God of Cooking

It wasn’t even a potato soup with a special recipe, so Chloe made it without any difficulty even when she was drunk. Kaya smiled at her, watching pouring the broth after putting the bacon roasted once again with onions in the douche oven. She felt that even though both of them felt awkward toward each other, they could get friendly again someday.

‘By the way, it’s been a long time since I cooked this kind of soup.’

It seemed like anybody could make soup easily, but it required a lot of work. It would take at least one hour for chefs like Chloe and Kaya to make one. Of course, this kind of potato soup would not be good enough for customers, and it isn’t very efficient, compared to the time spent on making it. Because of that, Kaya had no choice but to feel very special about it.

Watching whisk, flour, and butter blend in the soup, Kaya grilled the ham, bacon, and cheese separately to serve with. Chloe, who put down the classic potato soup on the table, smiled and smelled it.

“This is my soup…”

“You like that potato soup so much?”

“Kaya, you told me that you liked it before.”

She spoke in a quite sleepy voice. Perhaps, it was because she was drunk. Kaya tilted her head a bit and noticed why she was making this dish. She tried not to express it, but she had no choice but to feel a bit sad. She was relieved that Chloe didn’t notice her feelings, though.

“Shall we eat it?”

“Wait a moment.”

“For what?”

“Wait a moment. I want to see them alive like this a little more.”

She was going to say the potatoes were already dead the moment they were roasted in the heat, she didn’t dare say it. She thought Chloe’s cute to play a baby like that, something she would never see again.

Kaya said, raising her hand over Chloe’s shoulder, “I’m sorry. Chloe. I am so mean.”

“No, Kaya. It’s me who is mean.”

“No, I’m mean. I’ve been holding you like this, knowing it’s going to be tough for you.”

Delia, who was watching her by her side, thought of stopping her, but she just let her confess, folding her arms.

Kaya opened her mouth in a slightly wet voice.

“You can call me selfish, but I won’t give up on you. You’re my friend forever. I’ll make you happy.”

Did Chloe read between the lines of what she said? Could she understand when she was drunk like that? Kaya wished she could, but at the same time, she could forget all about it.

Kaya had never taken issue with her affection for Min-joon. She believed that as long as Chloe could control her feelings, she would not take issue with it forever. At the same time, she felt so sorry for Chloe that she didn’t know what to do. After all, her greed was tormenting Chloe. While she was dating Min-joon, she wanted to keep Chloe around her.

Min-joon probably noticed Chloe’s affection for him. That was what Kaya felt. However, Kaya had never even asked him about it. Deep down, she just wanted to forget all of this. She didn’t know if this was the most effective way to deal with her, but she wanted to postpone solving all this a little later. It was too complicated and difficult.

“I’m sorry, Chloe.”

Kaya once again apologized. Chloe didn’t answer. After making the potato soup that she praised and talked about so much, Chloe fell asleep, exhausted by fatigue and alcohol.

Delia sat at her table, holding a fork.

“Can I eat this?”

Chloe’s potato soup was attractive, as always.

***

How could one wake up? There were times when somebody had to wake a person up by shaking their body. Sometimes, somebody had to scream, and sometimes, one had to wake up with just the sound of the alarm. The sunlight didn’t seem to be any good, but it was one of the factors that unexpectedly helped a person wake up.

But for now, none of that was likely to wake Chloe up. The blanket was cozy and warm. Was there anything more lovely than a blanket in the world? Thinking about it even when she was sleeping, Chloe rolled around on the bed.

“Ooops!”

At that moment, she began to recall what happened last night, which was buried in her memories because she was too drunk. She frowned over a hangover, then she fell into despair.

‘What did I do last night?’

The blanket, which she just felt cozier than anything else, now felt stuffy like a net.

All the bad things she had done while she was drunk came to her mind one by one.

Only then did she realize that the bed she was lying on was not hers. The ceiling was unfamiliar to her, nor was the pure white light of the arc lamp hanging beside her.

Chloe strugglingly kicked off the blanket, then pulled it over her face. She stuck her face out again and looked around as if to look for evidence that she was not in a dream. Then she grabbed her mouth as if she felt nauseated, and quickly stepped out of the blanket. And she ran to the bathroom attached to the room and grabbed the toilet.

“Yuk!”

Some liquid, looking like alcohol or stomach acid, came out of her mouth. She couldn’t even wipe her mouth properly and drooped over the toilet. She wanted to flush away into the toilet bowl. Chloe wanted to get sucked in. If so, she wouldn’t have to leave this room again and face the cruel reality.

‘Chloe! Wake up! Who lives like this?’

Looking into the toilet, she muttered, aghast, How could she see Kaya again after making such a big fuss? She felt like she could not even see Delia again, aside from Kaya. Fortunately, Min-joon was not there because it was only him who noticed that she liked him. At least, that was what she thought.

‘Did Kaya tell him I got drunk and cause a scene?’

She thought Kaya didn’t. In that respect, Kaya was very much considerate. There was a fat chance she did so. Maybe Kaya might have told Min-joon that Chloe got really drunk last night.

Chloe decided to quit drinking again. She made a New Year’s resolution on No Drink every year, but she never translated it into action.

While she was making such a resolution again, somebody knocked on the door.

“Chloe, are you up now?”

At that moment, Chloe froze. Whose voice was it? Kaya?

“Let me come in then.”

The woman outside the door didn’t give Chloe much time to analyze who she was.

Opening the door and looking inside, Delia cast a pitiful glance at her, who was still holding the toilet bowl. Given that Delia, notorious for her nasty temper, made such a pitiful expression, Chloe thought she looked really miserable at the moment.

Chloe greeted her with a smile.

“Hi.”

It was a pretty gloomy smile. Delia didn’t pretend to hide her surprise and pity.

Clucking sympathetically, Delia opened her mouth.

“What a mess!”

“Sorry.”

“You said you were sorry for potatoes last night, then you are sorry for me today. All right. Just wash and get ready to go out. It’s time to go to work.”

“What time is it now?”

“8:30 am.”

“Oh my God.”

Chloe was drooping as if she couldn’t believe it. She would definitely be late for work if she spent time washing and making up. Maybe Kaya must be busy preparing all the ingredients alone. After all, Chloe stood up, staggering a bit.

Delia frowned, watching her, and said, “You don’t look good. Can you go out?”

“I’m not as bad enough as you think. But it’s my tired mind, not body, that makes me …”

As a matter of fact, she was shocked deep down. More precisely, she felt so ashamed.

She sighed with a gloomy look and looked at Delia.

“I’m sorry last night, and thank you.”

“It’s okay. I would like to share some of your feelings. You and I have a secret crush on him anyway.”

Chloe opened her eyes wide at her confession. She thought she kept it to herself until now, but Delia noticed it. To be honest there were few around Chloe who didn’t know she had a crush on him. But Chloe herself was not aware of it.

“How did you know it, Delia?”

“Well, I’m pretty good at noticing it.”

“I see…”

Then Chloe asked with a serious expression, “Who else do you think has noticed it?”

“I’ve never told anybody about it.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that.”

Watching her feeling greatly relieved, Delia felt guilty a bit. Although Delia didn’t say it, Kaya also noticed it. But Delia didn’t want to get involved and make things complicated. Her only goal was to get a little closer to Min-joon.

‘And if Kaya finds out I have told Chloe about it…’

Honestly, Delia had to admit she was secretly scared about Kaya. Of course, she was the employer, but from the moment she first met Kaya, her relationship with Kaya was contrary to what she thought, namely not the typical employer-employee relationship.

“Take care then.”

Having said that, Delia left the room, looking at her pitifully. Perhaps it will take a long time for Chloe to understand what she just said.

***

The name of Kaya and Chloe’s restaurant was ‘Irregular Lab’. When many people first heard the name, they reacted quite negatively. First of all, the name itself didn’t have a luxurious atmosphere. Besides, people were not sure if it was really a restaurant.

However, Kaya and Chloe stuck with that name, not caring about their reaction because their cooking philosophy was fully reflected in that name. Irregular laboratory. Only now did many people begin to appreciate its real value, but at first it was more worthwhile as a cooking laboratory than as a restaurant.

Their goal was to create fine dishes as good as those served at any fine restaurant with a small number of chefs and ordinary cooks, or part-timers. When Kaya and Chloe opened the restaurant at first, their attempt itself drew a lot of attention. They were criticized by fellow chefs that they could lower the value of chefs by experimenting with such unprecedented dishes.

But it was Min-joon’s review of their dishes that offered a turning point in their perception. Their perceptions began to change dramatically when Min-joon offered his own frank opinion.

Although Min-joon was their friend, the expectations and trust people had in him were quite high. They didn’t trust him blindly, but many gourmets who visited Kaya and Chloe’s Irregular Lab raised forks at the table, expecting to find some delicious and original food rather than being just skeptical like they used to.

The results of such a change in perceptions were great. Gourmets who praised them began to increase, and even interested chefs began to seriously debate the utility of the new method Kaya and Chloe put forward.

“What did you say? <Culinary New York> is planning to pick our restaurant as their recommended restaurant of the month?” Chloe asked.

“No, I hear that they are now considering whether to recommend our restaurant for this month. So, they’re coming today to sample our dishes again,” replied Kaya.