Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Unfamiliar (1)

Chloes been weird these days.

One morning, Kaya spoke in a quiet voice as if she was telling a big secret. She stuck out her head and glanced around her to make sure no one was listening. Cho Min Joon pushed Kayas forehead away with his finger.

Your hair will fall into the soup.

Are you serious?

What about Chloe?

Kaya glared at Cho Min Joon before finally answering, but of course, her voice was coarser than usual.

Chloe seems to be worried about something these days. Shes blank.

Maybe she has spring fever.

I wouldnt be saying this if it was something like that.

Cho Min Joon smiled in response. Kaya grimaced.

What are you laughing at?

Nothing.

He felt proud that she was worrying about someone instead of getting into fights, but he knew that if he said that to her, she would refute it. Cho Min Joon calmly looked away. Chloe was making dumplings out of her pot at a cooking station. Cho Min Joon was in awe of the cooking score he saw on top of her7 points. That was decent considering she made it in under 1 hour.

At that moment, Chloe groaned and threw her hands in the air. The pot fell on the floor and made a loud clanging sound. Before Cho Min Joon got up, Kaya sprung up and ran over to Chloe. She looked at Chloes burnt hand and looked pained for her.

Did you burn yourself?

Hahaha its fine.

I knew this was going to happen. Wash it under cold water. Ill bring you some ointment.

No, Im really okay. Thats not necessary

Women shouldnt have wounded hands. Youre different from me.

Kaya hurried away to find the first aid kit. When Cho Min Joon saw that, he remembered the last thing Kaya said, Youre different from me.

That made sense considering her past. Kaya couldnt live a normal life. Not as a woman, a student, or a familys daughter. When other kids her age put lipstick on, Kaya had dust all over her face, and when others put perfume on, she smelled of fish.

But the problem was what she said before that. Women shouldnt have wounded hands. Youre different from me. It sounded as if it was okay for her to be wounded even though she was a woman, too. He felt bothered that she thought of her own life as less precious and valuable.

Cho Min Joon approached Chloe. Chloe smiled awkwardly as she put her hand under cold water.

Ugh, this is embarrassing. I cant believe I made that mistake.

Dont be so hard on yourself. Pros get hurt, too. Do you think its badly burnt?

No. I dont think Ill even need ointment.

Do it anyway. You never know.

Are you worrying about me?

Of course. Im your friend.

In response, Chloe just smiled. But why? Even the way she smiled looked dark. What Kaya said earlier kept ringing through his head. What she said about her worrying about something, and he also remembered the time she confided in him.

All Cho Min Joon could do for Chloe when she contemplated her future was comfort her. He didnt know if it could be any different if they talked about it now, but he opened his mouth anyway. He had no choice.

Are you still worried about it?

Chloe was confused about what Cho Min Joon was talking about. She didnt know what she used to be worried about. She only realized it a while later. When she talked to him about cooking, Cho Min Joon was caring.

Chloe tensed up her lips, but thinking about that day made her laugh. Her face turned into a smile, but Chloe did her best to erase it. She felt embarrassed smiling at the moment.

Its not like that. I just feel blank.

Ill clean up for you. Keep washing your hands.

Cho Min Joon picked up the pot from the ground. Chloe glanced inside the pot. Luckily, the dumplings on top didnt look too broken.

It looks like I can still eat it.

Is that what youre worried about right now?

Im a chef, after all.

Chloe smiled. She smiled in a lovable but worrying way. Cho Min Joon sighed.

Is it hard to tell me about it?

Chloe didnt answer, but that was her answer. Cho Min Joon decided not to ask further. Chloe looked at Cho Min Joon with troubled eyes before opening her mouth.

Hows it going with Kaya?

What do you mean?

The same thing the others mean when they ask you.

She said it playfully yet seriously. Chloe tried to sound casual. She asked with a slight smile. Luckily, Cho Min Joon was unable to catch on to her intent.

You know its not true. Why are you doing this to me, too?

I thought so, too, but Im not so sure anymore. Hey, dont look at me like that. Youve gotten awfully close lately. Its confusing.

