Like Stacking Legos (part 7)
“I should not have to tell you what you did wrong, don’t you agree? “ Jo Minjoon said in a quiet voice. While it is likely his fury has subsided a bit since some time had passed, his anger towards Simon was still evident on his face.
That would be only natural, since Simon had not yet been properly admonished, given he had immediately departed the restaurant the previous night.
“Did you drink?”
“N-No!”
“What did you do at home last night?”
“…I just sat down on some stairs near my home and reflected on what I had done. And why I had done it.”
Hearing his defeated voice, one could tell he was not lying. Jo Minjoon looked at Simon with an unchanging expression. No matter how creative a way Simon could have self-reflected last night, he was of no mind to change how he felt about Simon. Regret and self-reflection should be an obvious outcome if one thinks about what Simon had done. If Simon had come in insisting what he had done was appropriate, then he would have been immediately fired.
“If at all possible, I would like to apologize to that customer.”
“Now is not the time for that. Your apology is secondary. It is far more important for you to grasp the depths of what you did wrong.”
“…I am sorry.”
Simon hung his head again. Jo Minjoon looked down on Simon’s bowed head quietly.
Jo Minjoon opened his mouth again to speak, “Do you remember what you told me during your interview?”
“…I said I wanted to become a manager at a top-class restaurant.”
“That’s right. And so, do you think a manager of a top-class restaurant would have done what you did last night?”
“No.”
“No matter how nicely you dress and no matter how eloquently you can explain our menu, one act such as the one last night just reduces you to not even some third-rate thug.”
Jo Minjoon was using much stronger language than usual. But Simon said nothing in reply while listening to this. Everything Jo Minjoon had said from the very start to the very end was right. Actually, the one who thinks the worst of Simon and is the most disgusted by him is Simon, himself.
‘Why in the world did I do that?’
As Simon continued thinking, his irritation and suffering worsened. Whenever he recalls that moment he had placed the bill on the customer’s table, he wanted to slap himself in the face.
And actually, he had already slapped himself a few times.
However, pain does not cover up any wrongdoings, nor can it make one forget.
Jo Minjoon looked around at the other servers and chefs.
“Everyone, don’t forget what happened here yesterday. You are here not to brag about how great your food is. You are here to make our customers happy. Understand?” Jo Minjoon sharply asked.
Everyone hastily nodded their heads. Jo Minjoon turned back to look at Simon and said coldly, “Until you are told to stop, from now on, you are to be the sole person in charge of cleaning the restrooms and mess hall. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Then go take care of it right now.”
“Yes, sir!” Simon quickly responded and immediately set out.
All the others who had been unable to breathe freely until that moment finally caught their breath. Kaya, who had not uttered a word during Jo Minjoon’s reprimanding, crossed her arms and said, “Enjoying loafing around? Don’t you all have work to do?”
At Kaya’s needling, everyone quickly returned to their stations. She took a peek around to see if anyone was left dawdling and without turning her head to Jo Minjoon she said, “You’re pretty good at that.”
“I don’t want to particularly be good at something like this.”
“But being good at it is still a good thing.”
Kaya smiled widely and looked at Jo Minjoon. Jo Minjoon looked uneasily at Kaya.
“Somehow, it feels like the role of the villain has fallen all to me.”
“Don’t give me that bull. Not when you are all pretending to be nice all the time.”
“…I just don’t want to needlessly make someone suffer.”
“We need to make them suffer sometimes. People usually want someone to make them suffer. If we make them suffer, I bet they’d be so happy.”
“What the hell kind of people would those people be?” Jo Minjoon scoffed and shook his head.
Kaya poked her finger into the corner of Jo Minjoon’s mouth.
“At least you’re laughing now.”
“Were you saying that to get me to laugh?”
“Dunno.” Kaya deftly avoided his gaze.
Jo Minjoon looked absentmindedly at Kaya and soon turned to look out the window.
“You think that customer will come again?”
“Who knows.”
Jo Minjoon had, in fact, said he would gift the customer with a free treatment to their course menu, but whether that customer would even return to take him up on that offer is the question. A customer who had been disgraced for ordering à la carte showing up to the restaurant again to take up the free meal offer would imply various other things as a result. No matter how great the food is, instead of being able to experience happiness from eating it, the customer would likely endure mire suffering.
“…I really had believed this kind of incident would never happen in the restaurant I had in mind.”
“As if such a restaurant even exists. I think this would have happened no matter how successful our restaurant is. And that is a part of the fun in owning a restaurant.”
“You know how to sound so mature, my dear wife,” Jo Minjoon said looking at Kaya with a content expression on his face.
Kaya frowned. “If you keep treating me like a child, I’ll break your back.”
“…Okay.”
Jo Minjoon looked crushed.
After causing such a serious incident, Simon ironically became the ace among the servers. It would be more accurate to say he became the one who was thought to inevitably become the ace. He tried to compensate in any way he could for the amount of disappointment he caused to his work family. And even more so for himself, so he could tell himself that he is not a bad person.
After that day, Simon waited several times for the à la carte customer to come by again. He was also simultaneously dreading it. While he thought that if he was able to meet and properly apologize to the customer, he would be able to overcome it even a tiny bit. He also felt that if he actually did meet the customer, he would not be able to speak a single word properly.
