“Did you pass?”

Janet asked nervously as soon as Minjoon exit the office. Minjoon decided to respond with a smile. Janet sighed.

“So you did.”

“Work hard. I really thought you’d pass a while ago.”

“…I’m going to get an ‘ok’ out of her soon myself.”

Janet still had fire in her eyes after being sent back for the fifth time already.

“Hopefully you do. In second place.”

“Shut it.”

Janet headed for her station with a fierce glare. Minjoon smirked a little before turning to Chloe and Martin’s table. Anderson looked at Minjoon with his eyebrows raised.

“So you passed, huh?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Wow, congrats! So your dish is going to be on the menu now?

Chloe asked with almost shining eyes. Minjoon smiled.

“It’ll be up there this Christmas. Maybe even one more season after.”

“Amazing. To think you’d make a dish on the menu already… On a three star restaurant at that.”

“Rachel gave you a great opportunity. Thank goodness it worked out well. Anderson, are you preparing as well?”

Martin looked towards Anderson curiously. Anderson, shocked by the sudden question, turned away with a nervous cough.

“Er, slowly, yes.”

“So you finally ended up losing to Minjoon, huh?”

“You call this a loss? Speed isn’t everything in this game.”

Anderson shot back sharply, making Martin smile even more.

“Just a joke, just a joke.”

“…Why don’t you tell us what you came here for anyway?”

“Tsk tsk, do you really think I’m the type that would never come here without official business? So cruel.”

“Well, who knows? So do you have one or not?”

Minjoon looked at Martin quietly. There was only one thing Martin would want from them. Martin rubbed his fingers with a troubled look.

“Well, there is one, actually.”

€

[Good to hear that things have been going well for you, Minjoon.]

“I’d love to invite you over some time. If only the factory wasn’t so busy all the time… Ah, that’s a good thing, huh.”

[Haha, being busy during these times is a blessing, really.]

“Is your family doing fine?”

[We drifted apart a bit in the past, but… We’re good now. They might just be acting fine because they’re worried for me, but… We’ll continue to do better.]

“You’ll do well. You’re a good man. Jessie and Jane are good people, too.”

[Thanks.]

Minjoon could almost feel Lucas smiling bitterly from the other side. Minjoon could feel himself smiling as well.

“Lucas, did I tell you? I’ve just been stuck making jellies here for weeks.”

[Fantastic. How do you like it?]

“It was a little tiring at first, but I could tell how deep the world of jellies is once I really got into it.”

[You’ve been learning a lot, I see. You see, jellies…]

Lucas continued to talk about jellies for quite some more time. Most of it wasn’t very useful, but some of the information was actually quite useful. By the time the call finished, Ella poked her head out from Lisa’s back.

“Uncle, who’s that?”

“It’s just uncle’s friend.”

“Jessie’s uncle’s friend?”

“Nope, that’s his daughter… You were listening to all that?”

Instead of responding, Ella decided to hide behind Lisa’s head. Minjoon let out a small laugh as he stared at the tiny hands poking out of Lisa’s shoulder. Looking at those hands massage the shoulders with as much strength as it could muster was almost adorable.

“Lisa, does it feel good?”

“Of course it does. Ella’s doing it all for me.”

Despite the response, Lisa looked more tired than happy. Though he supposed that she borrowed her daughter’s hands because she was just that tired to begin with. Minjoon looked at her worriedly.

“You should at least leave the kneading to your assistants. Doing all that must be incredibly tiring.”

“A baker’s hands matter quite a bit in the bakery. We could do it using a machine, but I think my hands can always do better.”

“I do respect that mindset quite a bit. But you’re going to end up hurting yourself.”

“She’ll be fine with Ella’s help. Don’t worry, uncle.”

Ella spoke up with a smile on her face. She was a beautiful kid. That might’ve been what made Minjoon even more worried. Lisa smiled as she put her hands over Ella’s.

“I’m thankful for your concern regarding me, Minjoon. But you really shouldn’t be worried. Mothers are strong, you know?”

“That…”

Minjoon almost wanted to say that rather than being strong, mothers had to be so. That the title of a mother wasn’t something that gave strength, but responsibility. That it was something that forced a person to walk a rocky path with bare feet…

‘…Who am I to judge?’

Minjoon was just a coworker. Of course, Ella treated him like a real uncle, but that didn’t give him the right to poke into Lisa’s business like that. Especially in front of Ella. After all, parents had to look perfect in front of their children.

“Yeah. You really are strong, Lisa. But is there any way I could help you, still?”