Cho Min Joon didnt know how to explain it. Chloe wasnt wrong. After all, when he saw videos of himself with Kaya, he also thought they looked quite close. Chloe stared at Cho Min Joon as she asked, Are you sure you dont think of Kaya that way?

Its true that I yearn for Kaya.

Cho Min Joon answered calmly. The word yearn sounded vague. Chloes smile faded.

If what you feel for Kaya is yearning, how does Kaya feel about you?

Kayas feelings? Cho Min Joon didnt have a chance to think about that. Kaya was already approaching. She brought over the first aid kit with a frown.

See? Its bright red already. Youre not okay.

Wait, Kaya. You should put on the ointment once its cooled down.

Cho Min Joon reached out his arm to stop Kaya from taking out the ointment. Kaya stared at Chloes hand and said, Oh, I saw Martin on the way here.

Martin?

Yeah. Theres going to be a mission soon.

What? All of a sudden? When?

Kaya answered, At lunch.

***

Youre all superior.

That was what Joseph said to all 8 contestants at lunchtime. In response to the compliment, everyone put on an awkward smile as Joseph continued, You might think of it as a typical compliment, but thats not true. Youre all superior compared to contestants of past seasons.

Joseph is right. Since you continued to make great dishes, we went through great pains. We wanted to come up with an appropriate mission for you.

In response to Allans words, everyone trembled. Just the sound of it made them nervous. They were the final 8. No matter which ingredients or theme came out, they were confident they could do a good job, but what was important was the fact that the judges knew that as well.

A mission that would be challenging for them. What kind of mission could that be? Cho Min Joon thought about it, but he couldnt think of anything. He didnt remember a mission like this from what he remembered.

While he stared at Allans lips with nervousness, Allan smirked and looked to Emily. Emily smiled. It was a refreshing smile, but not in the current situation.

Its possible there are ingredients that youve never worked with before. The staff had a hard time collecting unusual ingredients. We found a total of 8 ingredients. And yes, youll all be working with different ingredients.

Emily pointed at the long table in front of the judges. There were 8 boxes laid out on top of it.

The ingredients are in there?

Cho Min Joons eyes became sharp. He was unable to look through the boxes and see what was inside. Unless a window popped up, there was no way he could see it. At that moment, Allan announced, Let me introduce the first ingredient.

As soon as Allan opened the box, everyone grimaced. Someone even gagged. What was inside was that shocking. The same went for Cho Min Joon. He stared at it blankly. He had no idea they would present such an ingredient. In response, Allan smiled as he said,

Its calf brain! Its an ingredient used by French chefs. I doubt any of you have tried it.

Calf brain. It was in a few French dishes, but unless you were a food critic, it was hard to come by. Some people just thought of it as another meat, but many were disgusted by the brain.

Compared to the calf brain, the next ingredient was less shocking. Truffle was a type of mushroom. Except for Japan and Korea, most first-world countries never heard of it, but that didnt mean it was less valuable. The price of truffle was very expensive, and it wasnt an ingredient that any of them had worked with. All Cho Min Joon had ever used was a truffle oil.

There wasnt a single ingredient that was easy to work with. Followed by truffle, there was sharks fin, deer liver, and sea anemone, but the two ingredients after that werent so bad for Cho Min Joon. Octopus and tripe. Octopus wasnt common in the Western world, but it was popular in Korea. Same went for tripe. There were countless restaurants in Korea that only sold tripe.

But the final ingredient made everyone come to their senses. At first, Cho Min Joon thought it was sausage but it wasnt. Sausage wouldnt have shocked them so much. Emily spoke with an embarrassed face,

The last ingredient is cow penis. Its not a popular dish, but their strong scent is charming to some Youre looking at me as if Im barbaric.

Youll end up working with one of these ingredients. Youll have to point at a box without knowing the contents, but the winner of the last mission will be able to choose. Min Joon, is there an ingredient you prefer?

There are 3 ingredients I wouldnt pick.

He didnt know how to make a dish out of sea anemone, calf brain, and cow penis. Cho Min Joon was drawn to 2 ingredients. Octopus and tripe. He was the most familiar with those.

He didnt think for long. Cho Min Joon spoke in a determined voice, Ive chosen.