God of Cooking

So, Marco hurriedly added, “Of course, Anderson is also famous. You’re popular with girls. Oh, I don’t know if you like it or not, you’re especially popular with gays.”

“Man, I wish you had not mentioned it,” said Anderson with a rueful expression.

He got excited when Marco said he was also famous in New York, but he got gloomy when Marco mentioned gays liking him. He was sullen all along until they arrived home. A little later, Min-joon looked embarrassed and nervous when he opened the door.

“Kaya, Kaya! Where are you? Come out quickly.”

“She went to work, right?”

“Man, it’s 2 AM now. Even though she is awfully busy, she doesn’t work late into the wee hours. Besides, her restaurant doesn’t have any special event scheduled for 2 AM. Where is she right now?”

“She didn’t even go on a business trip, right?”

“Well, if she did, she would tell me about it in advance. She is crazy. What’s wrong with her? How come she is moving around at 2 AM?”

No matter how safe Los Angeles was, it wasn’t as safe as South Korea. Even in Korea, if you wander around alone at dawn, you are supposed to be worried about your safety. Min-joon could not understand her behavior.

Marco asked with an anxious expression, “Did you guys have a quarrel?”

“Well, she complained that I bought something on impulse. I mean that plane ticket for you.”

“What? Did you have a quarrel because of me?”

“Well, I thought she was going to blow her top someday. So, you don’t need to feel sorry. Oh, Anderson, can you show Marco to the bed? I need to call Kaya.”

Anderson nodded blankly. Of course, he was not worried at all. It was not because he didn’t worry about Kaya. He was convinced she would be alright.

‘Why don’t you call the cameraman, idiot?’

If Min-joon contacted the cameraman assigned to Kaya, he would know immediately where she was now. Was Min-joon full of worries now because of her?

After all, Anderson opened his mouth with a blunt voice, “Don’t worry about her. You had better worry about the guy who runs into her. I hear Kaya is a good fighter. She is alright, I guess.”

“You never know, dude. Dang it! Why isn’t she answering my call?”

“Marco, just ignore him and come here. Let’s go to sleep. I’m also sleepy, so let me hit the sack now.”

However, Marco was also so worried about her that he could not go to sleep. After all, Anderson sighed and opened his mouth. “If Kaya doesn’t answer, call the cameraman. He’s going to answer your call definitely.”

“Wow, Anderson, you are so smart today! Thanks, man.”

“That means you are dumb.”

“Let me call him right now.”

A little later, Min-joon got through to her finally and said something to her then hung up the phone quietly.

Marco asked nervously, fidgeting with his finger, “What did she say?”

“Well, she says she is wandering around the street here and there.”

“For what?”

“She says she doesn’t want to see me. It looks like she is coming back after I go to sleep. I heard she was shouting at me in an angry voice, telling me not to call her. So, I hung up the phone. Yeah, as you said, she would be safe with the cameraman around her anyway.”

Min-joon, who seemed older than him because of his overwhelming worries about Kaya, hung his ass on a chair in front of the kitchen.

Anderson looked at Marco and said, “Marco, do you snore?”

“No. I don’t snore.”

“Are you sure? Given you have such a big build, I can’t believe you don’t snore.”

“I’m serious. I don’t snore.”

“Okay, got it. I think you can sleep on the sofa in my room. Follow me.”

“Sure. Min-joon, I’ll go to sleep now.”

“Yeah. Good night.”

Even after the two went into the room, Min-joon did not bother to sleep. Even though the cameraman was around Kaya, he felt he couldn’t hit the sack until she came back.

‘Whew! I thought she would not get me into trouble, but she was at it again.’

Min-joon once again called Kaya. Of course, she didn’t take his call.

<hr />

“Is it okay if you don’t take his call?” Asked the cameraman.

“No problem. So, don’t pick up his phone call like before. Please get away from me. I want to be alone. It’s too burdensome if you are around me with such a big camera,” Kaya replied with an angry voice at the cameraman’s concerned voice.

Yet she was checking her smartphone as if she was eagerly waiting for his call.

The cameraman stepped back to one side and sighed deeply.

‘Hey, just go back and kiss him, so you can reconcile with your boyfriend. Is it the American way?’

