At the Rose Island main restaurant.
“He must have arrived in New York by now,” Janet said, looking at Rachel.
Watching her nod, Janet asked in a subtle voice, “Don’t you miss him? I know how much you have cared about him.”
“All of you guys are the same students to me. How can I miss somebody better than somebody else?”
“I didn’t ask you if you just missed him more. I just asked if you missed him. I wish you had gone to the airport to see him off.”
“Well, I’m not going to break up with him forever. So, what’s the point of seeing him off?”
At that moment, Janet felt that Rachel didn’t go out to see him off because she might really feel she could never see him again. She might have felt the more grandiose her parting with him looked, the more distant the day would come when she would meet him again.
In a way, her affection for Min-joon was so strong that Janet sometimes felt jealous.
Feeling sorry for Rachel, Janet changed the topic with a sigh.
“Can he adapt to his new surroundings well? I think people in New York are tough.”
“It won’t be easy, but as you know, his specialty is in getting difficult things done easily.”
Janet nodded. She did not deny Min-joon’s abilities because it was true that many of the dishes he made were impossible for ordinary chefs.
But Min-joon could be faced with more difficult tasks in New York. Right here at the main restaurant, he was a familiar fixture, but he would be nothing but an outsider in June’s New York branch.”
Janet muttered, “It’s going to be pretty noisy at first there.”
At the LaGuardia Airport.
“I do feel strange here.”
Min-joon looked around while tightening the collar of his coat. The cold weather alone made him feel he just came to a new place. And at the same time, he felt nostalgic. LaGuardia Airport was the place he visited when he first came to America. However, he felt completely different from that time since he had a different mindset and he was in a different situation.
Now he was no longer a child facing an uneasy future while believing in his dream only. Now he landed a stable job in New York, so he didn’t have to worry about how to make money. All he had to do was to run toward his dream.
‘Yeah, I’ve achieved a lot for the past few years.’
When he thought so, he smiled naturally. His confidence also soared. Although he felt a bit sorry that he had to leave LA for New York, this would be only a stopover to him, after all.
‘I should learn as much as possible.’
Regardless of whether June wanted to give him something, he was determined to get as much from her as possible, so he could go back to Los Angeles later. He wanted to show Rachel the kind of high-quality dishes that she expected of him so much. He wanted to be a chef who could make even Daniel’s name look pale.
While feeling nostalgic, he was about to get out of LaGuardia Airport when somebody pulled over a car in front of him and honked. People around him frowned at the car. A window on the passenger side opened and Delia stuck her face out.
“Everyone! Hop in!”
“Delia? How come you are here?”
“It’s a pickup service. Come on!”
“Open the trunk first, please!”
When Min-joon said that, Delia looked at Terry sitting in the driver’s seat.
When Min-joon and his party—Kaya and Chloe—got into the car with all their luggage loaded, Delia smiled and opened her mouth.
“You got in my car, Min-joon!”
“Hey. Don’t tell him as if he got in a special car. We just got in a taxi, not your car.”
“Okay, okay. So, don’t stare at me!”
When Kaya stared at her sharply, Delia got cold feet.
Kaya opened her mouth in a cold voice.
“Don’t look back. Just look ahead when you are driving.”
“Oh, all right, but I’m not driving, Kaya.”
“You are in the front seat. Where’s the driver’s seat? Front or back seat?”
“Of course, front seat.”
“See, you’re in the driver’s seat.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
Delia seemed embarrassed to hear Kaya’s words, but she didn’t look back. She kept turning her eyes to check Min-joon’s expression, but unfortunately, he was sitting right in the back seat behind her. Unless she turned her head, she couldn’t even see his face.
Delia carefully asked, “Min-joon, is there anything you are curious about?”
“Well, where are we going now?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you! We’re going to my hotel. You have to check-in and unpack your luggage anyway.”
Terry, who was next to her, made a feigned smile. Unpack the luggage? Terry wouldn’t think it’s a big deal if somebody else said that, but because Delia said that, she thought it was unusual this time. As far as she knew, Delia was a woman with the least consideration for others. So, the fact that Delia was considerate of Min-joon and Kaya like this surprised Terry, who had been always around her for a long time.
‘If Delia stays with these guys, she can perhaps get a good chance to get civilized.’
Terry felt like she was turning over a spoiled child to others for a good lesson, so she could not help but smile before she knew it.
While they were driving to the hotel, they tried to adjust to each other in the car. Delia went out of her way to try to speak to Min-joon, then Kaya gave the edge of her tongue to her. Chloe then comforted Delia who got dejected by her rebuke. Delia was faced down by Kaya in various ways.
