Back to 7 Years Ago (part 1)

“Get up, Minjoon. Jo Minjoon!”

In response to the voice ringing in his ears, Jo Minjoon frowned and opened his eyes. He had clearly fallen asleep in the restaurant, so why was he at home? With that thought, he was briefly thrown into a state of confusion. Lee Hyesun opened her mouth.

“Why are you staring blankly like that? Hurry and get up. It’s already 10.”

“…10? Did you say 10? Oh, no. Why didn’t you wake me up all this time?”

“What kind of nonsense is this kid spouting in the morning? It’s your vacation period, you know?”

“There’s no such thing as a vacation period at the restaurant! I need to get to work!”

“Restaurant? Don’t make me laugh. Did you dream that you had become a chef? Get with it, Jo Minjoon! You’re a college student!”

“…Sorry?”

A dream of becoming a chef? Given that he was already working at a restaurant, why would she put it like that? And what was with that college student part? He caught an eerie feeling at that moment.

Jo Minjoon unconsciously looked around the house. A chair with a leg that had broken three years prior stood by the dining table. The TV with a poor-quality screen, which had been replaced, was back in its old spot. Jo Minjoon asked in a dazed voice.

“Mom, what… year is it?”

“What’s with you all of a sudden? You must not have slept well. At all.”

“But what year is it?”

“It’s 2010, of course! Hurry and wash your face so you can eat. It’ll get cold.”

The year 2010. What a shock. Wasn’t this when he had just been discharged from his mandatory military time? Jo Minjoon washed his face while still in a daze. It was at that moment, as he sat at the dining table at Lee Hyesun’s urging, that a computer window-type screen popped up.

“…Huh?”

“Have I been reading too much fantasy…?”

“What? Have you been reading those novels instead of studying these days?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I mean, Mom…”

“Don’t you know how your father is working himself to the bone at his company? See here. He had left for work at 7! Think about your parents and use your time wisely!”

She is spewing nagging comments at the mere mention of reading novels. Her nagging was something he did not have to deal with often after graduating from college. However, he did miss it in a way.

‘Have I… returned back to 7 years ago?’

Suddenly, he recalled the comment exchange he had with Head of Cooking School. There was absolutely no way it could possibly be true, but given how his current situation should already be impossible, maybe the absolute is not so absolute.

‘That person sent me back to the past.’

The moment the thought came to mind, the reason for it also naturally appeared. The Head of Cooking School had asked him if he would jump at the chance to follow the path of cooking if he could go back to his younger years. And Jo Minjoon had responded by saying that he had confidence in his path of cooking.

Honestly, he felt more at a loss than he did happy. However, no answer would come from thinking about it more. Jo Minjoon held his spoon and brought some fermented soybean paste stew to his lips. It was at that moment that another window popped up.

After mixing a 2:1 ratio of strong to regular fermented soybean paste, you add three times as much water. Add the potatoes first and wait for the water to reduce. Then add half an onion and one square of tofu. After that mix, in 1 teaspoon of dasida¹. Boil the soup until it is almost boiling over.

‘…Who would have thought… she did not use any MSG.’

His eyes began to be drawn to little details like that instead of the window popping up. He had said numerous times that this kind of taste could not be achieved without MSG, but his mother had denied it vehemently. As he looked at Lee Hyesun with eyes that said “I guess that was so,” she clicked her tongue and said,

“Why aren’t you eating? Are you going to be complaining about the side dishes this early in the day? I thought you’d get better after returning from the military…”

At that moment, a horrible thought hit him. What if he had gone a bit further back in time? If it had been when he was 21 or 22 during his long military service…

‘Thank you so much, Head of Cooking School.

I won’t make what I had said about cooking a lie.’

---

It was time for lunch. But maybe it was due to him having eaten at 10 o’clock, he was not all that hungry. So he was able to reflect more deeply on his situation. He was 30 years old. He had been a high school English teacher and had wanted to become a chef. And now he is 23 years old, a college student, and a prospective returning student waiting for the new school term to start.

“…What should I do?”

The moment he had returned back in time, Jo Minjoon decided without hesitation. This is his last chance. He did not want to rush to his path of cooking at too late of a moment like last time. However, if he were to abandon the college he had been so diligently attending and blindly declare he was going to become a chef, his parents would not readily agree. He had to prove his skills first.

Jo Minjoon went to the living room. Lee Hyesun was watching TV and folding the laundry. Jo Minjoon opened his mouth to speak.

“Mom, can I prepare some light snacks for you?”

“You’re going to cook?”

“I’ve done it before sometimes. I’ve practiced something else this time, too.”

“Sure. Let’s see how my son’s cooking tastes.”

At those words, Jo Minjoon immediately headed to the refrigerator. Lee Hyesun did not exactly enjoy cooking, but including the kimchi refrigerator, there were a total of 3 refrigerators in the house. Because of this, a lot of ingredients were left unused for a long time. His father, Jo Sooyup, had complained that Lee Hyesun let the ingredients rot.