He was frustrated because he had to sit on the bench for almost several hours today to shoot a 10-second scene involving her appearance.

‘Damn it. I should have told her there was a bench right behind the house.’

Caught between a rock and a hard place, the cameraman just watched Kaya doing something. In fact, she didn’t do anything particularly special other than rubbing her tight legs with her hands then put them back into her hoodie’s pockets and looking ahead where there was nothing.

‘Yeah, I know you’re a typical girl.’

Right at that moment, when time was passing slowly, the sound of footsteps was heard.

The cameraman turned his head to that sound. A guy wearing jeans and a hoodie was coming toward them. Did he stop by a bar before coming here?

That guy was speaking to Kaya.

“Hi, Kaya. I missed you.”

“Who are you?”

The man laughed and said, “The one who loves you.”

<hr />

While waiting for Kaya at home, Min-joon didn’t kill time uselessly. Instead of wasting time, he started thinking about a new recipe. He heard from Rachel that the Michelin Guide Inspectors would be coming to Rose Island soon. So, the recipes that he was trying to develop were more professional and luxurious than before.

If even one of the recipes developed by him was on the menu and got three stars after satisfying their standards, he felt he would be happy all year round.

But he was too tired to think of such an ambitious dream. He was exhausted not just because of Kaya but because it was already dawn. He folded the recipe notebook with a sigh and looked at the cameraman with a regrettable expression.

“I’m sorry. You can’t sleep because of me.”

“I’m a professional. Since you have been working as a professional, you don’t have to be sorry about it.”

“I understand what you mean.”

Professional chef Min-joon reflected on what the cameraman just said. It seemed like yesterday that he was peeling garlic, but he was now making money as a professional chef. Besides, he had become famous.

The cameraman said in a calm voice, “I think you are great.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean your attitude. You are waiting for Kaya right now, and you brought in your friend from New York by buying the ticket for him. Ordinary people don’t do things like that.”

Min-joon was embarrassed when he praised him, although he was long accustomed to receiving accolades from people.

The cameraman smiled when he touched his nose with an embarrassed look.

Then he said, “I ate a lot of chestnuts when I was a kid. My grandmother always picked up lots of chestnuts from the mountain. And she peeled the thorny chestnuts by herself. Of course, she knew how to peel it, so she said it didn’t hurt at all when she peeled them.”

“Well, I guess she got pricked with a chestnut burr sometimes. Apart from the pain, peeling chestnut burrs is a very laborious job. It seems your grandmother has doled on you.”

“Well, we can enjoy chestnuts when somebody peels the chestnut burrs. My grandmother was in charge of peeling the chestnut burrs. I think Min-joon is like a chestnut burr peeler. When someone has to do the difficult and laborious work, you take on that job as a rule. Of course, my grandmother could do it because she was my family, but you are doing the same thing to your friends and acquaintances. I respect you for that.”

“I’m so flattered by your nice compliments…”

Min-joon was about to continue when the siren sounded loudly. The sound came close to them then it was heard for sometime before fading away.

Min-joon said with a sigh, “Look. It’s what’s happening in Los Angeles. I’m hearing it every day. It’s already dawn. By the way, I just don’t know what she is doing right now…”

“Don’t worry too much. Everything will be alright. Oh, wait a minute. I’ve got a text message. Can I check it?”

“Of course. You don’t have to ask me for permission for that.”

“Thank you.”

The cameraman checked his smartphone with a smile. However, it didn’t take long for him to be serious. He looked at Min-joon in embarrassment.

Min-joon looked at him with an anxious expression.

“What happened?”

“Don’t be surprised and listen to me. It looks like a stalker appeared in front of Kaya and messed with her.”

“What? What did you say now?”

“Please calm down. She was taken to a hospital now…”

“Where is the hospital? I’m going there right now. Give me the address!”

“Hear me out. You don’t have to go to the hospital. We have to go to the police station now.”

Min-joon frowned, not knowing exactly what happened.

The cameraman opened his mouth with a trembling voice, “It was the stalker who was taken to the hospital. Kaya is at the police station right now.”

“What?” Min-joon asked blankly.

The cameraman shook his head as if he was dumbfounded and said, “You have a very scary girlfriend.”