How To Draw The Eye of a Dragon (3)

Minjoon’s lips curled up into a smile, and he began to glance at the kitchen frantically. Seeing his thumb twiddle on his knees made it almost painfully obvious that he wanted to cook. Chloe smiled bitterly.

“Go.”

“Hm?”

“You want to cook, don’t you? You look like you’re going to get sick if I don’t let you go now. Go cook.”

“…Is it that obvious?”

“You’re really bad at hiding things, you know?”

Though it was a little annoying that he couldn’t even say white lies at times. As Chloe swallowed her own words, Minjoon stood up. He looked at Chloe apologetically.

“So sorry about this. I’d love to talk more, but I have to do this. I suppose we can talk a little later. I’ll make something a bit more perfect. How are you on time?”

“It’s not like I’m free all day, but… I can’t stop you when you’re so inspired. Go, I’ll wait.”

Martin smiled. Waiting wasn’t that difficult, especially when he was waiting for Minjoon of all people. Minjoon had given him a lot of things during the time he knew him. Of course, he himself had given Minjoon a lot, but calculating all that was meaningless.

“I suppose one thing hasn’t changed since the first time I met you, Minjoon. Your love for cooking.”

Anderson shrugged. He wanted to say that Martin would change his mind when he saw Minjoon with Kaya back home, but he didn’t want to say it in front of Chloe. Chloe smiled softly.

“You know, I think people look their best when they’re doing something they love. Don’t you agree?”

“Man, Chloe, you’ve really gotten soaked in that Hollywood air. You’re saying all sorts of stuff now.”

“Stop teasing. I’m just trying to look cool.”

“Just saying, just saying.”

Martin grinned. Anderson looked over Chloe for a second.

“How’s the TV life for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You talked about it when we met at the Grand Chef restaurant last time.”

“Ah, that…”

Chloe smiled awkwardly. She poked at the dessert in front of her, lost a little in her own thoughts. Her head tilted downwards, making her hair wave a little bit. Her eyes drifted over to a corner of the table.

“I’m managing to scrape it together, one way or the other. Kaya was right back then. There are people who like me, and love me. Plus, I don’t hate my job. I actually kind of like it. I don’t think it’d be right for me to give up my current job just to take up cooking.”

“…This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this. You must’ve thought of it quite a lot?”

Martin spoke seriously. Chloe almost felt that this only made things more awkward. She tried to smile calmly.

“Everyone has their own problems. It’s just that to the person herself, the problem feels almost deadly to them. I just had one of my own. Don’t worry about it.”

“You just said, though. It feels deadly to the person herself. It’s called a problem for a reason, you know.”

“I really don’t have anything to say when you tell me that. But it’s fine. I reached an answer one way or the other, and I’ve grown more confident as a result. I’ve a lot of great friends next to me who succeeded, so there’s no reason for me to be down all by myself.”

“I’m thankful that you’re telling us this, but out of all of us, you’d be the most successful, you know?”

Chloe’s number of fans had actually grown to match Kaya’s now. Seeing how her number of fans by the end of the competition was rather pitiful compared to Kaya, her growth was pretty good.

Well, pretty good was an understatement. Many people on the internet were actually starting to call Chloe the hidden winner of the competition.

‘Even though it’s not success as a chef.’

This thought alone had bothered Chloe quite a bit in the past, but she didn’t want to think of that now. After all, like Kaya said, some chefs belong in the kitchen, and others belong in the television.

Kaya, her precious friend, was the person to tell her this. As long as her friends, Kaya, Anderson, and Minjoon acknowledged her… Chloe felt like she could have pride in her work.

“Anyway, there’s no problem now, so it’s all good. Thanks for worrying about me, Anderson.”

Anderson didn’t speak. He felt his lips curl up into a smile, so he turned away to cough it away instead. Right then, Chloe noticed that someone from the kitchen was looking at her. Janet, was it?

When the two’s eyes met, Janet turned away immediately. As Chloe sat there trying to remember, Janet decided to begin talking to Minjoon.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Does Anderson smile when he’s with you guys?”

“He’s not a robot, you know? The man can smile. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I think I saw him smile just now is all. Thought it was neat.”

“Let me ask you, then. Do you smile? I’ve never actually seen you smile.”

“Like you said, I’m not a robot either.”

Janet hit back with a bored voice. Since the two of them weren’t very loud at all, whenever they spoke together, the scene almost looked like a serious noir movie. Minjoon shot Janet a question.

“Why don’t you smile, then?”

“There’s no time. The kitchen is a battlefield. I’m going to get killed if I lose it. I… Don’t want to die.”

Minjoon didn’t know what to say. After all, he didn’t know her past. He could only talk about himself as a result.

“I’m happy here. I can’t say I’m relaxed in this space, but I can find love even in the urgency of the kitchen.”

Minjoon loved to stand in the kitchen. He was even thankful of his painful shoulders and hips. there had been a time when he was just washing dishes in the kitchen. There had been a time when he was sitting in a classroom, telling kids to dream when he himself was unable to achieve his very own.

‘Now, things are different.’

Minjoon smiled. He had a knife in one hand, and a pen in the other. The heat of the kitchen was with him, and he had his chef’s clothes on him. It might be a daily fact of life for some, but Minjoon was thankful that he could live a life that he did more than any other chef.

And this showed all too clearly in his work as well. No matter how hard things got, Minjoon was happy to work as a chef. It might be the basic of the basics for a chef, but Janet could tell that Minjoon lived a very happy, fulfilling life.