“The ingredients…”

Since the window always popped up even though he did not even want it, it made things difficult for him at times. For now, Jo Minjoon put the egg in a bowl. He also took out some lemon, sugar, butter, and starch. As soon as he saw the egg, he thought of a dish to make. Even though it is relatively simple to make, it secretly requires a bit of skill. The soufflé — It looks like a muffin but its texture is lighter than that of custard.

The soufflé is a dish that is entirely dependent on the chef’s skills with his or her hands. It is so indicative that one could say that if the soufflé tastes great, then any of the dishes the chef makes would also be likely to taste good.

There was a time when he was completely obsessed with the soufflé. So much so that he would not be able to stand it if he did not have soufflé as a dessert for each of his three meals per day. Of course, after making it for a week like that, he grew tired of it. However, it soon became a dish he made at least once a week.

He has confidence in his skills. After Jo Minjoon began preheating the oven, he separated the egg whites into a bowl. Altogether, there were twelve egg whites. Then he took a heaping spoon of sugar and mixed it in. After that, it is pretty simple. You have to whip the mixture as if your life depends on it.

Lee Hyesun became interested in the sounds emanating from the kitchen. She raised her voice and asked,

“What in the world are you making that makes it so loud in here?”

“A dessert².”

“Dessert? You can make those?”

“Just wait and see. It’ll taste good.”

Jo Minjoon continued to whip his arm around. As he continued to stir the egg whites, he could see the foam slowly rise. After continuously whipping it, once the foam solidifies into more of a solid cream, then it is considered to be meringue.

You might be wondering what is so difficult about simply beating eggs, but if you were to make meringue, the muscles in your arm would be aching quite severely. It is the kind of task where you have no choice but to switch back and forth between arms. Of course, you can only whip it in the same direction. If you were to switch the direction you are beating in, you would break the foam you spent all that effort in creating.

Making the meringue took him close to 4 minutes. Jo Minjoon took in a deep breath and took a look at the meringue.

He had spent so much effort in making it yet it only garnered a score of 5. He understood why, though. After all, he added the sugar from the start instead of during the beating process. He had not followed the standard method.

Jo Minjoon checked its taste and cut the lemon in half. He squeezed the juice from one half through a sieve and slowly began adding it to the meringue. The meringue acquired a light yellow color and gave off a bit of a sour aroma. The halfway point of the process has been reached.

Jo Minjoon spread butter and sugar in a mug and slowly scooped the meringue in. He thought he had made only enough to fill two mugs but since a bit was still leftover he had to put the remainder in a smaller coffee cup. The next step is simple. Jo Minjoon took the two mugs and placed them on an oven-safe tray and placed it into the preheated oven.

The next step after that is also simple. In a stand mixer, he put sugar and starch to make ground sugar powder. Then he waited a bit. A moment later, the ‘ding’ bell sound from the oven rang. Jo Minjoon immediately took out the soufflé and dusted its top with sifted sugar powder.

It is complete. Pure-white sugar powder covered the top of the light lemon-colored soufflé like freshly-fallen snow. Jo Minjoon saw a window pop up above the lemon soufflé.

Six points. Jo Minjoon sampled a taste. Then from the smallest cup, he took a spoonful. A soft yet rough like a rolled egg omelet’s texture wrapped his tongue. The fragility of it, even under the slightest pressure, is akin to how snow covering a road disperses, enabled its taste to assault his tongue even more. Its taste that always comes out like that is the best. The combination of sour and slightly sweet is his favorite combination of tastes.

Jo Minjoon began to speak.

“Mom, it’s ready.”

“All right. Bring it over.”

“…Right. Of course.”

Such a half-hearted response after he put so much effort in! Jo Minjoon grumbled and took the lemon soufflé to her. He was confident she would take one bite and be shocked.

And that expectation of his was not left disappointed. Lee Hyesun’s eyes grew round. She glanced back and forth between the soufflé and Jo Minjoon.

“You’re telling me you made this?”

“What, did you think some secret benefactor³ made it?”

“But… this looks like it was made in a restaurant.”

Lee Hyesun lifted her spoon and pierced the top of the soufflé. She let out an exclamation.

“Wow… this is so soft!”

From there, she took a bite. That was the clincher. Lee Hyesun chewed the bite of soufflé in her mouth and was soon shocked and took another bite. Then she looked carefully at Jo Minjoon.

“…Son. Have you been attending cooking school in secret from me?”

Jo Minjoon laughed heartily without responding. And it was at that moment:

CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato

1. dasida = powder made from dried anchovies used as a soup base replacement for boiling anchovies directly ↩︎
2. “bread”. In Korea all pastries are called bread. Soufflés are an egg-based dish and are not breads nor are quickbreads. They can also be sweet or savory. Just putting ‘dessert’ since this is a sweet one and the proofreader has told me in that area of the world soufflés are not considered pastries. ↩︎
3. Actually, the name of a girl in an old fairy tale is put here. The girl would secretly come out to cook food for her man. It is a metaphor for doing good things without anyone knowing. ↩︎