<A Person Who Peels Chestnuts (1)>

Hello, everyone. This is Jasper.

I know what you are thinking. You must be wondering what happened with my short meeting with the chef Rachel.

Well, to put it short, it was a great meal. But I suppose you aren’t curious about that. You all must be curious whether or not I was able to guess the dishes correctly. To be honest, I felt the same when I first entered the restaurant. But not anymore.

Let’s begin with the dishes first. The appetizer was a… (skipped).

After I finished my meal, I realized. I was completely wrong about my opinions. Just a few weeks ago, I said that the only reason why we went to Rose Island was for chef Rachel’s food. As such, serving the food made by the demi chefs was just plain rude.

I just didn’t understand at all at the time. Now I realize how wrong I was. Even if the dish was created by the demi chef, the roots of the dish goes back to chef Rachel.

These chefs get their ideas of the dish after learning from chef Rachel, and they keep getting help from her until their dish is complete. Just like how when you’re making a fried egg, you’re the one cooking it, not the frying pan itself.

Chef Rachel was kind to me from start to finish. She made me realize all of this through food, not through harsh words. I thank her again for this from the bottom of my heart.

I’d like to apologize to all the chefs in Rose Island for my mistake. I didn’t understand how restaurants worked, and I made light of the head chef herself. I’m very sorry for what I’ve done.

I’m glad I was at least able to figure this out in the end. Thank you all for reading.

With respects,

Jasper

#

High-class Watch: So what, you didn’t get it in the end?

└ Breaking Pot: This is all you got out of this? He’s learned his lesson and learned to respect restaurants in the end.

└ Fabio da Cunha: @Breaking Pot But this is a bit strange, isn’t it? He’s completely changed compared to before.

└ Breaking Pot: @Fabio da Cunha That’s what makes this place amazing. It changes people.

Carol Lee: Honestly, what can a guy like him do in this situation anyway? He’s not even that famous, and he went up against a super famous restaurant. He was digging his own grave.

└ Cynthia Dorado: Makes sense. Did you see the video? The dude himself looked really nervous. There’s probably no other restaurant in the world that makes a critic get nervous of all people.

└ Carol Lee: @Cynthia Dorado Just watched the video. Yeah, he looks really nervous. But why’d they put up the edited version?

└ Cynthia Dorado: @Carol Lee Maybe the original was just too long? I kind of want to see it too. Maybe the critic got toyed with in the original? lol

└ Kaya Jo: @Cynthia Dorado My boyfriend works there, and yeah, he totally got toyed with. Made himself look like a fool.

“…Kaya, erase it.”

Minjoon opened his mouth as he read. Kaya turned to look at Minjoon in the middle of browsing on her phone.

“Too obvious?”

“At least change your name.”

“I did. To Kaya Jo. Maybe I should’ve went Jo Kaya, like how the Koreans do it?”

“Sounds… a bit weird. Plus, we aren’t even married, why are you using my last name?”

“Just because. Stop being so petty over stuff like this.”

Kaya frowned. Minjoon leaned back on the sofa with an awkward look. Anderson clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“They’re like that all the time. Isn’t that funny?” Anderson said.

The person behind him was half-man, and half-machine. A cameraman, to be exact. Three cameramen, to be even more exact.

They were people sent to check how the contenders of the last season of Grand Chef was living. One cameraman per person. This ended up creating this strange situation with three cameramen in one room.

“How did you guys end up living together?” Anderson’s cameraman asked.

“Just happened one way or the other. All three of us came to LA, and we just happened to be friends is all.”

“I heard Ms. Chloe was also supposed to live here…”

“Plans changed for her, unfortunately.”

Minjoon coughed and looked towards the cameraman.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know what Marco’s up to nowadays?”

“What? Ah! Marco! You didn’t hear?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t reach him recently.”

“No, well… He’s in a bit of trouble right now.”

“What? What happened?”

