God of Cooking

“Really? Why did Min-joon go there? He didn’t win in the Grand Chef, right?” the black man asked.

“It seems like he just went there to see Kaya. I don’t know. I guess he loves his girlfriend very much.”

“Who the heck is that guy anyway?”

Min-joon cleared his throat when the man made a ridiculous expression.

Kaya looked back at Min-joon with a smirk.

“Did you have a cold? Why are you clearing your throat?”

“Do not make fun of me.”

But the man didn’t stop there. Shaking his head as if her man didn’t understand, he continued, “When I think about it, Kaya Reuters really takes after her boyfriend. I heard that the Rose Island chefs are offering this food truck service as part of their training. Then, why did she join them when she was not a Rose Island chef?”

“Well, I think it’s kind of an event. I like it because I can eat the food that Kaya and Min-joon cooks.”

“I wonder if she can cook well. As you know, she’s been involved in various activities just like an entertainer for one year after the Grand Chef competition. She might have lost her sense of cooking.”

“That’s bullshit! What the heck are you talking about, dude?”

“What did you say? Why are you suddenly upset with me?”

Watching her, Min-joon let out a sigh. Staring at him sharply, she took off her mask. At that moment, the black man held his breath, moaning a bit. Not only him but the others around him were also shocked to know who she was. They then covered their mouths with their hands.

‘She is Kaya Reuters!’

Obviously, they came to know the person they were facing right before their eyes was Kaya Reuters, the winner of the Grand Chef competition last year.

“Check yourself directly if I’ve lost a sense of cooking after trying my food, okay? Let me give you a refund if you don’t like it.”

As if he was dumbfounded, the man couldn’t even answer because he never thought the woman he was speaking to was none other than Kaya Reuters. If that’s the case, the Asian man next to her must be her boyfriend. When the black man thought as far as that, he turned his eyes to Min-joon, so did those around him.

At that moment, Justin’s food truck arrived with a dull engine noise. Min-joon quickly grabbed her hand and got into the truck.

Min-joon said with a sigh, “Oh my God! How come you are getting us into trouble like this everyday?”

“That bastard has pissed me off, as you know!”

“But he didn’t say that with any malice, right?”

“I didn’t say anything malicious either. I clearly told him I would pay back the money if he couldn’t enjoy my dish.”

“Are you serious? You’re going to give him a refund if he says your dish doesn’t taste good?”

“Nope. I’m going to kick his ass because my dish is definitely delicious. If he says it doesn’t taste good, he is really a bad guy who is lying.”

Min-joon shook his head as if he couldn’t stop her.

Then he looked at Maya with his tranquil eyes.

“Maya, are you done setting?”

“Yup. We can just open the lids of the fans and start. Shall we?”

“Okay, Justin, you’re a cashier. Maya, you just listen to us whenever we give you instructions. Got it? If you think you want to help, you can assist us anytime. You know how to do it?”

“Sure, you can count on me. I can serve you better than you expect.”

Maya responded with a determined voice. With Min-joon smiling at her, Justin opened the closed cover on the wall of the food truck. And at that moment, he noticed the crowds gathered around the food truck. He felt really pressured while facing dozens of customers looking at him all at once.

However, Min-joon liked that kind of pressure because he was convinced that in a few seconds, their suspicious look would turn into admiration and happiness.

While he was looking at the long lines quietly, Justin already began to receive orders and gave him the menu.

Min-joon asked, looking back at Kaya, “Shall we start?”

She nodded. She held the cooking fork and flipper in her hand then poured the ingredients onto the hot griddle. The way she did that was just routine. But she didn’t stop there. She dropped the ingredients of shrimp, sheep, pig, chicken, and fish on the grill all at once.

That shocked those customers watching her cooking. In particular, some of those who had actual experience cooking them on the grill could not believe their eyes because they knew what she was doing at the moment.

‘Can she really cook all of them alone?’

They held their breath in anticipation and astonishment, wondering if she could really do it.

She already started to cook. But she felt so sure and secure. At this moment, Kaya and Min-joon did not feel nervous at all. They felt they would not make any single mistake during the whole process of cooking four different dishes on the same grill.

