Between Stability and Transformation (part 5)
“A cook-off?”
Lewis had a bemused smirk on his face while looking at Gwen. He had not expected for Gwen to have this side to her. He had not seen her that often yet, but the impression he had of her was that she was a calm and introverted woman.
But a cook-off, all of a sudden? Even if it was sudden development, how did this one come to be? Lewis placed a hand on the island next to him and stood leaning on it.
“And if I don’t feel like it?”
“Would you feel like it if I gave you a reason?”
“Dunno. I have nothing to gain from going up against you right now.”
“And you had something to gain when you went up against Frank?”
“I did, indeed. I got to smack that arrogant prick down.”
Lewis had no qualms about spewing anything that could be potentially sensitive. Gwen narrowed her eyes. She did not care that Frank was being insulted. Sometimes Frank did behave in a way that deserved him being insulted.
Especially when it came to Lewis.
However, she did not know why Lewis was behaving as such a jerk. It was not an issue with confidence. He would surely understand that behaving in this manner would only cause people to hate him. He was not such an idiot to not be aware of this. Or perhaps he simply did not care what others thought of him.
‘Whatever the reason, he’s useless.’
He was quite the boorish man. Maybe that is why she was angrier than usual. Because she had been replaced by a man like this in Jo Minjoon’s eyes.
‘He has no substance whatsoever.’
She wanted to prove this to Jo Minjoon. That she would not be overshadowed by some guy like Lewis. That her value would not be reduced by someone as insignificant as him.
“If I lose, I won’t act condescending in front of you. Is that enough?”
“No, not really. I have no interest in how condescending you are, so I have no interest in you humbling yourself.”
“Then what do you have an interest in?”
“Your time,” Lewis answered briefly.
Gwen’s gaze sharpened. Lewis felt his heart flutter under that gaze. She was a woman with a strangely dangerous air about her. He felt like if he handled her wrong, she would turn on him and slash him with a blade. That made her want her more.
“Let’s meet up. Universal Studios is good. Or Six Flags is good, too. Wherever. Let’s have some fun.”
“…What are you saying right now?”
“What do you mean what. I’m saying let’s go on a date.”
Gwen let out a hollow laugh at Lewis’ response and crossed her arms. She did not care to know what in the world this buffoon was saying. However, Lewis was not trying to crack a joke. He looked unusually serious.
“I don’t want to step on the pride of a woman I wish to date, but if doing so gives me that opportunity, then I suppose I can.”
“…You are taking me much too lightly.”
“Then that would be even better. If your pride isn’t easily deflated, then the conditions I give you now would become meaningless, no?”
Lewis looked at Gwen with a triumphant expression as if he was the one in control of the situation. Gwen became even more flabbergasted looking at Lewis. Even if he somehow had an interest in Gwen, was it really necessary to cop this attitude in this situation?
She neither knew nor wished to know what type of person Lewis is or anything. Such matters had already become of no concern to Gwen. He was simply an opponent she must take down in this competition.
“Fine. Let’s go with that.”
“And the rules?”
“Simple. We take our recipes to the head chefs and the one whose recipe is put on the official menu first is the one who wins.”
“Easy win.”
Lewis looked as if he had already won. He maintained his triumphant look and Gwen muttered under her breath coldly, “It won’t be that easy.”
“This… too?”
Lewis’ voice trembled slowly. Standing before Jo Minjoon and Kaya, that confidence he had in being able to defeat Gwen was nowhere to be found. Instead, written all over his face was confusion about and protest against the current situation as if he did not understand it.
Jo Minjoon looked at Lewis and said quietly, “Yeah. It’s not enough.”
“B-But… this saffron risotto was perfect! The aroma of saffron and squash was seeped into every grain of rice, and the aroma of truffle complemented it exquisitely! There’s no way this has no taste!”
“I didn’t say it didn’t have any taste at all. I said it’s not enough.”
“…Are you saying that there is room for improvement for this dish?”
“Isn’t that what you should know? The one who created this dish is you and the one who came up with the idea for this dish is also you, ” Kaya replied in an apathetic voice.
Actually, she did not really like Lewis all that much. When they had first hired him, they thought he showed potential from his answers. But saying they were disappointed in the behavior he has shown at the actual restaurant would be an understatement.
Lewis would probably be shocked to know that Kaya curses him out to Jo Minjoon when they are getting ready for bed, since his self-esteem and confidence are at their peak.
Lewis looked at Kaya with protest in his eyes. However, Kaya’s expression was cold as usual.
Lewis bit his lip and said quietly, “Please try it again. If you taste it with what I just said in mind, it’ll taste vastly different from before.”
“Of course, after an explanation, it would be better than without one. However, I don’t take that into consideration. Your dish is nothing special. It’s just a common risotto found anywhere.”
“Maybe the idea is common, but it is not easy tuning the proportions of squash and saffron like this! You two should know this very well.”
“Yeah, it’s not easy,” Jo Minjoon mumbled.
His voice sounded a lot drier than usual. As if he was tired of being lenient, he spoke in a cold voice.
“So, did you think that just because it wasn’t easy, the dish should be added to Lotus Bridge’s menu? Did you think our menu is only about difficulty?”
“No, but…”
“If that is the case, then I’m disappointed. So much so that I may have to reconsider what I think of you that I had always been telling Kaya, Lewis. When we first recruited you, we told you this.
