Min-joon couldn’t blame Hugo just because he kept his pride by throwing away his dish. Rather, he showed courage that no one else here didn’t. He didn’t have to rebuke or comfort Hugo. Rather, he needed to praise him. But even his praise wouldn’t please Hugo.

  Min-joon exchanged some pleasantries with him. While talking to him, Min-joon felt as if he became a doll because he could not tell Hugo what was on his mind on air.

  Those who were eliminated from the finals on that day were Hugo and Jacqueline. Jacqueline flew that day, and Hugo was supposed to leave the next day. So Kaya and Min-joon delayed their flight and spent time with Hugo that day.

  Even if they were together, Min-joon and Kaya had nothing particular to say to him. They couldn’t comfort Hugo now. As long as they were the very source of Hugo’s frustration, whatever they said would frustrate him further.

  They just spent their time without having a proper conversation all day long.

  When it got dark in the evening, Hugo opened his mouth.

  “Aren’t you hungry?”


  “A little bit.”


  “Do you want some paella?”


  Min-joon and Kaya opened their eyes wide then nodded quietly. Hugo led them into the kitchen. And he quietly began to cook. He soaked rice and cut the ingredients. Min-joon and Kaya didn’t help him. Hugo didn’t even ask for their help. They helped him by not helping him. They just helped him by watching him cook and try his dish. More precisely, that was the best they could do for him.

  Hugo chopped beef, chicken, mussels, squid, and shrimp into fine pieces, then marinated them in different seasonings and spices. He heated the pan and flambed each of the ingredients with tequila. A little later, he placed the plates before Min-joon and Kaya.

  [Paella Mixta with different flavors of beef, chicken, mussels, squid, and shrimp]

  Freshness: 94%

  Origin: (It is hidden because there are several ingredients)

  Quality: High

  Cooking Score: 9/10

  ‘This is his best level.’


  Considering his average cooking level was 7, Hugo’s dish right now could be called the best that he could make by showing his cooking skills fully.

  Obviously, this was his best dish, but he failed to show it in the Grand Chef competition—the best stage to prove his skills.

  Min-joon slowly raised the spoon. Instead of picking up any particular ingredient, he just scooped out some paella and put it in his mouth.

  “Delicious, Hugo.”


  He could have expressed its taste. For example, he could tell Hugo how fresh the taste was when the chewy rice grains, the broth deeply permeated into the plain taste of chicken, and the unique meaty flavor of chopped beef was mixed with the tasty mussels. And he could tell Hugo how much he liked the different seasonings permeated into each of the ingredients. But he didn’t.

  “It’s delicious,” Kaya said. That was all.

  What Hugo wanted was not their evaluation of his dish. What he expected from them was how they rated him as a chef who knew how to cook delicious food.

  Min-joon opened his mouth slowly.

  “You were cool earlier.”


  He didn’t have to remind Hugo of what that ‘earlier’ meant. Hugo lost today. He didn’t try to hide his own weakness. Rather he exposed it. It was something no one could do. That was why he was shining the brightest today when he would have looked the most miserable.

  Hugo just smiled at him. He was grateful for his friends’ support. He instinctively felt that what they commented briefly was the best support they could give him after thinking about it deeply and long today.

  Of course, their best support like that had no special effect on him. He was not happy because of that. He was still feeling bitter. But he knew he could not solve the problem overnight. Especially today when he didn’t have good results at the competition, his bitterness and frustration would not disappear quickly. But his heartfelt light thanks to their support.

  “Shall we have a drink?” Kaya asked, with a gentle smile.

  Hugo looked at her with a feigned grin and said, “Drink over paella?”


  “Why not? Anything is delicious when you have it with paella.”


  “Sure, let’s drink.” Hugo nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

  So they lightened the atmosphere over drinks gradually. Their hearts felt heavy. Their excitement subsided, and they became sober. They were just checking each other’s moods.

