Minjoon believed that hard work always paid off. At least, in his experience it did. His grades got better when he studied, his body improved when he worked out, and his skills got better the more he cooked.

Of course, not all these changes were always visible. Sometimes, it felt like he was just running in place. Sometimes, it almost felt like he was walking backwards. But in the end, he’s always gotten better in the end.

Even now, with the help of the system, Minjoon had his doubts. Am I really doing well? Am I just wasting time here? Thankfully, he knew he wasn’t going backwards because none of his skills moved backwards, but… He could only believe that he was improving.

But Javier didn’t have the help of the system. It was no wonder the man was feeling horrible. Of course, the man didn’t think all his troubles would end after coming to Rose Island, but he’d probably never have expected to fall behind.

He couldn’t fail here. He had to win. These feelings choked Javier. This was the reason why he ran away from his family and friends during the holiday season into the kitchens.

Morning came. Javier frowned as he woke from his sleep in the break room. His neck hurt. Why didn’t he realize sleeping on a sofa with his arm as a pillow was going to make his neck hurt?

Javier looked around a bit, and let out a small smile. He could see Minjoon sleeping with the same posture as him.

“Your neck’s gonna hurt like hell.”

The smile on his face faded. The one who made the man stay the night was Javier. Minjoon said he would easily do such a thing for a friend. While that made Javier thankful, it also made a different thought creep up in his head.

‘Am I going to keep hurting my friends for my sake?’

He felt bad about making Minjoon go through all this. Two thoughts clashed in his mind. He could either do this all by himself, or… He could just accept help.

He had to accept it. He had to accept the fact that he was a little lacking compared to the other three. At least, when it came to creating recipes. Perhaps it would be better if he just thought of them as teachers of sorts.

Minjoon woke up in the meantime.

“Ugh… Where am I?”

“It’s the break room. Wake up.”

“Sorry. So tired… Ah, it’s January 1st today, isn’t it? I’ve aged one more year with this.”

“Eh? Wasn’t your birthday in December?”

“Ah, it’s a traditional thing in Korea. We say you age a year every new year.”

“What? So you age twice a year?”

“No, you just say you don’t age on your birthday… Anyway, you’re going to cook?”

Minjoon asked as he rubbed his belly. It’s been a while since he didn’t feel hungry waking up. He ended up having so much food at dawn… Javier shook his head.

“Nope, I won’t.”

“Good. I was about to have to stuff food into my nostrils because I was getting too full.”

“Wouldn’t the food still end up in your stomach?”

“Come on man… Just a figure of speech. Don’t make me have to imagine all that.”

“… But you said it first.”

Javier looked at Minjoon incredulously. Minjoon just hit back with a playful voice.

“Hey, hey. Come on man. I had to eat your food all day. Can’t I just say something silly once?”

“Oh, so now you’re playing the victim card?”

Javier laughed. He continued with a quiet tone.

“I thought a bit. Ah… I want to make something that looks cool, but it’s difficult. Please help.”

“I’m helping already, though.”

“No, not like that… Making the recipe itself. I need your help.”

Javier expected Minjoon to be surprised. But quite the contrary happened. Minjoon casually nodded at his request.

“Sure. That’s good.”

“…That’s it?”

“What?”

“I half expected you to worry or tell me not to do it.”

“You thought a lot about this, didn’t you? Who am I to stop you? Stand up, we need to go.”

“Where?”

Minjoon flicked a finger at him.

“We’re going on a date.”

€

“… Never say that again. Especially in front of your girlfriend.”

“It’s just a joke, man. Come on.”

“Well I mean, you’ve always acted almost disgustingly kind to people is the thing…”

“Oh, so being kind is a sin, now?”

Javier could only sigh.

“So you go to places like this with Kaya?”

“What, is it surprising?”

“I mean, it fits. You two are both chefs, after all.”

Minjoon had dragged Javier into a grocery store. The two casually walked over to the seafood section. Javier was in charge of the appetizer today. And there was no better ingredient fit to be an appetizer than seafood.

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“Eh?”

“You must have a few ideas for the dish you couldn’t tell me, no? I’d like to hear about them.”

“Well… Really, I can only say that your dishes are way too western. Most your dishes are Italian or French.”

“…Is that bad?”