That we would like it if you could be a chef who inspires us. However, at this point, I wonder if you misunderstood what we said.”
“Misunderstood?”
“We didn’t want your opinion because our worldview was somehow narrower than yours.”
Jo Minjoon cupped his chin with his hand.
“It’s simply because what we are able to see is so vast, we wanted you to help point out the finer details that may have escaped us in the meanwhile. We believed you could do that, Lewis. I know you are excited, but… abandon the thought that only the world you see is special.”
“Chef…!”
“I believe this is all we are going to say on the matter. Or did you somehow need us to say more? Are you unable to come to your senses with just this?”
Jo Minjoon’s voice was quiet. Actually, he was quite sick of Lewis’ haughty attitude. If it were not for that glimpse into Lewis’ talent he saw in Lewis’ observation, he would honestly have no reason to hold onto Lewis like this.
However, on the other hand, should Lewis fail to leverage that supposed talent properly, he would be of no value. Lewis had to be disabused of the misunderstanding that he was somehow being favored. Even though Jo Minjoon deliberately showed Lewis favor in order to spur the other chefs on, Lewis, himself, should at least not fall under that misunderstanding.
“You’re a sensory-based person. I’ll acknowledge that. However, what you have compared to other chefs is on the scale of a grain of rice at best. And that difference of a grain of rice can actually be easily overcome with effort.”
“Don’t disregard what Minjoon’s saying. Those senses you have, we have them, too. And Jill has them. And maybe even Gwen. Looks like you were sure you’d win that bet you have against Gwen…”
Kaya smirked.
“But who knows.”
Those words were enough. Lewis hung his head with an expression mixed with anger and hurt and soon left with plodding steps. His plate was full of risotto with only one bite taken out of it. Lewis wanted to just teleport somewhere the moment he passes through the door. He was ending his visit to them with a full plate yet again.
‘Was I… actually not a genius?’
That thought suddenly occurred to him. He had been full of confidence. He had managed to join simply based on expressing his thoughts without having shown any dish he made at Lotus Bridge, so his confidence was bound to soar sky-high. Even when attending cooking school, his cooking had been different from others’ and what he could envision was broader what others could see.
And that is why he thought naturally he was some genius and the top among geniuses even. And after putting Frank down so easily, he had that much more confidence.
However, this no longer held true these days. He had brought dishes to Jo Minjoon and Kaya dozens of times. And after being rejected each time, Lewis’ confidence had hit rock-bottom.
He had not thought of it like that before. He had thought that perhaps they had not properly understood his dish. Or should Jo Minjoon and Kaya be fraudulent as chefs, then that would mean that the one the frauds had recognized would also be a fraud. Either way, that means he would not be able to keep his confidence easily.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, he could feel the gazes of everyone in the kitchen examine his plate. The gazes that could notice the plate still had quite a lot of food on it were not gazes full of mockery. Rather, they were rather listless gazes, as if expressing that they had witnessed the inevitable.
And that is why he hated it even more. This was not inevitable. It should have been impossible.
“Dammit…”
Lewis looked at his plate. He thought to toss it all in the garbage, but he could not bring himself to do it. In the end, at one end of the island, he took a fork and began to stuff his face with the risotto he had made.
It tasted good. The sweetness of the squash, savoriness of the cheese, the rich medicinal aroma of the saffron and the posh scent of the truffle harmonized to evoke an unbelievable flavor.
But Jo Minjoon and Kaya were saying this was not enough. Why? What was not enough about it?
Lewis turned his head slightly. He could see Gwen. She had not even once taken a dish of hers to Jo Minjoon and Kaya. She would make a dish, taste it herself, shake her head, and then stuff her belly with it instead.
At first, he thought she was seriously lacking in self-confidence, but now he knows that was not the case. Rather, she was quite daring. Unlike Lewis who wanted to gain recognition as fast as possible, Gwen could look at her own cooking realistically.
Lewis clenched his fists.
He did not even want to imagine it, but fear was slowly petrifying him.
Weakness was whispering in his ear.
That he may somehow lose.
“Who do you think will win between the two of them?”
“Whoever can broaden his or her vision will win first,” Jo Minjoon answered in a calm voice.
It was a useless metaphorical expression, but Kaya understood given how she has lived with Jo Minjoon now for a few years already.
“It won’t be easy. It may take a few months.”
“Doesn’t matter to me even if it takes a few years. As long as the two of them can make what I want.”
“Aren’t you asking a bit too much of demi chefs?”
“I was a demi chef too when I made Jo Reggiano.”
“You… are different.”
“I’m not different, Kaya.”
Jo Minjoon looked at Kaya.
“In the end, it’s a problem with one’s mindset. If one wants to push further and develop cuisine with a further goal in mind… one can ultimately achieve it. When I see their cuisines, I reminisce about what I had passed by.”
What he had passed by. The last 1%.
Jo Minjoon did not think that he did not know that last 1%. He knows it, but something is holding him back from grasping it like normal. He is able to realize this instinctively. When talking with Kaya, there are times when they are unable to communicate, ironically not at a high level, but at a low one.
‘…I just need to fulfill that last percent.’
Then he could finally shed his level 8 rating of cuisine.
That opportunity came faster than he was expecting.
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato