the same question.”

“So, how did she look? I’m really curious.”

“He said she was pretty. He told me she wasn’t that bad, but it means she is pretty.”

Kaya said, pouting her lips as if she didn’t like it.

Min-joon responded with a sigh, “Let’s stop talking about the customer’s face. How can I say that the customer is ugly? If I say she is pretty, you’ll get angry.”

“So what?”

“You are prettier, Kaya.”

“I’m not happy to hear that when you’re saying it with such a tired voice.”

“Hey, Kaya, I’ve got a lot on my mind now. I have to come up with the next recipe.”

“Oh, because of the Michelin guys?” Chloe asked with her eyes twinkling.

Min-joon agonized for a moment then shook his head.

“No, aside from the Michelin guys, I am just happy I can make a new menu. Rachel comes up with several recipes that I can’t even imagine, but I’m just thrilled to know I can make something similar to hers in several weeks or months.”

“How many recipes have you developed so far?”

“Well, only one, pomegranate dessert.”

“Oh, I see. So what are you going to make this time?”

Min-joon pondered for a moment, hesitating how to express it.

He slowly said, “It was really hard when I made the pomegranate dessert last time. I had to create a completely different savory texture with only the pomegranate, and a rich flavor at that.

But it’s more fun because of that. I’m going to make the same thing this time,”

“You mean dessert?”

“No, appetizer. I’m thinking of getting five flavors from one ingredient.”

“Five? Can you make that?”

Min-joon smiled silently. He hasn’t yet completed the recipe. But he was convinced that the moment he completed this recipe, everyone would be surprised. Even though it was still unfinished, the score in front of him was great.

[Your expected cooking score is 9!]