“Help… I don’t know. Like I said, a baker’s hands matter quite a bit. It’d be nice if you introduced me to a really good baker, one that I could entrust with kneading the dough. But since most skilled people are already employed somewhere…”

“Yeah. I did think of someone, but that person’s probably running their own bakery by now.”

“Well, it’ll work out.”

“Mom, want me to do it? I’m good at making bread.”

Ella poked her head out next to Lisa. Lisa grabbed Ella’s cheek playfully.

“I’m good. Ella just needs to listen to mommy, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Here, you must be tired. Come lie down on mommy’s lap.”

Ella quickly jumped down and put her head down on Lisa’s lap. She then tried to wave Minjoon over as well.

“Do you want to lie down too, uncle?”

“…That’d be really bad if I did.”

Minjoon laughed awkwardly as he shook his head. He wanted to poke Ella’s pouting cheeks, but stopped himself.

“I’ll be off to the kitchen. Lots of people have been asking me for help. Rest well.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll sleep here for a bit. Have fun teaching.”

Lisa smiled. Teaching. That word wasn’t directed towards the assistant chefs. They were instead directed at the demi chefs. Minjoon had been tasked with teaching them. As soon as Minjoon entered the kitchen, he could hear someone speak annoyedly.

“Hey, Minjoon, what took you so long?”

“Something other than a phone call. How’s your work been? The powdered sauce doing well?”

“Well, I can make it now, but… It doesn’t taste great.”

“Javier’s no good when it comes to molecular gastronomy. Here, look at mine instead. This is apricot jelly. I want to put it on top of turkey. What do you think?”

Janet handed him a dish. It was the same thing as before. Shrimp cannelloni, braised beef, and turkey. The only thing that changed was the apricot jelly.

Janet and Javier, who had both been pretty stuck-up about traditional cooking, ended up turning their heads towards molecular gastronomy. They had been wondering if that was the missing part in their dishes.

Rachel didn’t tell them exactly what was wrong with their dishes, and the only hint they could get was from Minjoon. The biggest difference between Minjoon’s dish and theirs was the use of molecular gastronomy.

One could ask why they were seeking advice from Minjoon instead of Raphael, but the answer was quite obvious. Minjoon was just good at teaching. Besides, Raphael was quite the weirdo.

‘…And Rachel’s really hard to read as well.’

But after making the dessert, Minjoon could understand how Rachel felt about food. Minjoon, thanks to her, was able to gain something about cooking. The understanding of location, and the customers.

Just like how eating a cold dish in a cold place wouldn’t at all be tasty, Janet and Javier needed to understand what kind of a restaurant they were cooking in. They also needed an understanding of what would come before, and after their dish in the meal.

But he couldn’t tell them outright. He knew that Rachel would want them to learn this by themselves. If he just told them outright, they wouldn’t learn much at all.

“I didn’t think molecular gastronomy would be so critical.”

Javier let out a complaint. Most restaurants used foams nowadays as well, but not many places went all out with it like Rose Island did. A few restaurants that were sensitive to the times, maybe? Minjoon let out a smile as he looked at Javier suffer.

“What, you want to switch roles with me?”

“…No, not really. Your work seems really boring.”

“It’s pretty fun, you know. You just need to get used to it.”

“It’s only fun when you succeed. My powdered sauces always fail, but yours don’t at all. What’s your secret?”

“Who knows. Concentration?”

“Ugh, again with that concentration talk.”

Javier shook his head. He was sick of Minjoon’s concentration talk already. After all, the man responded with “concentration” even when asked a question about his palate. Minjoon smiled as he looked at Janet and Javier.

“I mean, what need is there for you two to try to get help from me, anyway? You two are both great at cooking. I honestly thought you two were better than me back at the audition. The only reason why Rachel’s sending you back isn’t because of molecular gastronomy. Molecular gastronomy is… Well, I actually don’t know. Maybe she thinks it’s important because that’s the new trend. But.”

Minjoon pointed at Anderson. The man was busy at his station making something.

“Just look at Anderson. He’s pushing through without asking anyone for help. He’s probably gone to Rachel the most out of us? But he’s never asked me to teach him. Maybe you two just need that stubbornness?”

Anderson had focused on the traditional method of cooking all this time. It wasn’t like he didn’t like molecular gastronomy. It might’ve been because he didn’t want to be compared with Minjoon. In any case, what was important was that Anderson was walking his own solitary path.

But right then, Janet and Javier’s eyes drifted over behind Minjoon. That is, towards where Anderson was a moment ago. Minjoon looked back nervously. Anderson was standing right behind him with a bowl full of foam.

“I was thinking of making parmesan foam, but… It keeps family. Help.”

Minjoon sighed.

“Anderson, even you…”

End.

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