This is normally the case. It is always difficult to face someone you have shown your worst side to. For it is no different from having to face your own worst possible self.
Jo Minjoon did not pay attention to Simon. Or, at the very least, that is how it appeared on the outside. For a few weeks, Simon worked his cleaning position as if to take over all the cleaning responsibilities himself, but Jo Minjoon was not going to let him go that easy.
If Simon cannot take it, then he would simply have to leave. However, should he leave like that, he would not be able to stand himself that much more. If he were to abandon paying back his wrongdoing, he would be left to suffer from the weight of the wrongdoing. He would be unable to have the gall to be able to be forget his guilt as if pretending he had done nothing wrong.
“So, you planning on leaving the kid in that situation?”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘leaving him in that situation.’ I am just observing. I’m checking to see how much he has corrected his attitude.”
“Guess your anger is still going strong.”
Despite how sincere Jo Minjoon was when replying to her, Rachel was looking at him bemusedly as if hearing her grandchildren speak in baby talk. Jo Minjoon noticed this and frowned.
“Rachel, did you know that every time you see me, you have this look on your face like you’re watching a child?”
“Well, what can I do? That’s how it feels like.”
“I now also have my own restaurant, where I am the head chef. I am not as immature as I was a while back.”
“It is normal for someone young to deny he is young.”
If she puts it that way, he has nothing left to say in response. Jo Minjoon looked at Rachel with a dissatisfied expression and quickly changed the subject.
“So, what have you called me over today for? Did some incredible recipe pop into your mind by any chance?”
“Do you think I would call for you for such an unimportant reason?”
“Then what did you call me over for?”
“When was the last time you came by my restaurant?”
“Hm… let me think. It’s probably been a few months since I was able to partake in your course menu.”
“Has it only been a few months?”
“Only?” Jo Minjoon looked at Rachel with a bewildered expression.
When this is practically the first time he has failed to go to Rachel’s restaurant within a few months, if you exclude the time he went to New York, he could not understand just what would cause Rachel to word it as “only.”
Rachel had a strange smile on her face while looking at Jo Minjoon. She could already imagine how happy her young disciple would be upon hearing these words.
“When you declined my desire to give you everything, you told me to stop chasing after Daniel’s shadow and to be me, instead. And you also said at the same time to stop thinking of Daniel as an insurmountable obstacle.”
“Because there is absolutely no reason for you to think that way. Chef, as far as I know, you are the best chef out there. Should you be unable to catch up to Daniel, then no one else in the world would be able to.”
Even Hong Mangil, considered the best chef in Korea, had felt incomplete in comparison to Rachel. Of course, he cannot be to sure about now, but at the very least, it would not be a stretch to say Rachel is a world-class chef.
What Rachel needed was a bit more confidence in herself than what she had. Having read Daniel’s notes, Jo Minjoon knew very well how much of a transcendent chef Daniel was. However, it is not impossible for Rachel to reach those same heights. Actually, Jo Minjoon believed it is possible for anyone to follow in Daniel’s footsteps and achieve the same.
There are definitely limitations when it comes to talent. Like how despite all of the effort Jo Minjoon has put forth, he is still lagging behind Kaya, who has poured in less time than him. However, that is not a reason to fall into despair and give up on the competition, even if there is a possibility of always losing for the rest of his life.
Still, Jo Minjoon does not think that is a bad ending, either. Competition does not exist for the sole purpose of winning. Consider if Jo Minjoon were to immediately give up on his competition with Kaya and settle for reality, not only would he forever remain lagging behind, but he would always stay at a level where he can never be able to compare himself to her.
“At the very least, you have one advantage, chef.”
“Advantage?”
“Time has stopped for Chef Daniel, however it has not stopped for you.”
If the genius had been alive, perhaps she would not be able to win, but if the genius is dead, then maybe the results can be different. In any case, this could be considered disrespectful toward Daniel and toward Rachel, but… Daniel’s death could be the opportunity Rachel needed. The opportunity to beat Daniel. Naturally, she would not be too welcoming of said opportunity.
‘But, will she even want to beat Daniel?’ thought Jo Minjoon suddenly.
Is this moment where she wants to catch up to Daniel not about beating him but about love? Is it about cheering herself up to not forget him?
Those inner thoughts of his did it last long. Rachel replied, “Yes, you are right. Time has not stopped for me.”
Should she be happy about that? Rachel briefly laughed and reflected more on that thought. Soon after, she said quietly, “And that is why I feel I have caught up to him a little bit.”
“…You caught up to him?”
“Free up some time this month. I want to treat you to a course.”
This was not a course menu influenced by Daniel. This course was planned out solely through Rachel’s own influence. Furthermore, Rachel was convinced, that at the very least, this course is the greatest masterpiece she has created in her whole life.
Jo Minjoon clenched his fists.
Rachel continued, “Daniel would probably snort in laughter if he heard me call my cooking the best. Especially when I said I would never show it off to anyone. But you know… these days, I came to a realization of sorts.”
She looked straight into Jo Minjoon’s eyes. She was looking not at her own greed nor at the traces of Daniel, but at Jo Minjoon himself, and said,
“That my cooking is the best, indeed.”
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato