God of Cooking

“Thanks, Chloe, for cheering me up all the time.”

“You’re my friend. So, it’s only natural I am cheering you up all the time.”

Although she said so, her voice was calm, not excited for some reason.

They wrapped up their conversation after Min-joon exchanged autographs with Teresa.

Of course, it didn’t mean that Min-joon could go back to the kitchen after that. There were a lot of customers who came to Rose Island to see Min-joon and Anderson, but recently, there was a sharp increase in such customers.

Even those picky gourmets called Min-joon with a smile and said something nice like ‘I’m looking forward to it,’ not to mention ordinary customers who habitually said something like, “Cho Reggiano, I really like it. I eat it every day.” “How does it taste if they make it without caring about the different cheese maturation periods?”

When dinner time was almost up, Min-joon approached a table where a man stood up and held out his hand. Thinking the customer wanted to say hello, as usual, Min-joon was about to shake his hand with the man.

But the customer suddenly said, “Nice to meet you, Min-joon. Can we talk for a moment?”

“Of course. It’s a great pleasure for me to talk with a customer like you.”

“Well… I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m talking to you as a customer.”

Min-joon didn’t expect such a reply at all. When he looked at the man suspiciously, he took out a business card from his wallet. Min-joon took it and checked it slowly. His name was written next to his title as the sales manager of Lasco Bakery.

“Oh, I’m sorry to introduce myself to you belatedly. My name is Alex Brandon with Lasco Bakery.”

“I see, Alex, what do you want to talk about?”

“Cho Regginano, I was really impressed by its taste. I have tasted it several times at other bakeries, but when I tried it here, I was definitely fascinated. So fantastic!”

“Thank you.”

“I would like to make one suggestion to you, Chef Min-joon.”

Alex’s eyes sparkled when he looked at his curious expression.

“If we commercialize Cho Reggiano at our bakery, would you please be our model?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Min-joon answered firmly.

Alex was embarrassed. He thought Min-joon would ask him several questions because he could not easily make up his mind right now.

However, he never imagined that Min-joon would firmly refuse his offer.

Min-joon might be curious to know how much Lasco Bakery would pay for his model fee, but he didn’t even ask it.

Alex opened his mouth in a slightly impatient voice. “Wait a minute. I think you can make a judgment later after listening to my explanation first…”

“No. You don’t have to. If I had wanted to make money with this recipe, I wouldn’t have even disclosed it from the beginning. Now, if I ever try to make money with it, it will distort my original intention to release the recipe. I’m sorry.”

“Ah…”

When Min-joon honestly spoke his mind, Alex couldn’t figure out what to say. Min-joon said he didn’t need money. Of course, those stars rolling in money could say that. But Min-joon was not like them. He might be famous, but he didn’t make much money yet.

‘How can he say he doesn’t need money?’

Alex could not understand him from his point of view. Because of Min-joon’s unexpected reply, Alex was at a loss, not knowing how to respond. As if he read Alex’s mind, Min-joon said in a softer and more polite voice, “I don’t care about your bakery using my recipe, but I can’t allow you to use my face when you advertise it. Please make a good dessert, so your customers can enjoy it happily.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, that’s all I want. ”

“Okay, I understand. Let me report to my boss about the outcome of my meeting with you today. By the way, Chef Min-joon?”

Alex lifted his bag and smiled.

“Although you rejected my offer, you are really cool. I respect your conviction. And I really enjoyed my dinner here.”

“Thank you. When customers are happy, I’m happy, too.”

“See you again.”

“Sure, goodbye!”

Alex respected his decision and left without any lingering feelings.

But not everybody could part with Min-joon easily. On the same night, Min-joon was heading to the parking lot with Anderson after work.

He said with a bitter smile, “Oh you’ve been waiting for me, Ms. Terry.”

“I’m sorry, Chef.”

Terry was really standing in front of Min-joon as if she wanted to say something to Min-joon.

Anderson asked, looking at Min-joon, “Will this take long?”

“Well, how about it, Terry?”

“How can I decide that? It will take as long as you give me the time.”

“… Hmm, that’s hard.”

Touching his chin, Min-joon thought about it for a moment. Anderson nudged him in the ribs, asking him to hurry up, but Min-joon didn’t move. He just felt sorry for Terry as if she was like a puppy in the rain.

Min-joon opened his mouth slightly.

“Buses don’t run at this time. If I can take out some time for you, can you give me a ride to my house later?”

“Of course! I can give you a ride even to Korea!”

“Oh, you don’t have to. Anderson, sorry. I hope you understand.”

“Well, Kaya might get mad at me if you don’t come now.”

“It’s okay. You’ll be next to her at home anyway.”

As soon as he said that, Anderson’s face turned white.

Bursting into laughter, Min-joon patted him on the shoulder and said, “I’m kidding. I trust you, Anderson. Say something nice to her on my behalf. Hope you can tame her well, so I can see a meek rabbit, not an angry wolf when I arrive home.”

“I don’t care. Come back home quickly anyway. If you’re late, she will drive me nuts, man.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll come back quickly.”

Min-joon calmly nodded. Anderson looked at Terry with a slightly dissatisfied expression then strode toward the car. Terry looked at him, embarrassed. Her blonde hair, shining in the streetlight, was too colorful for her to tide it up carelessly. She was not a rich woman, but could she change her aura just by being with her rich friend?

Feeling somewhat alienated, Min-joon slowly opened his mouth.

“You know that, right?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I mean I don’t want to work with Delia.”

“Oh, since you took time out for me like this, I had some hope, but I was wrong. Then, are you now with me just out of courtesy?”

“I guess so. What Delia wants is not a chef, and Terry, you know better, don’t you?”

When Min-joon pointed it out, she lifted her heels silently. Whenever the tip of her hard, pointed high heels touched the asphalt, there was a sound like a woodpecker pecking a tree.

Terry said in a low voice, “Yes, I know. So I don’t have anything to say. If Chef Min-joon had been a more clever person, I could have asked you to use Delia’s favor… I think you hate that.”

“If you really want me to work with Delia, it’s not your job to try to persuade me. You have to change Delia. You said you are her friend, right?”

“Yes, friend. I think so. Probably, Delia will think so, too. Of course, the concept of a friend Delia has in her mind is a bit different from what I think.”

“If you really want to scout me, have a serious conversation with Delia. Of course, no one in the world will change overnight because of just one single conversation. But you can’t always spend time here waiting for me without getting anything, right?”

Terry looked down at the ground and smiled feebly.

She said in a low voice, “Min-joon, you’re strong. Actually, I always told Delia that there are a lot of things that she couldn’t achieve with money, but you were the first who really proved it. So I keep asking you to work with us, but at the same time, I would like to ask you to keep rejecting her offer. Oh, I’m really curious. How can you be so aloof from money?”

“I like money, too. Like you said, it doesn’t mean I don’t mind the money. I slept late because I was worried about living expenses and electricity bills. Even now, I’m in a carpool with Anderson to save money.”

“Oh, really? Was it Anderson’s car?”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m using his car.”

“But why did you turn down Delia’s pretty generous salary offer? 20 times higher than your current compensation at Rose Island. It will change your life overnight if you take it.”

“Yeah, my life will be different. It will be more comfortable. But it doesn’t mean my life will always be good,” he said in a calm voice.

In fact, he didn’t tell anyone, but he thought about it for a moment after Delia left. What could he do with such a huge salary? What could he buy and what could he eat? But…

“Of course, I can buy a nice car, luxurious furniture, and maybe I can buy a good house, too. Rooms will be more spacious with a better audio system and TV set. It’s a good thing. I feel a great delight in it. But I’m happiest when I am cooking a dish, and a very good one at that.”

“Just like the Cho Reggiano you have made this time?”

“Yes. Right now, everybody is talking about it nationwide. It’s so popular among the general public. But Kaya is complaining that I don’t make any money out of it, but I don’t care. You know what? Right now, I feel like I have all the buildings in Los Angeles.”

After saying that, Min-joon laughed innocently. She could feel that he was so happy while speaking to her that she genuinely realized once again that this man really loved cooking.

Suddenly, she stared at her high heels silently. Her white feet were wrapped in the heels with a gorgeous leopard pattern. She suddenly felt her feet looked so shabby.