  Watching Hugo quietly, Min-joon had mixed feelings. He thought of reaching out to Hugo.

  Hugo was a proven chef. Given his cheerful personality, he would easily mingle with people in any organization. If he had to look for a chef at his restaurant who would not clash with a picky chef like Kaya, Hugo might be the best candidate.

  But he couldn’t bring it up to Hugo until the very last minute. Considering Hugo’s future, it might have been better for him to be Hugo’s shadow, for he had no intention of using Hugo as a tool. In fact, he didn’t want to use anyone who would join his restaurant as a tool for his own benefit.

  Min-joon’s name had to shine the most splendidly without any special modifiers. Everyone in the world had to be thrilled just to think of his name. A chef was no exception. Min-joon’s kitchen became the paradise every chef dreamt of. It was not just a matter of salary or treatment for them.

  Min-joon still vividly remembered how he felt when he joined Rachel’s Rose Island. He was sure that he would become one of the best chef’s kitchen staff at the world’s best restaurant. Even though he had a long way to go in the field, he was not so envious of any other chef in the world at that moment. There was a reason why he was so confident. While he worked for Chef Rachel, he felt he was growing, regardless of his cooking skills. He could not express what it was. But if he had to, he could say he knew more clearly day by day how the best chef in the world cooked her dishes. With such thoughts in mind, he could cultivate a better career, and make better dishes.

  That was why education was so important. Genius couldn’t complete one’s genius. It was not just the law of the capitalist society in which poverty begot poverty, and wealth begot wealth. While a child who grew up in a poor family learned to give up his or her dreams and adapt to society, a child who grew up in a wealthy family learned to face reality for the sake of his or her dreams.

  The difference between them was whether they bow in shame when somebody pointed his finger at them or whether they were courageous enough to break that finger. In the end, it was one’s personality that determines one’s success or failure. In that respect, Min-joon learned so well from June and Rachel how to break the fingers of people pointed at him.

  Now, when he was walking on the road, people would have to politely hide their fingers. Min-joon wanted to take Hugo to that society where people hid all their fingers.

  But Hugo would not respond. Even if he could break all the fingers of people pointed at him, he would do anything about his own fingers.

  While Min-joon was lost in such thoughts, Hugo suddenly said, “Man, it’s quite hard for me to get by as your friends.”


  Perhaps that was the best way he could say while keeping his pride. Min-joon was a bit embarrassed to hear that. He agonized over how to best answer, so he could not hurt his friend’s feelings. And he thought hard about how he should act so as not to look arrogant to his friend.

  At that moment, Kaya cut in, “Yeah, I understand. In fact, it’s hard for us to get by like this, too.”


  Kaya’s answer was unexpected. But Min-joon instinctively felt that Hugo wouldn’t feel bad at her words. Strange enough, she didn’t care at all if Hugo would be hurt or not. She probably didn’t want to take care of Hugo’s narrow-minded feelings.

  That was why her answer was the best at this moment. Since she was not worried about him, she didn’t feel bad.

  Hugo asked, “When can my heart feel light then?”


  While Min-joon, Kaya and Hugo were sharing their friendship over drinks, some other friends were having a great time in Los Angeles. They were Chloe, Anderson, and Janet.

  Hugging Janet’s baby girl Catherine, Chloe muttered blankly while looking at her face, “How can you be so pretty?”


  “Because her parents are pretty.”


  “Catherine, won’t you live with this aunt forever? Wow, you are nodding now? You nodded, right?”


  “Shut up, you kidnapper-to-be!”


  Even though Chloe was cracking a joke, Anderson looked at her with a tense expression.

  Hugging Catherine tightly, Chloe glanced at him awkwardly.

  “Did you hear Hugo was eliminated from the finals?”


  “Yeah, I got a text message.”


  “Isn’t he a spoiler?”


  “Well, if Hugo is walking around downtown, he’s already a walking spoiler anyway.”


  “You bet.” Chloe nodded and kissed Catherine’s forehead again.