But when Delia stepped into her hotel, she got emboldened again because this hotel was her kingdom. While stepping into the prestigious hotel facing the river in front, Delia looked at Min-joon with a proud expression.
“Once again, you need to know what it means that you are now in this place. Our hotel is one of the most expensive places in New York City !”
“Why is it expensive?”
“Uh, well. Maybe because of its nice view or because it’s so luxurious.”
“It’s just expensive. Cut the price a bit. Don’t rip people off.”
“I’m not ripping them off!”
Delia got upset about Kaya’s provocative comment. But her voice trailed off as if she was conscious of Min-joon.
Delia said in a nice voice, “The room I’m giving out to you is originally classified as special. When you go inside, there are only five rooms, so pick any room you want. Kaya and Chloe, can you see me a moment before you go? I want to discuss with you something.”
“But what about our baggage?”
As soon as Chloe mentioned it, the bellboys approached and dragged their carriers.
With Delia saying goodbye to Min-joon with a smile in her eyes, he looked around, scratching her cheek. Since he checked his baggage, he didn’t want to go into the hotel room and take a rest right away.
‘Alright. Let me go there.’
Then he moved somewhere.
There was a rather disturbing atmosphere at the Rose Island New York branch these days.
First of all, Dobby was supposed to get out. Since he was going out as the head chef of a new local branch, those who had been around him for a long time felt restless.
Secondly, they were interested in Eva’s next move. Except for Dobby, she was the longest-serving demi chef there, so everybody rightly believed that she would be June’s sous chef after Dobby moved out. She was competent and she had a warm personality. Naturally, they strongly supported her as the next sous chef.
“Let me tell you one more thing. Come to my store as a sous chef.”
“No,” Eva shook her head firmly at Dobby’s offer.
Looking at her quietly, he said with a frustrated expression, “Hey. Don’t be foolish for no reason. It’s stupid for you to work as a demi-chef any longer with your skills. Do you think I can do bad things to you if you are my sous chef? We’re friends, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I don’t want to go. The moment I work for a friend, I’m not your friend anymore.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
“Let me ask you something. Why do you keep asking me to come with you? Is it because you need me or because you feel sympathetic about me?”
At that moment, Dobby was speechless. In fact, he didn’t have to say he needed her because finding his sous chef would not be hard. Besides, he could even find one on the same day he put up the sign of a Rose Island branch.
But he didn’t want to leave Eva behind like this. He didn’t want her to be pushed by somebody else and struggle as a demi chef under his replacement, for she was his friend and colleague.
However, Eva was rather calm.
She opened her mouth in a calm voice.
“It seems like you feel bad because I work for Min-joon.”
“Absolutely! How can’t I feel bad? He is your junior in terms of experience!”
“Cooking requires competence. Min-joon is a competent chef. He has beaten you, right? You got your knife taken by him.”
“Why are you mentioning that to me now?”
“I’m just talking about the fact. Min-joon got better scores than you. If someone who is less competent than you comes in as the sous chef, I can speak out to some extent. But if he is more competent than you, I have nothing to say. I already told the cooks here about my opinion. So, don’t make the atmosphere here bad. They can be agitated.”
“Eva…”
“You’re a head chef now. Dobby, if you think of a restaurant as a country, you’re a prime minister.”
Eva chuckled playfully, and continued, “So don’t be swayed by petty feelings. I’m ready to accept him as the sous chef here. You are the one who’s not ready to accept that I work for him.”
“You are so mean. How can you say that?”
“If I don’t, you will keep trying to persuade me. Stop it now. You are leaving this place, but I will stay here. So, don’t make me perturbed.”
Since she was so firm about her determination, he had nothing more to say.
He opened his mouth with a sigh.
“I’m not going to withdraw my offer, so tell me when you change your mind.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t change my mind.”
She didn’t like Dobby’s expression, who pretended to be haughty. In fact, Dobby once told Min-joon that he had better work for June. But he never thought Min-joon would take over Eva’s position.
At that moment, somebody called, “Chef, Chef!”
A young guy shouted in English with a strong Hispanic accent, “Please come to the kitchen now. That man has come!”
“Who?”
Dobby hardened his expression while asking casually. He instinctively knew who he was.
And the youngest chef exactly said what he was expecting to hear.
“Min-joon! He is talking with Chef June now. Won’t you go there?”
“I will. I’ll follow along. Go there first.”
“Yeah.”
The youngest chef left, and Dobby turned to Eva.
He muttered in a low voice, “I know you are good, but you need to be selfish sometimes.”
Eva didn’t answer.