“Well…”

The cameraman nervously glanced over at his camera. Maybe it was something that he couldn’t say on film? Kaya was looking at him alertly now.

“What is it? You can always edit it out later.” Kaya said.

“It’s not that easy… Well, I’ll tell you. Marco got… ah, maybe cheated is too strong of a word. He’s gotten manipulated, I suppose?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know how Grand Chef was really popular, right?”

“Yes, it really was. The victor was great too.”

Kaya nodded proudly. Anderson looked at her with an amazed face, but Kaya just ignored it.

“Marco’s fame rose as well. He did have quite a personality after all. So he got scouted, but… Looks like the bakery he got employed at didn’t actually think of him as a chef, but a star.” The cameraman continued.

“They didn’t fire him after using him as a marketing tool, did they?”

“Of course not, they would’ve been sued to oblivion if that happened.”

“Then what?”

“They didn’t treat him well at all.”

The three chef’s eyes narrowed. There was too little explanation. The cameraman continued.

“They just used Marco as a mascot. They didn’t really let him make anything at all.”

“…Can’t he sue them for that?”

“He could, but I heard it’d be a very difficult fight for him. Marco just decided to cut ties with them instead.”

“So that’s why I couldn’t contact him.”

Minjoon sighed. He remembered Marco’s smiling face after getting a scouting call. Anderson muttered angrily under his breath.

“I hate people who play with other people’s dreams.”

“Do people know about this?”

“Most people around him do. The public doesn’t, though.” The cameraman answered.

Kaya looked over at her phone for a second before turning to Minjoon.

“Should I upload it to the internet? We could close down the baker…”

“Don’t.”

Minjoon cut her off stiffly. Kaya paused to look at Minjoon. He didn’t really look angry. He probably was.

“Why?” Kaya carefully asked.

“This is Marco’s business. He would’ve uploaded it himself if he wanted to. It’s not in our place to intervene.”

“You know Marco’s personality. He’s too soft to do anything big.”

“Even so, it’s still a no. So what if we make the bakery close? Marco’s still going to be hurt.”

“Then what, we sit here not doing anything!”

The cameraman looked at the other cameramen nervously. The situation was escalating too quickly. Maybe he interfered with the others’ filming? Surprisingly enough, though, the others looked almost excited about this.

‘…Ah, I suppose this is good material.’

The scene suddenly looked different to him. The cameraman zoomed in on Minjoon. The man suddenly looked vicious on the camera.

“I learned something from the experience with the critic. You need to be calculating when you pick fights. Just like with food. You can get humiliated easily if you just jump in without thinking.”

“So what, then?”

“Let’s think about Marco first. We can’t just chase after a criminal after a person’s been shot. We have to get the victim some help first.”

“Nothing would change if we just sit here thinking though.”

“…True, that.”

Minjoon took up his phone. Nothing would change if he stayed here thinking. He needed to act. Minjoon turned to the cameraman.

“Marco’s not doing anything, right?”

“He should be on camera right about now.”

“That’s a great time for him to be on TV. Looking at him like that’s going to get the store a lot of flak. I should call first. I think he was three hours ahead… Still day over there. Alright, I’m calling.”

Minjoon started calling, and Kaya put her ears right next to Minjoon’s phone along with him. Ring. Ring. Ring. After a few rings, the phone cut off. Kaya’s eyes widened.

<< Hello! This is Marco. I can’t take the phone right now. Please leave a voice message. Bye! >>

“…He cut off way too quick.”

“Yeap. Call him again.”

“Sure.”

Minjoon called again. After a few more calls, he finally got through.

<< …Hey Minjoon. >>

“It’s been a while, Marco. Did you have dinner yet?”

<< No, I’m not feeling too well right now. What’s up? >>

“I was wondering if we could have a meal together.”

<< I’m in New York, though? >>

“Sure, you can buy the meal then, I guess.”

Minjoon spoke playfully.

“I’ll pay for the plane ticket.”

<A Person Who Peels Chestnuts (1)> End.

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