“Take a look at the scene today. Why do you think people are going so deep into molecular gastronomy? We’ve milked western food for literally all it’s worth. We can’t get much more out of it anymore.”

“I did hear that my dishes aren’t that creative… What then?”

“We need to try something new. Not a different flavored sauce, but something else entirely.”

“That sounds… difficult.”

“But we’re two people now. Did you forget how quickly me, Andrew and Janet came up with a recipe together?”

Javier nodded. Four days. It took the three four days to make a dish. A dish good enough to make Rachel nod. Javier wasn’t able to make Rachel do that, ever.

“…Do you think I can do it?”

“Come on man, have some confidence! Oh, hey, look at this.”

Minjoon pointed at a fish with sparkling eyes.

“That’s a kingfish, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I had it near the restaurant once. Pretty tasty. Should we go with this?”

“…This massive thing?”

The kingfish was the size of a small child. Minjoon thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“We can serve it as sashimi with soup.”

“That’s too simple. Maybe we can add something to it… Caviar? That’d help with the flavor.”

“For sure. But that might kill the fish’s flavor. The soup… Ah, whatever. We can think about that later.”

Minjoon bought the fish on the spot. He flinched a little after hearing the price, but like any addict in front of their fix, Minjoon took out his card from the wallet in one smooth movement. The shopkeeper smiled.

“I didn’t think you’d come today, Minjoon. Which one do you want? This one?”

“But that one’s scales are all broken. I don’t want it.”

“That’s just from the net. It should taste fine.”

“It’s not all that fresh either. Just look at that eye. Give me that one instead.”

“Hah, you’re quite stubborn about stuff like this, aren’t you?”

“I’m a chef, you know?”

“Gotcha, gotcha. Here, take it.”

Javier was surprised. He knew how to choose fresh fish, of course. But he couldn’t do it at the speed of Minjoon. Actually, he’s never seen anyone as fast as Minjoon with choosing fish.

“…You’re really fast about everything, aren’t you?”

“What, did you think that because of the fish?”

“Yeah. How did you do it?

“Well… I don’t really have one.”

Minjoon scratched his head. Getting compliments thanks to the system always made him feel guilty.

The first thing the two did after coming back was dismantling the fish. There were countless parts to the fish, but the parts they could realistically use were only the belly, back, and hip.

Like any other fish, the part of the fish that tasted strongest was the belly, which was the closest to the innards. The hip had better texture but less flavor, while the back was incredibly chewy with little to no flavor.

Javier looked at the fish for a moment.

“I’ll boil the head first. To make some stock.”

“Ah, wait a bit. I have an idea.”

Minjoon took something out of the fridge, which confused Javier.

“Dried anchovies? Why?”

“Let’s make some stock with the anchovies before using the head. I feel like the head won’t bring out the saltiness enough.”

“We can just use salt.”

“But it’s more fun to bring out the salt from the fish.”

Fun. Javier realized that his view on cooking was very different compared to Minjoon. Javier took the straightforward route, while Minjoon always tried to find new and novel ways of cooking things.

‘Is this what I need to learn?’

It was new. Rachel’s creativity felt so foreign to Javier, but Minjoon’s creativity excited him.

Minjoon made the stock, and took out the sashimi. He put a bowl of yellow liquid next to the red meat, and dressed it all with caviar and cilantro. Javier smiled after just a single bite.

“Whoa, this is really good.”

“Yeah, it is. But it doesn’t have that wow factor.”

“Wow factor?”

“That feeling you get when you have something really tasty. That feeling that makes your spine go bzzt. We need that in the dish. Hm, what are we missing?”

Javier looked at Minjoon. He thought Minjoon was a genius. With that tongue, and that skill… What else would Minjoon be? But Javier realized that he was wrong. What made Minjoon amazing wasn’t something like talent.

“You don’t rest, do you?”

Minjoon didn’t respond. The man was clearly lost in his thoughts. Minjoon was no genius. Well, maybe that’s the wrong way to put it. What made Minjoon amazing wasn’t something as shallow as ‘talent’.

Minjoon’s gears never stopped turning. The man never stopped thinking. It was quite something to behold. Something that outshined his talent entirely. Javier balled up his hands.

‘You’re.. amazing.’

Javier wished to be like Minjoon.

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