‘Let me show you something, guys.’ Kaya thought to herself.

She was also a chef. No matter what she did for the past one year, there was no change in her identity as a chef. And now was the perfect moment when she could prove her cooking skills.

Time has passed. Seven minutes later, the first several customers were served the dishes they ordered.

Now they started to check whether they could confirm her excellent cooking skills that she had shown last year at the Grand Chef.

Each of the first customers moved to a place they preferred to try the dish. A man headed to his car parked nearby, another man sat on a nearby bench and started eating right away, and others started eating, standing on the spot.

Naturally, people waiting in lines quickly cast a glance at those who already started enjoying their dishes. In fact, when a person went to a restaurant to find out whether the dish served was delicious or not, all they had to do was check the expressions of the customers who got there ahead of them and enjoyed the food.

In no time, those customers who first tried the dishes were thrown into confusion.

‘Gosh, why are they making such expressions after eating the food?’

Basically, there were no expressions on their faces, who started eating. Normally, such blank expressions would make people guess the food didn’t taste good. But that was not the case this time. If they felt the food didn’t taste good, they would stop moving their forks. Actually, they kept dipping other dishes such as fish, meat, noodles, or dumplings one after another while chewing the food.

So, at that moment, Justin had no choice but to feel weirder than ever. Compared with their cooking on normal days, there was nothing unusual with the way they cooked. Although hot griddle food was delicious as a rule, the dishes cooked by Kaya and Min-joon were the kind of marvelous food that could not be found anywhere.

But Justin felt something this time. It was hard for him to say why he felt different, but the reactions of the customers and the atmosphere of the cooking staff on the food truck were definitely different from usual.

So, he looked at Min-joon’s hands, curious about what was different, but he still didn’t feel anything special. As expected, he was faster with his hands, but it was nothing special because he had very nimble fingers in the kitchen of Rose Island. It was true that he clicked with Kaya so well when it came to cooking, so it made their cooking very effective, but that didn’t necessarily mean any change in their cooking.

Feeling like that, Justin looked at Min-joon’s face when he felt what he guessed was right.

‘Wow, it’s been a while since I saw Chef Min-joon cooking so happily.’

Of course, it didn’t mean that Min-joon had been cooking in pain. Obviously, he was enjoying cooking because if he didn’t enjoy it, he wouldn’t be crazy about cooking like that.

However, the Min-joon that he used to know was not the same as him now. He seemed to pretend to be a monk undergoing spiritual training. Or he was not imitating such a monk. Obviously, he was very strict toward himself, so much so that he was called a perfectionist. He wasn’t simply strict. He was so hard on himself that those around him felt so stressed out while watching him.

That was why Justin felt Min-joon’s smiling so weird now because it was very rare for him to make a smile while cooking. Of course, when he came up with a good recipe, he smiled brightly and innocently like a child, but he usually didn’t smile while cooking.

Because of this, some of his colleagues felt it more stressful to work with Min-joon. For example, he was so obsessive with perfecting his dish that even fellow demi chefs were sick and tired of his perfectionist inclinations. He must have started this career because he liked cooking, but why did he choose to tax himself by trying to be a perfectionist? Why did he try to cook in pain? Justin often wondered if Min-joon could continue to pursue his career while suffering like that.

However, right now, Min-joon was so excited as to make Justin forget all the idle thoughts he was lost in a moment ago. Obviously, Min-joon didn’t lose his focus on cooking. However, he went beyond concentration and relished in full satisfaction and happiness at this moment.

‘Is it because of Chef Kaya?’

Maybe, if there was a difference between the Min-joon now and the Min-joon before the food truck service, it was Kaya joining him and cooking together with him like now.

When Justin thought about that, he had another question this time. Why was he happy like that? Was he so happy because Kaya was with her now? Or did her dish make him happy?

He found it hard to find out the answer unless he asked Min-joon directly. Maybe even Min-joon could not know the answer, either.

What was certain was that his cooking depended on his moods. Today, Justin felt like the atmosphere of Min-joon’s cooking was very different. Today’s menu was hot griddle food, and the finished dishes would be handed out from the food truck. Even if he could make the process of cooking look gorgeous, plating itself would be far from gorgeous.