“Yeah. I’m jealous of you sometimes because of that. That honesty, that work ethic, and…”

That talent. The last bit ended up getting stuck in her throat. Acknowledging other people’s talent was a difficult thing. Especially acknowledging that of a work partner. Janet took her plate.

“I wasted your time, didn’t I? Go back to work. I’ll get this checked by Rachel real quick.”

“I’m sure it’ll pass. Good luck.”

“How would you know? You haven’t even tasted it. Can you taste it with your eyes for something?”

Janet laughed and turned away. Minjoon watched her walk away before turning back to his own station. Maya was in the corner making the pomegranate jam.

There were four solutions to the problem Chloe had unearthed. The first was to simply reduce the amount of food on the plate. Making it just about two bites would be perfect. But this solution was too simple. Almost one dimensional.

The second solution was to add candied pomegranate to the party. But that wasn’t a very good solution either. Adding whole pomegranate seeds would mean the guests would have to spit out the seeds as they ate, which wasn’t great for a high class meal. But taking the flesh out of the seeds would only end up creating something closer to a jam.

Third… He’d have to give up making something with just pomegranate. After all, that single flavor might’ve been just the thing that made the dish boring. He could add something like almond flour or red beans, but… It didn’t taste very good when paired with the jam. The system almost lowered the overall score of the dish.

Lastly, the fourth option. The option of bringing something new to the table, while staying true to the single flavor of the dish. Minjoon could only think of one way of adding this element to the dish.

‘…People might actually think I’m addicted to jelly at this point.’

Pomegranate jelly. He was thinking of creating a jelly with agar agar after bringing out the sweetness of the juice a little. With agar, he could create something that had the texture of the pomegranate fruit.

The jelly wasn’t the only thing that was different. The jam Maya was making was different as well.

‘Making an English jam instead of an American one would be better as well.’

The difference between an English jam and an American jam was that while the American variant focused on sweetness, the English variant focused on the flavor of the fruit. The sweetness would still be there, thanks to the ice cream, toffee, and the candy. While the sweetness might get lost due to the jam, the wow factor would increase greatly with the fruit flavor.

It would be normal to let the jam rest for at least a day, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to serve it immediately after cooking, either. Since Chloe and Martin wouldn’t return tomorrow either, he didn’t even have time to let it age. Minjoon spoke to Maya with an apologetic tone.

“Sorry about this, Maya. You aren’t even able to rest because of me.”

“No, no. This is how I learn. I’m happy that I can learn from you.”

“Yeah, you’re real happy about losing that rock paper scissors game now, huh?”

“…Can we not?”

“Fine, fine.”

Minjoon raised his hands in mock defeat. He watched the juice mixed with agar agar harden for a little while before putting it straight in the blast chiller. As he created the pomegranate toffee again, Maya opened her mouth as she put the finished jam in the container.

“You’re quite something as well. How could you just leave a guest behind because of a dish?”

“How can I not? My heart was just beating with anticipation.”

“…Oh god, the cringe.”

Minjoon smiled silently. He took two pieces of the toffee, cut the jelly, and scooped the ice cream. It was time to serve. Minjoon quickly walked over to Chloe’s table.

“It’ll be different this time. You might get tired of eating the same dish twice, but try this.”

“Alright, what’s that?”

“Ah, this is for Rachel. Could you just wait three minutes?”

“I don’t have the power to stop you. Go on.”

“Thanks, Martin.”

Minjoon moved over to the office with a grin. Rachel looked at Minjoon with a rather surprised face, but this soon changed into a warm smile.

“So you found the answer?”

“Yes. I think I did.”

The system still gave the dish 9 points. But a dish couldn’t be judged purely through its score. Not all dishes with 9 points were the same. He was confident that this dish was better than the one he showed Rachel last time.

“The jam and the jelly couldn’t be aged. Is that ok with you?”

“You’re coming up with a recipe here, not trying to serve me. This is fine. Don’t worry. I’ll still be able to see how good this dish would be.”

Minjoon smiled, and tapped the pomegranate toffee. The shell broke to reveal the flesh inside. Rachel let out an exclamation of surprise. She could tell that this dish was made with care. After all, each and every piece of jelly inside looked like a piece of pomegranate. The dish really did look like a pomegranate now.

When Minjoon poured the hot jam inside, the powdered ice cream melted to mix and meld with the toffee and the jelly. Rachel took her spoon, and took a bite of the dish. She closed her eyes to fully take in the flavor.

It was definitely different from before. The jam brought out the flavor of the dish perfectly, and the ice cream helped tone the flavor of the jam as well. As Rachel chewed, she could tell that the main star of the show this time wasn’t the ice cream or the jam, but the jelly.

It was quite nice anticipating the next chew every time the flavor of the jelly came out. This would definitely make the dish quite interesting indeed.

Rachel looked at Minjoon with a proud smile.

“So you realized what a dish of this restaurant needs.”

“Yes. I wouldn’t have been able to tell this by myself. I think, like you said… a chef can only grow by letting others taste their dish.”

“It was a lovely dish. It was probably only possible because it was you making it. Minjoon, are you happy?“

“Yes, I really am. I’m happy that I have people like you that can teach me, and that there are customers who can enjoy my dish.”

Minjoon put on an almost childlike smile on his face. One that was pure and full of passion. Rachel nodded.

“Right. As I say all the time, a dish of a chef carries the chef’s feelings in it as well. This dish can only make people happy.”

“Then…”

Minjoon looked at Rachel excitedly. Rachel couldn’t help but laugh looking at his eyes.

“Right. I suppose we’ll need quite a bit of pomegranate come Christmas.”

End.

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