Well, I guess were already popular, Min-joon said, shrugging proudly.

Kaya didnt deny it. They were celebrities now, and Lotus Bridge was the official restaurant they would finally open after long planning. It was truly a top-class restaurant that couldnt be compared to Irregular Lab that Kaya was once affiliated with.

It was natural for people to have high expectations of their new restaurant. Min-joon and Kaya had quite a lot of support from not only gourmets but also people in general, and their Starbook followers already surpassed 100,000.

Of course, Min-joon expected that Lotus Bridge would be fully booked thanks to its grand opening, but he never expected that it would be fully booked in just one day when they started to make reservations. With the phone ringing endlessly, waiters and waitresses were busy answering customer calls all day today.

Jonathan, you already gave the servers and the patisserie a reminder, right?

Yes. Dont worry. Theyre going to report to work two days before opening.

Jonathan was the new manager Min-joon hired this time. He didnt ask Jonathan about his age, but he was a white man who was probably in his thirties. With a large build and some gravitas belying his age, he would be expected to serve as the new manager of Lotus Bridge.

Please give the staff one more proper training in etiquette. I dont think anything bad will happen, but Ive heard something about the bad attitude of some restaurant staff recently.

Recently, something bad had happened in a restaurant involving black customers. While the waiter was escorting a group of black customers, they had a quarrel. They complained that they were not escorted to the tables near the window or hall, but to the tables in the corner, but the manager of the restaurant argued they were acting with a victim mentality.

However, according to a whistleblower inside the restaurant, it was the head chef who gave the waiters such an instruction. The head chef wanted the waiters to escort handsome and cool white men to take seats at the tables that other customers could see easily and to take colored people to the tables in the corner.

It was only natural that people were angered by this outrageous incident of racial discrimination. So lots of people came to pay lots of attention to which tables they would be escorted to. Some of them began to complain to the restaurant manager about their seating at the corner tables even when the waiter escorted them there because there were no other tables available.

In any case, Min-joon realized that he had to avoid even the slightest controversy. The waiters and waitresses were supposed to show their best manners to the customers. Kaya told them that the more respectfully they treated customers, the more elegant and luxurious the atmosphere of Lotus Bridge would be.

You guys cant make our restaurant look cheap. You know what I mean?

Of course. It will never happen. Every staff is on alert before the opening. So much so that they are trying to be servient to the customers.

Im glad to hear that. Of course, its not desirable that they are too servient. You dont have to think its hard to deal with the customers just because they have expensive meals because we cook and serve expensive dishes, Kaya said.

Jonathan smiled kindly at her words, which reminded Min-joon of Marcos smile. Min-joon momentarily wondered if fat people like them gave warm smiles, then slowly turned his head.

He had one more week left before the opening of Lotus Bridge. So he had lots of mixed feelings. When he thought about the opening of the restaurant, he was more perturbed than happy. He even got annoyed as to why he was feeling uneasy, and he even bit his nails, not sure whether customers would not react favorably to Lotus Bridge.

It was around that time when Anderson came to visit him. He looked around Lotus Bridge where everybody was busy preparing for its opening.

Anderson said, Man, youve made great success by opening a restaurant here!

I dont know yet if Ive succeeded. I can get kicked out because I cant even pay the rent here. If it really happens, I wont be able to see Chef Rachels face for a while. How can I see her if Im in that situation?

Do you think that can happen to you? he asked, looking at Min-joon as if he was dumbfounded. As far as he knew Min-joon, he had never failed in his career. Of course, he saw Min-joon making mistakes sometimes, but he gained some valuable lessons from his mistakes. So Anderson was even worried that he made almost no mistakes.

Anderson heard that Lotus Bridge was already fully booked for one month. So he couldnt understand why he was already worried about paying rent.

As if he read Andersons mind, Min-joon said with an awkward smile, Do you think Im so narrow-minded?

Do I have to answer such an obvious question?

Well, what should I do? Its my nature, and I cant do anything about it.

Min-joon laughed awkwardly. The two, who were in a tense relationship when they first met, had become so close these days that they could easily exchange offensive jokes like this. Even though Min-joon had mixed feelings because of the opening of Lotus Bridge, he was comforted by Andersons warm jokes at this moment.

You know what? All the gourmets who come to my restaurant are just talking about you. They are saying they have lots of expectations of Lotus Bridge. So dont disappoint them. I know you dont want to let people down, right?

I wont disappoint them. Not only I, but also Kaya, are not good at disappointing people.

What an eloquent speaker you are! Anderson said, bursting out laughing.

The two looked out the window without saying anything for a moment. Anderson looked away from the window and tapped the table. He then opened his mouth in a quiet voice.

You are always ahead of me, Min-joon.

But I dont feel hurt even if I try to catch up with you. But if you dont run well, its going to be painful for me. I dont want to see you trip over and get hurt.

Anderson looked at him and emphasized, Dont be a wimp. If you want to be weak, do it only after I defeat you because I dont want to think that I can defeat you because you are weak.

He spoke in a determined voice, and Min-joon could not avoid his sharp glance.

The two talked about lots of stuff all day long.

Anderson did not just support him. As time went on, they appreciated what they thought about each other more deeply, and as a result, they could freely say what they could not until now, weighed down by their reason.

What they said to each other didnt necessarily make them feel comfortable. Because of that, however, they came to remember and keep in mind each others feedback and advice. Anderson was no longer the old Anderson. He wasnt weak enough to be overwhelmed by a sense of inferiority, and he was not childish enough to ruin everything because of impatience. Of course, he was sometimes childish like the old Anderson because he could not give up his old habits, but he became mature at the end of the day.

That day, when he returned home, Min-joon had so many thoughts that he tossed and turned. Because of that, even Kaya, who was lying next to him, could not sleep.

She asked him abruptly, What did you talk about with Anderson today? No matter what, its obvious that you cant go to sleep because of that.

Dont worry. We just talked about our future or dreams, or something like that.

How can your talk about the future and dreams make you sleepless? It sounds strange. Dont you think so?

Yeah, that sounds a bit strange.

Tell me a little more. You cant go to sleep because you have lots of thoughts in your mind, right?

I dont want to bother you.

Dont you think youre already annoying me by tossing and turning like that?

He laughed awkwardly at her angry voice, then shrugged. He could not keep silent anymore.

So tell me.

Well, it just suddenly came to mind. I mean the days when we first met. Those days when we spent time together at the Grand Chef. I suddenly became curious about whether I forgot where I started.

In other words, you were lost in trivial thoughts, right?

Yeah, youre right. Trivial thoughts. I dont want to bother you with things like that.

If you dont want to bother me, you shouldnt have shown it from the beginning, she retorted with a sullen expression.

Embarrassed, he pulled up the blanket. She gently grabbed his hand, then put his arm on her body. Her skin was colder than he expected. He once heard that if a womans body was cold, its a sign of her bad health.

When he thought about it for a moment, she said, You know I feel the same way sometimes.

Yeah, I know.

Dont be controlled by such feelings. You and I cant live according to our moods forever, right?

Do you really think so?

He asked because he had rarely heard such feedback from her before. In fact, she wanted to live a life that was more honest with her emotions than she thought.