What really mattered was whether they could feel the difference or not, for knowing how to strike the keys of a piano was different from knowing how to play it.

  Min-joon showed what a real professional performance was to those who thought they knew how to play the piano just because they could play some music while banging on the keys of a piano. In other words, he taught them how to be a chef, not a tool.

  Perhaps that was the decisive occasion that recognized his kitchen leadership because there was a limit to him doing it alone. The captain of a ship who told the crew to follow him unconditionally because he was right was a third-rate one who couldn’t properly explain why he was right. Min-joon thought his teammates could not be left behind as third-rate chefs.

  While he was lost in thoughts like that, Peter was already cooking the next appetizer on a pan. It was a dish of salmon and sweet potatoes re-grilled over bacon oil, then rolled up with bacon. Then, some slightly simmered sauce seasoned with masala, thick black soybean paste called chunjang, and teriyaki sauce was poured on top of it.

  It was still a simple dish. That was why it showed the best of their teamwork.

  Everyone could notice the high morale of Min-joon’s team members. Kaya enjoyed the food, but she became nervous deep down. No wonder she became nervous when she wondered if she could lead her team as well as him.

  ‘When did he grow so much as to embrace them so easily like this?’


  She thought he was always in her arms. But he was now in their arms before she knew it. Even though she slept with him every night, she didn’t know he was so generous to others.

  She clenched her fists, feeling somewhat deprived. Did she feel like she lost him? Or was it because she thought she was holding him, but actually he was holding her?

  She looked at him. He raised his head slightly. His eyes met hers, and he smiled.

  But she got more upset because his smile was so pretty.

  Min-joon’s direction was perfect.

  To be precise, it would be better to say that his team was perfect. Those who could not be perfect did not reveal their shortcomings until the last moment when they were done making the full course.

  Who should they give the credit to? To Min-joon who raised their level? Or to themselves who managed to pull themselves together throughout cooking?

  They could not figure it out. Others, including Kaya or Joseph, could not afford to pay attention to Min-joon’s team because they were more concerned with their own possible mistakes than Min-joon’s team.

  Especially after Joseph showed his team’s full course without any particular fault, they became more nervous. Even compared to Min-joon’s team, Joseph’s team finished cooking without showing any particular shortcomings. Perhaps it was Hugo who helped Joseph lead his team smoothly because he took care of Joseph’s instructions so well as if he was Joseph’s sous chef.

  There was nobody in his team that stood out among others, but that made his team look the best team.

  Now all their eyes were on the team led by Kaya as their head chef.

  “Michael, don’t think about playing a joke this time,” Kaya bluffed in a harsh voice.

  When they practiced cooking with each other, Michael broke the flow of his team members cooking several times for fun, so he scratched his head with an awkward expression when Kaya warned him. In fact, he found he had a different view of the cooking competition from his team members. What he wanted by participating in the competition would be simple joy, but what others wanted was some sort of reassurance that they didn’t collapse yet. Someone like him who stood firmly on the ground had a different mindset from that of the one who stood on shaky ground from the beginning.

  “Everyone, cheer up! Let’s win!”


  The team’s youngest member, Merlyn, shouted, clenching her fists. Other participants looked at her with a dry smile. Obviously, Kaya’s team members witnessed other teams showing terrific teamwork, which stimulated them a lot. To be honest, they felt they had to do better, and at the same time, they had to reflect on themselves. Why couldn’t they cooperate among themselves just like other teams?

  Ironically, it was none other than Kaya who felt disappointed the most at this moment. The cooking level of other team members was mostly the same as hers. She felt that the reason why her teammates could not show great confidence now was probably because she failed to serve as a patron that they could turn to.

  “Who the hell is a Grand Chef judge? Who the hell is a legendary genius?” Kaya muttered.

  It didn’t matter how good her cooking skills were because she was an incompetent mother who couldn’t properly feed her team members.

  Joseph and Min-joon did not write their team members’ names on their notebooks. It meant that none of their team members were poor enough to be eliminated. But could she do the same? Could she defend them?

  Just because she didn’t yet solve her problem, it didn’t mean the cooking competition would not open. Soon Kaya’s team members had to step out to the kitchen counter and grab their knives and pans. And their struggle to compete with other teams began.

  Come to think of it, it was funny. Kaya would have nothing to lose even if her team lost in this competition. But it was Kaya who was most passionate about this right now. She didn’t sit still for a second. She kept going back and forth between all her team members while checking if they got down to cooking immediately.

  Fortunately, her cooking order was well received by her team members. Of course, she was familiar with the cooking order. Although the format was different this time, she was also the head chef of her team. But in the end, that difference made an insurmountable difference.

  While she was leading her team members, she felt they were lagging behind other teams. She soon realized that they were not faster with their hands than she expected.

  When she found it out, the cream sauce someone was boiling was already burnt.

  Of course, she had to delay serving the dishes to the judges. She suddenly realized that something went wrong. There was clearly a big mistake. Who was to be responsible for that?

  Out of the five team members, who should she blame for it?

  It was herself that she recalled first. She wanted to blame herself for not leading them perfectly. In the meantime, the gears of her teamwork that didn’t mesh correctly started to squeak and stop moving.

  Kaya began to feel so distressed, and Min-joon watched her silently. He could clearly read how she was feeling right now and what she was thinking. He knew how much she was stressed out. Finally, Kaya’s course was over. It wasn’t poor. Every team member did their best.

  Shortly afterward, Kaya recalled two names.

  “Josh and Merlyn……”


  With sweat on their faces, they let out a sigh. Merlyn bowed her head sadly.

  Kaya bit her lips. In the end, she couldn’t protect her team members’ happiness.

  Even if it was not her mistake, she felt a sense of responsibility.

  “Josh, you were too slow to judge. When I asked you to do something, you never thought of doing something else. When I asked you to do two things at the same time, you were too dull to multitask. After all, your dumb senses ruined the flow of our teamwork. And Merlyn……”


  Kaya mentioned her name, then paused for a moment. Throughout this mission, Merlyn made her laugh often. Her childish innocence made her feel that she was an adult with a tainted innocence. But as an adult, she didn’t hold that child’s hand to the end.

  Kaya said, “Merlyn, you worked hard. But you weren’t perfect. Your cutting got worse the faster you did it, and it got slower when you had to do it very carefully. You are slow with your hands. But it’s inevitable because you have little experience.”


  What would Min-joon say in this situation? She couldn’t help but be occupied with such meaningless assumptions. But she thought Min-joon or Joseph must have made up for her shortcomings perfectly by showing their kitchen leadership.

  Kaya regretted the days she spent as the head chef of Irregular Lab. Consumed by her dreams of romance, fun, and her future, she didn’t understand the most basic stuff as the head chef, namely, kitchen leadership. And she blamed herself for it.

  Merlyn didn’t complain about Kaya, nor did she deny the reality she faced.

  She said, “I think this competition will remain as a good memory for me. Thank you, Kaya.”


  Merlyn recalled what she said when she saw Kaya first. She said she wanted to be like Kaya. Although her young age stood in her way, she said she wanted to achieve success just like Kaya by overcoming all her shortcomings.

  Merlyn wanted to achieve success. She didn’t come here to make memories, even though she said that. But the reality ended up being just a memory for her.

  Kaya smiled at her, then said, “Good job.”


  She wondered if she was now becoming a mature adult.

  But at the same time, she thought an incompetent adult was really ugly.